My brain goes to pizzle with that spelling. (Not that it's entirely inappropriate, but still!)
Also, I think capezzoli might be correct, in Italian that "e" would be pronounced like "i".. there's another pastry reference dancing on the edge of my brain but I really have to leave work now!! I'll check back later.
Short for "mundane" or "human", a mun is the player of a sockpuppet in an RPG. The real person behind the mask.
Sometimes there is wank when a mun is discovered to be someone another mun hates outside the RPG. Sometimes wank happens when a mun leaves in a huff and the character gets passed to another player. Sometimes muns are just wanky people in general.
"1. A person claiming to be somebody else for the sake of gathering support -- sometimes, when they are obviously losing; other times, to distract and confound their friends and enemies.
2. The character played by a mun, either in an RPG or just for fun."
(verb) Sockpuppeting: Registering multiple usernames and pretending they are not you, for the purposes of making oneself look more popular online and/or causing drama.
(noun) a sockpuppet is a fake persona utilized for the above purposes. Sometimes people make them as a joke and troll their friends' journals with them.
Not sure if this originated on LiveJournal but it's used there with great frequency.
No worries c_b! I love Amadeus (though you wouldn't know it from my inaccurate description of the scene - it's just because my brain is like a sieve) and agree - the tale of Salieri is incredibly tragic, all the more so because he was able to appreciate Mozart's genius, unlike most of his contemporaries. (King what's-his-face, he of the "too many notes!" comment.)
c_b - hey, you're right! I think the second time I looked at it I saw "to cover their hoo-has" and thought it was more or less the same thing. *adds back to self-coinages list*
ETA your edit made it look like I was mocking you - that "Ha" was in response to the first comment
re: the second, you could be right! That's probably where I got it from. I remember the scene where Salieri was trying to seduce what's-her-face, Mozart's wife, with those "Nipples of Venus"
For TV nerds, better known as "a fictional race on the television series Stargate SG-1" (Wikipedia). The WeirdNet definition is (typically) the least used one.
Also I don't know if this is a bug or if I should even bring it up (because my favorite Obnoxious HTML tags aren't listed in the "Some HTML" popup, and yet old comments using them still display correctly) but it looks like HTML doesn't display on the home page in comments. At least, my little strike tag doesn't (on WeirdNet, if you must know). This is unfortunate because it makes my comment make much less sense.
My favorite malapropism around moot point was on Friends when Joey thought it was "Moo point" because it was like what a cow would say, i.e., irrelevant.
Someone on TV recently tried to explain why they thought it was mute point, but I'll be damned if I can remember what show. (My brain is like a sieve.)
Holy Shit Quotient, a term invented by David S. Refers to the moments when you go, "Holy shit, I can't believe they did that!" The second season of both Buffy and Angel had a heavy HSQ.
1) yarb - I love them both, in different ways. The UK one was intensely embarrassing (watch from the hall tv or setting off some peoples' humiliation squick) but brilliantly dark and pointed comedy, while the US one is less brutal but more bearable in large doses. I think the UK one would have been too much if it had gone on for, say, 3 seasons worth of 22 eps each.
I frequently suffer from rage at forgetting words to add due to being AFC (Away From Computer). I think that's what Wordie Mobile is supposed to help me with, if I could only remember that it exists!
Yeah, it's supposed to be exponential. My boss and my BF have this one in common. The sad thing is that I think they really believe it's a real word! (i.e., it's not just a one-time typo.)
earworm alert, indeed. Although I actually thought first not of "Funkytown" but Steely Dan's "Barrytown". Of course NOW I can't get "Funkytown" out of my head.
I know, isn't it sad? Sometimes I feel like I'm in an alternate universe where I'm the only one who can spell! And then I come here and remember there are others like me.
I always typed it as "ax" (and used to tell these temps that were making calls that when they said, "I want to ax you something" it wasn't like they would be chasing after the people to be surveyed with an axe!) but I never thought of it as "aks" and maybe somehow it originated as a typo??
I guess.. I've never actually seen this one written but people do pronounce it this way. Sadly I am not a ninja, so they get to live to befoul the English language another day.
What about kerfuffle vs. kerfluffle? Personally I like the first but hate the latter, and yet more people seem to use the version with the extraneous "l". Why, God, why??
I have one called Whatever Lola wants, that's pretty random. Another one is called I Dreamed You. This is from the Kelly Ripa collection, so I'm not surprised that they're "wacky". Great idea for a list, though!
I secretly like sammich. I know it's wrong, but it's just so cute. And I'm still not convinced that rigamarole is even wrong. Rigmarole sounds wronger to me.
Or should have if you're writing in a formal or business context. My boss uses this all the time, it is agonizing. He's British, so in his accent it might sound more like it, but still.
Another client-ism. She's not a stupid woman, she just has dyslexia when it comes to the word delivery. Even sadder? "Secure Delivery" is supposedly the trigger for their encryption gateway to encrypt their emails! (I work in healthcare, hence we are dealing with PHI a lot.) And I don't tell her that she's spelling it wrong. (Sign #101 that you are a bad person.)
I would agree with you there c_b - batshit and apeshit are used as adjectives (I think that's the right POS) describing people's states of mind, not nouns for the shit of the actual animal in question. Batshit would be guano, not sure if there's a specific term for ape shit.
For Gilead I am using the fictional location, not the biblical Gilead, which apparently corresponds to the modern kingdom of Jordan. See Wikipedia:
"Gilead is the principal city of New Canaan, from which Roland Deschain, the central character in The Dark Tower series of novels by Stephen King, hails. King's Gilead is said to be a namesake of the Biblical Gilead."
1672, from Fr. penchant, properly the prp. of O.Fr. pencher "to incline," from V.L. *pendicare, a frequentative formed from L. pendere "to hang" (see pendant).
Lucille: Because he’s your brother, and you run around with everyone else, going on bike rides, making cornholes. Everyone’s laughing and riding and cornholing except Buster.
Well, he does have a list dedicated to exploring his identity, after all. Can't get much more famous on Wordie than that. Unless you're John, of course.
I suspect it was called angel hair because it's so fine and thin compared to most long pasta shapes. But still! Eating real hair = nasty. I don't care if it belongs to angels or not.
Isn't there a town called Haversack in PA? Or am I completely insane? (Those two are not mutually exclusive, BTW.)
Bartleby sez:
(from E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.)
Strictly speaking is a bag to carry oats in. (See HAVER-CAKES.) It now means a soldier’s ration-bag slung from the shoulder; a gunner’s leather-case for carrying charges.
I know this was discussed before on your profile in the context of wonky HTML, but what about well-formed HTML? Is there a limit to how many tags we can use per comment? I seem to only be able to use 1 or 2 (2 italics or 1 link) at a time. If I remove one, the other will then show up. Weird! Is it just me?
Phlebotinum is the magical substance that may be rubbed on almost anything to cause an effect needed by a plot. Some examples: nanotechnology, magic crystal emanations, pixie dust, a sonic screwdriver. Oh, and Green Rocks.
CSI and its spinoffs come with gallons of phlebotinum. Their favorite kind appears to be Luminol, the substance that reveals traces of blood by glowing when traces of iron from the blood catalyzes its breakdown. Luminol is real, though.
According to Joss Whedon, during the DVD commentary for the pilot episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the term "phlebotinum" originates from David Greenwalt's (a writer and director on Buffy and later co-creator of Angel) sudden outburst, "Don't touch the phlebotinum!" apropos of nothing.
Note: Outside America it should properly be known as "Phlebotinium".
I want something that is legible and yet will allow me to add words to my lists. At this point I'm more concerned about that than about comments. So often I'm out and about and see or hear an awesome word that I want to add to a list!
You are a fracking genius! LOVE the "new word add" enhancement, and the bug/feature/mobile concept is so simple, yet elegant, that it makes perfect sense! If there isn't already, I suggest you copy those two sentences to the home page telling newbies where to go to report bugs etc.
Also? Oroboros mentioned me as a frequent commenter! *is chuffed* I'm sort of sporadic, but when I'm here I spam you all for hours at a time!
Aw, shucks - I still have nowhere near as many comments as uselessness or reesetee or chained_bear!
I agree 100% jr, and I know I've seen it spelled that way before - usually in the context of decorating or clothing.
This lovely bridesmaid's dress in seafoam green will flatter any complexion - yada yada yada
Another burning question - is there any other word that can follow/modify seafoam aside from green? Or should we just say the expression is always seafoam green and be done with it?
We're taking a more scatological bent, I think, so I'm accepting festering of filth and rejecting bunch of baloney/bologna (although I like them a lot, just not for this list).
Still considering backpack of bullcrap - not sure why because it seems like a no-brainer, but there's something about bullcrap that seems almost too dainty, like the only thing that should come after "bull" is "shit" and to say bullcrap is therefore wimping out.
To rig or assemble for temporary emergency use; improvise: The survivors of the wreck jury-rigged some fishing gear.
ETYMOLOGY: From jury-rigging, improvised rigging on a ship, modeled on jury-mast, temporary mast, perhaps ultimately from Old French ajurie, help, from aider, to help.
I'm always getting confused about this vs. jury-rig - Bartleby sez this is just a variant spelling, probably based on jerry-build. I thought jury-rig meant specifically fixing a jury, not a makeshift shoddy contraption. But people seem to use the two interchangeably to mean the latter.
Aioli, yeah, that's it! Thanks, that was totally going to bug me. (And BTW, isn't that a cool word? So many vowels in a row. Those wacky French! *makes note to add to Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys list*)
That is very cool about the etymology but I completely agree, it's sort of cognitive dissonance because you don't expect flowers to be glad. But I like it much better now that I know the connection to gladiator.
