No, it sure isn't unique to our family. I've met quite a few people who do the same thing. There's even some folkloric variation: some people say rabbits, some people say rabbit rabbit.
In fact, I bet Google will back me up on this one...
There's a family tradition that if, on the first of the month, the first word out of your mouth is rabbits, you'll have good luck that month. Around my house, every time a new month begins, you'll see my family stumbling out of bed and greeting each other with a mumbled "Rabbits?".
I've known since about age 5 -- my dinosaur phase -- that pterodactyls are not dinosaurs. (And being 5, I would go around telling this to everyone. Five-year-olds are masters of the non sequitur).
What I didn't find out until recently is that, while some pterosaurs were quite large, pterodactylus was fairly small.
Quoting Wikipedia:
"Pterodactylus was a relatively small pterosaur genus, with adult wingspans ranging from 50 centimeters (1.5 ft) in P. kochi to 2.4 meters (8 ft) in P. grandis."
I feel diminished. I feel inadequate. I feel like I need to go out and buy a huge prehistoric SUV to compensate.
When I was younger I had an enormous collection of Legos, and when I wanted to play with them I'd start by spreading them all out across the living room floor. This made it easier to find specific pieces, but it also meant that crossing the floor, especially in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom, became a Dance of a Thousand Agonies.
Worse, perhaps, is kneeling on a Lego. To this day, if I look closely at my knees, I fancy that I can see dots of scar tissue in tidy 2x4 lines.
1. I totally missed the irony of your original post.
2. I posted a comment that, in hindsight, reads as a personal attack.
I do think that people who use "gaytarded" in an unironic way come off sounding like idiots. But I don't think you're an idiot -- in fact, I quite like you -- and I'm sincerely sorry that I implied otherwise.
I'm not so sure about Step 3. You say that such people "act smug and surprised that anyone would be offended", but what if they honestly are surprised?
I'm sure there are plenty of message boards out there on which slurs are used regularly. (I don't frequent such boards, because they bother me, but they do exist.) If you're in the habit of posting to such boards, and you show up at Wordie, and you're so excited that you jump right in without stopping to check the tone of the comments here, well... it's easy to see how a person might be honestly surprised by the reception that their words get here.
I don't see these folks as malicious. I see them as needing to acclimate to our standards. Rather than treating them as trolls (i.e. ignoring them), maybe we could just explain to them, in a calm and orderly way, what the Wordie standards for civility and decency are?
Perhaps there are plenty of movie directors who want to depict the destruction of Olney, Illinois, but they can't find a way to make it seem plausible enough, because every potential audience knows that the albino squirrels would rise up, like a demonic monochromatic strike force from Illinois, and save the city from its otherwise certain destruction.
I'm pleasantly surprised by the positive response to my little list. It started with me sitting in my chair thinking "why do we use an ugly word like Finland when a pretty word like Suomi already exists?", and it sort of grew from there.
I'm limiting the list to well-known places, defined as "places that I, pterodactyl, have heard of". :-) Unfortunately, this excludes Makassar, but I did spend an interesting couple of minutes at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makassar. Check it out, y'all!
Also, even though I didn't specify it in the title, I intended to list only the native names for places. What does a native Dubliner call his/her city? I read somewhere that the Irish language is used more in the west of Ireland than in the east, which makes me suspect that a native Dubliner, while knowing the Irish name for the city, probably doesn't use it that much.
I agree with c_b and rt that one's profile should remain under one's control.
I also want to point out that I can delete comments made on any of my lists, no matter who the commenter is. As far as I can recall, it's always been this way. I don't really have a problem with it.
"People are offended by 'gay' and 'retarded', even when you don't mean them in their literal sense, so this word neatly gets around that."
No. I disagree. Gaytarded is a awful word, with its double whammy of casual hatred. If you use it in conversation, you probably won't avoid offense -- you'll more likely come off as a sniggering idiot.
"...given the paucity of ethnic slurs for Americans, I think we should take whatever we can."
The existence of ethnic slurs is a bad thing. A paucity of ethnic slurs is not a problem to be fixed, it's a cause for celebration. Rather than trying to come up with more slurs, I think we should be trying to bury the ones we already have.
Like yarb, I've spent many an afternoon wielding medieval weaponry against fearsome monsters (er... pretending to, at least), and it's a bit of a shock to discover that I've been using these terms wrong all this time.
Wikipedia doesn't totally clear up the issue for me, but it does include some helpful pictures in all three articles: Flail, Morning Star, and Mace.
A note to the various and sundry Wordies: I shall be in California until 8/14, and as we all know, there's no internet in California. Ergo, I shall probably be incommunicado until then.
Well, I haven't the time for the deep detective work I wanted to do, as I'm leaving for California tomorrow. My guesses will instead be based on hasty, vague associations.
Ah, I get it now. In fact, I should have gotten it earlier, as I just finished reading Terry Pratchett's Witches Abroad, in which a pumpkin coach features prominently.
Hi, frogapplause -- you're welcome to use whatever you like from 50 Ways to Leave your Lover, or indeed from any of my lists. I prefer to remain anonymous, though, so if you do credit me, credit me as pterodactyl, not as...
Hi, frogapplause -- you're welcome to use whatever you like from 50 Ways to Leave your Lover, or indeed from any of my lists. I prefer to remain anonymous, though, so if you do credit me, credit me as pterodactyl, not as...
Sionnach: How, exactly, does one travel by pumpkin? I would be intrigued to see this happen. Does the pumpkin roll? Or does the pumpkin vine just grow really, really fast?
Excellent suggestions, my people! Thank you! I'm especially impressed by giant peach -- bilby, it appears that you and I read the same books when we were growing up. :-)
I'm just stopping by to thank John, sincerely and enthusiastically, for the "Most commented on" list on the main page. It's just what I had in mind, and I think it's going to prove very useful.
You know, when I first joined Wordie, I thought that "Most Wordied" meant "Most Commented On". Now I know that it doesn't, I find myself wishing that there were a "Most Commented On" list for the last 7 days. It'd be nice to be able to see at a glance which words are getting all the action this week.
Anyone else feel the same way? If so, I'll nip on over to features and submit it for John's consideration.
Oh, and bilby -- your antipodean wrath is truly glorious. Marsupiale enragé, indeed! I've half a mind to deliberately provoke your wrath right now, just so I see your cute little nose twitch in fury and hear your frenzied invective one more time.
Every time I hear this word, I remember a piece of music, with a very particular rhythm:
"Chaparral!" (pause, pause, pause)
"Chaparral!" (pause, pause, pause)
Until today, I had no idea why this was. I mean, who would write a song about Californian shrubbery? But now, I've figured it out. It's a distorted relic of my childhood, and you can view it here, if you've no aversion to bagpipes.
I think seanahan is talking about the Samoa cookie that Girl Scouts sell in the US. There's a picture of a Samoa on this page -- it's the chocolate striped cookie in the lower left, above the phrase "Craving Cookies?"
Wikipedia says that Samoas, together with the similar Caramel deLites, account for 19% of Girl Scout cookie sales in the US, making them the second most popular variety (after Thin Mints, of course).
And here I have to agree with seanahan -- Samoas are so tasty as to be downright addictive. With all that caramel and chocolate, they're more like candies than cookies.
I agree with chained_bear -- it's wonderful to hear people with British accents try to pronounce an American R. I once heard a guy on the BBC try to do a George Bush impression, and boy, that was downright hilarious.
And how about the opposite situation? When an American tries to do a British accent, is it amusing to British ears?
I woke up this morning and found myself unable to deny. It's not just me -- several of my home-boys are having the same problem. What's causing this epidemic of candor? Are there any medications I can take to restore my usual glib insincerity?
I agree with reesetee. Wordie is what you make of it, whatever that may happen to be.
But I do believe that Wordie is at least two years old. I remember using it when I was still working on my B.A., and I graduated from that college in May 2006.
(My memory is notoriously unreliable, though. I could easily be confused about this.)
I spent two years on this site, and listed several hundred words, before I ever paid any attention to the comments. Did this behavior make me an unwordie user? I don't think so. I wasn't looking to chat, back then -- I just needed a place to keep my words.
But I do wish I'd paid attention to the comments right from the start. I missed so many lovely conversations!
I've known for some years now that aubergine and courgette are the British English words for what we Americans call eggplant and zucchini. But I can never seem to remember which American word goes with which British word. Mention aubergines to me, and I'll know you're talking about some sort of garden vegetable, but my comprehension ends there.
I'm trying out the question mark in the title, and I find that if I rotate my screen 180 degrees, the list's new title looks like a cartoony face drawn in three-quarters angle.
(I have a CRT monitor, so I'm not actually rotating my screen 180 degrees. I'm standing up from my chair and craning my head wayyyyy over to the left. As the blood rushes to my head... pop! It appears! Like some bulbous-nosed gremlin out of the cathode ray depths!)
As for the asterisk, the truth is I couldn't figure out a simple way to distinguish between "any one character" (which is what the second asterisk means) and "any character or characters, or no character" (which is what the first asterisk means).
So, by analogy, could you use "credible" as a synonym for "not very"? As in "this is a credibly good idea", or "this will be credibly good for the language"?
John, I did think of New York City. I live in upstate New York, and I'm forced to think of NYC every time I have to explain to someone that I'm not from there. (Yes, world, it's possible to be a New Yorker without being from that particular city!)
But as far as I know, the official name of NYC is "New York", not "New York City". If this is true, then the name doesn't quite fit on this list. :-(
Wow, some beautiful suggestions here! Thanks, everybody!
I've decided to include all the English hyphenated towns, because I think they're curious, and I like curiosities.
Bilby, you have some truly excellent names there (I will always have a special place in my heart for Head-Smashed-In, ever since reading Dave Barry's account of the place), but unfortunately, they're not cities or towns, so I don't think they really fit what I had in mind.
How about e.g. and i.e.? When reading aloud, I'm always forced to substitute "for example" and "that is", because it sounds stupid to actually say "E G" or "I E".
I'm American, too, and I always hear buoy pronounced to rhyme with phooey. Reesetee, I think you're right about regional variations, and I have to ask -- did you grow up in Pennsylvania, or are you a transplant?
Whatever else it may mean, weenus is also a slang term meaning "the loose skin over your elbow". There's an article here, and a listing on Urban Dictionary here.
I see Chad in the news pretty regularly, and unfortunately it's never good news. They have all those refugees to deal with, and there was that Zoe's Ark problem last year... I really hope that life in Chad is better than the American media depicts.
I like the idea for this list, and I think it's fascinating to see the meanings translated from Italian.
I want to mention that in English (at least, the English of my idiolect), most of these words are innocuous. "Professional woman", for example -- in my mind, just means a woman with a profession (doctor, lawyer, or whatnot). Is this a clear difference between English and Italian?
No, bilby, it just means that I didn't read the list thoroughly before posting my ideas. Nevertheless, I think we can all agree that you shouldn't use Montezuma's revenge twice on a first date.
From Wikipedia: "The smoot is a nonstandard unit of length created as part of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) fraternity prank. It is named after Oliver R. Smoot (class of 1962), an MIT fraternity pledge to Lambda Chi Alpha, who in October 1958 was used by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts... the bridge's length was measured to be 364.4 smoots (620.1 m) plus or minus one ear."
According to this site, which I found via Google and can't really vouch for, the words of the title come from Gaelic: moine mus(g)ach, or "nasty, filthy bog."
My father and his friends have a sport that they call "competitiveporch-sitting", which consists of sitting out on the porch. My father is a champion porch-sitter; he can shoot the breeze out there for hours and hours, long after a lesser man would have given up and retired to the kitchen.
Dontcry, it sounds like your house would be the perfect place for a tournament!
I rise in opposition to the tag "auto-antonym" being applied to this word. Good sirs and madams, I ask you: can we in good conscience allow "literally" to mean "figuratively"?
Certainly the general public uses the word this way. And under most circumstances, I am all for following the general usage. In this case, though, I say that we must put up a fight. A fight, I tell you!
