this got some attention and so I was remiss in not mentioning that it's simply an anagram of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem which is itself an amazing bit of verbiage
oyez vendingmachine, I took off a few of your additions bc this list is actually supposed to be phrases that included the word “the.” But of the ones I took off, most are now installed on phraseologue and phraseologue---confabular-locutions, so your efforts are far from in vain!
"The term "folkbiology" refers to people's everyday understanding of the biological world—how they perceive, categorize, and reason about living kinds. The study of folkbiology not only sheds light on human nature, it may ultimately help us make the transition to a global economy without irreparably damaging the environment or destroying local cultures."
wait so would media blasting be an umbrella term that includes shotblasting, sandblasting and bead blasting?
I was just looking at a website that talks about this and they talk about blast media (as in, the media with which a surface is blasted) which is a super delightful phrase.
a man who adopts some part of the role of husband to a woman who is widowed, separated, or otherwise unable or unwilling to (re-)marry.
And Laura waited long, and wept a little, And thought of wearing weeds, as well she might; She almost lost all appetite for victual, And could not sleep with ease along at night; She deem'd the window-frames and shutters brittle Against a daring House-breaker or Sprite, And so She thought it prudent to connect her. With a Vice-husband, chiefly to protect her.
An anchialine pool or pond (pronounced "AN-key-ah-lin", from Greek ankhialos, "near the sea") is a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean.
Describing a spore in which the distal and proximal faces have dissimilar sculpturing and lacks tetrad mark. Example: Calobryum dentatum, Haplomitrium hookeri.
to treat a metal surface in order to clean or polish it, by continously impacting it with shot (round metallic, glass, or ceramic particles) impelled at high velocities by air pressure or other mechanism.
a while back I worked at a meat+fish counter at a supermarket. One day a man with a distinct accent I could nevertheless place no more specifically than maybe South Asian, came and requested a cut of halibut. Cuts, rather: he wanted it coarsely diced. What he actually asked was that it be cut into "cubics" and repeated this word several times to ensure I understood. I always wondered if it was usage particular to some variant flavor of english, rather than a one-off malapropism
the usual noun form of chastise would be chastisement, alternately the gerund chastising. Chastice is not a word in modern English. Unless you decide it is, say, a name for the hook attached to a rooster's feet in cockfighting.
A land of fufluns? One can dream. This is actually an archaic Etruscan/Latin name of an archaeologically significant region of Tuscany, today called Populonia.
"a small stone or fragment of ore made smooth by the action of water running over it." (1907 New American Encyclopedic Dictionary)
"Loose pieces of veinstuff lying about on the surface are known in Cornwall as shoad-stones; and shoading is the term given to the process of tracking them to the parent lode." (A Treatise on Ore and Stone Mining
per Wikipedia, the English tradition of specific collective nouns for different types of animal arose in the late Middle Ages and were originally referred to as "terms of venery".
Hi long time no see Wordniks!! Have you guys heard about this new dinosaur? Properly dreadnoughtus schrani, it's the “new” largest dino. I find the critter notable as much for the unwieldiness of its name as for its purported size.
A previously unknown mineral has been discovered in a remote location in Western Australia. The mineral, named putnisite, appears purple and translucent, and contains strontium, calcium, chromium, sulphur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, a very unusual combination. While dozens of new minerals are discovered each year, it is rare to find one that is unrelated to already-known substances.... It appears as tiny semi-cubic crystals and is often found within quartz. Putnisite is relatively soft, with a <a href="https://www.wordnik.com/words/Mohs%20scale" target=_blank">Mohs</a> hardness of 1.5 to 2 (out of 10), comparable to gypsum, and brittle. It's unclear yet if the mineral could have any commercial applications.
a humorous riff on the slang terms YOLO and swag (from Wiktionary: n.Style; fashionable appearance or manner), and the character Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit
I looked up the word fever-bright. Although it has been used in plenty of places, there is no listed definition. I would say that fever-bright means "eyes radiant through a fever from illness, or excitement; frenzied."
this kind of info is very welcome here! Normally you would place such a comment on the word's entry page. I'm copying your comment to the fever-bright entry, q.v.
wanted to check this out. some googling shows this word was probably coined by Cynic philosopher Crates, in reference to his marriage; both husband and wife were of the Cynic school. So it sounds like he was simply saying it was a "marriage of dogs", or of dog-like people, in other words, of Cynics. I don't think he was trying to connote retrocopulation. "Marriage" is a stronger translation of the Greek γάμος—gamos—than "coupling" (indeed, the IE root *gem(e)- is supposed to be "to marry")
Also, per earthmothercrafts.com's Bead Glossary, it "Refers to an iridescent coating or finish that is applied to only one part or one side of a bead."
same as panacea. from Greek πάγχρηστος, panchrestos, “useful for everything”. Found on Wikipedia, and on Google books (Encyclopaedia Londinensis (vol. 18), John Wilkes, 1821, inter alia)
Yliaster is the term coined by Paracelsus which refers to "Prime matter, consisting of body and soul". It is most likely a portmanteau of the Greek hyle (matter) and Latin astrum (star). To Paracelsus, the iliaster represented the two basic compounds of the cosmos, matter representing "below", and the stars representing "above". ... In this sense, the iliaster is the same as the prima materia. It is the formless base of all matter which is the raw material for the alchemical Great Work.
the slang term is definitely a misspelling/mispronunciation of the word wretched. With that rendering has developed a somewhat more specific usage, at least on twitter, as some kind of derogatory term for women. see the Urbandictionary entry.
I'm not sure the above etymology is correct. I always thought it was a Japanglishportmanteau of the emo from emoticon and -ji (meaning “characters”) on the model of the etymologies of romaji and kanji, quod vide.
i've also seen this used in reference to the haters gonna hate meme, and also to connote enthusiasm to partake in some activity, as though in a mad dash towards it. it's technically an emoticon or emoji
I like cat as a name for a cat. If you have more than one, cat 1, cat 2... I hope that doesn't sound mean spirited—i'm very much a dog person but i like cats.
erinmckean / wordnik staff: can something be done about the glitchiness in lookups where an apostrophe is present in the word? Replace ' with ’ in all definitions and then also replace ' with ’ when search or word page urls are generated, similar to how the browser replaces space with %20? but actually no that's not server-side... hm (I hope it doesn't sound like i know what i'm talking about, b/c i don't). Anyway. It would be awesome if it were fixed.
I wonder if wekau is somehow linguistically and/or cladistically related? Also, the Wordnet definition is boffo: "flightless New Zealand rail of thievish disposition..."
if that's true, then you should know better than to spam-comment your links on sites like this—Google will ding you in results if it detects the pattern
A tutelary deity of Beijing, China. Depicted as a traditionally dressed anthropomorphic rabbit. Also transliterated Tu'er Ye and Tuer Ye; sometimes known as Gentleman Rabbit (in translation)
Blorenge or sometimes The Blorenge (/ˈblɒrɨndʒ/; Welsh: Blorens) is a prominent hill which overlooks the valley of the River Usk in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is situated in the southeastern corner of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The summit plateau reaches a height of 1,841 feet (561 m)
I've come to accept that—and as I type this it dawns on me that it may be a natural law on the order of every potential list is an existing list—that an open list may at any moment evolve unpredictably as an emergent behavior arising from adventitious contributions. And pretty much all my lists are open. So that's fine. I guess I should ask if ruzuzu wants to put pants back
welcome to Wordnik—hope my humorless, cack-handed attempt at a bit of friendly ribbing doesn't deter you from exploring all that this site has to offer.
hey ruzuzuzuzuzu, can I jettison the contents of the-whole-wordnik-catalog here? I'm kind of not feeling that list anymore and I want to give it the deep-six, but some of those items I think would go nicely here.
from the autophagy page on Wikipedia, I went to a link that said there is disagreement as to whether things like nailbiting amount to autocannibalism. Pathologically speaking, that is. If you want to be super literal, yes, eating skin would make you a cannibal while hair and nails would not (since it's not "flesh" in the normal sense).
I like thinking about both Magritte and Duchamp questioning, in different ways, the power and role of representation. this sentence is false, paradox or nonsense? It reminds me that language is not only fun, but highly mysterious in its interplay of both constructing and being constructed by consciousness—with literature, art, and the sense of smell among the emergent phenomena (arguably) arising from that interplay.
Also i like Miro but his work always makes me think of Klee. i don't know what that means
This reminds me of a character in a historical novel (Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson), a rogue whose pseudonym was "<em>L’Emmerdeur</em>,” which I think can be translated as “the enshittener”.
I feel like I've heard this word many times, more or less interchangeably with coastline, in phrasings like "along the coastway," but I can't find very much at all in the way of citations/definitions. I wonder if it's a regional thing.
…evil in the form of two rather appalling manifestations: a cannibal and an autophage. He notes that our attention is immediately captivated by one…while the other is largely overlooked. One possible explanation for this, he suggests, is that we have no place to put the notion of a person who consumes his or her own flesh; this is a form of being with the self that we cannot really conceive of.
discussion of this word on the English language Stackexchange site. Appears to be old Irish colloquial or dialectical variant of deluder, i.e., one who attempts to delude or obfuscate.
NPR didn't get it quite right. one of Sagan's catchphrases was "billions and billions"; I'm assuming they figured this would have to denote no less than 2¹² + 2¹², whereas strictly speaking, 1¹²+1 is technically "billions". Math pedantry aside, the Jargon File v5.0.1 has:
sagan: /say'gn/, n. (from Carl Sagan's TV series Cosmos; think “billions and billions”) A large quantity of anything. “There's a sagan different ways to tweak Emacs.”
I think I agree but am wondering what the exact nature of its mouthfeel is. My source seems to be indicating sʌˌdʒɪtəˈpoʊtənt, while I would think it would be ˌsædʒɪˈtɪpətənt—kind of like "Sagit" in Sagittarius + "ipotent" in omnipotent
not to be doctrinaire, given that in the entire English-speaking world, it's probably been spoken aloud only a smattering of times in the past hundred years. also, who the heck cares. I almost want to delete this comment now but I spent way too long piecing together those IPA symbols
Sagittipotent (suh-jit-uh-poht-nt) adj. 1656-1656, having great ability in archery Ex. The sagittipotent hunter found himself unable to kill the beautiful white stag.
—from <a href="http://deadwords.info/?p=881" target="_blank">the Dead Words</a>
so I decided that the more mundane yet unusual items needed their own list, while the "Whole Wordnik Catalog" is now solely a repository of the nonsensical, madeupical, farcical, and heretical; so that's how "Polychronic Liquidators" came into the picture. And by all means add any nonsense here that strikes your fancy.
found on urbandictionary.com. The definitions aren't too clear, but it sounds like it's a vehicle owner who performs their own repairs, or possibly any car mechanic who works independently at their home; as though in a yard, under a shade tree. Looking at the twitter content, either of those holds up.
retrotech has no official entry here but a while back i added some citations that make it sound to me like it'd lend itself pretty well to that idea, qms.
unrelated to theriac, but I just want to say that at first I was all "wait—therianthrope is so commonly used that it has a shortened form?" and then I looked at the content examples and I was all, "ohhh... furfans"
it's up to you. i seem to recall that the supposed double entendre in the lyric and song title was only ever speculative and was disavowed by the songwriters. yet it persists in the zeitgeist
1 to fill out a form containing blank lines indicating where data should be entered. 2. to resolve missing pieces of information necessary to complete a history or analysis of some event or occurrence.
3. interj. "you can figure out the rest", "you can infer the remaining information"
adj. describing something that is essentially unchanged from one instance to the next, with only names or other particular details changed. cf. cookie-cutter
hi madmouth! Some glaring omissions on my part and so thanks. i took the liberty of adjusting a couple of your additions to suit my orthographic cacoethes, hope that's ok. you're persona grata on my lists anytime
this definition doesn't go with the word. I've been tagging such instances glitch definition, but I can't with this one, I think because of the apostrophe
I went on a hunt for a pronunciation and was frustrated. However I did find that the Humr are an African tribe, one out of the grouping of Arabic-speaking nomadic cattle herding tribes known as the Baggara inhabiting the Sahel region. Humr means "the red ones."
a swindle in which a strap or belt is folded at its midpoint, then rolled up tightly; the mark is enjoined to bet that he can arrest the unrolling of the strap when both ends are pulled, by inserting a pencil in center of the roll.
Jeez, maybe I'm a whippersnapper or something; I can't understand why this (and fart) are tagged "offensive"? "Impolite" and "use carefully" I could agree with, but offensive?
as indicated above, the following definition is found under the Century Dictionary & Cyclopedia entry at sorrow:
n. The devil: used generally as an expletive in imprecation, often implying negation. Compare devil, n., 7. Sometimes the muckle sorrow. Also spelled sorra.
found on dict.org<blockquote>Golden sulphide of antimony, or Golden sulphuret of antimony (Chem.), the pentasulphide of antimony, a golden or orange yellow powder.</blockquote>
from the Webster's 1913 dictionary<blockquote>(old chemistry) stannic chloride; the chloride of tin, SnCl4, forming a colorless, mobile liquid which fumes in the air. Mixed with water it solidifies to the so-called butter of tin</blockquote>this could go on glypheme's "Magic Ingredients" list.
A camoufleur is a person who designed and implemented military camouflage in one of the world wars of the twentieth century. The term was originally a person serving in a First World War French military camouflage unit. In the Second World War, the British camouflage officers of the Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate, led by Geoffrey Barkas in the Western Desert, called themselves camoufleurs, and edited a humorous newsletter called <em>The Fortnightly Fluer</em>. Such men were often professional artists. The term is used by extension for all First and Second World War camouflage specialists. Some of these pioneered camouflage techniques.
*facepalm* ...camoufleur is obviously the correct form. I think that is why I had little success finding citations. Here is a google books search ngram showing that camoufleur is by far the more prevalent spelling; in fact the number of instances of camOfleur is below the threshold needed to appear in the graph.
This word is of Jamaican origin. In Jamaican patois it means ‘blood cloth,’ referring to a menstrual pad, and commonly is used as an expression of anger or annoyance, or a general derogatory epithet.
interesting note about the development of spitfire/shitfire on etymonline.com; apparently “shitfire” originally appeared meaning cannon; “spitfire” was a euphemization of same. The reference to a volatile personality (one who “spits fire”) came much later.
I like it. somewhat lessens the (subjective) vulgarity and specifically denigrates ability, intelligence and social standing where the other term is, depending on context, either a generalized and pointless epithet, or needlessly histrionic
will advise Corporate jargon for F*** Off. I am working on the Alabama case files right now, and will have them on your desk by 4pm, unless you call me into another meeting about the break room microwave again. Will Advise.
most people say to read Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist... first, as a kind of ramp-up. then Ulysses (& only then, finally Finnegan's Wake). I don't know, i only ever read the first one in that sequence.
The Emperor Nicholas was travelling upon this chausee, a few days previous to our journey, and when in the neighborhood of Moscow, he remarked that he met very few carriages or carts. The Yemshick, or driver, informed him that the officers ... had forbidden the common people to travel upon it... .
The Czar, His Court and People: Including a Tour in Norway and Sweden, Sir John Maxwell, 1848 (archive.org)
It is judicious to carry a quantity of rope in one's vehicle for use in case of accident. A Russian yemshick (driver) is quite skillful in repairing breakages if he can find enough rope for his purpose.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life Thomas Wallace Knox, 1871 (gutenberg.org)
popular personification of the fog, mist, and overcast endemic to San Francisco and environs. Derived from, and incarnated in, a Twitter account of the same name
agh i totally should have remembered that from art history...sometimes i think i feel my cultural literacy fleeing me. Or probably other minutiae more relevant to my current walk of life are usurping the neural pathways involved
hi ruzuzuzuzu so good to hear from you and i'm afraid my complete lack of a sense of humor is obturating my response. FYI "pipe" has a ribald slang meaning in French, but I'm sure you didn't mean that anyway have a lovely day and thanks for the comment :D
‘Like basilosaurus, pontogeneus was first recognized from “Dr.” Albert Koch's “Hydrarchos”, a 114-foot (35 m) skeleton he had assembled in 1845 from the fossilized remains of several different archaeocetes. Koch's “sea serpent” toured the US and Europe before being destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire on October 10, 1871.’
I remember a goofy song that might have been directly inspired by this, or vice versa. Literally about a panda named Yolanda escaping from the zoo; the chorus went something like "Yolanda / nothing rhymes with you except Rwanda / another day we'd name you Amanda / but Yolanda sounds more Eastern European / which is nice"
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: a name for a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures (i.e. Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian), meaning something to the effect of ‘those of royal blood’ or ‘princely offspring’. According to The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, the Anunnaki ‘are the Sumerian deities of the old primordial line; they are chthonic deities of fertility, associated eventually with the underworld, where they became judges. They take their name from the old sky god An (Anu).’
They don’t seem to be named specifically, and it sounds like there were purported to be some hundreds of them. So, to my mind, analogous to other cultures’ cohorts of demigods, angels, Titans, or what-have-you, but with a netherworld spin.
Sanskrit, Ānanda (आनन्द) – bliss, delight, peace. In Hinduism—well, there is a whole lot more involved in this concept and its nesting within the Hindu system of values than I can attempt to understand, let alone relate, at this time
more commonly rendered as unfuckwittable or unfuckwittible (from which the usual pronunciation may be gleaned) and definitely not coined on Wordnik; it was used in rap songs as early as 2001 (Too $hort, Talkin' Shit) and probably earlier.
From From Urbandictionary.com (can also be seen in the tweets at right): 1. managerial we word of the day: November 24, 2013 When a manager says ‘we’ and means ‘you’ Bossman: We need to fix this Wageslave: OK, should I set up a meeting for us? Bossman: No, just do it. That was the ‘managerial we’; I meant ‘you’
from urbandictionary.com: 1. sleep tattoos word of the day: November 14, 2013 N. The markings on the body from sleeping for an extended period of time, caused by blankets, clothing, or any other thing one would sleep on. Commonly found on the chest, face, and arms. person 1: I just had the best nap of my life Person 2: whats that all over your chest? Person 1: oh those are just some sleep tattoos from my blanket.
One of the rarest and most threatened mammals on earth has been caught on camera in Vietnam for the first time in 15 years, renewing hope for the recovery of the species, an international conservation group said Wednesday. The Saola, a long-horned ox, was photographed by a camera in a forest in central Vietnam in September... via NPR, November 13, 2013
today, a highlight of the usually jejune words-of-the-day posted by urbandictionary.com; meaning "grab a drink or smoke a cigarette". Interesting that gulyasrobi already had this on a list of Old Western Slang.
This is wonderful. I can give you a few more candidates from the comics: Bizarro Superman, Grendel, Ghost Rider, Venom(?), Typhoid Mary...and I'll stop there.
read this in an article last night, can't find definition. possibly a nonce word; definition to the effect of "a mountaineer whose home turf is the Alps; or broadly, a mountaineer"
What two-bit SEO marketers are trying to do when they post their clients' blurbs on Wordnik. Any site that utilizes user-generated content is liable to receive many of these not-so-wonderfully non sequitur ejaculations of advertising, the goal being not to win patronage from thee and me, but for Google to find such-and-such name in context on ever more and sundry websites and thus rank them "higher" in search results.
a vernacular interjection-type phrase. Posed as a question (sometimes as are we cool?) it means “do you understand,” or “do you have any disagreement or argument with me, or with (some issue)?” Often repeated back, in response, it confirms understanding, agreement, mutual accord. Spoken declaratively, it can signify that things are going well, conditions are favorable, or that the speaker is on good terms with another.
from Urbandictionary.com:
When in doubt as to whether or not someone is able to get over themselves and whatever disagreement they may have had in the past with another, the question is often posed. Hey, dude, we cool? Yeah, man. we cool.
I thought this might be a typo where knuckleduster was intended, but urbandictionary.com has a couple definitions which relate to working on cars under circumstances causing the technician's hands (including knuckles) receive cuts and scrapes. Looks like it may refer to the one performing the work, or to the vehicle itself.
also a fictitious substance used to "freeze" the character Han Solo in a state of suspended animation, in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back; see the flickr content.
the reason for there being no definitions found on this page is because the word is capitalized. Wordnik is case sensitive and most entries are found under the lowercase form, e.g. iota (excepting of course proper nouns and such).
"Making a mistake at work is seldom a good thing....Unless you work in Uppsala University, Sweden, where accidentally leaving equipment running over the weekend led to the creation of the most absorbent material known to man.
"A powdered form of magnesium carbonate, upsalite's structure is so porous and pitted that it has a surface area of 800 square metres per gram....Upsalite is also riddled with pores narrower than 10 nanometres. This means it is incredibly water absorbent, even at relatively low humidity, and keeps water locked up tight."
walirlan, what is the problem here? It's not English. Whether it qualifies as English loanword from Japanese, or just a transliteration into the Latin alphabet of a Japanese historical term, there is nothing objectively wrong with the word.
This is an interestingly unique colloquialism. A deliberate spoonerism of the term ass-backwards; in being so, it both further evokes the explicit definition and partially euphemizes.