Ah. I think at some point I knew that, a long time ago.
PS this one definitely does sound better. It's got that nice 'aoli' sound going on, reminds me of Italian food. (Aglio y olio? Or am I thinking of some kind of appetizer?)
Reminds me of Ronkonkoma in Long Island. Originally a Native American name, of course, but it's pretty funny to hear the train conductors say it in a strong LI accent - "Rahn-KAHN-kama coming up next!"
I tend to like the ones with alliteration, they're more fun to say. So pile of poo is accepted, but load of crap is rejected. (Also we already have load of bull and they seem pretty similar.)
Oh, I don't drive. I've had WAYYYYY too many accidents to feel comfortable behind the wheel for long. Although it's been suggested that a complicated system of mirrors could compensate.
OK so I can't prove I have this, but put it this way - I estimate nearly 40% of my right field of vision is not consciously available to me (due to hemispatial neglect) and yet I can function fairly normally. It's either compensation from other parts of my brain, or the visual stimuli is still getting in there some other way.
When I see "debride" I immediately put a "Father of" in front of it to get exactly the wrong pronunciation. (Which, BTW, should go on a list of words with "unexpected spelling" because I ALWAYS want to spell it "pronounciation".)
I like y'all because we no longer have thou or ye or whichever one was the plural "you" form in English, so I figure it's actually serving a useful purpose and therefore cut it a break for being technically incorrect.
Also, it amuses me personally to say it because I am like the epitome of a Yankee but my entire family's from the South, so I know just how transgressive I am being.
C_b, maybe it's because a sack has a soft, squishy, humanoid quality that both crock and load are lacking? Crock and load are hard to anthropomorphosize (& I cannot spell that word for the life of me, let's see if I got it right?)
Y'all are crazy (except c_b) - it's iced tea, wax paper and ice cream. I have absolutely no rationale for my stance at this time, but I'll think of something eventually!
Oh u, it's not magic! It's caused by spammers imbedding thousands of search terms in their pages (usually in the source code, or sometimes in invisible text on the page itself) so as to force Google to rank their pages higher. Then Google changes their ranking method, and the spammers change their cheats. It's an ongoing war.
A flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas of China, India and Nepal. Nard oil is used as a perfume, an incense, a sedative, and an herbal medicine said to fight insomnia, birth difficulties, and other minor ailments.
Lavender (genus Lavandula) was also known by the ancient Greeks as naardus, nard, after the Syrian city Naarda.
Done! I like alyssum even though it reminds me a tiny bit of Alyssa Milano. LOVE jacaranda - I just heard the other day used on "Californication" and totally thought "Don't forget to look it up on Wordie!"
I recently heard about davana blossom - haven't smelled it but it sounds lovely.
1) oroboros - done! I added both. I love the word frangipani, and sometimes I like the scent - is that the same as templetree?
2) chained_bear - *blush* Why can't you favorite them all? There's no law against having too many favorites by the same person, after all. I want to favorite most of yours, BTW. Oh and I don't hold the verbing of "favorite" against you - it was long overdue for a good verbing.
Great word skipvia! I broke my arm due to this when I was 13 because my sister and I decided that if you looped the loose end of the dog lead (attached to a wire running between two trees) around and clipped it to itself, it made a great swing.
The opposite of for the win. I don't think this one actually has ever been said in a sporting context, despite the origin of its antonym phrase. Abbreviated as FTL.
My favorite misunderstanding of "moot" was on Friends, when Joey said something was a "moo point" - because it's as meaningless as what a cow would say.
OMG that "appears in lists" is beyond awesome, it's DAWESOME - I've wished for that so many times but somehow I thought it would be a much bigger deal to implement, so I never mentioned it.
While we're asking for the sky, you know what else would be cool? To be able to search lists and users.
Ah, RT - there's the syllabification I was looking for. And again in my defense, the spelling kind of reminds me of edamame, so it's a perfectly logical mistake to make! (Of course, one is a Western trademarked chemical creation and the other is a Japanese bean, but six of one, amirite?)
Ha ha! It cracks me up how much you hate it. And I know most smrt people do! From this website on "sensible design":
"The dreaded blink tag is a sign that well-travelled web surfers take as 'avoid this page - the person that wrote it just learned HTML from a bubble gum wrapper.'"
"Regional Patterns of American Speech: The American Frontier":
Through the passage of time, the frontier contributions of Northern European folk speech — especially British, Irish, Scots, and Swedish — have lost much of their identity because their speakers were soon united in a common culture. But from these sources of early frontier speech probably came the pronouns hit (for it), hisn, ourn, theirn, and yourn, the inflected verb forms clumb, drug, holp, and riz, the auxiliary construction mought could (or might could), and a large number of folk pronunciations and lexical items, forms transmitted through the oral tradition of the common people... Many of these forms go back to Middle English, and all survive in current American Midland and Southern dialects.
I've got a stalkery question - can we subscribe to other people's profile comment feeds? I'd subscribe to yourn just to keep up with what's going on around here.
Thanks John! I absolutely agree 100% that the best part of this site is the interactive/community component, so I'm glad that's why the layout change. I definitely like the movement of the recent comments to the center of the home page. The only thing I think that threw me for a loop is the realignment of the "who lists" uh, lists to the right side of the word view page instead of in the center. My eyes are used to looking under the word itself and I'm constantly retraining myself to look to the right. But I think it's ok because it refocuses attention on talking about the words rather than just collecting them on our lists.
ETA - I don't know if it helps you (I have this vague idea that you could just port the code) but there's a plugin for Firefox that searches Bartleby All Books (and I specify All Books because it's the one with the best value-add over the current d.com, m-w, etc.).
Thanks for fixing the "comments on" page.. but you're right, it isn't accurate. It says I have no comments on my lists but I know for a fact that ain't true!
Am slightly discombobulated by the new layout but I'll adjust eventually. *shakes cane at newfangled inventions*
Still hoping someday you'll add Bartleby (All Books) to the lookup sites - it could replace like 5 dictionary sites in one fellswoop!
Interesting, the old meaning was the opposite, see Bartleby:
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
That’s crummy, that’s jolly good. She’s a crummy woman, a fine handsome woman. Crummy means fat or fleshy. The crummy part of bread is the fleshy or main part. The opposite of “crusty�? = ill-tempered.
Oh yeah, this is a real word, except it's supposed to be mayhap - see Wikipedia. This is interesting to me as I'd only ever seen/heard it as "mayhaps". As in, "Mayhaps we'll meet again someday." Guess I was listening to illiterates!
Thanks seanahan! I totally agree, and I think it was the thing that struck me the most about the show when I saw the Pilot - Joss has an ear for dialogue that just rings true, even when the dialect itself is made up (e.g., Firefly).
1779, from Fr. Alpine dialect crestin, "a dwarfed and deformed idiot," from V.L. christianus "a Christian," a generic term for "anyone," but often with a sense of "poor fellow."
Buffy: I'm brainsick. I can't have a relationship with him.
Willow: Not during the day, but...you could ask him for coffee some night. It's the non-relationship drink of choice. It's not a date, it's a caffeinated beverage. Okay, sure, it's hot and bitter, like a relationship that way, but... - "Reptile Boy"
"I have at least three lives to contend with, none of which really mesh. It's kind of like oil and water and a...third unmeshable thing." - Buffy, "School Hard"
"I mean, they promised me they'd take me to St. Croix, and then they just decide to go to Tuscany. Art and buildings? I was totally beachless for a month and a half. No one has suffered like I have." - Cordelia, "When She Was Bad"
I know, but it still has those first 4 characters that irresistably remind me of diapers, maybe because those are the only two words I know of that have that sequence, at least in English.
Can you imagine diaphanous diapers, how gross would that be?!?!
1780, Amer.Eng., probably from cord + obs. 17c. duroy, a coarse fabric made in England. Folk etymology is from *corde du roi "the king's cord," but this is not attested in Fr., where the term for the cloth was velours à côtes. Applied in U.S. to a road of logs across swampy ground (1822).
PS My mother gave me her Electrolux with great pomp and splendor but I eventually threw it out because it was half-broken and I couldn't hack getting it fixed. I know, what sacrilege. Plus it weighed a ton and I was sick of lugging it from place to place.
WTF is up with the recent change in spelling of this word - I never liked vendor, but lately I noticed the New Yorker is spelling it vender. Am I crazy or has anyone else seen it?
1872, slang term, chiefly British, originally "a pimp, a man supported by women" (pouncey in same sense is attested from 1861), of unknown origin, perhaps from Fr. pensionnaire "boarder, lodger, person living without working." Meaning "male homosexual" first attested 1932 in Auden.
Short for "orris root", aka iris. I did not know this but apparently it's used to make gin, most famously Bombay Sapphire. At least, so says this unsourced Wikipedia article.
My comments for view breaks Wordie.. I get this adorable message:
"Sorry, but this site has gone all 500 Application Error on you. Something's wrong with the server, most likely. Please email John, the slack bastard who built this. Feel free to give him a piece of your mind."
You know, this is just creepy. Why the hell would an Xtian want to use an epithet referring to the nails on the cross? Religious people are weird. Of course, that's assuming it was a Christian who came up with the phrase.
I thought the dammerung portion meant "storm" - as in the shitstorm that will erupt among the rabidfangirls if Harry and Hermione don't end up together or anything else occurs in it that they don't approve of.
bonk "to hit," 1931, probably of imitative origin; 1975 in sense of "have sexual intercourse with." Bonkers "crazy," 1957, British slang, perhaps from earlier naval slang meaning "slightly drunk" (1948), from notion of a thump on the head.
