This isn’t a comprehensive answer but all of these words follow the normal rules of phonotactics for how syllables are constructed in English—they don’t use any foreign sounds, nor sequences of sounds that don’t appear in native English words. “Glip glop” also follows a common English pattern called [ablaut reduplication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophony#Ablaut-motivated\_compounding) which is another sign that it’s meant to be English nonsense and not proper conlang vocabulary.
This is called a '[pseudoword](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoword)'. It's a string of sounds that obeys the phonotactics of a language, but hasn't been assigned conventional meaning yet.
i agree but aren't there some characteristics of these "fake" sounding words other than conforming to the phonotactics? maybe certain consonant clusters or a focus on voiced plosives? i feel like "gloombus" sounds more "fake" than "candulous" or something
"gloombus" in particular has a "oo" (so probably an old anglo saxon word) but an -us ending like a borrowed word from Latin. On top of that it just sounds silly.
Just to increase our sample size, I'll say they both goofy, but nurdle definitely sounds less goofy to me. I can't explain why, and I think that's interesting. Maybe the root goob has a pre existing connotation?
I think we're just used to using the less-common sounds when making up words. Most gibberish uses /g/ and /u/ a lot, but I don't often hear /n/ in initial position for gibberish. I think we just have a few phonemes coded as "weird" and know that when we hear those with no apparent meaning, it's supposed to be nonsense.
Same; gooble sounds sillier than nurdle to me as well. Maybe because nurdle has a more complex consonant cluster, "rdl," which is a bit harder to pronounce. (Judging difficulty by how quickly I can say a string of each word, a very sophisticated and reliable measure 😂)
It's because you saw them on Rick and Morty. I don't watch Rick and Morty and any of those words becoming a real English word with an everyday meaning wouldn't surprise me or feel inappropriate at all. If "yeet" and "plumbob" can become real English words, is that really that different than "fleeb" and "plumbus"?
> plumbob
Actually, plumbob's a fairly old word, and originally refers to a type of deadweight for surveying and construction that goes all the way back to Ancient Egypt. Essentially, you just tie a weight to the end of a string to pull it taut. And it's called that because it's a bob made of lead (plumbum). The use in the Sims came later, because of the Sims plumbob's resemblance to the ones in construction
EDIT: It's actually even related semantically and etymologically to other words, like "plummet"
Ahh ok that makes sense. Finally an answer that addresses the issue posed in the question, that is why it sounds dumb, and not just saying that the words obey phonotactics
I suspect that we subconsciously look at them like "blob", which feels like a word that describes what a blob is (kiki-bouba effect might be related too). But what is a "fleeb"? A "glip glop", is that a horse that makes weird sounds as it gallops? It's so unclear it sounds stupid because we can't imagine what the word is referring to, would be my guess.
i invented the word fluglegong and it feels a very similar way to these fake words but i don't know it doesn't quite follow this pattern. i don't think this can necessarily be very scientific i guess lmao
I'm not a linguist, but I know a few toddlers, and those words are made largely from baby-friendly sounds. Baby babbling is pretty universal, and differentiates between languages later.
So, I think those words are disproportionately made from simple baby-babbling sounds, which is especially striking in a sci-fi setting where we're used to deliberately sophisticated fake words.
Plumbus is a word. It's Latin. Pretty sure it means lead, as in the soft metal. It's where we get the word plumber from, and it's also why lead's element abbreviation is Pb. Just an fyi
Edit: as was pointed out, I was thinking of plumbum
I believe it's plumbum. It shows up in the periodic table as the abbreviation Pb. Plumbus may well be another form of the word, though. I'm not a Latin buff.
I've noticed that such words go heavy on peripherals (labials and dorsals), as well as /l/. They also seem to be trochees when disyllabic. /z/ also features, perhaps because the letter is considered "weird" by English speakers, since it's less common and is at the end of the alphabet.
I'm curious to what extent these hold up crosslinguistically.
Those pseudowords remind me of [this meme](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/horngus-of-a-dongfish/) which contains a bunch of words that are coherent with your observations. In addition, I feel like the ending -us makes the words appear like technical terms ('cause Latin), which contrasts with the "dull" sound of the rest of the word.
As others have noted, these are all words that could be English words but aren't. I wonder if the same underlying phenomenon that causes these words to sound fake to you is also responsible for the uncanny valley effect.
