n. “A bright appearance in the horizon, under the sun or moon, arising from the reflected light of these bodies from the small rippling waves on the surface of the water”
(Nathaniel Bowditch, The New American Practical Navigator, 1837) --via futilitycloset.com
Well, it appears that I can't add words to my "potpourri" list; not at the list page or the word page (with checkmark). Jesus Cristo y Madre de Dios!
Edit: Doh! I was trying to add a word that was already on that list (toothsome). Still, what produced the confusion in the first place is that the word page for toothsome shows no checkmark in my potpourri list box. And that's still the case: no checkmark, but I've verified it's on the list at the list page. Go figure! :o/
“People are never so ready to believe you as when you say things in dispraise of yourself; and you are never so much annoyed as when they take you at your word.” --Somerset Maugham (Notebooks)
How do I access my recent comments? Try as I might, all I can access is comments from the first two weeks of my presence on Wordie. There is no "continue to next page" option.
Erin, is the translate feature going to make a comeback eventually? And is the font size in the comment box while entering and/or editing comments going to remain so tiny?
Comment function is intermittent. The whole site is abominably slow. Edit: comment option works, but EXTREMELY slowly. Ditto for edit option; or it seems to work only intermittently.
I agree with Pro and frogapplause: the site really has the feel of reference emphasis. I miss the "first listed by" and other such personalizing features. Another thing that strikes me, although it may be transitory, is surprisingly long wait times.
It would be nice to have the option, on the word page (in addition to adding the word) to delete a word from one's list as opposed to having to go to the list page and deleting it there. Or am I overlooking something?
Fear of cockroaches. Got a kinda nice ring to it, no? Heard on NPR's Weekend Edition in an interview with Amy Stewart on her new book Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects.
You know how your gas tank fuel indicator stays at or above "full" for a seemingly inordinate amount of time? That's what engineers call "full reserve." Same thing at the "empty" end of the range; would that be an "empty reserve?"
Movie trailers (previews) used to come at the end of the film (hence the name) but that practice was abandoned because nobody stuck around to watch 'em! This, according to NPR's Says You.
The gesture made with the index and little fingers raised while the thumb holds down the middle and ring fingers. The sign of the horns - symbolic of the "evil eye".
From the police blotter of the SLO (San Luis Obispo, CA) City News, March 10-16 2011:
Alcohol: Police responded at 12:41 a.m. to the Native Lounge on the 1100 block of Chorro St. after one of the natives got restless and rough. He was arrested for suspicion of being bent in public. Another ruckus broke out at 1:37 a.m. at Mo Tav, just around the corner on the 700 block of Higuera St. There, a belle of the ball was arrested for being crapulous."
From the police blotter of the SLO (San Luis Obispo, CA) City News, March 10-16 2011:
"Theft: Police were called at 5:17 P.M. to the 700 block of Higuera St. at Fanny Wrappers Lingerie shop for a reported shoplifting. No word on the booty that was pinched."
"A friend’s young son (4 or 5) was asking her about “you know, the guys who like women, but they like to look good, too.” She very bravely took him up on it and explained that such men were called “metrosexuals.” He thought for a moment and then said, “So the guys who like guys… what are they? Hobosexuals?” She was driving at the time and is still amazed she didn’t run off the road from laughing so hard. Of course, the funny thing is, apparently there really are gay hobos who refer to themselves as “Hobosexuals.” Who knew?"
(Comment by "Prospero" on Dan Piraro's--"Bizarro" cartoonist-- blog)
Heard on NPR's Says You - a bon mot by one of the panelists (in re: to the word tussie-mussie - i.e., presented to mollify a fussy hussy), and I just like it.
The consummate craft of Foley. All those little and big sounds in the movie you're watching have to be recreated from a vast storehouse of typical junkdrawer, wardrobe and miscellaneous paraphernalia. Fascinating! It'll enhance your appreciation of the film industry.
Well, nothing comes to mind other than the standards: "cheated death"; "almost bought the farm"; "used one of his nine lives" "bit a hole in the pilot seat" (with his you know what) etc. Not all that inspired, but I hope it helps...
Modernity comes to China: Religious teachers must now fill out a government application before they can be reincarnated.The decree, passed in 2007, requires that applications be submitted to four different government bodies.“The selection of reincarnates must preserve national unity and solidarity of all ethnic groups, and the selection process cannot be influenced by any group or individual from outside the country.” (via futilitycloset.com)
In the old days, saloon and bar owners offered a free lunch to patrons who spent a requisite time drinking in their establishment, hoping they would get so drunk they'd forget they never got their free lunch. It was adjudged as unfair advertising by the authorities of the era. (via NPR's Says You)
I'm astounded I didn't discover this page 4 years ago and expose a limited chapter of my past. I played accordion as a kid *and* I played in an accordion band. We played on a float in the Santa Barbara Fiesta Parade as well as other public venues for a number of years and appeared on the local TV station,KEYT, on several occasions. A few of the members could play 12th Street Rag with the bellow shake and were awe inspiring to the rest of us hacks.
Thanks again, ruzuzu. Tuck-out's new to me. tuck in always meant to sit down and "dig in" to a meal with enthusiastic appetite; didn't realize tuck-out was the same. Course, little Jack Horner tuck-in his thumb and tuck-out a plum, don'tcha know! :o)
Yah, didn't know him but enjoyed his version; you've been a fan for a while? Thing I like about the Perla arrangement is the repeated, harmonic descending arpeggio background to the piece. It's unique in my experience...and works on me like an anvil of mercy.
'Zu, I changed the link. THIS is my very favorite arrangement, just didn't know it was up on YouTube. The version I have on iTunes by Perla Batalla is done with a quartet of acoustic guitars. Beautiful!!
The cuccuruddu ruzuzu made me think of that extremely beautiful Mexican song Cucurrucucu Paloma. Check it out, 'zu! Always makes me misty eyed when I hear it...
"Nathaniel had his reasons for his journey to Rhyolite, the greatest boom town in the west. He hoped to find what the snallygaster had taken from him. Some believed it could snatch away whatever you most valued. It had taken Annabelle, the love of his life. Now he was here in Rhyolite, to make his fortune, reunite with Annabelle--and to find the man he murdered back in Baltimore."
Hi mollusque. Do you know of any alphabet/font source showing reversed letters that could be C & P-d. Here's a sample that gave me the idea from Teresa's FrogBlog:
See, we've all had that Wordnik moment of "that word doesn't look right". From Phil Plait ("Bad Astronomer" on twitter): "Had to type the word "gauze" for a post going up tomorrow. The word looks wrong no matter how I spell it. Gauze. Gawz. Gouze. Snooki."
An Expy is a exported cartoon character. It's happening a lot to the Cathy character that was just retired from the comics. More here. (link found in a Frogapplause comic strip comment)
Let’s play a game. We’ll each name three consecutive outcomes of a coin toss (for example, tails-heads-heads, or THH). Then we’ll flip a coin repeatedly until one of our chosen runs appears. That player wins.
Is there any strategy you can take to improve your chance of beating me? Strangely, there is. When I’ve named my triplet (say, HTH), take the complement of the center symbol and add it to the beginning, and then discard the last symbol (here yielding HHT). This new triplet will be more likely to appear than mine.
The remarkable thing is that this always works. No matter what triplet I pick, this method will always produce a triplet that is more likely to appear than mine. It was discovered by Barry Wolk of the University of Manitoba, building on a discovery by Walter Penney.
"In analyzing the difference between the recognition awakening to Reality and the theoretical acceptance without recognition, it seems that in the latter instance there is a quality that might be called mediative distance, while in the case of recognition there is the closeness of immediacy." Franklin Merrell-Wolff, Experience and Philosophy p. 258
Acronym: High Earner, Not Rich Yet. Those earning $250K - $500K/year and most at risk in the event of non-extension of the Bush tax reductions. Apparently those making more than $500K (the "rich") wouldn't feel the pinch of a return to previous tax brackets. Heard on PBS's The News Hour.
Hey, T., I got an email with some aviation-related content that you might be interested in. I can fwd it to you if I had an eddress. You might be able to use one of your many Frog Blog tools to make it available to the "Froggistas", dunno, but you'd enjoy it anyway.
From Roman times, in the public baths a stick with a sponge attached to one end was used to perform the function of toilet paper today. Grasping the stick by the sponge end is getting the wrong end of the stick. (via NPR's Says You)
Hey, r_t. You are seriously remiss in the pronunciations arena. What's up wif dat?! I expected at least a bird whistle or two, yes? Come on, you can do it! "Skreeeee"
If there will be a sea battle tomorrow, then that fact is true today and has always been true. Our future is thus inevitable. What freedom is left to us?
On the other hand, if statements about the future are neither true nor false today, then how can God have perfect foreknowledge of the future?
"Marc Hauser professor of psychology and anthropological biology at Harvard takes a more nuanced view, arguing that people are possessed of what he calls humaniqueness, a suite of cognitive skills including the ability to recombine information to gain new understanding, a talent animals simply don't have."
--Time magazine article "Inside The Minds of Animals" Aug. 16, 2010
“It makes no more sense to talk of changing the future than it does to talk of changing the past. Suppose that I decide to change the future, by having coffee for breakfast tomorrow instead of my usual tea. Have I changed the future? No. For coffee for breakfast was the future. It has been objected to me that the above argument is perhaps misleading. For, it has been said, there is quite clearly a sense in which I can change the future and not the past, and this is because my acts of will determine the future and not the past — I cannot undo what has been done. Now I do not wish to deny that we can causally affect the future and not the past, and indeed this causal directionality of time is part of the problem of the ‘direction of time.’ Nevertheleless I would reiterate that the fact that our present actions determine that future would be most misleadingly expressed or described by saying that we can change the future. A man can change his trousers, his club, or his job. Perhaps he may even change the course of world history or the state of scientific thought. But one thing that he cannot change is the future, since whatever he brings about is the future, and nothing else is, or ever was.”
– J.J.C. Smart, Problems of Space and Time, 1964 (via futilitycloset.com)
"Narratively, William Pitt singlehandedly brings about the novel's first 'cute-meet' (a Hollywood term I only just learnt, meaning the scene in a film where the future romantic interests meet for the first time...}"
--Response in interview with David Mitchell re his The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet on LibraryThing's "State of the Thing" e-newsletter
Related to where on the field of play the player lines up: a quarter of the way back behind the line of scrimmage. Cf. half back, full(y) back. There used to be a "three quarter" back position. All this according to NPR's Says You
Hi, T. Interesting. I'm a bit mystified meself. One thing about pilots and watches however: the joke has always been that pilots have the BIGGEST watches. They've got to have all those pilot-type bells and whistles: elapsed time, multiple timezone capability, 24-hour function face...all that keen stuff! Btw, I've never owned anything like that (well, almost never :o))....
Edit: I think your idea about advertising cleverness is right. Must say, I've never seen anything like it, although I've spent plenty of time around airports (which is a natural place for such a product's advertising campaign).
Also known as a baggage drill. The offloading of the flight crew's personal bags from the aircraft and onto the crew bus to proceed to the crew rest facility, and vice versa.
Palinism (pal’ in-i-zem) n. A non sequitur offered by a politician of great ambition who confuses notoriety with achievement. (from twitter feed #pleasegoaway)
Well I'm crushed! I don't know if I can go on without being able to feed Tink and Toink Turtle. I hope it isn't the harbinger of computer doom. Oi yoi!
The French will eat almost anything. A young cook decided that the French would enjoy feasting on rabbits and decided to raise rabbits in Paris and sell them to the finer restaurants in the city.
He searched all over Paris seeking a suitable place to raise his rabbits. None could be found. Finally, an old priest at the cathedral said he could have a small area behind the rectory for his rabbits.
He successfully raised a number of them, and when he went about Paris selling them, a restaurant owner asked him where he got such fresh rabbits.
The young man replied, "I raise them myself, near the cathedral. In fact, I have a hutch back of Notre Dame."