Comments by arby
Show previous 200 comments...
arby commented on the list name-suggestions-for-even-bigger-suvs-and-trucks
How about PlanetKiller?
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word bracken
According to Mencken, we call them ferns. (I've never heard bracken used over here.) I associate this word with Scotland and heath for some reason.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the list wot-s-all-this-then
Thanks c_b!! I love England too, and its words crack me up.
Signed,
Belatedly Catching Up on Comments
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the list lists-of-the-year
How about one for "Most Educational"? I like lists where I learn something I didn't know before.
This comment brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the list dogs-named-in-russian-literature
Brilliant! Now I want to do a "Animal Names in Tolkien" list.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word mun
I've seen both, my totally real, non madeupical friend.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word yeppers
They're everywhere!!
*looks around in paranoia*
PS true dat about Ricky G. I like Extras ok, but it's no Office.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the list lists-of-the-year
How about a category for "Most Cringeworthy" - words you love to hate?
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word loty07 best meta list
Reesetee's The Several Stages of Wordie Addiction, for being awesome. I have a feeling reesetee and chained_bear are going to sweep the awards.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word loty07
Oh! *bats eyelashes* I'm so flattered!
*runs off to nominate others*
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
And with that, I'm back on the top 10 commenters for the week!
*takes bow*
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
My brain goes to pizzle with that spelling. (Not that it's entirely inappropriate, but still!)
Also, I think capezzoli might be correct, in Italian that "e" would be pronounced like "i".. there's another pastry reference dancing on the edge of my brain but I really have to leave work now!! I'll check back later.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word copyright
Yeah! Also, ha.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word mun
From the Fandom wank wiki:
Short for "mundane" or "human", a mun is the player of a sockpuppet in an RPG. The real person behind the mask.
Sometimes there is wank when a mun is discovered to be someone another mun hates outside the RPG. Sometimes wank happens when a mun leaves in a huff and the character gets passed to another player. Sometimes muns are just wanky people in general.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word sockpuppet
Ha! Fandom Wank Wiki to the rescue!
"1. A person claiming to be somebody else for the sake of gathering support -- sometimes, when they are obviously losing; other times, to distract and confound their friends and enemies.
2. The character played by a mun, either in an RPG or just for fun."
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word sockpuppet
(verb) Sockpuppeting: Registering multiple usernames and pretending they are not you, for the purposes of making oneself look more popular online and/or causing drama.
(noun) a sockpuppet is a fake persona utilized for the above purposes. Sometimes people make them as a joke and troll their friends' journals with them.
Not sure if this originated on LiveJournal but it's used there with great frequency.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word yeppers
I wonder if people are going to think yarb is my sockpuppet - I swear, we're two different people!
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
And yeah, compared to Mozart we're all pretty lame. Except maybe Beethoven.
ETA I was the one who misspelled hoo-hahs, so I take full responsibility for your pouting.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
No worries c_b! I love Amadeus (though you wouldn't know it from my inaccurate description of the scene - it's just because my brain is like a sieve) and agree - the tale of Salieri is incredibly tragic, all the more so because he was able to appreciate Mozart's genius, unlike most of his contemporaries. (King what's-his-face, he of the "too many notes!" comment.)
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word copyright
Yeah, that's what I meant. I knew that, I swear!
*blushes*
*is tempted to edit previous comment to make self look less ignorant*
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word copyright
Oh, that reminds me of another fingernail on the chalkboard of my brain - copywrite.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
PPPS
I'm always doing about 50 things online at the same time, and being commenty on Wordie at work is.. not recommended for optimum productivity.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
LOL at sending Nipples of Venus to your senator - hey, maybe it'll result in some meaningful legislation!
Also, I do NOT recommend Googling "nipples of venus".
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word hoo-hah coverings
c_b - hey, you're right! I think the second time I looked at it I saw "to cover their hoo-has" and thought it was more or less the same thing. *adds back to self-coinages list*
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
Ha!
ETA your edit made it look like I was mocking you - that "Ha" was in response to the first comment
re: the second, you could be right! That's probably where I got it from. I remember the scene where Salieri was trying to seduce what's-her-face, Mozart's wife, with those "Nipples of Venus"
.November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
PS
Isn't there some kind of Italian pastry called "Nipples of Venus"?
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
ewwwww
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word hoo-hah coverings
I didn't mean to take credit for your word - I don't know why I put it on my self-coinages list.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
This word makes me think of pastries. Or at least, it used to. Now it just makes me think of hoo-has, with a side of exotic dancers.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word peeler
Thanks rt!
*not listening to u's creepy innuendoes*
la la la la
*fingers in ears*
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the list spam-names
That reminds me of The Brave Little Toaster, in which the following exchange occurs:
Kirby (Vacuum Cleaner): Why don't you shut off?
Air Conditioner: Oh, I'm really scared there, Kirby. What are you going to do, suck me to death?
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word jaffa
For TV nerds, better known as "a fictional race on the television series Stargate SG-1" (Wikipedia). The WeirdNet definition is (typically) the least used one.
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word deja loo
IAWTC
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word frostitute
Genius!! I want to know who came up with this one!
November 30, 2007
arby commented on the word bugs
Ooh, here's a real bug - clicking "Comment" with no text in the box results in a 500 Application Error.
*acts helpful*
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word do not want
abbreviated dnw
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word iawtc
Acronym for "I Agree With This Comment"
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word hoo-hah
Huh. Maybe I'm just thinking of Blanche from the Golden Girls.
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the list the-several-stages-of-wordie-addiction
Mounting experiments solely to provoke WeirdNet - see peeler for context.
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word cankles
An unfortunate condition in which one's calves flow directly to one's ankles without narrowing.
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word scaurous
aka cankles
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word peeler
I have to say, I think mounting experiments solely to provoke WeirdNet has to be added to Reesetee's list!
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word pasties
c_b, I like your definition for hoo-hah coverings the best!!
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word bugs
Also I don't know if this is a bug or if I should even bring it up (because my favorite Obnoxious HTML tags aren't listed in the "Some HTML" popup, and yet old comments using them still display correctly) but it looks like HTML doesn't display on the home page in comments. At least, my little strike tag doesn't (on WeirdNet, if you must know). This is unfortunate because it makes my comment make much less sense.
Because it's All About ME!! *twirls*
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word hoo-hah
I've heard it both ways - I think the "euphemism for unseemly body parts" use is a Southern thing.
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word weirdnet
Won't someone think of the
childrenspawn??!?!?!?!November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word mute point
My favorite malapropism around moot point was on Friends when Joey thought it was "Moo point" because it was like what a cow would say, i.e., irrelevant.
Someone on TV recently tried to explain why they thought it was mute point, but I'll be damned if I can remember what show. (My brain is like a sieve.)
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word bugs
I like the subject line! Many of my comments won't be nearly as witty without them.
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word hsq
Coined by the Buffistas - I quote from the FAQ:
Holy Shit Quotient, a term invented by David S. Refers to the moments when you go, "Holy shit, I can't believe they did that!" The second season of both Buffy and Angel had a heavy HSQ.
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word watch from the hall
TV that makes you feel so embarrassed for the characters that you can't be in the same room with the tv and thus, must watch it from the hall.
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word yeppers
1) yarb - I love them both, in different ways. The UK one was intensely embarrassing (watch from the hall tv or setting off some peoples' humiliation squick) but brilliantly dark and pointed comedy, while the US one is less brutal but more bearable in large doses. I think the UK one would have been too much if it had gone on for, say, 3 seasons worth of 22 eps each.
2) bilby - ha!
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word llarfs
Random!!
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word weirdnet
It does have to live up to its name, after all - not being called NormalNet (or AccurateNet, for that matter).
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word lemniskate
Are they eating roffles at the time?
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the list the-several-stages-of-wordie-addiction
How about acceptance that you can't possibly list all words, or do we never reach that stage??
I frequently suffer from rage at forgetting words to add due to being AFC (Away From Computer). I think that's what Wordie Mobile is supposed to help me with, if I could only remember that it exists!
Ah, irony.
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the word expotential
Yeah, it's supposed to be exponential. My boss and my BF have this one in common. The sad thing is that I think they really believe it's a real word! (i.e., it's not just a one-time typo.)
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the list fingernails-on-my-chalkboard
earworm alert, indeed. Although I actually thought first not of "Funkytown" but Steely Dan's "Barrytown". Of course NOW I can't get "Funkytown" out of my head.
November 28, 2007
arby commented on the list fingernails-on-my-chalkboard
I know, isn't it sad? Sometimes I feel like I'm in an alternate universe where I'm the only one who can spell! And then I come here and remember there are others like me.
November 27, 2007
arby commented on the word yeppers
You kind of had to be there - Jan's tone of voice when she says "What did I tell you about 'Yeppers'" is indescribably hilarious.
November 27, 2007
arby commented on the word yeppers
Jan: Are you going to take care of this?
Michael: Yeppers.
Jan: (exasperated) What did I tell you about “yeppers�??
Michael: I don’t…remember…
Jan: I told you not to say it. (as if to a child) Do you remember that?
Michael: (squirming) Yeshhhh.
November 27, 2007
arby commented on the word moxie
Eww, seafoam moist sounds so nasty.
November 27, 2007
arby commented on the list fingernails-on-my-chalkboard
Also, I just saw this one - editor-and-chief for "editor-in-chief".
November 27, 2007
arby commented on the list fingernails-on-my-chalkboard
I always typed it as "ax" (and used to tell these temps that were making calls that when they said, "I want to ax you something" it wasn't like they would be chasing after the people to be surveyed with an axe!) but I never thought of it as "aks" and maybe somehow it originated as a typo??
But yeah, that drives me crazy!!!