I feel like this word has been increasing in general usage, at least in the US.
much like the Telegraph columnist, what I find most tiresome is criticism of this word's alleged misuse. It's such a low-hanging fruit, so easy to spot. But come on it happens all the time—let's also ticket everyone for not making complete stops at stop signs!
A "new" form of carbon stronger and stiffer than any known material. Also known as linear acetylenic carbon, carbyne is an indefinitely long chain of carbon atoms that are joined together by sequential double bonds or alternating single and triple bonds (a polyyne). Detected reportedly in asteroids, and synthesized only in vanishingly minute amounts in a lab. Only a single molecule thick, meaning that, for a given mass of carbyne, the surface area thereof is relatively immense.
"The researchers found that carbyne is massively strong (6.0–7.5×107N∙m/kg, vs. 4.7–5.5×107 N∙m/ kg for graphene), very high tensile stiffness (it’s almost impossible to stretch), fairly chemically stable, and yet surprisingly flexible."
A small (~2 lb.) mammal, Bassaricyon neblina. Member of the raccoon family, native to Colombia and Ecuador, recently classified by scientists at the Smithsonian Institution. Named probably in relation to the olingo. Super cute.
Thanks for listening! I've just discovered that you seem to have fixed the thing where very large lists wouldn't load—for instance, outcasts loads in ~300ms! I'm ecstatic!
line breaks in my comments have absconded. por ejemplo, I left a comment on scowlful where I excerpted a poem and separated the lines with hard returns; now it seems to appear as one solid text block.
Turned this up in Google Books:<blockquote>The musket gripp'd ; the brow firm set ; a scowlful smile of joy; And shoulder square by shoulder, as of old at Fontenoy : — Up ! where the battery-flash the heaven with battle-thunder stuns, Where the swarthy cannoneers of France yet prime and point their guns, Then on them with that levell'd steel, one charge . . . Too late ! ... the breath Of war's red throat across the field has borne a waft of death.</blockquote>“The Death of Sir John Moore”, 1809, from The Visions of England by Francis Turner Palgrave.
can't find a real definition for this, but here is an excerpt of an exchange on Yahoo! Answers—not the most reliable linguistic resource, I know—that nevertheless jibes with what I've heard:
What does "rassa frassa" mean? It was in an email from a co-worker. Is this Klingon? Or what? Thanks.
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Madame M
It's supposed to be the sound of low-level, angry grumbling -- as mentioned above, Yosemite Sam says it when he's angry at Bugs Bunny. "Rassa-frassa-frick-frackin rabbit."
I can't find an etymology, but if you put it into a search engine, you'll get all sorts of complainers who are using it in their blogs to express discontent (-:.
Other Answers (1)
Ulquiorra
It's what Yosemite Sam says on "Bugs Bunny" when he wants to swear, except I've always thought he said "Rassum Frassum"
"rassa frassa" has ~15K exact results on Google where "rassum frassum" has ~21K.
Literally, to be holding a bet on a horse in a race. To have a stake in something, to have a vested interest. Most often used in negative constructions. The above phrase has approx 500,000 hits on Google, whereas have no horse in the race and have no horse in this race have 3.5 and 1.5 million hits, respectively.
A sleeper agent is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but rather to act as a potential asset if activated. Sleeper agents are popular plot devices in fiction...
"A long or big con is a scam that unfolds over several days or weeks and involves a team of swindlers, as well as props, sets, extras, costumes, and scripted lines. It aims to rob the victim of thousands of dollars, often by getting him or her to empty out banking accounts and borrow from family members."
from Amy Reading, The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, A Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con, Chapter One: Confidence via this Wikipedia article
An 1838 illustration of a Turkish coffee house with patrons smoking from long-stemmed chibouk pipes, as featured in Travels in the western Caucasus by Edmund Spencer.
A chibouk (French: chibouque; from the Turkish: çıbuk, çubuk (English: "stick"); also romanized čopoq, ciunoux or tchibouque)1 is a very long-stemmed Turkish tobacco pipe, often featuring a clay bowl ornamented with precious stones. The stem of the chibouk generally ranges between 4 and 5 ft. (1.2 and 1.5 m), much longer than even Western churchwarden pipes. While primarily known as a Turkish pipe, the chibouk was once popular in Iran, as well.
you must realize that in English there are many possible additions to words in the standard lexicon; nearly any word can take suffixes or prefixes altering its meaning, intenseness, part of speech, &c. &c. The number of possible permutations is nearly unlimited. Therefore most dictionaries and reference works do not contain entries for many words which are, strictly speaking, allowable in standard English; words which do not usually, but may conceivably, have additions like -ish, -ment, -ness, -ly, -liest and so forth. For a reference work (or website) to omit such entries is not a failing. It is your responsibility as an informed reader or student to deduce any definitions that may be missing in such cases from the combined definitions of the base word and the combining form/suffix/prefix/whatever (or seek out a more comprehensive reference, such as the OED or another unabridged dictionary). Please do feel free to add comments here offering any such deductions, under the word's entry as you have been doing, but comments in a continuous stream expressing surprise that this or that bizarre term is "missing," may become wearisome to others who are viewing them all over the Community page.
Also it helps if you ensure you are spelling the word correctly.
Don't be. Dictionaries and reference works often omit entries for all possible inflections and combinations of works like offbeat plus such suffixes as -ness, -ment &c. Having entries for the suffixes themselves is sufficient; the minimally apperceptive reader can break down any word not having its own entry into its component parts, look each up, and devise the definition for themselves. Otherwise the dictionary would be overflowing with entries for possibly less useful words like confutableness, or whatever.
A kind of gas mask used in coal mines. In Miracle at Springhill, Leonard Lerner, 1960, the name is said to have originated in Nova Scotia and to be "derived from that of a German scientist, Alexander Bernhard Draeger, who invented a type of special equipment for breathing in a mine choked with gas." See comments at draegerman.
"In the technical jargon of Maritime coal-mining operations, a draegerman is a specially trained rescue worker. A draeger was a gas mask that permitted descent into tunnels where poisonous seepage had occurred." Casselman's Canadian Words Bill Casselman, 1995.
"To those who are unfamiliar with coal mining, it should be explained that a draegerman is a particularly skillful and robust young miner who has been specially trained in rescue work." The Atlantic Monthly #158, 1936.
per balkaar.com (?!) "An obsolete Shetland word for a witch or sorceress"
Also turned up in a Google Books search, in A Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, Volume 1 by John Jamieson, 1825: "...this designation is given to a pretended sybil or prophetess..."
Found in works of Sir Walter Scott via same search.
"one who presents the teeth," a person who smiles falsely or forcedly. A neologism probably coined by novelist Florence King in a column in The National Review.
a physical sensation, similar to frisson, caused by stimuli varying from person to person; having one's hair cut close with clippers about the nape of the neck is a common example. Not recognized by science but widely discussed on the internet (123). Usually called ASMR.
yeh, It's not in any reliable reference site, I think it's a case of spurious info propagating thru the interwebs...but who am I to stop that process. Who knows, before too long it may be the official name.
But I think it came from this document, or one like it. It shows up as inymph in google. but if you open the link and find the sentence, it just says "nymph".
used as an imperative, the speaker is demanding action on a particular item within the interlocutor's purview. The implication is the speaker desires that they be all over it like a cheap suit or perhaps like white on rice.
having to do with either the mythological centaur Chiron, or the astronomical centaur (see 2nd definition in Wiktionary entry under centaur) designated 2060-Chiron.
Heimaey (-is), literally Home Island, is an Icelandic island. At a size of 13.4 km² (5.2 sq. miles), it is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, and the largest and most populated Icelandic island outside the main island of Iceland. Heimaey lies approximately 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) off the south coast of Iceland. It is the only populated island of the Vestmannaeyjar islands, with a population of approximately 4,500.
well thank you for 1) the kind words 2) listening to my didactic rambling 3) giving me a nice list to add words to. I'm off to check out the rest of your lists, then...
I've done a bit quite a few. I have to politely say it would be good of you to put comments on the actual word page (for instance, see the comment I've added on boomeranging) instead of in the entries of your lists. That way, anyone who later looks up the word will see your comment (instead of it being all but hidden, here on your list).
Also, if you're not finding expected definitions for words on your lists, you should be aware that wordnik is case-sensitive & the default entries for most words are lowercase. In fact, my OCD tells me you should take the time to fix up this list so all its entries are lowercase...but that's entirely up to you of course.
Basically the idea is that if someone clicks on a word on someone else's list, your list will show up on the word page, and vice versa. If the words on your lists are capitalized or otherwise differ from the default entries, that doesn't happen.
This is a great list. I wouldn't have made such a long-winded comment otherwise :)
this list would be extremely useful for creating random internet startup names (be sure to use camelcase!): CitePile! GigaTrak! AutoClient! CopyGraph! MegaMiniPlus! StokeBaboon!
In Charles Stross' The Jennifer Morgue he writes an afterword in which James Bond is dissected and discussed as a classic Mary Sue, at least as regards the creator, Ian Fleming's, relationship with the character. Very interesting.
A word, normally repeated three times as in [homina homina homina], to express shock, befuddlement, or general speechlessness. Often when looking at a particularly attractive member of the speaker's favored sex. It probably comes from Ralph Kramden on "The Honeymooners."
Attractive Female: Hello.
Me: Homina homina homina.
I first saw this used, I believe in a comic book, by a character who had just narrowly avoided some potentially fatal violence.
tienwru, if you mean etymologically, it's similar to affinity, which is from the Latin ad-, to, + fīnis, boundary; meaning "related by marriage" (literally, "bordering on" or "adjacent to").
saw this today in a column in the Telegraph, used to describe Scottish novelist Iain Banks, who died this Sunday (2013-07-09). Doesn't seem to be formally defined anywhere, online at least.
A cimeter or scimitar is a large, curved butcher's knife, with a blade typically 10-12" (25-30cm) long. It is used primarily for cutting large pieces of meat into retail cuts such as steaks.
I used to use these working at a seafood counter. I've never seen one in anyone's kitchen other than my own (and my then-boss' kitchen).
(The) War on Fun is a perceived crackdown on nightlife, events, and various other parties of partiers in a municipal area. Commonly mentioned in press in San Francisco, CA, referencing actions and measures implemented by the San Francisco City Council, police department, and California Bureau of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
an intensifier applied to a question; or also, in UK English, a standalone interjection expressing surprise or anger in regards to some matter under discussion.
alexz I always picture the faller with their head aimed roughly in the direction of the fall when take a header is used, whether protecting it or not; for instance, a sot passes out while leaning on the railing of a pier and takes a header into the water.
ian.squire.92, I think you are looking for the third definition in the Wiktionary entry under cheese. Any tense would be perfectly permissible in Scrabble, except maybe cheesen.
came across this in an old Guardian UK article and find it's been attended to by assiduous wiktionarists. The gratifyingly droll phrase beware of deepities is the subheading beginning the paragraph in the article
I just started adding a bunch of words then realized the scope of my undertaking. *ule*ular*ute etc. return a plethora of words that could be added to this list...
a meme-ish phrase used when one has reached a milestone or accomplished something noteworthy. Derived from video games in which the player works through a hierarchical sequence or tree of goals; "unlocking" one allows further progress through the game, access to more difficult achievements, and often new powers, abilities, etc.
A term coined by researchers in Cornell University's Social Media Lab that describes small/innate lies which are usually sent electronically, and are used to terminate conversations or to save face. For example sending an SMS to someone reading "I have to go, the waiter is here" when you are not at a restaurant is an example of a butler lie.
seeing this word caused the phrase plumbum oscillans to dredge itself up from the back of some rattling, rusted file cabinet of my brain. at first i could not remember a thing about it.
(probably pseudo-) Latin for "swinging the lead"; British doctors' slang for malingering, or seeking a sick note to take time off work. I believe I saw this a while back in an old Eric Partridge slang dictionary. It may originally have been a British armed forces' slang term, equivalent to the U.S. goldbricking
I'm a fan of the origin of this phrase; it's an attribution to Julius Caesar (usually "alea iacta est"), supposedly stated as he gave the command to his army to begin crossing the river Rubicon, officially entering Roman land, and thereby irrevocably committing himself to civil war. Thus also the phrase cross the Rubicon.
The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.
so basically two consecutive palindromes (lexical or not) that can be concatenated to produce an acceptable word eg debedded. In fact, the simple plural of most single-word noun palindromes would be a circular palindrome: madams, ewes, rotators
-To assault or attack, as a target or location, by means of drone(s).
"That feeling...gripped me when my village was droned just days ago." -- Farea al-Muslimi, Yemeni journalist, before a US Senate subcommittee, 2013-04-23
great find! I am recalled of a twitter parody account called DEVOPS BORAT, rife with esoteric jokes and broken English. I find it hilarious but perhaps that's just me.
"The surface of last scattering refers to the set of points in space at the right distance from us so that we are now receiving photons originally emitted from those points at the time of photon decoupling."
carlosG commented this on his list, but I wanted to also have it here because I like it a lot:
zOMG:
zOMG is a variant of the all-too-popular acronym "OMG", meaning "Oh My God".
The "z" was originally a mistake while attempting to hit the shift key with the left hand, and type "OMG"
Also used in all-caps, 'ZOMG' is generally used in a sarcastic manner, more often than not a humiliating fasion. It is also used as a device for stating the obvious.
exclamation point is definitely more common here in California. I couldn't speak for all the hill people, desert dwellers and fancy-pants east coasters around. I say we squash the beef and all start calling it the ecphoneme! (found that in an unretraceable "Related Words" meander from here).
yes, medical device user documentation can be surprisingly pregnant with eldritch menace, I find. I imagine it's different if you are a doctor or technician. "Ho hum, another day, another cirrhotic stigmata"
I will accept it as a real word/construction when in non-formal writing its usage vs. the standard usage exceeds an arbitrary ratio...say 24:1. Which I give even odds of happening by 2050.
I can offer a definition from my personal experience. In many cases synonymous with the "San Francisco Burrito" or "Mission Burrito", this is a large portable meal(s) consisting of meat, cheese, rice, beans, salsa (hot sauce, pico de gallo, or both), sour cream and certain optional ingredients (frequently lettuce, minced cilantro, or guacamole), wrapped in a large (usually 14-inch) tortilla, further wrapped in two layers of aluminum foil. It typically weighs 0.5 - 1 kg, contains >1500 calories, and by many is—indeed can only be—eaten in intervals over the course of a day. It is most often purchased from a taqueria or taco truck. Several Mexican-American chain restaurants, notably Chipotle, have adopted versions into their menus.
metaphor describing a tendency or urge to do the wrong thing under a given set of circumstances, for no other reason than that it is possible to do so. cf. shoulder angel, shoulder devil.
possibly coined by Poe in his short story (1845) of the same name. Also used by Neal Stephenson in the Baroque Cycle books.
Transient lunar phenomonon (TLP): refers to short-lived lights, colors, or changes in appearance of the lunar surface. Claims of short-lived phenomena go back at least 1000 years, with some having been observed independently by multiple witnesses or reputable scientists. Nevertheless, the majority of transient lunar phenomena reports are irreproducible and do not possess adequate control experiments that could be used to distinguish among alternative hypotheses.
"‘guacolate’ has been looked up 497 times" and appears as a related word under capsaicin (along with paedophile and tyrannosaurus). According to Google, it may be some kind of chocolate-avocado cake recipe.
A cultivar of capsicum annuum, under widespread cultivation in South Asia, bearing as fruit a small, very pungent hot pepper, commonly used in cuisine of the cultures in this area. A.k.a. phrik khi nu, Thai chili pepper, cabe rawit in Indonesia, Thai dragon, boonie pepper and other names.
yay thanks! I added some more. There are def. a lot of historical nations and archaic names out there, but I tried to limit it to the ones that could be considered poetic.
I added Legionnaires' disease because it's lexically pretty unique—a possessive medical eponym named for a group rather than an individual—and found that there are a bajillion possessive-eponymic diseases named for their describers/discoverers (which may be a reason that sionnach disallowed names on x's y.... Anyway, if anyone wants to add them here, go ahead, but there are a lot.
Edit: there is also a ton of scientific laws, natural phenomena, and logical paradoxes named in this way. The listers at Wikipedia have done this job already.
Oh that is excellent. Another every potential list is an existing list situation! Except, that one disqualifies proper nouns...nor shall I fail to ransack it. thanks!
I had noticed this too. I thought it might be related to Google's recent efforts to "personalize" search by ranking certain results based on your search and browsing history. alexz, do you have a Google account with which you were logged in, when you noticed those results?
kǔdīng chá, "bitter spikeleaf tea," a Chinese infusion with folk-medicinal uses, made with any of various plant species. One of the most commonly used is the holly species ilex kudingcha, which may explain the invigorating and focusing effects attributed to the drink, being that three other holly species (ilex paraguariensis or yerba mate, its close relative ilex guayusa, and yaupon holly) are known to contain caffeine.
cassine or cassina were names given by early European colonists of North America to drinks brewed from caffeine-containing yaupon holly as substitutes for coffee and tea. See also black drink.
commonly drunk in Tibet. Black tea leaves are brewed in boiling water for an extended period; the resulting tea preparation is then transferred to a vessel also containing yak butter and salt, and mixed therewith.
a coffee preparation very popular in Senegal, to the point of being referred to as the "spiritual beverage" of the country. The coffee beans are roasted with the addition of grains of Selim a.k.a. Guinea pepper, and sometimes cloves; then is ground and brewed in the normal filter method.
"Thai iced tea", a popular tea drink in Thailand and the U.S.; strongly brewed black tea (traditionally Ceylon tea) with additional ingredients, usually orange blossom water, star anise, crushed tamarind, sugar and condensed milk or cream.
fair enough Messer alexz, changed. bilby, essentially that is correct, however, I found recently that in fact, either spelling is acceptable in en_US (for the color, not the surname of course), gray being only the more common.
See comment on kopi jawa. I saw it on Wikipedia so it must be true!!
In my poking around today, several times I saw the phrase coffee liqueur used as though it is the regular descriptor for that class of drinks, so...I'm not sure. caffè Borghetti is a thing.
Wikipedia has: "The Indonesian phrase Kopi Jawa refers not only to the origin of the coffee, but is used to distinguish a style of strong, black, and very sweet coffee."
yes, and dated, and inaccurate...real Mexican breakfasts are generally heavy on the tortillas and beans, sometimes with eggs, various soups, and on Sundays, the hangover-curing menudo.
Edit: the flickr content reminds me that fried plantains, chorizo, avocado, roasted chiles, and various aguas frescas are common/traditional elements as well.
Oh I see, clever boots. Specific preparations, yes. Avoiding straight synonyms for coffee. I was thinking about chocolate coated espresso beans, yeah, anything you find like that seems cool.
So monsignor bilby, my question is can you say "I'm drinking kopi luwak (god help me)?" or must you say "I'm drinking coffee made from kopi luwak (when will this nightmare be over)."
alexz! Thanks for your additions. Mountain Dew, Pepsi and Coke all have caffeine, but soda, pop and soda pop are words describing any soft drink regardless of caffeinatedness, so maybe those shouldn't go here.
hmm good point, I don't know. Basically what I want here is names of specific drinks and possibly methods/accoutrements of brewing. So unless someone starts feeding civets coffee grounds and then getting them to drink a lot of water...
"The deposition on a surface of hard layer or dispersion in a fluid of particles of carbon as a result of the breakdown of oil in a high temperature environment; also known as coking."
are these the kinds of things you are talking about? tires as planter boxes, a spoon to cook heroin, binder clips as cable stays, mason jar as barware or hurricane candle-holder; stethoscope for safecracking, CDs as bike reflectors? I hesitated over spoon because it seems to be the de facto "proper tool for the job" (is there a word that means "proper tool for the job")?
also backrinding. in rubber molding processes, a "breaking up" of the rubber normally observed around tool split lines. It results from the rubber shrinking during cure and tearing away at points where the molding is held.
a flow measurement term that indicates the range of specific flow meter, or meter type, is able to measure with acceptable accuracy; the ratio of maximum valve flow capacity to minimum controllable flow capacity.
"The minimum amount of air which will allow the complete combustion of the fuel is called the theoretical air." Theoretical in that 100% combustion of fuel is not usually achievable in real-world conditions. Found in an online glossary of boiler terminology.
a pollution control apparatus that removes particulates from air/gas released from commercial processes or combustion. Specifically, a large chamber or room housing bag filters (long, cylindrical bags or tubes made of woven or felted fabric) that filter gas streams from a furnace.
"Orsat gas analyzer, a device used in gas analysis. This apparatus measures certain gaseous constituents (e.g. carbon monoxide) by absorption in separate chemical solution." (From British Gas' online glossary of boiler terms)
Patented before 1873 by one Mr. H. Orsat, according to Wikipedia.
There is also a Mr Orsat Miljenić, as of 2013 the Croatian Minister of Justice
Whenever I see an instance of this word I recall Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) mentioning one of his new favorite bedtime stories, Captain Coriander Salamander and ’er Single-Hander Bellylander in one of the strips (being the sequel to his perennial favorite, Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie). Those titles were burned into my mind somehow.
And is cilantro an analogous shibboleth? I am neutral in any case, though. Schadenfreude is a perfectly functional word I neither like nor dislike. Cilantro, while I extol its food qualities, is also not a good or bad word per se to my ear/mind (I do like "coriander"). However the words here definitely all give me physical creeps, or nearly.
on another note, now I'm curious....exactly how much did you all prefer the Wordie site to the current site?