‘The activists had many things ready for an attack on the soldiers,’ Lev-Rom said, ‘including, for instance, a box of 20-30 slingshots with metal balls; these can kill. There were also all sorts of knives and many similar things. These are what they call “cold” weapons, as opposed to live fire. It was quite clear that a lynch had been prepared.’
An excuse you might give your boss for being late to work?
"I set half the clocks in my house ahead an hour and the other half back an hour Saturday and spent 18 hours in some kind of space-time continuum loop, reliving Sunday (right up until the explosion). I was able to exit the loop only by reversing the polarity of the power source, exactly e*log(pi), of the clocks in the house while simultaneously rapping my dog on the snout with a rolled up Times. Accordingly, I will be in late, or early."
A boy asks his father to explain the differences among irritation, aggravation, and frustration.
His father picks up the phone and dials a number at random. When the phone is answered, he asks, "Can I speak to Alf, please?"
"No! There's no one called Alf here," says the person who answered the phone.
His father hangs up. "That's irritation," he says.
He picks up the phone again, dials the same number, and asks for Alf a second time. "No-there's no one here called Alf. Go away. If you call again I shall telephone the police," the person says.
His father hangs up and says, "That's aggravation."
"Then what's frustration?" asks his son. The father picks up the phone and dials the same number a third time.
"Hello, this is Alf. Have I received any phone calls?" he asks casually.
I first ran across this phrase in the Walt Kelly Pogo comics. Pretty sure it means "the genuine article" with maybe a taste of the cat's pajamas or bee's knees? Maybe bilby will add his two cents?
Here's a takeoff based on the song and prefaced with this proviso:
"Because of heavy processing requirements, we are currently using some of your unused brain capacity for backup processing. Please ignore any hallucinations, voices or unusual dreams you may experience. Please avoid concentration-intensive tasks until further notice. Thank you."
Example: We are the new mobile audio-animatrons. You will see many of us around the park. Do not be alarmed, we are perfectly programed, and nothing can go worng.
I'll remember this, thanks. I sometimes spoonerize herd of turtles into turd of herdles. Used to make my copilots laugh. Oh, I was a wild and crazy jet jockey!
"It is Gerald Hawkins and also Alexander Thom to whom we must give credit for reviving serious interest in archaeoastronomy. Hawkins' articles in Nature and Science and finally his book Stonehenge Decoded (1965) drew the attention of astronomers, archaeologists, and the public to the fascinating story of Stonehenge. Hawkins named his studies astroarchaeology, by which he meant the application of astronomy to the understanding of ancient structures." --Ray A. Williamson, Living the Sky - The Cosmos of the American Indian, 1984, p. 12-13
A correspondent of the Drawer is involved in domestic perplexities. He writes:
‘I got acquainted with a young widow, who lived with her step-daughter in the same house. I married the widow; my father fell, shortly after it, in love with the step-daughter of my wife, and married her. My wife became the mother-in-law and also the daughter-in-law of my own father; my wife’s step-daughter is my step-mother, and I am the step-father of my mother-in-law. My stepmother, who is the step-daughter of my wife, has a boy: he is naturally my step-brother, because he is the son of my father and of my step-mother; but because he is the son of my wife’s step-daughter so is my wife the grandmother of the little boy, and I am the grandfather of my step-brother. My wife has also a boy: my step-mother is consequently the step-sister of my boy, and is also his grandmother, because he is the child of her step-son; and my father is the brother-in-law of my son, because he has got his step-sister for a wife. I am the brother of my own son, who is the son of my step-mother; I am the brother-in-law of my mother, my wife is the aunt of her own son, my son is the grandson of my father, and I am my own grandfather.’
– Harper’s Magazine, April 1865 (via futilitycloset.com)
"I don't have regrets - yet - about using the word foederati to describe Pakistani troops working with the American security services, in the first sentence of an article for the London Review of Books. It's an archaic term from the Roman Empire, but it is also a precise way to describe the relationship between the US and certain key allies: not colonial, not feudal, not contractual, and not exactly voluntary, either, just an understanding that, in certain circumstances and in exchange for certain favours, troops will be supplied to fight in an American cause. Perhaps it is a word, like albedo, whose time has come again." --"From albedo to zugunruhe" by James Meek
A wealthy New York businessman who sent his two daughters to the University of California's Los Angeles campus in the hope that they would find something unusual to study there that would stir them out their apathy. He was considerably alarmed, however, when they wrote back to tell him that they both had decided to specialize in research on ancient Egyptian plumbing.
He immediately sent them a telegram which read, "Under no circumstances will I support a couple of Pharaoh Faucet Majors!"
Cushing Biggs Hassell’s thousand-page History of the Church of God (1886) is notable for a single sentence — on page 580, beginning “The nineteenth is the century …”
It’s six pages long, with 3,153 words, 360 commas, 86 semicolons, and six footnotes. Many regard it as the longest legitimate sentence ever published in a book.
Essentially it’s one long indictment of the 19th century, proving for Hassell that “after all our progress, this is still a very sinful and miserable world.” Why he felt he had to show this in a single sentence is not clear.
In 1997, University of Edinburgh linguistics professor Geoffrey K. Pullum submitted the following letter to the Economist:
‘Connections needed’ (March 15) reports that Russia’s Transneft pipeline operator is not able to separate crude flows from different oil fields: ‘they all come out swirled into a single bland blend.’ This is quite true. And worse yet, the characterless, light-colored mix thus produced is concocted blindly, without quality oversight, surely a grave mistake. In fact, I do not recall ever encountering a blinder blander blonder blender blunder.
It “would have been a true first in natural language text,” Pullum wrote, “a grammatical and meaningful sequence of five consecutive words in a natural context that are differentiated from each other by just a single character.” Alas, the Economist chose not to print it.
One of my favorite birds. A real lovable little clown! Rallying/mating call "fee bee bee bee" (listen to it at pronunciation for mountain chickadee); if you whistle it in the mountains where they abound you'll soon have 'em answering and flocking around.
The reading aloud of false and injurious-to-reputation printed matter. Aside: invented as a sort of mnemonic kludge for keeping libel and slander in the ole memory banks.
At a posh Manhattan dinner party, a Latin American visitor was telling the guests about this home country and himself. As he concluded, he said, "And I have a charming and understanding wife but, alas, no children."
As his listeners appeared to be waiting for him to continue, he said, haltingly, "You see, my wife is unbearable."
Puzzled glances prompted him to try to clarify the matter: "What I mean is, my wife is inconceivable."
As his companions seemed amused, he floundered deeper into the intricacies of the English language, explaining triumphantly, "That is, my wife, she is impregnable!"
I read it back when I went through a teaching credential program and then taught for *shudder* a year. Great book. I also enjoyed his How To Survive In Your Native Land.
I ditto yarb's use as with Spanish speakers, but otherwise I go with chilly or chillay depending on whether the universe zigs or zags at that moment. Just think of all the parallel realities that creates!
Hey c_b! This was in my inbox this morning and I thought I'd pass it along to you. Interesting that tappen somehow escaped mention. Hope it's never had your eyetracks on it before.
I want to be a bear......
If you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.
If you're a bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you are sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.
If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.
If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
"...There is in fact an ‘Ariadne’s thread’ out of the cavern of illusions; realms that are ‘like’ dreams, whilst not strictly speaking being dreams..." --Lee Horstman, BEYOND THE GODS
" It meticulously dissects the myriad protean tricks authoritarianism employs to maneuver its subjects into place and keep them there. Access to information and accountability for one's conduct are essential for the brave new world that might emerge if the reptant strain of authoritarianism in humankind does not destroy this world first in the name of knowing better." (from a review, on Amazon.com by Ford Greene, Esq., of The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power)
I first and only time I ever heard this word used was by my girlfriend speech pathologist; "You're perseverating!" It was a good lesson: I never forgot it, nor do I perseverate (uh huh).
"For decades, New Yorker writer Alastair Reid has been collecting words, weird ones. In Ounce, Dice, Trice, the words play tricks on each other and on the reader. gongoozler, piddocks, mumruffin. Reid twists them into rhymes and draws odd connections between them in this book part dictionary, part gonomony receptacle...With black-and-white sketches by painter Ben Shahn, Ounce, Dice, Trice amounts to great fun for the average gongozzler (idle person) of any age." –The Bergen County Record
Huh! I'm not getting this. I see James Bond and the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything, but get lost in the middle. Somebody he'p me please!
Alas, never got a shot of it. Lots of ho-hum shots of the horizon and some neat clouds but nothing memorable. Usually any worthwhile event was gone before being camera-ready. It was easier and more fun to compose poetry(!).
trivet, do you hail from Ojai? Saw it under pink moment. I'm a born-and-raised Santa Barbaran. Used to go play golf in Ojai and one of my favorite places there is the Krotona Library.
For years, South African miners have been finding disks and spheres like this one (see picture and more info here.). Usually brown or red, the objects can measure up to 10 centimeters in diameter, and like this one they’re often engraved with parallel grooves or ridges.
Like dontcry and gangerh, I've done a pronunciation that doesn't show on my profile page. The pron., at the word page (zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba), works but doesn't show on the profile page. Maybe there's some delay? I haven't yet experimented with any others yet...
Physical exercise is good for you. I know that I should do it daily but my body doesn't want me to do too much, so I have worked out this program of strenuous activities that do not require physical exercise.You are invited to use my program without charge.
Hmmm, I just noticed that there's no option to see my collected past comments, which I thought might be a way around the "recent activity" lack. Is that also in the works, John?
Comments by oroboros
Show previous 200 comments...
oroboros commented on the word guck
A foolish thing, according to NPR's Says You.
October 29, 2011
oroboros commented on the word jack-o'-lantern
Guiness Book of World Records shortest time to carve one? 54.72 seconds (2001) --via NPR's Says You
October 29, 2011
oroboros commented on the word recorder
The opposite of wreak havoc? (B.C.'s Wiley's Dictionary)
October 29, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
Nice, sionnach. *like* Gutlevel chives? Mmmm, that's some tall chives.
October 22, 2011
oroboros commented on the word kumatage
n. “A bright appearance in the horizon, under the sun or moon, arising from the reflected light of these bodies from the small rippling waves on the surface of the water”
(Nathaniel Bowditch, The New American Practical Navigator, 1837) --via futilitycloset.com
October 22, 2011
oroboros commented on the word minimum
An especially small Englishwoman? (from BC cartoon - Wiley's Dictionary)
October 20, 2011
oroboros commented on the word nitrate
Cheaper than a day rate?
October 20, 2011
oroboros commented on the word secret identity theft
Strange Brew.
October 17, 2011
oroboros commented on the word secret identity theft
"There seems to be a problem with your credit card, Mr. Kent." (Strange Brew 'toon)
October 17, 2011
oroboros commented on the word sizzle
Hey! Word it up, dude.
October 17, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
I didn't think there was any way to quietly jam fufluns into tail pipes! What's your secret 'zu? Ninja training? :o)
October 16, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
Well, it appears that I can't add words to my "potpourri" list; not at the list page or the word page (with checkmark). Jesus Cristo y Madre de Dios!
Edit: Doh! I was trying to add a word that was already on that list (toothsome). Still, what produced the confusion in the first place is that the word page for toothsome shows no checkmark in my potpourri list box. And that's still the case: no checkmark, but I've verified it's on the list at the list page. Go figure! :o/
October 11, 2011
oroboros commented on the word ooch
To try to propel a boat forward by abrupt movements of one's body; "ooching forward". (according to NPR's Says You)
October 8, 2011
oroboros commented on the word flob
To inadvertently collide with a wall or door. (According to NPR's Says You)
October 8, 2011
oroboros commented on the word librarianitarian
One interested in doing good works for librarians?
October 8, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Zenophobia
An irrational fear of convergent sequences.