If "literally" no longer means "literally", then what shall we use in its place? And even if suitable substitutes can be found, why should we allow ourselves to lose a perfectly good word in the first place?
Fight the trend, good people. Refuse to define "literally" as "figuratively"! Posterity will thank you.
Excellent, yarb! And darned fast, too. This list has only been up for twenty minutes!
I'd add your suggestions myself, but I'd rather see your name next to them on the list (credit where credit is due, after all!). Add away, my good sir or madam!
You may be right, whichbe. I just spotted this news article about real-life Iron Man armor, and though I understand that there are legitimate motivations for designing it, I still imagine a bunch of noodly engineers sitting around saying "Hey... let's build a robotic exoskeleton that can turn even a noodly engineer into a powerhouse!"
Time elapsed between (1) me referencing an old Dr. Demento song over at untonsured and (2) reesetee catching my reference and posting the lyrics: 2 minutes.
This is slightly off-topic, but it's worth mentioning: a friend of mine calls her cousin's children her niecelings and nephewlings. She, in turn, is their auntlet.
I, myself, have a nephewling (my cousin's cute little son Elijah). Apparently, this makes me an unclet.
Here's a chance for me to post another one of those regional dialect maps. What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road?
I, personally, have no word for it, but apparently Iowans call it the parking, Ohioans call it the tree lawn, and Wisconsinites call it the terrace. See maps here.
I don't blame the Aztecs for being prudent. Apparently, the word avocado comes from two words, one meaning lawyer and the other meaning testicle -- no virgin should be subjected to such an unholy combination!
Continuing the conversation that has, bewilderingly, popped up over on pterodactyl on the rise...
I really don't like the word husband. It sounds like a Dr. Seuss character.
As Yertle looked out over lands never seen,
He saw thousands of Huzz-Buns, all mottled and green
Wife, by contrast, is airy and pleasant, rather like fife or life. Why couldn't we menfolk have come up with an equally pleasant term for our own married state?
(In my mind, I was trying to sing "There's a pterodactyl on the rise", which doesn't scan. Thanks, reesetee, for demonstrating just how awesome this particular substitution is!)
Chained_bear: Hee hee hee! I get a kickle out of your story. :-)
Rolig: Good point. My thought process was pretty minimal when I created this list ("Pickle sounds funny. I wonder what else sounds funny like that?").
Personally, I find the two-syllable words on this list to be the funniest (tinkle and spackle, for instance, are hilarious), but I wouldn't limit the list to two-syllable words, because there are some funny longer ones, too. Pumpernickel, for example -- that one always brings a smile to my face.
In the end, I guess this list is all about the funny, not about the rule-following. Whatever that means.
I have learned my lesson about "pterodactyl". Despite the word's obvious power and grandeur (as well as its pizzazz, panache, and mojo), there will always those philistines who hear the phrase as "T as in Terodactyl".
Frindley, you're absolutely right. M and N, B and P, D and T, S and F -- there are quite a few of these troublesome pairs.
But even L has its problems, I've found. I sometimes have trouble distinguishing L from R over a scratchy phone line, especially if I'm not familiar with the speaker's accent.
Incoherence and confusion? Oh dear. We can't have any of that. Perhaps I can elucidate...
I was under the impression, sionnach, that you were making a clever reference to the song "Sheep Go To Heaven (Goats Go To Hell)", which has an extremely catchy chorus and makes for a confoundingly strong earworm. Hence my reference to gravediggers and forceps, both of which appear in the lyrics.
I had never heard the expression "going all pear-shaped" before. Now that I have, I understand what Terry Pratchett means when he writes about things "going all wahoonie-shaped".
Oh dearie me... I'm afraid this word is inextricably linked in my mind to Tom Lehrer's song "I Got It From Agnes". If you want spaniel to remain unsullied in your mind, then you definitely shouldn't watch this video.
Reminds me of an old joke: A guy is chatting up a girl in a bar, and after a while he invites her back to his apartment. "Oh, no," the girl says. "I have scruples". "That's okay," the guy says. "I've had my shots."
I'm going to hesitantly raise my hand and make my first feature suggestion...
Over at this brilliant list that Prolagus created, I've been having fun trying to deduce the occupations of my fellow wordies, and it would be a good deal easier if I could sort the words by which user contributed them. What about a "sort by contributor" button for open lists?
And thanks as always, John, for all your work on this excellent site!
I feel the same way. Being a Wordie neophyte, I wasn't around for the era before open lists, and I find it hard to believe that there ever was such an era. It just feels so natural to collaborate on lists!
Pro, you probably know this already, but your English is superb. It's better than the English of most of my friends, all of whom are native speakers. So, no sighing necessary. :)
Yes indeed, plethora! Well, sort of. I'm working on my master's degree to become a proper librarian. Until then, I'm just a weekend aide at my library's circulation desk.
The exact opposite of benefit. As a verb, it means "harm" or "make worse". As a noun, it means "negative effect".
I coined it because I don't like the word detriment in the phrase "benefits and detriments". Apparently, I'm not the only one -- Google finds several other independent inventions of malefit.
When I first learned this word, I thought it was pronounced the same as (and possibly inspired by) humus. My reaction was "Yuck! How can anyone eat that!"
(But now I love to eat hummus, and I suspect that this is because I've learned how to pronounce it.)
See this map of American usage. Apparently, in the US, "garage sale" is more common in the north than in the south (except for Texas, for some reason).
A story for you: About a month ago, I discovered an odd little site called Wordie. I was instantly captivated by the site's combination of logophilia and wordplay, but the best part, the part that keeps me coming back, is the attitude of the users. I don't know who these people are in real life, but on Wordie, they're fun, goofy, and witty, and their comments offer a pleasant respite from the bitterness and cynicism in the wider world.
Unfortunately, every so often, I come across a page like this one, and it sort of ruins the mood. On any other site, I would love this discussion (it's an issue close to my heart, and I think rational argument is a noble activity), but on Wordie, well... it just doesn't fit.
It's sort of like holding an activists' rally at a kid's birthday party. No matter how just your cause, you're still disrupting the people who are trying to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Take it outside! (er, offsite.)
Having grown up in Illinois, I have to throw my own befuddlement behind "quarter of". I've lived in upstate New York for twelve years now, and I still get confused when someone says "I'll be over at a quarter of three".
I've never actually heard anyone say might could, or any other double modal, but it makes perfect sense to me, and I hope it spreads northwards. :-)
(Oh, and see this map for American usage of double modals.)
See this map for American usage -- and judging from the map, no one in the entire state of Massachusetts uses this phrase (except for one oddball on Cape Cod, who's probably a vacationer from Pennsylvania).
Suggestions, eh? Well, right now the #2, #3, and #4 words are quixotic, serendipity, and loquacious. All three of these have meanings that could be applied to Wordie, I think, and their popularity makes us seem like a good-natured lot.
If one of the three were to overtake schadenfreude, I wouldn't shed a tear.
Hey... do you folks in Australia have signs that say Merge Left or Squeeze Left? I'm used to seeing the former here in the US, and when I first saw the latter (in Canada), I laughed so hard I nearly drove off the road. For a road sign, it sounds remarkably... coquettish.
I swear I've got one of these in my front yard. It grows incredibly fast, especially when you're not looking at it. And it has vicious little thorns that, whenever you try to prune it, leave you bleeding in a dozen places.
After checking Wikipedia, I've come to realize that my "hat with propeller" definition is probably due to my having learned the word from old Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.
I stand duly corrected, and shall revise my usage forthwith. :)
Hi, I'm not sure whether this is a bug or a feature, but I can't seem to put more than one link inside of a comment. For example, these should both be links:
The existence of both toques and tuques suggests that there should also be taques, teques, and tiques. Symmetry demands it. In order to provide empirical evidence of these elusive forms of headgear, I propose that we build a two billion dollar superhattery, perhaps in Switzerland somewhere.
"The Language Instinct"... that was the name of the book I read! Thank you for jogging my memory, seanahan.
I still respectfully disagree, though, on the basis of my own personal experience. Usually when I hear this phrase used, the user is unaware that there's any discrepancy between their intended meaning and their literal meaning.
Of course, we're talking about a bunch of different cases here; it may just be that you and Stephen Pinker hang out with a more erudite crowd than I do. :-)
I rise in loyal defense of one of my favorite words, cwm -- this diagram is unfair to the letter W! Come, my colleagues, let us not tolerate this blatant Y-ian favoritism!
I once read in a college textbook that this phrase is an example of irony. I don't believe it, though.
"Irony" implies that the speaker is consciously saying the opposite of what he/she intends to convey, and is hoping that the listener will hear the discrepancy. But "I could care less", though -- that's not conscious. People who say "I could care less" don't actually understand what they're saying, and you can verify this by asking them about it.
When I'm feeling charitable toward this phrase, I call it an idiom. When I'm not feeling charitable, I call it a mistake. Either way, I don't think it's a case of irony.
I'm going to agree with sionnach and disagree (respectfully) with frindley.
Regarding sionnach's point about black and white: There's an excellent example of this in the phrase "I could care less", which is an idiom that means its exact opposite ("I couldn't care less"). Everyone seems to understand this phrase just fine, even the people who hate it (like me).
Regarding frindley's original point, down at the bottom of the page: Imagine that two people (let's call them "Aloysius" and "Bernice") have just started new jobs. Aloysius is going to be a crate stacker. He's given three hours of training, and at the end of it, he's expected to be proficient at stacking crates.
Bernice is going to be an emergency dispatcher. She's given three hours of training, and at the end of it, she's expected to be proficient at dispatching EMTs, police, and firefighters.
Bernice's training is going to be a heck of a lot more stressful than Aloysius's, because she has to learn a harder skill in the same amount of time. In other words, she has a steeper learning curve -- and this is not a good thing for her.
Well, it's hard for me to describe, mollusque, but what I'm looking for are words which are never used literally, but only ironically. In all my life I've never heard "droll" used literally -- every single usage I've heard has been ironic.
It fascinates me that this is possible. Irony only makes sense if you know the literal meaning of the word you're using ironically. With the literal meaning of "droll" being pretty much dead, how is it that we're still able to use it ironically and be understood?
Hmm... for me, jug lacks the coolness factor that the G-G words have. In the word gigantic, for example, I see a tale of breathless melodrama:
I was a small vowel in the big city. They were a pair of brawny identical twins, with nice mouthfeel and some cute descenders... but I never should have gotten between them, because one of them harbored a dangerous secret. He told me he was an affricate, and, like a fool, I believed him...
Have you ever noticed that whenever a person says "Oh, how droll!", what they really mean is "Oh, how boring and stupid!"?
It amazes me that this word is still defined as "humorous". I bet that in 2108, all the dictionaries will define "droll" as "humorless", because that's the way people use the word nowadays.
I suffer from the same problem, pbilby. I think my brain is stuffed so full of esoteric words that whenever I try to relearn "jejune", the definition utterly fails to stick in my mind.
Every potential Wordie list... is an existing Wordie list. It's as if this site creates a hole in the barrier between the real and the imaginary, and the two are intermingling in some metaphysical amalgam...
Either that, or Wordie was built over a Hellmouth. :-)
A guy walks into a bar with a chunk of asphalt on his shoulder. The bartender says "What can I get you?" The guy says "A beer for me, and one for the road."
Oh, I see. Y'know, I think they're actually funnier when left to the imagination like that.
When I was about 14 or so, my friends and I had a game that consisted of taking turns making up setups for jokes. Not whole jokes, but just the introductory bits, like "Mother Theresa, Garrison Keillor, and a one-armed man are stuck in an elevator." We never came up with endings; I think we just like the unresolved tension of the silly situations.
Now I'm dying to hear the jokes that go along with these contributions. For example, what happens when the voodoo priestess walks into a bar? You can't just leave us hanging! :-)
When I first saw the word "pwn", I thought it was derived from Welsh, like "cwm" or "crwth". I went around for over a year hearing it my head as "poon".
Then one day I attempted to use the word in conversation. It was a bewildering moment; all of a sudden, everyone was chortling and making references to Tang.
