Disney movies have been a part of the American childhood since the studio released its first feature-length animated film in 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Ever since, Disney films have been known for their catchy, clever songs.
On Reddit, logophiles and Disney fans shared advanced vocabulary words they first learned after hearing them in Disney songs.
“Wow we used to be UTTERLY SPOILED with the level of internal rhyme and skillful poetics that went into kid’s songs,” one person wrote.
These are 14 vocabulary words people learned as kids from Disney songs that have stuck with them to this day:
Genuflect
Definition: “To bend the knee; to touch the knee to the floor or ground especially in worship; to be humbly obedient or respectful.”
Movie: Aladdin
Song: “Prince Ali”
Lyrics:
“Prince Ali, fabulous he, Ali Ababwa
Genuflect, show some respect
Down on one knee”
Meticulous
Definition: “Very careful about doing something in an extremely accurate and exact way; showing or requiring extreme care and attention to detail.”
Movie: Lion King
Song: “Be Prepared”
Lyrics:
“So prepare for the coup of the century
Be prepared for the murkiest scam (Ooh, la, la, la!)
Meticulous planning (We’ll have food!)
Tenacity spanning (Lots of food!)
Decades of denial (We repeat!)”
Mediocrity
Definition: “Mediocre, of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance; ordinary, so-so.”
Movie: The Sword in the Stone
Song: “That’s What Makes the World Go Round”
Lyrics:
“You must set your sights upon the heights
Don’t be a mediocrity
Don’t just wait and trust to fate
And say, that’s how it’s meant to be”
Expectorating
Definition: “To eject from the throat or lungs by coughing or hawking and spitting.”
Movie: Beauty and the Beast
Song: “Gaston”
Lyrics:
“No one hits like Gaston
Matches wits like Gaston
In a spitting match, nobody spits like Gaston
I’m especially good at expectorating
Ten points for Gaston!”
Prattle
Definition: “Trifling or empty talk; a sound that is meaningless, repetitive, and suggestive of the chatter of children.”
Movie: The Little Mermaid
Song: “Poor Unfortunate Souls”
Lyrics:
“The men up there don’t like a lot of blabber
They think a girl who gossips is a bore
Yes, on land it’s much preferred
For ladies not to say a word
And after all, dear, what is idle prattle for?”
Dote
Definition: “To be lavish or excessive in one’s attention, fondness, or affection —usually used with on.”
Movie: The Little Mermaid
Song: “Poor Unfortunate Souls”
Lyrics:
“Come on, they’re not all that impressed with conversation
True gentlemen avoid it when they can
But they dote and swoon and fawn
On a lady who’s withdrawn
It’s she who holds her tongue who gets her man”
Cabaret
Definition: “A restaurant serving liquor and providing entertainment (as by singers or dancers).”
Movie: Beauty and the Beast
Song: “Be Our Guest”
Lyrics:
“We’ll prepare and serve with flair
A culinary cabaret
You’re alone
And you’re scared
But the banquet’s all prepared”
Pachyderms
Definition: “Any of various nonruminant mammals (such as an elephant, a rhinoceros, or a hippopotamus) of a former group (Pachydermata) that have hooves or nails resembling hooves and usually thick skin.”
Movie: Dumbo
Song: “Pink Elephants on Parade”
Lyrics:
“I can stand the sight of worms
And look at microscopic germs
But technicolor pachyderms
Is really too much for me”
Coup
Definition: “A sudden decisive exercise of force in politics and especially the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group.”
Movie: The Lion King
Song: “Be Prepared”
Lyrics:
“You won’t get a sniff without me!
So prepare for the coup of the century
Be prepared for the murkiest scam (Ooh, la, la, la!)”
Qualm
Definition: “A feeling of uneasiness about a point especially of conscience or propriety; a sudden feeling of usually disturbing emotion (such as doubt or fear).”
Movie: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Song: “The Bells of Notre Dame”
Lyrics:
“You can lie to yourself and your minions
You can claim that you haven’t a qualm
But you never can run from
Nor hide what you’ve done from the eyes
The very eyes of Notre Dame”
Reprimand
Definition: “A severe or formal reproof; criticism for a fault; rebuke.”
Movie: The Little Mermaid
Song: “Part of Your World”
Lyrics:
“Bet’cha on land they understand
Bet they don’t reprimand their daughters
Bright young women, sick of swimmin’
Ready to stand”
Precocious
Definition: “Exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age; exceptionally early in development or occurrence.”
Movie: Mary Poppins
Song: “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”
Lyrics:
“It’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious
If you say it loud enough, you’ll always sound precocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”
Nabob
Definition: “A provincial governor of the Mogul empire in India; a person of great wealth or prominence.”
Movie: Aladdin
Song: “Friend Like Me”
Lyrics:
“Mister Aladdin, sir, have a wish or two or three
I’m on the job, you big nabob“
Nom de plume
Definition: “A name that a writer uses instead of their legal name; pseudonym; pen name.”
Movie: Aladdin
Song: “One Jump Ahead”
Lyrics:
“One jump ahead of the slowpokes
One skip ahead of my doom
Next time gonna use a nom de plume“