October 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the word inkle
To attend a party to which one hasn't an invitation. (according to NPRs Says You)
September 3, 2011
oroboros commented on the word pasteurize
Ordaine to be a minister?
August 27, 2011
oroboros commented on the word dispraise
“People are never so ready to believe you as when you say things in dispraise of yourself; and you are never so much annoyed as when they take you at your word.” --Somerset Maugham (Notebooks)
August 27, 2011
oroboros commented on the word balloon animal shelter
Seen on the Over The Hedge cartoon.
August 22, 2011
oroboros commented on the word bleem
A number between 6 and 7. (George Carlin)
August 20, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Mountweazel
A fictitious entry for the purpose of detecting plagiarism.
August 20, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
Erin: Yes, still tiny font (with Chrome browser). @bilby,'zu,sionnach, erin et al., hanks for the rib tickling irreverence!
Oh, and I have the same experience with pronunciation that dontcry has...
August 13, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
How do I access my recent comments? Try as I might, all I can access is comments from the first two weeks of my presence on Wordie. There is no "continue to next page" option.
August 7, 2011
oroboros commented on the word purple loosestrife
August 7, 2011
oroboros commented on the word nidget
"The person who fetches the midwife". (via NPR's Says You)
August 6, 2011
oroboros commented on the word dickens
Corruption of "Old Nick" - the Devil. (via NPR's Says You)
August 6, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
Erin, is the translate feature going to make a comeback eventually? And is the font size in the comment box while entering and/or editing comments going to remain so tiny?
August 6, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
@Erin. Much improvement in comment/edit comment option. Thanks!
August 5, 2011
oroboros commented on the word electrolux
I've got one of the originals with the chrome runners and reusable cloth bag. Remarkably, it came with this house I bought 10 years ago...
August 5, 2011
oroboros commented on the word mind your own business card
via Dan Piraro.
August 5, 2011
oroboros commented on the word grandpa box
Desktop computer. Everybody else's using fondleslabs!
August 3, 2011
oroboros commented on the word kipple
Kipple and Things : How To Hoard and How Not To Mean.
August 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the word disfluency
An Uh, Er, Um Essay
August 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
What sionnach said. Yes.
August 1, 2011
oroboros commented on the word fondleslab
iPad, iPhone, etc. See grandpa box.
July 31, 2011
oroboros commented on the word rattlesnake
A variety of green bean. Rattlesnake Pole Bean.
July 31, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
Comment function is intermittent. The whole site is abominably slow. Edit: comment option works, but EXTREMELY slowly. Ditto for edit option; or it seems to work only intermittently.
July 31, 2011
oroboros commented on the word porphyrophobia
Fear of the color purple.
July 31, 2011
oroboros commented on the word purple haze
A variety of carrot (according to Says You)
July 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the word black turtle
A variety of bean (according to Says You)
July 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the word boxcar willy
A variety of tomato (according to Says You)
July 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the word piping hot
Related to musical instruments (pipes), not steam pipes. (via Says You)
July 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the list i-d-rather-have-a-bottle-in-front-of-me
thanks milos and dharma
July 16, 2011
oroboros commented on the user dharma66
Thanks, dharma, for your input. Added!
July 16, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
I agree with Pro and frogapplause: the site really has the feel of reference emphasis. I miss the "first listed by" and other such personalizing features. Another thing that strikes me, although it may be transitory, is surprisingly long wait times.
July 9, 2011
oroboros commented on the word schnibble
To cut meat into small pieces. (heard on NPR's Says You)
July 9, 2011
oroboros commented on the word phrop
A euphemistic insincere phrase; a verbal air kiss. E.g., "Oh we must have lunch ..." (according to NPR's Says You)
July 9, 2011
oroboros commented on the word blunderbuss
A messed up kiss?
July 8, 2011
oroboros commented on the word medulla oblongata
See comment under spatula.
July 8, 2011
oroboros commented on the word spatula
Fun to say?
July 8, 2011
oroboros commented on the word springar
A Norwegian dance, according to NPR's Says You.
July 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the word russell the love muscle
First seen in D. F. Wallace's Infinite Jest.
July 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
What happened to the translation feature on the word page? Has it just been deleted or forgotten...or, again, am I just missing something?
June 25, 2011
oroboros commented on the word bradbury
bRAdburY. Ray Bradbury, Sci-Fi author extraordinaire.
June 25, 2011
oroboros commented on the word bradbury
bRAdburY: Ray Bradbury, SciFi author extraordinaire.
June 25, 2011
oroboros commented on the user mollusque
Thanks, mollusque for your kangaroo word suggestion. Definitely "outside the box". :o)
June 25, 2011
oroboros commented on the list kangaroo-words
Hey! Good one, mollusque, thanks.
June 25, 2011
oroboros commented on the word gilt
I'm just waaaaaaay outta the loop! (but wanted to link the cartoon at least).
June 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the word gilt
A young female pig...who knew?
June 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the word punce
Is this like pwn?
June 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the word grey
For more discussion of "grey v. gray" see here. In a nutshell: Gray = color; grey = colour.
June 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the word new interface
It would be nice to have the option, on the word page (in addition to adding the word) to delete a word from one's list as opposed to having to go to the list page and deleting it there. Or am I overlooking something?
June 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the word June gloom
Also May gray. Especially applies to the Southern California Spring, early Summer weather patterns.
June 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the word May gray
See June gloom.
June 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the list pop-culture
'zu --> :oD
June 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the list pop-culture
Thanx for your input, marky. I see your account isn't public? Sorry I can't return the favor of perusing any of your lists.
June 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the list emordnilap
See also, Dyslexic's Dread.
June 18, 2011
oroboros commented on the list infinite-jest-3
Truly an amazing tour de force. What a mind!
June 15, 2011
oroboros commented on the word flush
Yeah, he was sporting lint!
June 15, 2011
oroboros commented on the word popination
Bar hopping; pub crawling (via NPR's Says You)
May 28, 2011
oroboros commented on the word staboy
An encouraging cry to hunting dogs in pursuit of prey.
May 28, 2011
oroboros commented on the word perfect
I've used 'perfuct' for years. Very satisfying!
May 28, 2011
oroboros commented on the list sweet-tooth-fairy-dominoes
Huh! Sionnach beat me to the punch. Joke was meant to come after 'colour'.
May 25, 2011
oroboros commented on the word stupiphany
Heard on NPR this AM. Finally tumbling to what is obvious to everyone else.
May 25, 2011
oroboros commented on the word disgruntled
If a pig loses its voice is it disgruntled?
May 23, 2011
oroboros commented on the word deets
Slang for "details".
May 14, 2011
oroboros commented on the word frealz
Highschool slang for "for real".
May 14, 2011
oroboros commented on the word totes
Highschool slang for "totally".
May 14, 2011
oroboros commented on the word clishpen
According to NPR's Says You: To break apart by dropping, e.g., a bag of ice.
May 14, 2011
oroboros commented on the word travois
A draggin' wagon?
May 14, 2011
oroboros commented on the word writer's block
Be the Captain of her fat.
May 6, 2011
oroboros commented on the word writer's block
If an equestrian runs out of ideas does she have rider's block?"
May 6, 2011
oroboros commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
Thanks gangerh...and to all the players; I feel all warm 'n toasty to be among such an erudite and rapscalious crew. w00t!
May 5, 2011
oroboros commented on the word osamabama bump
Heard on the radio: the bump in the polls for Obama as a result of the take-down of Osama Bin Laden. Might have been osamobama bump; couldn't be sure.
May 4, 2011
oroboros commented on the list kangaroo-words
Thanks, Wp.
May 3, 2011
oroboros commented on the user Wordplayer
Thanks, Wordplayer. I like insignia; chandeliers is good too. Appreciate your input...
May 3, 2011
oroboros commented on the word katsaridaphobia
Fear of cockroaches. Got a kinda nice ring to it, no? Heard on NPR's Weekend Edition in an interview with Amy Stewart on her new book Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects.
April 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
I actually played Grumpy-dwarf once in a Junior High theatre production. I was well cast. *grumps*
April 28, 2011
oroboros commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
Here ya go; I used my favorite method: no-brains.(Edit: whoops! see addition of frogclapping below)
bilby - hidelugged
blafferty - calepinerienne
chained_bear - aaaaaarrgh!
dontcry - queasy
erinmckean - playful
fbharjo - od
frindley - boggy
frogapplause - dreamy....uh, oh, no, wait, okay: balsamaceous
gangerh - sinistral
hernesheir - ascian
mollusque - chrestomathic
oroboros - wiggy
PossibleUnderscore - heartstringsplucker
Prolagus - harlequin
pterodactyl - wodge
reesetee - distingue
ruzuzu - prodigal
seanahan - systematic
sionnach - protean
Wordnicolina - greenhorn
Wordplayer - emordnilap
yarb - panda
April 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word scoon
NPR's Says You used this word in its bluffing round: skipping a rock across water.
April 23, 2011
oroboros commented on the word cincinate
Curled in ringlets. (per NPR's Says You)
April 23, 2011
oroboros commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
*You* folks? 'Zuzu, 'member the enemy is us (what we met)! :o)
April 22, 2011
oroboros commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
Egad! Well, I know I can get at least *one* right!
*scurries off to pour some Scot's smart-juice over ice*
April 22, 2011
oroboros commented on the word message
Take it or leave it. (NYT X-word puzzle clue/answer)
April 21, 2011
oroboros commented on the list autantonyms
Good one, mollusque. Thanks!
April 19, 2011
oroboros commented on the word cow
Cow's favorite rock band? Moo-dy Blues.
Favorite entertainment? Moo-vies.
April 12, 2011
oroboros commented on the word chounse
To fluff up a pillow. (via NPR's Says You)
April 9, 2011
oroboros commented on the word woof ticket
See also wolf ticket.
April 6, 2011
oroboros commented on the word fishplate
Criminy! Nobody's even bothered to list fishplate! I'm not gonna either...*tests ruzuzu's squeak, just to make sure*
April 4, 2011
oroboros commented on the word nang
British slang for 'excellent' or 'cool'. (NPR's Says You)
April 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the word El Al
Means "skyward" (to the sky?) in Yiddish (?) according to a NYT crossword clue.
April 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the word full reserve
You know how your gas tank fuel indicator stays at or above "full" for a seemingly inordinate amount of time? That's what engineers call "full reserve." Same thing at the "empty" end of the range; would that be an "empty reserve?"
April 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Foley
See foley.
March 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Egbert Sousé
W.C. Fields character.
March 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Cuthbert J. Twillie
W.C. Fields character. Gotta love it.
March 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the word orchestra
Anagram: carthorse.
March 28, 2011
oroboros commented on the word paperclip
trombone in French.
March 28, 2011
oroboros commented on the word trombone
Just learned that trombone is the French word for paperclip. Egad! I wonder if I'll ever forget this? :o)
March 28, 2011
oroboros commented on the word sporting lint
I figured it just has to do with going into the pocket for coin and coming out with lint. But thanks for the reference.
March 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Q-Tip
The "Q" stands for "quality".
March 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word f-stop
The "F" refers to focal length.
March 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word a-list
Origin: The most "bankable" actors in the film industry are on the A-list.
March 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word sporting lint
Encountered in Wallace's Infinite Jest. To have no money.
March 25, 2011
oroboros commented on the word the argyle cold weather stabilization process
@ptero: Interesting study, but no, I got this from an NPR Says You episode. Gratified it sparked a comment flurry! :o)
March 24, 2011
oroboros commented on the word heaven
HeAVEN
March 23, 2011
oroboros commented on the word cart corral
Shopping cart h(e)aven.
March 23, 2011
oroboros commented on the word cray-cray
Crazy.
March 21, 2011
oroboros commented on the word trailer
Movie trailers (previews) used to come at the end of the film (hence the name) but that practice was abandoned because nobody stuck around to watch 'em! This, according to NPR's Says You.
