qroqqa, whether you believe in the ten commandments or not, and whether you want to post the name of God on wordie as a linguistic curiosity in itself is not the issue. The post is an entire sentence excerpted from Jewish liturgy. If you're going to do that, you ought to be respectful about it. This wasn't.
Prolagus, I beg to differ. It is Not respectful to quote some of the holiest words of another's religion in a manner which contradicts one of the central teachings of that religion, namely in this case not to take the Lord's name in vain. Furthermore, it is not respectful to mock those words by joking that they mean "how much is that doggy in the window?" Even Jewish prayer texts do not write out the full name of the Lord. If you want to express your admiration for Jewish liturgy, don't do it by breaking one of the ten commandments: it's demeaning to the words you quote.
Political views aside as to whether it ought to be, I am merely making a factual point. Currently, Palestine is not a country. (Furthermore, I don't see why preference ought to be given to those who think it ought to be a country. If the issue is beyond the scope of Wordie, one shouldn't promote Palestinian nationalism either.)
It comes from anime facial expressions, which communicate smiling by narrowing the eyes. ^^ is more or less equivalent to :), but with a little less friendly, and a little more cute.
It has come to my attention that in British slang the verb "to chirps" means something along the lines of "to pursue in the interest of establishing a serious romantic relationship". That rocks.
Comes from the lowest note in medieval music pedagogy, which was called Gamma-Ut. Gamma because it was lowest octave of the note G, Ut because it was the tonic of a Guidonian hexachord.
I was thinking about this word earlier, because of the words it contains — cow, scow, cowl. There aren't a whole lot of words which can, discounting inflection, be expanded on either side or both to form new words. I wonder if there is a name for this kind of wordplay.
adj. Pertaining to the space between window panes. To be adorned with prefixes (e.g. interfenetrical, intrafenetrical, et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum).
Also, I may be in the future corrected on the spelling by someone from the family of coinage.
Experimenting with other tags on a more out of the way page I tried to get < code > or < pre > to turn the page into unformatted html, but alas, in vain.
Hahaha plethora, digital sorcery prevails! I'm also flattered to be the inspiration for a Sailor Moon attack, though I'm trying to figure out where anime panty shots fit in with html and basonyms (see, I used it!).
Unless I misunderstood, she was referring to a distinct usage. I.e. tappen in Modern English refers to bears, but in Middle English, it refers to kinky sex (‽).
Ah, I see. I wasn't implying that coitus interruptus is bad. I was more explaining why it isn't.
(Halakhically the Sin of Onan is still considered to be the spilling of seed though, AFAIK. The history I outlined could perhaps be used by a Rabbi to rule otherwise, but that is relatively unlikely to happen any time soon.)
What Onan did was actually worse than coitus interruptus. Tamar had originally married Onan's brother, but the brother died before they produced an heir to carry the bother's name. Onan was supposed to marry Tamar (a Levirate marriage), give her a male child to carry on the deceased husband's name, and then divorce her. Tamar was a very attractive woman, so Onan was all too happy to enter the Levirate marriage, but he refused to give her a child because he wanted to keep having sex with her. Essentially he used her.
The reason onanism has come to mean "spilling seed" is that early medieval Jewish commentators, in enumerating the 613 commandments, did not want to remind their less-than-friendly Christian neighbors of the ancient, but no longer practiced institution of Levirate marriage, so they interpreted the passage to be a commandment against masturbation and coitus interruptus. Around this same time Jews discontinued the practice of polygamy.
Literally simulque recumbentibus means "and reclining at the same time". Recumbentibus is the ablative plural of recumbens, which is the present active participle of recumbere, to recline. Here the participle is being used in absence of a noun, so it's more like "and those who were also then reclining" - i.e. the people eating with Herod.
Aha, indeed the word does appear in the book you pointed out, in English, meaning a knockout blow. It's in a play called Mankind, which dates from c. 1475. Quite an obscure word!
My curiosity is piqued. The most information I can find on recumbentibus is that it was spelled wrong in the 2006 National Spelling Bee and this quotation by J.R. Newman:
the advantage of inflicting upon an assailant a recumbentibus
A quick search yielded that the most prominent J.R. Newman is a 20th century mathematician James Roy Newman, who wrote on formal logic and worked peripherally with the Manhattan Project. I'd guess that his use of the word recumbentibus refers to the atomic bomb. I'm tempted to say he coined the word himself, but given his figurative use of it and the etymology oblique to the meaning, I think it more likely that the word is archaic. The thot plickens.