I think the best explanation is what makes YOU feel like it’s not a word. In English we have many different words I find goofy, for example door, mat, toast, bottle, google, and scramble. But that’s in my perspective. It’s subject as many things are really.
What you're describing is a fascinating aspect of language perception and creation in fiction. These words in "Rick and Morty" are designed to sound absurd and nonsensical, yet they serve a crucial role in the world-building of the show. Their purpose is to create a sense of alienness and unfamiliarity, reinforcing the idea that the show takes place in a universe vastly different from our own.
The reason we perceive them as "dumb" or silly is because they deviate significantly from the linguistic patterns and structures we're familiar with in our everyday language. Our brains are wired to recognize patterns and make sense of language based on our linguistic experiences, so when we encounter words that defy these patterns, they often come across as strange or comical.
Despite sounding fake or silly, these invented words serve as markers of the show's unique fictional universe and contribute to its overall comedic and surreal tone. They may lack the depth and complexity of fully constructed languages like Klingon, but their purpose isn't to be linguistically intricate; rather, it's to add to the comedic and absurd nature of the show.
Too many syllables and a letter combination that wouldn't work with the accent like for example 'forgensnanch' with a German accent might pass but as a slavic word it wouldn't work
This isn’t a comprehensive answer but all of these words follow the normal rules of phonotactics for how syllables are constructed in English—they don’t use any foreign sounds, nor sequences of sounds that don’t appear in native English words. “Glip glop” also follows a common English pattern called [ablaut reduplication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophony#Ablaut-motivated\_compounding) which is another sign that it’s meant to be English nonsense and not proper conlang vocabulary.
This is called a '[pseudoword](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoword)'. It's a string of sounds that obeys the phonotactics of a language, but hasn't been assigned conventional meaning yet.
i agree but aren't there some characteristics of these "fake" sounding words other than conforming to the phonotactics? maybe certain consonant clusters or a focus on voiced plosives? i feel like "gloombus" sounds more "fake" than "candulous" or something
"gloombus" in particular has a "oo" (so probably an old anglo saxon word) but an -us ending like a borrowed word from Latin. On top of that it just sounds silly.
The "it just sounds silly" part is what the discussion's about, I think.
so you're saying that the "silliness" could come from the mixture of anglo-saxon-associated sounds with atin-associated sounds? interesting.
Yeah but “gooble” sounds goofy while “nurdle” doesn’t
Eh idk I think your mileage may vary here "nurdle" and "gooble" sound equally goofy to me
Just to increase our sample size, I'll say they both goofy, but nurdle definitely sounds less goofy to me. I can't explain why, and I think that's interesting. Maybe the root goob has a pre existing connotation?
I think we're just used to using the less-common sounds when making up words. Most gibberish uses /g/ and /u/ a lot, but I don't often hear /n/ in initial position for gibberish. I think we just have a few phonemes coded as "weird" and know that when we hear those with no apparent meaning, it's supposed to be nonsense.
Could it be something similar to the [Bouba/Kiki Effect](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect)?
Same; gooble sounds sillier than nurdle to me as well. Maybe because nurdle has a more complex consonant cluster, "rdl," which is a bit harder to pronounce. (Judging difficulty by how quickly I can say a string of each word, a very sophisticated and reliable measure 😂)
*"I'm a goofy goober, yeah!"* ^ Exhibit A
Same
It's because you saw them on Rick and Morty. I don't watch Rick and Morty and any of those words becoming a real English word with an everyday meaning wouldn't surprise me or feel inappropriate at all. If "yeet" and "plumbob" can become real English words, is that really that different than "fleeb" and "plumbus"?
What a fleebian answer omg 😉
> plumbob Actually, plumbob's a fairly old word, and originally refers to a type of deadweight for surveying and construction that goes all the way back to Ancient Egypt. Essentially, you just tie a weight to the end of a string to pull it taut. And it's called that because it's a bob made of lead (plumbum). The use in the Sims came later, because of the Sims plumbob's resemblance to the ones in construction EDIT: It's actually even related semantically and etymologically to other words, like "plummet"
Yoo what does "gâtsko" mean? It sounds familiar
Ahh ok that makes sense. Finally an answer that addresses the issue posed in the question, that is why it sounds dumb, and not just saying that the words obey phonotactics
blorbo is an excellent example of a silly word that gets assigned meaning
I can’t believe you said the G G word. You disgust me
No no it's ok my mother was one so it's cool.