March 19, 2011
oroboros commented on the word maloik
The gesture made with the index and little fingers raised while the thumb holds down the middle and ring fingers. The sign of the horns - symbolic of the "evil eye".
March 19, 2011
oroboros commented on the word the argyle cold weather stabilization process
Wearing socks on the outside of your shoes to minimize slipping on an icy walkway.
March 19, 2011
oroboros commented on the word perendinate
I decided to comment day before yesterday.
March 19, 2011
oroboros commented on the word crapulous
From the police blotter of the SLO (San Luis Obispo, CA) City News, March 10-16 2011:
Alcohol: Police responded at 12:41 a.m. to the Native Lounge on the 1100 block of Chorro St. after one of the natives got restless and rough. He was arrested for suspicion of being bent in public. Another ruckus broke out at 1:37 a.m. at Mo Tav, just around the corner on the 700 block of Higuera St. There, a belle of the ball was arrested for being crapulous."
March 18, 2011
oroboros commented on the word booty
From the police blotter of the SLO (San Luis Obispo, CA) City News, March 10-16 2011:
"Theft: Police were called at 5:17 P.M. to the 700 block of Higuera St. at Fanny Wrappers Lingerie shop for a reported shoplifting. No word on the booty that was pinched."
March 18, 2011
oroboros commented on the word ruzuzu on-a-stick
Unabridged umbrage. Yoiks!
March 18, 2011
oroboros commented on the word hobosexual
"A friend’s young son (4 or 5) was asking her about “you know, the guys who like women, but they like to look good, too.” She very bravely took him up on it and explained that such men were called “metrosexuals.” He thought for a moment and then said, “So the guys who like guys… what are they? Hobosexuals?” She was driving at the time and is still amazed she didn’t run off the road from laughing so hard. Of course, the funny thing is, apparently there really are gay hobos who refer to themselves as “Hobosexuals.” Who knew?"
(Comment by "Prospero" on Dan Piraro's--"Bizarro" cartoonist-- blog)
March 18, 2011
oroboros commented on the word tragus
Even Dilbert gets into the action. A shame Scott couldn't work meatus in as well.
March 18, 2011
oroboros commented on the word fussy hussy
Heard on NPR's Says You - a bon mot by one of the panelists (in re: to the word tussie-mussie - i.e., presented to mollify a fussy hussy), and I just like it.
March 12, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Madrid
Domestic helper hides physician?
March 12, 2011
oroboros commented on the word doublecross
Origin: when signatures were often simple crosses, a cross over a cross was a reneging on the deal.(According to NPR's Says You)
March 12, 2011
oroboros commented on the word dashboard
Origin: wooden board to catch the mud or water thrown up by the horses pulling a carriage or coach. (According to NPR's Says You)
March 12, 2011
oroboros commented on the list autantonyms
Thank'zu, 'zu! :o)
March 10, 2011
oroboros commented on the word ruzuzu on-a-stick
How 'bout a ride in my Isuzu, ruzuzu? It's got a full tank o' umbrage, 'n rarin' to go!
March 4, 2011
oroboros commented on the word unionized
Could be used as a shibboleth for detecting chemists (according to Isaac Asimov, says Wikipedia).
March 3, 2011
oroboros commented on the word foley
The consummate craft of Foley. All those little and big sounds in the movie you're watching have to be recreated from a vast storehouse of typical junkdrawer, wardrobe and miscellaneous paraphernalia. Fascinating! It'll enhance your appreciation of the film industry.
March 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the list let-s-go-strap-on-the-ole-air-chine-and-bore-holes-in-the-sky
Well, nothing comes to mind other than the standards: "cheated death"; "almost bought the farm"; "used one of his nine lives" "bit a hole in the pilot seat" (with his you know what) etc. Not all that inspired, but I hope it helps...
February 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word hundred-dollar hamburger
Net cost of jumping in your Cessna 172 and flying off to Catalina Island for lunch.
February 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word counting rivets
Slang for a "Near Mid-air Collision"
February 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word contact approach
A kind of visual approach into an airport. Nicely expeditious in certain weather conditions, for places like John Wayne - Orange County airport and Burbank airport. Also see concrete compass.
February 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word concrete compass
Navigating an aircraft by reference to roads on the ground. If you use a rail-road track you're using the iron compass. Useful in contact approaches.
February 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word hanger queen
An aircraft that spends an inordinate amount of time in the hanger undergoing repairs. Especially applicable to aircraft harboring a "wire-worm".
February 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word tithe the eighth height tight thigh
Just lookit all 'em g-s, h-s 'n t-s! Splendid!
February 25, 2011
oroboros commented on the word nonversation
"Pickles"
February 23, 2011
oroboros commented on the word palindrome
A different sort of palindrome.
February 19, 2011
oroboros commented on the word beauty
Beauty contains buy and eat. A sort-of Kangaroo word: BeaUtY - bEAuTy. See an animated version here.
February 17, 2011
oroboros commented on the word reincarnation
RENDER UNTO CAESAR...
Modernity comes to China: Religious teachers must now fill out a government application before they can be reincarnated.The decree, passed in 2007, requires that applications be submitted to four different government bodies.“The selection of reincarnates must preserve national unity and solidarity of all ethnic groups, and the selection process cannot be influenced by any group or individual from outside the country.” (via futilitycloset.com)
February 17, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Kilroy
See comments at kilroy, as to "Kilroy Was Here".
February 17, 2011
oroboros commented on the word metronome
According to "Wiley's Dictionary": metronome = a city dwarf.
(Johnny Hart's B.C. comic 2/15/11)
February 15, 2011
oroboros commented on the word ophthalmologist
From BC cartoon today: "Show me an Eskimo ophthalmologist...and I'll show you an optical Aleutian."
http://comics.com/bc/2011-02-11/
February 11, 2011
oroboros commented on the word reduction
see donut icer
February 10, 2011
oroboros commented on the word introduce
see donut icer
February 10, 2011
oroboros commented on the word donut icer
Anagrams: introduce and reduction.
February 10, 2011
oroboros commented on the list four-weeks--28-breakfasts
Smoked salmon scramble (with sour cream and drizzled-on Pepper Plant TM); potatoes on the side. Mmmmmm...
February 7, 2011
oroboros commented on the word loke
A short, private, dead-end road. (via NPR's Says You)
February 5, 2011
oroboros commented on the word habbie-gabbie
To throw money into a crowd. (via NPR's Says You)
February 5, 2011
oroboros commented on the word mauka
I first heard this visiting relatives in Hawaii.
February 5, 2011
oroboros commented on the word juvia
A Brazil nut.
February 5, 2011
oroboros commented on the word accordion
That's no Lady! That's my....uh, hmmmm, well, no on Lady of Spain, but I did do an interview or two with playing on the local radio, too: KTMS.
January 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the word afghanistani
Yes, the NPR puzzle. Will Shortz said it's a variant of Afghani, and if he accepts it that's good enuff for me...
January 30, 2011
oroboros commented on the word zot
A square piece of cloth used as head covering in Guatemala. (via NPR's Says You)
January 29, 2011
oroboros commented on the word there's no free lunch
In the old days, saloon and bar owners offered a free lunch to patrons who spent a requisite time drinking in their establishment, hoping they would get so drunk they'd forget they never got their free lunch. It was adjudged as unfair advertising by the authorities of the era. (via NPR's Says You)
January 29, 2011
oroboros commented on the word sappy
Sad and Happy at the same time?
January 29, 2011
oroboros commented on the word afghanistani
A nationality containing two nations:
afGHANistAni
afgHAnIsTanI
January 27, 2011
oroboros commented on the word stickybeak
Nosey Parker; Lookie Loo.
January 26, 2011
oroboros commented on the word accordion
I'm astounded I didn't discover this page 4 years ago and expose a limited chapter of my past. I played accordion as a kid *and* I played in an accordion band. We played on a float in the Santa Barbara Fiesta Parade as well as other public venues for a number of years and appeared on the local TV station,KEYT, on several occasions. A few of the members could play 12th Street Rag with the bellow shake and were awe inspiring to the rest of us hacks.
January 22, 2011
oroboros commented on the word polygon
When your parrot flies the coop?
January 14, 2011
oroboros commented on the list autantonyms
Yeah, good one. Added.
January 12, 2011
oroboros commented on the list autantonyms
Point taken, 'zu. Also fbharjo's. Thanks.
January 12, 2011
oroboros commented on the word gosh-a-mickle dickle-pickle
Ah, Walt Kelly we miss you!
January 12, 2011
oroboros commented on the list autantonyms
Thanks again, ruzuzu. Tuck-out's new to me. tuck in always meant to sit down and "dig in" to a meal with enthusiastic appetite; didn't realize tuck-out was the same. Course, little Jack Horner tuck-in his thumb and tuck-out a plum, don'tcha know! :o)
January 8, 2011
oroboros commented on the list autantonyms
Thanks, 'zu. Cop as "Goin' to get all medieval on yo ass."? (Pulp Fiction, I think). :o)
January 6, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Polaroids
What Eskimos get from sitting on the ice too long?
January 5, 2011
oroboros commented on the word alackaday
Related to "alas and alack"?
January 3, 2011
oroboros commented on the word constable
Derivation: "count of the stable" - the man who counted the King's horses every morning to verify none missing. (via NPR's Says You)
January 2, 2011
oroboros commented on the word Ding Dong, Texas
It's in Bell county. :o)
December 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mother-in-law
Anagram of Woman Hitler
December 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word antibody
Against everybody?
December 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word cardiology
The science of poker playing?
December 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word tablet
A small table?
December 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word subcutaneous
Not cute enough?
December 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word cryptonesic
See cryptomnesia.
December 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the word tetrahydrozoline
"Gets the red out."
December 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word nesh
To act timidly, according to NPR's Says You
December 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word duffifie
To lay a bottle on its side for a long time to get out every last drop after the contents have been poured out. (via NPR's Says You)
December 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word scent
See fragrance.
December 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word fragrance
Fragrance v. scent. Alcohol-based v. oil-based. (via NPR's Says You
December 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mooswa
Algonquin word for moose, meaning "twig eater".
~via NPR's Says You
December 12, 2010
oroboros commented on the word glinn
A lightening in the sky portending bad weather.
~via NPR's Says You
December 12, 2010
oroboros commented on the word word
In typing, a word is a unit of length signified by five characters/spaces.
~via NPR's Says You
December 12, 2010
oroboros commented on the user milosrdenstvi
Re: "more good songs in Spanish" - check out the classic "Trio Los Panchos" oeuvre. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Panchos
December 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the list someday-ill-pronounce-these-things-for-frogapplause
Yah, didn't know him but enjoyed his version; you've been a fan for a while? Thing I like about the Perla arrangement is the repeated, harmonic descending arpeggio background to the piece. It's unique in my experience...and works on me like an anvil of mercy.
December 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the list someday-ill-pronounce-these-things-for-frogapplause
'Zu, I changed the link. THIS is my very favorite arrangement, just didn't know it was up on YouTube. The version I have on iTunes by Perla Batalla is done with a quartet of acoustic guitars. Beautiful!!
December 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the list someday-ill-pronounce-these-things-for-frogapplause
The cuccuruddu ruzuzu made me think of that extremely beautiful Mexican song Cucurrucucu Paloma. Check it out, 'zu! Always makes me misty eyed when I hear it...
December 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the user ruzuzu
Thanks, 'zu. I added shell to the list. Also found some more at that off site list ptero linked. Neat!
December 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word shell
Janus word in the sense of add shells (or bombard "we were being shelled by the VC") vs. remove shells (i.e., shuck).
December 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word dunkadoo
Huh! I mighta knowed! :o)
December 8, 2010
oroboros commented on the word myth
A female moth?
December 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word partnership
Time-share yacht?
December 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word board meeting
Surfing convention?
December 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word snallygaster
"Nathaniel had his reasons for his journey to Rhyolite, the greatest boom town in the west. He hoped to find what the snallygaster had taken from him. Some believed it could snatch away whatever you most valued. It had taken Annabelle, the love of his life. Now he was here in Rhyolite, to make his fortune, reunite with Annabelle--and to find the man he murdered back in Baltimore."