As far as I could tell from the quote in the article Mia posted, Posner doesn't have a terribly coherent position on it. He essentially makes a syntactical argument on a grammatical question.
n. One whose moral philosophy is based on achieving an outcome, or equivalently, one whose moral philosophy primarily judges the means based on the end. Contrast deontologist.
n. One whose moral philosophy is driven by a set of formal rules, or equivalently, one whose moral philosophy primarily judges the means itself. Contrast teleologist.
Hmm, I read the article, but it didn't seem terribly convincing or apropos. The best I could find was this. Although the American Heritage folks disagree (figures, as they're descriptivists), I've concluded that either "each other's tongue" or "each others' tongues" is correct. I'm still not satisfied with the grammar in the latter, because "each" is an adjectival pronoun, and adjectival pronouns have to agree in number with the nouns they describe: it is incorrect to say "that circuses".
Incidentally, I wonder if any one could enlighten me as to the correct grammatical number of tongues in the phrase, "we Wordies could pluck the words off each other's tongue." It sounds wrong that way, but my grammatical sense tells me each can only have one tongue.
I used to experience strong pitch-color synaesthesia, but it's gotten weaker over the years, to the point where it's now closer to timbre-color synaesthesia. It's a pity - I'm convinced synaesthesia augments talent.
Generalization of iterated integration and differentiation, viewed as an operator which takes a function and a number, and returns a function. Useful perspective in rheology.
As exponentiation is to multiplication, tetration is to exponentiation. Quite an interesting operation, because no one has yet found a well behaved way to generalize tetration beyond the natural numbers. Tetration is notated as a superscript before the number to be tetrated.
From Nichomachean Ethics, the trait of a thing that makes it what it is. According to Aristotle, virtue is the degree to which a thing fulfills its ergon.
This is quite a useful word, IMO, but the definition above is vague. As far as I can tell, haecceity is the variable of thisness, the value of which, figuratively speaking of course, is a thing's ergon.
At least one translation of Aristotle uses the word magnanimous to refer to a person who is neither arrogant nor excessively humble. I like that definition better, because there isn't another word for that meaning, whereas generous is a perfectly good word, and not in need of a synonym.
Comments by shevek
shevek commented on the word whumptydump
n. The talking and whatnot that goes on before the broadcast of a sporting event.
July 16, 2009
shevek commented on the word ughten
I've been looking for a word with this meaning for ages!
June 21, 2009
shevek commented on the word וְ�?ָהַבְתָּ, �?ֵת יְהוָה �?ֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכָל-לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל-נַפְשְ�?ךָ, וּבְכָל-מְ�?ֹדֶךָ.
qroqqa, whether you believe in the ten commandments or not, and whether you want to post the name of God on wordie as a linguistic curiosity in itself is not the issue. The post is an entire sentence excerpted from Jewish liturgy. If you're going to do that, you ought to be respectful about it. This wasn't.
June 20, 2009
shevek commented on the word וְ�?ָהַבְתָּ, �?ֵת יְהוָה �?ֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכָל-לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל-נַפְשְ�?ךָ, וּבְכָל-מְ�?ֹדֶךָ.
Prolagus, I beg to differ. It is Not respectful to quote some of the holiest words of another's religion in a manner which contradicts one of the central teachings of that religion, namely in this case not to take the Lord's name in vain. Furthermore, it is not respectful to mock those words by joking that they mean "how much is that doggy in the window?" Even Jewish prayer texts do not write out the full name of the Lord. If you want to express your admiration for Jewish liturgy, don't do it by breaking one of the ten commandments: it's demeaning to the words you quote.
June 20, 2009
shevek commented on the word וְ�?ָהַבְתָּ, �?ֵת יְהוָה �?ֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכָל-לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל-נַפְשְ�?ךָ, וּבְכָל-מְ�?ֹדֶךָ.
I must say I find it rather inappropriate for the tetragrammaton to be posted on Wordie.
June 20, 2009
shevek commented on the word gloaming
I've often thought that "The Gloaming Deer" would be a good name for a pub.