Q: How many Hegelians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One stands at one end of the room and argues that the universe is composed of light; the other stands at the other end of the room and argues that true light is impossible.
(if you laugh at this joke, you're probably just as overeducated as I am.)
Here in the US, our two most famous illeists are probably Bob Dole and Elmo. I think that they're a perfect match, and I'd love to see them do a comedy film together. You could call it "Elmo loves you, Bob Dole!"
I vaguely remember hearing that "papaya" is the longest word you can type with one hand on a Dvorak keyboard, and that this is supposed to be a selling point for Dvorak keyboards.
I also remember hearing that "stewardesses" is the longest word you can type with one hand on a QWERTY keyboard, but that memory is more vague, and probably false.
Because reesetee asked... pterodactyl does not pronounce the "P" in his username. And thereby hangs a tale. See my user page for the (rather silly) story.
SonofGroucho is absolutely right. And therein lies a joke...
This geeky guy sees a beautiful woman at a bar, so he walks over and tries to chat her up. "Hey, baby, wanna come back to my place and look at my stamp collection?"
She raises an eyebrow and says "Philately will get you nowhere."
Maybe Eskimos don't have dozens of words for snow after all, but I've noticed that English speakers have a suspicious variety of words for being sneaky.
I'm surrounded by English speakers every day. Should I be worried? :-)
Yup. He's a character in a children's song. It's a wonderful song -- not only does Billy "steal from the selfish and give to the shellfish", we also get to see him woo the beautiful mollusk Clammity Jane.
Words that end in "-ish" but aren't adjectives are funny because they sound like they should be adjectives. (For example: can you describe a mediocre surfer as "radish"?)
The humor doesn't work for monosyllabic words, like fish, because they don't sound like adjectives. So no fish. No squish, either.
Comments by pterodactyl
Show previous 200 comments...
pterodactyl commented on the word inverness
Also, a female invern.
September 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word help!!
Won't you please, please help her?
September 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word ipodocus
Hah! Love the name. :-)
September 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word rabbits
Well, lookie here -- it has its own Wikipedia page.
*grins smugly*
September 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word rabbits
No, it sure isn't unique to our family. I've met quite a few people who do the same thing. There's even some folkloric variation: some people say rabbits, some people say rabbit rabbit.
In fact, I bet Google will back me up on this one...
*runs off to check*
September 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word monodactyl
I can't speak for how it spoke, but I do know how it gestured...
September 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word monodactyl
A very rude animal indeed.
September 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word rabbits
There's a family tradition that if, on the first of the month, the first word out of your mouth is rabbits, you'll have good luck that month. Around my house, every time a new month begins, you'll see my family stumbling out of bed and greeting each other with a mumbled "Rabbits?".
September 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word fraughttage
For Wordieternity: see conversation on fraught.
September 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word shite
I was just over at mandals, and now I find myself wondering... what's the difference between shit and shite?
Normally I would turn to our resident expert for help on such matters, but in this case I think I need to consult some non-Americans.
September 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pterodactyl
I've known since about age 5 -- my dinosaur phase -- that pterodactyls are not dinosaurs. (And being 5, I would go around telling this to everyone. Five-year-olds are masters of the non sequitur).
What I didn't find out until recently is that, while some pterosaurs were quite large, pterodactylus was fairly small.
Quoting Wikipedia:
I feel diminished. I feel inadequate. I feel like I need to go out and buy a huge prehistoric SUV to compensate.
September 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word kiddie caltrops
When I was younger I had an enormous collection of Legos, and when I wanted to play with them I'd start by spreading them all out across the living room floor. This made it easier to find specific pieces, but it also meant that crossing the floor, especially in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom, became a Dance of a Thousand Agonies.
Worse, perhaps, is kneeling on a Lego. To this day, if I look closely at my knees, I fancy that I can see dots of scar tissue in tidy 2x4 lines.
August 31, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word calgary, canadia
Yeah, you know, Canadia. Where the Canadans live.
August 31, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word hayastan
Known in English as Armenia.
August 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word aotearoa
Known in English as New Zealand.
August 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word sakartvelo
Known in English as Georgia.
August 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word druk yul
Known in English as Bhutan.
August 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word lëtzebuerg
Known in English as Luxembourg.
August 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word alba
Known in English as Scotland.
August 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word eesti
Known in English as Estonia.
August 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word euskal herria
Known in English as the Basque Country.
August 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word saltodiskoj
Literally, "jump-disks".
August 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of
♩ Every gal in Constantinople lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople / Been a long time gone, Constantinople, why did Constantinople get the works? ♩
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of
♩ People just liked it better that wayyyyyyyyy! ♩
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word gaytarded
Seanahan --
I apologize. I've done two things wrong:
1. I totally missed the irony of your original post.
2. I posted a comment that, in hindsight, reads as a personal attack.
I do think that people who use "gaytarded" in an unironic way come off sounding like idiots. But I don't think you're an idiot -- in fact, I quite like you -- and I'm sincerely sorry that I implied otherwise.
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word the pattern
I'm not so sure about Step 3. You say that such people "act smug and surprised that anyone would be offended", but what if they honestly are surprised?
I'm sure there are plenty of message boards out there on which slurs are used regularly. (I don't frequent such boards, because they bother me, but they do exist.) If you're in the habit of posting to such boards, and you show up at Wordie, and you're so excited that you jump right in without stopping to check the tone of the comments here, well... it's easy to see how a person might be honestly surprised by the reception that their words get here.
I don't see these folks as malicious. I see them as needing to acclimate to our standards. Rather than treating them as trolls (i.e. ignoring them), maybe we could just explain to them, in a calm and orderly way, what the Wordie standards for civility and decency are?
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list towns-with-sizeable-albino-squirrel-populations
Perhaps there are plenty of movie directors who want to depict the destruction of Olney, Illinois, but they can't find a way to make it seem plausible enough, because every potential audience knows that the albino squirrels would rise up, like a demonic monochromatic strike force from Illinois, and save the city from its otherwise certain destruction.
Right?
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list cities-i-am-sick-of-seeing-destroyed-in-disaster-movies
There are lots of examples of this over at TV Tropes -- see here and here.
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list cities-i-am-sick-of-seeing-destroyed-in-disaster-movies
GODZILLA DESTROYS ALBUQUERQUE!
That would be an excellent headline.
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of
Oh, c_b, I'll sing with you!
*wraps arm around chained_bear's shoulders and raises mug of root beer*
Why thy changed it I can't say... people just liked it better that way!
So take me back to Constantinople!
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of
Uluru is one of my favorite examples of a native name that's much prettier than the European name. (Other good examples are Denali and Tennessee.)
Happily, usage of Uluru is becoming pretty common, enough that I think it's no longer accurate to say that people have "never heard of" Uluru.
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list well-known-places-youve-never-heard-of
I'm pleasantly surprised by the positive response to my little list. It started with me sitting in my chair thinking "why do we use an ugly word like Finland when a pretty word like Suomi already exists?", and it sort of grew from there.
I'm limiting the list to well-known places, defined as "places that I, pterodactyl, have heard of". :-) Unfortunately, this excludes Makassar, but I did spend an interesting couple of minutes at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makassar. Check it out, y'all!
Also, even though I didn't specify it in the title, I intended to list only the native names for places. What does a native Dubliner call his/her city? I read somewhere that the Irish language is used more in the west of Ireland than in the east, which makes me suspect that a native Dubliner, while knowing the Irish name for the city, probably doesn't use it that much.
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list passport-to-upstate-new-york
Excellent list! How about Greece? It's a suburb of Rochester.
August 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word gobbledygook
Wait, what?
August 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word features
I agree with c_b and rt that one's profile should remain under one's control.
I also want to point out that I can delete comments made on any of my lists, no matter who the commenter is. As far as I can recall, it's always been this way. I don't really have a problem with it.
August 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cymru
Known in English as Wales.
August 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word zh�?ngguó
Known in English as China.
August 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word miṣr
Known in English as Egypt.
August 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word bod
Known in English as Tibet.
August 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word krung thep mahanakorn
Often called just Krung Thep. Known in English as Bangkok.
August 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word magyarország
Known in English as Hungary.
August 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the user pterodactyl
I've been watching the discussion that's currently going on at gaytarded and americunt, and something's just occured to me:
Could it be that nouns are (slightly) more offensive than adjectives?
Consider:
- "she's a Jew" versus "she's Jewish"
- "he's a gay" versus "he's gay"
Perhaps the difference is that nouns define you, but adjectives only describe you.
Hmm.
Can you folks think of any more examples to confirm or disconfirm my theory?
August 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word gaytarded
about 1 year ago seanahan said:
"People are offended by 'gay' and 'retarded', even when you don't mean them in their literal sense, so this word neatly gets around that."
No. I disagree. Gaytarded is a awful word, with its double whammy of casual hatred. If you use it in conversation, you probably won't avoid offense -- you'll more likely come off as a sniggering idiot.
August 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word americunt
about 17 hours ago renumeratedfrog said:
"...given the paucity of ethnic slurs for Americans, I think we should take whatever we can."
The existence of ethnic slurs is a bad thing. A paucity of ethnic slurs is not a problem to be fixed, it's a cause for celebration. Rather than trying to come up with more slurs, I think we should be trying to bury the ones we already have.
August 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word corn
Good heavens, bilby and reesetee -- how is it that NEITHER of you bracketed vibra-twang snozzwhanger?
August 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word mace
Like yarb, I've spent many an afternoon wielding medieval weaponry against fearsome monsters (er... pretending to, at least), and it's a bit of a shock to discover that I've been using these terms wrong all this time.
Wikipedia doesn't totally clear up the issue for me, but it does include some helpful pictures in all three articles: Flail, Morning Star, and Mace.
August 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the user pterodactyl
A note to the various and sundry Wordies: I shall be in California until 8/14, and as we all know, there's no internet in California. Ergo, I shall probably be incommunicado until then.
July 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list identify-the-wordie-2
Well, I haven't the time for the deep detective work I wanted to do, as I'm leaving for California tomorrow. My guesses will instead be based on hasty, vague associations.
asativum - bababada...thingy
bilby - yarb
chained_bear - clinchpoop
darqueau - inexorable
dontcry - sunflower
frogapplause - sigh
gangerh - cred-herring
john - pluripotent
oroboros - thoughtful
palooka - goodbye
plethora - ingenue
prolagus - relaxed
rolig - esemplastic
seanahan - quixotic
sionnach - wabe
skipvia - mojo
whichbe - gravlax
yarb - groovin'
July 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word nair
John -- greetings from a fellow Rochesterian! You and I sure picked a fine place to grow up, didn't we?
Oh, and, uh, something about Nair.
July 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word the personality of a bin liner
Ah, peritonitis... that fine old British tradition.
July 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word depeach
Hee hee!
July 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list you-know-what
Silly dontcry. Pieholes are for pie!
July 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word crispy skin-poppers
I wish that neither bilby nor I had read this page.
July 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list 50-ways-to-leave-your-lover
Unfortunately, I still can't get the pumpkin coach link to work.
July 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list 50-ways-to-leave-your-lover
Ah, I get it now. In fact, I should have gotten it earlier, as I just finished reading Terry Pratchett's Witches Abroad, in which a pumpkin coach features prominently.
July 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the user frogapplause
Hi, frogapplause -- you're welcome to use whatever you like from 50 Ways to Leave your Lover, or indeed from any of my lists. I prefer to remain anonymous, though, so if you do credit me, credit me as pterodactyl, not as...
..whoops! Almost let my real name slip, there!
July 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the user pterodactyl
Hi, frogapplause -- you're welcome to use whatever you like from 50 Ways to Leave your Lover, or indeed from any of my lists. I prefer to remain anonymous, though, so if you do credit me, credit me as pterodactyl, not as...
..whoops! Almost let my real name slip, there!
July 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list 50-ways-to-leave-your-lover
Sionnach: How, exactly, does one travel by pumpkin? I would be intrigued to see this happen. Does the pumpkin roll? Or does the pumpkin vine just grow really, really fast?
