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?
I haven't got time to search all thru the comments but I've been wanting to say that I miss the "recent activity" option we had on Wordie. Am I missing some version of it on Wordnik?
I can't always remember what the heck I did last and recent activity was a no-brains way to find it.
seanahan, have you read Stephenson's Baroque Trilogy? Recommended. I read Anathem last Spring and really enjoyed it. Very different direction for him. The guy's amazing...
"...a late 19th-century invention, offering live relay of theatrical or musical performances to the home phones of subscribers (Marcel Proust among them)."
"If there were a drunk button, I buy one." Penn State student on NPR's This American Life, bemoaning the execrable taste of Natural Lite beer and Vladamir vodka, the cheapness of which make them obligatory products for binge drinking at the number one-rated party-school.
"Microastrology is not based on the movements of the planets but rather the orbits of electrons around atoms and the passage of quarks through time and space. You can get a reading and it will be incredibly accurate but only for that nanosecond." --Joe Choo
"....Peter Lamborn Wilson on what he calls the Technopathocracy of modern society: complete disconnection, lack of community and Internet-mediated insanity, and the Intentional Community as the solution...He makes the incredibly salient point that “dropping out” of Internet culture now is the same as “dropping out” of the mainstream in the 60s."
N. -- Laid-off workers who use exit packages to maintain the standard of living they enjoyed while still employed.
"Former bank CEO Paul Joegriner is a member of what might be called the severance economy--unemployed Americans who use severance pay and savings to maintain their lifestyles."
A tax on plastic surgery, call it a "Botax", is on the table, as senators desperately try to come up with creative ways to fund $1 trillion in health care reforms."
"The Earl of Sandwich is famous for being the man behind a word that most people never thought was named after anyone, a man both anonymous and eponymous or, to coin a term, anonyponymous."
"There was a woman named Mary Frisbie who made pies in Connecticut," Marciano tells Renee Montagne. "Students would throw around her pie plates after they had finished her pies, and kind of like you would say, 'Incoming!' they would say, 'Frisbie!' just to give people the heads-up that there was something spinning and flying coming at their head.
Meanwhile, the Wham-O corporation, producer of the hula hoop, was having trouble selling its own flying disk, awkwardly named "The Pluto Platter".
They went around to college campuses, knowing that this was where trends started," Marciano says. "To their surprise, in the Northeast, people were already throwing flying disks, and they had this name 'Frisbie' for it.
For trademark purposes, "Frisbie" became "Frisbee," and a sensation was born.'
--On-air interview by NPR of John Bemelmans Marciano about his book Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words
A leotard is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1842–1870), about whom the song "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" was written. (Wikipedia)
John, it appears that comments can't be edited? The comment I added to spoony was all borked up and I couldn't do anything about it...or am I just an idiot?
This is probably more than you wanted to know, but what the hay!:
"Words and music by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn (1923). One of the most successful nonsense songs of the 1920s. The writers got their idea by overhearing a Greek fruit peddler tell a customer: "Yes, we have no bananas." Frank Silver and Irving Cohn introduced their song in a New York restaurant, but it failed to catch fire. Then, in 1923, Eddie Cantor saw the song in manuscript while Make It Snappy (a revue in which Cantor was then starring) was playing in Philadelphia. Held over in that city for an extended run, the show needed some new material, since people were coming to see it a second time. Cantor decided to interpolate "Yes, We Have No Bananas" in one of his routines, one Wednesday matinee. The audience response was so enthusiastic that Cantor had to sing chorus after chorus; the show was stopped cold for over a quarter of an hour. Cantor now made the song a permanent part of his act, and he always brought down the house with it. His Victor recording became a best seller--one of many successful releases of this number. By the end of 1923 everybody was singing it throughout the country. In the Music Box Revue of 1923 it was ridiculed in a performance in which it was presented in the grand-operatic manner of the Sextet from Lucia de Lammermoor--the performers being Grace Moore, John Steel, Joseph Santley, Frank Tinney, Florence Moore and Lora Sonderson. It was interpolated in the motion-picture musical Mammy, starring Al Jolson (Warner 1930); Eddie Cantor sang it on the soundtrack of the motion-picture musical The Eddie Cantor Story (Warner 1954)"
--American Popular Songs, David Ewen, Random House, 1966
“Neuroceuticals is a term I coined to describe future neuropharmaceuticals that have very low if any side effects, so that they may be used by healthy humans. There are three categories of neuroceuticals: cogniceuticals for memory, emoticeuticals for emotions, and sensoceuticals focused on sensory systems.�?
--Zack Lynch, author of The Neuro Revolution: How Brain Science Is Changing Our World
My answer to Will Shortz's NPR on-air puzzle challenge. To wit: "The challenge is to find a chain of "C" words to connect "carbon" to "circuit." Will's chain has seven words between "carbon" and "circuit." The answer doesn't have to match Will's, but each word has to start with "C," and each has to combine with the words before and after to make a compound word or familiar two-word phrase."
Now pigeonhole. "LONDON (Reuters) - About 16,000 words have succumbed to pressures of the Internet age and lost their hyphens in a new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary."
According to an NPR piece I heard today, Lester Young, the great saxophonist coined the slang usage of the word "bread" to mean money. See also, "cool"
According to an NPR piece I heard today, Lester Young, the great saxophonist coined the slang usage of the word "cool" as a culturally favorable adjective. Also, "bread" to mean money.
"He moved toward me lightly. His left hand palpated my chest and armpits, moved down my flanks and hips. I was glad I'd left my gun in the car, but I hated to be touched by him. His hands were epicene."
This isn't an aviation term, but relates to the military. Anybody who's been to bootcamp or had marching training will know the term. A group of men form up in lines ("fall-in")and are told to "taller-tap". If you're taller than the man standing in front of you, tap him on the shoulder and move ahead of him. Repeat until nobody needs to tap and move. In very short order the formation is height-graded and ready for further marching commands, e.g., "Ten-hut! Riot-hace! Dress-right-dress! Layeft hace! Fowad harch! Your left, your left, your left-riot-left. *sung in cadence*'Well I don't know but I've been told, Army grub is hard and cold. Sound off!' 'ONE! TWO!', hear it again 'THREE! FOUR!', one,two,three,four 'ONE!TWO!*pause*THREE-FOUR!!'"
So there's your little glimpse into the harrowing experience of military bootcamp. Enjoy it and avoid it if you can...
C_b. If you don't want to remember/type in numbers, just run the "charmap" program on your PC (don't know about Apple) and you can select/copy the symbols there. It's a little like looking for a needle in a haystack 'tho, sometimes.
Identifying moniker for radio communication between pilots and controlling agencies (or members of a flight formation). One of the best I've known amongst the fighter jocks: "fortune"; one of the worst: "rat".
Bar rat, toper. "Nearer the main street there were a few tourist hotels with neon signs like icing on a cardboard cake, red-painted chili houses, a series of shabby taverns where the rumdums were congregating."
Thanks c_b! I'll put on my thinking cap and add some place nicknames to your list. BTW, I noticed the keyboard shortcuts you "found" a couple of months ago. Did you use "charmap" or what?
Reducing waste by limiting consumption. "Precycling is being thoughtful at the point of purchase in addition to at the point of throwing out." --Minneapolis Star Tribune, Aug. 4, 2009
"Pynchonesque multitudes crowd into the picture. Tight-lipped federales, stoner lawyers, ex-con neo-nazis with a big thing for show tunes--they tumblesault in every page or two, each bearing, maybe, a piece of the puzzle."
Richard Lacayo, Time Magazine review of Pynchon's Inherent Vice
In a wine vineyard, when the grapes begin to take on color (red for red grapes and yellow for green grapes) and sugar begins to heighten during maturation. Harvest is not far off.
"...the nocebo phenomenon wherein a patient produces the symptoms of a misdiagnosed disease, even to the degree of dying on the day that the doctor gave as the expected time to live, although the particular disease was not present."
"At the University of Toronto, Dr. Mayberg, Zindel Segal and their colleagues first used brain imaging to measure activity in the brains of depressed adults. Some of these volunteers then received paroxetine (the generic name of the antidepressant Paxil), while others underwent 15 to 20 sessions of cognitive-behavior therapy, learning not to catastrophize. That is, they were taught to break their habit of interpreting every little setback as a calamity, as when they conclude
from a lousy date that no one will ever love them."
Exhausted after a long day of insisting that one must never end a sentence with a preposition, the English teacher took a book about Australia up to her daughter's bedroom.
"Mommy," said the girl, "what did you bring that book I didn't want to be read to out of about Down Under up for?"
"If a biological brain wants to develop a new cognitive capacity, it must pay a price. The currency in which the price is paid is sugar. Additional energy must be made available and more glucose must be burned to develop and stabilize this new capacity."
"...the dream Ego does not know that it is dreaming. It does not realize the signals it is turning into an internal narrative are self-generated stimuli--in philosophical jargon, this feature of the dream state is a "metacognitive deficit." The dream Ego is delusional, lacking insight into the nature of the state it is itself generating."
--Thomas Metzinger, The Ego Tunnel, p. 138
In lucid dreaming, this is not the case, for the dreaming Ego is conscious it is dreaming/creating the dream state.
Every generation has an argot to describe the confusing terrain of joblessness — the dole, deadbeat dads, UB40, and so on — and the lexicon of younger casualties in the most severe American economic downturn since World War II speaks volumes. See also: Funemployment, Unemploymentality.
Foreign Object Damage. Big concern on airport runways, ramps and taxiways, where jet engines can suck up stray objects like scraps of metal, screws and bolts, tools (even people). FOD control is a perennial prevention program in aviation.
"F**k it, I got my orders." Military acronym (also FIGMO) for one's attitude toward present duties with assignment orders for a new gig (or mustering-out) in hand. "Not my job, Bob, I'm FIGMO!" Also related to short (for short-timer, soon to be "separated" from active duty military]. "I'm so short I'm walking under doors!"
(n) Bluejay (Usage: In the vicinity of Dothan, Ala., bluejays are often called "roller birds" because when chinaberries are ripe, the birds sit in the trees and gorge themselves until they grow drunk. Then they tumble out of the trees and roll on the ground...)
I'm getting a 500 application error when I try the cloud feature on tags. Is that a temporary deal? It worked before, I believe.
Edit: works normally except on the tag ghosted (so far anyway).
Edit: found some others. Appears to relate to the size of the word collection tagged. The larger the collection the greater opportunity for 500 app error.
(Via Time: n.--A method of sneezing used to prevent the spread of swine flu. "...last week teachers reminded students that if they have to sneeze, to put their mouths into the crook of one of their elbows. The students started calling that the Dracula Sneeze, and we picked up on that..."
According to Nina Totenberg (NPR legal correspondent) a "sherpa" (presumably N.Y. Senator Chuck Shumer) will guide/lead Sonia Sotomayor in "making the rounds" on Capitol Hill in her quest to "unroil the waters" leading to the Supreme Court.
The word originated from Latin "as" (plural asses) which was a copper coin and the monetary unit in ancient Rome. The word for ten asses was decussis, from Latin decem (ten) + as (coin). Since ten is represented by X, this spawned the verb decussare, meaning to divide in the form of an X or intersect.
n., recession-induced comfort eating. "Stressed out Britons have piled on 20 million stone in a year trying to 'comfort eat' their way through the recession, according to a report out today. The condition--dubbed the credit munch--has seen three in five Britons put on weight in the past 12 months." --the U.K.'s Daily Express, May 11, 2009 (via Time Magazine)
"Make no mistake. I take these children seriously. It is not possible to see too much in them, to overindulge your casual gift for the study of character. It is all there, in full force, charged waves of identity and being. There are no amateurs in the world of children."
I was just looking at the blink and marquee pages for the first time in a coon's age. Has John disabled those features? NOT that I want to use 'em of course! :o)
Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown were descendants of Pullman porters — that distinctive and distinguished figure from yesteryear — the uniformed African-American train worker, who forged his way into the middle class.
Coined by David Steinberg during a skit where he, acting the part of a zany-disturbed patient, suddenly had a notion to change the piece midstream before his partner, the "psychiatrist" entered the room. He signaled the change with the announcement "Okay, you can send in the patient, now." The partner, upon his entrance and without missing a beat became the patient and they improvised onward. Booga booga arose somewhere in the ensuing action.
I learned this listening to Michael Feldman's interview of David Steinberg on Whad'Ya Know?
I still remember the joke wherein I first heard "booga booga" and had no idea of its origin. I doubt that David Steinberg had the same connotation in mind that the joke depends on...
"At Candyality, a store in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, business has jumped by nearly 80 percent compared with this time last year, and the owner, Terese McDonald, said she was struggling to keep up with the demand for Bit-O-Honeys, Swedish Fish and Sour Balls."
Here's Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud" as rendered by Jean Lescure's "N+7″ procedure, replacing each noun with the seventh following it in a dictionary:
Metaphor is made up of the thing known vs. the thing unknown, the metaphrand. The intention of the metaphor is to illuminate the metaphrand by giving it some of the features of the metaphier. E.g., "My love is like a red, red rose." "love" is the metaphrand, "rose" is the metaphier.
Metaphor is made up of the thing known vs. the thing unknown, the metaphrand. The intention of the metaphor is to illuminate the metaphrand by giving it some of the features of the metaphier. E.g., "My hatred was a burning coal in my heart." Hatred = metaphrand, burning coal = metaphier.
See lexulous.com for an online scrabble-type game. It used to be named Scrabulous and was available on Facebook (it was removed after Hasbro brought suit--later dropped--against the creators.)
Kids game from my childhood days. There was something magical about assuming another name and being a swashbuckler. "Well, Pete, looks like they're after us now! We'd better find a good hideout." "You're right Joe, I know of a secret cave where they'll never find us; let's saddle up and make tracks." See cap gun.
A new OED word. "...a good example of an old word that is new to the dictionary..." --Graeme Diamond, Principal Editor, New Words, Oxford English Dictionary
I think the book is 2000 Most Challenging And Obscure Words by Norman W. Schur (Galahad Books, NY, 1994). I just picked it up at a swap meet for a buck!
Edit: I see that the book is a compilation in one volume of two previous works by the author.
Interesting to find one's blind spots. Until I heard David Brooks use this word in reference to Barak Obama's policy decisions out of the starting blocks, I saw/heard it only as the name of an insurance company--which used the rock of Gibraltar as its logo! :o)
Hi whichbe. Your question puzzled me until I did a search and found it in my own comments. It stands for I plus Not-I equals Everything. I evidently never got around to adding its acronym when I was on my Jan Cox tear back then. I originally had trouble with adding my preferred version (I + Not-I = Everything) due to restrictions on symbols John had early on, thus the ipn-iee and not following up properly on a referent.
Hey Bilby. Re: your comment on hate, I edited my original comment to make it clearer. I doubt however, that you're gonna find much 'joy' anyway. IPN-IEE stands for I Plus Not-I Equals Everything. I evidently forgot to add the acronym to my list back when I was on my Jan Cox tear.
I enjoyed ...Dangerous Things too. I think Philosophy In The Flesh is the best of all. Also, Where Mathematics Comes From (collaboration with Nunez) is great and I highly recommend it.
When the Confederate soldiers returned to their homes after the Civil War, they found little to do. So they went north looking for work. They were called a name that arose out of a tool they were carrying. A hoe.
The soldiers were walking the back roads, riding and jumping on trains, and sleeping out in the countryside hoping to find some kind of work. They were called hoe boys, which came to be called hobos.
Heard on an interview by Bob Edwards of Roy Blount touting his new book:Alphabet Juice. The change in the English language occasioned by restricted space for headlines. The decline of newpapers will decrease this generator of new English...so Roy thinks.
Hi froggipaws! Don't know if you're a crossword fan or not, but you might get a kick out of this. The first I've ever seen of cartoon characters featured in the clues. Clever!
"But the truth was out for all to see long before the big-name take-downs. For months sourcewatch.org has identified Martin Eisenstadt as a hoax. When Mr. Stein was the victim, he blogged that “there was enough info on the Web that I should have sussed this thing out.�?
A Bill Brysonism in Thunderbolt Kid. Really has a nice feel and ring...uh huh. Had to do with "pert buttocks" shown on the early TV show Sky King whereby the first glimmerings of rampant heterosexualism almost imperceptibly inveigled itself, then reared insistent lustful elbowings into ole Bill's "Kid World".
Hey reesetee! I finally got around to creating an account on Flickr. If you're interested in some views of where I do most of my birding, check out my Flickr also-on link.
"Stanislaus Smedley, a man always on the cutting edge of narcissism, was about to give his body and soul to a back-alley sex-change surgeon to become the woman he loved."
The searchlight metaphor: The greater swath the searchlight penetrates, the greater is the circumference of the unknown. So, the more we know, the more we don't know.
Pilots have emergency procedures manuals for every kind of aircraft and equipment malfunction. The manual is categorized into the various aircraft systems, hydraulic, electrical, flight controls, etc., for quick reference to the, sometimes extensive, troubleshooting steps that must be followed. Some of the emergencies are so critical (e.g., catastrophic engine failure) they are placed in a red-outlined frame, called a "red box" and pilots are required to commit these procedural steps to memory. During the occasion of a pilot's training and/or checkride in "the box" s/he is given a "mini-oral" designed to evaluate his/her knowledge of aircraft systems and always includes a recitation of these red box items. As the flight industry, both military and civilian has evolved over the years, the trend has been to limit the number and complexity of red box items due to the frailty of human memory. Increasingly, improvements in technology facilitate this trend. Nowadays emergency procedures are available on aircraft-provided computer-analysis and recommended actions are printed on flight deck instrument display screens. Often, many critical actions are automatically initiated by the computer brain of the affected system. It's a safe bet however, that red box items will never go away completely. See also, boldface procedure.
Professional pilot slang for the flight simulator they must periodically visit (usually every six or nine months), wherein they thrash, sweat and strain with the aircraft equipment malfunctions, foul weather and Air Traffic Controller screw-ups that their sadistic Sim Instructor (chuckling "heh, heh") loads them up with from his control panel behind the pilots in the simulator. The box can be a real E-ticket ride. Mounted on hydraulic struts/actuators that can produce pitch, roll and yaw as well as air turbulence (even the feel of the aircraft taxiing on pavement); the actuators are a treat to watch in action from outside the simulator as they tilt the boxy structure this way and that - much more pleasant than experiencing the motion from the inside!
Obviously, simulators save airlines money and are invaluable for practicing emergency procedures (see red box items) and inculcating habit patterns that will serve a pilot in a real-world actual emergency.
Still, most pilots look forward to their time in "the box" with as much enthusiasm as they do going to the dentist for a root-canal!
That's a big compliment rt! Thanks. Although, the last 5 years of my career almost cancelled the pleasure of the preceding 25 years. I knew this when I couldn't any longer recommend/encourage a pilot career to the kids who visited the flight deck. September 11 changed everything. :o(
Pilot term used when unable to locate traffic called out by airport tower or other radar coverage center (if seen, however, the reply is Talley Ho!). Also, applies to any situation where the hoped-for outcome is elusive. "No joy on frequency 123.4! I'm afraid the radio may be tango uniform!"
Ditto, moving words from one list to another. I would hope there's one fix for all...
Edit: I also get the application error when deleting a word. For some reason toothache occurs twice on one of my lists. Tried to delete one of 'em, but no joy. Then I moved one of 'em to my Potpourri list and tried to delete it there. Couldn't be done. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the duplication? Anyway, application error is making things pretty inconvenient to work/troubleshoot the system.
Edit 2: The 'delete' option is not shown on a comment edit. Again, all these accompanied by the app error.
"The Oulipo described their work as analysis and synthesis. Anoulipo involved seeking out texts written using literary constraints since the beginning of the alphabet. The intention, according to Le Lionnais, is “to find possibilities that often exceed those their authors had anticipated.�? (Motte Oulipo 27) When an experiment that had been undertaken by a member of the Oulipo was found to have been tried in history, the previous attempt was called “plagiarism by anticipation.�? This joke suggests that the Oulipo considered their forms to be not entirely their intellectual property. These “plagiarists�? were acknowledged and honored. Georges Perec's “The History of the Lipogram�? traces the lipogram back to the origin of the alphabet with astonishing detail, including how many copies of certain texts he believes are still in existence."