November 27, 2007
arby commented on the word ekcetra
I guess.. I've never actually seen this one written but people do pronounce it this way. Sadly I am not a ninja, so they get to live to befoul the English language another day.
October 31, 2007
arby commented on the list why-can-t-people-pronounce-these-properly
What about kerfuffle vs. kerfluffle? Personally I like the first but hate the latter, and yet more people seem to use the version with the extraneous "l". Why, God, why??
*shakes tiny fists*
October 31, 2007
arby commented on the list malapropisms-i-ve-heard
OMG tenderhooks is so ridiculous, and a total oxymoron!
October 31, 2007
arby commented on the list why-can-t-people-pronounce-these-properly
Yeah! Rigmarole doesn't have enough syllables to be appropriate.
October 31, 2007
arby commented on the list nailpolish
I have one called Whatever Lola wants, that's pretty random. Another one is called I Dreamed You. This is from the Kelly Ripa collection, so I'm not surprised that they're "wacky". Great idea for a list, though!
October 31, 2007
arby commented on the list why-can-t-people-pronounce-these-properly
I secretly like sammich. I know it's wrong, but it's just so cute. And I'm still not convinced that rigamarole is even wrong. Rigmarole sounds wronger to me.
October 31, 2007
arby commented on the word verbing
Oh, everything is okay on Wordie. It's only in RL that it drives me bananas (bananas me?). I agree c_b, corporate verbing is particularly irritating.
October 31, 2007
arby commented on the word touch basis
Definitely an overused "buzz phrase", either way. It just adds insult to injury when it's misspelled.
October 31, 2007
arby commented on the list fingernails-on-my-chalkboard
I've never even seen that one, but *cringes*
October 31, 2007
arby commented on the word should of
Or should have if you're writing in a formal or business context. My boss uses this all the time, it is agonizing. He's British, so in his accent it might sound more like it, but still.
October 29, 2007
arby commented on the word phi
Also an acronym for Protected Health Information, mandated by HIPAA legislation.
October 29, 2007
arby commented on the word secure deliverly
Another client-ism. She's not a stupid woman, she just has dyslexia when it comes to the word delivery. Even sadder? "Secure Delivery" is supposedly the trigger for their encryption gateway to encrypt their emails! (I work in healthcare, hence we are dealing with PHI a lot.) And I don't tell her that she's spelling it wrong. (Sign #101 that you are a bad person.)
October 29, 2007
arby commented on the word touch basis
A client of mine says this, it kills me! Almost as bad as my boss saying irregardless.
October 29, 2007
arby commented on the word tÃr na nÓg
I like this one for the crazy accents!
October 26, 2007
arby commented on the list calgon-take-me-away
Thanks dude!!
October 26, 2007
arby commented on the list calgon-take-me-away
Probably. My brain is easily confused by things that sound and/or look similar. What a cool legend about Brigadoon the village!
October 26, 2007
arby commented on the list calgon-take-me-away
Thanks u! I love your list.
skipvia - I thought Brigadoon was just a ship and/or a musical. It's a place too?
October 26, 2007
arby commented on the list calgon-take-me-away
Ooh, good one skipvia!
October 26, 2007
arby commented on the list specific-excrement
I would agree with you there c_b - batshit and apeshit are used as adjectives (I think that's the right POS) describing people's states of mind, not nouns for the shit of the actual animal in question. Batshit would be guano, not sure if there's a specific term for ape shit.
October 26, 2007
arby commented on the list calgon-take-me-away
For Gilead I am using the fictional location, not the biblical Gilead, which apparently corresponds to the modern kingdom of Jordan. See Wikipedia:
"Gilead is the principal city of New Canaan, from which Roland Deschain, the central character in The Dark Tower series of novels by Stephen King, hails. King's Gilead is said to be a namesake of the Biblical Gilead."
October 26, 2007
arby commented on the word macguffin
Good description on TVTropes.
October 24, 2007
arby commented on the word phlebotinum
Wait, what? So aluminium = aluminia? I am sooooo confused.
Agree re: MacGuffin.
October 24, 2007
arby commented on the word hemispatial neglect
See blindsight.
October 24, 2007
arby commented on the word penchant
1672, from Fr. penchant, properly the prp. of O.Fr. pencher "to incline," from V.L. *pendicare, a frequentative formed from L. pendere "to hang" (see pendant).
October 18, 2007
arby commented on the word cornhole
It reminds me of "Arrested Development" -
Michael: Why do I have to take him?
Lucille: Because he’s your brother, and you run around with everyone else, going on bike rides, making cornholes. Everyone’s laughing and riding and cornholing except Buster.
Episode Transcript (with sound clip!)
Lucille was referring to the Cornballer.
October 18, 2007
arby commented on the word commenty
Yeah man - we're all jealous of your commenting prowess!
October 18, 2007
arby commented on the word panties
In fact, I think the excellence of manties is in an inverse relationship to the horribleness of panties.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the list what-superheroes-are-made-of
Ooh, vibranium is perfect! Thanks Qvaak!
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word panties
I hate panties, it's unnecessarily cutesy masquerading as "sexy". Manties, however, is hysterical and needs to be in wider usage.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word features
Well, he does have a list dedicated to exploring his identity, after all. Can't get much more famous on Wordie than that. Unless you're John, of course.
PS rt thanks! That makes more sense.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word angel hair
I suspect it was called angel hair because it's so fine and thin compared to most long pasta shapes. But still! Eating real hair = nasty. I don't care if it belongs to angels or not.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word haversack
Isn't there a town called Haversack in PA? Or am I completely insane? (Those two are not mutually exclusive, BTW.)
Bartleby sez:
(from E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.)
Strictly speaking is a bag to carry oats in. (See HAVER-CAKES.) It now means a soldier’s ration-bag slung from the shoulder; a gunner’s leather-case for carrying charges.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word commenty
No no, I was actually thinking of myself in that I wasn't commenty enough. At least, not consistently. Never fear!
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word vibranium
A fictional metal that appears in the Marvel Universe. It is most commonly known as the material that was used to construct Captain America's Shield.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word bugs
Or you (meaning commenters - not you, John) could use tinyurl to shorten the URL to minimize the chances of it getting caught in the truncate bit.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the list pastas-i-have-loved
True dat. *nods wisely*
Before there was Pennywise, there was the clown in Poltergeist. I'm scared just remembering it!
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the list pastas-i-have-loved
Also I like lumachine (aka tiny snail shells) - it is so cute!
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the list pastas-i-have-loved
How about cappelli di pagliaccio - aka clown hats? What's not to love about clown hats, I ask you.
(stumbled upon this while looking up creste di galli)
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word creste di galli
Means "Cockscomb" according to "The Digital Pasta Book". Thanks, Google Books!
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word bugs
I know this was discussed before on your profile in the context of wonky HTML, but what about well-formed HTML? Is there a limit to how many tags we can use per comment? I seem to only be able to use 1 or 2 (2 italics or 1 link) at a time. If I remove one, the other will then show up. Weird! Is it just me?
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word horse latitudes
Huh. I feel bad for the horsies but glad to have learned something! Once again Wordie comes through with tmyn.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word strozzapreti
In my opinion one of the best pasta names ever - means "priest-strangler".
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word commenty
I made this one up - it's mock Buffyspeak for "comments a lot".
It's a.. whatever that part of speech is that describes this:
She doesn't come on Wordie a lot, but when she does she's all commenty.
Adjective?
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word phlebotinum
According to TV Tropes:
Phlebotinum is the magical substance that may be rubbed on almost anything to cause an effect needed by a plot. Some examples: nanotechnology, magic crystal emanations, pixie dust, a sonic screwdriver. Oh, and Green Rocks.
CSI and its spinoffs come with gallons of phlebotinum. Their favorite kind appears to be Luminol, the substance that reveals traces of blood by glowing when traces of iron from the blood catalyzes its breakdown. Luminol is real, though.
According to Joss Whedon, during the DVD commentary for the pilot episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the term "phlebotinum" originates from David Greenwalt's (a writer and director on Buffy and later co-creator of Angel) sudden outburst, "Don't touch the phlebotinum!" apropos of nothing.
Note: Outside America it should properly be known as "Phlebotinium".
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word blindsight
Ha! Forgot to check this page/recent comments, thus proving my own point.
I suspect a gnat's attention span is less than that of a goldfish (famously reported as 3 seconds).
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word adamantium
This may be my favorite sci-fi fake element, but I'm curious to see others. Oooh! *makes list*
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word features
Sorting by alpha is already there, rt!
*is shocked to know something about wordie that the famous rt does not*
It's right under the list title, to the right.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word angel hair
If you think about it literally, "angel hair" is kind of gross.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word angel hair
Mmmmm, angel hair. All this pasta-listing is making me hungry!
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word horse latitudes
Did Jim Morrison make this up? What the hell is it supposed to mean?
Signed,
Too Lazy To Google - or even click the links
*waits patiently*
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word mobile
I want something that is legible and yet will allow me to add words to my lists. At this point I'm more concerned about that than about comments. So often I'm out and about and see or hear an awesome word that I want to add to a list!
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the user john
You are a fracking genius! LOVE the "new word add" enhancement, and the bug/feature/mobile concept is so simple, yet elegant, that it makes perfect sense! If there isn't already, I suggest you copy those two sentences to the home page telling newbies where to go to report bugs etc.
Also? Oroboros mentioned me as a frequent commenter! *is chuffed* I'm sort of sporadic, but when I'm here I spam you all for hours at a time!
Aw, shucks - I still have nowhere near as many comments as uselessness or reesetee or chained_bear!
*makes resolution to be more commenty*
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word moxie
I agree 100% jr, and I know I've seen it spelled that way before - usually in the context of decorating or clothing.