July 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list 50-ways-to-leave-your-lover
Excellent suggestions, my people! Thank you! I'm especially impressed by giant peach -- bilby, it appears that you and I read the same books when we were growing up. :-)
(And self-defenestration is making me laugh even as I type this.)
July 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list 50-ways-to-leave-your-lover
Yes! Keep 'em coming!
(thinks: Yay! After four months of sitting quiet and unnoticed, this list is finally seeing some action!)
July 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word coitus-à-la-vache-qui-rit
Chickens are female?
*confused*
July 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word i'm forbidden to believe it's not butter
"I'm Forbidden to Believe it's not Butter"?
AHAHAHAHA hee hee hee hee!
July 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list 50-ways-to-leave-your-lover
Thanks! It sure was fun putting this list together. My favorite is continental drift.
Any suggestions for further entries?
July 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word ve haf vays ov making you eat marmite sandviches
Hah!
July 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word defenistration
*respectfully raises hand*
I think it's spelled "defenestration".
July 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word wildlife
*reads WordNet definition*
What about undomesticated people?
July 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word basonym
I, too, would like to learn the HTML resizing trick, and I, too, will give Shevek puppy dog eyes until he/she gives in and teaches it to us.
Please?
*earnest, pleading stare*
July 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list the-penis-game
"womb raider"? HAHAHAHAHA!
July 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word comments
I'm just stopping by to thank John, sincerely and enthusiastically, for the "Most commented on" list on the main page. It's just what I had in mind, and I think it's going to prove very useful.
Thank you!
July 18, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word vagina dentata
My friends at college used to sing the following words to the tune of "Hakuna Matata", from The Lion King:
Vagina Dentata!
What a wonderful phrase!
Vagina Dentata!
Ain't no passin' craze...
It means no penis!
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free
Monstrosity,
Vagina Dentata
July 18, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word transport for the next generation
Titans reproduce via belly-springing?
*confused*
July 18, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word fhqwhgads
For an explanation of this word, see here. And be sure to check out Everybody to the Limit!
July 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word fraught
Yeah, chained_bear -- there's a whole lot of fraughttage going on.
July 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word comments
(thinks to self: omigosh! John called my idea fantastic! I may swoon!)
July 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word comments
Oooooh, thanks, John! I shall be a frequent visitor to the new page you've built. Your god work is truly godly.
July 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word sofa
Is there a difference between a couch and a sofa? If so, what is it?
July 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word features
As per the discussion on this list, I present an idea for some god work that John could do in his copious free time:
How about, in addition to the "Most Wordied, Past 7 Days" list on the home page, a "Most Commented On, Past 7 Days" list? I think it'd be really useful to be able to see at glance which words have been getting all the commenty action recently.
*respectfully bows and backs away*
July 15, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list words-to-have-topped-the-most-wordied-last-7-days-list-since-june-9-2008
You know, when I first joined Wordie, I thought that "Most Wordied" meant "Most Commented On". Now I know that it doesn't, I find myself wishing that there were a "Most Commented On" list for the last 7 days. It'd be nice to be able to see at a glance which words are getting all the action this week.
Anyone else feel the same way? If so, I'll nip on over to features and submit it for John's consideration.
July 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word feng shui
I usually hear it pronounced "feng shway" around here.
July 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list lispers-nemeses
How about aesthetics? The sth sound is hard enough to pronounce without a lisp.
July 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list sluts-and-bitches
Doxy?
July 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word doxy
I, too, learned this word from Firefly. I'm not sure about WordNet's definition, though; I always assumed it just meant prostitute.
July 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word doxie
Aha! I've found a ghost!
Anyone want to adopt this poor word?
July 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word hunk
You are a muffin of all genders, Darqueau?
July 12, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word weed whacky
A friend of mine, upon her recent return from Ireland, reported that weed whackers are known as strimmers over there.
Can anyone confirm or disconfirm?
July 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word deformed-proboscis carrion box
Me, according to bilby. See shaken baby syndrome.
July 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word hot damn
Honestly, bilby, I don't think I have the natural twang it takes to say "dawg". I am twang-deprived. I am undertwanged. I am hypotwangic.
Now, if I were from Tennessee rather than New York, things might be different...
July 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word shaken baby syndrome
Oh, and bilby -- your antipodean wrath is truly glorious. Marsupiale enragé, indeed! I've half a mind to deliberately provoke your wrath right now, just so I see your cute little nose twitch in fury and hear your frenzied invective one more time.
In fact, I think I shall.
*pokes you with a spoon*
July 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word shaken baby syndrome
Actually, I don't think that photo is cute at all. Taxidermy gives me the willies.
May I suggest these photos instead?
July 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word hot damn
I censor myself. "Hot damn!" usually comes out as "Hot dog!".
July 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word merkin
"Ah'm proud to be a merkin."
--George W. Bush, as quoted on the TV show QI.
July 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word brawndo
Happily, the video clip is available on YouTube.
July 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word nebraksa
Noo! Your thinking of Kanses Cit, witch can be found in both Kanses and Mosourie. St. Loius is not in Kanses -- it is in Mosourie and also in Illisnoi, wear it is called Est. St Loius.
July 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word apple eaters
An alternative name for New Yorkers, based on the official New York State Fruit (the apple) and the official New York State Muffin (the apple muffin).
See also this recipe.
July 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word chaparral
Every time I hear this word, I remember a piece of music, with a very particular rhythm:
"Chaparral!" (pause, pause, pause)
"Chaparral!" (pause, pause, pause)
Until today, I had no idea why this was. I mean, who would write a song about Californian shrubbery? But now, I've figured it out. It's a distorted relic of my childhood, and you can view it here, if you've no aversion to bagpipes.
July 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word thin mint
*picks up conversation 6 months later*
I think seanahan is talking about the Samoa cookie that Girl Scouts sell in the US. There's a picture of a Samoa on this page -- it's the chocolate striped cookie in the lower left, above the phrase "Craving Cookies?"
Wikipedia says that Samoas, together with the similar Caramel deLites, account for 19% of Girl Scout cookie sales in the US, making them the second most popular variety (after Thin Mints, of course).
And here I have to agree with seanahan -- Samoas are so tasty as to be downright addictive. With all that caramel and chocolate, they're more like candies than cookies.
July 4, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word courgette
I agree with chained_bear -- it's wonderful to hear people with British accents try to pronounce an American R. I once heard a guy on the BBC try to do a George Bush impression, and boy, that was downright hilarious.
And how about the opposite situation? When an American tries to do a British accent, is it amusing to British ears?
July 4, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word courgette
Hey yarb, aren't you in Vancouver? I thought they pronounced it "erb" in Canada, just like we do in the States.
July 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word every time i eat asparagus...
Skipvia: the answer is yes, sort of. It does make your pee smell funny. But only to certain people's noses.
A good explanation can be found here.
I, myself, am blessed with the ability to smell these compounds. I suspect, skipvia, that you are similarly blessed. :-)
July 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word phonundrum
Snape. Snape. Se-ve-rus Snape.
Dumbledore!
July 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word those other brothers can't deny
Dear Abby,
I woke up this morning and found myself unable to deny. It's not just me -- several of my home-boys are having the same problem. What's causing this epidemic of candor? Are there any medications I can take to restore my usual glib insincerity?
Signed,
One of the Other Brothers
July 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word lurk
Well, it's a pleasure to be proven wrong in this case -- it shows that I have difficulty imagining life without Wordie. :-)
Anyone else remember when Wordie looked like this?
July 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list tunie-the-world-is-just-awesome-discovery-channel
Hey, cool -- I had never heard of this commercial, so when I first saw the XKCD comic, it made no sense to me. Thanks for enlightening me!
July 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word wheelie
Bilby -- HAHAHAHA hee hee hee! :-D
July 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word courgette
Hey! It's a mnemonic device! Eggplant and Elton John both begin with E!!!
*very excited about this*
July 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word courgette
Zucchini. But I only know that because of the recent conversation on eggplant, and because Elton John is still playing in my head.
"Goodbye aubergine, though I never knew you at all..."
July 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word lurk
I agree with reesetee. Wordie is what you make of it, whatever that may happen to be.
But I do believe that Wordie is at least two years old. I remember using it when I was still working on my B.A., and I graduated from that college in May 2006.
(My memory is notoriously unreliable, though. I could easily be confused about this.)
July 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word fudgsicle
In Hawaii, they refer to Hawaii as "Hawai'i". Or so I've heard.
July 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yonic
My college friends and I came up with an informative song called "A Thing's A Phallic Symbol If It's Longer Than It's Wide" that we used to sing boisterously on Saturday nights. Thanks in part to this song, I have no trouble recognizing phallic symbols. But I don't think I could recognize a yonic symbol.
What makes something yonic? Is being circular enough? Or does it have to be concave?
June 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word lurk
I spent two years on this site, and listed several hundred words, before I ever paid any attention to the comments. Did this behavior make me an unwordie user? I don't think so. I wasn't looking to chat, back then -- I just needed a place to keep my words.
But I do wish I'd paid attention to the comments right from the start. I missed so many lovely conversations!
(Oh well. There's always Wordieternity.)
June 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word eggplant
Oh, and yarb -- your earworm-fu is strong. You've pretty much ensured that Elton John will play in my head for the next few hours. :-)
June 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word eggplant
I've known for some years now that aubergine and courgette are the British English words for what we Americans call eggplant and zucchini. But I can never seem to remember which American word goes with which British word. Mention aubergines to me, and I'll know you're talking about some sort of garden vegetable, but my comprehension ends there.
June 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word waggying
Earworm!
June 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word 33 celsius in my room
*curious now*
Where do you live, bilby?
June 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word thew
Your favorite list? Gosh!
*feels very honored*
*also provides a link*
June 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word saint-louis-du-ha! ha!
A small Quebec town with a wonderful name. See Wikipedia for more information.
June 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word ergotism
Hah! Excellent, Asa!
June 28, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list e-e
ə¿ə -- bravo, skipvia! Your prowess with non-standard characters is truly impressive.
*applauds*
And I thank you on behalf of my neck, which will no longer have to suffer such indignities in the name of gremlin-summoning.
June 28, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list e-e
I'm trying out the question mark in the title, and I find that if I rotate my screen 180 degrees, the list's new title looks like a cartoony face drawn in three-quarters angle.
(I have a CRT monitor, so I'm not actually rotating my screen 180 degrees. I'm standing up from my chair and craning my head wayyyyy over to the left. As the blood rushes to my head... pop! It appears! Like some bulbous-nosed gremlin out of the cathode ray depths!)
June 28, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list e-e
Sure, eye is fine. Add away, my friend!
As for the asterisk, the truth is I couldn't figure out a simple way to distinguish between "any one character" (which is what the second asterisk means) and "any character or characters, or no character" (which is what the first asterisk means).
June 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list e-e
I think I just missed an opportunity to use the word antipenultimate.
June 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word do not want
According to Wikipedia, this phrase has its origins in a particularly bad translation of Star Wars Episode III.
June 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word 7547
I suspect that trombrarian is also part of the 7457 conspiracy.
June 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word incredibly
So, by analogy, could you use "credible" as a synonym for "not very"? As in "this is a credibly good idea", or "this will be credibly good for the language"?
June 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word thành phố hồ chí minh
Known in English as "Ho Chi Minh City".
June 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word krung thep maha nakhon
Known in English as "Bangkok".
June 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list city-names-with-three-or-more-words
Yes!!! I have found a four-word city and a five-word city!
*excitedly searching for six-word city*
June 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list city-names-with-three-or-more-words
John, I did think of New York City. I live in upstate New York, and I'm forced to think of NYC every time I have to explain to someone that I'm not from there. (Yes, world, it's possible to be a New Yorker without being from that particular city!)
But as far as I know, the official name of NYC is "New York", not "New York City". If this is true, then the name doesn't quite fit on this list. :-(
June 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list city-names-with-three-or-more-words
Wow, some beautiful suggestions here! Thanks, everybody!
