@ Ben Jackson: the word is indeed "swag", but someone (or probably a number of someones) somewhere picked up this alternate version and propagated it. (Perhaps to distance it from the "stolen" sense of "swag"?) I'm pretty sure the claim that it is an acronym of "stuff we all get" is a folk etymology.
A garden path sentence that messes with expected word senses (semantics) instead of syntactic relations. One of my favorites: "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Jennings Brewery describes a "sneck lifter" (as in the name of one of their ales, Sneck Lifter Strong Ale) as "a man's last sixpence with which he would lift the latch of the pub door and buy himself a pint, hoping to meet friends there who might treat him to one or two more." As the brewery is in northern England, I theorize that this idiom is particular to northern dialects.
A brand name for the fiber Lyocell, made from wood pulp cellulose. It is a subcategory of rayon, and is added to fiber made for knitting/crochet/weaving/etc. to provide shine and strength.
Also used by type 1 diabetics who use insulin pumps, to describe a dose of insulin given to correct a high blood sugar or to account for the carbohydrates in a meal. May be used as a verb as noted by adoarns, e.g., "My blood sugar was a little high, so I bolused for that, and I'm having pizza for lunch, so I'll have to take another bolus pretty soon."
Comments by kirinqueen
kirinqueen commented on the word slutspurt
From Swedish, slut = "finish". spurt as English "spurt". Final push before the finish of something. From Lynne Murphy: http://twitter.com/lynneguist/status/24600541447
September 16, 2010
kirinqueen commented on the word neatloaf
Term for vegetarian or vegan loaf made with grains, vegetables (and cheese in the non-vegan version) to sort of mimic its meat counterpart.
July 31, 2010
kirinqueen commented on the word schwag
@ Ben Jackson: the word is indeed "swag", but someone (or probably a number of someones) somewhere picked up this alternate version and propagated it. (Perhaps to distance it from the "stolen" sense of "swag"?) I'm pretty sure the claim that it is an acronym of "stuff we all get" is a folk etymology.
July 30, 2010
kirinqueen commented on the word gossamer
The OED notes that it comes from "goose" + "summer" -- it's a Germanic rather than a Latinate word. Language Hat has a post on it: http://www.languagehat.com/archives/003920.php
July 8, 2010
kirinqueen commented on the word paraprosdokian
A garden path sentence that messes with expected word senses (semantics) instead of syntactic relations. One of my favorites: "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
June 11, 2010
kirinqueen commented on the word anthrax
AKA woolsorters' disease (c. 18th-19th century).
February 25, 2010
kirinqueen commented on the list mythical-creatures
I have some horsey ones to add: cerapter (a winged, horned horse) and kirin/qilin/kilin (etc) (the Japanese/Chinese unicorn).
December 17, 2009
kirinqueen commented on the word asteperious
Arnold Zwicky traces the use of this word and its various spellings through a number of citations in this blog post.
October 23, 2009
kirinqueen commented on the word sneck
Jennings Brewery describes a "sneck lifter" (as in the name of one of their ales, Sneck Lifter Strong Ale) as "a man's last sixpence with which he would lift the latch of the pub door and buy himself a pint, hoping to meet friends there who might treat him to one or two more." As the brewery is in northern England, I theorize that this idiom is particular to northern dialects.
October 22, 2009
kirinqueen commented on the word pferd
German for horse.
April 23, 2009
kirinqueen commented on the word immolate
For some reason I always think there should be fire involved with immolation.
January 21, 2009
kirinqueen commented on the word antihomonuptialism
I am also anti antihomonuptialism.
November 22, 2008
kirinqueen commented on the word tetraflexagon
Seen on Erin McKean's Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/emckean/status/1000897627
November 12, 2008
kirinqueen commented on the word diabulemia
I did this until I ended up in the hospital with hyperketoacidosis. creepy!
October 23, 2008
kirinqueen commented on the word stout
I like the "sturdy" and "dependable" senses best.
October 17, 2008
kirinqueen commented on the word tangent
in the communicative sense, of course.
October 17, 2008
kirinqueen commented on the word rudie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rude_boy
June 20, 2008
kirinqueen commented on the word tencel
A brand name for the fiber Lyocell, made from wood pulp cellulose. It is a subcategory of rayon, and is added to fiber made for knitting/crochet/weaving/etc. to provide shine and strength.
June 20, 2008
kirinqueen commented on the word bolus
Also used by type 1 diabetics who use insulin pumps, to describe a dose of insulin given to correct a high blood sugar or to account for the carbohydrates in a meal. May be used as a verb as noted by adoarns, e.g., "My blood sugar was a little high, so I bolused for that, and I'm having pizza for lunch, so I'll have to take another bolus pretty soon."
June 20, 2008
kirinqueen commented on the word erstwhile
I've only seen this word used rhetorically to mean "previously mentioned."
June 20, 2008