May 27, 2009
shevek commented on the word squunk
n. Quiche
February 19, 2009
shevek commented on the word bim
n. Dried on schmutz left over from the dishwasher.
February 19, 2009
shevek commented on the word incutebation
n. The period of time during which a teenager is gangly and awkward, before coming into their attractiveness.
January 6, 2009
shevek commented on the word nurdle
These definitions are very disappointing.
November 30, 2008
shevek commented on the word colorectomy
Every time I see this word I think it's colo-rectomy.
November 23, 2008
shevek commented on the word omphaloid
adj. Navel-like. (from The Phrontistery)
November 16, 2008
shevek commented on the word oecist
n. The founder of a colony. (from The Phrontistery)
November 16, 2008
shevek commented on the word oose
n. Furry dust that gathers under beds. (from The Phrontistery)
November 16, 2008
shevek commented on the word ophelimity
n. Ability to please sexually; ability to satisfy. (from The Phrontistery)
November 16, 2008
shevek commented on the word ophiasis
n. Baldness in wavy bands. (from The Phrontistery)
November 16, 2008
shevek commented on the word dialogue
For some reason my spell checker wants me to spell this dialog.
November 15, 2008
shevek commented on the word cutier
n. An artisan who produces cute things.
November 13, 2008
shevek commented on the word callipygean
What about callipaegean?
November 13, 2008
shevek commented on the word callipaegean
adj. Pertaining to Greek butts.
November 13, 2008
shevek commented on the word aut cetera
Latin for "or others".
November 11, 2008
shevek commented on the word et cetera
Aut cetera really ought to be used for lists of alternatives, not et cetera.
November 11, 2008
shevek commented on the word brotest
"Aww man, what do you mean we can't throw a frisbee here? Seriously, bro?"
November 11, 2008
shevek commented on the list countries-the-united-states-has-bombed-invaded
"I expect most people living in the West Bank and Gaza would think of Palestine as their 'country.'"
They thought of it as Jordan and Egypt until 1967. Judea and Samaria are part of Israel.
November 10, 2008
shevek commented on the list countries-the-united-states-has-bombed-invaded
Political views aside as to whether it ought to be, I am merely making a factual point. Currently, Palestine is not a country. (Furthermore, I don't see why preference ought to be given to those who think it ought to be a country. If the issue is beyond the scope of Wordie, one shouldn't promote Palestinian nationalism either.)
November 10, 2008
shevek commented on the word package management system
Also known as PMS.
November 10, 2008
shevek commented on the list countries-the-united-states-has-bombed-invaded
Palestine should not be on this list, because it isn't a country.
November 9, 2008
shevek commented on the word billiards vs pool (vs snooker)
Snooker FTW!
November 6, 2008
shevek commented on the word armature
Also the frame used to construct a sculpture; often used thus metaphorically.
November 6, 2008
shevek commented on the word ^^
It comes from anime facial expressions, which communicate smiling by narrowing the eyes. ^^ is more or less equivalent to :), but with a little less friendly, and a little more cute.
November 6, 2008
shevek commented on the word lgbtq
LGBTQQIA is the current long form, I believe.
November 3, 2008
shevek commented on the word hemiola
Your theory teacher is a square.
October 29, 2008
shevek commented on the word german oral exam
That's a great idea! I should use that on my German exam too!
October 28, 2008
shevek commented on the word reeige
n. (pronounced REEZH) What happens to a toy train when the tracks don't connect back up with themselves. Used metaphorically as well.
October 24, 2008
shevek commented on the word common
Why do you say that? I typically just look for more than one listing, because most of the one listing words aren't really words.
October 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word cryptomnesia
More specifically, a memory that masquerades as original inspiration. The bane of songwriters.
October 16, 2008
shevek commented on the word cupcake terrorism
petitfour, you shouldn't joke about it so easily. It happened in my neighborhood. It could happen in yours.
October 15, 2008
shevek commented on the word jewbag
Excuse me?
October 14, 2008
shevek commented on the list justifiably-pedantic-spellings
Wouldn't the etymological spelling be octogenarian? (from the Latin octo)
October 13, 2008
shevek commented on the word prolix
This word sounds like is opposite. What sort of -nym is that?
October 10, 2008
shevek commented on the word this is not my beautiful wife
under ur ground, flowin ur waterz
October 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word this is not my beautiful wife
Have things changed slightly? Are they somewhat different than a minute ago? Perhaps even mildly novel?