This lovely bridesmaid's dress in seafoam green will flatter any complexion - yada yada yada
Another burning question - is there any other word that can follow/modify seafoam aside from green? Or should we just say the expression is always seafoam green and be done with it?
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the list this-list-is-a-complete-x-of-y
Thanks for linking to chiasmus - love the concept!!
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the list this-list-is-a-complete-x-of-y
We're taking a more scatological bent, I think, so I'm accepting festering of filth and rejecting bunch of baloney/bologna (although I like them a lot, just not for this list).
Still considering backpack of bullcrap - not sure why because it seems like a no-brainer, but there's something about bullcrap that seems almost too dainty, like the only thing that should come after "bull" is "shit" and to say bullcrap is therefore wimping out.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word jury-rig
To rig or assemble for temporary emergency use; improvise: The survivors of the wreck jury-rigged some fishing gear.
ETYMOLOGY: From jury-rigging, improvised rigging on a ship, modeled on jury-mast, temporary mast, perhaps ultimately from Old French ajurie, help, from aider, to help.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word jerry-build
To build shoddily, flimsily, and cheaply.
ETYMOLOGY: From dialectal jerry, defective, perhaps from the name Jerry.
OTHER FORMS: jerry-builder —NOUN
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word jerry-rig
I'm always getting confused about this vs. jury-rig - Bartleby sez this is just a variant spelling, probably based on jerry-build. I thought jury-rig meant specifically fixing a jury, not a makeshift shoddy contraption. But people seem to use the two interchangeably to mean the latter.
October 17, 2007
arby commented on the word big woop
*attempt at a sage nod*
Yeah, I know it as big whoop.
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the list this-list-is-a-complete-x-of-y
LOL
(sorry uselessness!)
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word musterdevillers
Oh, that's cool! Nice add, sionnach.
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word unsweet
I even edited that very comment, to add "your own" so that I didn't mislead skipvia into thinking s/he could edit other people's comments.
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word gladioli
Aioli, yeah, that's it! Thanks, that was totally going to bug me. (And BTW, isn't that a cool word? So many vowels in a row. Those wacky French! *makes note to add to Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys list*)
That is very cool about the etymology but I completely agree, it's sort of cognitive dissonance because you don't expect flowers to be glad. But I like it much better now that I know the connection to gladiator.
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the list this-list-is-a-complete-x-of-y
Yeah, that's what I meant - worthful is a whole new ball game compared to lame-ass worthy.
PS I think briefcase of feces is actually internal rhyme, not alliteration - the repeating 'e's are what makes it.
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word lollygagging
This word now sounds totally dirty to me.
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word gladioli
Ah. I think at some point I knew that, a long time ago.
PS this one definitely does sound better. It's got that nice 'aoli' sound going on, reminds me of Italian food. (Aglio y olio? Or am I thinking of some kind of appetizer?)
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word gladioli
Plural of gladiola?
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word unsweet
You know skipvia, you can edit your own comments. (I do it shamelessly, all the time.)
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word ronks
Reminds me of Ronkonkoma in Long Island. Originally a Native American name, of course, but it's pretty funny to hear the train conductors say it in a strong LI accent - "Rahn-KAHN-kama coming up next!"
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word blindsight
I try to worry about everything at once, but I have the attention span of a gnat, so I end up being a niche worrier by default.
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the list this-list-is-a-complete-x-of-y
Worthful would be a sniglet - someone should add it! (I guess technically worthy fulfils that function, but that's so boringly normal.)
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word recursion
Heh.
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word blindsight
Ah, recursion.
*makes mental note to worry about everyone else's worrying status*
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word waxed paper
Hey, I resemble that remark.
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the list this-list-is-a-complete-x-of-y
I tend to like the ones with alliteration, they're more fun to say. So pile of poo is accepted, but load of crap is rejected. (Also we already have load of bull and they seem pretty similar.)
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word maroon
hint, hint
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word waxed paper
Ha ha, your fake word broke Wordie.
*adds info on gender of prominent Wordies to secret stalker file*
October 13, 2007
arby commented on the word britlish
Why thank you sir!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word satchel of shite
I made the list!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word blindsight
Oh, I don't drive. I've had WAYYYYY too many accidents to feel comfortable behind the wheel for long. Although it's been suggested that a complicated system of mirrors could compensate.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word crock of shit
Ha! Once again I doubled a syllable - anthro.. goes in my list of "Words I Used to Misread".
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the list this-is-one-lame-ass-list
I r idiot. I could have SWORN I looked to see if it was already there!
never mind, nothing to see here
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word blindsight
OK so I can't prove I have this, but put it this way - I estimate nearly 40% of my right field of vision is not consciously available to me (due to hemispatial neglect) and yet I can function fairly normally. It's either compensation from other parts of my brain, or the visual stimuli is still getting in there some other way.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the list i-need-to-practice-things-i-think-i-already-know-how-to-do
Cool idea for a list, npydyuan!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word unilateral spatial neglect
See hemispatial neglect and blindsight.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the list •unexpected-pronunciation-now-with-public-access
When I see "debride" I immediately put a "Father of" in front of it to get exactly the wrong pronunciation. (Which, BTW, should go on a list of words with "unexpected spelling" because I ALWAYS want to spell it "pronounciation".)
PS No one expects pronunciation!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the list what-is-a-reesetee-anyhow
HA!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word satchel of shite
How about attaché of ass?
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word poindexter
This has GOT to be after that guy from Revenge of the Nerds - amirite?
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word y'all
I like y'all because we no longer have thou or ye or whichever one was the plural "you" form in English, so I figure it's actually serving a useful purpose and therefore cut it a break for being technically incorrect.
Also, it amuses me personally to say it because I am like the epitome of a Yankee but my entire family's from the South, so I know just how transgressive I am being.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the list this-is-one-lame-ass-list
Ooh, don't think I know that one - link?
PS edited my comment to hotlink show the actual image now that I know it's not verboten.
PPS how about lame-ass?
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word halcyon
How the hell DO you pronounce it? HAL-see-on, right?
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word satchel of shite
I love it!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word crock of shit
C_b, maybe it's because a sack has a soft, squishy, humanoid quality that both crock and load are lacking? Crock and load are hard to anthropomorphosize (& I cannot spell that word for the life of me, let's see if I got it right?)
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word briefcase of feces
*snerk*
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word waxed paper
Y'all are crazy (except c_b) - it's iced tea, wax paper and ice cream. I have absolutely no rationale for my stance at this time, but I'll think of something eventually!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word satchel of shite
Britlish for sack of shit.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word crock of shit
My sister & invented the Britlish version - satchel of shite.
ETA - this is for sack of shit, not crock.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the list bonjour-cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys
Awww, thank you palooka!! I do write a little in my spare time.
But I have to give credit where credit is due - I didn't make this list name up. It's a quote from The Simpsons.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word todal
Silence... of teh rabbits!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word googlipresent
Oh u, it's not magic! It's caused by spammers imbedding thousands of search terms in their pages (usually in the source code, or sometimes in invisible text on the page itself) so as to force Google to rank their pages higher. Then Google changes their ranking method, and the spammers change their cheats. It's an ongoing war.
PS love the word, though!!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word absinthe
I think these puns are going to kill me first!
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word ravensara
"sometimes called clove nutmeg". I love the word, it's so pretty.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word spikenard
Also known as nard, nardin, and muskroot.
A flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas of China, India and Nepal. Nard oil is used as a perfume, an incense, a sedative, and an herbal medicine said to fight insomnia, birth difficulties, and other minor ailments.
Lavender (genus Lavandula) was also known by the ancient Greeks as naardus, nard, after the Syrian city Naarda.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the list whatever-you-rolled-in-it-sure-smells-delicious
Done! I like alyssum even though it reminds me a tiny bit of Alyssa Milano. LOVE jacaranda - I just heard the other day used on "Californication" and totally thought "Don't forget to look it up on Wordie!"
I recently heard about davana blossom - haven't smelled it but it sounds lovely.
Also, there's a neat list of essential oils here.
October 12, 2007
arby commented on the word crikey
Came from "Christ kill me".
October 11, 2007
arby commented on the word blimey
c.f. crikey
October 11, 2007
arby commented on the list whatever-you-rolled-in-it-sure-smells-delicious
No break for you!
October 11, 2007
arby commented on the list whatever-you-rolled-in-it-sure-smells-delicious
1) oroboros - done! I added both. I love the word frangipani, and sometimes I like the scent - is that the same as templetree?
2) chained_bear - *blush* Why can't you favorite them all? There's no law against having too many favorites by the same person, after all. I want to favorite most of yours, BTW. Oh and I don't hold the verbing of "favorite" against you - it was long overdue for a good verbing.
October 11, 2007
arby commented on the word jackaspiration
Great word skipvia! I broke my arm due to this when I was 13 because my sister and I decided that if you looped the loose end of the dog lead (attached to a wire running between two trees) around and clipped it to itself, it made a great swing.
Ah, jackaspiration. Good times!
October 11, 2007
arby commented on the list whatever-you-rolled-in-it-sure-smells-delicious
Heee thanks dude. It's from the old Far Side cartoon.
October 11, 2007
arby commented on the word braintoast
OMG I remember both! "The Brave Little Toaster" is hysterical.
October 11, 2007
arby commented on the word huzzah
Whenever I hear kudos I think of the snack bar. Otherwise, good joke!
October 10, 2007
arby commented on the word pound-foolish
The opposite of penny-wise.