"a man-made object used to attract oceangoing pelagic fish such as marlin, tuna and mahi-mahi. They usually consist of buoys or floats tethered to the ocean floor with concrete blocks."
that's weird, because cuts of sole are usually called fillets...same with most flatfish (except Alaskan halibut fillet, which is sometimes thick enough to be called loin, at least toward the head—but at that point it's little more than a marketing term. Fishmongers will sometimes offer "'loin cut' halibut steaks"). I have heard the construction loin out, as in "get those tombo loined out."
I can't find a definition to back me up, but, for swordfish, tuna, some shark, and other large food fish such as opah, a loin refers to one of the four long, unbroken muscles that the fish uses for propulsion and from which steaks can be cut. These are quadrants, back/belly/left/right, such that the back and belly loin together, from a given side, forms what would be called the fillet in a smaller fish.
An interval or temporary state during which a person seems to possess extraordinary focus, determination, and physical ability; ensuing domination of opponents, in athletics, is sometimes implied. cf. in the zone.
(From the popular Sega video game, Altered Beast, in which the hero transforms into various beasts with exceptional abilities.)
a set of surveillance procedures covering the whole transfusion chain from the collection of blood and its components to the follow-up of its recipients, intended to collect and assess information on unexpected or undesirable effects resulting from the therapeutic use of labile blood products, and to prevent their occurrence and recurrence' (http://www.ihn-org.net).
"Local monarch has abdicated, obviating investiture. Annexation of fecund cornea-meat tracts proceeds apace". --Associated US Railway, Standard Code Cipher, 1905.
"Send 15 battalions of Adonis-class musquetoons; under attack by biomechanical aculeate megalomacrogyne". --Associated US Railway, Standard Code Cipher, 1905.
using old or vintage machinery, equipment, software, etc., either pragmatically or as a hobby. The "Computer Desktop Encyclopedia" at computerlanguage.com claims this is synonymous with retrocomputing and conflates (disputably, to my mind) these terms with steampunk.
Urbandictionary.com has:<blockquote><strong>Retrotech</strong> high tech aesthetic circa pre-1987. <em>I prefer to use Casio keyboards because they are so retrotech.</em> tags: retro, retro-tech, hi-fi, relic, kitsch</blockquote>cool word, but what I like most is the groovy, swell images in the flickr content below
That was me!! And, also, "mega list commenting" is not a problem; the site is the better for it (in fact I think it should have a more lofty term applied, maybe compleating or something). If only there were some more customizable feed of recent comments...not just the Community page...
As you will. I was thinking that for some people it is very loaded—terror, hate, betrayal...say it to a military history buff, political partisan, or 9/11 conspiracy theorist and you will definitely get a reaction.
A software protocol and API for use with image scanning hardware. The term is simply twain styled in caps, but the widely-held backronym is "technology without an interesting name."
edit 11/9/2015: it's an alternate spelling of mynheer. Duh
trying to find a definition or explanation of this is like like squeezing blood from a turnip. Obviously a corruption or (Dutch?) translation of "mein Herr"; it appears all over the place as a (sometimes mock) honorific in the 19th c. in google books; I'm absolutely certain I've heard it said somewhere (Rogers & Hammerstein?), pronounced "myn-eer"; but no real definition or etymology anywhere.
"From what we have seen, I think the term zoophyte inapplicable to coral ; it is neither an animal plant, nor a plant animal : nor can it be called a zoolite ; as it is certainly not a stony animal. It is with more propriety a polipaio..."
Ferrarra, Alfio, M.D. 1812. On the Coral Fishery in the Sicilian Seas. Journal of Natural Philosophy. Vol 33
(botany) Pertaining to species of plants in which male members are markedly smaller than females, such as in some algal species of Oedogonium that have antheridia produced in special dwarf filaments. (McGraw-Hill Science & Technology Dictionary)
bilby, would you remove Luke skystalker, Gummint, Download limit, and the Harry Potter one? A tiny voice from my, like, hypothalamus is telling me, Wormtongue-style, that they don't belong here.
the "some kind of female sharper" is word for word what the Oxford said. And, bilby, it mentions preñado as well, as a possible (though dubious) etymology...uncanny.
hmm it is so. But since the fork assay is employed after the prescribed baking time, doneness is anticipated; fork-crumb cleavage is normally a confirmation. For some advanced bakers it might well be a vestigial (or, in the case of Mrs. ry, talismanic) observance.
His crest should be firm, thin, and well-risen ; his neck long and straight, yet not loose and pliant, which our north countrymen term withy cragged...
(Farriery on a New and Easy Plan: Being a Treatise on the Diseases and Accidents of The Horse, John Badcock, 1883)
WITHY-CRAGGED, adj. Said of a horse whose neck is loose and pliant. North.
(Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, Thomas Wright, 1886)
was wondering how old this one was. Google Books turns it up in The Rye House Plot or, Ruth, the Conspirator's Daughter, Vol I, George William MacArchur Reynolds (1800):
It is no secret that my exchequer is as empty as a nutshell whence the kernel has been extracted...
Note that in the citation (Denham's listing), the terms are given in the plural, so I back-formed singulars to make this list. I may not have done so correctly for each term. Will attempt to correct as needed. LMK of any you notice.
Let's say you're a soulful, brooding male hero, living a sheltered, emotionless existence. If only someone — someone female — could come along and open your heart to the great, wondrous adventure of life...It's Manic Pixie Dream Girl to the rescue!
The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is there to give new meaning to the male hero's life. She's stunningly attractive, high on life, full of wacky quirks and idiosyncrasies (generally including childlike playfulness and a tendency towards petty crime), often with a touch of wild hair dye. She's inexplicably obsessed with our stuffed-shirt hero, on whom she will focus her kuh-razy antics until he learns to live freely and love madly.
"Yeth-hounds, hounds without heads, supposed to be animated by the spirits of children who have died without baptism. 'These hounds are believed,' says Mr. Halliwell, who quotes a superstition current in Devonshire, 'to ramble among the woods at night, making wailing noises.'"
from The Lost Beauties of the English Language, Charles Mackay, 1876
Obamadon gracillis, a small (~30 cm) extinct lizard of the late Cretaceous – contemporary to the dinosaurs but not a dinosaur. Named for U.S. president Barack Obama.
This supports bilby's hypothesis (in comments for gentlemen.) that it is a generic name for a man, or for a man perceived as a gentleman, which use probably predates the nicknames.
I can attest to its use in professional and semi-professional settings to refer to automotive, computer, and other equipment in which something is munged, borked, banjaxed or otherwise bollixed. In fact I'm adding it to my situation-normal list.
Seems to have been the nickname, originally, of James J. Corbett (1866-1933), heavyweight boxing champion who once K.O.ed the celebrated John L. Sullivan, as well as James Woolnaugh, a U.S. Army General active in WWII and Korea. Also later used in reference to several other sports figures.
also melicratum, hydromel. Obsolete. From Glossographia Anglicana Nova, Thomas Blount, 1656: Melicratum is a Drink made one part of Honey, and eight parts of Rain Waters.
from Predatory Behavior of White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at Seal Island, R. A. Martin, et al (2005):
Polaris Breach (POL): the shark leapt partially or completely out of the water in a vertical or nearly vertical head-up orientation, with or without a seal grasped in its jaws. In POL that launch a shark completely from the water, the shark may clear the surface by as much as 3 m and often rotates tail over head around the centre of gravity, located ±1/3 along its standard length, re-entering the sea head-first close to its original exit point.
Yes I too like place names like these. Perusal of city maps showing neighborhoods and pondering significances is a happy thing. But the weirder ones seem to be more fun. I wish there were a list like this out there for every major city
recently she's adding almost 1 new word per day, so, a bit better than par (they should have ~100-word expressive vocabulary by 24 months). Which tickles me pink, but it's harder to track additions—know I'm missing some—so now seems a good cutoff point, to preserve this list as an artifact of this stage
I think it serves a purpose in that it can be used to effect a self-effacing, farcical pomposity. But also when used in seriousness it is a useful bellwether...or shibboleth? Litmus test?.....a thing, anyhow, for discerning wordsmiths from people who think they are better with the language than they are. (Along with irregardless, ekcetra, verbage and so on...& now I'm off to look at all the 'hate' lists)
The result of a messy death by automobile, explosive, small arms fire, etc. "Hair, teeth and eyes all over the highway" "About to blast his hair, teeth and eyes all over the wall" Also, any horribly ugly botch or mess of a situation. "it's hair, teeth and eyes all over the place."
Sorry, that was obtuse of me. Fomalhaut is the common name. Formalhaut looks like a typo (or possibly a little-used alternate spelling, per this ngram.)
Latin, probably "grape-gatherer," or a translation (by Ovid?) of Ptolemy and Plutarch's Protrugeter, apparently "fruit-plucking herald." A northern star, Epsilon Virginis, a giant.
Comments by ry
Show previous 200 comments...
ry commented on the word Thirty-Machete Cheddar Element
this got some attention and so I was remiss in not mentioning that it's simply an anagram of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem which is itself an amazing bit of verbiage
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the word do a u-ie
to perform a u-ie, or U-turn
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the list phraseologue---x-the-y
oyez vendingmachine, I took off a few of your additions bc this list is actually supposed to be phrases that included the word “the.” But of the ones I took off, most are now installed on phraseologue and phraseologue---confabular-locutions, so your efforts are far from in vain!
But, I can't take off phrases that have apostrophes. if you see this can you take off beat one's brains out, blow one's top, break someone's heart, catch one's eye, and any others like that?
not sure what to make of anasmkaa’s suggestion...
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the user ruzuzu
so myriad led to banzai via tags and I added that...therefore banzai, ruzuzuzuzuzu
July 20, 2015
ry commented on the user ry
Sort of an opportunity here
any suggestions for what word I should list next?
July 20, 2015
ry commented on the word folkbiology
see comment at folk biology
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word folk biology
How people naturally classify and reason about the organic world, distinct from scientific biology.
"Humans everywhere classify animals and plants into obvious species-like groups...."
Folk biology (Wikipedia)
"The term "folkbiology" refers to people's everyday understanding of the biological world—how they perceive, categorize, and reason about living kinds. The study of folkbiology not only sheds light on human nature, it may ultimately help us make the transition to a global economy without irreparably damaging the environment or destroying local cultures."
Folkbiology (MIT Press)
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word credobaptism
adult baptism (to oversimplify quite a bit), as opposed to pedobaptism
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word uriposia
the drinking of urine.
(from urine + Greek posis, drinking)
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word uriposiac
see uriposia
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word shotblast
wait so would media blasting be an umbrella term that includes shotblasting, sandblasting and bead blasting?
I was just looking at a website that talks about this and they talk about blast media (as in, the media with which a surface is blasted) which is a super delightful phrase.
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word full fathom five
five full fathoms (~30 feet) under water, i.e, drowned, probably.
an English catchphrase, originally from The Tempest
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word vice-husband
a man who adopts some part of the role of husband to a woman who is widowed, separated, or otherwise unable or unwilling to (re-)marry.
Byron, BeppoJuly 7, 2015
ry commented on the word joglaressa
Archaic, a female troubadour or jongleur. Feminine of Old Provençal joglar.
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word anchialine
An anchialine pool or pond (pronounced "AN-key-ah-lin", from Greek ankhialos, "near the sea") is a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean.
Anchialine pool
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word cryptopolar
Describing a spore in which the distal and proximal faces have dissimilar sculpturing and lacks tetrad mark. Example: Calobryum dentatum, Haplomitrium hookeri.
Glossary of Pollen and Spore Terminology
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word shotblast
to treat a metal surface in order to clean or polish it, by continously impacting it with shot (round metallic, glass, or ceramic particles) impelled at high velocities by air pressure or other mechanism.
cf. sandblast
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word shotblasting
see shotblast
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word etourderie
thoughtlessness, blundering, absent-mindedness, or an instance thereof; a careless mistake
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word hundo
one hundred. Usually in reference to US currency, i.e., a hundred dollars or a US$100 bill.
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the list phraseologue---x-the-y
markusloke — these are great...some of them I can't believe I missed.
June 24, 2015
ry commented on the word world suck
this noun usage of suck is also seen in the military catchphrase embrace the suck.
May 26, 2015
ry commented on the word cubics
a while back I worked at a meat+fish counter at a supermarket. One day a man with a distinct accent I could nevertheless place no more specifically than maybe South Asian, came and requested a cut of halibut. Cuts, rather: he wanted it coarsely diced. What he actually asked was that it be cut into "cubics" and repeated this word several times to ensure I understood. I always wondered if it was usage particular to some variant flavor of english, rather than a one-off malapropism
April 30, 2015
ry commented on the word take
see above in the Wiktionary entries:
"intransitive v. To have the intended effect; operate or work: The skin graft took."
March 3, 2015
ry commented on the word hell-bent for leather
see hell-for-leather
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the word mitraille
see also mitrailleuse
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the word noncat
i would like to nominate this for WOTD as an excellent example of the kind of spectacularly deadpan output lexicography often produces
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the list words-we-dont-really-need
*disapproves of the premise of this list while heartened at there being only one word on it*
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the word thirded
cf. me three
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the word rotative evitator
the elusive "palindrome-anagram poem" (cf. loons snool).
February 11, 2015
ry commented on the word chastice
the usual noun form of chastise would be chastisement, alternately the gerund chastising. Chastice is not a word in modern English. Unless you decide it is, say, a name for the hook attached to a rooster's feet in cockfighting.
February 4, 2015
ry commented on the word obvuto
http://copernicusnow.blogspot.com/2006/01/makin-up-words.html
February 2, 2015
ry commented on the list leximation--words-i-imagined
leximation!
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word orgiophant
one who oversees or presides over orgies. OED, I think
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word Fufluna
A land of fufluns? One can dream. This is actually an archaic Etruscan/Latin name of an archaeologically significant region of Tuscany, today called Populonia.
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word Tyrrhenia
Ancient name of Etruria
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word concinnitous
displaying or having concinnity
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word fastcraft
high-speed watercraft, often of hydrofoil, hovercraft, or catamaran design
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word porcupig
LOL
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word shoad-stone
"a small stone or fragment of ore made smooth by the action of water running over it." (1907 New American Encyclopedic Dictionary)
"Loose pieces of veinstuff lying about on the surface are known in Cornwall as shoad-stones; and shoading is the term given to the process of tracking them to the parent lode." (A Treatise on Ore and Stone Mining
Clement le Neve Foster, 1905)
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word metagrabolized
is this a legit alternate spelling of metagrobolized?
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word metagrobolized
cf. blutterbunged, addlepated
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word slimskin
amazing!
for reference, see sea elephant
November 5, 2014
ry commented on the user ry
hi everyone!
November 4, 2014
ry commented on the list is-this-a-dagger-i-see-before-me
main-gauche
September 21, 2014
ry commented on the word vast majority
hmm, similar to the popular (but strictly speaking, mis-) conception of the meaning of lion's share
September 21, 2014
ry commented on the word terms of venery
collective nouns specific to groups of animals. see comment at term of venery.
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the word term of venery
per Wikipedia, the English tradition of specific collective nouns for different types of animal arose in the late Middle Ages and were originally referred to as "terms of venery".
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the word terror
yo, I was just looking at Wikipedia re: collective nouns and found out a fun old name for collective nouns specific to animals: term of venery
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the user michelledevilliersart
check out hairy eyeball
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the list words-that-shouldn-t-be-used-on-a-first-date
imagine a first date where all these words were used, though.
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the list strangely-exigent-phrases
bilby, erin, belated thanks.
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the word finna
reliable reddit. this is more like a cool 2004 word. not surprised it's in Wiktionary.
September 5, 2014
ry commented on the word dreadnoughtus
Hi long time no see Wordniks!!
Have you guys heard about this new dinosaur? Properly dreadnoughtus schrani, it's the “new” largest dino. I find the critter notable as much for the unwieldiness of its name as for its purported size.
September 5, 2014
ry commented on the word drop the mic and walk away
June 16, 2014
ry commented on the word infra-dignitatem
infra dig is actually far more common
June 16, 2014
ry commented on the word Uvid
great, thanks
June 16, 2014
ry commented on the word roll down a hill
June 16, 2014
ry commented on the word cast a wide net
to cover a large area and use a number of resources in searching for something; or to set a low threshold for selection or acceptance
May 13, 2014
ry commented on the list mapeupical-hipster-words
adorbs? (blech)
May 12, 2014
ry commented on the word putnisite
recently described unusual purple mineral. from Australia, natch.
http://www.popsci.com/article/science/unique-mineral-discovered-australia
May 12, 2014
ry commented on the word Yolo Swaggins
a humorous riff on the slang terms YOLO and swag (from Wiktionary: n. Style; fashionable appearance or manner), and the character Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the word rumbo
I enjoyed this limerick very much.
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the word fever-bright
mamagoose26 commented on the user mamagoose26
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the user mamagoose26
this kind of info is very welcome here! Normally you would place such a comment on the word's entry page. I'm copying your comment to the fever-bright entry, q.v.
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the word eat dirt
to fall on one's face, or to die.
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the word ayo
Not sure about that etymology, at least in regards to the vernacular salutation usage. I believe it's a contraction of "hey, yo"
May 2, 2014
ry commented on the word POWER! LIGHTNING STRIKES! SMITING!
ruzuzu's new favorite list
May 2, 2014
ry commented on the word cynogamy
wanted to check this out. some googling shows this word was probably coined by Cynic philosopher Crates, in reference to his marriage; both husband and wife were of the Cynic school. So it sounds like he was simply saying it was a "marriage of dogs", or of dog-like people, in other words, of Cynics. I don't think he was trying to connote retrocopulation. "Marriage" is a stronger translation of the Greek γάμος—gamos—than "coupling" (indeed, the IE root *gem(e)- is supposed to be "to marry")
May 2, 2014
ry commented on the word birth mother
does this really qualify as a retronym? I can't imagine there having been a time in human history when foster or adoptive parents weren't a thing.
May 2, 2014
ry commented on the word hindsighting
leveraging punch-out optionality would reduce synergy and damage my personal brand though.
April 25, 2014
ry commented on the word stdafx
glitch definition. this definition belongs under recombinant DNA, I believe
April 25, 2014
ry commented on the word vitrail
From Logolepsy:
Also, per earthmothercrafts.com's Bead Glossary, it "Refers to an iridescent coating or finish that is applied to only one part or one side of a bead."April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word lechuga
Spanish for lettuce
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word padeye
see pad-eye
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word ulicon
obsolete/alternate spelling of ulikon/eulachon
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word panchrest
same as panacea. from Greek πάγχρηστος, panchrestos, “useful for everything”. Found on Wikipedia, and on Google books (Encyclopaedia Londinensis (vol. 18), John Wilkes, 1821, inter alia)
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word yliaster
alchemical term. According to Wikipedia,
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word iliaster
see yliaster
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word ratchet
the slang term is definitely a misspelling/mispronunciation of the word wretched. With that rendering has developed a somewhat more specific usage, at least on twitter, as some kind of derogatory term for women. see the Urbandictionary entry.
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word emoji
I'm not sure the above etymology is correct. I always thought it was a Japanglish portmanteau of the emo from emoticon and -ji (meaning “characters”) on the model of the etymologies of romaji and kanji, quod vide.
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
i've also seen this used in reference to the haters gonna hate meme, and also to connote enthusiasm to partake in some activity, as though in a mad dash towards it. it's technically an emoticon or emoji
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word listicale
see also listicle(?)
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the list not-quite-as-awful-as-they-sound
organ grinder?
April 23, 2014
ry commented on the word hindsight
see comments at hindsighting
April 23, 2014
ry commented on the word hindsighting
onsite today with new client; heard hindsight repeatedly verbed; blech
April 23, 2014
ry commented on the word fiscal shrike
see butcherbird
April 17, 2014
ry commented on the word butcherbird
fiscal shrike?!
April 17, 2014
ry commented on the word hornwood
wth, this is great. Trying to figure out what wood refers to in this context, and if it's the same as in wood-wroth
April 17, 2014
ry commented on the list words-i-made-up--1
I have a list like this one! — should be a word. Yours seem more plausible though. I might take a couple of them
April 17, 2014
ry commented on the list how-to-name-a-cat
I like cat as a name for a cat. If you have more than one, cat 1, cat 2...
I hope that doesn't sound mean spirited—i'm very much a dog person but i like cats.
April 16, 2014
ry commented on the word renied
past tense of reny
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word witches' broom
erinmckean / wordnik staff: can something be done about the glitchiness in lookups where an apostrophe is present in the word? Replace ' with ’ in all definitions and then also replace ' with ’ when search or word page urls are generated, similar to how the browser replaces space with %20? but actually no that's not server-side... hm (I hope it doesn't sound like i know what i'm talking about, b/c i don't). Anyway. It would be awesome if it were fixed.
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word weka
I wonder if wekau is somehow linguistically and/or cladistically related? Also, the Wordnet definition is boffo: "flightless New Zealand rail of thievish disposition..."
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word venomous
I like that a lot.
