So--this guy walks in to his doctor's office and says "I'm feeling very depressed. This morning I looked in the mirror and all I could see was gray hair, an enlarging bald spot, bags under my eyes, wrinkles under my chin, yellowing teeth, and splotchy skin."
The doctor replied, "Well, at least your eyesight is still good."
"All the Himalayan glaciers are melting, an average of 10-20m a year," he says.
One of the most obvious changes, he adds, is the growth of what are known as glacial lake outburst floods (glofs).
"A glof happens when a glacial lake is created by a melting glacier and it then bursts. Imja lake is the most dramatic example of a potential one. It is growing 74m a year. When it bursts its banks, we will have a mountain tsunami. Billions of gallons of water will be released and it could wipe out about 70% of the trekking trail to Everest base camp. Not only will that destroy our homes and potentially kill people, but it will wipe out the jewel in the crown of Nepal's tourism industry," he says.
"How do you respond to “Islam is the solution�? or “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior�?? How do you converse with someone who justifies the war in Iraq—as Christopher Hitchens does—with the tautology that we have to “kill them over there so they do not kill us over here�?? Those who speak in these thought-terminating clichés banish rational discussion. Their minds are shut. They sputter and rant like a demented Othello. The paucity of public discourse in our culture, even among those deemed to be public intellectuals, is matched by the paucity of public discourse in the Arab world."
So--here's what I love about Wordie. I love that the joyfully organized chaos of conversations and comments takes a preeminent spot in the interface. I love that we can list whole madeupical phrases, play with book titles with one letter changed, make lists like My Little Phonies, Sweet Tooth Fairy, and Firmament-Clogging Rotteness, and apply the Wordie Treatment as necessary--or whenever we just feel like it. I love sionnach, chained_bear, plethora, reesetee, prolagus, uselessness (miss him...), treeseed (ditto), bilby, pterodactyl, dontcry, rolig, frogapplause, yarb, whichbe, mollusque, gangerh, seanahan, fbharjo, jennaren, brookdale_chick (still laughing), trivet, vanquishedone, and all the other Wordies that I've forgotten to mention--and, of course, our own slack bastard John. I love the black and white (and blue) pages with no pictures except when sionnach gets the urge or when the occasional emo kid appears. I love panvocalics, specific excrement, and random words. And I love being goaded.
I'm not necessarily making suggestions for Wordnik. I don't find much of this there, though. I've joined, and I'll give it a fighting chance, but I'll sure miss Wordie.
Welcome to the spelling hall of shame, hern--an organization that I founded and still rain rein reign (choose the proper spelling) over as its most prolific contributor.
For some reason, I woke up this morning with the overwhelming urge to change the name of this list from "Sounds One Way, Means Another" to "The Bucolic Abattoir." I think it was the pizza.
"Glenn Beck said this today on Fox News: "This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture."
That would be aitch dubya. In 1990, dubya was probably too wasted to give a statement that coherent. Although, I guess he never reached that level even when he sobered up.
"Why the warm embrace of the deeply insane? The only possible reason is that the insane has become the base. Teabaggers and birthers are now the mainstream of the Republican Party. It has lost so many moderate voices that this nuttery is all it has left."
One who still believes, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, that Obama was not born on the US and therefore not a legitimate president.
"Michael Medved, a leading far-right voice, recently referred to the Birthers as "the worst enemy of the conservative movement." He added, "It makes us look weird. It makes us look crazy. It makes us look demented. It makes us look sick, troubled, and not suitable for civilized company."
They're wild currants. They grow all over in interior Alaska. As to the difference, it may be largely semantic. Check this article from Wikipedia. The ones pictured are redcurrant berries.
He looks like he's using those wieners as a sort of chaser for whatever it is he is eating. (His mother could have at least cooked them, or maybe put them on a plate.)
Sadly true, c_b. All you have to do is say it loudly enough and get some wackos to believe you and you've got gospel truth. "Sotomajor is a racist." "Obama wasn't born in the US." "Health care reform is socialism."