Thanks, frogapplause, I needed to know this. :o) In my experience, M's T is more the rule than the exception, especially if we look closely at most works of Classical art/statuary.
"The Brown Book contains a number of other significant ideas that are developed further in the Philosophical Investigations. Wittgenstein discusses rule following, arguing that there is no rock-bottom justification for the rules we follow and that we need not consciously follow or interpret a rule every time we obey a rule. He discusses the word can and the way that misunderstandings regarding this word give us mistaken notions about the past and future. He also discusses the distinction between seeing and seeing as, arguing that we can see a bunch of squiggles on a page as a face, but we cannot see a fork as a fork, since no alternative presents itself. In other words, when philosophers speak of seeing things “as themselves," in the sense of seeing things in their essence, such statements have no meaning. For example, it would not make sense to speak of seeing someone “as a human being" or “as a person" —there's no difference between that and how we normally see people."
You can smoke shit, buy shit, sell shit, lose shit, find shit, forget shit, and tell others to eat shit.
Some people know their shit, while others can't tell the difference between shit and Shinola.
There are lucky shits, dumb shits, and crazy shits. There is bull shit, horse shit, and chicken shit.
You can throw shit, sling shit, catch shit, shoot the shit, or duck when the shit hits the fan.
You can give a shit or serve it on a shingle.
You can find yourself in deep shit or be happier than a pig in shit.
Some days are colder than shit, some days are hotter than shit, and some days are just plain shitty.
Some music sounds like shit, things can look like shit, and there are times when you feel like shit.
You can have too much shit, not enough shit, the right shit, the wrong shit or a lot of weird shit.
You can carry shit, face a mountain of shit, or find yourself up shit creek without a paddle.
Sometimes everything you touch turns to shit and other times you fall in a bucket of shit and come out smelling like a rose.
When you stop to consider all the facts, it's the basic building block of the English language. And remember, once you know your shit, you don't need to know anything else!!
Well, shit! that's enough for now. Have a nice day, without a bunch of shit. But, if you happen to catch a load of shit from some shit-head.....well,
Huh! Well, I had an ancestor on the Mayflower that wore the first Hawaiian shirt(s). So there! Unfortunately, he didn't survive the trip...I'm told. Good thing he wasn't my only ancestor. Or, if he was, I'm just a Wordie fig newton (always a possibility--see solipsism or solecism).
A British race horse, son of "Eclipse," born in 1773. This last name, incidentally, was pronounced "potatoes," because if could be resolved into a homonym of "potatoes:" "POT" + EIGHT "O's."
Vietnamese for crazy. Don't know if it's slang or not. Could be "dinky dao". Spelling was shown in ...and a hard rain fell: a GI's story of the War in Vietnam by John Ketwig (an amazing read--highly recommended).
Everybody's familiar with the bell curve. But nobody considers that other one, a second bell curve: x2 + y2 = 1, i.e., the circle. Dip the bell skirt in ink, plunk it down on paper and presto!
In essence, as related to small-world network theory, the more connections a network node has, the fewer in number are such nodes. A graphing displays the classic "power law" pattern where the y axis = # of connections vs. the x axis = # of nodes with y connections generates a curve showing a rather steep fall-off--hence, the "fat tail".
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted.. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .
There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?
We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many wa ys UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP...
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP!
Oh . . . one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U-P!
Bilby; re: open lists reference you could do what Mollusque suggested below somewhere--add the URL of the open list to a list description created for that purpose. Another idea that struck: tag the latest word addition to an open list you want to go back to with "revisit" or some such.
Name of the organization concept in network theory behind the "six degrees of separation" between any two points. Social networks are small-worlds; the organization of the brain is a small-world. Even the English language is a small-world.
This one's not in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, but I thought it deserved honorable mention. You'll find the job description and an interview with one in Mary Roach's Stiff. She interviews a woman whose job is cutting off cadaver heads for seminars/workshops in the medical profession, specifically: cosmetic surgery. Each head is mounted in a cereal bowl-like container and covered with a cloth prior to the physicians' entrance into the seminar room.
On Aug. 9 each year in the little Alaskan town of Kotzebue, the sun sets twice.
Due to a quirk of the town's location and time zone, the sun goes down just after midnight on that day—and then again just before the following midnight.
What makes folks believers in hoax videos of cell phones popping popcorn and claims-cum-pictures of cell phones cooking eggs. See Snope's article for usage.
"It is dusk in the tropical rainforest of Papua, New Guinea. As the shrieking of parrots and parakeets fades and the tree kangaroos settle in for a long night, fireflies by the million are taking to the air and lighting it up like tiny flickering stars. For a while the fireflies' erratic flashing will animate the darkening air with a gentle, luminescent chaos. But as evening turns to night, the chaos will give way to one of nature's most bizarre displays. Fireflies, first in pairs, then in groups of three, ten, a hundred, and a thousand, will begin to pulse in near-perfect synchrony. By midnight, entire trees and clumps of trees will be flashing on and off with the crisp clarity of neon signs.
'Imagine a tree thirty-five to forty feet high,' an eyewitness once wrote.'...apparently with a firefly on every leaf and all the fireflies flashing in perfect unison at the rate of about three times in two seconds, the tree being in complete darkness between flashes...Imagine a tenth of a mile of river front with an unbroken line of mangrove trees with fireflies on every leaf flashing in synchronism, the insects on the trees at the ends of the line acting in perfect unison with those between. Then if one's imagination is sufficiently vivid, he may form some conception of this amazing spectacle.'
It is more than a spectacle. It is also a scientific enigma."
--NEXUS: SMALL WORLDS and the Groundbreaking THEORY OF NETWORKS by Mark Buchanan, p. 48
edit: there are only a handful of firefly species that can do this...
En route to a training camp in Quebec during World War I, Canadian army lieutenant Harry Colebourn bought a bear cub for $20 from a hunter in White River, Ontario. He named her Winnipeg, after his hometown, and smuggled her to England, where "Winnie" became the mascot of his militia regiment.
Eventually he donated her to the London Zoo, where she became a great favorite of Christopher Robin Milne, the son of a local playwright. You know the rest.
"Next morning we splinter off into our groups. My tutor is another popular English medium. She is reminiscent of Elizabeth Taylor in her forties: a rolling terrain of voluptuousness and eye shadow, balanced on tiny, dressy black heels. Mediumship came to her one night when she went to see a gypsy. She describes a curtain opening in her mind's eye and suddenly there they were: the spit-its, to use her pronunciation."
--Mary Roach, Spook; Science Tackles the Afterlife p. 173 (A very good and FUNNY book.)
Descartes goes into a bar and orders a beer. After he finishes his drink the bartender asks him if he wants another one. "I think not," Descartes replies. Then he disappears.
"The response is not only emotional but involuntary. It's not just that we don't have earlids to shut out unwanted sounds. Once a word is seen or heard, we are incapable of treating it as a squiggle or noise; we reflexively look it up in memory and respond to its meaning, including its connotation."
--What the F***? Why We Curse article by Steven Pinker in The New Republic. See chained_bear's list.
"...is a view of existence significantly different from the conventional religious and scientific perspectives but incorporating elements of each. According to Judeo-Christian theology, the universe was created by God, man's reason cannot comprehend the manner of its creation, and that there will be a final day of judgment. Science accepts the historicity of creation in the first law of thermodynamics. In the second law of thermodynamics science accepts both the inability of man to comprehend the creation and the finality of some future. Psience, in contrast, denies the linearity of progression from Genesis to Eschaton, asserting instead that creation is a continuous process with beginning or end, and when so recognized, a process within the reach of man's reason."
--PSIENCE: A General Theory of Existence by J.W. Nicholas p. 13
And this from PSIence: How new discoveries in quantum physics and new science may explain the existence of paranormal phenomena by Marie D. Jones, p. 200:
"What is the door between the implicate and explicate order of things? What is the one thing that stands between the normal and paranormal, the natural and the supernatural, the science and the psience?
I'll give you a hint. If you are alive and breathing...you have one."
This probably isn't a list-maker but I've always admired Raymond Smullyan's What is the Name of this Book?. Oh, and also Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book.
"Six-point perspective" landscape painted on a sphere by Dick Termes makes a termesphere, complete with a neat optical illusion. See a video of one here. And the 3-month creation of one shown in three minutes here.
Attempting to view tag words in cloud format still gives a 500 Application Error. I see that VanishedOne broached this eight months ago. I just wanted to make sure it's on your to-do list, John. It would be a handy display to have for voluminously worded tags.
Edit: Well, dog my cats! Cloud format for the tag "ghosted" gives the 500 error, but, so far, other tag cloud function works fine. Must be something to do with all the words being unlisted. Go calculate!
Wow! All over sudden Wordiemates come to the rescue! Thanks all! I'm so edified I could just...(!) :o)
FWIW, in the citation below, the "parcel" was a stack of purloined banknotes, which helped Napoleon Bonaparte ("Bony") the peerless aborigine solve the perfect crime!
My Mom was a charter member of the Santa Barbara "Modern Mother's Club." Begun just after WW II, all members had small children and were united in mutual support activities. The club mothers did volunteer work, held rummage sales and (as the years passed and toddlers grew to college age) gave cash grants to college freshmen for their first book buying needs. Another of the club's traditions was that everybody had a secret pal, one who bestowed, anonymously, small gifts and/or surreptitiously benefited their assigned secret pal for the year. Eventually, every mother had been a secret pal to every other and the round commenced again. I always was intrigued with the concept and hereby immortalize it on Wordie, as well as tag it "mom" in her loving memory. Mom was always my secret pal.
I can whistle some bird songs, especially mountain Chickadees and lesser Goldfinches. But I always say "quack" to Crows, Steller's and Scrub Jays...just to piss 'em off! Oh, and mooing at cows, and calling all dogs "Ralph" is always fun! "Hey, Ralph! Howzit?" :oP
The·be (th bee): Moon of Jupiter: a small natural satellite of Jupiter, discovered in 1980. With a diameter of 100 km (60 mi), it is Jupiter's fourth most distant satellite, orbiting at a distance of 222,000 km (138,000 mi).
"...a new notion of order, that may be appropriate to a universe of unbroken wholeness. This is the implicate or enfolded order. In the enfolded order space and time are no longer the dominant factors determining the relationships of the dependence or independence of different elements. Rather, an entirely different sort of basic connection of elements is possible from which our ordinary notions of space and time, along with those of separately existent material particles, are abstracted as forms derived from the deeper order. These ordinary notions in fact appear in what is called the explicate or unfolded order, which is a special and distinguished form contained within the general totality of all the implicate orders."
Suppose we hold an election with three candidates, X, Y, and Z. And suppose the voters fall into three groups:
Group 1 prefers, in order, X, Y, Z
Group 2 prefers, in order, Y, Z, X
Group 3 prefers, in order, Z, X, Y
Now, if Candidate X wins, his opponents can rightly object that a majority of voters would have preferred Candidate Z. And corresponding arguments can be made against the other candidates. So even though we've held a fair election, it's impossible to establish majority rule.
The Marquis de Condorcet noted this oddity in the 1700s; it's sometimes known as Condorcet's paradox.
As V.S. Ramachandran explains in a now famous article, “The Neurology of Self Awareness�?: “The discovery of mirror neurons was made by G. Rizzolati, V. Gallase and I. Iaccoboni while recording from the brains of monkeys performing certain goal-directed voluntary actions. For instance when the monkey reached for a peanut a certain neuron in its pre motor cortex (in the frontal lobes) would fire. Another neuron would fire when the monkey pushed a button, a third neuron when he pulled a lever. The existence of such Command neurons that control voluntary movements has been known for decades. Amazingly, a subset of these neurons had an additional peculiar property. The neuron fired not only (say) when the monkey reached for a peanut but also when it watched another monkey reach for a peanut!�?
“These were dubbed "mirror neurons‟ or "monkey-see-monkey-do‟ neurons. This was an extraordinary observation because it implies that the neuron (or more accurately, the network which it is part of) was not only generating a highly specific command ("reach for the nut‟) but was capable of adopting another monkey's point of view. It was doing a sort of internal virtual reality simulation of the other monkeys action in order to figure out what he was "up to‟. It was, in short, a "mind-reading‟ neuron.�?
Thanks c_b! I'll have to get Bilby on it 'cause Upfield's mysteries are set in Australia circa 1930s. I can recommend them for outback and abo lore. His work was admired by, and inspired Tony Hillerman, among others.
All of frogapplause's (and other's) suggestions that weren't entered on my list have been tagged "ten different letters" to make them accessible to any who may be interested.
Hey C_b! I can't find fracteur (see the usage note on the word page).in my compact edition of the OED. Don't you have access to the online OED? Would appreciate your looking there if so. Maybe it's a French word (although I couldn't find it in any dictionary). Thanks.
ROT13 is a simple way to encipher a message: Just advance each of its letters 13 positions forward in the alphabet. Thus ABC becomes NOP, FUR becomes SHE, and EBBS becomes ROOF.
Curiously, ABJURER and NOWHERE … become each other.
The "oceanic pole of inaccessibility." If you want to be really, really alone, head for 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W in the South Pacific Ocean. That's "Point Nemo," the point in the ocean farthest from any land. You'll be in the middle of 22,405,411 square kilometers of ocean, an area larger than the entire former Soviet Union.
Never been there.
Its twin, the point on land farthest from any ocean, is at 46°16.8′N 86°40.2′E, outside the Chinese city of Urumqi, in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert. It's 1,645 miles from the nearest coastline.
Never been there either...and not on any fancied future itinerary--you can count on it!
"The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken. I have never before had occasion to make the comparison, for never before today have I seen a head in a roasting pan. But here are forty of them, one per pan, resting face-up on what looks to be a small pet-food bowl. The heads are for plastic surgeons, two per head, to practice on. I'm observing a facial anatomy and face-lift refresher course, sponsored by a southern university medical center and led by a half-dozen of America's most sought-after face-lifters."
The Age of Aquarius, for example, did not bring enlightenment, peace, and love, as we hoped, but professional anxieties and family duties spiced up with AIDS, McJobs, lessness, and biological warfare."
--Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe (Reinventing Physics From The Bottom Down), p.205
The Age of Aquarius, for example, did not bring enlightenment, peace, and love, as we hoped, but professional anxieties and family duties spiced up with AIDS, McJobs, lessness, and biological warfare."
--Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe (Reinventing Physics From The Bottom Down), p.205
Thanks for your suggestions. You may want to look at the list again, as I've changed it to "Keeping Secrets," more in line with the original intent of the list--which you might find interesting...
Thanks for your suggestions. You may want to look at the list again, as I've changed it to "Keeping Secrets," more in line with the original intent of the list--which you might find interesting...
"The pulpeteers make "infidelity" their texts, it is true, but it takes a really ardent church-goer, among really intelligent classes of church-goers, not to compare the keen, lucid reasoning of our modern scientific writers with the mystic, turgid, involved utterances of the Bible, greatly to the latter's disadvantage." --Edgar Fawcett, Agnosticism and Other Essays (see agnosticism for link)
Thanks for the input on "Boon Companions" bilby. BTW, Walt Kelly of the Pogo comics fame used a lot of Aussieisms (?) in the strip from time to time. I get most of 'em but can you enlighten me as to the meaning of "the dinkum oil"? --> The "*something* all"?
Metaphors found in high school essays: Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual similes and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are some of the best:
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Jeopardy" comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30.
Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like "Second Tall Man."
Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.
His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon.
Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant with cement shoes, and she was the East River.
The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for awhile.
He was as lame as a duck--not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
(And a few really gross ones. Caveat lector!)
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with Hungry-Man soup.
"Murphy's Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will. According to the USAF Flight Test Center History Office, Murphy's Law was born at Edwards AFB in 1949. It was named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on a project for determining how much sudden deceleration a person can withstand in a crash..."
--Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe (Reinventing Physics From the Bottom Down), p. 225, note 14.
"Another major source of self-deception has to do with self-promotion, self-exaggeration on the positive side, denial on the negative, all in the name of producing an image that we are “beneffective,�? to use Anthony Greenwald’s apt term, toward others. That is, we benefit others and are effective when we do it. If you ask high school seniors in the United States to rank themselves on leadership ability, fully 80% say they have better than average abilities, but for true feats of self-deception you can hardly beat the academic profession. When you ask professors to rate themselves, an almost unanimous 94% say they are in the top half of the profession!..."
Tom McFarlane in The Integral Sphere: A Mathematical Mandala of Reality presents a dynamic mathematical mandala which can be seen as an integral model of reality. In contrast with conventional two-dimensional mandalas, the mandala described here is a sphere in three (or more) dimensions. Moreover, through a process of breaking the perfect symmetry of the three-dimensional sphere and then projecting the sphere onto a plane, the sphere is related to conventional linear, planar mandalas and unfolds their implicit archetypal structures. For example, a mandala with many similarities to Ken Wilber's Four Quadrant model of the Kosmos is unfolded as a special case of the spherical mandala. A four-dimensional integral sphere also contains Wilber's nested spheres as a special case. Higher dimensional spheres can be used to represent additional aspects of existence. The paper also shows how the present model provides a tool for facilitating complex thinking with fundamental categories, revealing how they interpenetrate and transform into each other.
From Answers.com: The founding of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935 focused attention on alcohol addiction, as well as AA's 12-step program and "support group" (1969) meetings for dealing with addictions. In the 1960s, someone had the idea of taking -holic as a suffix meaning "addict", and a whole new category of addictions followed. One of the first and most important is workaholic. It was announced in the 1968 article "On Being a 'Workaholic' (A serious Jest)" in the journal Pastoral Psychology: "I have dubbed this addiction of myself and my fellow ministers 'workaholism,'" wrote Wayne Oates, a professor of psychology of religion at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. However, it was the appearance of Oates's book Confessions of a Workaholic in 1971 that propelled that term and prompted many writers to start using the suffixes -aholic, -holic, or -oholic to describe "all-consuming obsessions," not all of them so serious.
The name of a swamp in South Carolina, north of Charleston (the northern extension of the Cypress Swamp). Legend has it that the Indian meaning of the palindrome is "the worst place ever seen".
Found in Dimitri Borgmann's Language on Vacation p. 21. (currently out of print). Also see John's comment under detartrated.
Found in a thrift store; about 5 inches high--so cute I just couldn't live without it! ;o) Unfortunately the door with the half-moon cut in it doesn't quite close completely (no latch).
Apprehension of evil; fear; suspicion. OED. This word seems counterintuitive to me. To misdoubt would seem to be a misplaced or imperfect doubt such that it should be a form of trust rather than doubt.
A week or so ago a controversy erupted in the entertainment world when a former cast member of the television show Seinfeld ranted with a racially insensitve diatribe. I'm not going to dwell on the topic at all other than to mention that I was disappointed that not once did I see a news article refer to the incident with this palindromic headline: Kramer's Remark
When will such a logological opportunity possibly present itself again?
"Spendthrift" is one of those words that always confuses me. I always think it means the opposite of what it actually does.
To me I think that it would mean being "thrifty" ("tight", "frugal") with one's "spending".
It actually means being wasteful with one's money. This comes from the fact that "thrift" as a noun means one's fortune or savings, so one who is a spendthrift literally spends his savings (presumably with little prudence).
An important wee beastie discovered only 22 years ago. The bottom of the food chain and responsible for the oxygen in one of your every five breaths. More here.
Also neat for having four 'c's and four 'o's in its handle!
THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE BIBLE – ANSWERS TO A ROMAN CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEST – WERE WRITTEN BY CHILDREN. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RETOUCHED OR CORRECTED.
1. IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, GUINESSIS. GOD GOT TIRED OF CREATING THE WORLD SO HE TOOK THE SABBATH OFF.
2. ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED FROM AN APPLE TREE. NOAH'S WIFE WAS JOAN OF ARK. NOAH BUILT AND ARK AND THE ANIMALS CAME ON IN PEARS.
3. LOTS WIFE WAS A PILLAR OF SALT DURING THE DAY, BUT A BALL OF FIRE DURING THE NIGHT.
4. THE JEWS WERE A PROUD PEOPLE AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY THEY HAD TROUBLE WITH UNSYMPATHETIC GENITALS.
5 . SAMPSON WAS A STRONGMAN WHO LET HIMSELF BE LED ASTRAY BY A JEZEBEL LIKE DELILAH.
6. SAMSON SLAYED THE PHILISTINES WITH THE AXE OF THE APOSTLES.
7. MOSES LED THE JEWS TO THE RED SEA WHERE THEY MADE UNLEAVENED BREAD WHICH IS BREAD WITHOUT ANY INGREDIENTS.
8, THE EGYPTIANS WERE ALL DROWNED IN THE DESSERT. AFTER WARDS, MOSES WENT UP TO MOUNT CYANIDE TO GET THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
9. THE FIRST COMMANDMENTS WAS WHEN EVE TOLD ADAM TO EAT THE APPLE.
10. THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT IS THOU SHALT NOT ADMIT ADULTERY.
11. MOSES DIED BEFORE HE EVER REACHED CANADA .. THEN JOSHUA LED THE HEBREWS IN THE BATTLE OF GERITOL.
12. THE GREATEST MIRICLE IN THE BIBLE IS WHEN JOSHUA TOLD HIS SON TO STAND STILL AND HE OBEYED HIM.
13. DAVID WAS A HEBREW KING WHO WAS SKILLED AT PLAYING THE LIAR. HE FOUGHT THE FINKELSTEINS, A RACE OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN BIBLICAL TIMES.
14. SOLOMON, ONE OF DAVIDS SONS, HAD 300 WIVES AND 700 PORCUPINES.
15. WHEN MARY HEARD SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF JESUS, SHE SANG THE MAGNA CARTA.
16. WHEN THE THREE WISE GUYS FROM THE EAST SIDE ARRIVED THEY FOUND JESUS IN THE MANAGER.
17. JESUS WAS BORN BECAUSE MARY HAD AN IMMACULATE CONTRAPTION.
18. ST. JOHN THE BLACKSMITH DUMPED WATER ON HIS HEAD.
19. JESUS ENUNCIATED THE GOLDEN RULE, WHICH SAYS TO DO UNTO OTHERS BEFORE THEY DO ONE TO YOU. HE ALSO EXPLAINED A MAN DOTH NOT LIVE BY SWEAT ALONE..
20. IT WAS A MIRICLE WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND MANAGED TO GET THE TOMBSTONE OFF THE ENTRANCE.
21. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LORD WERE CALLED THE 12 DECIBELS.
22. THE EPISTELS WERE THE WIVES OF THE APOSTLES.
23. ONE OF THE OPPOSSUMS WAS ST. MATTHEW WHO WAS ALSO A TAXIMAN.
24. ST. PAUL CAVORTED TO CHRISTIANITY, HE PREACHED HOLY ACRIMONY WHICH IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MARRAIGE.
25. CHRISTIANS HAVE ONLY ONE SPOUSE . THIS IS CALLED MONOTONY
"On a recent excursion to the movie store I was tempted to pick up the following three DVDs: Quigley Down Under, United 93, and X3: The Last Stand.
Not because I particularly wanted to watch any of these films, but rather, if I purchased them, I would then own at least one DVD for each letter of the alphabet..."
The pleasurable feeling that surfers get when peeing in their wetsuit while sitting on their surfboards awaiting the next good wave. Also spelled urineaphoria.
oroboros's Comments
Comments by oroboros
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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
oroboros commented on the word pwllheli
A place in Wales!
January 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pwllheli
Pwllheli Vice
January 9, 2010
oroboros commented on the word features
I haven't got time to search all thru the comments but I've been wanting to say that I miss the "recent activity" option we had on Wordie. Am I missing some version of it on Wordnik?
I can't always remember what the heck I did last and recent activity was a no-brains way to find it.
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Rhinocirrhosis
Song by the Bikinians Also, see rhinoceroses.
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Pilgrim
Yes, their crispness was divine!
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word rhinoceroses
Rhinocirrhosis: a problem developed by heavy-drinking rhinocerwursts.
Edit: I just discovered that this is a song by the Bikinians. Click on the word for link.
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word tongue-twister
It’s said that police sergeants in Leith, Scotland, used this tongue-twister as a sobriety test:
The Leith police dismisseth us,
I’m thankful, sir, to say;
The Leith police dismisseth us,
They thought we sought to stay.
The Leith police dismisseth us,
We both sighed sighs apiece;
And the sigh that we sighed as we said goodbye
Was the size of the Leith police.
If you can’t say it, you’re drunk.
(via futilitycloset.com)
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word rabbit
How do you catch a unique rabbit? Unique up on it!
How do you catch a tame rabbit? Tame way, unique up on it!
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word psychopath
How crazy people get through the forest?
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word wreck
What lies at the bottom of the ocean and twitches? A nervous wreck!
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word job
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word subordinate clause
Santa's helper.
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word Pilgrim
Why did the Pilgrims' pants always fall down? Because they wore their belt-buckle on their hat!
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word frostbite
What you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? See snowpire.
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word polaroids
What Eskimos get when they sit on the ice too long?
January 7, 2010
oroboros commented on the word intimate
I will intimate to my intimate.
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word warts and all
When Oliver Cromwell sat for his portrait he insisted he be portrayed "warts and all" or he wouldn't pay the artist.
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word footloose and fancy free
Derivation: free of shackles (footloose); free of romantic entanglements (fiancee).
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word start from scratch
Derivation: the starting line for a horse race is know as the scratch.
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word roturier
A self-made man; commoner who made good. --According to NPR's Says You
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word gurn
To show the teeth, to snarl.
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word moderate
We need a moderate to moderate.
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word buffet
The wind buffeted the buffet.
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word pitcher's mound
Sixty feet and six inches from home plate. Why the six inches? It's a misprint in the original specifications of the game (via NPR's Says You).
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word yo-yo
The second oldest toy (after doll). Via Says You.
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word martinizing
The McDonald's of dry cleaning. A franchise for rapid dry cleaning.
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the word zinc
An ingredient in many shampoos.
January 3, 2010
oroboros commented on the user seanahan
seanahan, have you read Stephenson's Baroque Trilogy? Recommended. I read Anathem last Spring and really enjoyed it. Very different direction for him. The guy's amazing...
January 2, 2010
oroboros commented on the word bristol stool scale
Ask Dr. Stool your poop questions!
January 2, 2010
oroboros commented on the user chained_bear
Hey! I think c_b's awesome too! A bit distracted these days with a new lil monkey, but still awesome...
January 2, 2010
oroboros commented on the word ambidextrous
Ambidextrous is ambidextrous. The first half of the word is from the left half of the alphabet; the second half from the right half.
January 1, 2010
oroboros commented on the word particularly
See link in comment under similarly.
December 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word similarly
"I can never pronounce the word 'similarly'."
December 29, 2009
oroboros commented on the word nip and tuck
The dynamic occurring when hightailing it from the junkyard dog.
December 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word hightail
Cf. nip and tuck.
December 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word 仲
How 'bout "caged bird sings"?
December 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pizelle
Italian waffle cookies (I think)
December 24, 2009
oroboros commented on the word theatrophone
"...a late 19th-century invention, offering live relay of theatrical or musical performances to the home phones of subscribers (Marcel Proust among them)."
--From OED notes, December 2009
December 24, 2009
oroboros commented on the word spurious
Cf. specious.
December 24, 2009
oroboros commented on the word specious
Cf. spurious.
December 24, 2009
oroboros commented on the word tessellation
See an animated one here.
December 23, 2009
oroboros commented on the word drunk button
"If there were a drunk button, I buy one." Penn State student on NPR's This American Life, bemoaning the execrable taste of Natural Lite beer and Vladamir vodka, the cheapness of which make them obligatory products for binge drinking at the number one-rated party-school.
December 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word veni vidi vici
Pronounced "wenee, weedee, weekee" in Latin.
December 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sex
Sex euphemisms.
December 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word orgle
The gargling sound made by a female(?) llama in heat.
December 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pokenook
A dark or inaccessible corner in a woman's handbag.
December 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word jower
To mumble or complain under one's breath.
December 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word guntz
The whole lot, the whole way. The whole nine yards.
December 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word buffalo
Naked greeting?
December 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word hindermate
Opposite of helpmate.
December 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word gnathodynomometer
See gnathodynamometer.
December 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word gnathodynamometer
Measures the force of closing jaws.
December 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word disdrometer
Measures the size and speed of rain drops.
December 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word grathodynomometer
Should be gnathodynomometer.
December 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word zymometer
Measures the degree of fermentation in a solution.
December 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word microastrology
You could be right, u! More info.
December 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word microastrology
"Microastrology is not based on the movements of the planets but rather the orbits of electrons around atoms and the passage of quarks through time and space. You can get a reading and it will be incredibly accurate but only for that nanosecond." --Joe Choo
December 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word aasvogel
A bird, according to reesetee & mollusque.
November 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word eebree
Scottish for eyebrow.
November 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the list list-of-onyms
phantonym
November 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word weasel
Pop! goes the weasel.
November 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word technopathocracy
"....Peter Lamborn Wilson on what he calls the Technopathocracy of modern society: complete disconnection, lack of community and Internet-mediated insanity, and the Intentional Community as the solution...He makes the incredibly salient point that “dropping out” of Internet culture now is the same as “dropping out” of the mainstream in the 60s."
--dangerousminds.net (for video interview with Wilson)
November 25, 2009
oroboros commented on the word severance economy
N. -- Laid-off workers who use exit packages to maintain the standard of living they enjoyed while still employed.
"Former bank CEO Paul Joegriner is a member of what might be called the severance economy--unemployed Americans who use severance pay and savings to maintain their lifestyles."
--WSJ, Nov 10, 2009
November 23, 2009
oroboros commented on the word structure
STRUcTure. A strut is a structure.
November 23, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mein
See comment under mine.
November 23, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mien
mine (English), mien (French), and mein (German) are synonyms and anagrams in three languages.
November 23, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mine
Mine (English), mien (French), and mein (German) are synonyms and anagrams in three languages. (via futilitycloset.com)
November 22, 2009
oroboros commented on the word moonglade
How 'bout moonshine? :o)
November 22, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sweat
sWEaT
November 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word vegetable
VegEtAbLe
November 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word botax
"A Botax? Senate committee gets creative
A tax on plastic surgery, call it a "Botax", is on the table, as senators desperately try to come up with creative ways to fund $1 trillion in health care reforms."
--Fox News
November 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fragrance
Ahh, in fragrance is France! FRAgraNCE
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word tavern
Many people aver in tAVERns.
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the list surprisingly-eponymous
See also anonyponymous.
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word tantalize
Also see anonyponymous.
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dispose
DispOSE
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word casino
caSINo
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word apprehensive
We might be apprehensive when we aren't apprehensive of what's going on.
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word gamble
GAMblE.
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word excavate
exCAVatE. Make a cave.
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word motorcycle
moTOrcYcle. A boy toy.
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word anonyponymous
"The Earl of Sandwich is famous for being the man behind a word that most people never thought was named after anyone, a man both anonymous and eponymous or, to coin a term, anonyponymous."
--Anonyponymous by John Bemelmans Marciano
Also, see comments under frisbee.
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word frisbee
"There was a woman named Mary Frisbie who made pies in Connecticut," Marciano tells Renee Montagne. "Students would throw around her pie plates after they had finished her pies, and kind of like you would say, 'Incoming!' they would say, 'Frisbie!' just to give people the heads-up that there was something spinning and flying coming at their head.
Meanwhile, the Wham-O corporation, producer of the hula hoop, was having trouble selling its own flying disk, awkwardly named "The Pluto Platter".
They went around to college campuses, knowing that this was where trends started," Marciano says. "To their surprise, in the Northeast, people were already throwing flying disks, and they had this name 'Frisbie' for it.
For trademark purposes, "Frisbie" became "Frisbee," and a sensation was born.'
--On-air interview by NPR of John Bemelmans Marciano about his book Anonyponymous: The Forgotten People Behind Everyday Words
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word scintillescent
Contains seven pairs of letters, no singles.
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word leotard
A leotard is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1842–1870), about whom the song "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" was written. (Wikipedia)
November 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word stimthought
Instructions for conquering Everest: 1. put one foot in front of the other. 2. repeat. See, easy!
Instructions for 'achieving' enlightenment: 1. enter a small dark closet. 2. Find your shadow. 3. Embrace it. There! Nothing to it!
November 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word worst
BEST and WORST are synonyms when used as verbs:
he bested his opponent, he worsted his opponent
But they’re antonyms when used as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns:
the best player, the worst player
it best suits his skills, it worst suits his skills
I am the best, I am the worst
November 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word blind date
Duffy's take.
November 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sandwichocracy
-cracy, the most -tastic suffix!
November 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word america
Find your state!
November 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word robber
One who's looking for a lift?
November 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word clueless
"I don't know what I'm doing, but..."
November 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word explosion
Kaboom!
November 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fart
Hey, Jay! Pull my finger! (click on a hand)
November 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word kiss
You deserve a kiss today.
November 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word journey
It's not the destination...
November 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sneak some zucchini onto your neighbor's porch day
Zucchini and the power of suggestion.
November 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word zucchini weenie
See one here.
November 5, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sneak some zucchini onto your neighbor's porch day
See a picture of the zucchini weenie at frogapplause's Frog Blog. (It's in there somewhere!)
Edit: Here it is!
November 5, 2009
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Glad to be of assistance, Teresa. Everything's working normally now with Google Chrome.
November 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word xeropthalmia
Condition characterized by dryness of the eyes. Check Dictionary.com for more.
November 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word zufolo
Also spelled zuffolo.
November 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word deepen
Sounds like the letters D P N.
October 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word esquire
Sounds like the letters S K Y R.
October 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word exile
Sounds like the letters X I L.
October 29, 2009
oroboros commented on the word entity
Sounds like the letters N T T.
October 29, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sake
Benefit.
October 29, 2009
oroboros commented on the word aviator
Sounds like the letters A V A T R.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word esteem
Sounds like the letters S T M.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word seedy
Sounds like the letters C D.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word essay
Sounds like the letters S A.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the list gramograms-words-that-sound-like-letters
Thanks whichbe! I'm slowly adding 'em.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word jail
Sounds like the letters J L.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word arrestee
Sounds like the letters R S T.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word escapee
Sounds like the letters S K P .
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word enemy
Sounds like the letters N M E.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word excesses
Sounds like the letters X S S.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word icy
Sounds like the letters I C.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word decay
Sounds like the letters D K.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word array
Sounds like the letters R A.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word empty
Sounds like the letters M T.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word immensity
Sounds like the letters M N C T.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word obesity
Sounds like the letters O B C T.
October 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word unusual
Laid up in the hospital, James Thurber passed the time doing crossword puzzles.
One day he asked a nurse, “What seven-letter word has three u’s in it?�?
She said, “I don’t know, but it must be unusual.�?
(via futilitycloset.com)
October 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word wordnik
What, that I'm an idiot? :o)
October 22, 2009
oroboros commented on the word spoony
Puts one in mind of "spoonerism", except spoonerism derives from the name of
October 22, 2009
oroboros commented on the word wordnik
John, it appears that comments can't be edited? The comment I added to spoony was all borked up and I couldn't do anything about it...or am I just an idiot?
BTW, nice work on the new look!
October 21, 2009
oroboros commented on the word consummate
consumMATE
October 21, 2009
oroboros commented on the word link
Create links between words and enter your definition of the relation between them (and see what others think as well here.
Takes a bit of exploration/practice with the cursor...
October 21, 2009
oroboros commented on the word bee
Nectar inspector?
October 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word grill
Slang for face or mouth (smile). "Aloysius slammed Gandolph in the grill".
October 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word yes we have no bananas
This is probably more than you wanted to know, but what the hay!:
"Words and music by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn (1923). One of the most successful nonsense songs of the 1920s. The writers got their idea by overhearing a Greek fruit peddler tell a customer: "Yes, we have no bananas." Frank Silver and Irving Cohn introduced their song in a New York restaurant, but it failed to catch fire. Then, in 1923, Eddie Cantor saw the song in manuscript while Make It Snappy (a revue in which Cantor was then starring) was playing in Philadelphia. Held over in that city for an extended run, the show needed some new material, since people were coming to see it a second time. Cantor decided to interpolate "Yes, We Have No Bananas" in one of his routines, one Wednesday matinee. The audience response was so enthusiastic that Cantor had to sing chorus after chorus; the show was stopped cold for over a quarter of an hour. Cantor now made the song a permanent part of his act, and he always brought down the house with it. His Victor recording became a best seller--one of many successful releases of this number. By the end of 1923 everybody was singing it throughout the country. In the Music Box Revue of 1923 it was ridiculed in a performance in which it was presented in the grand-operatic manner of the Sextet from Lucia de Lammermoor--the performers being Grace Moore, John Steel, Joseph Santley, Frank Tinney, Florence Moore and Lora Sonderson. It was interpolated in the motion-picture musical Mammy, starring Al Jolson (Warner 1930); Eddie Cantor sang it on the soundtrack of the motion-picture musical The Eddie Cantor Story (Warner 1954)"
--American Popular Songs, David Ewen, Random House, 1966
October 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word piccolo
Get Rob soused?
October 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word picolo
A unit of volume of champagne; equal to 1/4 bottle (187.5 ml).
October 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word castanets
Put Funicello and O'toole in a play?
October 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word harmonica
Wound Lewinsky?
October 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word neuroceutical
“Neuroceuticals is a term I coined to describe future neuropharmaceuticals that have very low if any side effects, so that they may be used by healthy humans. There are three categories of neuroceuticals: cogniceuticals for memory, emoticeuticals for emotions, and sensoceuticals focused on sensory systems.�?
--Zack Lynch, author of The Neuro Revolution: How Brain Science Is Changing Our World
October 10, 2009
oroboros commented on the word carbon copy cat calling card carrying case closed circuit
My answer to Will Shortz's NPR on-air puzzle challenge. To wit: "The challenge is to find a chain of "C" words to connect "carbon" to "circuit." Will's chain has seven words between "carbon" and "circuit." The answer doesn't have to match Will's, but each word has to start with "C," and each has to combine with the words before and after to make a compound word or familiar two-word phrase."
October 4, 2009
oroboros commented on the word macropicide
Latin "macropus" = kangaroo (via Dictionary.com)
October 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pigeon-hole
Now pigeonhole. "LONDON (Reuters) - About 16,000 words have succumbed to pressures of the Internet age and lost their hyphens in a new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary."
October 1, 2009
oroboros commented on the user gangerh
Interesting, gangerh. I like it! :)
September 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word brazil nut effect
:-)
September 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word cheerio effect
Not a good feeling from a British aloha!
September 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word brazil nut effect
A seeming paradox, but with several possible explanations.
Also see Cheerio effect.
September 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word brazil nut effect
Thanks to frogapplause!
September 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word phantonym
Here's a list of them.
September 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word national punctuation day
Rats! Found out about it three days late! September 24th
September 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word ultraultimate
"Penultimate, some writers are surprised to learn, does not mean ultraultimate."
Jack Rosenthal, NY Times article On Language 9/25/09
See penultimate and "Phantonyms" list.
September 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word abearance
demeanor, behavior. And a good word for a chained_bear list! :o)
September 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word multi-tasking
I prefer multi-basking. (word from "Speed Bump" cartoon).
September 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word yooper
Upper Peninsula Michiganite.
September 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word ultraultimate
"Penultimate,some writers are surprised to learn, does not mean ultraultimate."