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word manic pixie dream girl
that article uses the phrase strip club terrorist act, which made my morning.
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word eyeware
saw this in an optometrist’s advert. Typo, malapropism, or insufferably gimmicky marketing-speak?
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the list my-future-wedding-party
I want to add acrobat, theremin, Segway, and t-shirt gun but I don't know if this list is open open or just sort of open.
April 13, 2014
ry commented on the word loons snool
palindrome poetry(!?)
April 11, 2014
ry commented on the list hiding-places
check out loculus
April 10, 2014
ry commented on the word veronica
wow nice one, qms
April 10, 2014
ry commented on the list yourfriendinitaly
spam spam
April 10, 2014
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
rimshot
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
Does anyone know of a single word that means "member of the opposite sex"?
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the word crescentic dune
another name for barchan dune
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the user feeney147
if that's true, then you should know better than to spam-comment your links on sites like this—Google will ding you in results if it detects the pattern
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the user xeliumtech
spam spam spam
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the user salesh2010
Hi sales! welcome
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the word satanicus aquus
see jenny haniver
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the word adeptitude
<blockquote>roylej commented on the user roylej
I'd like to add the word 'adeptitude'.
It's a noun meaning 'the ability to become proficient' or 'an innate skill or proficiency'
It's been in use for a while. See examples here.
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the list hiding-places
hidey-hole?
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the word Tangiers’ angriest ingrates
Tangiers’ angriest ingrates astringe granites, reasting rangiest ganister gantries.
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the list vogon-poetry
see also vogon-anagram-poetry
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the list anagram-poetry
this list has gone from great to staggeringly awesome
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the word irideal
same as iridaceous
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the word feedback
I still want a block under "Related Words" that lists other word entries where commenters have linked back to the entry page you're on.
April 7, 2014
ry commented on the word friendster
this is the funniest glitch definition i have found
April 7, 2014
ry commented on the list gelignite-jack-blows-the-cellar
Canadian penny
April 7, 2014
ry commented on the word Gentleman Rabbit
see Tu Er Ye
April 4, 2014
ry commented on the word Tu Er Ye
A tutelary deity of Beijing, China. Depicted as a traditionally dressed anthropomorphic rabbit. Also transliterated Tu'er Ye and Tuer Ye; sometimes known as Gentleman Rabbit (in translation)
April 4, 2014
ry commented on the word bilby got chub tattles
(see anagram-poetry)
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the word bilby got chub tattles
it makes me think of an incomplete, particularly bizarre tabloid headline
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the list the-best-tweets-of-yugoyouth
in re: potate as verb, I guess no official definition as such, but there is potator and compotator
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the word flea
just want to say that I believe the limerick below was originally penned by Ogden Nash
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the word subtler bluster
I liked this one
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the list antlers
tine, tres-tine?
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the word Blorenge
ce n’est pas une montagne
April 2, 2014
ry commented on the word Blorenge
Blorenge or sometimes The Blorenge (/ˈblɒrɨndʒ/; Welsh: Blorens) is a prominent hill which overlooks the valley of the River Usk in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is situated in the southeastern corner of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The summit plateau reaches a height of 1,841 feet (561 m)
April 2, 2014
ry commented on the word sporange
A little late to the game, but how about Blorenge? I know, I know, kind of a stretch but I mean what else is there?
April 2, 2014
ry commented on the list agentive-clothing
not correcting you bilby, but this is how it played out in my headApril 2, 2014
ry commented on the list agentive-clothing
I've come to accept that—and as I type this it dawns on me that it may be a natural law on the order of every potential list is an existing list—that an open list may at any moment evolve unpredictably as an emergent behavior arising from adventitious contributions. And pretty much all my lists are open. So that's fine. I guess I should ask if ruzuzu wants to put pants back
April 1, 2014
ry commented on the list agentive-clothing
I imagine that's a different sense of "agency," i.e., supernatural agency (malevolent)
umm...pants? as in pantaloons? as in St. Pantaleon?
April 1, 2014
ry commented on the word sacrosancta
this definition goes not with sacrosancta but with biotic or the suffix -biotic
April 1, 2014
ry commented on the word taramosalata
yummmm
April 1, 2014
ry commented on the word clodhopper
cf. shitkicker
March 31, 2014
ry commented on the word cloudwords
ok SEO link-building (or whatever it is you were trying to do) =/= spam strictly speaking, but that's a copout. "Not my intention," indeed
March 31, 2014
ry commented on the word pseudorable
something to do, perhaps, with the uncanny valley?
March 31, 2014
ry commented on the word DaJuane
the above definition belongs under kümmel. Not sure what a DaJuane is.
March 28, 2014
ry commented on the word okra fondlers
that is amazing.
March 28, 2014
ry commented on the list specific-excrement
album graecum
March 27, 2014
ry commented on the list name-bank
spellbound. wishing for more.
March 27, 2014
ry commented on the list more-fun-than-a-barrel-of-pickels
pickled okra
March 27, 2014
ry commented on the user AION
welcome to Wordnik—hope my humorless, cack-handed attempt at a bit of friendly ribbing doesn't deter you from exploring all that this site has to offer.
March 27, 2014
ry commented on the word pickled okra
yummmm
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the word thaumazein
transliteration of an ancient Greek word, used by Socrates, meaning wonder
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the list things-i-never-find-at-rummage-sales-or-second-hand-stores
hey ruzuzuzuzuzu, can I jettison the contents of the-whole-wordnik-catalog here? I'm kind of not feeling that list anymore and I want to give it the deep-six, but some of those items I think would go nicely here.
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the list a-snotty-list
how about bulb syringe and nasal aspirator, apparatuses for removal of snot without employing, um, oral suction?
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the user AION
#megalomania
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the word pudeur
per google,
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the word autophage
from the autophagy page on Wikipedia, I went to a link that said there is disagreement as to whether things like nailbiting amount to autocannibalism. Pathologically speaking, that is. If you want to be super literal, yes, eating skin would make you a cannibal while hair and nails would not (since it's not "flesh" in the normal sense).
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the list lies--1
I like thinking about both Magritte and Duchamp questioning, in different ways, the power and role of representation. this sentence is false, paradox or nonsense? It reminds me that language is not only fun, but highly mysterious in its interplay of both constructing and being constructed by consciousness—with literature, art, and the sense of smell among the emergent phenomena (arguably) arising from that interplay.
Also i like Miro but his work always makes me think of Klee. i don't know what that means
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word immerde
the comments on bemute led me to conskite, beray, bescumber and finally immerd which appears to be the more common form of this word
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word immerde
This reminds me of a character in a historical novel (Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson), a rogue whose pseudonym was "<em>L’Emmerdeur</em>,” which I think can be translated as “the enshittener”.
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word lygeraste
did NPR specify the spelling? If this is a back-forming from lygerastia, wouldn't we normally spell it lygerast, in parallel with pederast?
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word coastway
I feel like I've heard this word many times, more or less interchangeably with coastline, in phrasings like "along the coastway," but I can't find very much at all in the way of citations/definitions. I wonder if it's a regional thing.
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word fourragère
—Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-FiveMarch 25, 2014
ry commented on the word fourragière
yes, that must be it. Thanks!!
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word culero
Latin American Spanish, equivalent to asshole
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word culera
see culero
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word autophage
an organism that engages in autophagy.
—Territories of Evil, ed. Nancy Billias, 2008March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word autosarcophagy
see autophagy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14849189
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word delutherer
discussion of this word on the English language Stackexchange site. Appears to be old Irish colloquial or dialectical variant of deluder, i.e., one who attempts to delude or obfuscate.
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word polychronicon
found on wordinfo.info:
see also Examples at PolychroniconMarch 25, 2014
ry commented on the word fourragière
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word Shell fabric only. Solid colorways (non-wool): 1 test per fabrication Heathers: test all colorways Wool: test all colorways Report: (A): fiber content by weight as whole
ruzuzu, thx I wasn't sure if anyone was gonna get that—it was tenuous
Erin, thanks a mill (as in a million, not 1/1000 of a thanks)
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the list polychronic-liquidators--cyf
these people will probably try to sell the vomit.
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word Shell fabric only. Solid colorways (non-wool): 1 test per fabrication Heathers: test all colorways Wool: test all colorways Report: (A): fiber content by weight as whole
it's a sore spot, i'd rather not talk about it
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word Shell fabric only. Solid colorways (non-wool): 1 test per fabrication Heathers: test all colorways Wool: test all colorways Report: (A): fiber content by weight as whole
Can someone from the site help me remove this from my list inaugural-list? I accidentally pasted it in there and now I can't get rid of it.
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word sagan
NPR didn't get it quite right. one of Sagan's catchphrases was "billions and billions"; I'm assuming they figured this would have to denote no less than 2¹² + 2¹², whereas strictly speaking, 1¹²+1 is technically "billions". Math pedantry aside, the Jargon File v5.0.1 has:
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word sagittipotent
I think I agree but am wondering what the exact nature of its mouthfeel is. My source seems to be indicating sʌˌdʒɪtəˈpoʊtənt, while I would think it would be ˌsædʒɪˈtɪpətənt—kind of like "Sagit" in Sagittarius + "ipotent" in omnipotent
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word frounce
*France*
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word sagittipotent
—from <a href="http://deadwords.info/?p=881" target="_blank">the Dead Words</a>March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word cardinal-trilost
see trilost
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word wtf
to peruse the wtf tagging section is to go a-wandering in a ward of gibbering bedlamites
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word lip-sex
see comments at undisableable
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word hemicorporectomy
*shudder*
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the list polychronic-liquidators--cyf
if anti-SPAM comes into contact with SPAM, do they mutually annihilate?
March 22, 2014
ry commented on the list the-whole-wordnik-catalog
so I decided that the more mundane yet unusual items needed their own list, while the "Whole Wordnik Catalog" is now solely a repository of the nonsensical, madeupical, farcical, and heretical; so that's how "Polychronic Liquidators" came into the picture. And by all means add any nonsense here that strikes your fancy.
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the list polychronic-liquidators--cyf
bilby, don't tag this SPAM. These people are on the up-and-up, despite appearances.
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word frankincese
tamale?
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word shade tree mechanic
found on urbandictionary.com. The definitions aren't too clear, but it sounds like it's a vehicle owner who performs their own repairs, or possibly any car mechanic who works independently at their home; as though in a yard, under a shade tree. Looking at the twitter content, either of those holds up.
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word nixie
retrotech has no official entry here but a while back i added some citations that make it sound to me like it'd lend itself pretty well to that idea, qms.
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word fuck you tube
mind screw you too
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word cosmocrator
see kosmokrator
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word kosmokrator
ancient appellation for a ruler, human or supernatural, of the world or of the cosmos. Also spelled cosmocrator
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word dactylographic monkey theorem
another name for the infinite monkey theorem
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word therian
unrelated to theriac, but I just want to say that at first I was all "wait—therianthrope is so commonly used that it has a shortened form?" and then I looked at the content examples and I was all, "ohhh... furfans"
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word drunkship
collective noun for cobblers. A drunkship of cobblers.
(from oxforddictionaries.com)
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the list it-has-a-name
latruncular, survenue
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word shivoo
nice! possibly related to / derived from shivaree?
Also, happy anniversary! (your last comment was a year and a day ago)
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word cyclopean concrete
an installation of concrete into the matrix of which largish (>100lb) blocks of stone have been imbedded
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the list phraseologue---x-the-y
it's up to you. i seem to recall that the supposed double entendre in the lyric and song title was only ever speculative and was disavowed by the songwriters. yet it persists in the zeitgeist
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word fill in the blanks
1 to fill out a form containing blank lines indicating where data should be entered.
2. to resolve missing pieces of information necessary to complete a history or analysis of some event or occurrence.
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word fill-in-the-blank
adj. describing something that is essentially unchanged from one instance to the next, with only names or other particular details changed. cf. cookie-cutter
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word delirium loquaces
this is the best translation I could come up with for "chattering delirium"
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the list strangely-exigent-phrases
thanks yarb! i'm glad you're entertained
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the list phraseologue---x-the-y
hi madmouth! Some glaring omissions on my part and so thanks. i took the liberty of adjusting a couple of your additions to suit my orthographic cacoethes, hope that's ok. you're persona grata on my lists anytime
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the user santoshlmn
indeed it is
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word Drysdale's
this definition doesn't go with the word. I've been tagging such instances glitch definition, but I can't with this one, I think because of the apostrophe
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word Humr
I went on a hunt for a pronunciation and was frustrated. However I did find that the Humr are an African tribe, one out of the grouping of Arabic-speaking nomadic cattle herding tribes known as the Baggara inhabiting the Sahel region. Humr means "the red ones."
see also Umm Nyolokh.
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the word moss piglet
see tardigrade, water bear
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the word trick-o'-the-loop
older Irish colloq., see strap game
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the word strap game
a swindle in which a strap or belt is folded at its midpoint, then rolled up tightly; the mark is enjoined to bet that he can arrest the unrolling of the strap when both ends are pulled, by inserting a pencil in center of the roll.
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the word feijoada
yum
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the list duplication-and-copying
you could always make your own list...
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word farting
Jeez, maybe I'm a whippersnapper or something; I can't understand why this (and fart) are tagged "offensive"? "Impolite" and "use carefully" I could agree with, but offensive?
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the list the-measure-of-man
curba, degree-day, dichas
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word sorra
as indicated above, the following definition is found under the Century Dictionary & Cyclopedia entry at sorrow:
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word lion-dragon
could go on your lists of heraldic terminology
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
madmouth anticipated this list: list of mustard diseases
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word paralian
made me think of amphiscian
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word amphiscian
doesn't make sense that amphiscii is the plural of this word, because shouldn't then the singular be amphiscios (or amphiscius)?
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word golden sulphuret of antimony
found on dict.org<blockquote>Golden sulphide of antimony, or Golden sulphuret of antimony (Chem.), the pentasulphide of antimony, a golden or orange yellow powder.</blockquote>
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word fuming liquor of Libavius
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word camoufleur
from Wikipedia:
See also comments under camofleurMarch 17, 2014
ry commented on the word camofleur
*facepalm* ...camoufleur is obviously the correct form. I think that is why I had little success finding citations.
Here is a google books search ngram showing that camoufleur is by far the more prevalent spelling; in fact the number of instances of camOfleur is below the threshold needed to appear in the graph.
March 17, 2014
ry commented on the word black-fox
see black fox
March 17, 2014
ry commented on the list cloud-mine
this is slide-spitting!
March 17, 2014
ry commented on the list retro-encabulator-tech-specs
this is amazing. thank you for finding this.
March 17, 2014
ry commented on the word rassclat
see comments at bumbaclot
March 14, 2014
ry commented on the word bumbaclot
This word is of Jamaican origin. In Jamaican patois it means ‘blood cloth,’ referring to a menstrual pad, and commonly is used as an expression of anger or annoyance, or a general derogatory epithet.
March 14, 2014
ry commented on the word hesperian
defined at Hesperian
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word Yeats's
another glitch. Wordnik seems to have some trouble with straight apostrophes in urls...
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word ludophone
coined here, I think: ludophones
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word hell-for-leather
fun variant: hell-bent for leather, which shows up on Wiktionary (but not reflected on its own word page here)
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the list drinkytime-or-that-most-happy-of-hours
I was looking for this list, and i found it
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the user bilby
didn't you have a list called "Drinky-time, or the most happy of hours" or some such? Maybe it was someone else...
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word camofleur
a military engineer specializing in the camouflage of structures
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the list femmesque
intrigante
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word shivered
this could go on hernesheir's list of heraldry terms
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word shitfire
see note under spitfire
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word spitfire
interesting note about the development of spitfire/shitfire on etymonline.com; apparently “shitfire” originally appeared meaning cannon; “spitfire” was a euphemization of same. The reference to a volatile personality (one who “spits fire”) came much later.
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word shit-fire
see shitfire
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word Glasswipes
I like it. somewhat lessens the (subjective) vulgarity and specifically denigrates ability, intelligence and social standing where the other term is, depending on context, either a generalized and pointless epithet, or needlessly histrionic
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word will advise
— urbandictionary.com Word of the Day, 2014-03-11cf. please advise.
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word farraginaceous
— Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms, Frederic Sturges Allen, 1920derived, I assume, from farrago.
March 10, 2014
ry commented on the word af
internet abbreviation of as fuck; as in, "cold af," "sexy af"
March 10, 2014
ry commented on the list flotilla
https://www.wordnik.com/lists/a-list-of-his-majesty-s-i-ships-i-and-vessels-in-the-i-royal-navy-i-1748
March 10, 2014
ry commented on the word scalder
ok, that's enough, I have to copycat hernesheir's never on Craigslist concept with my own list
March 9, 2014
ry commented on the list everyones-a-critic
most people say to read Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist... first, as a kind of ramp-up. then Ulysses (& only then, finally Finnegan's Wake). I don't know, i only ever read the first one in that sequence.
March 7, 2014
ry commented on the list personifications
I've now ransacked it! Thanks much ruzuzu.
I hate to add the capitalized words when they are already listed as lowercase forms but i have to go as the cacoethes moves me
March 7, 2014
ry commented on the word rap-full
could go on a list of sailing or nautical words
March 7, 2014
ry commented on the list k-man-pilkers
i empathize. i have a notebook like that. know it hasn't been thrown out but i haven't been able to find it for a couple years
March 7, 2014
ry commented on the word kill-devil
old term for rum
March 6, 2014
ry commented on the list k-man-pilkers
I'm reading these in his voice in my head, and giggling like a schoolgirl
March 6, 2014
ry commented on the word yemshick
The Czar, His Court and People: Including a Tour in Norway and Sweden, Sir John Maxwell, 1848 (archive.org)
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life Thomas Wallace Knox, 1871 (gutenberg.org)
March 6, 2014
ry commented on the word Karl the Fog
popular personification of the fog, mist, and overcast endemic to San Francisco and environs. Derived from, and incarnated in, a Twitter account of the same name
March 5, 2014
ry commented on the word light-ball
this is another one that could go on the great Never For Sale On Craigslist list.
March 5, 2014
ry commented on the list lies--1
agh i totally should have remembered that from art history...sometimes i think i feel my cultural literacy fleeing me. Or probably other minutiae more relevant to my current walk of life are usurping the neural pathways involved
thanks
March 5, 2014
ry commented on the list lies--1
hi ruzuzuzuzu so good to hear from you and i'm afraid my complete lack of a sense of humor is obturating my response. FYI "pipe" has a ribald slang meaning in French, but I'm sure you didn't mean that
anyway have a lovely day and thanks for the comment :D
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word hydrarchos
‘Like basilosaurus, pontogeneus was first recognized from “Dr.” Albert Koch's “Hydrarchos”, a 114-foot (35 m) skeleton he had assembled in 1845 from the fossilized remains of several different archaeocetes. Koch's “sea serpent” toured the US and Europe before being destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire on October 10, 1871.’
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word switchel
This sounds yummy
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the list suitable-names-for-female-pandas
I remember a goofy song that might have been directly inspired by this, or vice versa. Literally about a panda named Yolanda escaping from the zoo; the chorus went something like "Yolanda / nothing rhymes with you except Rwanda / another day we'd name you Amanda / but Yolanda sounds more Eastern European / which is nice"
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word vinegar-faced
I can't find a definition for this anywhere. But the imagery seems obvious: a puckered, pinched expression of fussy, Puritanical disapproval
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the list never-on-craigslist
thieves' vinegar?
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the list gobsmacking-words
This is great! Think I will tarry awhile here. Can I suggest: fnord, sbirro, and maybe drad
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word polish wal-mart
why has this been looked up 56 times
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word Annunaki
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: a name for a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures (i.e. Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian), meaning something to the effect of ‘those of royal blood’ or ‘princely offspring’. According to The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, the Anunnaki ‘are the Sumerian deities of the old primordial line; they are chthonic deities of fertility, associated eventually with the underworld, where they became judges. They take their name from the old sky god An (Anu).’
They don’t seem to be named specifically, and it sounds like there were purported to be some hundreds of them. So, to my mind, analogous to other cultures’ cohorts of demigods, angels, Titans, or what-have-you, but with a netherworld spin.
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word ananda
Sanskrit, Ānanda (आनन्द) – bliss, delight, peace. In Hinduism—well, there is a whole lot more involved in this concept and its nesting within the Hindu system of values than I can attempt to understand, let alone relate, at this time
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word stop-action
alternate form of stop-motion
February 28, 2014
ry commented on the word zemi
Anyone working on a list of folk beliefs or mythological figures?
February 27, 2014
ry commented on the word Lucullan
i did mean to say earlier that rhyming Cuchulain with Lucullan was/is a stroke of genius warranting a slow clap if not three cheers.
February 27, 2014
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
Lucullan, Wagnerian, Byronic, Lynchian, Malthusian, Junoesque, Victorian, Dantean, Orwellian: can these legitimately be called eponyms? If not, is there a name for them other than "proper adjective"? I feel like there might be.
February 27, 2014
ry commented on the word lucullan
The entry is under Lucullan.