I know--let's get all the intelligent folks in the world to breed, and...oh, wait. We've tried that.
Julian Gough of the UK's Prospect Magazine opined facetiously this past December that "Palin is a poet, and a fine one at that. What the philistine media take for incoherence is, in fact, the fruitful ambiguity of verse." His example of this "fruitful ambiguity" is a found poem he termed "The Relevance of Africa:"
Palin's authentic, all right: An authentic product of what author Charles P. Pierce calls the "Three Great Premises" of America's decayed TV celebrity culture. First, "Any theory is valid if it moves units," i..e. sells advertising. Second, "Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough." Third, "Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is measured by how fervently they believe it."
From Peggy Noonan, a former Republican speech writer, on Sarah Palin:
"In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. "I'm not wired that way," "I'm not a quitter," "I'm standing up for our values." I'm, I'm, I'm.
In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying."
Right on, c_b. You have to get up at 4:00am to have barbecue ready by supper.
I'm familiar with a similar story about the etymology of the term, but in the stories I was told it was hunters sitting around campfires that fried up the cornmeal and fed it to the hounds to keep them quiet.
Walter Cronkite: "I think the distinction is both clear and important. I think being a liberal, in the true sense, is being nondoctrinaire, nondogmatic, non-committed to a cause - but examining each case on its merits. Being left of center is another thing; it's a political position. I think most newspapermen by definition have to be liberal; if they're not liberal, by my definition of it, then they can hardly be good newspapermen. If they're preordained dogmatists for a cause, then they can't be very good journalists; that is, if they carry it into their journalism."
Actually, I should have said "see lame duck," but for some reason probably related to senility or at least dementia I bracketed flight attendant. I didn't mean to disparage flight attendants. They've suffered enough by being associated with our ex-after-seeing-the-bright-lights-and-soon-to-become-really-ex-governor.
Bilby, I hope that dish has plenty of 7-Up in its ingredients list. You can even have 7-Up salad with 7-Up dressing! For a real thirst quencher, wash it down with some 7-Up! (Don't forget to hit the Next button for examples...)
Oops...right, c_b. 1988 would have put this in the Regan administration, and as we all know there was no hint of any kind of scandal during those years, unless of course you count illegally and covertly selling arms to Iran to illegally and covertly finance a revolution in Central America. At least there was no sex going on.
"Well, well, well. Governor Mark Sanford, a publicly admitted adulterer. Six months to a year in prison? Might be plenty of that "alone time" you seem to need to refresh yourself.
I hope to G-d all the self-righteous religious douchenozzles in South Carolina who laid flowers at Sanford's feet are now caught trying to talk the state out of prosecuting him for his sins."
"In 2001, Gingrich, R-Ga., admitted he was having an affair with a young aide during the impeachment proceedings while married to his second wife. Gingrich told right wing Christian leader James Dobson that his fling was different from Clinton's because the president lied about it while under oath."
"Henry Hyde on Clinton: During the impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives, Hyde was the lead prosecutor and one of Clinton's most outspoken critics. Hyde, R-Ill., said the president should be impeached because he "trivializes, ignores and shreds the sanctity of the oath" of office.
During the impeachment proceedings it was revealed that Hyde had cheated on his wife during the 1960s. He dismissed the revelation by saying that it was a "youthful indiscretion." He was 42 at the time of the affair."
According to Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball, the number of high-profile political sex scandals that have occurred since the Monica Lewinsky affair in 1988. That we know about, anyway.
SC Governor Mark Sanford: "The governor was not known as a moralist but has frowned on infidelity and as a congressman voted to impeach President Bill Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky affair. 'He lied under a different oath, and that’s the oath to his wife,' Mr. Sanford said at the time on CNN. 'So it’s got to be taken very, very seriously.'�?
I wonder if this is in any way related to "la plume de ma tante est sur le bureau de mon oncle," a sentence used in many French lesson dialogs for English speakers--perhaps conveying that "all I remember about English is what I learned in junior high"?
It's surprising how rarely you get to work phrases like "moi, j'aime mieux les frites" or "il faut que j'aille cherchez un livre" into conversations.