--Jack Rosenthal, NY Times article "On Language" 9/25/09
September 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word ale
X-word clues: "draft pick" & "inn-take".
September 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word eva
Samoa's official plant (according to NPR's Says You)
September 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word arena
"fan setting" (X-word clue)
September 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word gloves
Ofttimes when I put on my gloves,
I wonder if I’m sane,
For when I put the right one on,
The right seems to remain
To be put on, that is, ‘tis left;
Yet if the left I don,
The other one is left, and then
I have the right one on.
But still I have the left on right;
The right one, though, is left
To go right on the left right hand
All right, if I am deft.
– Ray Clarke Rose
(via futilitycloset.com)
September 25, 2009
oroboros commented on the word swan song
Trumpeter's tune?
September 25, 2009
oroboros commented on the word malvertize
Fraudulent ad along the lines of phishing.
September 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word chained bare
Oooohhh, this is just precious. Do you suppose c_b's seen it? (are you kidding! She sees everything!)
September 11, 2009
oroboros commented on the word wordnik
Oh, man, I'm gettin' goosebumps!! WONDERFUL NEWS, John. Congratulations-cubed! *staring off into the middle distance, counting blessings to come*
September 10, 2009
oroboros commented on the word imagineer
"One who imagines the future and engineers towards it"
--
September 7, 2009
oroboros commented on the word epigone
Cf. epitome.
September 7, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pussyrat
A good ole Southern boy barged into a brothel one night saying "I want some pussyrat now!!"
September 7, 2009
oroboros commented on the word danelectro guitar
Nat Daniel was a pioneer of the electric guitar. Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward marketed his guitars under the brand names Silvertone and Airline, respectively.
September 4, 2009
oroboros commented on the word jabberwocky
Jabberwocky Spell-checked
`Twas billing, and the smithy toes
Did gyre and gamble in the wage:
All missy were the brogues,
And the mime rats outrage.
"Beware the Jabber Wick, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jujube bird, and shun
The furious Bender Snatch!"
He took his viral sword in hand:
Long time the Manxwomen foe he sought –
So rested he by the Tutu tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in offish thought he stood,
The Jabber Wick, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffing through the tulle wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The viral blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And, has thou slain the Jabber Wick?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O crablouse day! Callow! Allay!'
He chortled in his joy.
`Twas billing, and the smithy toes
Did gyre and gamble in the wage;
All missy were the brogues
And the mime rats outrage.
--via futilitycloset.com
September 1, 2009
oroboros commented on the word discombobule
A tiny particle of discombobulation.
August 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word luftwaffle
The Germans are starting a chain of breakfast eateries, Luftwaffle House, to compete with its American waffle rival.
August 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sweat equity
What you build with elbow grease.
August 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word bread
According to an NPR piece I heard today, Lester Young, the great saxophonist coined the slang usage of the word "bread" to mean money. See also, "cool"
August 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word cool
According to an NPR piece I heard today, Lester Young, the great saxophonist coined the slang usage of the word "cool" as a culturally favorable adjective. Also, "bread" to mean money.
August 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word downhill
"Things are really going downhill now, yikes!"
"At last, it's all downhill now!"
August 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word attractive nuisance
That old broken-down, rusty thresher or tractor sitting out in the field that attracts kids who will play on it and possibly hurt themselves.
August 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word springe
Noose, trap, snare for small game animals.
August 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word hedgehog
Why is it that hedgehogs just can't share the hedge? :op
August 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word nail salon grapevine
Iffn you don't hear it here, it ain't worth hearin'. See dang network.
August 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dang network
The good ole boys is on top o' everything; toasty hot news! See nail salon grapevine.
August 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word crap
Asian pronunciation of an STD?
August 25, 2009
oroboros commented on the word jinx
Joe Btfsplk!
August 24, 2009
oroboros commented on the word epicene
"He moved toward me lightly. His left hand palpated my chest and armpits, moved down my flanks and hips. I was glad I'd left my gun in the car, but I hated to be touched by him. His hands were epicene."
--Ross Macdonald, The Moving Target
August 24, 2009
oroboros commented on the word taller-tap
This isn't an aviation term, but relates to the military. Anybody who's been to bootcamp or had marching training will know the term. A group of men form up in lines ("fall-in")and are told to "taller-tap". If you're taller than the man standing in front of you, tap him on the shoulder and move ahead of him. Repeat until nobody needs to tap and move. In very short order the formation is height-graded and ready for further marching commands, e.g., "Ten-hut! Riot-hace! Dress-right-dress! Layeft hace! Fowad harch! Your left, your left, your left-riot-left. *sung in cadence*'Well I don't know but I've been told, Army grub is hard and cold. Sound off!' 'ONE! TWO!', hear it again 'THREE! FOUR!', one,two,three,four 'ONE!TWO!*pause*THREE-FOUR!!'"
So there's your little glimpse into the harrowing experience of military bootcamp. Enjoy it and avoid it if you can...
August 24, 2009
oroboros commented on the user chained_bear
C_b. If you don't want to remember/type in numbers, just run the "charmap" program on your PC (don't know about Apple) and you can select/copy the symbols there. It's a little like looking for a needle in a haystack 'tho, sometimes.
Here's some I copied for instance: ێϊǼ♥♫▒ﯓ
August 22, 2009
oroboros commented on the word organon
Organon: Aristotilian logic: A = x or not-x.
Neo Organon: Francis Bacon: scientific method
Tertium Organon: Ouspensky: A = x and not-x.
August 21, 2009
oroboros commented on the word bumbershoot
See brolly.
August 21, 2009
oroboros commented on the word freemium
A free service/product that is supported $-wise by those who sign up/pay for the premium edition.
August 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word albookooky
Albuquerque, NM.
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pauciloquent
Pauciloquent is as pauciloquent does!
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pauciloquent
Pauciloquent as a clam.
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word flat-hatting
Here's some flat-hatting.
I did my share of high-speed, low-level chasing sheep around in southwest Texas. Dumb, but exhilarating! I survived...
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word call sign
Identifying moniker for radio communication between pilots and controlling agencies (or members of a flight formation). One of the best I've known amongst the fighter jocks: "fortune"; one of the worst: "rat".
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word moron bay
Morro Bay, CA to some sniffy and envious inland neighbors.
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word rumdum
Bar rat, toper. "Nearer the main street there were a few tourist hotels with neon signs like icing on a cardboard cake, red-painted chili houses, a series of shabby taverns where the rumdums were congregating."
--Ross Macdonald, The Moving Target
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the user chained_bear
Thanks c_b! I'll put on my thinking cap and add some place nicknames to your list. BTW, I noticed the keyboard shortcuts you "found" a couple of months ago. Did you use "charmap" or what?
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word content
Are you content with the content?
August 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word quagged
Buried in the details to the extent of indecisiveness. Obsessed with details. (via NPR's Says You)
August 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word gazinta
Any device that goes into another device, e.g., an electrical plug into a wall socket.
I also vote for: any container, say, for leftovers. "Hey, gimme a gazinta for this tuna salad." Synonym for doggie bag.
August 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word nintendocide
Killing off your character in a videogame in order to go do something more important. (via NPR's Says You)
August 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word tsantsa
According to NPR's Says You: a shrunken head.
August 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word geekolator
The person in the office who can tell you what the geeks are talking about; one who can actually talk to tech support. (Via NPR's Says You)
August 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word scrolly
A webpage requiring so much scrolling that when you reach the bottom you can't remember what's at the top. (via NPR's Says You)
August 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dook
According to NPR's Says You: A wood plug driven into a wall to hold a nail.
August 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word precycling
Reducing waste by limiting consumption. "Precycling is being thoughtful at the point of purchase in addition to at the point of throwing out." --Minneapolis Star Tribune, Aug. 4, 2009
August 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word tumblesault
"Pynchonesque multitudes crowd into the picture. Tight-lipped federales, stoner lawyers, ex-con neo-nazis with a big thing for show tunes--they tumblesault in every page or two, each bearing, maybe, a piece of the puzzle."
Richard Lacayo, Time Magazine review of Pynchon's Inherent Vice
August 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word shinbone
A device for finding furniture in the dark. (via NPR's "Car Talk")
August 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word congressional sausage factory
Heard on an NPR interview. You con't want to look too closely at what goes in to things made there!
August 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word ipn-iee
"I + Not-I = Everything. --Jan Cox
August 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word crapanddiarrhea
Carpinteria, CA as the uppity and irreverent Santa Barbarans call it.
August 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word san bedarnedifiknow
San Bernardino, CA, as my grandfather used to kid us kids!
August 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word zucchini weenie
A hot-dog inserted into a cored zucchini and deep-fried. Big at the San BedarnedifIknow Fair!
August 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word biker
........__O
......_"\<,_
.....(*)/ (*)
.......................
August 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word bivvy sack
Also bivvy bag, the waterproof sack that holds your tent and/or sleeping bag.
August 11, 2009
oroboros commented on the word veraison
In a wine vineyard, when the grapes begin to take on color (red for red grapes and yellow for green grapes) and sugar begins to heighten during maturation. Harvest is not far off.
August 10, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fourth outfielder
Baseball: not good enough to play an outfield position outright, but good enough to be used as a substitue in a pinch.
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word third rail
In politics, Social Security benefits. Don't touch 'em!!
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fifth disease
"Slapped cheek syndrome" (from red rash on cheeks) a mild viral disease (fifth in frequency of rash-producing maladies in early childhood).
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word the twins
Two of Peter Pan's lost boys.
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word nibs
One of Peter Pan's lost boys.
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word slightly
One of Peter Pan's lost boys.
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word curly
One of Peter Pan's lost boys.
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word tootles
One of Peter Pan's lost boys.
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word six flags over texas
The flags: U.S., Texas, Confederate, Mexican, Spanish, French. All have flown over Texas in its history.
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word deuce coupe
A hot-rod fashioned from a 1932 Ford coupe.
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fion
According to NPR's "Says You": A piece cut out from a fish and used for bait. Scandinavian origin.
August 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dramedy
E.g., Woody Allen films.
August 8, 2009
oroboros commented on the word oese
Platinum wire.
August 8, 2009
oroboros commented on the word no breast
Righto, congrats!
August 7, 2009
oroboros commented on the word gloaming
Crepuscular
August 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word crepuscular
Gloaming
August 6, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dwindle
Fritter
August 5, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fritter
Dwindle
August 5, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sheath soliloquies
You got it!
August 5, 2009
oroboros commented on the word wanderer
Yep, it's planet. Good going.
August 5, 2009
oroboros commented on the word head foot
Yah, likin' it.
August 5, 2009
oroboros commented on the word wanderer
Nope. Try again. This one's not all that hard, but one never knows about such things, do one? :)
August 5, 2009
oroboros commented on the word little sheath
Vagina?
August 4, 2009
oroboros commented on the word apple-gourd
Pumpkin?
August 4, 2009
oroboros commented on the word head foot
Cephalopod?
August 4, 2009
oroboros commented on the word palindrone
A speech that makes as much sense backwards as forwards? (Especially a resignation speech)
August 4, 2009
oroboros commented on the word nocebo
"...the nocebo phenomenon wherein a patient produces the symptoms of a misdiagnosed disease, even to the degree of dying on the day that the doctor gave as the expected time to live, although the particular disease was not present."
The Abundance Matrix, p. 5
August 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word catastrophize
"At the University of Toronto, Dr. Mayberg, Zindel Segal and their colleagues first used brain imaging to measure activity in the brains of depressed adults. Some of these volunteers then received paroxetine (the generic name of the antidepressant Paxil), while others underwent 15 to 20 sessions of cognitive-behavior therapy, learning not to catastrophize. That is, they were taught to break their habit of interpreting every little setback as a calamity, as when they conclude
from a lousy date that no one will ever love them."
August 2, 2009
oroboros commented on the word coffin
"Strange Discovery"
July 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word brain bucket
Designer Brain Buckets.
July 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sewer
Betsy Ross v. main.
July 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word midshipman fish
The male plainfin midshipman fish hums a song for a mate in the sea...for hours!
July 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word accompaniment
ACCompanimENT: A scarf, say, is an accompaniment and an accent.
July 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word free
FrEE: free v. fee
July 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word before
bEfoRE
July 30, 2009
oroboros commented on the word preposition
Exhausted after a long day of insisting that one must never end a sentence with a preposition, the English teacher took a book about Australia up to her daughter's bedroom.
"Mommy," said the girl, "what did you bring that book I didn't want to be read to out of about Down Under up for?"
(via futilitycloset.com)
July 29, 2009
oroboros commented on the word metabolic price of cognitive capacity
That's one Pop-Tart more than I ate for lunch! Good goin' c_b. Must be why my brain's thumpin' like a washing machine in the spin cycle. *holds head*
July 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the list let-s-play
Hi Treeseed. How 'bout mumbletypeg?
July 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mumblety-peg
Also mumblypeg.
July 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mumblypeg
Also mumblety-peg; mumbledepeg.
July 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word smidgen
A half pinch; 1/32 of a teaspoon.
July 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word horsepower
See manpower.
July 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word manpower
One-tenth of a horsepower.
July 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word daunch
To daub or plaster with adhesive mud.
July 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sweb
To swoon and faint.
July 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word idiot walk
The final survey of an area, say, a hotel room, to check for personal items inadvertently left behind.
July 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dead-endednesses
Comprised of 1 - A, 2 - Ns, 3 - Ss, 4 - Ds, 5 - Es. (Via Futility Closet).
July 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word temperamentally
Five words joined: T, EM, PER, AMEN, TALLY. (Thanks to Futility Closet)
July 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word nastygram
"When a rightsholder sends a nastygram to Amazon, you don't get a say in whether to treat the claim as valid or bogus."
--"Amazon's Orwellian deletion of Kindle books", boingboing, July 20, 2009 (Cory Doctorow)
July 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word three-toed tree toad
A he-toad loved a she-toad
That lived high in a tree.
She was a two-toed tree toad
But a three-toed toad was he.
The three-toed tree toad tried to win
The she-toad's nuptial nod,
For the three-toed tree toad loved the road
The two-toed tree toad trod.
Hard as the three-toed tree toad tried,
He could not reach her limb.
From her tree-toad bower, with her V-toe power
The she-toad vetoed him.
– Anonymous
July 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word excess
See moderation for success.
July 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word moderation
"Moderation is a fatal thing; nothing succeeds like excess" --Oscar Wilde
July 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word snow white
"I used to be Snow White, but I drifted." --Mae West
July 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word coffin
Oblong hexagonal container (wide at the shoulders) as opposed to a casket which is a rectangular box.
July 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word metabolic price of cognitive capacity
"If a biological brain wants to develop a new cognitive capacity, it must pay a price. The currency in which the price is paid is sugar. Additional energy must be made available and more glucose must be burned to develop and stabilize this new capacity."
Thomas Metzinger, The Ego Tunnel, p. 43
July 11, 2009
oroboros commented on the word metacognitive deficit
"...the dream Ego does not know that it is dreaming. It does not realize the signals it is turning into an internal narrative are self-generated stimuli--in philosophical jargon, this feature of the dream state is a "metacognitive deficit." The dream Ego is delusional, lacking insight into the nature of the state it is itself generating."
--Thomas Metzinger, The Ego Tunnel, p. 138
In lucid dreaming, this is not the case, for the dreaming Ego is conscious it is dreaming/creating the dream state.
July 4, 2009
oroboros commented on the word unemploymentality
See funemployment.
July 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word paycation
Every generation has an argot to describe the confusing terrain of joblessness — the dole, deadbeat dads, UB40, and so on — and the lexicon of younger casualties in the most severe American economic downturn since World War II speaks volumes. See also: Funemployment, Unemploymentality.
July 3, 2009
oroboros commented on the word facelift
"Happiness is the best facelift." --Joni Mitchell
July 2, 2009
oroboros commented on the word club fed
Low security prison for relatively short-term non-violent offenders...where Bernie Madoff won't be spending his time behind bars.
July 2, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dunmovin
A place in the Owen's Valley of California, east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains.
July 1, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pie-hole
"Shut yer pie-hole, or get it hit!"
July 1, 2009
oroboros commented on the word poorgeoisie
"Poorgeoisie and those who pretend to be less wealthy have been with us for years. What has changed is that many of them no longer have to pretend."
--Wall Street Journal, Jun 17, 2009
June 29, 2009
oroboros commented on the list place-names-of-distinction
How about Dunmovin' (in California). Surprised not to see Lake Titicaca.
June 29, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fod
Foreign Object Damage. Big concern on airport runways, ramps and taxiways, where jet engines can suck up stray objects like scraps of metal, screws and bolts, tools (even people). FOD control is a perennial prevention program in aviation.
June 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word suck hind tit
Not a good position to be in.
June 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fiigm
"F**k it, I got mine!" Let the hindmost suck hind tit.
June 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fiigmo
"F**k it, I got my orders." Military acronym (also FIGMO) for one's attitude toward present duties with assignment orders for a new gig (or mustering-out) in hand. "Not my job, Bob, I'm FIGMO!" Also related to short (for short-timer, soon to be "separated" from active duty military]. "I'm so short I'm walking under doors!"
June 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word goat
(G)reatest (O)f (A)ll (T)ime
June 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word toyestermorrowday
NOW in the Land of One Hand Clapping.
June 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word monkey's wedding
A confused situation.
--Dictionary of American Regional English
June 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dry land fish
Mushrooms.
--Dictionary of American Regional English
June 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word roller bird
(n) Bluejay (Usage: In the vicinity of Dothan, Ala., bluejays are often called "roller birds" because when chinaberries are ripe, the birds sit in the trees and gorge themselves until they grow drunk. Then they tumble out of the trees and roll on the ground...)
--Dictionary of American Regional English
June 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word flannel cake
Appalachian usage for pancake.
--Dictionary of American Regional English
June 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word lucy bowles
Regional slang for diarrhea; loose bowels.
--Dictionary of American Regional English
June 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word rantum scoot
An outing with no definite destination.
-Dictionary of American Regional English
June 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pungle
To shell out; plunk down (money); to pay up. From Spanish Poner, to put; pongale: "put it down".
June 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word autodefenestration
Or, throwing your car out the window!?
June 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word apposite
Kangaroo word: APposiTe
June 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word shopportunity
Heard this somewhere and surprised it's virgin territory...
June 4, 2009
oroboros commented on the word bugs
I'm getting a 500 application error when I try the cloud feature on tags. Is that a temporary deal? It worked before, I believe.
Edit: works normally except on the tag ghosted (so far anyway).
Edit: found some others. Appears to relate to the size of the word collection tagged. The larger the collection the greater opportunity for 500 app error.
June 2, 2009
oroboros commented on the word anecdotalist
C_b, you deserve an award from a BIG college as far as I'm concerned! And that's no excrement!! :o)
June 2, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dracula sneeze
(Via Time: n.--A method of sneezing used to prevent the spread of swine flu. "...last week teachers reminded students that if they have to sneeze, to put their mouths into the crook of one of their elbows. The students started calling that the Dracula Sneeze, and we picked up on that..."
--Reuters, April 27, 2009
June 1, 2009
oroboros commented on the word benedict arnold schwarzenegger
Yah, probably so, but I edited the list intro to include them. The page really is an outlet for Says You! word play.
May 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word harold lloyd bridges
Scuba-diving silent film star?
May 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word winslow homer simpson
Doughnut-loving seascape artist?
May 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word jesse norman rockwell
Diva painter?
May 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mary shelley winters
Frankenstein on the Poseidon?
May 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word benedict arnold schwarzenegger
Traitorous Kalifornia governor?
May 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word nazar
A gift given TO a superior, more in homage than a bribe.
May 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word telephonophobia
Interesting this is not in someone's phobia list! Fear of telephones. Heard on NPR's Says You today.
May 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sherpa
According to Nina Totenberg (NPR legal correspondent) a "sherpa" (presumably N.Y. Senator Chuck Shumer) will guide/lead Sonia Sotomayor in "making the rounds" on Capitol Hill in her quest to "unroil the waters" leading to the Supreme Court.