February 27, 2014
ry commented on the list thats-so-raven
if you add Odin, consider adding Huginn and Muninn, Grip, Kutkh, and possibly other raven figures of various cultures
January 21, 2014
ry commented on the word unfuckwittable
see comments at unfuckwithable
January 8, 2014
ry commented on the word unfuckwithable
more commonly rendered as unfuckwittable or unfuckwittible (from which the usual pronunciation may be gleaned) and definitely not coined on Wordnik; it was used in rap songs as early as 2001 (Too $hort, Talkin' Shit) and probably earlier.
January 8, 2014
ry commented on the word Dreizack
German, "trident"; saw this used (here) to refer specifically to the trident of Neptune/Poseidon
January 7, 2014
ry commented on the list it-s-wet-and-it-s-land-wetlands
lovéd
December 7, 2013
ry commented on the word Hiddlestoner
A fan of actor Tom Hiddleston.
December 7, 2013
ry commented on the word managerial we
From From Urbandictionary.com (can also be seen in the tweets at right):
1. managerial we
word of the day: November 24, 2013
When a manager says ‘we’ and means ‘you’
Bossman: We need to fix this
Wageslave: OK, should I set up a meeting for us?
Bossman: No, just do it. That was the ‘managerial we’; I meant ‘you’
November 26, 2013
ry commented on the word sleep tattoo
from urbandictionary.com:
1. sleep tattoos
word of the day: November 14, 2013
N. The markings on the body from sleeping for an extended period of time, caused by blankets, clothing, or any other thing one would sleep on. Commonly found on the chest, face, and arms.
person 1: I just had the best nap of my life
Person 2: whats that all over your chest?
Person 1: oh those are just some sleep tattoos from my blanket.
November 15, 2013
ry commented on the word thanatoptic
of or relating to thanatopsis
November 13, 2013
ry commented on the word extant
yeah, but it's spelled existent. and they don't mean precisely the same thing.
November 13, 2013
ry commented on the word saola
One of the rarest and most threatened mammals on earth has been caught on camera in Vietnam for the first time in 15 years, renewing hope for the recovery of the species, an international conservation group said Wednesday.
The Saola, a long-horned ox, was photographed by a camera in a forest in central Vietnam in September...
via NPR, November 13, 2013
November 13, 2013
ry commented on the list eccentric-girls-names
also names-for-female-strippers-pursuing-their-graduate-degrees
November 12, 2013
ry commented on the word krokodil
A Russian street name for the opioid desomorphine
November 12, 2013
ry commented on the word bankster
this word annoys me, I don't know why. maybe because I've seen it used one too many times by people who are more or less financially illiterate.
November 11, 2013
ry commented on the word wagabone
an eye-dialect variant of 'vagabond', based on an archaic lower-class English accent, seen in Dickens and elsewhere
November 11, 2013
ry commented on the word bend an elbow
today, a highlight of the usually jejune words-of-the-day posted by urbandictionary.com; meaning "grab a drink or smoke a cigarette".
Interesting that gulyasrobi already had this on a list of Old Western Slang.
November 11, 2013
ry commented on the list my-worse-half
This is wonderful. I can give you a few more candidates from the comics: Bizarro Superman, Grendel, Ghost Rider, Venom(?), Typhoid Mary...and I'll stop there.
November 6, 2013
ry commented on the word percontation point
Also known as irony mark or, sometimes, snark.
Can be approximated in some unicode fonts using the Arabic question mark, ؟
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word alpineer
read this in an article last night, can't find definition. possibly a nonce word; definition to the effect of "a mountaineer whose home turf is the Alps; or broadly, a mountaineer"
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word on the eve of
just before (an event).
See examples above.
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word take that, evildoer!
something fun to say when you accidentally bump, bludgeon or otherwise injure another.
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word foilsman
a person who uses a fencing foil; a fencer.
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word Mexclamation point
it's much more useful than "inverted exclamation point" or "signo de apertura de admiración"
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word effractor
for your lists of criminals and scoundrels
October 24, 2013
ry commented on the word Racecar
a fan of the Yo, Is This Racist? blog and podcast
October 24, 2013
ry commented on the word link-building
What two-bit SEO marketers are trying to do when they post their clients' blurbs on Wordnik. Any site that utilizes user-generated content is liable to receive many of these not-so-wonderfully non sequitur ejaculations of advertising, the goal being not to win patronage from thee and me, but for Google to find such-and-such name in context on ever more and sundry websites and thus rank them "higher" in search results.
October 23, 2013
ry commented on the list erudite-neologisms
what language is this?
October 11, 2013
ry commented on the word we cool
a vernacular interjection-type phrase.
Posed as a question (sometimes as are we cool?) it means “do you understand,” or “do you have any disagreement or argument with me, or with (some issue)?” Often repeated back, in response, it confirms understanding, agreement, mutual accord. Spoken declaratively, it can signify that things are going well, conditions are favorable, or that the speaker is on good terms with another.
from Urbandictionary.com:
October 11, 2013
ry commented on the word NoCal
I think I've seen LoCal once or twice but SoCal is the construction usually used to describe that portion of the state.
October 2, 2013
ry commented on the user buckley0213
Does she do so in rhyme, to the accompaniment of sick beats?
September 26, 2013
ry commented on the word Realtor
I've heard it sometimes also pronouncedly pronounced "reel-a-tor"
September 22, 2013
ry commented on the word sueballs
Wordnik blog turned up this delight:
http://theweek.com/article/index/249725/kill-the-apostrophe
September 20, 2013
ry commented on the word papelard
oh ok, that's fine then. I was trying to make a reference to a recent tweet-recycling kerfuffle.
September 17, 2013
ry commented on the word SLOTH LOVE CHUNKS
This is a mangled Goonies reference(?)
September 17, 2013
ry commented on the word papelard
recycling words of the day, eh?
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the word undefined
undefined
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the word advermorial
I disagree that this should be banned; it seems a powerfully cynical, eviscerating satire-in-miniature of the practice it describes.
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the word burn with a low blue flame
1. quietly but intensely enraged.
2. very drunk; may refer to hair-trigger irritability or a metaphorical saturation with alcohol to the point of flammability.
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the user Cindyliamsan
sham poison ripoff whoops don't hippies lax violent gross boogers
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the user goldentraingletourspackages
They stole my wallet and left me for dead in an alley
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the user indiachardhamyatra
rude, shoddy, botch, simpletons, crap, difficult, ripoff
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the user palaceonwheelsindia
disaster confusing immoral degraded spam chintzy fake vituperative hacker ripoff cheesy discourteous duplicitous vapid truculence incompetent expensive spendy horrible negative perverted loser
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the word yiss
I think this maybe should go on the lolcats list.
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the word ewwy
adj.: that makes one say "eww"
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the word knucklebuster
I thought this might be a typo where knuckleduster was intended, but urbandictionary.com has a couple definitions which relate to working on cars under circumstances causing the technician's hands (including knuckles) receive cuts and scrapes. Looks like it may refer to the one performing the work, or to the vehicle itself.
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the word intelligencer
I was thinking about verbing and newspapers (bilby's citation below, as well as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer). Could intelligence be a verb?
September 3, 2013
ry commented on the word carbonite
also a fictitious substance used to "freeze" the character Han Solo in a state of suspended animation, in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back; see the flickr content.
September 3, 2013
ry commented on the word slanket
a morally and aesthetically repugnant thing sort of similar to the Snuggie.
August 27, 2013
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
makes me think of animism, but that's not really it. Maybe resistentialism? :D
Or something that begins with "auto-"...
Unfortunately, wildcard search seems to be out of service here at the mo.
August 27, 2013
ry commented on the word moonman
colloquial name for the statuette given in bestowing of an MTV Video Music Award. Can be seen in the flickr stream below
August 26, 2013
ry commented on the word Iota
the reason for there being no definitions found on this page is because the word is capitalized. Wordnik is case sensitive and most entries are found under the lowercase form, e.g. iota (excepting of course proper nouns and such).
August 25, 2013
ry commented on the word mountweazel
so is this synonymous with nihilartikel?
August 21, 2013
ry commented on the word upsalite
"Making a mistake at work is seldom a good thing....Unless you work in Uppsala University, Sweden, where accidentally leaving equipment running over the weekend led to the creation of the most absorbent material known to man.
August 19, 2013
ry commented on the list oakland-creatures
There is at least one species of procyonid over there, and it's not the olinguito :D
Not sure if you moved to the Bay Area or just within it, but if the former, welcome!
August 19, 2013
ry commented on the word bakufu
walirlan, what is the problem here? It's not English. Whether it qualifies as English loanword from Japanese, or just a transliteration into the Latin alphabet of a Japanese historical term, there is nothing objectively wrong with the word.
August 19, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
the <img> tag doesn't seem to be working in comments. Either that or I'm doing something wrong. See the comment I just put on olinguito.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word olinguito
united in adoration of this ecstatic conjunction of zoology, English, and cuteness.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word bass-ackwards
This is an interestingly unique colloquialism. A deliberate spoonerism of the term ass-backwards; in being so, it both further evokes the explicit definition and partially euphemizes.
I feel like this word has been increasing in general usage, at least in the US.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word spoonerize
To make a spoonerism of (a phrase or pair of words).
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word bass ackwards
see bass-ackwards.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word literally
much like the Telegraph columnist, what I find most tiresome is criticism of this word's alleged misuse. It's such a low-hanging fruit, so easy to spot. But come on it happens all the time—let's also ticket everyone for not making complete stops at stop signs!
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word carbyne
A "new" form of carbon stronger and stiffer than any known material. Also known as linear acetylenic carbon, carbyne is an indefinitely long chain of carbon atoms that are joined together by sequential double bonds or alternating single and triple bonds (a polyyne). Detected reportedly in asteroids, and synthesized only in vanishingly minute amounts in a lab. Only a single molecule thick, meaning that, for a given mass of carbyne, the surface area thereof is relatively immense.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word olinguito
A small (~2 lb.) mammal, Bassaricyon neblina. Member of the raccoon family, native to Colombia and Ecuador, recently classified by scientists at the Smithsonian Institution. Named probably in relation to the olingo. Super cute.
Smithsonian article
August 15, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
Thanks for listening! I've just discovered that you seem to have fixed the thing where very large lists wouldn't load—for instance, outcasts loads in ~300ms! I'm ecstatic!
August 3, 2013
ry commented on the user testette
magnelephant
August 2, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
line breaks in my comments have absconded. por ejemplo, I left a comment on scowlful where I excerpted a poem and separated the lines with hard returns; now it seems to appear as one solid text block.
August 2, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
Wait, I can't edit my comments? I don't like it!
August 2, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
you guys changed some stuff. I like it!
August 2, 2013
ry commented on the word little monster
a fan of Lady Gaga
July 31, 2013
ry commented on the word Blockhead
name for fans of New Kids on the Block musical group
July 31, 2013
ry commented on the word Cheesehead
a fan of the Green Bay Packers, an American football team.
July 31, 2013
ry commented on the word scowlful
Turned this up in Google Books:<blockquote>The musket gripp'd ; the brow firm set ; a scowlful smile of joy;
And shoulder square by shoulder, as of old at Fontenoy : —
Up ! where the battery-flash the heaven with battle-thunder stuns,
Where the swarthy cannoneers of France yet prime and point their guns,
Then on them with that levell'd steel, one charge . . . Too late ! ... the breath
Of war's red throat across the field has borne a waft of death.</blockquote>“The Death of Sir John Moore”, 1809, from The Visions of England by Francis Turner Palgrave.
July 31, 2013
ry commented on the word rackin frackin
see comments at rassum frassum
July 29, 2013
ry commented on the word sponsee
just saw this in a corpseak-laden document about an internal mentoring program.
I have deep misgivings about the word, engendering a crisis my usually laissez-faire attitude towards English usage may not survive
July 29, 2013
ry commented on the word rassum frassum
can't find a real definition for this, but here is an excerpt of an exchange on Yahoo! Answers—not the most reliable linguistic resource, I know—that nevertheless jibes with what I've heard:
What does "rassa frassa" mean? It was in an email from a co-worker. Is this Klingon? Or what? Thanks.
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Madame M
It's supposed to be the sound of low-level, angry grumbling -- as mentioned above, Yosemite Sam says it when he's angry at Bugs Bunny. "Rassa-frassa-frick-frackin rabbit."
I can't find an etymology, but if you put it into a search engine, you'll get all sorts of complainers who are using it in their blogs to express discontent (-:.
Other Answers (1)
Ulquiorra
It's what Yosemite Sam says on "Bugs Bunny" when he wants to swear, except I've always thought he said "Rassum Frassum"
"rassa frassa" has ~15K exact results on Google where "rassum frassum" has ~21K.
July 29, 2013
ry commented on the word slangwanger
see slangwhanger
July 27, 2013
ry commented on the word have a horse in the race
Literally, to be holding a bet on a horse in a race. To have a stake in something, to have a vested interest. Most often used in negative constructions. The above phrase has approx 500,000 hits on Google, whereas have no horse in the race and have no horse in this race have 3.5 and 1.5 million hits, respectively.
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word sleeper agent
from Wikipedia
A sleeper agent is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but rather to act as a potential asset if activated. Sleeper agents are popular plot devices in fiction...
cf. sleeper cell
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word long con
"A long or big con is a scam that unfolds over several days or weeks and involves a team of swindlers, as well as props, sets, extras, costumes, and scripted lines. It aims to rob the victim of thousands of dollars, often by getting him or her to empty out banking accounts and borrow from family members."
from Amy Reading, The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, A Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con, Chapter One: Confidence via this Wikipedia article
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word R-ball
designer/typesetter/typographer jargon for the registered trademark symbol, ®.
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word steeplebush
is that supposed to be now, or does ow have a particular definition there? Obsolete spelling of oh?
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word penitentiary
tail stretcher?!
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word chibouc
see chibouk
July 22, 2013
ry commented on the word chibouk
chibouk (chibouc)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Wordnik has the word "chibouc", undefined.
An 1838 illustration of a Turkish coffee house with patrons smoking from long-stemmed chibouk pipes, as featured in Travels in the western Caucasus by Edmund Spencer.
A chibouk (French: chibouque; from the Turkish: çıbuk, çubuk (English: "stick"); also romanized čopoq, ciunoux or tchibouque)1 is a very long-stemmed Turkish tobacco pipe, often featuring a clay bowl ornamented with precious stones. The stem of the chibouk generally ranges between 4 and 5 ft. (1.2 and 1.5 m), much longer than even Western churchwarden pipes. While primarily known as a Turkish pipe, the chibouk was once popular in Iran, as well.
(seen in story by Edgar Allen Poe)
(comment copied from CarlosG's list)
July 22, 2013
ry commented on the user walirlan
you must realize that in English there are many possible additions to words in the standard lexicon; nearly any word can take suffixes or prefixes altering its meaning, intenseness, part of speech, &c. &c. The number of possible permutations is nearly unlimited. Therefore most dictionaries and reference works do not contain entries for many words which are, strictly speaking, allowable in standard English; words which do not usually, but may conceivably, have additions like -ish, -ment, -ness, -ly, -liest and so forth. For a reference work (or website) to omit such entries is not a failing. It is your responsibility as an informed reader or student to deduce any definitions that may be missing in such cases from the combined definitions of the base word and the combining form/suffix/prefix/whatever (or seek out a more comprehensive reference, such as the OED or another unabridged dictionary). Please do feel free to add comments here offering any such deductions, under the word's entry as you have been doing, but comments in a continuous stream expressing surprise that this or that bizarre term is "missing," may become wearisome to others who are viewing them all over the Community page.
Also it helps if you ensure you are spelling the word correctly.
July 21, 2013
ry commented on the word Incongruity
see incongruity
July 21, 2013
ry commented on the word offbeatness
Don't be. Dictionaries and reference works often omit entries for all possible inflections and combinations of works like offbeat plus such suffixes as -ness, -ment &c. Having entries for the suffixes themselves is sufficient; the minimally apperceptive reader can break down any word not having its own entry into its component parts, look each up, and devise the definition for themselves. Otherwise the dictionary would be overflowing with entries for possibly less useful words like confutableness, or whatever.
July 20, 2013
ry commented on the list facelift-baltimore
spam
July 20, 2013
ry commented on the list double-dactyls--1
you will enjoy this list!
July 20, 2013
ry commented on the user william100
sounds a little bit like the English word grandstanding.
July 18, 2013
ry commented on the word stomatodeum
stomodeum
July 16, 2013
ry commented on the word draeger
A kind of gas mask used in coal mines. In Miracle at Springhill, Leonard Lerner, 1960, the name is said to have originated in Nova Scotia and to be "derived from that of a German scientist, Alexander Bernhard Draeger, who invented a type of special equipment for breathing in a mine choked with gas." See comments at draegerman.
July 16, 2013
ry commented on the word draegerman
"In the technical jargon of Maritime coal-mining operations, a draegerman is a specially trained rescue worker. A draeger was a gas mask that permitted descent into tunnels where poisonous seepage had occurred." Casselman's Canadian Words Bill Casselman, 1995.
"To those who are unfamiliar with coal mining, it should be explained that a draegerman is a particularly skillful and robust young miner who has been specially trained in rescue work." The Atlantic Monthly #158, 1936.
July 16, 2013
ry commented on the word galdragon
per balkaar.com (?!) "An obsolete Shetland word for a witch or sorceress"
Also turned up in a Google Books search, in A Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, Volume 1 by John Jamieson, 1825: "...this designation is given to a pretended sybil or prophetess..."
Found in works of Sir Walter Scott via same search.
July 16, 2013
ry commented on the word STOP
how poignant.
July 15, 2013
ry commented on the word boke
see also boak.
July 15, 2013
ry commented on the list contemporary-character-classes
thanks for the additions, ruzuzu and bilby
July 12, 2013
ry commented on the list environment--4
Where did you find all these? hippocratic face! Thank you.
July 11, 2013
ry commented on the word mongol
how so?
July 11, 2013
ry commented on the user iampolo
what the heck
July 8, 2013
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
alexz I also originally posited a single word, like litotes, pleonasm, &c. But now that I've been down the rabbit hole and spent far too much time looking at lists of rhetorical figures and such, I'm no longer sure there exists a single word that describes it.
Perhaps it's time for some pseudo-Greek coinage!
July 8, 2013
ry commented on the word down the rabbit hole
see rabbit hole
July 8, 2013
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
telofy's rhetorical figure is still a mystery to me. Something like cherry picking a straw man, but with the opposite intent.
July 6, 2013
ry commented on the list mythic-america
Oh this is great.
the phrase how the west was won might go here, although it might be superfluous with manifest destiny and march to the sea. I'm also thinking of the phrase the old, weird America but it's more about folk music than any historical event(s), so maybe not
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the word inkhorn
Some neurological sequela is forcing me to specify that Inkhorn Leghorn would be Foghorn Leghorn's city cousin.
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the word monsterful
amazing, wonderful (from http://obsoleteword.blogspot.com/)
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the list time-travel
chronic hysteresis loop
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
hi sequin! You were close—semantic satiation is the phrase; also I think jamais vu can encompass it.
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the word identity does not exist
Got this error message from a database today, evoking an existential crisis
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the list rosenfield-titles-of-attribute
chancellor of charm, earl of erudition?
July 2, 2013
ry commented on the word fames artium magistra
"hunger is the teacher of skills"; cf. necessity is the mother of invention
July 2, 2013
ry commented on the word better than a sharp stick in the eye
see better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick
July 1, 2013
ry commented on the word hoplophile
wow this is just the word I needed a couple of days ago when I commented on tack-driver. In fact, I'm gonna edit that comment
July 1, 2013
ry commented on the word eccedentiast
"one who presents the teeth," a person who smiles falsely or forcedly. A neologism probably coined by novelist Florence King in a column in The National Review.
June 29, 2013
ry commented on the word ASMR
See autonomous sensory meridian response; note the citations above all refer to "Age Specific Mortality Rates".
June 28, 2013
ry commented on the word autonomous sensory meridian response
a physical sensation, similar to frisson, caused by stimuli varying from person to person; having one's hair cut close with clippers about the nape of the neck is a common example. Not recognized by science but widely discussed on the internet (1 2 3). Usually called ASMR.
June 28, 2013
ry commented on the word tack-driver
seems to be a go-to metaphor amongst hoplophiles.
June 28, 2013
ry commented on the list is-this-a-dagger-i-see-before-me
balarao, adargue, caniple, bidogyn, baslard, semispata, cultellus, acinaces, skean, custil, misericordia, kuttar, panade, couteau, anlace, sax
June 25, 2013
ry commented on the word inymph
yeh, It's not in any reliable reference site, I think it's a case of spurious info propagating thru the interwebs...but who am I to stop that process. Who knows, before too long it may be the official name.
But I think it came from this document, or one like it. It shows up as inymph in google. but if you open the link and find the sentence, it just says "nymph".
June 25, 2013
ry commented on the word inymph
I think this might be an OCR error, not a real word, judging by the Google hits :(
June 25, 2013
ry commented on the word get on the stick
to force oneself to act.
used as an imperative, the speaker is demanding action on a particular item within the interlocutor's purview. The implication is the speaker desires that they be all over it like a cheap suit or perhaps like white on rice.
June 24, 2013
ry commented on the word wekau
a funny animal with a silly name and it's not listed anywhere!