~Opening paragraph of Journey to Rhyolite by Steve Bartholomew
December 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word maraschino
Anagram of 'harmonicas'
December 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word middle aisle
To 'middle aisle it' is to get married.
December 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word dunkadoo
The American Bittern - a wading bird. I'm astounded reesetee hasn't listed this!
December 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word eat crow
Crow tastes awful!
December 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word thriftaholic
Bargain junkie.
December 2, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pootle
"Things pootled along gently for a while, until Lucy and Ben secured support for the project from the Arts Council,..."
December 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word hostitute
A flight attendant who subsidizes his/her airline salary on the side.
December 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word frienditute
A distant relative of hostitute.
December 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word refudiation
Yet another "palindrone".
November 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the word ghoti
Gone ghotion.
November 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mosquito
An inhabitant of Moscow?
November 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the word foozle
Foozler - a poor golf shot.
November 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bipolar
Bipolar Bear
November 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word boomeringue
Speed Bump cartoon 11/10/2010.
November 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the list double-trouble
Thanks, Erin. Done. :o)
November 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the user mollusque
Thanks, amigo. I'll give it a look. My surmise was right that you were the go-to guy on this! :o)
November 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the user mollusque
Hi mollusque. Do you know of any alphabet/font source showing reversed letters that could be C & P-d. Here's a sample that gave me the idea from Teresa's FrogBlog:
http://obituarytypo.blogspot.com/2010/11/think.html
The trouble is that C & P doesn't work on that image and also the letters are a limited selection even if it could be done.
I haven't a clue how I could make one up for myself via, say, photographic process image reversal.
November 2, 2010
oroboros commented on the word preta
A wandering ghost.
October 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the word up
up
dn
October 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word scenius
Communal genius.
October 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word oxymoron
A baby with alphabet blocks is an oxymoron?
October 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word blond bombshell
Phrase arose from the 1933 movie "Bombshell" starring Jean Harlow (who became the blond bombshell).
October 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word make no bones about it
Reference to the unwelcome appearance of bones in your soup.
October 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pie in the sky
Comes from a song: "Joe Hill" (Joe Hill and the Preacher and the Slave).
October 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word geek
Geek evolution
(via SoG on twitter)
October 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word stranger danger
Eek!
October 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word woomeister
Deepak Chopra?
October 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word woo woo
Also see woomeister.
October 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word an era midst its arena
See apocalypse.
October 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word apocalypse
The Four Palindromes of the Apocalypse
An era, midst its dim arena
Elapses pale.
No, in uneven union
Liars, alas, rail.
– Leigh Mercer (via futilitycloset.com)
October 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gauze
See, we've all had that Wordnik moment of "that word doesn't look right". From Phil Plait ("Bad Astronomer" on twitter): "Had to type the word "gauze" for a post going up tomorrow. The word looks wrong no matter how I spell it. Gauze. Gawz. Gouze. Snooki."
October 16, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Expy
An Expy is a exported cartoon character. It's happening a lot to the Cathy character that was just retired from the comics. More here. (link found in a Frogapplause comic strip comment)
October 11, 2010
oroboros commented on the word marrowsky
A Polish Spoonerism.
October 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word prosopography
Group biography or study of a group of people.
October 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word balneographer
One who writes about or talks about people taking baths.
October 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word strategy
Let’s play a game. We’ll each name three consecutive outcomes of a coin toss (for example, tails-heads-heads, or THH). Then we’ll flip a coin repeatedly until one of our chosen runs appears. That player wins.
Is there any strategy you can take to improve your chance of beating me? Strangely, there is. When I’ve named my triplet (say, HTH), take the complement of the center symbol and add it to the beginning, and then discard the last symbol (here yielding HHT). This new triplet will be more likely to appear than mine.
The remarkable thing is that this always works. No matter what triplet I pick, this method will always produce a triplet that is more likely to appear than mine. It was discovered by Barry Wolk of the University of Manitoba, building on a discovery by Walter Penney.
From
October 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mediative
"In analyzing the difference between the recognition awakening to Reality and the theoretical acceptance without recognition, it seems that in the latter instance there is a quality that might be called mediative distance, while in the case of recognition there is the closeness of immediacy." Franklin Merrell-Wolff, Experience and Philosophy p. 258
October 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word HENRY
Acronym: High Earner, Not Rich Yet. Those earning $250K - $500K/year and most at risk in the event of non-extension of the Bush tax reductions. Apparently those making more than $500K (the "rich") wouldn't feel the pinch of a return to previous tax brackets. Heard on PBS's The News Hour.
October 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word the real McCoy
Etymology here.
October 4, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gramptastic
Usage citation here.
October 2, 2010
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Hey, T., I got an email with some aviation-related content that you might be interested in. I can fwd it to you if I had an eddress. You might be able to use one of your many Frog Blog tools to make it available to the "Froggistas", dunno, but you'd enjoy it anyway.
September 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word raze
The un-raise.
September 27, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Eiffel Tower
Street address: 5 Avenue Anatole France
September 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word watermelon
66 ft. 11 inches is the current world record for spitting a watermelon seed. Set in 1989. (via NPR's Says You)
September 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word cool as a cucumber
Derivation: mid-1600s; lying on a bed of cucumbers to lower body temperature.
September 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word dhan
Village cattle (according to NPR's Says You)
September 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word allotment
Cf. allocation
September 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word caveat
Cf. disclaimer
September 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word restrict
Cf. restrain
September 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word imbue
Cf. instill
September 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word unsubstantial
Cf. insubstantial
September 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the user reesetee
RT, do you check your gmail acct (shown on your flickr profile) infrequently? I sent something there you might find interesting. Bird related.
September 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word vuvuzela
An EXCELLENT use of the vuvuzela! Oh, yeah!
September 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word baltimore chop
See Baltimore chop.
September 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word baltimore chop
Where a batted ball bounces so high in the infield the fielder hasn't time to throw the batter out after catching it.
September 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word wrong end of the stick
From Roman times, in the public baths a stick with a sponge attached to one end was used to perform the function of toilet paper today. Grasping the stick by the sponge end is getting the wrong end of the stick. (via NPR's Says You)
September 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Weed Eaters
There is a Weed, California.
September 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word scordatura
Obscure usage here.
September 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word self-intersecting reflexicon
A grid that inventories its own contents.
September 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the list sports-teams-wed-like-to-see
I wondered about that. Figured that sports can have teams but now see my error. I'll fix it.
September 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Hey, T. Don't know if this is blog material or not, but here it is anyway. As a retired pilot I've gotta love this guy!
September 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the user bilby
Hey, bilby. Thanks for your suggestion. I opened the "Teams we'd like to see" list, if you're interested in adding more...
September 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the user ruzuzu
Hi 'zuzu. I opened the "Teams we'd like to see" list. Go for it!
September 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the list sports-teams-wed-like-to-see
Done! Thanks, bilby.
September 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the word theodicity
A vindication of the justice of God in permitting evil to exist.
September 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word epitaph
Epitaph for a dentist: Don't intrude on the Good Dentist, he's busy filling a cavity.
September 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the user reesetee
Hey, r_t. You are seriously remiss in the pronunciations arena. What's up wif dat?! I expected at least a bird whistle or two, yes? Come on, you can do it! "Skreeeee"
September 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word abasiophilia
This figures in Michael Connelly's latest book Scarecrow.
September 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word future
The Problem of Future Contingents
If there will be a sea battle tomorrow, then that fact is true today and has always been true. Our future is thus inevitable. What freedom is left to us?
On the other hand, if statements about the future are neither true nor false today, then how can God have perfect foreknowledge of the future?
(from futilitycloset.com)
September 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word schooled
An interlacing of SHOE + COLD.
September 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word fleetness
An interlacing of FETES + LENS.
September 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word calliope
An interlacing of CLIP + ALOE.
September 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word chainlet
An interlacing of CANE + HILT.
September 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word similarly
An interlacing of SIR + ILL + MAY.
September 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word spouts
An interlacing of SOT + PUS.
September 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word liberate
LibEraTe
September 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the list we-weirdly-go-weirdwards
Okay, fbharjo, you got it!
September 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the user ruzuzu
Thanks for the Wordnik activity summary, ruzuzu! A big vuvuzela toot for you!! :oD
September 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word scoteography
n.,The art of writing in the dark.
September 4, 2010
oroboros commented on the word square grouper
What is a square grouper?.
A bale of flotsam marijuana.
September 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word hogshead
Two hogsheads = one butt.
August 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the word face cord
Half a cord: 2' x 4' x 8'
August 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the word elephant
A unit of paper measurement.
August 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the word zolotnik
= one-sixth of an ounce
August 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the word butt
126 gallons. Composed of two hogsheads.
August 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the word disk
disk = underlying technology is magnetic
disc = underlying technology is optical
August 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the word disc
disc = underlying technology is optical
disk = underlying technology is magnetic
August 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the word humaniqueness
"Marc Hauser professor of psychology and anthropological biology at Harvard takes a more nuanced view, arguing that people are possessed of what he calls humaniqueness, a suite of cognitive skills including the ability to recombine information to gain new understanding, a talent animals simply don't have."
--Time magazine article "Inside The Minds of Animals" Aug. 16, 2010
August 27, 2010
oroboros commented on the word future
“It makes no more sense to talk of changing the future than it does to talk of changing the past. Suppose that I decide to change the future, by having coffee for breakfast tomorrow instead of my usual tea. Have I changed the future? No. For coffee for breakfast was the future. It has been objected to me that the above argument is perhaps misleading. For, it has been said, there is quite clearly a sense in which I can change the future and not the past, and this is because my acts of will determine the future and not the past — I cannot undo what has been done. Now I do not wish to deny that we can causally affect the future and not the past, and indeed this causal directionality of time is part of the problem of the ‘direction of time.’ Nevertheleless I would reiterate that the fact that our present actions determine that future would be most misleadingly expressed or described by saying that we can change the future. A man can change his trousers, his club, or his job. Perhaps he may even change the course of world history or the state of scientific thought. But one thing that he cannot change is the future, since whatever he brings about is the future, and nothing else is, or ever was.”
– J.J.C. Smart, Problems of Space and Time, 1964 (via futilitycloset.com)
August 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Chuckey
See bilby's comment at turducken.
August 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word cute-meet
"Narratively, William Pitt singlehandedly brings about the novel's first 'cute-meet' (a Hollywood term I only just learnt, meaning the scene in a film where the future romantic interests meet for the first time...}"
--Response in interview with David Mitchell re his The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet on LibraryThing's "State of the Thing" e-newsletter
August 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word nyetwork
A Russian computer network gone awry?
August 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word quarterback
Related to where on the field of play the player lines up: a quarter of the way back behind the line of scrimmage. Cf. half back, full(y) back. There used to be a "three quarter" back position. All this according to NPR's Says You
August 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word frank
Is an autantonym: open v. shut in (as in a frank or sty).
Thanks to ruzuzu.
August 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the list autantonyms
Interesting, ruzuzu. Thanks, I'll add it.
August 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word number
After a number of injections my jaw got number.
August 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Hi, T. Interesting. I'm a bit mystified meself. One thing about pilots and watches however: the joke has always been that pilots have the BIGGEST watches. They've got to have all those pilot-type bells and whistles: elapsed time, multiple timezone capability, 24-hour function face...all that keen stuff! Btw, I've never owned anything like that (well, almost never :o))....
Edit: I think your idea about advertising cleverness is right. Must say, I've never seen anything like it, although I've spent plenty of time around airports (which is a natural place for such a product's advertising campaign).
August 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word tardis
Use in "Dog eat Doug" cartoon strip
August 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word cooser
A great big horse. (Scottish derivation)
August 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word for the birds
Derived from birds pecking in the excrement of horses left in the streets.