October 10, 2007
arby commented on the word poundfoolish
Oh, I am an idiot, there already is pound-foolish and even pound-folly, to contrast to penny wisdom! Who knew?? (aside from Roget)
October 10, 2007
arby commented on the word pennywise
The name of the evil clown in IT.
I was thinking of the adj. (?? curse my lack of grammar nomenclature skillz) penny-wise.
October 10, 2007
arby commented on the word penny-wise
VARIANT FORMS: or pennywise
ADJECTIVE: Careful in dealing with small sums of money or small matters.
October 10, 2007
arby commented on the word poundfoolish
The logical complement to pennywise. I am so poundfoolish it's not even funny.
October 10, 2007
arby commented on the word verbing
I hate verbing. HATE IT. The worst is when people invent new verbs using body parts - "he toed off his shoes". ARGGGGHHHHHH!!!! Shoot me now, someone.
October 10, 2007
arby commented on the word ion
Also an abbreviation for "In Other News". I use it this way a lot.
October 10, 2007
arby commented on the word made of win
A logical extension of for the win, whereby something is so awesome that it consists entirely of goodness. The opposite of made of fail.
October 9, 2007
arby commented on the word made of fail
Used to describe something that suxx0rs so badly that there is no good in it, it is entirely made of fail. The opposite of made of win.
October 9, 2007
arby commented on the word for the lose
See also made of fail.
October 9, 2007
arby commented on the word for the lose
The opposite of for the win. I don't think this one actually has ever been said in a sporting context, despite the origin of its antonym phrase. Abbreviated as FTL.
October 9, 2007
arby commented on the word np
Abbreviation for "No Problem". Not sure if this originated in Netspeak or if it predated Teh Intarwebs.
October 9, 2007
arby commented on the word girlygiggle
NP, RT!
October 9, 2007
arby commented on the word pareidolia
Ooh, glad to have a word for this phenomenon.
October 9, 2007
arby commented on the word moot
My favorite misunderstanding of "moot" was on Friends, when Joey said something was a "moo point" - because it's as meaningless as what a cow would say.
October 9, 2007
arby commented on the word clippy
Clippy was the spawn of SATAN.
October 7, 2007
arby commented on the list great-race-horse-names3
Great list!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word tmi
Yikes. Hadn't thought of that.. I guess I've never heard it used for that abbrev.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word breadlet
Adorable, RT! Get that friend on Wordie, stat!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word girlygiggle
The pinker version of a womanchuckle.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word womanchuckle
The female version of manlaughter.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word girlychuckle
It's just about as disturbingly off as manlaughter, so perfect!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word i 8 something
Cool, Sionnach! BTW, what's the punchline to your joke?
(and then explain it if you don't mind, because I almost certainly won't get it by myself ;))
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word totipalmate
burntsox, excellent!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word shiver me timbers
I'm actually glad, because...
*TMYN*
Signed,
should have paid more attention when reading Moby Dick
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word penny farthing
So THAT's what these are called! I love it. Although it does make me think of farts.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word tmyn
Huzzah!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word tmi
Acronym for "Too Much Information".
Usually referring to something of a personal nature that was shared with people who aren't that intimate.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the list words-i-used-to-misread
I tend to be defensive about my misreadings, having been mocked for them for so long!
Thanks for your support.â„¢
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word shiver me timbers
I know wench is more appropriate for a medieval joke, too. I'm just breaking all the rules with that comment!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word i 8 something
What's a CRC?
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word shiver me timbers
TMI dude. And ha! I hope your date was a scurvy wench, at least.
Yes, I know scurvy is not an adjective. I just like using it that way.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the list best-wordie-user-names
kewpid!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word smirt
Good one skipdivided!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word proctor
Now, now, children. There's plenty to go around.
*hands out cookies to rt & c_b*
PS - is it Catch-22 with the "feather in my cap"/"shot in the arm" running joke? I can never remember where that came from!!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word girlychuckle
Oh I chuckle all the time, but I'm not exactly a girlygirl. Plus girlygiggle's got the alliteration going for it.
ETA: hootle?? I love it! Reminds me of tootle, which never fails to amuse.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the user john
Ooh, tea sandwiches! I'll have watercress and cucumber.
*is bored at work*
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word buwahaha
I separate out the "ha ha's" like "bwa ha ha" and I think of the Count from Sesame Street. (yes, my brain is a strange place to be.)
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word girlychuckle
I think "chuckle" is not girly enough - how about girlygiggle?
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word callipygean-ass
Ha! But can you fix the spelling (callipygian)?
*is anal*
No pun intended!
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word proctor
Major Major Major Major
(cookie to the first person to get that)
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the user john
Mmmmm, sammiches.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the word dawesome
"Oompa loompa doopity dawesome,
Dwight is now gone, which is totally awesome!
Why is he gone? He was such a nice guy!
No he was not, he was a total douche!
Doopity doom." - Andy Bernard from TV's "The Office"
see the excerpt here.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the user john
OMG that "appears in lists" is beyond awesome, it's DAWESOME - I've wished for that so many times but somehow I thought it would be a much bigger deal to implement, so I never mentioned it.
While we're asking for the sky, you know what else would be cool? To be able to search lists and users.
October 6, 2007
arby commented on the list words-i-used-to-misread
Ah, RT - there's the syllabification I was looking for. And again in my defense, the spelling kind of reminds me of edamame, so it's a perfectly logical mistake to make! (Of course, one is a Western trademarked chemical creation and the other is a Japanese bean, but six of one, amirite?)
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the list words-i-used-to-misread
And then from myzeld you get the fictitious verb "to misle". Or I did, anyway.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word grok
OMG these people scare me.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word fubar
Ah, I see - so just because you are intimately acquainted with foo doesn't mean you like foobar. Your use of the word foo reminds me of grok.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word foobar
If "FUBAR"= "Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition", what do the two O's stand for?
signed, confuzzled and/or ignant
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word fubar
John I know you like foobar better, but I prefer this spelling because of the acronym.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word tmyn
Exxxxxcellent.
*rubs hands creepily in a Burnsian fashion*
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word txtspk
A subset of netspeak, no? Originally used on IMs?
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the list words-i-used-to-misread
Always, jennarenn. I kind of love how totally fubar English is.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word tmyn
Stands for "The More You Know" - play the little theme riff in your head as you read it.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word for the win
v. "which completes a process in a successful manner"
Abbreviated as FTW and also 4TW (I didn't know the latter)
*TMYN*
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the list words-i-used-to-misread
mutilate = mutiliate (rhymes with humiliate! see, I'm not so stupid after all!)
mnemonic = mnemnonic
Herculean = Herculanean
aspartame = "asparta-MAY" instead of "AS-par-tame"
myrmidon = myrmidion
misled = "myzeld" instead of "MIS-led"
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word shpdoinkle
shpadoinkle
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the user arby
Huzzah!
*loves finding excuses to use that word*
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word blink
And don't make seanahan stabby.. you wouldn't like him when he's stabby.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word marquee
*looks around innocently*
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word microwave
And thus the M&Ms slogan also came into being that day.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word oedipus
I don't get it.
*is dumb*
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word myrmidon
Get outta my brain, you!
*waves cane threateningly in seanahan's direction*
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word carribean
That's a good one Colleen. I remember it by thinking of the pronunciation - Cari-bEan not Ca-RIB-ean.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word carribean
Caribbean
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word pit of despair
I could tell someone else about Wordie. But then I'd have to kill them.
*totally out of it on Princess Bride*
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the list best-wordie-user-names
Also, lampbane.
I am deeply offended that I'm not on this list. Just kidding!!
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word wordon
Love it!!
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the list best-wordie-user-names
sarahtonin!
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the list this-is-one-lame-ass-list
At the risk of repeating myself (not that I really care):
I always think of it when I see -ass now.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word lame-ass
Inorite? It's totally awesome.
*adds link to lame-ass list*
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word marquee
Ha ha! It cracks me up how much you hate it. And I know most smrt people do! From this website on "sensible design":
"The dreaded blink tag is a sign that well-travelled web surfers take as 'avoid this page - the person that wrote it just learned HTML from a bubble gum wrapper.'"
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word sparkle
Apparently there is no such thing as a "sparkle" tag. Color me disappointed.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word marquee
HA! Oh yes you can, sirrah
I can FEEL Uselessness cringing from here.
ETA: Because I know you're all dying to know how I did it, here's the link:
http://www.draac.com/marquee.html
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word sacrilicious
It's from the Simpsons, when Bart had the radio ventriloquist machine and made Homer think God was talking to him:
"Homer: (slams the door) Why do you mock me, O Lord?
Marge: Homer, that's not God. That's just a waffle that Bart tossed up there.
(Marge scrapes it off into Homer's hands.)
Homer: I know I shouldn't eat thee, but -- (bites) Mmm, sacrilicious."
- "Homer Loves Flanders"
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word sacrilege
"Mmmmm, sacrilicious" - Homer Simpson
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word sparkle
Sparkly text?
ETA: Damn, it didn't work.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word marquee
Too bad you can't reverse marquee - OR CAN YOU??? *dun dun DUN*
Signed, too lazy to Google
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the user arby
*is drunk with power*
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word goldfish
And you know if it's on Teh Intarwebs, it must be true.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word blink
< blink > without the spaces.
ETA: I ♥ the blink tag.
SON OF ETA: Uselessness macros for the win!
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word marquee
BREAKING NEWS: ARBY LOVES THE MARQUEE TAG
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the user arby
Awesome, I love it! Thank you dude.
October 5, 2007
arby commented on the word ginchiest
See also megaginchy and hyperginchy.
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the user john
Yay! Thanks for all your hard work John - this site is so much fun to use.
PS awesome idea about the Stalker-Traq 2000 friend-subscriptions!