I've decided to include all the English hyphenated towns, because I think they're curious, and I like curiosities.
Bilby, you have some truly excellent names there (I will always have a special place in my heart for Head-Smashed-In, ever since reading Dave Barry's account of the place), but unfortunately, they're not cities or towns, so I don't think they really fit what I had in mind.
June 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list elephants-amid-my-pages
How about e.g. and i.e.? When reading aloud, I'm always forced to substitute "for example" and "that is", because it sounds stupid to actually say "E G" or "I E".
June 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list in-excelsis-deo
Despite the fact that I agree with chained_bear, I have to give this round to bilby, on the grounds that he is awesome. :-)
June 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word 7457
To all those who are lost on this page, I would like to say a few words:
BUD POD EWE OVA AWE SAP EBB IRK LYE
June 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yeast
*laughs*
Oh, Asa, I like that one!
(Pro -- it's a play on words, based on the first line of a Rudyard Kipling poem. See here.)
June 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I'm American, too, and I always hear buoy pronounced to rhyme with phooey. Reesetee, I think you're right about regional variations, and I have to ask -- did you grow up in Pennsylvania, or are you a transplant?
June 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word aka
I've known for most of my life that a.k.a. means "pseudonym", but I only found out several years ago that it stands for "also known as".
Have you folks ever had the same experience with an acronym or initialism -- used it for years without knowing what it stands for?
June 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list recently-discovered-subatomic-particles
Hah! Yes! Spoton indeed!
June 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list recently-discovered-subatomic-particles
Sounds good, bilby. What does it mean?
June 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list common-english-words-that-are-also-first-names
Yes, it's true, I am a cruel and vicious hunter. Among my recent prey are several brownies and a Christopher Moore novel.
June 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word weenus
Whatever else it may mean, weenus is also a slang term meaning "the loose skin over your elbow". There's an article here, and a listing on Urban Dictionary here.
June 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word chad
I see Chad in the news pretty regularly, and unfortunately it's never good news. They have all those refugees to deal with, and there was that Zoe's Ark problem last year... I really hope that life in Chad is better than the American media depicts.
June 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word chad
Civil war? Sort of. Lots of indignant partisanship, certainly.
Where are you from, Asat?
June 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list recently-discovered-subatomic-particles
I like the sound of plinplon. What does it mean?
June 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list lost-in-transgenderation
I like the idea for this list, and I think it's fascinating to see the meanings translated from Italian.
I want to mention that in English (at least, the English of my idiolect), most of these words are innocuous. "Professional woman", for example -- in my mind, just means a woman with a profession (doctor, lawyer, or whatnot). Is this a clear difference between English and Italian?
June 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list common-english-words-that-are-also-first-names
My name is on this list. It's one of the few verbs.
June 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word features
No friends lists, please! I don't distinguish between "fellow Wordie user" and "friend", and I've no intention of starting. :-)
June 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word lemon demons
Now I'm going to have to read this comic strip, just to see what it means by "lemon demons". Are we talking about the Lemon Demon, of Internet fame?
And plethora, are you aware that Lemonic Demonade is a yearly event in Massachusetts?
June 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word extrapolation
Hah! Yes!
June 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word spelling
Maybe it's creator was having a bad day.
June 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list words-that-shouldn-t-be-used-on-a-first-date
No, bilby, it just means that I didn't read the list thoroughly before posting my ideas. Nevertheless, I think we can all agree that you shouldn't use Montezuma's revenge twice on a first date.
Three times, though... that might be okay. :-)
June 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list words-that-shouldn-t-be-used-on-a-first-date
What a great list! Thanks, TYP!
June 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word smoot
From Wikipedia: "The smoot is a nonstandard unit of length created as part of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) fraternity prank. It is named after Oliver R. Smoot (class of 1962), an MIT fraternity pledge to Lambda Chi Alpha, who in October 1958 was used by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts... the bridge's length was measured to be 364.4 smoots (620.1 m) plus or minus one ear."
More here.
June 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list what-ails-you
Swimmer's ear?
June 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word gound
For Wordieternity: more discussion of this stuff can be found at toejam.
June 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word toejam
Thank you, dontcry! Inside jokes aren't any fun unless someone else gets them. :-)
June 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list my-little-ponies
Wow. What a list!
A lot of these names would fit well on one of my lists...
June 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word toejam
I've always called that stuff sleep gunk, and I know several other people who do too.
June 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word toejam
Apparently, if you wear no shoeshine, you are at risk of developing toejam football.
That's gotta hurt!
June 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word money musk
According to this site, which I found via Google and can't really vouch for, the words of the title come from Gaelic: moine mus(g)ach, or "nasty, filthy bog."
June 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tornado warning
My father and his friends have a sport that they call "competitive porch-sitting", which consists of sitting out on the porch. My father is a champion porch-sitter; he can shoot the breeze out there for hours and hours, long after a lesser man would have given up and retired to the kitchen.
Dontcry, it sounds like your house would be the perfect place for a tournament!
June 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list war-die-them
What about towelheads? It's an awful word, but I still see it written on bathroom stalls sometimes.
June 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word dupa
This is your bottom. This is your bottom in Serbian. Any questions?
June 4, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word megazero
0.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word decabaker's dozen
130.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word picochu
An extremely small electric mouse.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word nanobillion
1.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word micromillion
1.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word millithousand
1.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word centihundred
1.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word deciten
1.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word decifurlong
22 yards.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list fun-with-si-prefixes
Lots of overlap with sionnach's list, here -- many thanks to sionnach and all his contributors!
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yoctogoogol
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word millimyriad
10.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word megafirkin
90,000,000 pounds.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word kilodozen
12,000.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word centigross
1.44.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word gigascore
20 billion.
June 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pleosauri
Well, I have eaten the odd iguanodon in my time. But I really prefer muffins.
(See chainishness.)
June 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cupping
*thinks*
Do necks have pits?
May 31, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word voodoo
Labyrinth! Yes. And it also reminds me of Blazing Saddles. "Go do that voodoo that you do so well!"
Oh, and dontcry? Hoodoo.
May 31, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word blipvert
Yarb, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
May 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list what-time-is-it
*sings*
"Bedtime, overtime, half-time too / but they just can't hold a candle to my... supper time!"
May 29, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word supper time
*sings*
"Bring on the soup dish, bring on the cup / Bring on the bacon and fill me up / 'Cause it's supper, supper-supper-suppertime!"
May 29, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word veruca
And a character in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".
May 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word agynary
Palooka -- is it warm where you live? Just a guess.
May 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word slake
I saw the same M*A*S*H episode, and I suggest that you can slake desire. :-)
May 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word compline
When I first encountered this word, I thought it referred to a 24-hour computer support hotline.
May 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word undine
Dontcry... it took me a moment, but now I'm chuckling unstoppably. Thank you! :-)
May 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word literally
I rise in opposition to the tag "auto-antonym" being applied to this word. Good sirs and madams, I ask you: can we in good conscience allow "literally" to mean "figuratively"?
Certainly the general public uses the word this way. And under most circumstances, I am all for following the general usage. In this case, though, I say that we must put up a fight. A fight, I tell you!
If "literally" no longer means "literally", then what shall we use in its place? And even if suitable substitutes can be found, why should we allow ourselves to lose a perfectly good word in the first place?
Fight the trend, good people. Refuse to define "literally" as "figuratively"! Posterity will thank you.
May 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list oddest-book-title-of-the-year
Huh. I thought that these would all be pretty esoteric, but I've seen six or seven of them on the shelves at the Barnes & Noble where I work.
May 23, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list steroids
I checked the etymology, and you're absolutely right. Rooster does indeed come from "roost" and "er".
Off the list it goes!
May 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list steroids
Hmm. You make good points, mollusque and yarb, but I'm not sure that the "er" in rooster is actually a suffix. Is a rooster "one that roosts"?
I'll have to check the etymology.
May 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word skyugled
"'I didn't steal the project,' Brad said amiably. 'I just sort of skyugled it away from her when she wasn't looking.'"
-- Connie Willis, "Blued Moon"
May 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word the flit-flats
"You better find yourself a gal right quick. You're givin' me the flit-flats with all this unfriendly talk."
-- Connie Willis, "Blued Moon"
May 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word adam 'n' evein'
See all het up.
May 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word all het up
"She's on her way to Cheyenne to catch a plane back east. Her mother's all het up about getting a divorce. Caught her husband Adam 'n' Evein'."
-- Connie Willis, "Blued Moon"
May 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list steroids
How about a new list, instead? Something like "Verbs that end in 'ster'"?
If you'll get it started, yarb, I'll help populate it!
May 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list steroids
*laughs* Yes, the rules do make it difficult, but I had to stipulate them, or else the list would be hundreds and hundreds of words long. :-)
May 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word kickshaw
Excellent, yarb!
May 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word linguist
"Tree?" Sally said. "I fell out of a tree today. On a linguist."
-- Connie Willis, "Blued Moon"
May 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word hork
I've also heard this used to describe the same action in the opposite direction, as in "my cat just horked up another hairball".
May 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word mong
Oh dear. What horrid definitions this word has. They make my Stuffie list a good deal less funny.
I vote that we jettison these definitions entirely, and instead use this word as a silly synonym for purvey.
Thanks for the heads-up, whichbe!
May 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list stuffie-monging
Excellent, yarb! And darned fast, too. This list has only been up for twenty minutes!
I'd add your suggestions myself, but I'd rather see your name next to them on the list (credit where credit is due, after all!). Add away, my good sir or madam!
May 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list stuffie-monging
Yes, it is a joke. But only a half-joke, really, because I'm secretly hoping that someone will come up with more things that get monged.
May 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list stuffie-poetrie-tunie-listings
Added two Tunies (Mark Rothko Song and Word Disassociation), and a Stuffie (stuff you mong).
May 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list ultrapow
You may be right, whichbe. I just spotted this news article about real-life Iron Man armor, and though I understand that there are legitimate motivations for designing it, I still imagine a bunch of noodly engineers sitting around saying "Hey... let's build a robotic exoskeleton that can turn even a noodly engineer into a powerhouse!"
May 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the user reesetee
Time elapsed between (1) me referencing an old Dr. Demento song over at untonsured and (2) reesetee catching my reference and posting the lyrics: 2 minutes.
This fills me with joy. :-)
May 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word fish heads
Eat them up, yum!
May 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word untonsured
Reesetee, reesetee, reesetee. Not only do bears bear headfish, they reduce them to fish heads!
As for the bears bearing the monks, perhaps the monks give the bears their fish and chips. (That is, of course, if they happen to be chip monks.)
May 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word confelicity
Added. Thanks, whichbe!
May 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word untonsured
Bears dine with monks? How do the monks bear the bears?
May 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word graip
"When You Have To Hurl, Grab The Graip!"™
(Note that this slogan would work for the pitchfork, but not for the cereal.)
May 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word d20
The story of my youth.
May 15, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list humbug-and-bafflegab
Wow -- it's beautiful!
*favorited*
May 15, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word metapneustic
Thanks to sionnach, you now have the word cephalopygian at your disposal. May it serve you well!
May 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word allotheism
Such as Jeff, the God of Biscuits. Or Simon, the God of Hairdos.
May 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word offff
Yay! This word makes me laughgh. :)
May 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word boobs
Bilby, that's excellent! If there isn't already a Curt Court of the Ursine Queen, I'm going to start one right now!
Yes. I shall be the Standard-Bearer for Her Shackled Majesty. Other available positions may be found here.
May 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yeah, right
Hi seanahan! I'm raising my hand to respectfully disagree with you. See my comments on I could care less. :-)
May 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word a bomb in a bull
("Abominable".)
May 12, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list monosyllabic-words-i-can-t-find-rhymes-for
Thanks, mollusque & yarb! You make Wordie the finest kind of edutainment. :-)
May 12, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list monosyllabic-words-i-can-t-find-rhymes-for
It does indeed, Asativum. However, one of the unwritten rules of this list is "proper nouns don't count".