June 24, 2013
ry commented on the word chaotropic
ooh shiny
June 24, 2013
ry commented on the word Vandemonian
see vandemonian
June 24, 2013
ry commented on the word Chironian
having to do with either the mythological centaur Chiron, or the astronomical centaur (see 2nd definition in Wiktionary entry under centaur) designated 2060-Chiron.
June 23, 2013
ry commented on the word Heimaey
from Wikipedia:
Heimaey (-is), literally Home Island, is an Icelandic island. At a size of 13.4 km² (5.2 sq. miles), it is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, and the largest and most populated Icelandic island outside the main island of Iceland. Heimaey lies approximately 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) off the south coast of Iceland. It is the only populated island of the Vestmannaeyjar islands, with a population of approximately 4,500.
June 23, 2013
ry commented on the word apollolyra
This is defined under, and is linked to from, psalm-melodicon. A couple more for the musical instrument listers!
June 21, 2013
ry commented on the list fight-scene-words
alexz: have you perchance perused the Arsenal for Civil Defunse list? I think you might like it.
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the user calypso27
well thank you for 1) the kind words 2) listening to my didactic rambling 3) giving me a nice list to add words to. I'm off to check out the rest of your lists, then...
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the word rounceval
possible derivation of runcible?
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the word coozie
see koozie.
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the list the-hotlist
this is the kind of insight for which I rely on you.
I like "PwnCloudr". I think I'd be glad to get in at the ground floor at PwnCloudr, and be blithely paid in stock options
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the word raprich
seems not unlike rapprochement(?)
June 19, 2013
ry commented on the list fight-scene-words
See also these lists:
Violence
Words that hurt
June 18, 2013
ry commented on the word lexologica
possibly a variation on lethologica?
June 18, 2013
ry commented on the user niktool
we're talking about words!
June 18, 2013
ry commented on the word psithurysm
see psithurism
June 18, 2013
ry commented on the word evility
wilbur, this is the best citation ever.
June 17, 2013
ry commented on the list fight-scene-words
I've done a bit quite a few. I have to politely say it would be good of you to put comments on the actual word page (for instance, see the comment I've added on boomeranging) instead of in the entries of your lists. That way, anyone who later looks up the word will see your comment (instead of it being all but hidden, here on your list).
Also, if you're not finding expected definitions for words on your lists, you should be aware that wordnik is case-sensitive & the default entries for most words are lowercase. In fact, my OCD tells me you should take the time to fix up this list so all its entries are lowercase...but that's entirely up to you of course.
Basically the idea is that if someone clicks on a word on someone else's list, your list will show up on the word page, and vice versa. If the words on your lists are capitalized or otherwise differ from the default entries, that doesn't happen.
This is a great list. I wouldn't have made such a long-winded comment otherwise :)
June 17, 2013
ry commented on the word boomeranging
per calypso27:
Boomeranging - yes, this IS a word. (Ex. 'The multiple shards came at me, boomeranging in heavy arches')
June 17, 2013
ry commented on the word brachiate
from Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear:
June 17, 2013
ry commented on the list the-hotlist
this list would be extremely useful for creating random internet startup names (be sure to use camelcase!): CitePile! GigaTrak! AutoClient! CopyGraph! MegaMiniPlus! StokeBaboon!
June 17, 2013
ry commented on the word ti-ti
'The state of being tired to the point that one can no longer pronounce the word "tired."'
(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ti-ti)
my coconspirator says this. I think she picked it up from some friends who are on the younger side/
June 17, 2013
ry commented on the word compotator
wow this is a cool word. And not listed yet
June 17, 2013
ry commented on the list psychology-for-dummies
In Charles Stross' The Jennifer Morgue he writes an afterword in which James Bond is dissected and discussed as a classic Mary Sue, at least as regards the creator, Ian Fleming's, relationship with the character. Very interesting.
June 17, 2013
ry commented on the word batrachomyomachy
a good single-word replacement for tempest in a teapot or much ado about nothing
June 12, 2013
ry commented on the word lamp black
en garde! here is my riposte:
http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=lamp+black%2Clampblack&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3
June 12, 2013
ry commented on the word minifig
see flickr content!
June 11, 2013
ry commented on the word lamp black
this is usually rendered as, and is defined under, lampblack
June 11, 2013
ry commented on the list dyes-and-pigments
astaxanthin?
June 11, 2013
ry commented on the word homina
from urbandictionary.com:
A word, normally repeated three times as in [homina homina homina], to express shock, befuddlement, or general speechlessness. Often when looking at a particularly attractive member of the speaker's favored sex. It probably comes from Ralph Kramden on "The Honeymooners."
Attractive Female: Hello.
Me: Homina homina homina.
I first saw this used, I believe in a comic book, by a character who had just narrowly avoided some potentially fatal violence.
June 10, 2013
ry commented on the list the-cant-of-mac
the list title.
June 10, 2013
ry commented on the word orthosexuality
I smell politics.
June 10, 2013
ry commented on the word affinal
tienwru, if you mean etymologically, it's similar to affinity, which is from the Latin ad-, to, + fīnis, boundary; meaning "related by marriage" (literally, "bordering on" or "adjacent to").
June 10, 2013
ry commented on the word enfant explosif
saw this today in a column in the Telegraph, used to describe Scottish novelist Iain Banks, who died this Sunday (2013-07-09). Doesn't seem to be formally defined anywhere, online at least.
sionnach has a list from his novel The Crow Road.
And another list from another of his books.
June 10, 2013
ry commented on the word cimeter
from Wikipedia:
A cimeter or scimitar is a large, curved butcher's knife, with a blade typically 10-12" (25-30cm) long. It is used primarily for cutting large pieces of meat into retail cuts such as steaks.
I used to use these working at a seafood counter. I've never seen one in anyone's kitchen other than my own (and my then-boss' kitchen).
June 7, 2013
ry commented on the word seumorph
noddy, you are looking for skeuomorph?
June 7, 2013
ry commented on the word War on Fun
(The) War on Fun is a perceived crackdown on nightlife, events, and various other parties of partiers in a municipal area. Commonly mentioned in press in San Francisco, CA, referencing actions and measures implemented by the San Francisco City Council, police department, and California Bureau of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Stop the War on Fun
topic: War on Fun
June 6, 2013
ry commented on the word flying blind
see fly blind
June 6, 2013
ry commented on the word confabulator
This has same definition in Latin; one who chats
June 6, 2013
ry commented on the word No Fun City
In San Francisco we have the War on Fun.
June 6, 2013
ry commented on the word pyrogen
deinonychus' comment is language often used in reference to homeopathic preparations which consist almost entirely of water.
June 6, 2013
ry commented on the word take it as read
see take something as read
June 6, 2013
ry commented on the word I ask you
an intensifier applied to a question; or also, in UK English, a standalone interjection expressing surprise or anger in regards to some matter under discussion.
June 6, 2013
ry commented on the word doubleplus ungood
defined (by Wiktionary) under double-plus-ungood
June 6, 2013
ry commented on the word your problem is that you lack structure, said he, donning his welder's mask
trying to figure out the poetic meter of this sentence. does it have one? anyone know this stuff?
your prob′ lem is that′ you lack struc′ ture said he′
don′ ning his weld′ ers mask′
May 24, 2013
ry commented on the word taking a header
alexz I always picture the faller with their head aimed roughly in the direction of the fall when take a header is used, whether protecting it or not; for instance, a sot passes out while leaning on the railing of a pier and takes a header into the water.
May 24, 2013
ry commented on the word cheesed
ian.squire.92, I think you are looking for the third definition in the Wiktionary entry under cheese. Any tense would be perfectly permissible in Scrabble, except maybe cheesen.
May 24, 2013
ry commented on the word deepity
came across this in an old Guardian UK article and find it's been attended to by assiduous wiktionarists. The gratifyingly droll phrase beware of deepities is the subheading beginning the paragraph in the article
May 24, 2013
ry commented on the word take something as read
by far the most common usage of this phrase is "to take it as read that...(something is the case)"
also commonly mis- or alternately-phrased as take it as written or sometimes take it as writ
May 23, 2013
ry commented on the word survenue
this is one of those "there's a name for that" kind of words.
(Is there an adjective that? Something that means "having a detailed meaning"?)
May 23, 2013
ry commented on the word plis
dolan pls
May 21, 2013
ry commented on the list ill-drink-to-that
thanks for the addition, danama.
May 20, 2013
ry commented on the list words-in-which-u-is-pronounced-yu
I just started adding a bunch of words then realized the scope of my undertaking. *ule *ular *ute etc. return a plethora of words that could be added to this list...
May 17, 2013
ry commented on the word achievement unlocked
a meme-ish phrase used when one has reached a milestone or accomplished something noteworthy. Derived from video games in which the player works through a hierarchical sequence or tree of goals; "unlocking" one allows further progress through the game, access to more difficult achievements, and often new powers, abilities, etc.
May 17, 2013
ry commented on the word make a big production of
to infuse some undertaking or event with great and painstaking effort, weighty gestures, elaborate histrionics, florid melodrama, or all of the above
May 16, 2013
ry commented on the word kanpai
乾杯, a toast in Japanese: "drain the glass"
May 15, 2013
ry commented on the user feedback
good morrow all
i found a way—i think—for you to remove terms added to your open lists by others. see my comment up in here: http://support.wordnik.com/wordnik/topics/cant_delete_other_users_words_on_own_list
May 15, 2013
ry commented on the word sangrail
alternate/archaic spelling of sangreal
May 15, 2013
ry commented on the word couac
I have fond(ish) memories of producing this sound, back in the fifth grade.
also: not listed?!
May 15, 2013
ry commented on the word Chinese gooseberry
thus tag it, then
May 14, 2013
ry commented on the word butler lie
from Wikipedia:
A term coined by researchers in Cornell University's Social Media Lab that describes small/innate lies which are usually sent electronically, and are used to terminate conversations or to save face. For example sending an SMS to someone reading "I have to go, the waiter is here" when you are not at a restaurant is an example of a butler lie.
http://birnholtz.hci.cornell.edu/paper0940-hancock.pdf
May 13, 2013
ry commented on the list lies--1
so this is mostly a list of acts & types of verbal or written deception.
see also:
Fubbery and Blaflum
Pants on fire
Not Quite The Real Thang
Misdirector's Cut
Loaded Dice
disinformation
May 13, 2013
ry commented on the user serean
I've not.
May 12, 2013
ry commented on the word plumbum
seeing this word caused the phrase plumbum oscillans to dredge itself up from the back of some rattling, rusted file cabinet of my brain. at first i could not remember a thing about it.
May 10, 2013
ry commented on the word plumbum oscillans
(probably pseudo-) Latin for "swinging the lead"; British doctors' slang for malingering, or seeking a sick note to take time off work. I believe I saw this a while back in an old Eric Partridge slang dictionary. It may originally have been a British armed forces' slang term, equivalent to the U.S. goldbricking
May 10, 2013
ry commented on the word the die is cast
I'm a fan of the origin of this phrase; it's an attribution to Julius Caesar (usually "alea iacta est"), supposedly stated as he gave the command to his army to begin crossing the river Rubicon, officially entering Roman land, and thereby irrevocably committing himself to civil war. Thus also the phrase cross the Rubicon.
May 10, 2013
ry commented on the word smrad
Slovak, "stink"
May 8, 2013
ry commented on the user serean
Howdy.
May 8, 2013
ry commented on the list unenthusiastic-interjections
merci mille fois, chezmoi, I have added it.
May 7, 2013
ry commented on the word wurly
do bilbies inhabit these?
May 7, 2013
ry commented on the word wurked
this is notable for the fact that the definition not only states nothing about the word but seems entirely unrelated. Perhaps just a bug though.
May 7, 2013
ry commented on the word gestate
a bizarre new addition to corpspeak lexicon?
Today in a meeting one of my coworkers said "Let's gestate this," as some kind of coda, tabling a discussion.
Also: twitter spambots seem to have this word in heavy rotation at the moment: see Tweets
May 3, 2013
ry commented on the word said no one ever
A nullified attribution intended to convey the absurdity of a statement.
"Thank god it's Monday," said no one ever.
from urbandictionary.com
(copied from carlos-words--1)
May 2, 2013
ry commented on the word hedgehog
the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing
May 1, 2013
ry commented on the word Dunning-Kruger effect
from wikipedia:
The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.
May 1, 2013
ry commented on the word theronym
from The Scarcliff Dictionary of Branding
theronym
Posted on December 30, 2007 by Brent
A brand name derived from the name of an animal.
Ford Mustang sports car
Chicago Bears American football team
May 1, 2013
ry commented on the word m'am
variant of ma'am
April 30, 2013
ry commented on the word circular palindrome
dudette
April 30, 2013
ry commented on the word circular palindrome
so basically two consecutive palindromes (lexical or not) that can be concatenated to produce an acceptable word eg debedded. In fact, the simple plural of most single-word noun palindromes would be a circular palindrome: madams, ewes, rotators
April 30, 2013
ry commented on the list science-fact-or-fiction
metadex? tabuloplex? hyperlist?
April 26, 2013
ry commented on the word gray goo
see grey goo
April 25, 2013
ry commented on the list science-fact-or-fiction
lots of folks have sciency-fictiony (I just made that up) lists just like this one. Here are the ones I have been raiding:
Speculative Megastructures
Artificial Intelligence
Humanoids
Blinded with Science
Technical Terms for Fictional Concepts
akmed13's Words
Criswell Predicts
Science Fiction Double Feature
They Came From Outer Space!
technobabble
Star Trek and Star Wars
words... of the FUTURE
nanomenclature
Transhumanity
this modern world
and deinonychus’ dazzling Pure science
plus a couple others I can't find now.
thanks everyone!
(that said, a lot of the words on this here list were not otherwise listed—surprisingly so, in some cases)
April 25, 2013
ry commented on the word drone
can be a transitive verb:
-To assault or attack, as a target or location, by means of drone(s).
"That feeling...gripped me when my village was droned just days ago." -- Farea al-Muslimi, Yemeni journalist, before a US Senate subcommittee, 2013-04-23
April 24, 2013
ry commented on the word devop
great find! I am recalled of a twitter parody account called DEVOPS BORAT, rife with esoteric jokes and broken English. I find it hilarious but perhaps that's just me.
April 23, 2013
ry commented on the list phrases--cool
I am tidally locked in childlike wonder to this list. whole oceans of choice words and hidden gems in unlimited detail! You've a rare talent.
April 17, 2013
ry commented on the word surface of last scattering
"The surface of last scattering refers to the set of points in space at the right distance from us so that we are now receiving photons originally emitted from those points at the time of photon decoupling."
from Cosmic microwave background radiation on wikipedia
I find this a remarkable phrase on several levels
April 17, 2013
ry commented on the list thresholds
“There are things known and there are things unknown and in between are the doors of perception.” Aldous Huxley
April 10, 2013
ry commented on the word Legionnaire's
I pretty much agree, especially in terms of usage vs. convention...I mainly wanted to have a link to where the entry is found
April 10, 2013
ry commented on the word rock and roll
also used as an interjection, meaning "let us begin"
April 10, 2013
ry commented on the word Ion
your fathers name was Ion as in Beam? or Lon as in Cheney?
April 10, 2013
ry commented on the word Legionnaire's
notwithstanding ALL the examples, I believe the proper form is Legionnaires' disease
April 10, 2013
ry commented on the word zOMG
carlosG commented this on his list, but I wanted to also have it here because I like it a lot:
zOMG:
zOMG is a variant of the all-too-popular acronym "OMG", meaning "Oh My God".
The "z" was originally a mistake while attempting to hit the shift key with the left hand, and type "OMG"
Also used in all-caps, 'ZOMG' is generally used in a sarcastic manner, more often than not a humiliating fasion. It is also used as a device for stating the obvious.
"zOMG! you r teh winz!!one!!eleven!"
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=zomg
April 8, 2013
ry commented on the word Ion
This is a contraction of "I don't". See tweets at right. Commonly heard, but I did not realize people had started spelling it phonetically as such.
April 8, 2013
ry commented on the word exclamation mark
exclamation point is definitely more common here in California. I couldn't speak for all the hill people, desert dwellers and fancy-pants east coasters around. I say we squash the beef and all start calling it the ecphoneme! (found that in an unretraceable "Related Words" meander from here).
Also, it looks like frogapplause as well feels somewhat strongly about this phrasing!!!
April 5, 2013
ry commented on the word could knock a buzzard off a gut wagon
Southern U.S. colloquial: jarringly fetid.
April 5, 2013
ry commented on the list medtech
yes, medical device user documentation can be surprisingly pregnant with eldritch menace, I find. I imagine it's different if you are a doctor or technician. "Ho hum, another day, another cirrhotic stigmata"
April 3, 2013
ry commented on the user aning098
up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right,b,a,start
April 3, 2013
ry commented on the word exclamation mark
I find myself agreeing with pterodactyl. There is something irksome about two or four bangs.
...also, gotta love these algorithms—America is listed as a synonym above.
April 3, 2013
ry commented on the word run tell dat
"run and tell that" = "proceed to alert given authority figure(s) as to my doings, if you wish; I am unconcerned" = IDGAF
April 2, 2013
ry commented on the word mollywop
to beat down; to kick someone's ass. Also describes a single, forceful blow to the head. cf. maul, wallop
March 28, 2013
ry commented on the list ✖-locutions
this is great
✖⊚✖⊚
March 28, 2013
ry commented on the word googolplexigong
a large number, 10 to the power of 10 to the power of 100.
March 27, 2013
ry commented on the list inedible-bugs
humbug
March 25, 2013
ry commented on the list kickassery
cf. Words that kick serious ass.
March 25, 2013
ry commented on the word entropic doom
Science fiction author Stephen Baxter's descriptions of this state are vivid and trenchant. Can't remember the book(s) they were in, though.
March 23, 2013
ry commented on the list words-i-will-use-to-sound-awesome
beautiful, beautiful. thank you dreaday, and bilby for pointing me to this
March 23, 2013
ry commented on the list animal-ine--1
check this one out
March 22, 2013
ry commented on the list here-i-dreamt-i-was-an-archetype
my (embarrassing) list contemporary-character-classes is tangentially related to this
March 22, 2013
ry commented on the word pick your poison
variant of what's your poison
March 21, 2013
ry commented on the word the night is still young
defined under the night is young by Wiktionary although I believe this construction is much more common
March 21, 2013
ry commented on the word coulda woulda shoulda
see could have, would have, should have
March 21, 2013
ry commented on the word to pull the plug
see pull the plug
March 20, 2013
ry commented on the list stuffie-just-do-it
backflips
March 20, 2013
ry commented on the word please advise
corporate jargon for "what the fuck" — as endearingly defined on urbandictionary.com
March 20, 2013
ry commented on the word Frosh
see frosh
March 15, 2013
ry commented on the list big-lizards
crocodiles and alligators has extra crocodilians.
March 15, 2013
ry commented on the user ry
i've fallen off the "top listers" sidebar. woe.
March 13, 2013
ry commented on the word pissing match
see pissing contest
March 13, 2013
ry commented on the word &c.
I use it as often as I can (to wit, as remains below the annoyance threshold of my coworkers and clients)
March 13, 2013
ry commented on the word should of
I will accept it as a real word/construction when in non-formal writing its usage vs. the standard usage exceeds an arbitrary ratio...say 24:1. Which I give even odds of happening by 2050.
March 12, 2013
ry commented on the word tupinambis
See teju
March 11, 2013
ry commented on the word tejus
A lizard, Tejus rufescens or Tejus teguexin. See teju
March 11, 2013
ry commented on the word heloderma
"of large size and most repulsive aspect"...oh Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, you old roustabout, you.
March 11, 2013
ry commented on the word gihugant
cf. hunormous
March 11, 2013
ry commented on the list my-god--its-full-of-stars
Proper names of specific stars probably don't belong here but may also be of interest
March 11, 2013
ry commented on the word painted lady
I always thought this was an archaic euphemism for a prostitute. Can't find any citations right now though.
March 1, 2013
ry commented on the word super burrito
I can offer a definition from my personal experience. In many cases synonymous with the "San Francisco Burrito" or "Mission Burrito", this is a large portable meal(s) consisting of meat, cheese, rice, beans, salsa (hot sauce, pico de gallo, or both), sour cream and certain optional ingredients (frequently lettuce, minced cilantro, or guacamole), wrapped in a large (usually 14-inch) tortilla, further wrapped in two layers of aluminum foil. It typically weighs 0.5 - 1 kg, contains >1500 calories, and by many is—indeed can only be—eaten in intervals over the course of a day. It is most often purchased from a taqueria or taco truck. Several Mexican-American chain restaurants, notably Chipotle, have adopted versions into their menus.
March 1, 2013
ry commented on the word soil
no I agree. It makes me think of the phrase soil oneself. Ew. Even though I find the phrase in one's own filth somehow hilarious.
February 26, 2013
ry commented on the list strangely-exigent-phrases
bilby, you may then enjoy the strange output of Horse_ebooks on Twitter, whence it was taken.
February 25, 2013
ry commented on the word mephitine
cf. mephitic
February 18, 2013
ry commented on the word გვფრცქვნი
It should be noted that this is Georgian
February 18, 2013
ry commented on the word feck+all
see fuck all
February 18, 2013
ry commented on the list 50-word-psycho-thriller
this is awesome
February 13, 2013
ry commented on the word zonam perdidit
Latin, "he has lost his purse".