The only true barbecue is pit-roasted pulled pork in a vinegar and pepper-based sauce. If it's not served with slaw and hush puppies, it's not barbecue. It may be good, but it's not barbecue.
Or, as it's known where I come from, just plain slaw.
There was a drive-in burger joint where I grew up that had two condiments for their burgers--chili and slaw. The first time I saw anyone put ketchup on a burger I nearly threw up.
Some of my animosity toward this song may stem from a huge argument I had with my mother when I first heard the song on the radio way back when. I insisted that Tillotson was singing "Oh a tree in motion." I was...wrong.
Sixteen reasons why I hate the song, gangerh. And Johnny Tillotson. And the coloratura soprano's shameless ripoff of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Among other things.
Would you trust your international document certification to a service that can't seem to use a thesaurus properly?
"It is not just a case of supplying the original document and the Apostille Certificate gets issued but rather a document is handled dependant (sic) on what signatures or seals of authority it contains, country of intended use etc."
If the poor chap being tossed out of the window has the misfortune to lose his...ummm...family jewels to an inconveniently placed shard of broken glass, is he then defenecastrated?
For what it's worth, Rolig, many rural southerners are still very good storytellers, both in terms of the story content and the rich metaphors that are so typically used to tell them. My grandfather was a master anecdotalist, and a lecturer on the Chautauqua Society circuit for much of his life. As children, we were all instructed in the conversational arts. Sadly, though, it's a dying tradition.
I think if I had read Roald Dahl's poem, I'd associate gloaming with dark, too, Milo. Thanks for sharing that wonderful piece. Although tonight, in the gloaming around 11:00pm, I fear I'm going to be listening for oily boily bodies oozing onward...
Don't think so, Milo. From the Online Etymology Dictionary: "O.E. glomung, formed (probably on model of æfning "evening") from glom "twilight," related to glowan "to glow," hence "glow of sunrise or sunset," from P.Gmc. *glo- (see glow). Fell from currency except in Yorkshire dialect, but preserved in Scotland and reintroduced by Burns and other Scottish writers after 1785."
Which is interesting because I've never associated gloaming with dark. I've always thought it was evocative of diffuse light, all around you but without a specific source. But that's just me...
Edit: Gloaming is special in Alaska because it can last for hours.
Some words, without being onomatopoeic, seem to perfectly fit the item they name or describe. This is certainly one of them. So is brouhaha. And serene. I should make a list...
At some point, many years ago, I gave up being the tortured artist/academic and decided that home was wherever I happened to be. Smooth sailing since then.
Overheard yesterday at the end of virtually every sentence of an interview with an NBA basketball player. Literal translation: "Do you know what I'm saying?" At least, I think that's right. Nome seine?
Soon to be joining the Cartaret residents are the folks in Newtok, AK, whose village will be moved due to coastal erosion and permafrost melting. So will 26 other Alaskan villages.
"If a guy can’t rape his wife...who’s he gonna rape?"
No, that's not from the fine folks in the Taliban. It's an actual quote from Wayne Ross, governor Sarah Palin's nominee for state Attorney General. Even our Republican-dominated legislature rejected him today by a 35-23 vote.
Although it does kind of advance the argument proffered by so many of Palin's supporters that "she's just like us." You know, those of us who watch Jerry Springer and buy People.
Another sign of global warming in the Arctic--new ice formed in areas of open water, thinner than the solid nila ice sheets usually found in the Arctic. Pancake ice is round, allowing for more open water between pancakes, increasing solar absorption and therefore global warming even more. See Pancake Ice Takes Over the Arctic.
I blame the Wolof for that misinterpretation, si. Boo Radley is one of my favorite characters and one on whom I've modeled much of my life. Him, and Billy Budd.
This could also be interpreted as "Jar Jar Binks lays the tacos by his young offspring, Jar Jar Mason." In Wolof, "bu rafet"--literally, Boo Radley--can refer to anyone of limited mental capacity or unusual behavior and may be used to indicate that an individual (in this case, "Jabar," or Jar Jar) is inarticulate, cloying, immensely stupid, and without any redeeming qualities whatsoever.