May 12, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list really-cool-three-letter-words
I just saw vug on the comments feed, and immediately thought of this list.
May 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list monosyllabic-words-i-can-t-find-rhymes-for
Good catch, mollusque -- thank you! Not only have you helped my list, you've taught me the word zarf, an excellent word if I ever saw one.
May 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cusp
Excellent find, whichbe! I've added it to my list.
May 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word paronably
Pterodactyl vouches for you on this one. That was the problem with the late Mesozoic -- there were misspellings everywhere.
May 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word nibling
Frindley -- I think I follow you, but I'm not sure. Do you now consider yourself an aunt?
May 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word belemnites
Ha ha ha!
May 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word chuck norris
Hee hee hee. I love this phenomenon. My favorite is "Chuck Norris can divide by zero."
There's an explanation here.
May 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word iff
I do! I do want to do that sort of thing!
And unless I'm mistaken, your statement works out as "true". :-)
May 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list fun-with-apocopes
How about dorm?
May 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word oo
Split infinity.
May 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word nibling
This is slightly off-topic, but it's worth mentioning: a friend of mine calls her cousin's children her niecelings and nephewlings. She, in turn, is their auntlet.
I, myself, have a nephewling (my cousin's cute little son Elijah). Apparently, this makes me an unclet.
May 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word papageno was a rolig sog
Spectacular!
May 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word sidewalk
Hey sarra and mollusque -- where are you from?
May 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word sidewalk
Also, I think Wisconsinite is a really funny word. :-)
May 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word sidewalk
Here's a chance for me to post another one of those regional dialect maps. What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road?
I, personally, have no word for it, but apparently Iowans call it the parking, Ohioans call it the tree lawn, and Wisconsinites call it the terrace. See maps here.
May 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word iff
I like this word. It makes me feel nostalgic, because I saw a lot of it back in college when I was getting my philosophy degree.
May 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list what-is-a-reesetee-anyhow
Has both a husband and a wife.
Indisputable evidence (er, speculation) can be seen at pterodactyl on the rise.
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word dontcry for me abraxaszugzwang
*singing* "Before us newbies, you first existed / We kept your comments / Don't keep your distance"
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word husband
I sort of like hubby, actually. I think it's sweet.
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word quack
A laugh? I thought you were going "BONNNNNNNNNNNNNG".
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word verbivorous
Would that make dontcry a verban legend?
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word avocado
See comments at aphrodisiac.
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word aphrodisiac
I don't blame the Aztecs for being prudent. Apparently, the word avocado comes from two words, one meaning lawyer and the other meaning testicle -- no virgin should be subjected to such an unholy combination!
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word husband
Continuing the conversation that has, bewilderingly, popped up over on pterodactyl on the rise...
I really don't like the word husband. It sounds like a Dr. Seuss character.
As Yertle looked out over lands never seen,
He saw thousands of Huzz-Buns, all mottled and green
Wife, by contrast, is airy and pleasant, rather like fife or life. Why couldn't we menfolk have come up with an equally pleasant term for our own married state?
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pterodactyl on the rise
A stretch? Heavens, no! I call it bang on target.
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word for prolagus time
Billy Joel's ode to the life and times of an extinct lagomorph.
May 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word simon smith and the amazing chained_bear
Links: Alan Price, Muppets.
It is a great song, isn't it? So bright and cheerful. "It's just amazing how fair people can be", indeed!
May 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cupola
*groans in appreciation*
May 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pterodactyl on the rise
Oh! Excellent! I get it now!
(In my mind, I was trying to sing "There's a pterodactyl on the rise", which doesn't scan. Thanks, reesetee, for demonstrating just how awesome this particular substitution is!)
May 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list adjectives-that-used-to-be-people
Soylent adjectives are people!!!
May 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word whod unit
HA HA HA HA! Oh, that's brilliant!
May 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list frivolous-units-of-measurement
I humbly propose a unit suitable for measuring extremely long poems: the teradactyl.
May 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the user pterodactyl
Gosh, thanks!
May 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list pickle-and-such
Chained_bear: Hee hee hee! I get a kickle out of your story. :-)
Rolig: Good point. My thought process was pretty minimal when I created this list ("Pickle sounds funny. I wonder what else sounds funny like that?").
Personally, I find the two-syllable words on this list to be the funniest (tinkle and spackle, for instance, are hilarious), but I wouldn't limit the list to two-syllable words, because there are some funny longer ones, too. Pumpernickel, for example -- that one always brings a smile to my face.
In the end, I guess this list is all about the funny, not about the rule-following. Whatever that means.
May 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word neuticle
See neuticles.
May 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the user Prolagus
Hi Pro -- wanna help me come up with words that sound like pickle? If so, meet me here!
May 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list pickle-and-such
For the purposes of this list, spelling doesn't matter. I'm just looking for the "kul" sound at the end -- however it's spelled, it makes me grin.
May 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word ensnorkel
See ensnorkelled.
May 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pilates of the caribbean
Ha ha ha!
May 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word p as in penguin
Sadly, no. *shakes head in world-weary chagrin*.
I have learned my lesson about "pterodactyl". Despite the word's obvious power and grandeur (as well as its pizzazz, panache, and mojo), there will always those philistines who hear the phrase as "T as in Terodactyl".
Hence the penguin.
May 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list the-i-de-facto-i-phonetic-alphabet
Frindley, you're absolutely right. M and N, B and P, D and T, S and F -- there are quite a few of these troublesome pairs.
But even L has its problems, I've found. I sometimes have trouble distinguishing L from R over a scratchy phone line, especially if I'm not familiar with the speaker's accent.
May 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list lost-for-word
Pro, I usually hear occupied, just a minute, or there's someone in here. But if you want to, you could continue to say occupato -- I bet most Americans would understand it.
May 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list the-i-de-facto-i-phonetic-alphabet
There. All better now.
May 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list the-i-de-facto-i-phonetic-alphabet
Oh dear. It seems we can't use quotation marks in words. I'll have to fix that as soon as I get a chance.
May 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word snorifice
Hee hee!
May 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list nicknames-you-shouldn-t-give-to-an-axe-wielding-loincloth-wearing-barbarian-warrior-with-bulging-thews
Thank you both! :-)
May 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tup
Incoherence and confusion? Oh dear. We can't have any of that. Perhaps I can elucidate...
I was under the impression, sionnach, that you were making a clever reference to the song "Sheep Go To Heaven (Goats Go To Hell)", which has an extremely catchy chorus and makes for a confoundingly strong earworm. Hence my reference to gravediggers and forceps, both of which appear in the lyrics.
May 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word chained_pear
Man, it's a good thing someone chained that pear up. Those things are crueler than mangoes, and they can turn vicious when they're wounded.
Just because you suffer from pearanoia doesn't mean that the pears aren't out to get you!
May 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pear shaped
Ohhh!
*lightbulb flashes on over head*
I had never heard the expression "going all pear-shaped" before. Now that I have, I understand what Terry Pratchett means when he writes about things "going all wahoonie-shaped".
Thank you, dear Wordies, for enlightening me!
May 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word spaniel
Oh dearie me... I'm afraid this word is inextricably linked in my mind to Tom Lehrer's song "I Got It From Agnes". If you want spaniel to remain unsullied in your mind, then you definitely shouldn't watch this video.
May 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list really-cool-two-letter-words
Lo? Eh?
May 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tup
Ah, sionnach, what an earworm you've just given me! Now I'm going to spend the rest of the day mumbling about gravediggers and forceps.
May 1, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word isihac
Rest in peace, Humphrey Lyttelton.
April 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list really-cool-three-letter-words
Qua?
April 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word scruple
Reminds me of an old joke: A guy is chatting up a girl in a bar, and after a while he invites her back to his apartment. "Oh, no," the girl says. "I have scruples". "That's okay," the guy says. "I've had my shots."
April 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word friendorphobia
Brilliant!
April 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word feculant
What does it mean?
April 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word chainishness
Speaking as a giant prehistoric reptile, I have to say that I don't really like cupcakes.
Muffins, though...
April 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word on tippy-toes
I've seen those stars, and I think the ancient Arabs were onto something. They're really pretty, and they do remind me of hoofprints.
Unfortunately, they're also fairly dim, which means that I can't see them from my light-polluted hometown. :-(
April 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word frosting
See this map for American usage.
April 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word icing
See this map for American usage.
April 30, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word vulgate
Yes, but you shouldn't drink too many consonants in one day; it can irritate the vowels.
April 29, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word why do you hate freedom
Ha! Oh, c_b, that's hilarious!
April 29, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word vulgate
According to Wikipedia, L is an alveolar lateral approximant. But it's also a type of liquid consonant, which I think makes it considerably sexier.
April 29, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word vulgate
"Fricative: Of or relating to the act of fricking"?
April 29, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list •-suggestions-for-new-sailormoon-attacks
Yes! Count me in as another fan who loves you dearly, Pro. (And forgive my utter ignorance of Sailor Moon).
April 29, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word nigh
Neigh? Nay!
April 29, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word ghosting
And what, may I ask, is wrong with spectate? Sure, it's a backformation, but some of my best friends are backformations. :-)
April 28, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list little-miss-different
Thanks, p & P! And palooka, I can't help but imagine your daughters as wan little girls wearing 19th-century party dresses...
April 28, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word persona
*laughing*
April 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word features
I'm going to hesitantly raise my hand and make my first feature suggestion...
Over at this brilliant list that Prolagus created, I've been having fun trying to deduce the occupations of my fellow wordies, and it would be a good deal easier if I could sort the words by which user contributed them. What about a "sort by contributor" button for open lists?
And thanks as always, John, for all your work on this excellent site!
April 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word snicker
Disrespectful? I don't know about that. To me, a snicker is just a high-pitched chortle (but not so high-pitched as a giggle).
April 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word lettuce & potato (retasu poteto aisu)
*snuckering*
April 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word snucker
A snicker that's so orotund, it's practically a guffaw.
April 26, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word closedlistocene
What a perfect word for it!
April 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word eggs-it strategy
Spotting the chained_bearcraft carrier behind a wall of arsillery armed with hah-witzers, pterodactyl swoops by in one of his two helicopter funships... and eggs it.
Then the hah-witzers bring him down in a storm of giggles.
April 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word open lists
I feel the same way. Being a Wordie neophyte, I wasn't around for the era before open lists, and I find it hard to believe that there ever was such an era. It just feels so natural to collaborate on lists!
April 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word camoufudge
I'd wear it.
April 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cledonism
Mollusque -- what about saying "that is" for "i.e." and "for example" for "e.g."? For me, that's completely automatic.
April 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word obscurity
I spotted a very Wordie-like treatment of the word obscurity in an episode of the TV show QI -- you can watch it here.
April 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word squid squad
A bunch of soldiers with squid instead of rifles.
(Perhaps they slap people with them?)
April 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word lettuce & potato (retasu poteto aisu)
Pro, you probably know this already, but your English is superb. It's better than the English of most of my friends, all of whom are native speakers. So, no sighing necessary. :)
April 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word helicopter funship
(Yoinked from John, over at helicopter gunship. Thanks, John!)
April 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word helicopter funship
I WANT ONE.
April 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word p and ls
Obviously stands for "potato & leek" (soup). Ergo, as I suspected all along, reesetee is a potager!
April 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word barcode
Ah, that must be what lethora and rolagus did.
April 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word fiancé
Holy cow -- I'm not the only person on Earth who appreciates the the fiancé/finacée distinction!
Ah, my people, how happy I am to have found you. :-)
April 24, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list adoption-agency
Chained_bear just brought baby daddy to our attention. Is there a place for him here?
April 23, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word mule
Also has nothing to do with muliebrity.
April 23, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word barcode
It's never too late for a new nickname, psarra and preesetee! Just follow the example of pbilby and pchained_pbear.
April 23, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word barcode
Yes indeed, plethora! Well, sort of. I'm working on my master's degree to become a proper librarian. Until then, I'm just a weekend aide at my library's circulation desk.
That's one job guessed, one to go...