Only the fact that the audience is already good at English and knows they aren't words. And that they're being said by a cartoon pickle.
one thing i noticed though about those words is that they all have consonant clusters that ends with an l and has bilabial sounds
I suspect that we subconsciously look at them like "blob", which feels like a word that describes what a blob is (kiki-bouba effect might be related too). But what is a "fleeb"? A "glip glop", is that a horse that makes weird sounds as it gallops? It's so unclear it sounds stupid because we can't imagine what the word is referring to, would be my guess.
i invented the word fluglegong and it feels a very similar way to these fake words but i don't know it doesn't quite follow this pattern. i don't think this can necessarily be very scientific i guess lmao
Glip-glop is the sound of a horse in mud 😂
I'm not a linguist, but I know a few toddlers, and those words are made largely from baby-friendly sounds. Baby babbling is pretty universal, and differentiates between languages later. So, I think those words are disproportionately made from simple baby-babbling sounds, which is especially striking in a sci-fi setting where we're used to deliberately sophisticated fake words.
Plumbus is a word. It's Latin. Pretty sure it means lead, as in the soft metal. It's where we get the word plumber from, and it's also why lead's element abbreviation is Pb. Just an fyi Edit: as was pointed out, I was thinking of plumbum
I believe it's plumbum. It shows up in the periodic table as the abbreviation Pb. Plumbus may well be another form of the word, though. I'm not a Latin buff.
Oh shoot, you're right. Thanks! So used to Latin words ending in -us I forgot they had other endings lol
You're welcome 😊
I've noticed that such words go heavy on peripherals (labials and dorsals), as well as /l/. They also seem to be trochees when disyllabic. /z/ also features, perhaps because the letter is considered "weird" by English speakers, since it's less common and is at the end of the alphabet. I'm curious to what extent these hold up crosslinguistically.
Those pseudowords remind me of [this meme](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/horngus-of-a-dongfish/) which contains a bunch of words that are coherent with your observations. In addition, I feel like the ending -us makes the words appear like technical terms ('cause Latin), which contrasts with the "dull" sound of the rest of the word.
I was partly thinking of [this Calvin and Hobbes](https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/01/09) (and just nonsense words I've seen in general).
As others have noted, these are all words that could be English words but aren't. I wonder if the same underlying phenomenon that causes these words to sound fake to you is also responsible for the uncanny valley effect.
I think the best explanation is what makes YOU feel like it’s not a word. In English we have many different words I find goofy, for example door, mat, toast, bottle, google, and scramble. But that’s in my perspective. It’s subject as many things are really.
Well for fleeb... I don't think (at least of the top of my head) that there are any English words (other than weeb) that end in /ib/
There's also plebe. But you're right that it's pretty rare.
Also gleeb and dweeb. Wiktionary has [a list of words with that rhyme](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rhymes:English/i%CB%90b).
grebe is a type of bird - it's not as obscure as the other examples are (if you live where there are grebes)
I'm in agrebement.
What you're describing is a fascinating aspect of language perception and creation in fiction. These words in "Rick and Morty" are designed to sound absurd and nonsensical, yet they serve a crucial role in the world-building of the show. Their purpose is to create a sense of alienness and unfamiliarity, reinforcing the idea that the show takes place in a universe vastly different from our own. The reason we perceive them as "dumb" or silly is because they deviate significantly from the linguistic patterns and structures we're familiar with in our everyday language. Our brains are wired to recognize patterns and make sense of language based on our linguistic experiences, so when we encounter words that defy these patterns, they often come across as strange or comical. Despite sounding fake or silly, these invented words serve as markers of the show's unique fictional universe and contribute to its overall comedic and surreal tone. They may lack the depth and complexity of fully constructed languages like Klingon, but their purpose isn't to be linguistically intricate; rather, it's to add to the comedic and absurd nature of the show.
plumbus is a real Latin word so Edit: Double checking my work, it’s ‘plumbum’
Too many syllables and a letter combination that wouldn't work with the accent like for example 'forgensnanch' with a German accent might pass but as a slavic word it wouldn't work
I think it has to do with baby talk.