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word yourn
"Regional Patterns of American Speech: The American Frontier":
Through the passage of time, the frontier contributions of Northern European folk speech — especially British, Irish, Scots, and Swedish — have lost much of their identity because their speakers were soon united in a common culture. But from these sources of early frontier speech probably came the pronouns hit (for it), hisn, ourn, theirn, and yourn, the inflected verb forms clumb, drug, holp, and riz, the auxiliary construction mought could (or might could), and a large number of folk pronunciations and lexical items, forms transmitted through the oral tradition of the common people... Many of these forms go back to Middle English, and all survive in current American Midland and Southern dialects.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/5b.html
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the user john
I've got a stalkery question - can we subscribe to other people's profile comment feeds? I'd subscribe to yourn just to keep up with what's going on around here.
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word sirrah
The punny, it burns...and the goggles do nothing - nothing!
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word sirrah
*groans*
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word testy
D'you suppose this is related to testes? (cf. testicular and the brilliant testiculate)
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word lame-ass
http://xkcd.com/37/
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word sarnie
Sangwich makes me think of Dane Cook.
*ducks rain of stones deservedly thrown*
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word sirrah
You're right! I was using it somewhat ironically. Or as an alternative to "yes sirree!"
The Free Dictionary says:
(noun) Formerly a contemptuous term of address to an inferior man or boy; often used in anger
male person, male - a person who belongs to the sex that cannot have babies
OED says:
1526, term of address used to men or boys expressing anger or contempt, archaic extended form of sir (in U.S., siree, attested from 1823).
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word scarper
Huh. I thought it was a recent Britlish invention.
*cue "The More You Know"*
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the list wot-s-all-this-then
Thanks RT!!
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the user john
Thanks John! I absolutely agree 100% that the best part of this site is the interactive/community component, so I'm glad that's why the layout change. I definitely like the movement of the recent comments to the center of the home page. The only thing I think that threw me for a loop is the realignment of the "who lists" uh, lists to the right side of the word view page instead of in the center. My eyes are used to looking under the word itself and I'm constantly retraining myself to look to the right. But I think it's ok because it refocuses attention on talking about the words rather than just collecting them on our lists.
ETA - I don't know if it helps you (I have this vague idea that you could just port the code) but there's a plugin for Firefox that searches Bartleby All Books (and I specify All Books because it's the one with the best value-add over the current d.com, m-w, etc.).
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word cark
This sounds vaguely Irish to me - like they're saying cork with an Irish accent.
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word sellotape
One of my favorite of J. K. Rowling's neologisms is Spellotape - genius!
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word sellotape
aka Scotch tape in the U.S. - transparent tape in a small form, as opposed to packing tape which is larger.
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word sarnie
Interesting - I always thought that was an American coinage. I wonder if it developed independently on both sides of the Atlantic?
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word testiculate
Exxxxcellent.
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word mook
I always thought it was a cultural slur against Italians, like guido, but I'm happy to be wrong in this case, cause it's a cool-sounding word.
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word trufax
Portmanteau for true+facts, charmingly abbreviated as "fax".
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word yonks
Trufax!
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word sirrah
This word needs to come back into fashion. Wordies, make it so!
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word britlish
I made this up, I admit it - sniglet (and a portmanteau!) of British+English (as in the English language).
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word minger
nice word yarb!
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word minger
Ooh, I forgot tip! I'll add it to me list right now.
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word tip
Britlish for garbage dump. Also Americanlish for gratuity for services rendered.
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word sarnie
I love this word so much. Only in the U.K. would they come up with such an adorable nickname for sandwich!!
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the list wot-s-all-this-then
Why thank you, sirrah! I'll be looking over your recent additions to find more to add.
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word myrmidon
This is another one where my brain does a weird "double-vowel" transformation - I always thought it was spelled "myrmidion".
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word yonks
It's Britlish, no?
October 4, 2007
arby commented on the word blessay
Stephen Fry's neologism for "blog + essay":
http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/?p=19
October 3, 2007
arby commented on the user john
Thanks for fixing the "comments on" page.. but you're right, it isn't accurate. It says I have no comments on my lists but I know for a fact that ain't true!
Am slightly discombobulated by the new layout but I'll adjust eventually. *shakes cane at newfangled inventions*
Still hoping someday you'll add Bartleby (All Books) to the lookup sites - it could replace like 5 dictionary sites in one fell swoop!
September 27, 2007
arby commented on the list sniglets
execuglide: The act of using your wheeled office chair to move from one place to another.
Wikipedia has a great list here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniglet
September 27, 2007
arby commented on the list harry-potter-words-2
Spellotape
accio
Great idea for a list, lm!
September 27, 2007
arby commented on the word quail
I like it as a verb - he quailed under the massive guard's relentless attack.
I also like this reference to an old expression I've never heard of, "hot as a quail" -
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Cooking.
Some are cool as a cucumber, others hot as a quail.
http://www.bartleby.com/81/4048.html
September 27, 2007
arby commented on the word crummy
Whereas Roget has the new meaning:
crummy also crumby
ADJECTIVE: Slang. Of decidedly inferior quality: base, cheap, lousy, miserable, paltry, poor, rotten, shoddy, sleazy, trashy. Informal: cheesy. Slang: schlocky. See GOOD.
September 27, 2007
arby commented on the word crummy
Interesting, the old meaning was the opposite, see Bartleby:
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
That’s crummy, that’s jolly good. She’s a crummy woman, a fine handsome woman. Crummy means fat or fleshy. The crummy part of bread is the fleshy or main part. The opposite of “crusty�? = ill-tempered.
September 27, 2007
arby commented on the word mayhap
ADVERB: Possibly but not certainly: maybe, perchance, perhaps.
September 27, 2007
arby commented on the word mayhaps
Oh yeah, this is a real word, except it's supposed to be mayhap - see Wikipedia. This is interesting to me as I'd only ever seen/heard it as "mayhaps". As in, "Mayhaps we'll meet again someday." Guess I was listening to illiterates!
September 27, 2007
arby commented on the word paradiddle
Interesting c_b!
September 27, 2007
arby commented on the word scourgey
Thanks seanahan! I totally agree, and I think it was the thing that struck me the most about the show when I saw the Pilot - Joss has an ear for dialogue that just rings true, even when the dialect itself is made up (e.g., Firefly).
September 26, 2007
arby commented on the word ginchiest
This word is a favorite of Andy Ihnatko's, who (whom??) I love dearly, so it makes me smile and think of him.
September 26, 2007
arby commented on the word cretin
NOUN: Slang. One deficient in judgment and good sense: ass, fool, idiot,imbecile, jackass, mooncalf, moron, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, simple, simpleton, softhead, tomfool. Informal: dope, gander, goose. Slang: ding-dong, dip, goof, jerk, nerd, schmo, schmuck, turkey.
September 15, 2007
arby commented on the word cretin
1779, from Fr. Alpine dialect crestin, "a dwarfed and deformed idiot," from V.L. christianus "a Christian," a generic term for "anyone," but often with a sense of "poor fellow."
September 15, 2007
arby commented on the word twaddle
Found a great new synonym for this - taradiddle!
September 10, 2007
arby commented on the word taradiddle
NOUN: 1. A petty falsehood; a fib. 2. Silly pretentious speech or writing; twaddle.
September 10, 2007
arby commented on the word deliniate
delineate?
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word fringey
Buffy: So it was blue and sorta short.
Willow: Not too short, medium. And it had this weird, sorta fringey stuff on its arms.
Giles (walking in): What's that, a demon?
Buffy: A prom dress that Will was thinking of getting. Can't you ever get your mind out of the Hellmouth? - "The Prom"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word fester-free
Willow: I've been letting things fester. And I don't like it. I want to be fester-free. - "Consequences"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word couple-y
Willow: Maybe we shouldn't be too couple-y around Buffy.
Cordelia: Oh, you mean 'cause of how the only guy that ever liked her turned into a vicious killer and had to be put down like a dog?
Xander (admiringly): Can she cram complex issues into a nutshell, or what? - "Faith, Hope and Trick"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word saveage
Giles: Round robin?
Willow: It's when everybody calls everybody else's mom and tells them they're staying at everyone's house.
Buffy: Thus freeing us up for world saveage.
Willow: And all-night keggers! *she gets looks from Buffy and Giles* What, only Xander gets to make dumb jokes? - "Surprise"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word sparkage
Buffy: Hey, speaking of "wow" potential, there's Oz over there. What are we thinking, any sparkage?
Willow: He's nice. Hey, I like his hands. - "Surprise"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word scourgey
Buffy: These assassins, why are they after me?
Willow: 'Cause you're the scourge of the underworld?
Buffy: I haven't been that scourgey lately. - "What's My Line, Part 1"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word mathier
Xander: Giles lived for school. He's actually still bitter that there are only twelve grades.
Buffy: He probably sat in math class thinking, "There should be more math. This could be mathier." - "The Dark Age"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word bitey
Chanterelle: We welcome anyone who's interested in the Lonely Ones.
Willow: The lonely ones?
Angel: Vampires.
Xander: Oh, we usually call them the nasty, pointy, bitey ones. - Lie To Me
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word brainsick
Buffy: I'm brainsick. I can't have a relationship with him.
Willow: Not during the day, but...you could ask him for coffee some night. It's the non-relationship drink of choice. It's not a date, it's a caffeinated beverage. Okay, sure, it's hot and bitter, like a relationship that way, but... - "Reptile Boy"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word unmeshable
"I have at least three lives to contend with, none of which really mesh. It's kind of like oil and water and a...third unmeshable thing." - Buffy, "School Hard"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word bitca
Willow: ...why else would she be acting like such a b-i-t-c-h?