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word br ak-in
Oh, and you missed at least two. :)
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word br ak-in
I extend my sympathies to Archibald Fatquack and his venerable organ.
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word barcode
Beautiful stuff, VO -- thanks for the link!
But no, I am not an artist.
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word flaucinaucinihilipilification
A spelling variant, perhaps? I know this one as floccinaucinihilipilification.
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word armageddon
According to Eddie Izzard, "Armageddon" is short for "Armageddon out of here!"
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word barcode
I am neither a geneticist nor a cashier. But you're close!
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word barcode
I have two jobs. Both of them rely heavily on barcodes.
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word janissary
And then once all twelve gangs have come and gone, you could have an Anniverssary!
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list •-words-i-often-hear-at-my-workplace
I like this list idea. Thanks, Prolagus!
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word malefit
The exact opposite of benefit. As a verb, it means "harm" or "make worse". As a noun, it means "negative effect".
I coined it because I don't like the word detriment in the phrase "benefits and detriments". Apparently, I'm not the only one -- Google finds several other independent inventions of malefit.
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word hummus
When I first learned this word, I thought it was pronounced the same as (and possibly inspired by) humus. My reaction was "Yuck! How can anyone eat that!"
(But now I love to eat hummus, and I suspect that this is because I've learned how to pronounce it.)
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word rummage sale
According to this map, American usage of "rummage sale" is clustered around Milwaukee, of all places.
Huh.
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word garage sale
See this map of American usage. Apparently, in the US, "garage sale" is more common in the north than in the south (except for Texas, for some reason).
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tag sale
According to this map, the term "tag sale" is a regionalism from Connecticut and western Massachusetts.
Now I'm wondering what term a non-American might choose to describe one of these sales...
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yard sale
See this map for American usage.
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word ning nang nong
Yes, it's good. But what the Sam Hill is it?
*is confused*
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word plumassary
Fruit? Huh.
It makes me think of a janissary with a peacock's tail.
Edit: oh, I get it now. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word comeuppance
Nobody is listing whiff of scullerymaid. Why don't you?
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word bubble wrap
Thank you, chained_bear, for posting a link to my beloved Orisinal! I've passed many an hour there, often when I should have been doing homework. :-)
April 22, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word flautist
So you think maybe you'll be a doggerelist,
Just to pass the time till you make your next list,
The Wordies gather 'round and they start to talk
"It's nice, pterodactyl, but you're no sionnach."
April 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word flautist
So you think maybe you'll be a prostitute,
Just to pay for your lessons, you're learning the flute,
The ladies won't pay you very much for this,
Looks like you'll never be a concert flautist.
-- "Inner City Pressure", by Flight of the Conchords
April 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yummo
Oh, I get it. It's not quite dead -- just listless. That makes sense.
April 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yummo
Aha! My very first sighting of a ghost word!
I'm not sure whether to adopt it onto a list or to run like Scooby-Doo.
April 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word vegetarian
Whimsy, yes... that's an excellent word for it.
April 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word vegetarian
A story for you: About a month ago, I discovered an odd little site called Wordie. I was instantly captivated by the site's combination of logophilia and wordplay, but the best part, the part that keeps me coming back, is the attitude of the users. I don't know who these people are in real life, but on Wordie, they're fun, goofy, and witty, and their comments offer a pleasant respite from the bitterness and cynicism in the wider world.
Unfortunately, every so often, I come across a page like this one, and it sort of ruins the mood. On any other site, I would love this discussion (it's an issue close to my heart, and I think rational argument is a noble activity), but on Wordie, well... it just doesn't fit.
It's sort of like holding an activists' rally at a kid's birthday party. No matter how just your cause, you're still disrupting the people who are trying to play Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Take it outside! (er, offsite.)
*
A slogan for you: Keep Wordie Goofy!
April 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word schadenfreude
I think gangerh is having a bit of pshawdenfreude over there. ;-)
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word anymore
The linguistics survey that I've been linking to offers four different maps for the American usage of this word: map 1, map 2, map 3, and map 4.
That third map is definitely the odd one out, and I can't figure out why.
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word anymore
This is such a weird word. You have to negate it before you use it! Ergo, this word can only be used to describe things that it doesn't describe.
I think that that's downright spooky.
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word might could
Having grown up in Illinois, I have to throw my own befuddlement behind "quarter of". I've lived in upstate New York for twelve years now, and I still get confused when someone says "I'll be over at a quarter of three".
I've never actually heard anyone say might could, or any other double modal, but it makes perfect sense to me, and I hope it spreads northwards. :-)
(Oh, and see this map for American usage of double modals.)
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word where are you at
See this map for American usage -- and judging from the map, no one in the entire state of Massachusetts uses this phrase (except for one oddball on Cape Cod, who's probably a vacationer from Pennsylvania).
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word are you coming with
See this map for American usage.
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word synaesthesia
I'm not synaesthetic, but I have several strong associations with certain numbers, letters, and musical keys. For example:
- I associate the number five with the color red, and with aggressive, businesslike personalities.
- I associate the letter "t" with youth and shyness.
- I associate the key of E with the color green, and with pine forests.
I think it'd be fun to actually see the number five in red, but in lieu of that, I'm happy with my associations.
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word schadenfreude
Suggestions, eh? Well, right now the #2, #3, and #4 words are quixotic, serendipity, and loquacious. All three of these have meanings that could be applied to Wordie, I think, and their popularity makes us seem like a good-natured lot.
If one of the three were to overtake schadenfreude, I wouldn't shed a tear.
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yield
Hey... do you folks in Australia have signs that say Merge Left or Squeeze Left? I'm used to seeing the former here in the US, and when I first saw the latter (in Canada), I laughed so hard I nearly drove off the road. For a road sign, it sounds remarkably... coquettish.
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word feed me till i'm six foot four
Funny... before I clicked on this phrase, I assumed it was from a certain Beatles song.
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word f**k asimov
I heard this on the radio when I was younger, and wondered what bizarre vendetta the Clash had against this innocent science-fiction writer.
Silly me.
April 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word oh, four tuna
*applauds*
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word quorn
All the vegetarians I know (and I know quite a few!) eat eggs. It's the vegans who might turn up their noses at this stuff...
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word antischadenfreudgeonarianist
Example of usage:
"I, pterodactyl, am a proud antischadenfreudgeonarianist."
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word antischadenfreudgeonarianist
See antischadenfreudgeonarianism.
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word antischadenfreudgeonarianism
Opposition to the doctrine that one should zealously promote the word schadenfreudgeon (see schadenfreudgeonarianism).
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word schadenfreudgeonarianism
The doctrine that one should zealously promote the word schadenfreudgeon (see schadenfreudgeonarian).
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word schadenfreudgeonarian
One who zealously promotes the word schadenfreudgeon.
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word demonym
"And if there's one thing that the candidates want to show they really know about Indiana, it's the local demonym..." (i.e. Hoosier.)
--Heard on NPR, in this story.
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word dudgeons and dragons
I imagine that such a game would drag-on for hours. :)
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word oplaziti
*also guffawing*
April 19, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word übershrub
I swear I've got one of these in my front yard. It grows incredibly fast, especially when you're not looking at it. And it has vicious little thorns that, whenever you try to prune it, leave you bleeding in a dozen places.
April 18, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tuque
After checking Wikipedia, I've come to realize that my "hat with propeller" definition is probably due to my having learned the word from old Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.
I stand duly corrected, and shall revise my usage forthwith. :)
April 18, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word interrobang
Here's a picture of an interrobang.
April 18, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tawft
I love it!
April 18, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tuque
Beanie = tuque? Not in my idiolect! To me, the word "beanie" means "hat with a propeller on top" (like this).
Surely I'm not alone in this definition?
April 18, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tuque
Yes! And mightn't there also be twques? (If so, perhaps they look like this.)
April 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word broccoli
Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't you say broccoli and broccolo, just as you can say spaghetti and spaghetto?
April 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word libratory
Or having to do with a Libratorr.
April 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word bugs
Well, gosh darn it, it's working fine now, and I don't understand what's different this time.
April 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word bugs
*tentatively raises hand*
Hi, I'm not sure whether this is a bug or a feature, but I can't seem to put more than one link inside of a comment. For example, these should both be links:
Link One
Link Two
...but because there's two of them, they don't show up as links once I submit the comment.
April 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tuque
The existence of both toques and tuques suggests that there should also be taques, teques, and tiques. Symmetry demands it. In order to provide empirical evidence of these elusive forms of headgear, I propose that we build a two billion dollar superhattery, perhaps in Switzerland somewhere.
April 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list hats-off
How about tuque?
April 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word occultatio
HA HA HA!
Excellent, gangerh!
April 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word eldritch
Ditch-phuca? In lieu of actually knowing what you mean, I have to assume that you are talking about some sort of Old World chupacabra.
Poor Ethelred!
April 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word sammich
I think I learned this one from my dad:
What goes black-white-black-white-black-white-black-white?
A nun rolling down a hill.
April 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word osculation
It's a synonym for "kissing".
April 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list complicated-words-for-not-so-complicated-things
I've always liked nictitation and osculation.
April 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word double
I would find it more exciting if it were spelled "dubble". Then it would be a silly word, and we could all have a good time making fun of it.
"Double", though... isn't much of anything.
April 15, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word noosexual
Attracted to people who, when you ask them out, scream "NOOOOOOOOOO!"
April 15, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word moiety
This sounds like it should mean "moistness".
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word i could care less
"The Language Instinct"... that was the name of the book I read! Thank you for jogging my memory, seanahan.
I still respectfully disagree, though, on the basis of my own personal experience. Usually when I hear this phrase used, the user is unaware that there's any discrepancy between their intended meaning and their literal meaning.
Of course, we're talking about a bunch of different cases here; it may just be that you and Stephen Pinker hang out with a more erudite crowd than I do. :-)
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yinz
A plural "you", native to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. See the Wikipedia article for more information, and look for the patch of light blue on this map.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word y'all
Here's a map that shows just how Southern this word is.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word drag
For some people, "drug" can be a past tense form of "drag". See this map for American usage.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word drug
For some people, "drug" can be a past tense form of "drag". See this map for American usage.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word umbrella
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word thanksgiving
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word new haven
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word insurance
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cream cheese
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word vladimir putin
YES!
*guffaws*
April 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word oubliette
Oh, I thought it was like a suffragette who fights for the right to forget.
Hee hee hee! Now I'm picturing a street full of women wearing petticoats, waving blank signs, and swigging from bottles of nepenthe.
April 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word venn diagram
I rise in loyal defense of one of my favorite words, cwm -- this diagram is unfair to the letter W! Come, my colleagues, let us not tolerate this blatant Y-ian favoritism!
April 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word i could care less
I once read in a college textbook that this phrase is an example of irony. I don't believe it, though.
"Irony" implies that the speaker is consciously saying the opposite of what he/she intends to convey, and is hoping that the listener will hear the discrepancy. But "I could care less", though -- that's not conscious. People who say "I could care less" don't actually understand what they're saying, and you can verify this by asking them about it.
When I'm feeling charitable toward this phrase, I call it an idiom. When I'm not feeling charitable, I call it a mistake. Either way, I don't think it's a case of irony.
April 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pierelle
I have one of these in my backyard. Before today, I called it "that ditch full of stones".
Thank you, Wordie, for once again prettifying my nomenclature!
April 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word learning curve
I'm going to echo yarb's comment on dork out:
Lots of conversations on Wordie are irrelevant to the word on which they reside, but not this one.
April 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list drinks-menu-at-the-verbal-arms
See doggy bag.
April 12, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word chocolate crinkle
Fresh from the oven, the sweet, chocolately smell is almost unbearably good.
April 12, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word learning curve
I'm going to agree with sionnach and disagree (respectfully) with frindley.
Regarding sionnach's point about black and white: There's an excellent example of this in the phrase "I could care less", which is an idiom that means its exact opposite ("I couldn't care less"). Everyone seems to understand this phrase just fine, even the people who hate it (like me).