October 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word ultragreat
Oh no, gangerh! Those were about as funny as a punch in the gut.
October 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word cosmopygian
From the music video of Baby Got Back, by Sir Mix-a-lot.
October 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word icumin
That's a reference to Summer is icumen in, the oldest extant musical round:
SUMER is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweth sed, and bloweth med,
And springth the wude nu—
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteth after lomb,
Lhouth after calve cu;
Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth,
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu, well singes thu, cuccu:
Ne swike thu naver nu;
Sing cuccu, nu, sing cuccu,
Sing cuccu, sing cuccu, nu!
(from here)
October 7, 2008
shevek commented on the word chirps
As I'm not a Brit myself, I'm afraid this is the best I can do.
October 5, 2008
shevek commented on the word chirps
It has come to my attention that in British slang the verb "to chirps" means something along the lines of "to pursue in the interest of establishing a serious romantic relationship". That rocks.
October 5, 2008
shevek commented on the word quintal
Also a type of harmony based on stacked fifths.
October 3, 2008
shevek commented on the word hit
n. (funk) An accent from outside the groove.
September 29, 2008
shevek commented on the word swunk
Swung funk.
September 29, 2008
shevek commented on the word hip
What is hip? — Tower of Power
September 29, 2008
shevek commented on the word pocket
n. (funk) The place where you put the groove.
September 29, 2008
shevek commented on the list lost-for-word
What is the opposite of a memory?
September 28, 2008
shevek commented on the word excelsior
I did a double take when I read this definition. Apparently it comes from a trademark.
September 27, 2008
shevek commented on the word ejaculate
Perhaps it was an unsuccessful innuendo?
September 25, 2008
shevek commented on the word rumbustious
I love this word.
September 24, 2008
shevek commented on the word seriatim
Words like this and frisson make me wonder where exactly lies the line between English words and borrowed foreign words. Opinions?
September 22, 2008
shevek commented on the word bippy
I must say I love the definition: "an unspecified part of the anatomy." LMHO.
September 18, 2008
shevek commented on the list profanity-+-baked-goods-rictomania
Bread products generally add a lot to the cute potential of otherwise harsh expletives.
September 15, 2008
shevek commented on the word posthastilly
From the A Team.
September 14, 2008
shevek commented on the word gamut
Comes from the lowest note in medieval music pedagogy, which was called Gamma-Ut. Gamma because it was lowest octave of the note G, Ut because it was the tonic of a Guidonian hexachord.
September 12, 2008
shevek commented on the word prosie the privateer
It's not exactly in the rules, I know, but it was too good to pass up.
September 10, 2008
shevek commented on the word agogic
Agogic accents in music are those created by the properties of the melody, as opposed to the rhythm or an artificial accent marking.
September 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word clyster pipe
Of course c_b knows, rolig; she's our resident poo expert after all.
September 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word sapphic
One of my favorite meters to write in.
September 6, 2008
shevek commented on the word ophicleide
A rather cumbersome 19th century keyed brass instrument of the bass register, rather like a baritone saxophone with a trombone mouthpiece.
I actually saw one of these for sale in a Boston music store last year. It came with a fingering chart.
September 2, 2008
shevek commented on the word coolth
Oh okay. That's where I lifted it from anyway.
August 28, 2008
shevek commented on the word coolth
n. Opposite of warmth.
(lifted from Star Wars lore)
August 27, 2008
shevek commented on the word fabular
I propose this word for the now uncommon elder meaning of fabulous: fictitious, made up, or incredible.
August 26, 2008
shevek commented on the word the pattern
In other words, don't feed the troll.
August 25, 2008
shevek commented on the word pussify
I thought I saw in the article that it's not in fact eligible for copyright.
August 25, 2008
shevek commented on the word pussify
c_b, I lost you at "yodeling". :-P
August 25, 2008
shevek commented on the word pussify
Yes you were. Pussy as an insult is metaphorical, referring to the literal idiomatic meaning of female genitalia.
August 24, 2008
shevek commented on the list ecce-romani
I loved Ecce Romani!
August 22, 2008
shevek commented on the word scowl
I was thinking about this word earlier, because of the words it contains — cow, scow, cowl. There aren't a whole lot of words which can, discounting inflection, be expanded on either side or both to form new words. I wonder if there is a name for this kind of wordplay.