Giles: Willow, I think we're all a little too old to be spelling things out.
Xander: A bitca?
- "When She Was Bad"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word beachless
"I mean, they promised me they'd take me to St. Croix, and then they just decide to go to Tuscany. Art and buildings? I was totally beachless for a month and a half. No one has suffered like I have." - Cordelia, "When She Was Bad"
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word lumpen
I think I've only ever heard this word as part of the phrase "the lumpen proletariat", which always amused me for some reason.
September 2, 2007
arby commented on the word labradoodle
Cross between a Labrador and a poodle, IIRC.
August 26, 2007
arby commented on the word jackabee
Sort of the same concept as labradoodle?
August 26, 2007
arby commented on the word smarmosaur
As seen on Questionable Content.
August 26, 2007
arby commented on the word classhole
"A classy asshole" - as seen on this comic.
August 26, 2007
arby commented on the word forsooth
I think this word should be brought back into style.. who's with me?
August 21, 2007
arby commented on the word diaphanous
I know, but it still has those first 4 characters that irresistably remind me of diapers, maybe because those are the only two words I know of that have that sequence, at least in English.
Can you imagine diaphanous diapers, how gross would that be?!?!
August 21, 2007
arby commented on the word privy
And another example of my mispronouncing words based on their spelling. At least I know now, better late than never!
August 21, 2007
arby commented on the word yay
Huzzah!
August 20, 2007
arby commented on the list stuffie-poetrie-tunie-listings
Added a Poetrie: The Rose Growing Into the House.
August 17, 2007
arby commented on the word effulgent
Oh yeah, I forgot about that - it was brilliant.
August 17, 2007
arby commented on the word mayhaps
It's only twice as good for being antiquated, that's all.
August 16, 2007
arby commented on the word gingersnaps
1. Delicious cookies.
2. Title of a surprisingly good, underrated movie.
August 16, 2007
arby commented on the word privy
Is it pronounced the same? I always thought "privy" in the way you describe rhymed with chivvy and "privy" as in outhouse rhymed with ivy.
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the list when-you-gotta-go-you-gotta-go
I love Porcelain National Bank - brilliant!
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word corduroy
1780, Amer.Eng., probably from cord + obs. 17c. duroy, a coarse fabric made in England. Folk etymology is from *corde du roi "the king's cord," but this is not attested in Fr., where the term for the cloth was velours à côtes. Applied in U.S. to a road of logs across swampy ground (1822).
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word crummy
I associate this word with The Catcher in the Rye - Holden used it a lot and I think it was my first exposure to it.
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word ponceau
Ha! No, I meant the English derogatory term for homosexual. They use it both as a noun and a verb - "to ponce about the place", for example.
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word en passant
Is it also more generally used for "in passing", or am I making that up?
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word diaphanous
I don't care for this word - it reminds me of diapers.
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word rat fink
This is a great insult that deserves to be brought back.
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word vendition
I have never come across this word before! It can't be that commonly used.
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word whizgiggle
Ah, good times.
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word egrastic
Nice!
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word huzzah
I like it when Monty Burns says this on the Simpsons. (/unoriginal)
August 12, 2007
arby commented on the word purga tory
Aka purgatory?
August 11, 2007
arby commented on the word teef
Slang for steal, used much like kife.
August 11, 2007
arby commented on the word kife
Slang for steal.
August 11, 2007
arby commented on the word egrastic
My dad made this up - we are defining it as being exceptionally egregious.
August 11, 2007
arby commented on the word daubery
Oh yeah - now I know why it sounds familiar - I think Shakespeare used daubs as an insult - meaning amateurish painters.
August 3, 2007
arby commented on the word whizgiggle
From an excellent spam email I got:
"Baronesses always whizgiggled at me and even youths did in the civil bathroom!"
August 3, 2007
arby commented on the word pursuant
I find myself using this word a lot lately - is it a legal term?
August 3, 2007
arby commented on the word iphone
No, but I will tell you a Sidekick can't handle Wordie correctly - or maybe that should be the other way around.
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word vendor
Indeed. /Teal'c
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word daubery
I presume this means painting?
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word apatheism
Ha! I like that.
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word vendor
Then we can change Wordie to "Worde" and be totally hip.
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word vendition
That is totally bizarre!
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word caymadian
Reminds me of Claymation - another great neologism.
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word apatheism
Is that sort of like worshiping apathy?
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word vendor
VARIANT FORMS: vender
NOUN: 1. One that sells or vends: a street vendor; a vendor of software products on the Web. 2. A vending machine.
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word vender
AmHer has it as "a variant of vendor", proving that I am not completely insane.
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word canadia
PS no I did not make this up - but it is a fairly recent neologism
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word vendor
Ha! The splendour of our vendours is surpassed only by the squalour in which they operate.
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word vendition
Is this a real word or did you make it up? C'mon, you can admit it, you're among friends here. - too lazy to look it up
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word canadia
The mythical & wondrous land from which Canadians really hail. (Since Canada is far too boring to be true.)
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word sherbet
Yeah but if you look at the derivation from sorbet, where's that extra r coming from, eh? - Canadian wannabe
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word dwarfling
reminds me of Tolkien's halfling (aka hobbit).
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the list words-for-those-of-a-certain-age
crumb bum? I love that word and am agitating for its revival.
PS My mother gave me her Electrolux with great pomp and splendor but I eventually threw it out because it was half-broken and I couldn't hack getting it fixed. I know, what sacrilege. Plus it weighed a ton and I was sick of lugging it from place to place.
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word vendor
WTF is up with the recent change in spelling of this word - I never liked vendor, but lately I noticed the New Yorker is spelling it vender. Am I crazy or has anyone else seen it?
August 1, 2007
arby commented on the word ponce
1872, slang term, chiefly British, originally "a pimp, a man supported by women" (pouncey in same sense is attested from 1861), of unknown origin, perhaps from Fr. pensionnaire "boarder, lodger, person living without working." Meaning "male homosexual" first attested 1932 in Auden.
July 27, 2007
arby commented on the word ponceau
Sounds French.. This word makes me think of ponce.
July 27, 2007
arby commented on the word vetch
I hate this word, it reminds me of retch.
July 25, 2007
arby commented on the word sherbet
My stepmother pronounces it sherbert. She's from Texas so I cut her a little slack.
July 25, 2007
arby commented on the word orris
Short for "orris root", aka iris. I did not know this but apparently it's used to make gin, most famously Bombay Sapphire. At least, so says this unsourced Wikipedia article.
July 25, 2007
arby commented on the word censer
A much nicer word than censor!
July 24, 2007
arby commented on the list bonjour-cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys
Hee, thanks!
July 22, 2007
arby commented on the word cellophane
I believe they spell it sellotape in the UK.
PS totally agree about tinfoil!!
July 22, 2007
arby commented on the word draconian
I always want this word to have some kind of fantasy component, probably confusing it with dragonian.
July 21, 2007
arby commented on the word permagrin
Also a song by the band Self.
July 21, 2007
arby commented on the user john
My comments for view breaks Wordie.. I get this adorable message:
"Sorry, but this site has gone all 500 Application Error on you. Something's wrong with the server, most likely. Please email John, the slack bastard who built this. Feel free to give him a piece of your mind."
July 21, 2007
arby commented on the word potterdammerung
Hey, no spoilers!
Mommmm, uselessness is spoiling me for Harry Potter!!
July 20, 2007
arby commented on the word gadzooks
You know, this is just creepy. Why the hell would an Xtian want to use an epithet referring to the nails on the cross? Religious people are weird. Of course, that's assuming it was a Christian who came up with the phrase.
July 20, 2007
arby commented on the word snicker-snack
OMG U, you cheater! I totally thought you knew it off the top of your head!
PS R you're mad borograve.
July 20, 2007
arby commented on the word potterdammerung
I thought the dammerung portion meant "storm" - as in the shitstorm that will erupt among the rabid fangirls if Harry and Hermione don't end up together or anything else occurs in it that they don't approve of.
July 20, 2007
arby commented on the word haversack
Yeah but what if they live in Hackensack?
July 20, 2007
arby commented on the word snicker-snack
Dude, THANK YOU. Also, I never would have guessed it, not in a million years. Vorpal sounds very sci-fi to me.
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word hogtie
Or perhaps hog-tie? I totally typoed this as hogtoe which is not a word but should be.
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word misled
whoever said English was logical?
TRUE DAT!
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word heinous
An appropriately ugly word.
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word snicker-snack
What is that from, it WILL drive crazy until I remember or someone tells me.
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word cow orker
But here is the real question - how does orking relate to COWS?
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word misled
That's cute! Reminds me of one of my favorite words of all time, twaddle.
*feels like Lewis Carroll making up nonsense rhymes*
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word pachouli
Yes, you got patchouli - I went to the link and saw you'd gotten it. (/redundant)
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word minatory
Of a menacing or threatening nature; minacious.
ETYMOLOGY: French minatoire, from Late Latin mintrius, from Latin mintus, past participle of minr, to threaten.
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word ramekin
mmmm, creamy
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word bonkers
bonk "to hit," 1931, probably of imitative origin; 1975 in sense of "have sexual intercourse with." Bonkers "crazy," 1957, British slang, perhaps from earlier naval slang meaning "slightly drunk" (1948), from notion of a thump on the head.
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word pikaki
aka jasmine sambac - c.f. wikipedia
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word cow orker
A ha! Apparently Scott Adams invented it - properly spelled cow-orker.
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word pachouli
Perhaps you mean patchouli?
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word chud
A ha ha ha: "Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers"
July 19, 2007
arby commented on the word femistapo
Is this a variant of feminazi?
July 19, 2007
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