Regarding frindley's original point, down at the bottom of the page: Imagine that two people (let's call them "Aloysius" and "Bernice") have just started new jobs. Aloysius is going to be a crate stacker. He's given three hours of training, and at the end of it, he's expected to be proficient at stacking crates.
Bernice is going to be an emergency dispatcher. She's given three hours of training, and at the end of it, she's expected to be proficient at dispatching EMTs, police, and firefighters.
Bernice's training is going to be a heck of a lot more stressful than Aloysius's, because she has to learn a harder skill in the same amount of time. In other words, she has a steeper learning curve -- and this is not a good thing for her.
April 12, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word texas
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word strength
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word spicket
See this map -- spicket is currently losing the popularity contest against spigot.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word spigot
See this map -- spigot is currently winning the popularity contest against spicket.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word quarter
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word elvis presley
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word nursery
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word human
For some reason, I associate the "yuman" pronunciation with Californians -- but this map does not support me in this.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word grocery
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word garage
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word et cetera
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word chromosome
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word candidate
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word asterisk
See this map for American pronunciation.
And oroboros, I love your poem. :-D
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word anniversary
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word almond
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cot
Also see here for a map of the cot/caught merger in the US.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word caught
Also see here for a map of the cot/caught merger in the US.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word caught
This word, as contrasted with cot, is somewhat famous among linguists. See here for the story.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cot
This word, as contrasted with caught, is somewhat famous among linguists. See here for the story.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word syrup
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word route
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word realtor
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word really
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 11, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word spudge
Yes. Definitely spudgy. And I think we've all eaten some spudgy things in our time.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word poem
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pecan
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pajamas
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word miracle
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word mary
...and you can read about it here.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word mary
For some people, Mary, merry, and marry all sound different. For others, they sound the same. You can see a map of this phenomenon (in the US) here.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word merry
For some people, Mary, merry, and marry all sound different. For others, they sound the same. You can see a map of this phenomenon (in the US) here.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word marry
For some people, Mary, merry, and marry all sound different. For others, they sound the same. You can see a map of this phenomenon (in the US) here.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word lawyer
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word handkerchief
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word florida
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word creek
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word crayon
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word coupon
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word centaur
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cauliflower
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word caramel
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word bowie knife
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word been
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word aunt
See this map for American pronunciation.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word spudge
Mashed potatoes.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
Well, it's hard for me to describe, mollusque, but what I'm looking for are words which are never used literally, but only ironically. In all my life I've never heard "droll" used literally -- every single usage I've heard has been ironic.
It fascinates me that this is possible. Irony only makes sense if you know the literal meaning of the word you're using ironically. With the literal meaning of "droll" being pretty much dead, how is it that we're still able to use it ironically and be understood?
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list garbage-day
Hmm... for me, jug lacks the coolness factor that the G-G words have. In the word gigantic, for example, I see a tale of breathless melodrama:
I was a small vowel in the big city. They were a pair of brawny identical twins, with nice mouthfeel and some cute descenders... but I never should have gotten between them, because one of them harbored a dangerous secret. He told me he was an affricate, and, like a fool, I believed him...
The Plosive Surprise
, now playing in a theater near you.April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
I'm trying to find other words that have undergone the same transformation, but I can't think of any.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
Have you ever noticed that whenever a person says "Oh, how droll!", what they really mean is "Oh, how boring and stupid!"?
It amazes me that this word is still defined as "humorous". I bet that in 2108, all the dictionaries will define "droll" as "humorless", because that's the way people use the word nowadays.
Unless irony doesn't work like that.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word jejune
I suffer from the same problem, pbilby. I think my brain is stuffed so full of esoteric words that whenever I try to relearn "jejune", the definition utterly fails to stick in my mind.
Is there a word for this phenomenon?
April 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list sounds-often-heard-during-a-search-for-a-hard-to-find-word
*shakes head in wonderment*
Every potential Wordie list... is an existing Wordie list. It's as if this site creates a hole in the barrier between the real and the imaginary, and the two are intermingling in some metaphysical amalgam...
Either that, or Wordie was built over a Hellmouth. :-)
April 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list here-i-dreamt-i-was-an-archetype
Is "lily-livered poltroon" an archetype? I'm not sure. It sounds more like a hilarious Shakespearean insult.
And why has no one listed it yet? You'd think that Wordies, of all people, would appreciate hilarious Shakespearean insults.
April 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list here-i-dreamt-i-was-an-archetype
Great suggestions, sionnach -- thanks!
April 9, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word afflatus
Fart noises, yes indeed... and isn't there a cartoon duck that sells insurance, called the Aflac Duck?
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word deifenestration
Now I'm chortling. :-D
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list here-i-dreamt-i-was-an-archetype
Instant story -- just add plot!
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word skeleton
A skeleton walks into a bar, and says "Gimme a beer... and a mop."
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word guy with a chunk of asphalt on his shoulder
A guy walks into a bar with a chunk of asphalt on his shoulder. The bartender says "What can I get you?" The guy says "A beer for me, and one for the road."
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word rené descartes
*sings* "David Hume could out-consume Schopenhauer and Hegel / and Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as schloshed as Schlegel!"
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list a-_____-walks-into-a-bar
Oh, I see. Y'know, I think they're actually funnier when left to the imagination like that.
When I was about 14 or so, my friends and I had a game that consisted of taking turns making up setups for jokes. Not whole jokes, but just the introductory bits, like "Mother Theresa, Garrison Keillor, and a one-armed man are stuck in an elevator." We never came up with endings; I think we just like the unresolved tension of the silly situations.
That's my longwinded way of saying bravo to you for your untethered jokelets.
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list gesundheit
I'm desperately trying to keep my giggling at the sub-audible level. It isn't working very well.
"Tsar", perhaps? If you pronounce the "ts", it's a short sharp sneeze.
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word bumptious
Given that they're glow-worms, wouldn't it have to be a symphony of lightedness?
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list a-_____-walks-into-a-bar
Now I'm dying to hear the jokes that go along with these contributions. For example, what happens when the voodoo priestess walks into a bar? You can't just leave us hanging! :-)
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pwn
When I first saw the word "pwn", I thought it was derived from Welsh, like "cwm" or "crwth". I went around for over a year hearing it my head as "poon".
Then one day I attempted to use the word in conversation. It was a bewildering moment; all of a sudden, everyone was chortling and making references to Tang.
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word absquatulate
No need to demand, c_b -- I'd be delighted to add to that excellent list. :-)
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word surrealists
Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to hold the giraffe, and the other to put the clocks in the bathtub.
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word hegelians
Q: How many Hegelians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One stands at one end of the room and argues that the universe is composed of light; the other stands at the other end of the room and argues that true light is impossible.
(if you laugh at this joke, you're probably just as overeducated as I am.)
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word woman
A woman walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a double entendre...
...so the bartender gives her one.
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word pickle
A pickle walks into a bar and the bartender says, "Hey, you're a pickle! What are you doing here?"
The pickle says, "Well for starters, I'm celebrating the fact that I can walk."
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word neutron
A neutron walks into a bar and says "Hey, how much for a beer?"
The bartender replies "For you, no charge."
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list sounds-often-heard-during-a-search-for-a-hard-to-find-word
Ooh! Can we put some placeholder names on this list? Or is that not what you had in mind?
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word absquatulate
Oh my stars and garters... how have I lived for so long without knowing this wonderful, wonderful word?!!!
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word marxists
Q: How many Marxists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: None. The light bulb contains the seeds of its own revolution.
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word dull people
Q: How many dull people does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One.
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word hobgoblin
You and me both, fer_k. Such a great comic!
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word lovelorn gastropod
I HAVE to hear the joke behind this phrase. :-)
(Also, have you noticed that these pages are the only Google hits for "lovelorn gastropod"?)
April 8, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word misled
Some mispronunciations from my benighted youth:
HIGH-per-BOWL (for "hyperbole")
WHY-zend (for "wizened")
I also used to pronounce "donor" as "donner" and rhyme "caste" with "paste".
April 7, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list tunie-demasduit-dream
I love this song, but I never knew what it was about before now. Thank you!
April 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word cathect
Every time I hear this word, I think of "decathecting", coined by Mike Doughty in this song.
April 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word illeism
Here in the US, our two most famous illeists are probably Bob Dole and Elmo. I think that they're a perfect match, and I'd love to see them do a comedy film together. You could call it "Elmo loves you, Bob Dole!"
Or "Bob Dole loves you, Elmo!"
April 6, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word papaya
I think that "papaya" is a perfectly logical euphemism. Even the words sound similar -- they share that "schwa-aye-schwa" vowel pattern.
April 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list the-sound-of-one-hand-typing
Wow -- that's quite a list. I'm especially impressed by "reverberate".
April 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word papaya
I vaguely remember hearing that "papaya" is the longest word you can type with one hand on a Dvorak keyboard, and that this is supposed to be a selling point for Dvorak keyboards.
I also remember hearing that "stewardesses" is the longest word you can type with one hand on a QWERTY keyboard, but that memory is more vague, and probably false.
April 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tsunami
Because reesetee asked... pterodactyl does not pronounce the "P" in his username. And thereby hangs a tale. See my user page for the (rather silly) story.
April 5, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word brethren
Sionnach, you've just set me giggling, and I'm afraid I might not stop for some time.
Hee hee hee!
April 4, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word tsunami
Do you pronounce the T? I do, but I'm beginning to suspect I'm the only one who does.
April 3, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list a-whooshing-of-turpentine-up-my-nostrils
Hee hee hee!
March 27, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word self-referential
Does this word really refer to itself?
March 25, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list 50-ways-to-leave-your-lover
Actually more than 50, which proves that Paul Simon's prediction was too modest.
March 21, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word breakfast for sal
Thank you! Off the list it goes...
March 18, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word better squidness bureau
See the comments on this list.
March 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word breakfast for sal
It's been so long since I read Blueberries for Sal, I can't remember whether they actually eat pancakes at the end of the book.
Can anyone jog my memory?
March 17, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word squidduggery
Using squid for unscrupulous purposes.
March 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word philately
SonofGroucho is absolutely right. And therein lies a joke...
This geeky guy sees a beautiful woman at a bar, so he walks over and tries to chat her up. "Hey, baby, wanna come back to my place and look at my stamp collection?"
She raises an eyebrow and says "Philately will get you nowhere."
March 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list lying-cheating-and-stealing
Squidwashing liquid? Why, the very idea! If you persist in this barefaced chicanery, good sir or madam, I shall have to report you to the Better Squidness Bureau!
March 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list lying-cheating-and-stealing
Maybe Eskimos don't have dozens of words for snow after all, but I've noticed that English speakers have a suspicious variety of words for being sneaky.
I'm surrounded by English speakers every day. Should I be worried? :-)
March 16, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list monosyllabic-words-i-can-t-find-rhymes-for
Thanks to juliah and Papageno for their lists of rhymeless words, from which I shall respectfully pilfer in order to expand this list.
March 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word billy the squid
Yup. He's a character in a children's song. It's a wonderful song -- not only does Billy "steal from the selfish and give to the shellfish", we also get to see him woo the beautiful mollusk Clammity Jane.
Lyrics here.
March 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word angst
Angst (n): The anxious, apprehensive feeling you get, deep down in your soul, when you try to find a rhyme for "angst".
March 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word yes we have no bananas
My Esperanto is a bit rusty, but I'm pretty sure it's...
"Jes, ni havas neniom da bananoj, ni havas neniom da bananoj hodiau."
March 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word gehunteschpundt
Gehunteschpundt!
March 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list words-that-end-in-ish-but-aren-t-adjectives
Words that end in "-ish" but aren't adjectives are funny because they sound like they should be adjectives. (For example: can you describe a mediocre surfer as "radish"?)
The humor doesn't work for monosyllabic words, like fish, because they don't sound like adjectives. So no fish. No squish, either.
March 13, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list monosyllabic-words-i-can-t-find-rhymes-for
There are loads and loads of polysyllabic words with no rhymes. The real challenge is finding monosyllabic words with no rhymes.
Hence the list.
March 13, 2008
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