August 22, 2008
shevek commented on the word studentry
Suggested by E.B. White as an alternative to student body.
August 22, 2008
shevek commented on the word pellucid
This sounds like it could be the name of a Turkish dynasty.
August 19, 2008
shevek commented on the word math-hyphy
This needs to happen!
August 19, 2008
shevek commented on the word does a bear shit in the woods
Only in the summer.
August 19, 2008
shevek commented on the word madescence
n. a dampening
August 19, 2008
shevek commented on the word wowsers
Inspector Gadget! *is happy*
August 19, 2008
shevek commented on the word snurdle
n. A circular wire frame for storing firewood indoors.
August 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word moxibustion
Unfortunately unrelated to moxie.
August 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word limerance
A word this obscure should not have a variant spelling. *steps of soapbox*
August 17, 2008
shevek commented on the list laws-of-the-universe
Perhaps you might include the law of quantum aging?
August 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word law of quantum aging
Prior acquaintances, unobserved, do not age.
August 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word tmesis
Infuckingcredible!
August 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word vellus
Calling actual peach fuzz vellus would be like a figure of speech in reverse. A speech in figure, or something like that.
August 15, 2008
shevek commented on the word dwayne!
From Homestar Runner
August 14, 2008
shevek commented on the word freemanic paracusia
See xkcd.
August 14, 2008
shevek commented on the word digressive consultive
I just misread this as digestive consultant. Laughing my head off...
August 12, 2008
shevek commented on the word fundament
I test my bath before I sit
And am always moved to wonderment
That what chills the finger not a bit
Is so frigid upon the fundament.
August 10, 2008
shevek commented on the word urolagnia
Don't be so judgmental, logos. I'm sure you have a fetish that prudes would find equally reprehensible.
August 9, 2008
shevek commented on the word eclair
Just to sell these, I want to start a bakery in Eu Claire, Wisconsin.
August 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word anarres
Love that book, as you can probably guess.
(For those who don't know, it's The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin.)
August 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word vaginismus
As opposed to the vaginisthmus.
August 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word sweer
Slang equivalent of selcouth. Cool or sweet in a strange way.
From a typo of "sweet", presumably. I got the word from instant messaging with an amiable AIM stalker several years ago.
August 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word drabogue
Just listened to Fortune of War on my road trip to Wisconsin. I laughed for about a minute at that line.
August 8, 2008
shevek commented on the word trisexual
"Will try anything sexual"
August 5, 2008
shevek commented on the word ambisextrous
Possibly related to trisexual?
August 5, 2008
shevek commented on the word scrapple
Wow, learning what this means just ruined bebop for me. Thanks, guys...
August 5, 2008
shevek commented on the word fenetrical
adj. Pertaining to the space between window panes. To be adorned with prefixes (e.g. interfenetrical, intrafenetrical, et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum).
Also, I may be in the future corrected on the spelling by someone from the family of coinage.
July 30, 2008
shevek commented on the word flambo
n. In croquet, a maneuver in which one hits the ball hard through a wicket so as to be in position to hit an opponent's ball on the next stroke.
July 30, 2008
shevek commented on the word gruntfat
collective noun. In croquet, balls that are only useful as targets to be hit.
July 30, 2008
shevek commented on the word roleo
Family coinage referring to the Lumberjack World Championship in Hayward, WI. Cross between roll, for the sport of log rolling, and rodeo.
July 28, 2008
shevek commented on the list 2008-wordlist
I highly approve of all the rhetoric terms! (Rhetoric is an idle pursuit of mine.)
July 23, 2008
shevek commented on the word catillate
Perhaps catillate because it's a popular activity among kitties?
July 22, 2008
shevek commented on the word basonym
Experimenting with other tags on a more out of the way page I tried to get < code > or < pre > to turn the page into unformatted html, but alas, in vain.
So none of you try that, ya hear?
!!!
PS - Sionnach, what about bslsk05?
July 22, 2008
shevek commented on the word basonym
Hahaha plethora, digital sorcery prevails! I'm also flattered to be the inspiration for a Sailor Moon attack, though I'm trying to figure out where anime panty shots fit in with html and basonyms (see, I used it!).
Mia, would you like to buy a vowel?