May 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word decussate
The word originated from Latin "as" (plural asses) which was a copper coin and the monetary unit in ancient Rome. The word for ten asses was decussis, from Latin decem (ten) + as (coin). Since ten is represented by X, this spawned the verb decussare, meaning to divide in the form of an X or intersect.
May 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word perioeci
People living on the same parallel of latitude but on opposite meridians such that midnight for one is noon for the other. Singular: perioecus.
May 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word credit munch
n., recession-induced comfort eating. "Stressed out Britons have piled on 20 million stone in a year trying to 'comfort eat' their way through the recession, according to a report out today. The condition--dubbed the credit munch--has seen three in five Britons put on weight in the past 12 months." --the U.K.'s Daily Express, May 11, 2009 (via Time Magazine)
May 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word potato hole
Hole dug in a dirt floor to keep the vittles cool.
The title of the latest Booker T. Jones release--first in twenty years!
May 24, 2009
oroboros commented on the word children
"Make no mistake. I take these children seriously. It is not possible to see too much in them, to overindulge your casual gift for the study of character. It is all there, in full force, charged waves of identity and being. There are no amateurs in the world of children."
--Don DeLillo, White Noise
May 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word snackrifice
Or, maybe one that starts one! :o)
May 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word features
I was just looking at the blink and marquee pages for the first time in a coon's age. Has John disabled those features? NOT that I want to use 'em of course! :o)
May 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word radical
&radic
May 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word hippocrite
A very large, river-loving two-facer with wiggling ears.
May 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word rhopalic
Another of Borgmann's snowballs:
I am not very happy acting pleased whenever prominent scientists overmagnify intellectual enlightenment, stoutheartedly outvociferating ultrareactionary retrogressionists, characteristically unsupernaturalizing transubstantiatively philosophicoreligious incomprehensiblenesses anthropomorphologically. Pathologicopsychological!
May 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word novemdecillion
With a number this big you can measure the Milky Way galaxy in cubic inches!
May 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word vigintillion
1 followed by 63 zeros. Can't imagine what a virgintillion might be. Maybe an gross exaggeration of the Jihadist's reward in paradise?
May 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the list word-chemistry
More fun with chemical element symbols.
May 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the list chemical-element-abbreviations
A chemical element symbol puzzle.
May 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word oh hell-kite
"All my pretty ones?
Did you say all? O hell-kite! All?
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?"
--Macduff, upon hearing of his family's murder in Macbeth
May 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word writhes
Contains 11 personal pronouns (including possessives): I; it; its; he; his; her; hers; she; we; their; theirs!
May 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word patent
See some goofy patents here.
May 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pullman porter
Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown were descendants of Pullman porters — that distinctive and distinguished figure from yesteryear — the uniformed African-American train worker, who forged his way into the middle class.
NPR Morning Edition, May 7, 2009
May 8, 2009
oroboros commented on the word skookum
Makes me think of a bunch of cannibals building a fire for the Missionary Soup they anticipate. "Hey, skookum!" :-)
May 1, 2009
oroboros commented on the word ball o' wan
bottle of wine
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word petroleum
Secret of the Universe: "The smell of petroleum pervades throughout..."! See ethyl formate.
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word windjammer
A musician in a circus band.
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word hardscape
Structures in a particular landscape.
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word crunk
Combination of crazy and drunk.
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word booga booga
Coined by David Steinberg during a skit where he, acting the part of a zany-disturbed patient, suddenly had a notion to change the piece midstream before his partner, the "psychiatrist" entered the room. He signaled the change with the announcement "Okay, you can send in the patient, now." The partner, upon his entrance and without missing a beat became the patient and they improvised onward. Booga booga arose somewhere in the ensuing action.
I learned this listening to Michael Feldman's interview of David Steinberg on Whad'Ya Know?
I still remember the joke wherein I first heard "booga booga" and had no idea of its origin. I doubt that David Steinberg had the same connotation in mind that the joke depends on...
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word raspberry
See ethyl formate.
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word rum
See ethyl formate.
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word ethyl formate
Rum 'n raspberries: the flavor/smell of the galaxy?!
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word opposite marriage
"...choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage..."
Carrie Prejean
April 26, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fake umbrage
I see your point c_b. If a typo of 'take' then not so obviously a mistake. Ah well, I try...
April 24, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fake umbrage
See Moro reflex and God knows how many other umbrage takings on Wordie!
April 23, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mind's eye
Just learned this has a Shakespearean origin: Hamlet.
April 23, 2009
oroboros commented on the word frizzen
"He raked the frizzen open against the bartop and dumped the priming out and laid the pistol down again."
--Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
April 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word awap
"The huge and carved paneled doors hung awap on their hinges and a carved stone Virgin held in her arms a headless child."
--Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
April 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word gamewagon
See snarl.
April 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word snarl
"The little painted horses stopped shifty and truculent and a vicious snarl of flies fought constantly in the bed of the gamewagon."
--Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
April 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word squail
"There were buzzards squatting among the old carved wooden corbels and he picked up a stone and squailed it at them but they never moved".
--Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
April 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word great crested grebe
Left-hand-only QWERTY words (thanks to futilitycloset.com).
Reesetee, take note! ;o)
April 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word ciceronian
If pronounced keekeronian everybody will be puzzled except for the Latin geeks...and the haplessfully heckalomaniacally huddled herky-jerks.
April 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word irony
Sheesh, busted for DUI while sitting on your bar stool!?
April 1, 2009
oroboros commented on the word card deck
How many letters are in ACE KING QUEEN JACK TEN NINE EIGHT SEVEN SIX FIVE FOUR THREE TWO?
Fifty-two.
--futilitycloset.com
March 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word extensively
See comment under extension.
March 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word extension
The word EXTENSION can be rearranged into the words ONE, TEN, and SIX.
String together the numbers 1, 10, and 6 and you get 1106.
Add them and you get 17.
The word EXTENSIVELY can be rearranged into the words SIXTY and ELEVEN.
String together the numbers 60 and 11 and you get 6011.
Add them and you get 71.
--futilitycloset.com
March 31, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mazer
See mazzard.
March 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mazard
See mazzard.
March 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mazzard
Slang for the head or face; also, mazard or mazer. HAMLET: "Chapless and knocked about the mazzard with a sexton's spade."
--From Slang and its Analogues, Past & Present compiled by J.S. Farmer.
March 28, 2009
oroboros commented on the word candyality
"At Candyality, a store in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, business has jumped by nearly 80 percent compared with this time last year, and the owner, Terese McDonald, said she was struggling to keep up with the demand for Bit-O-Honeys, Swedish Fish and Sour Balls."
From a NYT article online 3/24/09
March 25, 2009
oroboros commented on the word aphanapteryx
Etym.: Gr. aphanes, invisible; Gr. pterux, a wing;
A ground bird, incapable of flight (now extinct).
See John's Errata Blog for Mar 22, 2009
March 23, 2009
oroboros commented on the word liquidity
Liquidity is when you look at your 401K and wet your pants!!
March 23, 2009
oroboros commented on the word the giving tree
Molly Shannon's tree forte?
March 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the word dingy
Bi-sonic as in dingy blond: dirty v. dingbatty.
March 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the list silent-m-or-n
Here are some more: limn, condemn, contemn, solemn
March 19, 2009
oroboros commented on the word earworm
Que Sera, Sera's been the earworm curse para mi, par excellence! For some idiot reason, always in the shower...go figure!
March 18, 2009
oroboros commented on the word earworm
I don't know how this really contributes to the conversations on this page, but I'm puttin' it here anyway!
Earworm Protection?
March 17, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sorcery
An activity where spelling counts! :)
March 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word oulipo
An example (from futilitycloset.com):
Here's Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud" as rendered by Jean Lescure's "N+7″ procedure, replacing each noun with the seventh following it in a dictionary:
The Imbeciles
I wandered lonely as a crowd
That floats on high o'er valves and ills
When all at once I saw a shroud,
A hound, of golden imbeciles;
Beside the lamp, beneath the bees,
Fluttering and dancing in the cheese.
Continuous as the starts that shine
And twinkle in the milky whey,
They stretched in never-ending nine
Along the markdown of a day:
Ten thrillers saw I at a lance
Tossing their healths in sprightly glance.
The wealths beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling wealths in key:
A poker could not be but gay,
In such a jocund constancy:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What weave to me the shred had brought:
For oft, when on my count I lie
In vacant or in pensive nude,
They flash upon that inward fly
That is the block of turpitude;
And then my heat with plenty fills
And dances with the imbeciles.
March 16, 2009
oroboros commented on the word metaphrand
Metaphor is made up of the thing known vs. the thing unknown, the metaphrand. The intention of the metaphor is to illuminate the metaphrand by giving it some of the features of the metaphier. E.g., "My love is like a red, red rose." "love" is the metaphrand, "rose" is the metaphier.
Julian Jaynes
March 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word metaphier
Metaphor is made up of the thing known vs. the thing unknown, the metaphrand. The intention of the metaphor is to illuminate the metaphrand by giving it some of the features of the metaphier. E.g., "My hatred was a burning coal in my heart." Hatred = metaphrand, burning coal = metaphier.
Julian Jaynes
March 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word scrabble
See lexulous.com for an online scrabble-type game. It used to be named Scrabulous and was available on Facebook (it was removed after Hasbro brought suit--later dropped--against the creators.)
March 15, 2009
oroboros commented on the word scrabble
A sentence constructed with the 100 letter-tiles of Scrabble:
COUNTRYMEN, I AM TO BURY, NOT EULOGIZE, CAESAR; IF EVIL LIVES ON, BEQUEATHING INJURY, GOOD OFT EXPIRES: A PALSIED, AWKWARD DEATH!
From futilitycloset.com
March 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word pete and joe
Kids game from my childhood days. There was something magical about assuming another name and being a swashbuckler. "Well, Pete, looks like they're after us now! We'd better find a good hideout." "You're right Joe, I know of a secret cave where they'll never find us; let's saddle up and make tracks." See cap gun.
March 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word cap gun
Cowboys and Indians, yay! "Pow,pow,kapwiiiinnnng!" "Pow, pow, got ya!"
March 14, 2009
oroboros commented on the word humanly
A new OED word. "...a good example of an old word that is new to the dictionary..." --Graeme Diamond, Principal Editor, New Words, Oxford English Dictionary
March 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word lifestyler
A new OED word. One who moves to the countryside in search of a simpler, slower lifestyle.
March 13, 2009
oroboros commented on the word achey-breaky
This is a new OED word.
March 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the list odorific
Yeasty; cheesy?
March 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the user reesetee
Hey! Just noticed you hit the big two-oh-kay. Congratulations!...but you're making me feel waaaay underwordied! :-)
Oh, and here's something you'll get a kick out of (I hope):
X@#!% Birds.
March 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word hershey
My goodness! A line drawn in the sand of the chocolate desert (dessert?)! :-)
March 10, 2009
oroboros commented on the word swasivious
Alas, obsolete.
March 10, 2009
oroboros commented on the list most-obscure-words
I think the book is 2000 Most Challenging And Obscure Words by Norman W. Schur (Galahad Books, NY, 1994). I just picked it up at a swap meet for a buck!
Edit: I see that the book is a compilation in one volume of two previous works by the author.
March 10, 2009
oroboros commented on the word scaphocephalic
Having a long, narrow (boat-shaped) skull.
March 10, 2009
oroboros commented on the word key pawn moving
End-game maneuvers? From NYT crossword titled SOUND MOVES.
March 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word clay man exemption
A tax break for Gumby? From NYT crossword titled SOUND MOVES.
March 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word gray toile of china
Drab oriental fabric? From NYT crossword titled SOUND MOVES.
March 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word sea love approval
Blessing for a shipboard romance? From NYT crossword titled SOUND MOVES.
March 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word mine dover matter
Excavate at the White Cliffs? From NYT crossword titled SOUND MOVES.
March 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word may doubt a will
Might not believe a witty Rogers? From NYT crossword titled SOUND MOVES.
March 9, 2009
oroboros commented on the word fleshpot
Fleshpot is a phonetic reversal of top-shelf, i.e., containing the same sounds in reverse.
--From futilitycloset.com
March 8, 2009
oroboros commented on the word ponzipaloosa!
Do you think, maybe, that ponzipalooza might be a better rendition? -paloosa carries muddying connotations of horse to my mind. Love your list!
March 4, 2009
oroboros commented on the word poetry
“Ape Owe ‘Em�?
When fur stews can this sill leer I'm,
Toot rye tomb ache theme e'en ink Lear,
Youth inked wood butt bee weigh sting thyme;
Use eh, "It's imp lean on scents shear!"
Gnome attar; Anna lies align!
Nation mice lender verse says knot–
Fork rip tick poet real Ike mine,
How Aaron weal, demesnes allot.
– Deems Taylor (seen at Futility Closet)
February 12, 2009
oroboros commented on the word one thousand five
The smallest integer whose name contains all five vowels (according to futilitycloset.com).
January 27, 2009
oroboros commented on the word prudential
Interesting to find one's blind spots. Until I heard David Brooks use this word in reference to Barak Obama's policy decisions out of the starting blocks, I saw/heard it only as the name of an insurance company--which used the rock of Gibraltar as its logo! :o)
January 25, 2009
oroboros commented on the word grimace
Did I just hear Tom Brokaw pronounce "grimaces" with a long a? Wow!
January 21, 2009
oroboros commented on the word laphroaig
And before the word was the peat! ;o)
January 20, 2009
oroboros commented on the user hernesheir
Thanks for your input hernesheir. Some of 'em are already on my Toot toot, beep beep list.
January 8, 2009
oroboros commented on the list lifehacking
Imperience. Introception. (Franklin Merrell-Wolff)
December 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the word shadow
See shadow self.
December 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the word shadow self
Jungian Psychology. See also: I plus Not-I equals Everything.
December 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the user whichbe
Hi whichbe. Your question puzzled me until I did a search and found it in my own comments. It stands for I plus Not-I equals Everything. I evidently never got around to adding its acronym when I was on my Jan Cox tear back then. I originally had trouble with adding my preferred version (I + Not-I = Everything) due to restrictions on symbols John had early on, thus the ipn-iee and not following up properly on a referent.
December 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the user bilby
Hey Bilby. Re: your comment on hate, I edited my original comment to make it clearer. I doubt however, that you're gonna find much 'joy' anyway. IPN-IEE stands for I Plus Not-I Equals Everything. I evidently forgot to add the acronym to my list back when I was on my Jan Cox tear.
December 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the word i + not-i = everything
See I plus not-I equals everything.
December 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the list metaphors-we-live-by
Well, I must say I'm gratified for this interest on everybody's part. 'Zactly why I created the list in the first place...I, uh, think!!
December 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the list metaphors-we-live-by
I enjoyed ...Dangerous Things too. I think Philosophy In The Flesh is the best of all. Also, Where Mathematics Comes From (collaboration with Nunez) is great and I highly recommend it.
December 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the list metaphors-we-live-by
Thanks for your input, Yaybob. Your "tropical tour" is a good recap.
December 27, 2008
oroboros commented on the word first ladies rule the state and state the rule ladies first
A word palindrome.
December 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word hoe boy
When the Confederate soldiers returned to their homes after the Civil War, they found little to do. So they went north looking for work. They were called a name that arose out of a tool they were carrying. A hoe.
The soldiers were walking the back roads, riding and jumping on trains, and sleeping out in the countryside hoping to find some kind of work. They were called hoe boys, which came to be called hobos.
From a "Click and Clack" Radio Show Puzzler.
December 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word hobo
See hoe boy.
December 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word headlinese
Heard on an interview by Bob Edwards of Roy Blount touting his new book:Alphabet Juice. The change in the English language occasioned by restricted space for headlines. The decline of newpapers will decrease this generator of new English...so Roy thinks.
December 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word circumcircle
Close to round: circa circumcircle
November 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the word avoir le cul bordé de nouilles
*nonplussed, with big grin*
November 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the word yes we have no bananas
Bananaphone!
November 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Hi froggipaws! Don't know if you're a crossword fan or not, but you might get a kick out of this. The first I've ever seen of cartoon characters featured in the clues. Clever!
November 26, 2008
oroboros commented on the word clamorous
CLAMorous. Noisy v. silent as a clam.
November 26, 2008
oroboros commented on the word zombie
Zombies are the top of the
November 25, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cognitive bias
See a list of cognitive biases here.
November 25, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cassette tape
There's gold in them thar (cassette) hills! Transformers, fashion wear, jewelry and more!.
November 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word zombieward
In the direction of "The Night of the Living Dead"?...or the catatonic section of the asylum?
November 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word oysvorf
Yiddish origin: a no-goodnik, scoundrel.
November 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Some of those monsters are mighty cute 'n cuddly!
November 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word vitaephobia
Fear of life, of being alive.
November 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word suss
"But the truth was out for all to see long before the big-name take-downs. For months sourcewatch.org has identified Martin Eisenstadt as a hoax. When Mr. Stein was the victim, he blogged that “there was enough info on the Web that I should have sussed this thing out.�?
--NY Times story about an internet hoax.
November 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word wheelchair
Pepe said, we only have one enchilada left, but don't worry wheelchair
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the list bill-bryson-s-agreeable-words
See tingling inkling.
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the list bill-bryson-s-disagreeable-words
See tingling inkling.
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word tingling inkling
A Bill Brysonism in Thunderbolt Kid. Really has a nice feel and ring...uh huh. Had to do with "pert buttocks" shown on the early TV show Sky King whereby the first glimmerings of rampant heterosexualism almost imperceptibly inveigled itself, then reared insistent lustful elbowings into ole Bill's "Kid World".
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word binary
01001110 01101111 00100000 01100110 01100001 01101001 01110010 00100001 00100000 01010111 01101000 01101001 01100011 01101000 01100010 01100101 00100111 01110011 00100000 01110101 01110011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110101 01101110 01100001 01110101 01110100 01101000 01101111 01110010 01101001 01111010 01100101 01100100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01100100 01100101 00100001 00100000 00101010 01100111 01110010 01101001 01101110 01100100 01110011 00100000 01110100 01100101 01100101 01110100 01101000 00101010
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word binary
01011001 01100101 01101111 01110111 00100001 00100000 01010111 01101111 01101111 01100100 01110011 01110100 01101111 01100011 01101011 00101100 00100000 01110010 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01011011 01000010 01100101 01100101 01101100 01111010 01100101 01100010 01110101 01100010 01011101 00101110 00101110 00101110 01110111 01101000 01101111 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110101 01101100 01100100 01100100 01100001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01110101 01101110 01101011 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100001
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the user oroboros
Man! Post something on reesetee's profile, and....wham! You're thick in the blizzard of Wordieness! Yeah! Moughty fine! ;o)
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word binary
01001000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01010111 01101111 01101111 01100100 01110011 01110100 01101111 01100011 01101011 00100111 01110011 00100000 01110011 01101001 01101110 01100111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110101 01110011 00100001 00100000 00111011 01101111 00101001
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the user reesetee
Hey reesetee! I finally got around to creating an account on Flickr. If you're interested in some views of where I do most of my birding, check out my Flickr also-on link.
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bugs
I switched to Internet Explorer and the problem's fixed, so, it's gotta be Mozilla.
Edit: I reloaded Firefox and now it's working right. :o)
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word conference
Meeting v. bestowal.
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bugs
I've also got to refresh the page to show the comment I've just written!
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bugs
I'll say! I just got a Firefox update. I can't add books on LibraryThing either. I hope it's not a Mozilla screwup. :o/
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bugs
It appears that the edit function for comments is tango uniform. Anybody else agree?
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word narcissism
"Stanislaus Smedley, a man always on the cutting edge of narcissism, was about to give his body and soul to a back-alley sex-change surgeon to become the woman he loved."