August 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word to wing it
Related to activity/preparation in the stage wings by an understudy.
August 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word to be caught flat footed
Derives from the sport of horse racing.
August 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word baggage drill
See bag drag.
July 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bag drag
Also known as a baggage drill. The offloading of the flight crew's personal bags from the aircraft and onto the crew bus to proceed to the crew rest facility, and vice versa.
July 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the word limoncello
Info and recipe here.
July 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the list bad-guys
Hey R-t, how about fingersmith?
Pickpocket/thief
July 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word tiger
banjo : ferns :: pecan : ?
July 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the user mollusque
Great work, mollusque! I can't say the whole sentence without taking a breath in there somewhere! :oD
July 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the list eggcorns
Just saw this for the first time. Nice work sionnach! How by enlarge?
July 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the user mollusque
Thanks, m. Pitch is added. Good one.
July 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the user mollusque
Hi, mollusque. This is right up your alley in case you haven't see it:
Ross Eckler coined the sentence Unsociable housemaid discourages facetious behaviour.
Each of the five words contains the five major vowels in a different order.
(From futilitycloset.com)
July 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the user hernesheir
Thanks for the input (for toot-toot list), hernesheir.
July 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Interesting. I can feed the turtles and click the balls with the Mozilla browser but the Chrome browser has stopped working for those activities.
Edit: Now working again. I sent a bug report to Chrome and they fixed it.
July 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the user hernesheir
Yay, cilantro!
July 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Palinism
Palinism (pal’ in-i-zem) n. A non sequitur offered by a politician of great ambition who confuses notoriety with achievement. (from twitter feed #pleasegoaway)
July 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Well I'm crushed! I don't know if I can go on without being able to feed Tink and Toink Turtle. I hope it isn't the harbinger of computer doom. Oi yoi!
July 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the word prevenche
A grayish, purplish blue.
July 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word infantry
The segment of the army "without speech" (infant).
July 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word lychnobite
Many military and airline pilots fit this word.
July 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gaposis
According to NPR's Says You: having a gap between one's front teeth.
July 11, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bottega
Studio of a master artist where apprentices are trained.
July 11, 2010
oroboros commented on the word philumenist
One who collects matchbooks.
July 11, 2010
oroboros commented on the word demo
A contranym in the sense of demolish v. promote.
July 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the user mollusque
Thanks, m., but I'm unclear how demo is contranymic. Demo as in demolish v. demo as promote?
Btw, I'm a big fan of your work!
July 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word two kilo mockingbird
Harper Lee's fat feathered friend?
June 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the list scrabble---monetary-units
A good resource for crossword puzzling too, eh?
June 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the word idioglossia
Indeed it is! Wittgenstein must be spinning in his grave!
June 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word asemic writing
Connection to speaking in tongues(glossolalia)? Cf. idioglossia.
June 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word zzyzx
An unusual usage.
June 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word kiwiclock
Here's one on frogapplause's Frog Blog.
June 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bananosecond
Shouldn't that be: "Yes, we have no....."?
June 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word twitchy chicken
The most advanced feather-based entertainment device available to the public!
June 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bananosecond
Time between slipping on a banana peel and smacking your melon on the pavement = 1 bananosecond
June 27, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pizza
A pizza with radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi*z*z*a --via Reddit.com
June 27, 2010
oroboros commented on the word cubizen
Overworked and underpaid cubicle esne.
June 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pepper
It's half peas, don'tcha know!
June 16, 2010
oroboros commented on the user hernesheir
Thanks, hernesheir, for your inputs on my "one for the money" list. I'll get to puttin' 'em in pretty soon, I hope! :o)
June 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the word rabbit
The French will eat almost anything. A young cook decided that the French would enjoy feasting on rabbits and decided to raise rabbits in Paris and sell them to the finer restaurants in the city.
He searched all over Paris seeking a suitable place to raise his rabbits. None could be found. Finally, an old priest at the cathedral said he could have a small area behind the rectory for his rabbits.
He successfully raised a number of them, and when he went about Paris selling them, a restaurant owner asked him where he got such fresh rabbits.
The young man replied, "I raise them myself, near the cathedral. In fact, I have a hutch back of Notre Dame."
June 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word love
"Like a thousand tiny ninjas attacking your brain"
June 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word immortality
Addyears to yours!
June 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word anagram
Oh no! The Anagram Kid!
June 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word lynch
‘The activists had many things ready for an attack on the soldiers,’ Lev-Rom said, ‘including, for instance, a box of 20-30 slingshots with metal balls; these can kill. There were also all sorts of knives and many similar things. These are what they call “cold” weapons, as opposed to live fire. It was quite clear that a lynch had been prepared.’
--www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/ , 31May2010
June 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word irony
What the carpenter's nail felt like?
June 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word weird
The weird thing is...
May 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word grawlix
After a certain age...
May 27, 2010
oroboros commented on the word weirdward
Beating upwind into the weird.
May 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word eye tracks
...show up on paper trails.
May 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word paper trail
for eye tracks?
May 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word yessireebob
darn tootin'!
May 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word choners
"I put on clean choners and then shimmied into the black tights and added a skirt." Sue Grafton, U is for Undertow, 2009
May 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word magna cum laude
Cf. summa cum laude
May 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word summa cum laude
Cf. magna cum laude
May 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word poetoasties
Corny (and crypto-) poetry ala Palin's resignation speech mishmash.
May 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word doctrine of stale demand
The equivalent of "use it or lose it".
May 16, 2010
oroboros commented on the word defect
The defect in the party led him to defect to the other side of the aisle.
May 16, 2010
oroboros commented on the word phthongometer
Rats! I hoped this word had something to do with skimpy underwear.
May 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Shite Mega-Megahit
*hides chained_bear's vat behind ruzuzu's tat*
May 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word excuse
An excuse you might give your boss for being late to work?
"I set half the clocks in my house ahead an hour and the other half back an hour Saturday and spent 18 hours in some kind of space-time continuum loop, reliving Sunday (right up until the explosion). I was able to exit the loop only by reversing the polarity of the power source, exactly e*log(pi), of the clocks in the house while simultaneously rapping my dog on the snout with a rolled up Times. Accordingly, I will be in late, or early."
May 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word frustration
Father's Lesson
A boy asks his father to explain the differences among irritation, aggravation, and frustration.
His father picks up the phone and dials a number at random. When the phone is answered, he asks, "Can I speak to Alf, please?"
"No! There's no one called Alf here," says the person who answered the phone.
His father hangs up. "That's irritation," he says.
He picks up the phone again, dials the same number, and asks for Alf a second time. "No-there's no one here called Alf. Go away. If you call again I shall telephone the police," the person says.
His father hangs up and says, "That's aggravation."
"Then what's frustration?" asks his son. The father picks up the phone and dials the same number a third time.
"Hello, this is Alf. Have I received any phone calls?" he asks casually.
May 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word sandwich
"sammich" Also, see comment under english.
May 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word english
What if languages were people? Also, see sammich.
May 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Ponzo Illusion
Why does the moon look so huge at the horizon?
May 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word whelve
To cover with an inverted bowl (via futilitycloset.com). "It's time for your haircut, kid. Prepare to get whelved." :o)
May 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the user reesetee
Hey Tb, in case you haven't seen this: Behind the scenes of "Hummingbirds". New photographic technology reveals heretofore unseen behavior.
May 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word hummingbird
Here's a 9-minute video of some incredible hummingbird photography using new technology: "Behind the scenes of "Hummingbird".
May 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word murphy's law
A supplement to sionnach's variations via NPR's Says You:
~ Left to themselves things will always degenerate.
~ Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
May 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word glaikit
According to NPR's Says You: showing a lack of common sense and good judgement.
May 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word blimbing
According to NPR's Says You: a shot in billiards where the cue ball hits two cushions before hitting the object ball.
May 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word hot dog etiquette
Jeez, Kobayashi ate 17.7 pounds of cow brains...in 15 minutes!! Gaaahh
May 8, 2010
oroboros commented on the word doe-eyed chat up party
A PBS talking head's characterization of the British Liberal Democratic Party.
May 8, 2010
oroboros commented on the word dinkum oil
I first ran across this phrase in the Walt Kelly Pogo comics. Pretty sure it means "the genuine article" with maybe a taste of the cat's pajamas or bee's knees? Maybe bilby will add his two cents?
May 8, 2010
oroboros commented on the list tunie-and-the-band-played-waltzing-matilda
Only you, c_b, would sing this to her spawn! :o)
May 8, 2010
oroboros commented on the word waltzing matilda
Here's a takeoff based on the song and prefaced with this proviso:
"Because of heavy processing requirements, we are currently using some of your unused brain capacity for backup processing. Please ignore any hallucinations, voices or unusual dreams you may experience. Please avoid concentration-intensive tasks until further notice. Thank you."
CRACKING COMPUTERS
May 8, 2010
oroboros commented on the word verbogeny
The art, practice, process, act, or habit of coining words.
Example: Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
--from here
May 8, 2010
oroboros commented on the word worng
A failed error diagnostic. (from Dan'l Oakes)sic
Example: We are the new mobile audio-animatrons. You will see many of us around the park. Do not be alarmed, we are perfectly programed, and nothing can go worng.
May 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word proctonomics
Extracting numbers from a dark place.
Example: but "random numbers" sounds so much nicer than rectally extracted data points. How about "Proctonomics"?
May 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Pyrrhic Compromise
Pyrrhic Compromise
A solution to a problem that maximally pisses off all the parties involved.
Example: Intelligent design of a universe driven by natural selection! Is that a pyrrhic compromise, or what?
May 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word double dog dare
How 'bout double devil-dog dare?
May 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bedbug
Interesting article here about bedbugs bedeviling the rich.
May 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word a dog's breakfast
See dog's breakfast.
May 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word off in a cloud of whale dust
I'll remember this, thanks. I sometimes spoonerize herd of turtles into turd of herdles. Used to make my copilots laugh. Oh, I was a wild and crazy jet jockey!
May 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word archaeoastronomy
"It is Gerald Hawkins and also Alexander Thom to whom we must give credit for reviving serious interest in archaeoastronomy. Hawkins' articles in Nature and Science and finally his book Stonehenge Decoded (1965) drew the attention of astronomers, archaeologists, and the public to the fascinating story of Stonehenge. Hawkins named his studies astroarchaeology, by which he meant the application of astronomy to the understanding of ancient structures." --Ray A. Williamson, Living the Sky - The Cosmos of the American Indian, 1984, p. 12-13
May 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word grandfather
A correspondent of the Drawer is involved in domestic perplexities. He writes:
‘I got acquainted with a young widow, who lived with her step-daughter in the same house. I married the widow; my father fell, shortly after it, in love with the step-daughter of my wife, and married her. My wife became the mother-in-law and also the daughter-in-law of my own father; my wife’s step-daughter is my step-mother, and I am the step-father of my mother-in-law. My stepmother, who is the step-daughter of my wife, has a boy: he is naturally my step-brother, because he is the son of my father and of my step-mother; but because he is the son of my wife’s step-daughter so is my wife the grandmother of the little boy, and I am the grandfather of my step-brother. My wife has also a boy: my step-mother is consequently the step-sister of my boy, and is also his grandmother, because he is the child of her step-son; and my father is the brother-in-law of my son, because he has got his step-sister for a wife. I am the brother of my own son, who is the son of my step-mother; I am the brother-in-law of my mother, my wife is the aunt of her own son, my son is the grandson of my father, and I am my own grandfather.’
– Harper’s Magazine, April 1865 (via futilitycloset.com)
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word redneck
You know you're a redneck if you've ever used a barstool as a walker.
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pharmacist
Farm helper?
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word parasites
Views from the Eiffel Tower?
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Bernadette
The act of torching a mortgage?
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word counterfeiter
Handyman who specializes in building kitchen cabinets?
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word avoidable
What a torrero does best?
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word heroes
What a guy in a skiff does?