July 22, 2008
shevek commented on the word snooker
I love watching this game! Especially when the commentator speaks a language I don't understand...
July 22, 2008
shevek commented on the word babushka
Used to refer to the dolls, babushka is a misnomer.
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the user shevek
Whoot, first time on wordiest and most commentful! *high fives self*
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word flagillitious
Flagellicious!
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word flagitious
Or did you mean this?
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word basonym
*ducks paddle swipe*
You really ought to add that word. I can't find it or any spelling variants on Google, or in my paper dictionary. Nice one.
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word pants
Also a verb, to pull someone's pants down by surprise.
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word basonym
*cowers*
*sneaks*
*pantses Mia!*
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word basonym
Yes indeed, I'm quite the naughty one ;-P. Perhaps the paddle is over by your categorization pants? (I hope I didn't shrink the paddle too...)
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word miracle barrel
GRAWLIX
That article makes me mad.
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word basonym
*comment*
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word tappen
Unless I misunderstood, she was referring to a distinct usage. I.e. tappen in Modern English refers to bears, but in Middle English, it refers to kinky sex (‽).
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word sobriquet
I won't change my old mumpsimus for your new sobriquet!
July 21, 2008
shevek commented on the word impute
Also to accuse.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the list you-know-what
Is there logic to what goes on this list? I feel like I'm playing a lateral thinking game trying to find a pattern.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word onanism
Ah, I see. I wasn't implying that coitus interruptus is bad. I was more explaining why it isn't.
(Halakhically the Sin of Onan is still considered to be the spilling of seed though, AFAIK. The history I outlined could perhaps be used by a Rabbi to rule otherwise, but that is relatively unlikely to happen any time soon.)
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word onanism
Huh? I don't understand your question.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word nocturnal lucubrations
Touché!
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word nocturnal lucubrations
Ah okay, I think I learned the old meaning from Phrontistery. I've been living a lie!
(Maybe, no, I don't know‽)
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word omnegligent
I didn't know there was either; it was on the recent words list.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word onanism
What Onan did was actually worse than coitus interruptus. Tamar had originally married Onan's brother, but the brother died before they produced an heir to carry the bother's name. Onan was supposed to marry Tamar (a Levirate marriage), give her a male child to carry on the deceased husband's name, and then divorce her. Tamar was a very attractive woman, so Onan was all too happy to enter the Levirate marriage, but he refused to give her a child because he wanted to keep having sex with her. Essentially he used her.
The reason onanism has come to mean "spilling seed" is that early medieval Jewish commentators, in enumerating the 613 commandments, did not want to remind their less-than-friendly Christian neighbors of the ancient, but no longer practiced institution of Levirate marriage, so they interpreted the passage to be a commandment against masturbation and coitus interruptus. Around this same time Jews discontinued the practice of polygamy.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word winsome
Wow, both Winsome Smile and I'm Not That Girl are really good songs. I thought it was wound all heals though (enallage).
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word omnegligent
Yay! It's funny you should say that though, as the word omnilegent actually gave me the idea.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word nocturnal lucubrations
Isn't this technically redundant? I thought lucubrations had to be at night. Great phrase for freaking out the non-pedants though.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the user jennarenn
Reading "more about jennarenn" just about made my day. Is it by any change from this competition?
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the list word-bounties
Glad you like it, jenn.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word omnegligent
Thanks! Hmm, omnigent would seem the most natural abbreviation, but that could also mean, for example, omni-indigent (omneindigent?).
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word catamite
Sounds like this is right up there with marmite.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word omnegligent
adj. Remiss in all possible duties.
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word meretrix
MereTrix: The Sexy Cereal
July 20, 2008
shevek commented on the word clerihew
I can't remember where I found it, but one of my favorite clerihews is
July 19, 2008
shevek commented on the word copacetic
I don't even like this word enough to put it on my despise list.
July 19, 2008
shevek commented on the list a-testicle-by-any-other-name
My favorite euphemism is my associates. Great for catching people off guard! Would you like to meet my associates?
July 19, 2008
shevek commented on the list dirty-words-things-begrimed
Hmm, allow to me to suggest fetid and crusty. I had a really good one a minute ago, but now it escapes me. >.<
July 19, 2008
shevek commented on the word aptronym
The word crap actually comes from his name, I believe, so "Crapper" is less of an aptronym than it is an eponym.