--from "First Line of Bad Novels"
November 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the user Prolagus
Thanks for the he'p, Pro! Youse a gennemun unt a scholar. I think my also-on ducks are all properly in a row now. :o)
November 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cu cu ru cu cu
Spanish version of the call of the dove (la paloma). An extremely beautiful Spanish song carries this title.
November 13, 2008
oroboros commented on the user sarra
Thanks for the bird song input, Sarra! I'll put you on the list to contribute...
November 13, 2008
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Hey frogapples, do you know about grawlix? A word right up a stripper's alley, don'tcha think? You otta own it, no? :o)
November 12, 2008
oroboros commented on the word unbirthday
Have a very merry one! ;o)
November 12, 2008
oroboros commented on the user dontcry
Whoops! Missed it I guess. Well, a very merry unbirthday to yooooouuuuu!
November 12, 2008
oroboros commented on the word womanifesto
Term coined (?)/used by Sandra Tsing Loh on one of her bits on NPR--The Loh Down.
November 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the word doddy
Also, doddie: a cow or bull without horns.
November 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the word zen
The only Zen you find
on the tops of mountains
is the Zen you bring up there.
--Robert M. Pirsig
November 10, 2008
oroboros commented on the word kuwanyauma
Beautiful butterfly in the Hopi language (from an email; can't vouch for it but it's a pretty word anyway).
November 10, 2008
oroboros commented on the word searchlight
The searchlight metaphor: The greater swath the searchlight penetrates, the greater is the circumference of the unknown. So, the more we know, the more we don't know.
November 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word barack obama
Re: "43rd person to occupy that role"--
"Harrison defeated Cleveland in 1888, making it necessary to consider Cleveland both the 22nd and 24th president."
From Language on Vacation by Dimitri Borgmann
November 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word word square
U N K I S S E D
N O O N T I M E
K O R H A N E S
I N H A L E R S
S T A L L A G E
S I N E A T E R
E M E R G E N T
D E S S E R T S
From Language on Vacation< by Dimitri Borgmann
November 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bantam
Looking at those pix of silkies put me in mind of Al Capp's Shmoos. I wonder if there's any connection somehow?
November 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word when the revolution comes
When the revolution comes, like the lilies of the field I'll not toil...but I will revolve!
November 6, 2008
oroboros commented on the list bird-songs
Thanks mollusque, I've added you to contributors.:o)
November 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word juicy
"Hey man, I'm looking for Paco, tell me if juicy him!"
November 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word red box items
Pilots have emergency procedures manuals for every kind of aircraft and equipment malfunction. The manual is categorized into the various aircraft systems, hydraulic, electrical, flight controls, etc., for quick reference to the, sometimes extensive, troubleshooting steps that must be followed. Some of the emergencies are so critical (e.g., catastrophic engine failure) they are placed in a red-outlined frame, called a "red box" and pilots are required to commit these procedural steps to memory. During the occasion of a pilot's training and/or checkride in "the box" s/he is given a "mini-oral" designed to evaluate his/her knowledge of aircraft systems and always includes a recitation of these red box items. As the flight industry, both military and civilian has evolved over the years, the trend has been to limit the number and complexity of red box items due to the frailty of human memory. Increasingly, improvements in technology facilitate this trend. Nowadays emergency procedures are available on aircraft-provided computer-analysis and recommended actions are printed on flight deck instrument display screens. Often, many critical actions are automatically initiated by the computer brain of the affected system. It's a safe bet however, that red box items will never go away completely. See also, boldface procedure.
November 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word the box
Professional pilot slang for the flight simulator they must periodically visit (usually every six or nine months), wherein they thrash, sweat and strain with the aircraft equipment malfunctions, foul weather and Air Traffic Controller screw-ups that their sadistic Sim Instructor (chuckling "heh, heh") loads them up with from his control panel behind the pilots in the simulator. The box can be a real E-ticket ride. Mounted on hydraulic struts/actuators that can produce pitch, roll and yaw as well as air turbulence (even the feel of the aircraft taxiing on pavement); the actuators are a treat to watch in action from outside the simulator as they tilt the boxy structure this way and that - much more pleasant than experiencing the motion from the inside!
Obviously, simulators save airlines money and are invaluable for practicing emergency procedures (see red box items) and inculcating habit patterns that will serve a pilot in a real-world actual emergency.
Still, most pilots look forward to their time in "the box" with as much enthusiasm as they do going to the dentist for a root-canal!
November 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word dry-dey-bey-bet-wet
Dey = governor of Algiers under the Ottoman Empire.
Bey = title for high ranking officials in the Ottoman Empire.
November 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word easy
EASY
EAST
HAST
HART
HARD
November 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the list private-languages
Naw. Surprise me! ;o)
November 3, 2008
oroboros commented on the word pig latin
An kay ooyay oktay igpay atlinlay?
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word no joy
That's a big compliment rt! Thanks. Although, the last 5 years of my career almost cancelled the pleasure of the preceding 25 years. I knew this when I couldn't any longer recommend/encourage a pilot career to the kids who visited the flight deck. September 11 changed everything. :o(
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word private language
Wittgenstein's term. More here.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word peer pressure
*whew*
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word king tut language
Coy a nun yoy o u tut a lul kuk Kuk i nun gug Tut u tut lul a nun gug u a gug e?
A, Bub, Coy, Dud, E, Fuf, Gug, Huh (or Hoy), I, Juj (or Joy), Kuk, Lul, Mum, Nun, O, Pup, Q (?), Rur (or Roy), Sus, Tut, U, Vuv, Wuw (or Woy), Xux, Yoy, Zuz
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word izzy wizzy language
Kezan yezou tezalk izzy wizzy lezanguezage?
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word pig latin
When we kids caught on to pig latin, Mom and Dad switched to izzy wizzy language.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word poq
Pull Out Quick?
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word corpse vs cadaver
Lez play copse 'n robbers! :)
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word asaygt
As Soon As You Get This.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word tptb
The Powers That Be.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word teotwawki
The End Of The World As We Know It.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word scnr
Sorry Could Not Resist.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ymmv
Your Mileage May Vary.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word wuwh
Wish yoU Were Here.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word nimy
Never In a Million Years.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word joott
Just One Of Those Things.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word wtmi
Way To Much Information.
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word 14aa41
"One for all, all for one."
November 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word no joy
Pilot term used when unable to locate traffic called out by airport tower or other radar coverage center (if seen, however, the reply is Talley Ho!). Also, applies to any situation where the hoped-for outcome is elusive. "No joy on frequency 123.4! I'm afraid the radio may be tango uniform!"
October 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the word talley ho
See no joy.
October 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bugs
Ditto, moving words from one list to another. I would hope there's one fix for all...
Edit: I also get the application error when deleting a word. For some reason toothache occurs twice on one of my lists. Tried to delete one of 'em, but no joy. Then I moved one of 'em to my Potpourri list and tried to delete it there. Couldn't be done. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the duplication? Anyway, application error is making things pretty inconvenient to work/troubleshoot the system.
Edit 2: The 'delete' option is not shown on a comment edit. Again, all these accompanied by the app error.
October 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the word philippino
Yeah, but I wanted to get the QWERTY-thing in there. Unfortunately Philippines doesn't work!
October 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bumblebee
"Bum Bill Bee". One of the characters in Geo. Herriman's Krazy Kat cartoon strip.
October 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the word philippino
Right-hand QWERTY word.
October 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the word jeejah
The equivalent of an I-phone cum Blackberry in Neal Stephenson's Anathem.
October 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cruisin' for a bruisin'
Ripe for a fighp, don'tcha know. Watch it, Bucky!
October 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cartabla
A sort of Triple-A/GPS/google map jeejah in Neal Stephenson's Anathem.
October 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the list words-of-i-anathem-i
Stephenson's amazing, no? I'm about half way through Anathem and loving every minute of it!
October 27, 2008
oroboros commented on the list jihadmiration
Just noticed this. Nice going whichbe! Favorited.
October 27, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cate
A delicacy, a dainty.
October 26, 2008
oroboros commented on the word hawaii
According to Futility Closet, the only state whose boundary contains no straight line.
October 26, 2008
oroboros commented on the word rough-tough creampuff
See bar-tailed godwit.
October 25, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bar-tailed godwit
Yas, dem birdies is rough-tough creampuffs!
October 25, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bar-tailed godwit
Reesetee, I was surprised to find you hadn't listed this already! ;o)
October 24, 2008
oroboros commented on the word we're sorry but it's time to go
"I'm so glad we had this time together..." *pulls earlobe ala Carol Burnett*
October 24, 2008
oroboros commented on the word beg
Beg as in to seek vs. avoid, as in beg the question.
October 24, 2008
oroboros commented on the word soak
To be soaked in riches is the opposite of "soak the rich".
October 24, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bar-tailed godwit
One known as "E7" and complete with implanted transceiver, flew 7200 miles non-stop, according to biologist, Bob Gill.
October 24, 2008
oroboros commented on the word whisky
See the booze news.
October 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the word whisky
See whiskey.
Edit: for the liquor, both -y and -ey spelling is acceptable.
October 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the word excelsior!
Ever upward!
October 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the word flaming, gaping asshole
Uncomplimentary imputation, usually justly deserved. This imprecation just has the most satisfying mouth-feel, don'tcha think?
October 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the word didi mao
Vietnamese or maybe Thai for "bug out"..."get outta Dodge". Could be spelled deedee mao...don't know for sure.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word tabboomas
Motto for USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 70-02 (Feb., 1970), Laughlin AFB. Meaning: Take A Big Bite Out Of My Ass, Sir!
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cannibal
When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word k.o.
Knock Out blow. Also, see kayo.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the list last-words
Hey, whichbe. Can't decide whether sine qua non belongs. You be the decider.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word illegitimus non carborundum
Class motto for a USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training Class at Laughlin AFB, TX, ca. 1968. Latin for "Don't let the bastards get (grind) you down!"
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word merkin
But not hairy U-s ("Fine, thanks! You?).
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cult
Don't join dangerous cults, practice safe sects!
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word rehab
A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word atheism
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word silkworm
Two silkworms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word puppies
A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word envelope
No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word whiskey
She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word aleutian
I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word king arthur
The roundest knight at King Arthur's roundtable was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word witches' britches
See witches' knickers.
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word groin plate
I'm wondering if those are Brown Recluse spider boots? Don't think I'd accept any sizing for those...
October 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word plagiarism by anticipation
"The Oulipo described their work as analysis and synthesis. Anoulipo involved seeking out texts written using literary constraints since the beginning of the alphabet. The intention, according to Le Lionnais, is “to find possibilities that often exceed those their authors had anticipated.�? (Motte Oulipo 27) When an experiment that had been undertaken by a member of the Oulipo was found to have been tried in history, the previous attempt was called “plagiarism by anticipation.�? This joke suggests that the Oulipo considered their forms to be not entirely their intellectual property. These “plagiarists�? were acknowledged and honored. Georges Perec's “The History of the Lipogram�? traces the lipogram back to the origin of the alphabet with astonishing detail, including how many copies of certain texts he believes are still in existence."
--from an essay by William Gillespie
October 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the list oulipian-writing-techniques
For some info re: oulipo click here.
Also see plagiarism by anticipation.
October 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word word ladder
WORD
WOAD
ROAD
READ
REAL
PEAL
PEAT
PLAT
PLAY
See my Word Ladders list for a bunch more.
October 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word morton's toe
Thanks, frogapplause, I needed to know this. :o) In my experience, M's T is more the rule than the exception, especially if we look closely at most works of Classical art/statuary.
October 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word wittgenstein's fork
"The Brown Book contains a number of other significant ideas that are developed further in the Philosophical Investigations. Wittgenstein discusses rule following, arguing that there is no rock-bottom justification for the rules we follow and that we need not consciously follow or interpret a rule every time we obey a rule. He discusses the word can and the way that misunderstandings regarding this word give us mistaken notions about the past and future. He also discusses the distinction between seeing and seeing as, arguing that we can see a bunch of squiggles on a page as a face, but we cannot see a fork as a fork, since no alternative presents itself. In other words, when philosophers speak of seeing things “as themselves," in the sense of seeing things in their essence, such statements have no meaning. For example, it would not make sense to speak of seeing someone “as a human being" or “as a person" —there's no difference between that and how we normally see people."
--from SparkNotes.
October 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word morton's fork
Neat, sionnach! There's also Wittgenstein's Poker.
Edit: Oops! I see you've already got it. There's also Wittgenstein's Fork (qv.) (The Brown Book)
October 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word shit
How about: Shit! Yeah, that's right, shit!
You can smoke shit, buy shit, sell shit, lose shit, find shit, forget shit, and tell others to eat shit.
Some people know their shit, while others can't tell the difference between shit and Shinola.
There are lucky shits, dumb shits, and crazy shits. There is bull shit, horse shit, and chicken shit.
You can throw shit, sling shit, catch shit, shoot the shit, or duck when the shit hits the fan.
You can give a shit or serve it on a shingle.
You can find yourself in deep shit or be happier than a pig in shit.
Some days are colder than shit, some days are hotter than shit, and some days are just plain shitty.
Some music sounds like shit, things can look like shit, and there are times when you feel like shit.
You can have too much shit, not enough shit, the right shit, the wrong shit or a lot of weird shit.
You can carry shit, face a mountain of shit, or find yourself up shit creek without a paddle.
Sometimes everything you touch turns to shit and other times you fall in a bucket of shit and come out smelling like a rose.
When you stop to consider all the facts, it's the basic building block of the English language. And remember, once you know your shit, you don't need to know anything else!!
Well, shit! that's enough for now. Have a nice day, without a bunch of shit. But, if you happen to catch a load of shit from some shit-head.....well,
Shit Happens!!!
--from some wag, somewhere.
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word schrödinger's cat
Cecil Adams explains quantum physics in an epic poem.
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word waffle
Wow! That's about 500 more than there are Waffle Houses. Good show!!
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word wattle
You know, wattle and waffle would have the same definition...except for two very good reasons.
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word panmnesia
Or at least a friendly noogie. *not trying to change the subject*
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word gurn
Relation to gnar?
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word girdled loins
May they never be your lot...one way or the other.
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word underpants
Underpants are overrated! Pajamas too. 'Course I'm not commenting on my own proclivities, don'tcha know. Leastwise, probably mebbe.
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word fig newton
What Leibniz said under his breath every time his unique invention of the calculus was challenged.
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word hawaiian shirts
Huh! Well, I had an ancestor on the Mayflower that wore the first Hawaiian shirt(s). So there! Unfortunately, he didn't survive the trip...I'm told. Good thing he wasn't my only ancestor. Or, if he was, I'm just a Wordie fig newton (always a possibility--see solipsism or solecism).
October 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word poop
That's so, so something, I'm gonna put it in my Dyslexic's Delight list!
October 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word balonium
Watch radioactive balonium decay here.
October 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word squid
(S)uperconducting (Q)(U)antum (I)nterference (D)evice.
October 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word hawaiian shirts
Done!
October 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word automaticity
You beat me to this c_b. I wrote it down too but then dallied. Snooze ya looze, eh?
Edit: I should have said you beat me to the comment!
October 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word hawaiian shirts
I 'spect he has. After all, that's how you show that you've been to Hickalulu!
October 16, 2008
oroboros commented on the word military organization
See the Wiki link for various military unit sizes and organization.
October 16, 2008
oroboros commented on the word potoooooooo
A British race horse, son of "Eclipse," born in 1773. This last name, incidentally, was pronounced "potatoes," because if could be resolved into a homonym of "potatoes:" "POT" + EIGHT "O's."
--Language on Vacation by Dmitri A. Borgmann
October 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the word dinky dow
Vietnamese for crazy. Don't know if it's slang or not. Could be "dinky dao". Spelling was shown in ...and a hard rain fell: a GI's story of the War in Vietnam by John Ketwig (an amazing read--highly recommended).
October 8, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bell curve
Everybody's familiar with the bell curve. But nobody considers that other one, a second bell curve: x2 + y2 = 1, i.e., the circle. Dip the bell skirt in ink, plunk it down on paper and presto!
October 8, 2008
oroboros commented on the word long tail
Also see fat tail.
October 8, 2008
oroboros commented on the word power law
See fat tail and long tail and Wiki link.
October 8, 2008
oroboros commented on the word fat tail
In essence, as related to small-world network theory, the more connections a network node has, the fewer in number are such nodes. A graphing displays the classic "power law" pattern where the y axis = # of connections vs. the x axis = # of nodes with y connections generates a curve showing a rather steep fall-off--hence, the "fat tail".
October 8, 2008
oroboros commented on the word english
Whew! Telofy, you've got an intriguingly eccentric facility with English. Press on, amigo!
October 3, 2008
oroboros commented on the word doggles
Goggles worn by dogs as fashion statements, especially by Chihuahuas. :/
October 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word english
From an e-mail, author unknown. It's been around awhile but always fun to see again:
You think English is easy???
Read to the end . . . a new twist
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce .
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row ..
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted.. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?
You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .
There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?
We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many wa ys UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP...
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP!
Oh . . . one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U-P!
October 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word knobs
"Official designation for freshman cadets at The Citadel. Called such because their shaved heads resemble shiny door knobs." (Urban dictionary).
September 27, 2008
oroboros commented on the word features
Bilby; re: open lists reference you could do what Mollusque suggested below somewhere--add the URL of the open list to a list description created for that purpose. Another idea that struck: tag the latest word addition to an open list you want to go back to with "revisit" or some such.
September 26, 2008
oroboros commented on the word 7457
This page!!...it's a bleedin' mirkle!
September 24, 2008
oroboros commented on the word it's a bleedin' mirkle
See 7457.
September 24, 2008
oroboros commented on the word small-world
Name of the organization concept in network theory behind the "six degrees of separation" between any two points. Social networks are small-worlds; the organization of the brain is a small-world. Even the English language is a small-world.
More here.
September 24, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cadaver decapitator
This one's not in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, but I thought it deserved honorable mention. You'll find the job description and an interview with one in Mary Roach's Stiff. She interviews a woman whose job is cutting off cadaver heads for seminars/workshops in the medical profession, specifically: cosmetic surgery. Each head is mounted in a cereal bowl-like container and covered with a cloth prior to the physicians' entrance into the seminar room.
September 23, 2008
oroboros commented on the word solar eclipse
Solar eclipse as seen from the Mir space station.
September 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the word yummy
Yummy: typed with one finger only. See deeded, ceded and muumuu.
September 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ceded
Ceded: typed with one finger only. See muumuu, deeded and yummy.
September 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the word muumuu
Muumuu: Typed with one finger only. Check it out!
September 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the word kotzebue
So, go for it! ;o)
September 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word kotzebue
On Aug. 9 each year in the little Alaskan town of Kotzebue, the sun sets twice.
Due to a quirk of the town's location and time zone, the sun goes down just after midnight on that day—and then again just before the following midnight.
See picture here.
September 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word technophobia
What makes folks believers in hoax videos of cell phones popping popcorn and claims-cum-pictures of cell phones cooking eggs. See Snope's article for usage.
September 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word celeritas
The origin of the "c" in E = m c2. Latin for swiftness or speed as applicable to the speed of light.
September 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word big up
Also, to get pregnant, in Caribbean usage. More here.
September 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word the black spot
Treasure Island. See Wikipedia.
September 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word june gloom
See June gloom (or May gray).
September 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word may gray
See June gloom.
September 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word crack of dawn
See awake.
September 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word dawn
See awake.
September 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word david foster wallace
Yeah, what a loss. Jeez, one would hope such facility with language would somehow insulate...indemnify one from such a fate; alas, 'tis not so.
September 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word strown
See citation under truth.
September 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word faith
See truth for citation including faith.
September 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word truth
All Faith is false, all Faith is true:
Truth is the shattered mirror strown
In myriad bits; while each believes
his little bit the whole to own.
The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi, Richard F. Burton, translation
September 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word undertoad
The monster of the rip current that eats unwary chilluns.
September 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word mnemonic
Beware the undertoad!
September 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word agnosia
Cf. jamais vu.