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word arbitrator
A chef who leaves Arby's to work at Wendy's?
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word eclipse
What a Cockney barber does at work?
May 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word beg the question
"I think 'a' is 'x' because 'x' is 'a'." begs the question. "Fessbinder's a nerd because under "nerd" in the dictionary you'll find his picture."
May 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word table
"Let's table it" is to "put it on the back burner". Table is an autoantonym: table an offer (present it) v. table, withdraw.
May 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word to table a question
I'm with thtownse. "Let's table it" is to "put it on the back burner". Table is an autoantonym: table an offer (present it) v. table, withdraw.
Cf., beg the question.
May 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gonfalon
I'm wondering if Kurt Vonnegut's granfalloon (Cat's Cradle) was inspired by this word.
May 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word terrazo
See terrazzo.
May 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word foederati
"I don't have regrets - yet - about using the word foederati to describe Pakistani troops working with the American security services, in the first sentence of an article for the London Review of Books. It's an archaic term from the Roman Empire, but it is also a precise way to describe the relationship between the US and certain key allies: not colonial, not feudal, not contractual, and not exactly voluntary, either, just an understanding that, in certain circumstances and in exchange for certain favours, troops will be supplied to fight in an American cause. Perhaps it is a word, like albedo, whose time has come again." --"From albedo to zugunruhe" by James Meek
April 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word book
The world's thinnest book: The Amish Phone Directory...or, maybe, Spotted Owl Recipes by the EPA?
April 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the list words-waiting-in-the-wings
Thanks for the kind words. 'Preciate it! :>)
April 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the word flipitor
New Drug: Flipitor - Increases life expectancy of commuters by controlling road rage and the urge to flip off other drivers.
April 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word teabiscuit
A plebeian cookie rises to the stature of a champion.
April 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word spronk
The stub of a broken tooth (from NPR's Says You)
April 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word poop deck
The kennel floor?
April 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the list i-know-that-word-but--somehow--it-doesnt-look-familiar
I agree it can be "induced" by overlong staring at a word.
April 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pigment
When you dream in color it's a pigment of your imagination. :P
April 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the list the-character-analysis
laconic?
April 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word burtram's smart rub
The massage parlor that was also a palindrome.
April 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word banana boat
Six-foot, seven-foot, eight-foot BUNCH!!
April 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the list words-good
Cued by ululate.
April 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the list words-good
Huh! I half expected to see queue in this list. Huh!
April 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pharaoh
I just knew I'd get some *groans*! :o)
April 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pharaoh
Off to School...
A wealthy New York businessman who sent his two daughters to the University of California's Los Angeles campus in the hope that they would find something unusual to study there that would stir them out their apathy. He was considerably alarmed, however, when they wrote back to tell him that they both had decided to specialize in research on ancient Egyptian plumbing.
He immediately sent them a telegram which read, "Under no circumstances will I support a couple of Pharaoh Faucet Majors!"
April 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the word chemgrass
Original name for
April 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word orchestrion
Pat Metheny has re-invented this turn-of-the-twentieth-century contraption.
April 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bathyscape
See bathyscaphe.
April 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the user stuartjhall
AMF, sjh.
April 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the word run-on sentence
Cushing Biggs Hassell’s thousand-page History of the Church of God (1886) is notable for a single sentence — on page 580, beginning “The nineteenth is the century …”
It’s six pages long, with 3,153 words, 360 commas, 86 semicolons, and six footnotes. Many regard it as the longest legitimate sentence ever published in a book.
Essentially it’s one long indictment of the 19th century, proving for Hassell that “after all our progress, this is still a very sinful and miserable world.” Why he felt he had to show this in a single sentence is not clear.
Here's it is.
(via futilitycloset.com)
April 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word vermillion
"In 'Paint-by-Number' how many zeroes in a vermillion?" --from a Frazz cartoon
April 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word platitude
"A web-footed, duck-billed mammal's approach to life." --Frazz cartoon
April 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word transcendently, world-bestridingly awful
The Comic Tragedian
"...Coates was so transcendently, world-bestridingly awful at his chosen craft that he attracted throngs of jeering onlookers."
April 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word aiee
That would also be the sound I would make falling from a tree!
April 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word blinder blander blonder blender blunder
In 1997, University of Edinburgh linguistics professor Geoffrey K. Pullum submitted the following letter to the Economist:
‘Connections needed’ (March 15) reports that Russia’s Transneft pipeline operator is not able to separate crude flows from different oil fields: ‘they all come out swirled into a single bland blend.’ This is quite true. And worse yet, the characterless, light-colored mix thus produced is concocted blindly, without quality oversight, surely a grave mistake. In fact, I do not recall ever encountering a blinder blander blonder blender blunder.
It “would have been a true first in natural language text,” Pullum wrote, “a grammatical and meaningful sequence of five consecutive words in a natural context that are differentiated from each other by just a single character.” Alas, the Economist chose not to print it.
--from futilitycloset.com
April 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word fauxhemian
...and douchoisie. The new hipster slurs.
April 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word douchoisie
See fauxhemian.
April 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word fauxhemians
See douchoisie.
April 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word fauxhemians
...and douchoisie. The new hipster slurs.
April 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word moonstruck
I got moon-mugged once; I was being followed by a moonshadow!
April 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word organ donor
Poor Mr. Potatohead!
April 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word joke
Knock, knock...
April 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word devil
Oh, the malevolence! *shudder*
April 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word quiverings
Was it Henry Miller who first wrote quivering quim? Rings a bell, somehow....
March 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bibliobiblogulation
The act of falling asleep on your keyboard whilst blogging about a book review after a bottle of wine.
March 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the user sivasamy
Wrong port sivaseamy.
March 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the word hug
Gimme a hug nile gimmu a Coke.
March 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word logomnesia
See this list.
March 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word philately
Soup to Nutz
March 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word grawlix
AsteriskMan - Grawlix Translator
March 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word snowpire
Frank & Ernest
March 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word dim sum
Faint total?
March 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word escargot
A sibilant shipment?
March 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gumbo
Chewy suitor?
March 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word fish 'n chips
Shards of split atoms?
March 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mostest
The hostess with the mostest!
March 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word prodigiousness
prodigiosity?
March 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word prodigiousness
Agnes
March 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word googly eyes
Calvin was good at making these, and so was Hobbes. Watterson! What a cartoonist!
March 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word wiwi
A Frenchman living in New Zealand is a Kiwi wiwi.
March 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the word never put your banana in the refrigerator
"Your banana or your life."
March 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the word zoo'd
At ruzuzu's behest.
March 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the word doozy rat
For ruzuzu.
March 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the word doozy rat in a sanitary zoo'd
This, thanks to sionnach and ruzuzu.
March 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the list words-waiting-in-the-wings
Done, but I'd like to put the palindrome in my DYSLEXIC'S DELIGHT list, okay?
March 20, 2010
oroboros commented on the user treeseed
Treeseed! Wherefore art thou?
March 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the user 532958574
I hope that's not your SS#! Regards from Col. KellRoy.
March 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gynandromorph
Yep, looks like it rt. You be a wizzard o' odds, me thinks. Thanks.
March 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mountain chickadee
I'm glad y'all like it. Chickadees are my special pals!! :o)
Interesting 'zuzu, that song will never be the same....
March 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the word snowpire
A creature of the snowpocalypse
March 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word a secretive bird
Are you sure this isn't supposed to be secretary bird? The topknot looks familiar.
March 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word never put your banana in the refrigerator
Ah ha, gotcha! *focuses binoculars*
March 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bluegrass
According to B.C. Comic's Wiley's Dictionary: The result of running over a smurf picnic with your lawnmower.
March 18, 2010
oroboros commented on the word geloscopy
It would be fun if this word had a connection to:
"He had a broad face and a little round belly,
that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly."
March 15, 2010
oroboros commented on the word kitler
Video of a kitler who has befriended a crow.
March 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bleat house
Old MacDonald had a sheep....in the barn.
March 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word a christmas carom
NPR's Says You) sez: A bad bounce at a holiday billiards tournament.
March 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word a tale of two cuties
Biography of the original Doublemint Twins.
March 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word transparent
Contranym: invisible v. obvious.
March 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word variety
Contranym: one type v. many types.
March 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word flog
Contranym: promote aggressively v. punish harshly.
March 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mishla
Moonshine made from bananas.
March 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the user buyantivirus84
Monty Python's favorite canned protein.
March 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word never put your banana in the refrigerator
Huh! I'll try it tomorrow morning...
Edit: tried it a couple of times and the jury is still out.
March 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word never put your banana in the refrigerator
How to peel a banana.
March 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word shiterature
Literature for sitting on the "throne"?
Not for the squeamish!
March 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word rocococity
Holy moly! I was going to add this to my list Words Waiting in the Wings and find that Edward FitzGerald used it in a letter! Ah, great minds.... :)
March 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mountain chickadee
One of my favorite birds. A real lovable little clown! Rallying/mating call "fee bee bee bee" (listen to it at pronunciation for mountain chickadee); if you whistle it in the mountains where they abound you'll soon have 'em answering and flocking around.
More info and image here.
March 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word slibel
The reading aloud of false and injurious-to-reputation printed matter. Aside: invented as a sort of mnemonic kludge for keeping libel and slander in the ole memory banks.
March 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word uranium
Get yours here! (see customer reviews)
March 12, 2010
oroboros commented on the word chimerascape
See maya and lila.
March 12, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gynandromorph
NPR story
March 12, 2010
oroboros commented on the word impregnable
See unbearable.
March 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word inconceivable
See unbearable.
March 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word unbearable
At a posh Manhattan dinner party, a Latin American visitor was telling the guests about this home country and himself. As he concluded, he said, "And I have a charming and understanding wife but, alas, no children."
As his listeners appeared to be waiting for him to continue, he said, haltingly, "You see, my wife is unbearable."
Puzzled glances prompted him to try to clarify the matter: "What I mean is, my wife is inconceivable."
As his companions seemed amused, he floundered deeper into the intricacies of the English language, explaining triumphantly, "That is, my wife, she is impregnable!"
March 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word the way it spozed to be
I read it back when I went through a teaching credential program and then taught for *shudder* a year. Great book. I also enjoyed his How To Survive In Your Native Land.
March 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word sage hen
Mascot of Pomona College in California. It runs in circles when startled - not a good survival strategy :/.
March 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word louster
To bustle or scramble about.
March 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word louster
A lobster with parasites?
March 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word semantic satiation
I wonder if this has any relation to perseveration.
March 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word prodigal son
The wastrel who returns to the welcoming arms of his father, much to the dismay of the model brother.
March 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word E-rrelevant
See e-force.
March 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word captionym
The monkeys got captionym in only a few minutes; a long way from all of Shakespeare's works, granted, but still impressive!
reesetee: you know about right-click 'inspect element', right?
March 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Chile
I ditto yarb's use as with Spanish speakers, but otherwise I go with chilly or chillay depending on whether the universe zigs or zags at that moment. Just think of all the parallel realities that creates!
March 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the user chained_bear
Hey c_b! This was in my inbox this morning and I thought I'd pass it along to you. Interesting that tappen somehow escaped mention. Hope it's never had your eyetracks on it before.
I want to be a bear......
If you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.
If you're a bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you are sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.
If you're a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.
If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
Yup...... I want to be a bear!
March 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word lol
Field Guide to the Acronymical Kingdom
March 5, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Ariadne's thread
"...There is in fact an ‘Ariadne’s thread’ out of the cavern of illusions; realms that are ‘like’ dreams, whilst not strictly speaking being dreams..." --Lee Horstman, BEYOND THE GODS
March 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word sagan
A unit of measure equal to at least 4 billion, according to NPR's Says You.
February 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word blooperang
A mistake that comes back to haunt you.
February 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word murgatroyd
A unit of oenological measurement equal to 66 bottles of champagne according to NPR's Says You.