July 19, 2008
shevek commented on the word cisvestism
Next time I get caught impersonating a policeman I'll tell them I'm a cisvestite and threaten to sue them for discrimination.
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word recumbentibus
Literally simulque recumbentibus means "and reclining at the same time". Recumbentibus is the ablative plural of recumbens, which is the present active participle of recumbere, to recline. Here the participle is being used in absence of a noun, so it's more like "and those who were also then reclining" - i.e. the people eating with Herod.
Aha, indeed the word does appear in the book you pointed out, in English, meaning a knockout blow. It's in a play called Mankind, which dates from c. 1475. Quite an obscure word!
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word recumbentibus
My curiosity is piqued. The most information I can find on recumbentibus is that it was spelled wrong in the 2006 National Spelling Bee and this quotation by J.R. Newman:
A quick search yielded that the most prominent J.R. Newman is a 20th century mathematician James Roy Newman, who wrote on formal logic and worked peripherally with the Manhattan Project. I'd guess that his use of the word recumbentibus refers to the atomic bomb. I'm tempted to say he coined the word himself, but given his figurative use of it and the etymology oblique to the meaning, I think it more likely that the word is archaic. The thot plickens.July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word cacocallia
"In the subconscious you fuck ugly people, never beautiful, because the libido always desires something repulsive." - Salvador Dali
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word spall
Also refers as both a noun and a verb to bullet fragments that break off inside their target.
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word sphallolalia
Bilby, are you referring perhaps to the word spall?
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word sphallolalia
How aptronymic! sickly sweet just like the idle flirtation it describes.
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word nil carborundum
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum is part of a linguistic trope in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word mumpsimus
A humorous medieval corruption of the Latin word sumpsimus, as detailed here.
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word recumbentibus
Is this a real word? -ibus is a Latin ablative or dative plural ending, so usually it doesn't show up in English derivatives.
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word endorphin release
I believe the word you're looking for is orgasm.
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word thusly
Errant pedantry!
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word autohagiographer
I know quite a few of these.
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the list the-insulting-ones
I don't know about you, I take pedantic as a compliment.
July 18, 2008
shevek commented on the word gloam
Is there an analogous word for the time right before dawn?
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word refreshman
I think this aptly describes the situation of those entering college.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word möbius strip mall
Great image!
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word gender-specific gravity
This is a wonderful concept. Thank you!
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word apodyopsis
What is the verb form of this? *considering pickup line possibilities*
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the list word-bounties
As far as I could tell from the quote in the article Mia posted, Posner doesn't have a terribly coherent position on it. He essentially makes a syntactical argument on a grammatical question.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word aretaic
adj. Related to the concept of virtue.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word teleologist
n. One whose moral philosophy is based on achieving an outcome, or equivalently, one whose moral philosophy primarily judges the means based on the end. Contrast deontologist.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word deontologist
n. One whose moral philosophy is driven by a set of formal rules, or equivalently, one whose moral philosophy primarily judges the means itself. Contrast teleologist.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the list word-bounties
Hmm, I read the article, but it didn't seem terribly convincing or apropos. The best I could find was this. Although the American Heritage folks disagree (figures, as they're descriptivists), I've concluded that either "each other's tongue" or "each others' tongues" is correct. I'm still not satisfied with the grammar in the latter, because "each" is an adjectival pronoun, and adjectival pronouns have to agree in number with the nouns they describe: it is incorrect to say "that circuses".
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the list word-bounties
Incidentally, I wonder if any one could enlighten me as to the correct grammatical number of tongues in the phrase, "we Wordies could pluck the words off each other's tongue." It sounds wrong that way, but my grammatical sense tells me each can only have one tongue.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word cognonosavanti
What's it mean, "people that know nine savants"? (cogn - nono - savant)
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word evanescence
The band ruined the word for me.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word tintinnabulate
Arvo Pärt, in some of his music, uses a technique called tintinnabulation.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word santorum
c_b, I think you're being a bit unfair to marmots there.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word punctuation
There's no punctuation in the Shakespeare, so I suppose one could read it either:1) Go, get him surgeons!
2) Go get him, surgeons!
Watch out, or I'll sic my Shakespearian surgeons on you!
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word xerophagy
Naw, it sounds like Z Ρ פ G.