February 12, 2013
ry commented on the word gummint
Ah, see I'd seen it with different spelling(s), now I'm thinking it must have been in older works. Mark Twain maybe.
ngram
February 12, 2013
ry commented on the user Ibcrow
bzzzt, try again.
February 11, 2013
ry commented on the word Russell's teapot
I kind of admire the plucky little devil.
February 11, 2013
ry commented on the word imp of the perverse
metaphor describing a tendency or urge to do the wrong thing under a given set of circumstances, for no other reason than that it is possible to do so. cf. shoulder angel, shoulder devil.
possibly coined by Poe in his short story (1845) of the same name. Also used by Neal Stephenson in the Baroque Cycle books.
February 7, 2013
ry commented on the word Enneadecaeteris
Ancient Greek, "nineteen years"; see Metonic cycle.
(cf. ennead)
February 7, 2013
ry commented on the word transient lunar phenomenon
Transient lunar phenomonon (TLP): refers to short-lived lights, colors, or changes in appearance of the lunar surface. Claims of short-lived phenomena go back at least 1000 years, with some having been observed independently by multiple witnesses or reputable scientists. Nevertheless, the majority of transient lunar phenomena reports are irreproducible and do not possess adequate control experiments that could be used to distinguish among alternative hypotheses.
February 7, 2013
ry commented on the list wordnik-puzzle--ictus-aromas
it's probably not tui sarcomas
February 7, 2013
ry commented on the word bagpipe
According to Eric Partridge (who I am disinclined to doubt) this was once a term for a strange sex act involving the armpit.
February 6, 2013
ry commented on the word Hangtown fry
A type of omelette popularized in California during the gold rush of the 1850s, containing bacon and oysters.
February 6, 2013
ry commented on the word guacolate
"‘guacolate’ has been looked up 497 times" and appears as a related word under capsaicin (along with paedophile and tyrannosaurus). According to Google, it may be some kind of chocolate-avocado cake recipe.
February 5, 2013
ry commented on the word phrik khi nu
see bird's eye chili
February 5, 2013
ry commented on the word mouse shit chilies
bird's eye chilies. One translation of the Thai phrik khi nu.
February 5, 2013
ry commented on the word bird's eye chili
A cultivar of capsicum annuum, under widespread cultivation in South Asia, bearing as fruit a small, very pungent hot pepper, commonly used in cuisine of the cultures in this area. A.k.a. phrik khi nu, Thai chili pepper, cabe rawit in Indonesia, Thai dragon, boonie pepper and other names.
February 5, 2013
ry commented on the word prik ki nu
see bird's eye chili
February 5, 2013
ry commented on the word prik kee noo
see bird's eye chili
February 5, 2013
ry commented on the word Thai chili
also phrik khi nu; the bird's eye chili, very common in Thai and other southeast Asian cuisine
February 5, 2013
ry commented on the word bird's eye pepper
the bird's eye chili pepper
February 5, 2013
ry commented on the list genus-capsicum
this guy has a database of cultivars (with pictures!) that puts my piddling list to shame.
February 5, 2013
ry commented on the word suborb
I want to go there
February 4, 2013
ry commented on the word piri-piri
see African bird's eye
February 4, 2013
ry commented on the word African bird's eye
an African cultivar of c. frutescens, also known as the piri-piri pepper.
February 4, 2013
ry commented on the word African devil pepper
see African bird's eye
February 4, 2013
ry commented on the word scoville
see Scoville scale, Scoville heat unit
February 4, 2013
ry commented on the word shear thickening
describing the action (increase in viscosity) of a dilatant fluid under shear strain. See also non-Newtonian fluid.
February 4, 2013
ry commented on the list fantastic-places
Ruritania
Westeros, Winterfell from the Ice and Fire books
Fillory from The Magicians
Arbre from Anathem
February 2, 2013
ry commented on the word busy beaver function
see comment at busy beaver
February 1, 2013
ry commented on the word 25 eels to the stick
see stick (of eels)
February 1, 2013
ry commented on the user MilkMan915
Hi
February 1, 2013
ry commented on the word omphalelcosis
a pic will make u puke.
February 1, 2013
ry commented on the word stick (of eels)
unagi kabayaki is served in a soy-sauce-based glaze which is (delicious and) sticky. 25 eels to the stick hm?
February 1, 2013
ry commented on the list archaic-placenames
yay thanks! I added some more. There are def. a lot of historical nations and archaic names out there, but I tried to limit it to the ones that could be considered poetic.
Helvetica should probably be Helvetia on this list. Or perhaps Confœderatio Helvetica
January 31, 2013
ry commented on the word Ruritania
an imaginary, but not metaphorical place. Is there a list for that?
January 30, 2013
ry commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
this list of hydrodynamic instabilities named after people?
January 30, 2013
ry commented on the word nether-stock
netherstocks
January 30, 2013
ry commented on the list possessive-phrases
I added Legionnaires' disease because it's lexically pretty unique—a possessive medical eponym named for a group rather than an individual—and found that there are a bajillion possessive-eponymic diseases named for their describers/discoverers (which may be a reason that sionnach disallowed names on x's y.... Anyway, if anyone wants to add them here, go ahead, but there are a lot.
Edit: there is also a ton of scientific laws, natural phenomena, and logical paradoxes named in this way. The listers at Wikipedia have done this job already.
January 30, 2013
ry commented on the list possessive-phrases
Oh that is excellent. Another every potential list is an existing list situation! Except, that one disqualifies proper nouns...nor shall I fail to ransack it. thanks!
January 30, 2013
ry commented on the list archaic-placenames
Any of these? Cipangu, Antioch, Abyssinia, Anatolia, Thule, Iberia, Khorasan, Arabia Felix
January 30, 2013
ry commented on the list possesive-phrases
bum's rush
edit: oh for Pete's sake, go here.
January 29, 2013
ry commented on the list possesive-phrases
hell's bells, fool's errand
January 28, 2013
ry commented on the word gelatin slug caterpillar
seen here.
January 28, 2013
ry commented on the word monkey slug caterpillar
enthralling, but I'm not sure what I'd do if I found it crawling on me :D
likewise with the gelatin slug caterpillar also posted on that site
January 28, 2013
ry commented on the word mate con malici
"mate with malice," a yerba mate drink spiked with aguardiente or pisco, consumed mainly in rural Chile
January 27, 2013
ry commented on the list weather-idioms
Those are good ones, Sr. z, thanks
January 27, 2013
ry commented on the list revolting-beverages
butter tea revolts me, but people in Tibet reportedly drink a ton of it. Should it go here?
January 27, 2013
ry commented on the word milquetoast
I wouldn't be surprised to find that the Watford library photocopier repair bill Emergency Action Commitee meeting planner assistant was a milquetoast
January 27, 2013
ry commented on the word Google
I had noticed this too. I thought it might be related to Google's recent efforts to "personalize" search by ranking certain results based on your search and browsing history. alexz, do you have a Google account with which you were logged in, when you noticed those results?
January 27, 2013
ry commented on the list butlers
fbharjo made this list approximately 104× better.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the list worse-than-they-sound
ricin?
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word Jamaica hop
an alcoholic mixed drink consisting of coffee liqueur, "white crème de cacao," and heavy cream.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word coffee brandy
1) a drink of instant coffee, water and sugar cooked together, combined then with vodka. 2) Allen's Coffee Brandy, a coffee liqueur popular in Maine.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word tempest in teapot
merely a cloud on the horizon. Or perhaps we're in the eye of the hurricane. Still, it's an ill wind that blows nobody good, and every cloud has a silver lining–we'll be right as rain. I guess just wait and see which way the wind is blowing. Maybe there's a rainy weather report around here somewhere.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word tempest in teapot
shouldn't it be tempest in a teapot?
(google books ngram)
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word kuding
kǔdīng chá, "bitter spikeleaf tea," a Chinese infusion with folk-medicinal uses, made with any of various plant species. One of the most commonly used is the holly species ilex kudingcha, which may explain the invigorating and focusing effects attributed to the drink, being that three other holly species (ilex paraguariensis or yerba mate, its close relative ilex guayusa, and yaupon holly) are known to contain caffeine.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word caffeine gum
caffeinated chewing gum available under various brand names.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word cassina
see comments at cassine and yaupon holly.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word yaupon holly
ilex vomitoria contains a certain amount of caffeine; thus its use in brewing black drink and, later by European settlers, cassine.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word bun
My guess is that it's simply an attempt at metaphor that didn't really come off (metaphor misphire?)
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word cassine
cassine or cassina were names given by early European colonists of North America to drinks brewed from caffeine-containing yaupon holly as substitutes for coffee and tea. See also black drink.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word guaraná
guaraná, distinct from guarana, is used in Brazil to denote any of the various guarana-infused soft drinks available there.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word kaffekask
Swedish coffee drink; brännvin (i.e., vodka or possibly aquavit) with coffee added.
January 26, 2013
ry commented on the word butter tea
commonly drunk in Tibet. Black tea leaves are brewed in boiling water for an extended period; the resulting tea preparation is then transferred to a vessel also containing yak butter and salt, and mixed therewith.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word café Touba
a coffee preparation very popular in Senegal, to the point of being referred to as the "spiritual beverage" of the country. The coffee beans are roasted with the addition of grains of Selim a.k.a. Guinea pepper, and sometimes cloves; then is ground and brewed in the normal filter method.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word café miel
an espresso with steamed milk, cinnamon, and honey. cf. melya
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word black tie
Also: a coffee drink consisting of a Thai iced tea with a double shot of espresso.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word Thai iced tea
see cha-yen
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word cha-yen
"Thai iced tea", a popular tea drink in Thailand and the U.S.; strongly brewed black tea (traditionally Ceylon tea) with additional ingredients, usually orange blossom water, star anise, crushed tamarind, sugar and condensed milk or cream.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word earl grey
fair enough Messer alexz, changed. bilby, essentially that is correct, however, I found recently that in fact, either spelling is acceptable in en_US (for the color, not the surname of course), gray being only the more common.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word funmatsucha
what fun!
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word kaisersmarm
what I see when I read kaisersmarrn in the trending words list. Every single time.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the list 1001-ways-to-caffeinate
See comment on kopi jawa. I saw it on Wikipedia so it must be true!!
In my poking around today, several times I saw the phrase coffee liqueur used as though it is the regular descriptor for that class of drinks, so...I'm not sure. caffè Borghetti is a thing.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word café com cheirinho
"Coffee with scent," coffee with Portuguese (pomace-based?) aguardiente added.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word al fresco
in context of coffee brewing, this refers to preparing coffee in a pot or pan, often over a fire. cf cowboy coffee
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word espresso romano
espresso served with a piece of lemon rind, or slice of lemon, intended for application to the rim of the cup.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word cappuccino scuro
aka dry cappuccino, prepared with less than the normal amount of milk.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word cappuccino chiaro
cappuccino with greater than the normal amount of milk.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word wet cappuccino
a cappuccino chiaro.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word green eye
a triple-shot red eye.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word cowboy coffee
coffee prepared in a saucepan
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word caffé alla parigina
"Parisian coffee"; espresso with hot cocoa and cognac
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word caffé alla paragina
oops, fixed.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the list 1001-ways-to-caffeinate
I added kopi luwak but it's unclear whether kopi jawa is not also a style of preparation (in addition to generically referring to Javanese coffee).
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word oliang
A Thai iced coffee drink that also contains soybeans, corn and sesame seeds
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word melya
coffee with a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa and some honey.
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word kopi jawa
Wikipedia has: "The Indonesian phrase Kopi Jawa refers not only to the origin of the coffee, but is used to distinguish a style of strong, black, and very sweet coffee."
January 25, 2013
ry commented on the word menudo
mexican tripe soup
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word mexican breakfast
yes, and dated, and inaccurate...real Mexican breakfasts are generally heavy on the tortillas and beans, sometimes with eggs, various soups, and on Sundays, the hangover-curing menudo.
Edit: the flickr content reminds me that fried plantains, chorizo, avocado, roasted chiles, and various aguas frescas are common/traditional elements as well.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the list 1001-ways-to-caffeinate
Oh I see, clever boots. Specific preparations, yes. Avoiding straight synonyms for coffee. I was thinking about chocolate coated espresso beans, yeah, anything you find like that seems cool.
So monsignor bilby, my question is can you say "I'm drinking kopi luwak (god help me)?" or must you say "I'm drinking coffee made from kopi luwak (when will this nightmare be over)."
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word clever boots
a clever person. Probably related to slyboots. See also boots.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the list 1001-ways-to-caffeinate
alexz! Thanks for your additions. Mountain Dew, Pepsi and Coke all have caffeine, but soda, pop and soda pop are words describing any soft drink regardless of caffeinatedness, so maybe those shouldn't go here.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word scandal broth
tea. so-called from the perception that gossip took place while drinking it.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word kan kohi
In Japan, canned coffee (缶コーヒー) drinks have been ubiquitous for many years, the first brands were marketed in the late 1960s.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word guillermo
espresso with lime
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the list 1001-ways-to-caffeinate
hmm good point, I don't know. Basically what I want here is names of specific drinks and possibly methods/accoutrements of brewing. So unless someone starts feeding civets coffee grounds and then getting them to drink a lot of water...
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word South Indian coffee
see comment at kaapi
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word kaapi
sometimes refers to a style of coffee called South Indian coffee, Indian shaken coffee, or meter coffee. Instant coffee with milk and sugar, poured from one glass to another until well-frothed.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word hammerhead
yet another red eye coffee variant.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word caffé alla paragina
"Parisian coffee"; espresso with hot cocoa and cognac
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word caffè del marinaio
sweetened espresso with rum + lemon peel
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word speedball
see also red eye
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word train wreck
Another name for the red eye coffee preparation.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word sludge cup
Name for a coffee drink. See comment at red eye
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word shot in the dark
Also a name for a coffee drink. See comment at red eye
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word depth charge
Also a coffee drink. See comment at red eye.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word dead eye
see comment at red eye
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word red eye
one of the more common names for that coffee drink which is made by adding an espresso shot to a cup of black coffee.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word caffè al pepe
espresso with pepper
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word mexican breakfast
jokingly defined either as a cigarette and a glass of water, or a cigarette and a cup of coffee.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word ca phe da
Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk, and sometimes with chicory. A.k.a. cafe da. Properly cà phê đá.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word cafe sua da
Vietnamese, "iced coffee with milk". See cafe da/ca phe da.
Orthographically, cà phê sữa đá.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word oxygen bomb
a type of calorimeter used for holding oxygen at elevated pressures and temperatures.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word orange-peel
a term of art in manufacturing; modifier describing an "undesirable uneven or rough surface on a molded part."
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word oil coking
"The deposition on a surface of hard layer or dispersion in a fluid of particles of carbon as a result of the breakdown of oil in a high temperature environment; also known as coking."
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the word nebar
"Ring of rubber bonded cork gasket materials designed for sealing flat flanges against fluid leakage."
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the list caffeinated-beverages
reesetee, my version (slightly paraphrased from William Gibson) is sleep is no longer an option. Now to make my own version of this list.
January 24, 2013
ry commented on the list will-do-in-a-pinch
are these the kinds of things you are talking about? tires as planter boxes, a spoon to cook heroin, binder clips as cable stays, mason jar as barware or hurricane candle-holder; stethoscope for safecracking, CDs as bike reflectors? I hesitated over spoon because it seems to be the de facto "proper tool for the job" (is there a word that means "proper tool for the job")?
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word slydring
a polymer ring that prevents metal-to-metal contact between piston/rod and bore/gland, and absorbs transverse loads.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word bush-hammer
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word weepage
A minute amount of liquid leaked (or leached) from a seal or weld.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word backrind
also backrinding. in rubber molding processes, a "breaking up" of the rubber normally observed around tool split lines. It results from the rubber shrinking during cure and tearing away at points where the molding is held.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word browncoat
"The coat of plaster directly beneath the finish coat. In three-coat work, the brown is the second coat."
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word turndown ratio
a flow measurement term that indicates the range of specific flow meter, or meter type, is able to measure with acceptable accuracy; the ratio of maximum valve flow capacity to minimum controllable flow capacity.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word rangeability
turndown ratio.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word bubbling jock
also a fictional music genre...like, some amalgam of K-pop and frat rap (which are not fictional)
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word theoretical air
"The minimum amount of air which will allow the complete combustion of the fuel is called the theoretical air." Theoretical in that 100% combustion of fuel is not usually achievable in real-world conditions. Found in an online glossary of boiler terminology.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word baghouse
a pollution control apparatus that removes particulates from air/gas released from commercial processes or combustion. Specifically, a large chamber or room housing bag filters (long, cylindrical bags or tubes made of woven or felted fabric) that filter gas streams from a furnace.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word windbox
a receptacle from which a blast of air is supplied (e.g., to a forge or blast furnace); also,
"A chamber below the grate or surrounding a burner, through which air under pressure is supplied for combustion of the fuel."
(From British Gas' online glossary of boiler terms)
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word dark current
I can't find the list, but this is absolutely a fictional music genre.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word waterleg
"That space that is full of boiler water between two parallel plates. It usually forms one or more sides of internally fired boilers."
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word blind nipple
"A short piece of pipe or tube that is closed at one end."
(From British Gas' online glossary of boiler terms)
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word buckstay
"A furnace or boiler wall is reinforced with this structural device to prevent motion of the wall." (From British Gas' online glossary of boiler terms)
motion of the wall, i.e., caused by an expanding boiler tank.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word thermodisk
"A thermodisk is a temperature sensing device. When heat is applied to the disk, a bi-metal plate will bend." (from http://www.kingsmanind.com/fireplaceterms)
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word activated sludge
never for sale on Craigslist?
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word Orsat
"Orsat gas analyzer, a device used in gas analysis. This apparatus measures certain gaseous constituents (e.g. carbon monoxide) by absorption in separate chemical solution." (From British Gas' online glossary of boiler terms)
Patented before 1873 by one Mr. H. Orsat, according to Wikipedia.
There is also a Mr Orsat Miljenić, as of 2013 the Croatian Minister of Justice
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word orsat
Orsat
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word neat cement
Unhydrated hydraulic cement.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word two mice can play at that game while the cat's at Chipotle getting lunch
heard this today, fell over in a joyous hysterical blackout
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the list video-games
so, so many hours spent on some of these. Tekken most of all.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the list tuna
avec plaisir, ruzuzuzuzuzu. I only wish there were more famous paintings of tuna.
(I was about to start a "fishing methods" list, but that well's been exhaustively mined—boy has it—by our incredibly assiduous friends)
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word coriander
Whenever I see an instance of this word I recall Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) mentioning one of his new favorite bedtime stories, Captain Coriander Salamander and ’er Single-Hander Bellylander in one of the strips (being the sequel to his perennial favorite, Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie). Those titles were burned into my mind somehow.
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the list flinchers
And is cilantro an analogous shibboleth? I am neutral in any case, though. Schadenfreude is a perfectly functional word I neither like nor dislike. Cilantro, while I extol its food qualities, is also not a good or bad word per se to my ear/mind (I do like "coriander"). However the words here definitely all give me physical creeps, or nearly.
on another note, now I'm curious....exactly how much did you all prefer the Wordie site to the current site?
January 23, 2013
ry commented on the word faceguard
whoa, I enjoy how cinematic this one seems.
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the word fish aggregating device
"a man-made object used to attract oceangoing pelagic fish such as marlin, tuna and mahi-mahi. They usually consist of buoys or floats tethered to the ocean floor with concrete blocks."
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the word loin
that's weird, because cuts of sole are usually called fillets...same with most flatfish (except Alaskan halibut fillet, which is sometimes thick enough to be called loin, at least toward the head—but at that point it's little more than a marketing term. Fishmongers will sometimes offer "'loin cut' halibut steaks"). I have heard the construction loin out, as in "get those tombo loined out."
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the word loin
I can't find a definition to back me up, but, for swordfish, tuna, some shark, and other large food fish such as opah, a loin refers to one of the four long, unbroken muscles that the fish uses for propulsion and from which steaks can be cut. These are quadrants, back/belly/left/right, such that the back and belly loin together, from a given side, forms what would be called the fillet in a smaller fish.
This google image search may shed some light on the subject.
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the word oroshi hocho
added a comment to loin to clarify this matter
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the word east jabip
also armpit of the world
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the word beast mode
An interval or temporary state during which a person seems to possess extraordinary focus, determination, and physical ability; ensuing domination of opponents, in athletics, is sometimes implied. cf. in the zone.
(From the popular Sega video game, Altered Beast, in which the hero transforms into various beasts with exceptional abilities.)
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the list gangster
Oh my goodness, wow. This is a cool list! indeed marky, fo sho. on the real. word is born. oh snap, here I go...
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the word oroshi hocho
a bloody great knife used in Japan for cutting loins (*ugh*) from whole caught tuna
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the list flinchers
hah. wait, why schadenfreude? Wouldn't I be a masochist for making this list? So, then, schadenfreude for you...?
(And on bilby's part, sadism—zounds, bilb, that was excruciating)
cilantro = a dangerous controlled substance, more addictive than crack cocaine. fact.