February 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word jean dimmock
legolicious
February 26, 2010
oroboros commented on the word reptant
" It meticulously dissects the myriad protean tricks authoritarianism employs to maneuver its subjects into place and keep them there. Access to information and accountability for one's conduct are essential for the brave new world that might emerge if the reptant strain of authoritarianism in humankind does not destroy this world first in the name of knowing better." (from a review, on Amazon.com by Ford Greene, Esq., of The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power)
February 25, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mau
Egyptian (ancient?) for cat. Means "seer". (This, according to Darby Conley in his Get Fuzzy comic strip.)
February 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the word perseverate
I first and only time I ever heard this word used was by my girlfriend speech pathologist; "You're perseverating!" It was a good lesson: I never forgot it, nor do I perseverate (uh huh).
February 21, 2010
oroboros commented on the word nook
"Nook" contains two antonyms.
February 19, 2010
oroboros commented on the user reesetee
RT: surprised not to see one of your bird lists shown under mumruffin!
February 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gonomony
"For decades, New Yorker writer Alastair Reid has been collecting words, weird ones. In Ounce, Dice, Trice, the words play tricks on each other and on the reader. gongoozler, piddocks, mumruffin. Reid twists them into rhymes and draws odd connections between them in this book part dictionary, part gonomony receptacle...With black-and-white sketches by painter Ben Shahn, Ounce, Dice, Trice amounts to great fun for the average gongozzler (idle person) of any age." –The Bergen County Record
February 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bic
Marcel Bich
February 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word square-dance
Unhip hop?
February 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gallinipper
Used on NPR's Says You show today.
February 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word hoodang
A ball.
February 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word appsberger syndrome
Using your GPS app everyday to navigate to the home you've lived in for the last twelve years. (Heard on NPR's Wait, wait, don't tell me!)
February 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word The Beer Prayer
The Beer Prayer
Our lager,
Which art in barrels,
Hollowed be thy drink.
I will be drunk,
At home as in the travern.
Give us this day our foamy head,
And forgive us our spillages,
As we forgive those who spill against us.
And lead us not into incarceration,
But deliver us from hangerovers.
For thine is the beer. The bitter and the lager
Forever and ever,
Barmen.
February 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the user mollusque
Thanks, mollusque, for severer.
February 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the list bi-sonics
Done! Thanks, M.
February 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word lovedove
Used in Teresa's frogapplause comicstrip, today (13Feb10).
February 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word ol' fuzzbuddy
Hobbes?
February 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mushfaker
One who repairs umbrellas.
February 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mother
You know you're a mother when you count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal.
February 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the list hey-hey-it-s-my-monkey
What, no minkey mounts!? :o) I see monkey back guarantee is a shared whimsy.
February 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word almost Solveig
*applauds ecstatically from the mosh pit*
February 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Australian salute
I've done this more than a few times in a number of places in Australia. Ancient history now though, sorry to say...
February 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word The Monkey
A dance. Wiki link
February 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word hickey
See monkeybite.
February 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word monkeybite
Another term for a hickey.
February 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
You're right! Good 'un, Ms Frog. :o)
February 8, 2010
oroboros commented on the word cherries
Please take a seat Ms. Witherspoon = Chair, Reese.
February 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pople
The summer fur of a squirrel.
February 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word libkin
A place to sleep in.
February 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word houghmagandy
*hands bilby a confection out of sionnach's new, elaborate dispenser*
February 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word monkey back guarantee
This is an especially useful thing if you're not happy with your monkey!
February 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word chromophore
Chromophores -> photovoltaic cells.
February 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word not even wrong
I.e., unfalsifiable. Wikipedia. Also see gobbledygook.
February 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
I love the lame blog too!! Btw, T., I think you want built rather than build for the new clicking balls. Or, maybe, builded? :o)
February 6, 2010
oroboros commented on the word a day at the beach
In golf, taking more than 3 or more shots to get out of a sandtrap.
January 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the word the four horsemen left side
In bowling: the 1, 2, 4 and 7 pins.
January 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the word dizzen
To dance until one falls down. (according to NPR's Says You)
January 31, 2010
oroboros commented on the word square wheel
Animation (thx to Frog Blog).
January 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word puzzle palace
"Puzzle Palace on the Potomac" --Ronald Reagan
January 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the list this-is-one-lame-ass-list
How can we leave out shit-ass?!
January 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the list atomic-numbers
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111 is prime. (via futilitycloset.com)
January 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word 17
When I was seventeen, it was a very good year. Frank Sinatra
January 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word 0079977042
Yoiks! Just reviewed 7457 and, yes, I shoulda knowed!
January 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word 0079977042
Huh! I'm not getting this. I see James Bond and the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything, but get lost in the middle. Somebody he'p me please!
January 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Squoze
I must say I'm puzzled by "my girl and her mother". Is that girlfriend?
January 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the list my-words-are-numbered
The 'teens'? thirteen,fourteen,fifteen,sixteen,seventeen,eighteen,nineteen.
January 30, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pentapopemptic
If you've been divorced five times, you're a pentapopemptic!
January 29, 2010
oroboros commented on the list iwhat
MAXiPad - the next generation (via twitter)
January 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word jazzy snazzy pizzazzy whizzbang gizmo
iPad
MadTV's 2005 iPad prediction.
January 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word jazzy snazzy pizzazzy whizzbang gizmo
Ooh! Ooh! Must have!
January 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word jazzy snazzy pizzazzy whizzbang gizmo
Description for Apple's new whichever what's gonna be brang out today! (Maybe)
January 28, 2010
oroboros commented on the word de-caf
Are the cows mugging?
January 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the list sweet-tooth-fairy
Made me all warm and toasty to read!
January 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Everett Dirkson
The "wizard of ooze".
January 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word noop
The point of the elbow.
January 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word buttonwood agreement
In 1792, 24 stockbrokers sat under a buttonwood tree and agreed to deal only with each other, it was the beginning of the NYSE.
January 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word neato
"No me moleste mosquito, just let me eat my burrito." neato keen!
January 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word kettlebell
Looks a little like a very heavy kettle without a spout.
January 24, 2010
oroboros commented on the word which building has Elvis left
Elvis left? Right.
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word brumate
Reptile Brumation.
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word brumate
Interestingly enough, I ran across this word in a cartoon (Little Dog Lost by Steve Boreman, 1/23/2010).
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word string-theory
Physics or women's swimwear?
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Dodrantal
Geez, I thought it had to do with irate Pentagon employees!
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word peckable
Hamgerbers on the Porch!
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word learner's permit
Provisional license for student driver, usually limited to some specific duration (e.g., six months in California).
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pilot's halo
Alas, never got a shot of it. Lots of ho-hum shots of the horizon and some neat clouds but nothing memorable. Usually any worthwhile event was gone before being camera-ready. It was easier and more fun to compose poetry(!).
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word peckable
All this hilarity has made me a bit peckish!
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the list the-wordie-banana-song
Just ganghbusters! :o)
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the user trivet
trivet, do you hail from Ojai? Saw it under pink moment. I'm a born-and-raised Santa Barbaran. Used to go play golf in Ojai and one of my favorite places there is the Krotona Library.
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the list those-aren-t-cats-and-dogs
Reesetee, your link on green sun is broken. I notice that pilot's halo isn't on the list. Recommended.
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word green sun
Also, when conditions are right (much rarer than green flash conditions) the "green ray".
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pilot's halo
I've seen this many, many times. It was always a special sight, no matter how often seen...like a beautiful sunset.
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Ouagadougou
You've gotta love the flow of this word. My gullfren Ouagadougou Lulu loves to watch Zulus do the Hula.
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the user feedback
Whoops! Now public. Thanks, PossibleUnderscore.
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Eltanin Antenna
The oceanographic research ship USNS Eltanin discovered this off the Antarctic coast in 1964, at a depth of 13,500 feet — that’s 2.5 miles down.
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Klerksdorp Sphere
For years, South African miners have been finding disks and spheres like this one (see picture and more info here.). Usually brown or red, the objects can measure up to 10 centimeters in diameter, and like this one they’re often engraved with parallel grooves or ridges.
January 23, 2010
oroboros commented on the word aquabib
I like my water in scotch! :o)
January 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the user feedback
Like dontcry and gangerh, I've done a pronunciation that doesn't show on my profile page. The pron., at the word page (zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba), works but doesn't show on the profile page. Maybe there's some delay? I haven't yet experimented with any others yet...
January 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the user dontcry
Huh! dontcry's and gangerh's minute silence prons both are inop.
January 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba
Learn this by heart and it'll come in handy in any roadside sobriety testing you might have to endure!
Click on the "pronunciation" link for a sample recitation.
January 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Himself in the altogether
Well, I'm altogether indifferent. :^)
January 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word whip
Answer to the riddle:
"At a Cambridge dinner, Arthur C. Clarke asked Clive Sinclair, 'What was the first human artifact to break the sound barrier?'"
January 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word sustention
See opitulation'
January 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word furtherance
See opitulation.
January 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word opitulation
"Without thy help, recruit, support,
Opitulation, furtherance,
Assistance, rescue, aid, resort,
Favour, sustention, and advance?"
--From Ode to a Thesaurus by Franklin P. Adams.
January 22, 2010
oroboros commented on the word tenderloin
District in San Francisco where the cops got such lucrative bribes they could afford steak for every meal. (via NPR's Says You)
January 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word modus operandi
See opus moderandi.
January 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word opus moderandi
Spoonerism of modus operandi.
January 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word exercise
Physical exercise is good for you. I know that I should do it daily but my body doesn't want me to do too much, so I have worked out this program of strenuous activities that do not require physical exercise.You are invited to use my program without charge.
1) Beating around the bush
2) Jumping to conclusions
3) Climbing the walls
4) Swallowing my pride
5) Passing the buck
6) Throwing my weight around
7) Dragging my heels
8) Pushing my luck
9) Making mountains out of molehills
10) Hitting the nail on the head
11) Wading through paperwork
12) Bending over backwards
13) Jumping on the bandwagon
14) Balancing the books
15) Running around in circles
16) Eating crow
17) Tooting my own horn
18) Climbing the ladder of success
19) Pulling out the stops
20) Adding fuel to the fire
21) Opening a can of worms
22) Putting my foot in my mouth
23) Starting the ball rolling
24) Going over the edge
25) Picking up the pieces
January 17, 2010
oroboros commented on the word ballpark figure
"At the UPS cargo phone center where I worked, a woman called and said, 'I need a baseball quote.'
I immediately answered with Yogi Berra's famous 'It ain't over 'til it's over!'
There was a brief moment of silence before the woman asked, 'What was that?'
'You asked me for a baseball quote,' I responded, 'and that was the first thing that came into my head.'
'Oh!' she replied. 'My husband told me to call and get a baseball quote.'
I asked if she wanted to ship something, and she said she did. Then it dawned on me: 'Do you mean you want a ballpark figure?'"
(found in cyberspace)
January 16, 2010
oroboros commented on the word fusillanimity
The attitude of the NRA?
January 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word mookarectomy
mook-a-rectomy
January 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word q
The only letter that does not appear in any U.S. state name.
January 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word unnoticeably
Has all the vowels in reverse order.
January 14, 2010
oroboros commented on the word william shakespeare
Anagram: I'll make a wise phrase.
January 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word animosity
Anagram: is no amity.
January 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word softheartedness
Anagram: often sheds tears
January 13, 2010
oroboros commented on the word fuck
The f-word reviewed.
January 11, 2010
oroboros commented on the word calva
A scalp with no hair. (via NPR's Says You)
January 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word nunting
Adj., ungainly, awkward
January 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word squonk
A mythical beast that weeps continually at its own ugliness. When surprised it dissolves entirely into tears. (via futilitycloset.com)
January 10, 2010
oroboros commented on the word features
Hmmm, I just noticed that there's no option to see my collected past comments, which I thought might be a way around the "recent activity" lack. Is that also in the works, John?
January 9, 2010
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