September 13, 2008
oroboros commented on the word agnoia
"Thus it is called Void, Sunyata, Empty, Agnoia--which means only that all thoughts and propositions about reality are void and invalid.
--Ken Wilber
September 13, 2008
oroboros commented on the word fireflies
"It is dusk in the tropical rainforest of Papua, New Guinea. As the shrieking of parrots and parakeets fades and the tree kangaroos settle in for a long night, fireflies by the million are taking to the air and lighting it up like tiny flickering stars. For a while the fireflies' erratic flashing will animate the darkening air with a gentle, luminescent chaos. But as evening turns to night, the chaos will give way to one of nature's most bizarre displays. Fireflies, first in pairs, then in groups of three, ten, a hundred, and a thousand, will begin to pulse in near-perfect synchrony. By midnight, entire trees and clumps of trees will be flashing on and off with the crisp clarity of neon signs.
'Imagine a tree thirty-five to forty feet high,' an eyewitness once wrote.'...apparently with a firefly on every leaf and all the fireflies flashing in perfect unison at the rate of about three times in two seconds, the tree being in complete darkness between flashes...Imagine a tenth of a mile of river front with an unbroken line of mangrove trees with fireflies on every leaf flashing in synchronism, the insects on the trees at the ends of the line acting in perfect unison with those between. Then if one's imagination is sufficiently vivid, he may form some conception of this amazing spectacle.'
It is more than a spectacle. It is also a scientific enigma."
--NEXUS: SMALL WORLDS and the Groundbreaking THEORY OF NETWORKS by Mark Buchanan, p. 48
edit: there are only a handful of firefly species that can do this...
September 13, 2008
oroboros commented on the word womyn
Interesting. The 'y' also has anatomical implications, n'est-ce pas? An extra dimension of symbolism.
September 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word asparagine
Makes your pee smell funny! See Wiki link.
September 6, 2008
oroboros commented on the word watership down - adams
Nice bunnies! Try Dunction Wood by Horwood. It's about moles...
September 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word harvey penick's little red book - penick
My goodness dontcry, this is a classic! You must be a golfer, hmmmm?
September 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word muggle
Also used today on NPR's Says You "which is the real definition" segment of the show. Real definition: a man with a tail.
August 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the list towns-with-sizeable-albino-squirrel-populations
Don't call me Shirley! ;o)
Albino Squirrel Preservation Society
August 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the word winnie the pooh
See Winnie-the-Pooh for comments and links.
August 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the word winnie-the-pooh
En route to a training camp in Quebec during World War I, Canadian army lieutenant Harry Colebourn bought a bear cub for $20 from a hunter in White River, Ontario. He named her Winnipeg, after his hometown, and smuggled her to England, where "Winnie" became the mascot of his militia regiment.
Eventually he donated her to the London Zoo, where she became a great favorite of Christopher Robin Milne, the son of a local playwright. You know the rest.
Here's the original Winnie. And here's some "pooh" on A. A. Milne.
August 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the word spit-it
"Next morning we splinter off into our groups. My tutor is another popular English medium. She is reminiscent of Elizabeth Taylor in her forties: a rolling terrain of voluptuousness and eye shadow, balanced on tiny, dressy black heels. Mediumship came to her one night when she went to see a gypsy. She describes a curtain opening in her mind's eye and suddenly there they were: the spit-its, to use her pronunciation."
--Mary Roach, Spook; Science Tackles the Afterlife p. 173 (A very good and FUNNY book.)
August 30, 2008
oroboros commented on the word flea
flea: circus employee?
August 25, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cogito ergo sum
Descartes goes into a bar and orders a beer. After he finishes his drink the bartender asks him if he wants another one. "I think not," Descartes replies. Then he disappears.
August 25, 2008
oroboros commented on the word love
The Love Attitude Scale (LAS), including movie and book examples of various types of love.
August 23, 2008
oroboros commented on the word macaw
Blue macaw
August 23, 2008
oroboros commented on the word inconsequential
inCOnseqUeNTial. If something counts it's hardly inconsequential.
August 23, 2008
oroboros commented on the word aggrandize
aggRAndiZE. Build up vs. tear down.
August 23, 2008
oroboros commented on the word earlid
The antidote for earworm.
"The response is not only emotional but involuntary. It's not just that we don't have earlids to shut out unwanted sounds. Once a word is seen or heard, we are incapable of treating it as a squiggle or noise; we reflexively look it up in memory and respond to its meaning, including its connotation."
--What the F***? Why We Curse article by Steven Pinker in The New Republic. See chained_bear's list.
August 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the list filmscript
Ah, Hollywoodland! Here's an online glossary of movie terms.
August 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word paralian
:o)
August 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word paralian
One who lives near the sea.
August 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word psience
"...is a view of existence significantly different from the conventional religious and scientific perspectives but incorporating elements of each. According to Judeo-Christian theology, the universe was created by God, man's reason cannot comprehend the manner of its creation, and that there will be a final day of judgment. Science accepts the historicity of creation in the first law of thermodynamics. In the second law of thermodynamics science accepts both the inability of man to comprehend the creation and the finality of some future. Psience, in contrast, denies the linearity of progression from Genesis to Eschaton, asserting instead that creation is a continuous process with beginning or end, and when so recognized, a process within the reach of man's reason."
--PSIENCE: A General Theory of Existence by J.W. Nicholas p. 13
See krankenphilosophie.
And this from PSIence: How new discoveries in quantum physics and new science may explain the existence of paranormal phenomena by Marie D. Jones, p. 200:
"What is the door between the implicate and explicate order of things? What is the one thing that stands between the normal and paranormal, the natural and the supernatural, the science and the psience?
I'll give you a hint. If you are alive and breathing...you have one."
August 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word krankenphilosophie
"...playing theoretical tennis without a net...reasoning, sometimes plausibly and cogently sometimes not, from inadequate premises."
--PSIENCE: A General Theory of Existence by J. W. Nicholas, p.9 of "Caveat Lector" by Richard De Mille
August 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word what is the name of this book
Any time, rt. Happy to hep out!
August 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word s l o w
M o l a s s e s i n J a n u a r y.
August 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word steal this book
By the ever-inciteful Abbie Hoffman.
August 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word what is the name of this book
Subtitle: The Riddle of Dracula and other Logical Puzzles.
August 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the list oddest-book-title-of-the-year
This probably isn't a list-maker but I've always admired Raymond Smullyan's What is the Name of this Book?. Oh, and also Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book.
August 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word termesphere
"Six-point perspective" landscape painted on a sphere by Dick Termes makes a termesphere, complete with a neat optical illusion. See a video of one here. And the 3-month creation of one shown in three minutes here.
August 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word presque vu
That "right on the tip of my tongue" feeling.
August 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word jamais vu
Antonym of deja vu. See Wiki link.
Also Cf. agnosia.
August 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the list d-oh
Thanks, y'all!
August 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word coif
See if you can come up with a rhyming word for coif.
August 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word offence
Variant of offense.
August 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ignivomous
"vomiting fire"; volcanic
August 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bugs
Attempting to view tag words in cloud format still gives a 500 Application Error. I see that VanishedOne broached this eight months ago. I just wanted to make sure it's on your to-do list, John. It would be a handy display to have for voluminously worded tags.
Edit: Well, dog my cats! Cloud format for the tag "ghosted" gives the 500 error, but, so far, other tag cloud function works fine. Must be something to do with all the words being unlisted. Go calculate!
August 13, 2008
oroboros commented on the word homer simpson
You know what the "S" stands for in Ulysses S. Grant? You guessed it!: Simpson
August 13, 2008
oroboros commented on the list vicious-sheep
How 'bout Monty Python's cave-dwelling attack bunny?
August 12, 2008
oroboros commented on the word gunge
See gound.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word gound
This word's gotta be related to gunge...maybe? Used it a lot in my surfing days.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word indivisible
....invisible, with Bertie and juice for all. ;o)
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ruffing
Interesting. Also, without the 'ing', the name of many a mutt, and of which they must be proud since they say it so often!
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word debag
One of Ammon Shea's favorites from his year of reading the OED. "To strip the pants from a person."
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word debagged
See debag.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ruffing
Making applause with the stomping of feet, NOT talking goodnaturedly with your dog! ;o)
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word slumlord
See dilapidator.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word dilapidator
Slumlord
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word xanthodontous
Having yellow-colored teeth, like a rodent.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word secretary
According to Ammon Shea, the OED says secretary meant, in the 4th century, "one privy to a secret".
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word fracteur
Wow! All over sudden Wordiemates come to the rescue! Thanks all! I'm so edified I could just...(!) :o)
FWIW, in the citation below, the "parcel" was a stack of purloined banknotes, which helped Napoleon Bonaparte ("Bony") the peerless aborigine solve the perfect crime!
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word dulosis
The enslavement of an ant colony or its members by ants of a different species. See dulocracy.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word dulocracy
Rule by slaves. See dulosis.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bemissionary
Pester with missionaries.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bedinner
To wine and dine.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word peracme
See paracme.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word secret pal
My Mom was a charter member of the Santa Barbara "Modern Mother's Club." Begun just after WW II, all members had small children and were united in mutual support activities. The club mothers did volunteer work, held rummage sales and (as the years passed and toddlers grew to college age) gave cash grants to college freshmen for their first book buying needs. Another of the club's traditions was that everybody had a secret pal, one who bestowed, anonymously, small gifts and/or surreptitiously benefited their assigned secret pal for the year. Eventually, every mother had been a secret pal to every other and the round commenced again. I always was intrigued with the concept and hereby immortalize it on Wordie, as well as tag it "mom" in her loving memory. Mom was always my secret pal.
August 9, 2008
oroboros commented on the word aboiement
I can whistle some bird songs, especially mountain Chickadees and lesser Goldfinches. But I always say "quack" to Crows, Steller's and Scrub Jays...just to piss 'em off! Oh, and mooing at cows, and calling all dogs "Ralph" is always fun! "Hey, Ralph! Howzit?" :oP
August 8, 2008
oroboros commented on the word individual
indiviDUAL
August 8, 2008
oroboros commented on the user bilby
Reiteration:
Hey bilby! Can you help out with fracteur (see citation on word page)? Also, see my recent comments under c_b's profile.
Arthur Upfield's mysteries are set in Australia circa 1930s.
Thanks.
August 7, 2008
oroboros commented on the list fly-me-to-the-moons
Nice list, she! This will be my reference when I'm stumped on the crossword clue: "an orb of Jupiter" or suchlike. ;o)
August 7, 2008
oroboros commented on the word thebe
The·be (th bee): Moon of Jupiter: a small natural satellite of Jupiter, discovered in 1980. With a diameter of 100 km (60 mi), it is Jupiter's fourth most distant satellite, orbiting at a distance of 222,000 km (138,000 mi).
August 7, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk
I believe I was the first to list this word, but couldn't figure out why Asativum was shown as a first-lister and I wasn't shown at all.
Then, I finally saw that my word has a period at the end (due to a sloppy cut/paste)! Sic transit gloria mundi! :oD
August 6, 2008
oroboros commented on the word everybody's right
...and if you don't believe it, you're right!!
See citation under truth.
August 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word sudhakar s. dikshit
An editor in Bombay, India. He edited I AM THAT, a compendium of Sri Nisargadatta's talks.
August 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word aristophanes
NOT aristo-fanes, as my cousin pronounced it aloud in a reading-to-class once...to her vast and enduring chagrin.
August 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bored
C_b, how can you be bored when schadenfreudgeon is dying to be listed?
August 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word frog
Do frog's use their front feet or their croaker to applaud? :o/
August 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word secret santa
See mandatory picnic and/or this list.
August 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word you know
See like.
August 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word frog
See nobody.
August 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word nobody
I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us - don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know!
How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one's name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
--Emily Dickinson
August 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word fraction
fRAcTIOn
August 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word enfolded
See implicate for usage note.
August 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word explicate
See implicate for usage note.
August 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word implicate
"...a new notion of order, that may be appropriate to a universe of unbroken wholeness. This is the implicate or enfolded order. In the enfolded order space and time are no longer the dominant factors determining the relationships of the dependence or independence of different elements. Rather, an entirely different sort of basic connection of elements is possible from which our ordinary notions of space and time, along with those of separately existent material particles, are abstracted as forms derived from the deeper order. These ordinary notions in fact appear in what is called the explicate or unfolded order, which is a special and distinguished form contained within the general totality of all the implicate orders."
Wholeness and the Implicate Order by Jacob Bohm, p.xv of Introduction
August 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bunny
()()
(=*=)
(! !)
(_)_(_)
August 3, 2008
oroboros commented on the word condorcet's paradox
Suppose we hold an election with three candidates, X, Y, and Z. And suppose the voters fall into three groups:
Group 1 prefers, in order, X, Y, Z
Group 2 prefers, in order, Y, Z, X
Group 3 prefers, in order, Z, X, Y
Now, if Candidate X wins, his opponents can rightly object that a majority of voters would have preferred Candidate Z. And corresponding arguments can be made against the other candidates. So even though we've held a fair election, it's impossible to establish majority rule.
The Marquis de Condorcet noted this oddity in the 1700s; it's sometimes known as Condorcet's paradox.
--From Futility Closet.com
August 3, 2008
oroboros commented on the word mirror neuron
As V.S. Ramachandran explains in a now famous article, “The Neurology of Self Awareness�?: “The discovery of mirror neurons was made by G. Rizzolati, V. Gallase and I. Iaccoboni while recording from the brains of monkeys performing certain goal-directed voluntary actions. For instance when the monkey reached for a peanut a certain neuron in its pre motor cortex (in the frontal lobes) would fire. Another neuron would fire when the monkey pushed a button, a third neuron when he pulled a lever. The existence of such Command neurons that control voluntary movements has been known for decades. Amazingly, a subset of these neurons had an additional peculiar property. The neuron fired not only (say) when the monkey reached for a peanut but also when it watched another monkey reach for a peanut!�?
“These were dubbed "mirror neurons‟ or "monkey-see-monkey-do‟ neurons. This was an extraordinary observation because it implies that the neuron (or more accurately, the network which it is part of) was not only generating a highly specific command ("reach for the nut‟) but was capable of adopting another monkey's point of view. It was doing a sort of internal virtual reality simulation of the other monkeys action in order to figure out what he was "up to‟. It was, in short, a "mind-reading‟ neuron.�?
--From Is Consciousness Physical? by David and Andrea Lane, p.21
August 3, 2008
oroboros commented on the word pundit
See pandit.
August 3, 2008
oroboros commented on the word pandit
See pundit.
August 3, 2008
oroboros commented on the list identify-the-wordie-2
This was great fun. Mortifying, but great fun! Thanks bilby. Now get back to your usual irreverence! ;oP
August 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word wag
(W)ild (A)ss (G)uess
August 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the list identify-the-wordie-2
Okay, here's my WAG:
asativum : thoughtful
bilby : groovin'
chained_bear : stripper
darqueau : goodbye
dontcry : sigh
frogapplause : quixotic
gangerh : hunky-dory
john : wabe
oroboros : woof!
palooka : relaxed
plethora : bladder
prolagus : cred-herring
pterodactyl : mojo
rolig : psychasthenic
seanahan : inexorable
sionnach : pluripotent
skipvia : ingenue
whichbe : yarb
yarb : cavalier
(All editing concluded; enough already!)(Wait! NOW it's done. I wash my hands...)(would you believe NOW! Foo!)
August 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word monstersnapple, monstercrackle and...
I'll understand if you wanna delete this!! ;o)
July 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the word callipygienthusiasm
"Are you a leg-man, a breast-man or a callipygienthusiast?"
July 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the word booty beauty
Callipygienthusiasm!
July 31, 2008
oroboros commented on the user chained_bear
Thanks c_b! I'll have to get Bilby on it 'cause Upfield's mysteries are set in Australia circa 1930s. I can recommend them for outback and abo lore. His work was admired by, and inspired Tony Hillerman, among others.
July 30, 2008
oroboros commented on the word skillagalee
A worthless coin, according to The Master Crossword Puzzle Dictionary--An Unabridged Word Bank, H.M. Baus, ed.
Also, an island in Lake Michigan.
July 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the list keeping-secrets
All of frogapplause's (and other's) suggestions that weren't entered on my list have been tagged "ten different letters" to make them accessible to any who may be interested.
July 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the user chained_bear
Hey C_b! I can't find fracteur (see the usage note on the word page).in my compact edition of the OED. Don't you have access to the online OED? Would appreciate your looking there if so. Maybe it's a French word (although I couldn't find it in any dictionary). Thanks.
July 29, 2008
oroboros commented on the user brookdale_chick
Thanks for the attaboy, B_c! It's easy to see you're a real random corker! ;o)
July 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word nowhere
See abjurer for an interesting fact.
July 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word abjurer
ROT13 is a simple way to encipher a message: Just advance each of its letters 13 positions forward in the alphabet. Thus ABC becomes NOP, FUR becomes SHE, and EBBS becomes ROOF.
Curiously, ABJURER and NOWHERE … become each other.
--Thanks to Futility Closet
July 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word erode
The route your Instant Messaging takes in cyberspace?
From "Wiley's Dictionary" (B.C. comic strip)
July 26, 2008
oroboros commented on the word fracteur
"Within was a parcel wrapped in black waterproof cloth, used at one time for protecting fracteur from damp."
--Arthur W. Upfield, The Sands of Windee, p.102
Note: I've been unable to find this word in my compact edition of the OED. Can anybody help with the definition?
July 26, 2008
oroboros commented on the word tennis effect
Applies to the players POV (e.g., service court) as much as the observers in the stands!
July 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the word point nemo
The "oceanic pole of inaccessibility." If you want to be really, really alone, head for 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W in the South Pacific Ocean. That's "Point Nemo," the point in the ocean farthest from any land. You'll be in the middle of 22,405,411 square kilometers of ocean, an area larger than the entire former Soviet Union.
Never been there.
Its twin, the point on land farthest from any ocean, is at 46°16.8′N 86°40.2′E, outside the Chinese city of Urumqi, in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert. It's 1,645 miles from the nearest coastline.
Never been there either...and not on any fancied future itinerary--you can count on it!
Thanks to Futility Closet.com
July 22, 2008
oroboros commented on the list let-s-go-strap-on-the-ole-air-chine-and-bore-holes-in-the-sky
Thanks, all!
July 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word leaves
"Leaves are silences
around flowers which are their words."
--R. Tagore, Fireflies
July 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ily
Maybe a typo of lily?
July 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bee
Occasional bonnet occupant?
July 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
My goodness, FA! You're prolific. Thanks muchly. :-)
BTW, love the comics!
July 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word plastic surgeon
"The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken. I have never before had occasion to make the comparison, for never before today have I seen a head in a roasting pan. But here are forty of them, one per pan, resting face-up on what looks to be a small pet-food bowl. The heads are for plastic surgeons, two per head, to practice on. I'm observing a facial anatomy and face-lift refresher course, sponsored by a southern university medical center and led by a half-dozen of America's most sought-after face-lifters."
--Mary Roach, Stiff, p. 19
July 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word shit no-fly list
No shit, no service! ;o)
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the list keeping-secrets
Html problem fixed...I hope. BTW, thanks for all the suggestions; however, I'm not using -s plurals.
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word mother's day
See Keeping Secrets list
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the user bilby
Presumptious
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word dumbwaiter
See "Keeping Secrets" list for a bunch more codewords.
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word mcjobs
The Age of Aquarius, for example, did not bring enlightenment, peace, and love, as we hoped, but professional anxieties and family duties spiced up with AIDS, McJobs, lessness, and biological warfare."
--Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe (Reinventing Physics From The Bottom Down), p.205
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word lessness
The Age of Aquarius, for example, did not bring enlightenment, peace, and love, as we hoped, but professional anxieties and family duties spiced up with AIDS, McJobs, lessness, and biological warfare."
--Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe (Reinventing Physics From The Bottom Down), p.205
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word boatercade
Used on the TV news to describe the Pope's boat tour of the Sydney Harbor sights.