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word santorum
n. (1) The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex. (2) former US Senator Rick Santorum.
defn. according to www.spreadingsantorum.com
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the list dirty-words-things-begrimed
What about santorum?
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the list sluts-and-bitches
vixen
July 17, 2008
shevek commented on the word letch
I've also heard it used as a verb, meaning a cross between leering and flirting.
July 16, 2008
shevek commented on the word synaesthesia
I used to experience strong pitch-color synaesthesia, but it's gotten weaker over the years, to the point where it's now closer to timbre-color synaesthesia. It's a pity - I'm convinced synaesthesia augments talent.
July 15, 2008
shevek commented on the word dretch
I like this word as much for what it rhymes with as for what it means. Fetch, catch, etch, retch, stretch, letch. So many poetic possibilities...
July 13, 2008
shevek commented on the word parachesis
Repetition of sound.
July 12, 2008
shevek commented on the list massholese
What in LA is law and lore,
Is said in Boston lore and law.
July 11, 2008
shevek commented on the word eigen-
Eigenvalue, eigenfunction, etc. These are things which are invariant.
July 11, 2008
shevek commented on the word differintegral
Generalization of iterated integration and differentiation, viewed as an operator which takes a function and a number, and returns a function. Useful perspective in rheology.
July 11, 2008
shevek commented on the word tetration
As exponentiation is to multiplication, tetration is to exponentiation. Quite an interesting operation, because no one has yet found a well behaved way to generalize tetration beyond the natural numbers. Tetration is notated as a superscript before the number to be tetrated.
July 11, 2008
shevek commented on the word ergon
From Nichomachean Ethics, the trait of a thing that makes it what it is. According to Aristotle, virtue is the degree to which a thing fulfills its ergon.
July 11, 2008
shevek commented on the word haecceity
This is quite a useful word, IMO, but the definition above is vague. As far as I can tell, haecceity is the variable of thisness, the value of which, figuratively speaking of course, is a thing's ergon.
July 11, 2008
shevek commented on the word coanniversary
n. A birthday shared by multiple people.
July 10, 2008
shevek commented on the word cunctitenent
Verily, bilby! One who rents space...well, never mind.
July 10, 2008
shevek commented on the word tappen
Contemplating your first tappen, I suppose you'd have to consider: to retch or to dretch?
July 10, 2008
shevek commented on the word anaphoraditus
n. the sexual desire to repeat phrase beginnings; see anaphroditus
July 10, 2008
shevek commented on the word magnanimous
At least one translation of Aristotle uses the word magnanimous to refer to a person who is neither arrogant nor excessively humble. I like that definition better, because there isn't another word for that meaning, whereas generous is a perfectly good word, and not in need of a synonym.
July 9, 2008
shevek commented on the word carcanet
...
There flying Elwing came to him,
and flame was in the darkness lit;
more bright than light of diamond
the fire upon her carcanet.
...
from The Ballad of Eärendil by J.R.R. Tolkien, from Fellowship of the Ring.
June 30, 2008
shevek commented on the word pulchritudinous
What an atrocious retronym!
Beauty -> Beautiful -> Beautifulness
Beautifulness = Pulchritude
So Pulchritudinous = having the attribute of beautifulness
June 10, 2008
shevek commented on the word denouement
I think it is unfortunate that dénouement has only six citations, while the word without the accent has 65.
June 6, 2008
shevek commented on the user selcouth
Dude, your name is my favorite word!
June 5, 2008
shevek commented on the word glepters
n. pl. The hanging rubber strips in a drive-through car-wash.
June 2, 2008
shevek commented on the word mummets
n. pl. The air dryers in a drive-through car-wash.
June 2, 2008
shevek commented on the word cacophony
Cacophony sounds like shit.
May 28, 2008
shevek commented on the list words-that-sound-dirty-but-really-aren-t
What about cumin?
May 27, 2008
shevek commented on the word anorchous
Lacking testicles. (from Phrontistery)
May 25, 2008
shevek commented on the word agynary
Fortunately men aren't the only ones missing genitalia. Women are anorchous.
May 25, 2008
shevek commented on the word desuetude
Alas, desuetude has fallen into desuetude!
May 25, 2008
shevek commented on the word shit accelerant
A blunter word than "laxative".
May 25, 2008
shevek commented on the word flaucinaucinihilipilification
n. Much verbiage about nothing.
April 22, 2008
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