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the word haemovigilance
a set of surveillance procedures covering the whole transfusion chain from the collection of blood and its components to the follow-up of its recipients, intended to collect and assess information on unexpected or undesirable effects resulting from the therapeutic use of labile blood products, and to prevent their occurrence and recurrence' (http://www.ihn-org.net).
January 22, 2013
ry commented on the word McScroogeycipherpants
cf. vireosylvia
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the word McScroogeycipherpants
"Local monarch has abdicated, obviating investiture. Annexation of fecund cornea-meat tracts proceeds apace". --Associated US Railway, Standard Code Cipher, 1905.
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the word macrogyne
cf. dwarf male, nannandrous
see also dimorphism
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the word vireosylvia
"Send 15 battalions of Adonis-class musquetoons; under attack by biomechanical aculeate megalomacrogyne". --Associated US Railway, Standard Code Cipher, 1905.
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the list words-we-dislike
I'm literally getting a strange sort of hernial, nauseous, panicky feeling in my gut, reading these "hated words"-type lists.
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the word beeturia
passing of red or pink urine following ingestion of beets due to the presence of betalain pigments (e.g. betacyanins) in beetroot.
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the word hog-succory
I wonder if it does indeed succor hogs?
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the word tell-time
folk name for taraxacum officinale or dandelion. See also piss-a-bed
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the word silicon dioxide
Aka sand. An anti-caking agent in some foods.
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the word castoreum
also, disgustingly, one of the "natural flavors" of food ingredient listings. Used to impart a "vanilla" flavor to puddings, candies, etc.
January 21, 2013
ry commented on the word retrotech
using old or vintage machinery, equipment, software, etc., either pragmatically or as a hobby. The "Computer Desktop Encyclopedia" at computerlanguage.com claims this is synonymous with retrocomputing and conflates (disputably, to my mind) these terms with steampunk.
Urbandictionary.com has:<blockquote><strong>Retrotech</strong> high tech aesthetic circa pre-1987. <em>I prefer to use Casio keyboards because they are so retrotech.</em> tags: retro, retro-tech, hi-fi, relic, kitsch</blockquote>cool word, but what I like most is the groovy, swell images in the flickr content below
January 19, 2013
ry commented on the word adorkable
what's up with the flickr content here? A bunch of Second Life cheesecake—and Paul McCartney?
January 19, 2013
ry commented on the word nånannanism
Prone to taking the position that someone else will solve one's problems. From Swedish nån annan, "someone else" + -ism
Popularized in 2006 Swedish parliamentary elections.
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A5nannanism
I am in support of this term entering the English lexicon.
January 19, 2013
ry commented on the list words-for-ice
That was me!! And, also, "mega list commenting" is not a problem; the site is the better for it (in fact I think it should have a more lofty term applied, maybe compleating or something). If only there were some more customizable feed of recent comments...not just the Community page...
January 18, 2013
ry commented on the list like-a-virgin
awesome, keep it up!
January 18, 2013
ry commented on the word Lucht-Anvil
this is meant to be a pun on luchtanvaal, meaning "air raid" in Dutch
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the list supernatural-creatures-according-to-m-a--denham
thankee kindly yarb, it is indeed a marvellous piece of research...tho none of it mine |-D
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the list its-almost--poetic
hi ruzuzuzuzuzu (that is how I read your name whenever I see it). I guess this is a bit late, but thanks for saying so. This is great fun.
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the list liminal-words
semeliminal?
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the list loaded-words-part-deux-two-words-that-together-make-one-load
As you will. I was thinking that for some people it is very loaded—terror, hate, betrayal...say it to a military history buff, political partisan, or 9/11 conspiracy theorist and you will definitely get a reaction.
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word TWAIN
A software protocol and API for use with image scanning hardware. The term is simply twain styled in caps, but the widely-held backronym is "technology without an interesting name."
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word BATS
broke all to sh*t (sometimes euphemistically defined as "beat all to stuff"
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the list i-d-be-honoured-to-do-this-list
meinheer could be added, but note it is nowhere actually defined
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word meinheer
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word polipaio
Italian. A colony of marine polyps, such as coral
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word zoolite
"From what we have seen, I think the term zoophyte inapplicable to coral ; it is neither an animal plant, nor a plant animal : nor can it be called a zoolite ; as it is certainly not a stony animal. It is with more propriety a polipaio..."
Ferrarra, Alfio, M.D. 1812. On the Coral Fishery in the Sicilian Seas. Journal of Natural Philosophy. Vol 33
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the list loaded-words-part-deux-two-words-that-together-make-one-load
false flag
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word sigillum secretum
a special seal used for private correspondence. Used e.g. by medieval monarchs. (...similar to privy seal?)
"S SECRETVUM" below is probably an abbreviation of this.
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word secretum
"A private seal" (Merriam-Webster)
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word nannandrous
(botany) Pertaining to species of plants in which male members are markedly smaller than females, such as in some algal species of Oedogonium that have antheridia produced in special dwarf filaments. (McGraw-Hill Science & Technology Dictionary)
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word nannander
the dwarf male component of a nannandrous plant
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word meerschaum
also kiefekil
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word astrild
for the bird listers. Also estrelda
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word zoolith
A fossilized animal. Also zoolite.
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word zygomancy
divination with use of weights/scales. Greek zygon, "balance" and manteia, "divination."
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word globigerina-shells
‘globigerina-shells’ has been looked up 98 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the list flotilla
bilby, would you remove Luke skystalker, Gummint, Download limit, and the Harry Potter one? A tiny voice from my, like, hypothalamus is telling me, Wormtongue-style, that they don't belong here.
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the user bagira
Hi! Are you the one behind listsofnote.com? Your list The BFG was linked to from there. In any case, the lists you have here are very cool! Thank you!
January 17, 2013
ry commented on the word ambulanter
"One who travels in a cheap automobile with a family"
(Criminal Slang: The Vernacular of the Underground Lingo, Vincent Joseph Monteleone, 1949)
"For instance, the gypsy ('ambulanter' in tramp parlance) is one of those groups Josiah Flynt describes as ‘born on the road’."
(from cynicalreflections.net blog)
January 16, 2013
ry commented on the list a-testicle-by-any-other-name
Ah. equipment, package, gents, sags, giggleberries, coin purse, yambag, jubblies? and I see jewels but how about family jewels? Also possibly redundant, but scrote and ball bag are common in en_UK. One more that I personally like but is probably not really in common use: James Westfall and Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
January 16, 2013
ry commented on the list i-can-t-believe-it-s-not-listed
I can't believe Siege Perilous isn't listed anywhere
January 15, 2013
ry commented on the word prinado
the "some kind of female sharper" is word for word what the Oxford said. And, bilby, it mentions preñado as well, as a possible (though dubious) etymology...uncanny.
January 15, 2013
ry commented on the word gach
GACH, s. Filth or dirt of children. Glouc.
(Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, Thomas Wright, 1886)
January 15, 2013
ry commented on the word gac
for the fruit and vegetable listers!
January 15, 2013
ry commented on the list situation-normal
Another list, oh! so full of words that are also of interest here: fuckward bound
January 15, 2013
ry commented on the word there’s so
I kind of want to make a list just out of the words in the reverse dictionary column here.
January 15, 2013
ry commented on the word thin dime
"thin dime" also refers to an imprecise but tiny amount of money, as seen the tweets →
January 15, 2013
ry commented on the word stick a fork in it
hmm it is so. But since the fork assay is employed after the prescribed baking time, doneness is anticipated; fork-crumb cleavage is normally a confirmation. For some advanced bakers it might well be a vestigial (or, in the case of Mrs. ry, talismanic) observance.
January 15, 2013
ry commented on the word withy-cragged
His crest should be firm, thin, and well-risen ; his neck long and straight, yet not loose and pliant, which our north countrymen term withy cragged...
(Farriery on a New and Easy Plan: Being a Treatise on the Diseases and Accidents of The Horse, John Badcock, 1883)
WITHY-CRAGGED, adj. Said of a horse whose neck is loose and pliant. North.
(Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, Thomas Wright, 1886)
January 15, 2013
ry commented on the word stick a fork in it
...because it's done.
January 14, 2013
ry commented on the word you've buttered your bread, now sleep in it
does anyone have a list of mixed metaphor and catachreses?
January 14, 2013
ry commented on the word quod google
I propose that the words "quod google" with a link (à la LMGTFY) replace the text "Sorry, no definitions found." for words with no definition.
Wiktionary has several cites, including:
2004 — 11 June, Rex F. May, “Re: alternative to D-Day”, soc.history.what-if (Usenet):
January 14, 2013
ry commented on the word prinado
I want to check the OED on this one, but, obs. term for some kind of female "sharper" or con artist?
January 14, 2013
ry commented on the list dyes-and-pigments
logwood, sumac?
January 14, 2013
ry commented on the list list-of-heraldry-terms
add wastel!
January 14, 2013
ry commented on the word drain the swamp when up to one's neck in alligators
abounding counterintuitivity. However the wiktionary entry talk page reveals that a common rendering of the usual phrase is "when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's easy to forget that the initial objective was to drain the swamp" which makes more sense...but is a butterfingered and lumbering idiom in any case
January 14, 2013
ry commented on the list at-the-drive-in
Indeed, I was half-hoping I might trick somebody in that way. evil laugh!
January 10, 2013
ry commented on the word my exchequer is empty
was wondering how old this one was. Google Books turns it up in The Rye House Plot or, Ruth, the Conspirator's Daughter, Vol I, George William MacArchur Reynolds (1800):
January 10, 2013
ry commented on the word like a well-skelped arse
"face like a well-skelped arse" = blushing mightily. Scots
January 9, 2013
ry commented on the word pyjamas python code
surprisingly not a euphemism
January 9, 2013
ry commented on the list supernatural-creatures-according-to-m-a--denham
Note that in the citation (Denham's listing), the terms are given in the plural, so I back-formed singulars to make this list. I may not have done so correctly for each term. Will attempt to correct as needed. LMK of any you notice.
Also found this helpful article.
January 9, 2013
ry commented on the list supernatural-creatures-according-to-m-a--denham
Why are so many of these on bilby's I Can't Believe It's Not Listed list?
January 9, 2013
ry commented on the word ratiocinative
sorne would be an OCRtifact or possibly just a typo
January 9, 2013
ry commented on the word shisey
perhaps it's a variant spelling of the colloquial sheisty?
January 9, 2013
ry commented on the word oh nice one
What I think to myself about once a minute while browsing Wordnik
January 8, 2013
ry commented on the word boombastic
this reminds me of hearing the word bombtastic many times during the '90s on KMEL FM radio in San Francisco
January 8, 2013
ry commented on the word manic pixie dream girl
a film archetype.
from tvtropes.com:
Let's say you're a soulful, brooding male hero, living a sheltered, emotionless existence. If only someone — someone female — could come along and open your heart to the great, wondrous adventure of life...It's Manic Pixie Dream Girl to the rescue!
The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is there to give new meaning to the male hero's life. She's stunningly attractive, high on life, full of wacky quirks and idiosyncrasies (generally including childlike playfulness and a tendency towards petty crime), often with a touch of wild hair dye. She's inexplicably obsessed with our stuffed-shirt hero, on whom she will focus her kuh-razy antics until he learns to live freely and love madly.
January 8, 2013
ry commented on the word thurgh thikke and thurgh thenne
List to-do: phrases first attested in Chaucer. Lists of phrases from Shakespeare abound on the internet; ol' Geoff has been getting short shrift
January 8, 2013
ry commented on the word lasterday
yesterday or the other day. Could go on your new coinages lists and/or "love to hate"-type lists
January 8, 2013
ry commented on the list situation-normal
topsy-turvy seems to be at the milder end of this spectrum, yeah—but I have a few like that, so ima add it.
January 7, 2013
ry commented on the list distinguishing-marks
thanks! This is a great list. Found a few more good ones.
January 7, 2013
ry commented on the word signaculum
in ancient Rome, a stamped lead token used to identify soldiers and slaves, or a stamp or mark used to identify certain imperial property
January 7, 2013
ry commented on the list distinguishing-marks
rubric?
January 7, 2013
ry commented on the word yeth-hound
"Yeth-hounds, hounds without heads, supposed to be animated by the spirits of children who have died without baptism. 'These hounds are believed,' says Mr. Halliwell, who quotes a superstition current in Devonshire, 'to ramble among the woods at night, making wailing noises.'"
from The Lost Beauties of the English Language, Charles Mackay, 1876
January 5, 2013
ry commented on the list shapeshifters
changeling?
January 5, 2013
ry commented on the word obamadon
Obamadon gracillis, a small (~30 cm) extinct lizard of the late Cretaceous – contemporary to the dinosaurs but not a dinosaur. Named for U.S. president Barack Obama.
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the word sere-month
archaic. the month of August, when things get dryer. See etymologies of sere on Vocabulary.com and etymonline.com
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the word Gentleman Jim
This supports bilby's hypothesis (in comments for gentlemen.) that it is a generic name for a man, or for a man perceived as a gentleman, which use probably predates the nicknames.
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the word shinicle
Shinicle, a bonfire. A distant fire or light ; — a little shine. — {Jameson.)
from The Lost Beauties of the English Language, Charles Mackay, 1876
also mentioned in the Wikipedia article for moot-hill as, possibly, a signal to gather at such a place.
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the word discombobulate
I can attest to its use in professional and semi-professional settings to refer to automotive, computer, and other equipment in which something is munged, borked, banjaxed or otherwise bollixed. In fact I'm adding it to my situation-normal list.
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the word Gentleman Jim
Seems to have been the nickname, originally, of James J. Corbett (1866-1933), heavyweight boxing champion who once K.O.ed the celebrated John L. Sullivan, as well as James Woolnaugh, a U.S. Army General active in WWII and Korea. Also later used in reference to several other sports figures.
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the word glossographia
spectacular old word for a dictionary or glossography. Would well suit any "words about words"-type list.
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the word melicrate
also melicratum, hydromel. Obsolete. From Glossographia Anglicana Nova, Thomas Blount, 1656: Melicratum is a Drink made one part of Honey, and eight parts of Rain Waters.
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the list the-pound
oh that is fun. that's kind of what I meant. But more in the sense of "adopt" into one's spoken/written corpus. Or English in general
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the list ooh-shiny--1
Thanks ruzuzu! I just moved it to a different list though
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the word polaris breach
A hunting technique of the great white shark.
from Predatory Behavior of White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at Seal Island, R. A. Martin, et al (2005):
Polaris Breach (POL): the shark leapt partially or completely out of the water in a vertical or nearly vertical head-up orientation, with or without a seal grasped in its jaws. In POL that launch a shark completely from the water, the shark may clear the surface by as much as 3 m and often rotates tail over head around the centre of gravity, located ±1/3 along its standard length, re-entering the sea head-first close to its original exit point.
January 4, 2013
ry commented on the list antique-names-female
we named our daughter Amity.
January 3, 2013
ry commented on the word search party animal
a sweet tooth fairy and title of a face-melting post-rock-ish jam I heard today.
January 3, 2013
ry commented on the word completely fucked
no, in fact I did not mean "completely ducked"
January 2, 2013
ry commented on the list lesser-known-san-francisco-neighborhoods
you'll note I didn't say B__ A___ once. |-D
Yes I too like place names like these. Perusal of city maps showing neighborhoods and pondering significances is a happy thing. But the weirder ones seem to be more fun. I wish there were a list like this out there for every major city
January 1, 2013
ry commented on the list lesser-known-san-francisco-neighborhoods
well, thanks for putting it in perspective bilby. I should perhaps change it to "A middling percentage of Americans have heard of..."
But seriously, you haven't heard of the Haight? Epicenter of the 1960s American hippie subculture, free love movement etc etc?
December 31, 2012
ry commented on the word tough beans
a euphemism for tough s***. "Too bad for you."
December 31, 2012
ry commented on the list amitys-words
recently she's adding almost 1 new word per day, so, a bit better than par (they should have ~100-word expressive vocabulary by 24 months). Which tickles me pink, but it's harder to track additions—know I'm missing some—so now seems a good cutoff point, to preserve this list as an artifact of this stage
December 31, 2012
ry commented on the list understatements
I see what you're saying...maybe I'm hearing something different in my head when I read these than others would.
December 31, 2012
ry commented on the word thusly
I think it serves a purpose in that it can be used to effect a self-effacing, farcical pomposity. But also when used in seriousness it is a useful bellwether...or shibboleth? Litmus test?.....a thing, anyhow, for discerning wordsmiths from people who think they are better with the language than they are. (Along with irregardless, ekcetra, verbage and so on...& now I'm off to look at all the 'hate' lists)
December 31, 2012
ry commented on the word it's only a flesh wound
oh, it's because the proper phrase is it's just a flesh wound
December 29, 2012
ry commented on the word it's only a flesh wound
How am I the first one to have looked this up?
December 29, 2012
ry commented on the list situation-normal
v cool. Also Pretty words for when things get ugly turned up.
December 28, 2012
ry commented on the list see-cut-under
Are we perhaps being told to refer to a woodcut illustration under the given entry in the original print version?
Also: walrus-bird!!
December 28, 2012
ry commented on the user ry
I like how traditional lexicographers used q.v. where wordniks use brackets.
December 28, 2012
ry commented on the word charlie foxtrot
military euphemism, using NATO phonetic alphabet, for clusterfuck
December 28, 2012
ry commented on the word crather
It seems to be a colloquial variation of creature as well as an alternate spelling of craythur
(based on this google book search)
December 28, 2012
ry commented on the list flotilla
Welp this began half-serious, but now it's only ~8% serious—& much more fun
December 28, 2012
ry commented on the word hair, teeth and eyes all over
The result of a messy death by automobile, explosive, small arms fire, etc. "Hair, teeth and eyes all over the highway" "About to blast his hair, teeth and eyes all over the wall" Also, any horribly ugly botch or mess of a situation. "it's hair, teeth and eyes all over the place."
December 28, 2012
ry commented on the word arse about face
hey, this is a perfect sweet tooth fairy
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word completely fucked
this, for me, is the most vivid, trenchant and telling of all the various and sundry f-word constructions
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word arse about face
doesn't it also mean jumbled, muddled? bilby might know
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word arse over tit
isn't arse over elbow common in the UK these days as well? I think arse over tit can also be used to mean "badly confused" or screwed up in some way.
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the list steampunk
“Hold fast, madam!” cried the aeronaut, as the Empyrean spun earthward. “T'will be settled, by one means or other, ere long.”
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the user assunnahmedia
nope, spam. Link building is required to be relevant to the site in question, you see. Half-cocked SEO flimflammer
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the list stars
Sorry, that was obtuse of me. Fomalhaut is the common name. Formalhaut looks like a typo (or possibly a little-used alternate spelling, per this ngram.)
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Vindemiatrix
Latin, probably "grape-gatherer," or a translation (by Ovid?) of Ptolemy and Plutarch's Protrugeter, apparently "fruit-plucking herald." A northern star, Epsilon Virginis, a giant.
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Sadalsuud
sa‘d al-su‘ud, "luck of lucks." A more or less equatorial star, Beta Aquarii, a supergiant
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Zosma
from the Greek, "girdle". A northern star, Delta Leonis
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Sheratan
as-saratan, "the two signs." Beta Arietis, a binary star
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Unukalhai
‘unuk al-hayyah, "the serpent's neck." A northern (I think) star, Alpha Serpentis.
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Alrakis
al-raqis, "trotting camel" or "the dancer." A northern star, Mu Draconis.
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Etamin
al-tinnin, "the great serpent." A northern star, Gamma Draconis.
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Nunki
ancient Assyrian or Babylonian name for the star Sigma Sagittarii, recovered by archaeologists
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Rasalhague
ra’s al-ḥawwa, "snake collector's head." A northern star, Alpha Ophiuchi, a binary system
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Dabih
al-dabih, "the butcher." A southern star, Beta Capricorni, multiple star system—several stars visually aligned but not proximate
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Diphda
The more common traditional name was Deneb Kaitos, "the whale's tail."
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Acamar
a southern star, Theta Eridani.
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Gienah
gienah ghurab, "right wing of the crow." A southern star, Gamma Corvi.
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word Atria
A southern star. "Atria" is a modern coinage, a contraction of its Bayer designation, Alpha Trianguli Australis.
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the list gelignite-jack-blows-the-cellar
hmm—beauty's in the ear of the beholder—<em>caveat auditor</em>—hem, haw....ok, some candidates:
up-jumped
entrails
steganography
Ganesha
stoic
Bandersnatch
ultracentrifuge
analemma
hie
Aeroflot
Azerbaijan
untergang
December 27, 2012
ry commented on the word The Portway
Portway
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portway
December 25, 2012
ry commented on the word cherpumple pie
Cherry, pumpkin and apple pies, baked into a cake. The turducken of pies.
December 25, 2012
ry commented on the list gelignite-jack-blows-the-cellar
OMG. I'm glad of this list. I've always taken issue (also umbrage) with the cellar door thing
December 25, 2012
ry commented on the word a genital and a schoolbus
a (mock-drunken) corruption of a gentleman and a scholar. Local to Northern California, as far as I know
December 25, 2012
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