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the user bilby
Thanks for your suggestions. You may want to look at the list again, as I've changed it to "Keeping Secrets," more in line with the original intent of the list--which you might find interesting...
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the user frogapplause
Thanks for your suggestions. You may want to look at the list again, as I've changed it to "Keeping Secrets," more in line with the original intent of the list--which you might find interesting...
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word tzitzimitl
Plural: tzitzimimeh. Aztec star deities. Also see tzitzimime.
July 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the user whichbe
Thanks for the Gramogram additions, whichbe. Good work!
July 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word π day
See pi day.
July 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the list lispers-nemeses
Sister Susie's sewing shirts for soldiers
Such skill at sewing shirts as shy young sister Susie shows
Some soldiers sent epistles said they'd rather sleep on thistles
Than the saucy soft shirts for soldiers sister Susie sews
July 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word euler's identity
Said by some (confused and not so confused) mathematicians to be the most mysterious, elegantly beautiful and bamboozling equation known to man.
More here.
July 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word e^πi + 1 = 0
eiπ + 1 = 0
Euler's Identity. Said by some (confused) mathematicians to be the most mysterious and bamboozling equation known to man.
More here.
July 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word cats
No cat has two tails.
Every cat has one tail more than no cat.
Therefore every cat has three tails.
--from Futility Closet
July 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word mathematics
9 × 9 + 7 = 88
98 × 9 + 6 = 888
987 × 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 × 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 × 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 × 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 × 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 × 9 + 0 = 888888888
987654321 x 9 - 1 = 8888888888
--From: Futility Closet
(BTW, 80/81 = .987654321 with rounding)
July 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word fireflies
I'm wondering if ol' Rabindranath gave that any thought?
July 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word fireflies
The fireflies, twinkling among the leaves,
make the stars wonder.
--Rabindranath Tagore, Fireflies
July 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bubbles
In its swelling pride
the bubble doubts the truth of the sea,
and laughs and bursts into emptiness.
--Rabindranath Tagore, Fireflies
July 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word feather
Nothing is heavier than lead.
Feathers are heavier than nothing.
Therefore feathers are heavier than lead.
(after all, two pounds of feathers weigh more than one pound of lead, right?)
From The Futility Closet.com
July 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word prime
Here are some interesting primes:
7
97
397
9397
39397
739397
73939
7393
739
73
7
From The Futility Closet (where you'll see the proper grid arrangement I couldn't reproduce here).
July 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word chalkboard
Before his students arrived for a graduate course in logic, Raymond Smullyan wrote on the blackboard:
PLEASE DO NOT ERASE — BECAUSE IF YOU DO, THOSE WHO COME LATER WON'T KNOW THAT THEY SHOULDN'T ERASE.
July 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word pulpeteer
"The pulpeteers make "infidelity" their texts, it is true, but it takes a really ardent church-goer, among really intelligent classes of church-goers, not to compare the keen, lucid reasoning of our modern scientific writers with the mystic, turgid, involved utterances of the Bible, greatly to the latter's disadvantage." --Edgar Fawcett, Agnosticism and Other Essays (see agnosticism for link)
July 12, 2008
oroboros commented on the word agnosticism
Here's an elegant and suasive essay: Agnosticism and Other Essays, by Edgar Fawcett.
July 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ignis fatuus
"With wings wrought from rainbows and eyes from stars, it is but the intangible child of story, song and dream."
--Agnosticism and Other Essays by Edgar Fawcett
(q.v.,agnosticism for link)
July 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the list end-in-kin
catkin
July 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the user bilby
Thanks for the input on "Boon Companions" bilby. BTW, Walt Kelly of the Pogo comics fame used a lot of Aussieisms (?) in the strip from time to time. I get most of 'em but can you enlighten me as to the meaning of "the dinkum oil"? --> The "*something* all"?
July 10, 2008
oroboros commented on the word guarantee
GuaRANTee
July 10, 2008
oroboros commented on the word agreement
AgreeMENt
July 8, 2008
oroboros commented on the word staycation
We're going to see a lot more of this word with $5.00 gas!
July 7, 2008
oroboros commented on the word metaphor
Metaphors found in high school essays: Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual similes and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are some of the best:
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Jeopardy" comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30.
Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like "Second Tall Man."
Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.
His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon.
Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant with cement shoes, and she was the East River.
Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for awhile.
He was as lame as a duck--not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
(And a few really gross ones. Caveat lector!)
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with Hungry-Man soup.
July 7, 2008
oroboros commented on the word murphy's law
Nice, Prolagus. Thanks! Interesting study.
July 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the user galoot
Hi galoot. Did you mean opsimath above?
July 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word murphy's law
"Murphy's Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will. According to the USAF Flight Test Center History Office, Murphy's Law was born at Edwards AFB in 1949. It was named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on a project for determining how much sudden deceleration a person can withstand in a crash..."
--Robert B. Laughlin, A Different Universe (Reinventing Physics From the Bottom Down), p. 225, note 14.
July 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ponderability
In Franklin Merrell-Wolff's usage: materiality, physicality. See substance.
July 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word substance
Substantiality is inversely proportional to ponderability (S = 1/P). See "Physics and Yoga" comment under yoga.
July 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word mandala
See integral sphere.
July 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word sphere
See integral sphere.
July 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word physics
See comment "Physics and Yoga" under yoga for a synthesis.
July 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word yoga
"In Chapter 61 of Pathways Through to Space, Franklin Merrell-Wolff makes the bold assertion that physics can be a path to mystical Realization..."
--Tom McFarlane in Physics A Peculiarly Beautiful Path To Yoga
July 1, 2008
oroboros commented on the word beneffective
"Another major source of self-deception has to do with self-promotion, self-exaggeration on the positive side, denial on the negative, all in the name of producing an image that we are “beneffective,�? to use Anthony Greenwald’s apt term, toward others. That is, we benefit others and are effective when we do it. If you ask high school seniors in the United States to rank themselves on leadership ability, fully 80% say they have better than average abilities, but for true feats of self-deception you can hardly beat the academic profession. When you ask professors to rate themselves, an almost unanimous 94% say they are in the top half of the profession!..."
--Robert Trivers The Elements of a Scientific Theory of Self-Deception
June 30, 2008
oroboros commented on the list things-i-do-not-wear-when-i-sleep
A chastity belt?
June 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word integral sphere
Tom McFarlane in The Integral Sphere: A Mathematical Mandala of Reality presents a dynamic mathematical mandala which can be seen as an integral model of reality. In contrast with conventional two-dimensional mandalas, the mandala described here is a sphere in three (or more) dimensions. Moreover, through a process of breaking the perfect symmetry of the three-dimensional sphere and then projecting the sphere onto a plane, the sphere is related to conventional linear, planar mandalas and unfolds their implicit archetypal structures. For example, a mandala with many similarities to Ken Wilber's Four Quadrant model of the Kosmos is unfolded as a special case of the spherical mandala. A four-dimensional integral sphere also contains Wilber's nested spheres as a special case. Higher dimensional spheres can be used to represent additional aspects of existence. The paper also shows how the present model provides a tool for facilitating complex thinking with fundamental categories, revealing how they interpenetrate and transform into each other.
June 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word workaholic
From Answers.com: The founding of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935 focused attention on alcohol addiction, as well as AA's 12-step program and "support group" (1969) meetings for dealing with addictions. In the 1960s, someone had the idea of taking -holic as a suffix meaning "addict", and a whole new category of addictions followed. One of the first and most important is workaholic. It was announced in the 1968 article "On Being a 'Workaholic' (A serious Jest)" in the journal Pastoral Psychology: "I have dubbed this addiction of myself and my fellow ministers 'workaholism,'" wrote Wayne Oates, a professor of psychology of religion at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. However, it was the appearance of Oates's book Confessions of a Workaholic in 1971 that propelled that term and prompted many writers to start using the suffixes -aholic, -holic, or -oholic to describe "all-consuming obsessions," not all of them so serious.
June 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word wiggle-giggle gaggle
Jennarenn's third-graders on a field trip?
June 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word trenchant
trENCHANT. The trenchant is hardly enchanting.
Trench ants can be trenchant beasties should they get in your pants.
June 28, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ajaja
One of the scientific names for the roseate spoonbill, a wading bird related to the ibis
June 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word yreka bakery
"The name of a bakery at 322 West Miner Street, in Yreka, CA." --Dmitri Borgmann in Language on Vacation p.21.
See "trivia" entry under Yreka, CA.
June 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word wassamassaw
The name of a swamp in South Carolina, north of Charleston (the northern extension of the Cypress Swamp). Legend has it that the Indian meaning of the palindrome is "the worst place ever seen".
Found in Dimitri Borgmann's Language on Vacation p. 21. (currently out of print). Also see John's comment under detartrated.
June 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word har-har
har-har --> rah-rah
June 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word sohos
Exclamations used in hunting.
June 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word retter
One who exposes flax to moisture (rets it).
June 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word dewed
Made wet with dew.
June 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word triennially
Contains two different words using alternate letters only:
From 'T': tinily. From 'R': renal.
June 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word a miniature, two-holer, outhouse
Found in a thrift store; about 5 inches high--so cute I just couldn't live without it! ;o) Unfortunately the door with the half-moon cut in it doesn't quite close completely (no latch).
June 21, 2008
oroboros commented on the word miscommunication
MiscOmmunicAtioN. Moan of agony vs. moan of ecstatic transport?
June 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word conversation
cOnveRsATION. This word could go on either Kangaroo Word list: an oration is a conversation of sorts.
June 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word stir
Stir in the sense of moving around vs. being locked up.
June 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word her
HEr
June 20, 2008
oroboros commented on the word evitative
The quality of shunning; avoidance.
June 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the word misdoubt
Apprehension of evil; fear; suspicion. OED. This word seems counterintuitive to me. To misdoubt would seem to be a misplaced or imperfect doubt such that it should be a form of trust rather than doubt.
June 19, 2008
oroboros commented on the list kangaroo-words
Well, we know he certainly wasn't a COD...'tho maybe a CAD!
June 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the list kangaroo-words
Hey m.! That's a new wrinkle. Seems good to me; go for it!
June 18, 2008
oroboros commented on the word spelling
I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, lough and through?
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird,
And dead: it's said like bed, not bead -
For goodness sake don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt).
A moth is not a moth in mother,
Nor both in bother, broth in brother,
And here is not a match for there
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
And then there's dose and rose and lose -
Just look them up - and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward,
And font and front and word and sword,
And do and go and thwart and cart -
Come, come, I've hardly made a start!
A dreadful language? Man alive!
I'd mastered it when I was five!
--Quoted by Vivian Cook and Melvin Bragg 2004,
by Richard Krogh, in D Bolinger & D A Sears, Aspects of Language, 1981,and in Spelling Progress Bulletin March 1961, Brush up on your English.
More here.
June 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word aristocrat
aristocRAT
June 17, 2008
oroboros commented on the word luminary
LumInARy
June 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word straight
stRaIGHT
aTRAIghT
sTraIGHT
StrAiGht
June 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word stentor
sTENtOR
June 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word creature
CreATure
cReATure
CreatURe
June 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word none
nONE
June 15, 2008
oroboros commented on the word poise
POiSE
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word abbreviation
abbReviATION
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word lavish
LAviSH
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word musical wordplay
Yeah, how 'bout that! Artistic license? :o)
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word miscommunication
The penalty for communicating badly.
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word musical wordplay
Discovered at Eric Harshbarger's LOGOLOG
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word kramer's remark
A week or so ago a controversy erupted in the entertainment world when a former cast member of the television show Seinfeld ranted with a racially insensitve diatribe. I'm not going to dwell on the topic at all other than to mention that I was disappointed that not once did I see a news article refer to the incident with this palindromic headline: Kramer's Remark
When will such a logological opportunity possibly present itself again?
-- Eric Harshbarger at LOGOLOG.
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word spendthrift
"Spendthrift" is one of those words that always confuses me. I always think it means the opposite of what it actually does.
To me I think that it would mean being "thrifty" ("tight", "frugal") with one's "spending".
It actually means being wasteful with one's money. This comes from the fact that "thrift" as a noun means one's fortune or savings, so one who is a spendthrift literally spends his savings (presumably with little prudence).
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word handle
See prochlorococcus.
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word prochlorococcus
An important wee beastie discovered only 22 years ago. The bottom of the food chain and responsible for the oxygen in one of your every five breaths. More here.
Also neat for having four 'c's and four 'o's in its handle!
June 14, 2008
oroboros commented on the word bible
THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE BIBLE – ANSWERS TO A ROMAN CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEST – WERE WRITTEN BY CHILDREN. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RETOUCHED OR CORRECTED.
1. IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, GUINESSIS. GOD GOT TIRED OF CREATING THE WORLD SO HE TOOK THE SABBATH OFF.
2. ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED FROM AN APPLE TREE. NOAH'S WIFE WAS JOAN OF ARK. NOAH BUILT AND ARK AND THE ANIMALS CAME ON IN PEARS.
3. LOTS WIFE WAS A PILLAR OF SALT DURING THE DAY, BUT A BALL OF FIRE DURING THE NIGHT.
4. THE JEWS WERE A PROUD PEOPLE AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY THEY HAD TROUBLE WITH UNSYMPATHETIC GENITALS.
5 . SAMPSON WAS A STRONGMAN WHO LET HIMSELF BE LED ASTRAY BY A JEZEBEL LIKE DELILAH.
6. SAMSON SLAYED THE PHILISTINES WITH THE AXE OF THE APOSTLES.
7. MOSES LED THE JEWS TO THE RED SEA WHERE THEY MADE UNLEAVENED BREAD WHICH IS BREAD WITHOUT ANY INGREDIENTS.
8, THE EGYPTIANS WERE ALL DROWNED IN THE DESSERT. AFTER WARDS, MOSES WENT UP TO MOUNT CYANIDE TO GET THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
9. THE FIRST COMMANDMENTS WAS WHEN EVE TOLD ADAM TO EAT THE APPLE.
10. THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT IS THOU SHALT NOT ADMIT ADULTERY.
11. MOSES DIED BEFORE HE EVER REACHED CANADA .. THEN JOSHUA LED THE HEBREWS IN THE BATTLE OF GERITOL.
12. THE GREATEST MIRICLE IN THE BIBLE IS WHEN JOSHUA TOLD HIS SON TO STAND STILL AND HE OBEYED HIM.
13. DAVID WAS A HEBREW KING WHO WAS SKILLED AT PLAYING THE LIAR. HE FOUGHT THE FINKELSTEINS, A RACE OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN BIBLICAL TIMES.
14. SOLOMON, ONE OF DAVIDS SONS, HAD 300 WIVES AND 700 PORCUPINES.
15. WHEN MARY HEARD SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF JESUS, SHE SANG THE MAGNA CARTA.
16. WHEN THE THREE WISE GUYS FROM THE EAST SIDE ARRIVED THEY FOUND JESUS IN THE MANAGER.
17. JESUS WAS BORN BECAUSE MARY HAD AN IMMACULATE CONTRAPTION.
18. ST. JOHN THE BLACKSMITH DUMPED WATER ON HIS HEAD.
19. JESUS ENUNCIATED THE GOLDEN RULE, WHICH SAYS TO DO UNTO OTHERS BEFORE THEY DO ONE TO YOU. HE ALSO EXPLAINED A MAN DOTH NOT LIVE BY SWEAT ALONE..
20. IT WAS A MIRICLE WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND MANAGED TO GET THE TOMBSTONE OFF THE ENTRANCE.
21. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LORD WERE CALLED THE 12 DECIBELS.
22. THE EPISTELS WERE THE WIVES OF THE APOSTLES.
23. ONE OF THE OPPOSSUMS WAS ST. MATTHEW WHO WAS ALSO A TAXIMAN.
24. ST. PAUL CAVORTED TO CHRISTIANITY, HE PREACHED HOLY ACRIMONY WHICH IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MARRAIGE.
25. CHRISTIANS HAVE ONLY ONE SPOUSE . THIS IS CALLED MONOTONY
June 13, 2008
oroboros commented on the word pms
An ovary-action?
June 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the word periodic table of the internet
Periodic Table of the Internet. Colorful!
June 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the word olam
OED: A vast period of time, an age, through a succession of which the universe or the earth has supposedly passed.
June 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the word falsie
A 14 oz. "pint" draft beer. Thickened bottom allows the house to help ends meet in these days of "cost cutting" to make a buck. Heard on NPR.
June 11, 2008
oroboros commented on the list lifehacking
Don't know whether this is appropriate for your list: Tasit: Awareness of Social Inference Test. Don't miss the video embedded in the article.
June 5, 2008
oroboros commented on the word para-palindrome
An almost palindrome (off by a letter: e.g., BaTHTuB. See Eric Harshbarger's LOGOLOG.
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word dvd
"On a recent excursion to the movie store I was tempted to pick up the following three DVDs: Quigley Down Under, United 93, and X3: The Last Stand.
Not because I particularly wanted to watch any of these films, but rather, if I purchased them, I would then own at least one DVD for each letter of the alphabet..."
--Eric at Logolog.
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ete
Summer in France.
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word eff ete effete
"Curse these weary dog days of the (French) season!"
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the user sionnach
Hey sionnach: you might be interested to take a look at taxonomy of wordplay.
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the user reesetee
Hey reesetee: you might be interested to take a look at taxonomy of wordplay.
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the user mollusque
Mollusque: you might be interested to look at taxonomy of wordplay.
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word taxonomy of wordplay
For a wonderful compendium of language oddities online by Chris Cole click here.
For a glossary of terms see this list and click on the individual word for a definition, e.g., "head 'n' tail word".
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word urineuphoria
The pleasurable feeling that surfers get when peeing in their wetsuit while sitting on their surfboards awaiting the next good wave. Also spelled urineaphoria.
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word mess ages messages
Texts concerned with stale army chow?
June 4, 2008
oroboros commented on the word thinking thin king
Cogitating anexoric monarch?
June 3, 2008
oroboros commented on the word seities
Individualities.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word devoved
Devoted.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word sammas
Early Indian people.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word kakkak
Guam bird.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word kajak
A variant of kayak.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word degged
Sprinkled.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word sememes
The meaning of a linguistic unit.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word murdrum
The killing of a human being in a secret manner.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word deedeed
Damned.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word servomotor
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the longest sequence of repeated dashes in Morse code for a common word. See motto.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word sissies
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the longest common word in Morse code that is entirely dots.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word sooloos
Natives of New Guinea.
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the longest uncommon lowercase upside-down word.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word stewardesses
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the longest word on a typewriter using the left hand.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word succus
Juice.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word swims
An upside-down word.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word soccos
Eastern orthodox vestments.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word seedees
Respected African Muslims.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word seesees
An Asiatic partridge.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word sawbwas
Burmese rulers.
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the longest (with six others) "uncommon word" palindrome beginning with letter 's'.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word utu
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the shortest (with two others, uku & ulu) "uncommon word" beginning and ending with letter 'u'.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word uku
A Hawaiian fish.
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the shortest (with two others, utu & ulu) "uncommon word" beginning and ending with letter 'u'.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ulu
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the shortest (with two others, uku & utu) "uncommon word" beginning and ending with letter 'u'.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word vav
The sixth Hebrew letter.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word zuz
1. A piece of parchment bearing the Decalogue and attached to the doorpost - in use among orthodox Hebrews.
2. An ancient silver coin = 1/4 of a shekel.
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the longest (with one other, q.v., ziz) "uncommon word" palindrome beginning with letter 'z'.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word ziz
A giant bird in Hebrew mythology.
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the longest "uncommon word" palindrome beginning with letter 'z'.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word yaray
A sheep's small intestine.
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the longest "uncommon word" palindrome beginning with letter 'y'.
June 2, 2008
oroboros commented on the word tippit
A gambling game.
According to Chris Cole in Wordplay, the longest (among five others) "uncommon word" palindrome beginning with letter 't'.
June 2, 2008
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