"To put it in a nutshell, in this quest I first found that whatever way you look at it the quantum mechanical formalism, when taken at face value, compels us to consider that two particles that have once interacted always remain bound in a very strange, hardly understandable way even when they are far apart, the connection being independent of distance.
Even though this connection-at-a-distance does not permit us to transmit messages, clearly it is real. In other words space, so essential in classical physics, seems to play a considerably less basic role in quantum physics.
I soon found out, as often happens, that these things had been known for quite a long time. Schrödinger had even given them a name: entanglement..."
The thin zone around a sun within which a planet's temperature is neither too hot nor too cold to hold liquid water and, therefore, perhaps, life--as we know it, Jim.
Comments by skipvia
skipvia commented on the list a-southern-season
Brang and brung are pretty much interchangeable, as in "It was brung up yesterday" and "It was brang up yesterday." No diffyraunce.
March 1, 2011
skipvia commented on the word aboiement
In sibling strife when Joy meant
to cause bro' Kent annoyment,
did she, for her enjoyment,
place into her employment
oinks and grunts, a ploy meant
to tease that little boy Kent
through ceaseless loud aboiement.
To be corrected by Laurent--
It's really pronounced aboiement.
March 21, 2010
skipvia commented on the word aboiment
In sibling strife when Joy meant
to cause bro' Kent annoyment,
did she, for her enjoyment,
place into her employment
oinks and grunts, a ploy meant
to tease that little boy Kent
through ceaseless loud aboiement.
To be corrected by Laurent--
It's really pronounced aboiment.
March 21, 2010
skipvia commented on the list skipvia-s-words
*blushes even more* Yoink, plunder, and pillage all you want. My pleasure, as usual.
March 20, 2010
skipvia commented on the user skipvia
*blushes and then realizes ruzuzu must be thinking about someone else*
March 20, 2010
skipvia commented on the list sweet-tooth-fairy
They're just words. Have at it, gangerh!
November 5, 2009
skipvia commented on the word e-solated
The state of being cut off socially, economically, or culturally due to the lack of an Internet connection. Seen here. Interesting article.
October 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word ethnomasochism
Sorry, bilby. I was having my quiet time...
So--this guy walks in to his doctor's office and says "I'm feeling very depressed. This morning I looked in the mirror and all I could see was gray hair, an enlarging bald spot, bags under my eyes, wrinkles under my chin, yellowing teeth, and splotchy skin."
The doctor replied, "Well, at least your eyesight is still good."
*rimshot*
October 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word whack job diva
I returned this from my constitutional in the woods this morning with a song in my heart. I think it was the rutabagas.
Whack Job Diva
(sung to the tune of Pinball Wizard)
♩
I thought she'd left the scene when she didn't get the job
No national TV coverage, no chances to hobnob.
But she's engulfed us all, like the finale from The Blob
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure is a real whack job.
She's a Whack Job Diva, she's coming back for more
A Whack Job Diva, a bald-faced media whore
Why do you think she does it?
(I don't know)
What stokes her ego?
She don't read no books or papers, just listens to Limbaugh
Don't need no facts or figures, she ain't no liberal snob
She counts on her charisma to make right wing members throb
That deaf dumb and blind kid
Sure is a real whack job
I always thought we were finally rid of her
But now she's back and reality becomes a blur...
♩
October 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word glof
"All the Himalayan glaciers are melting, an average of 10-20m a year," he says.
One of the most obvious changes, he adds, is the growth of what are known as glacial lake outburst floods (glofs).
"A glof happens when a glacial lake is created by a melting glacier and it then bursts. Imja lake is the most dramatic example of a potential one. It is growing 74m a year. When it bursts its banks, we will have a mountain tsunami. Billions of gallons of water will be released and it could wipe out about 70% of the trekking trail to Everest base camp. Not only will that destroy our homes and potentially kill people, but it will wipe out the jewel in the crown of Nepal's tourism industry," he says.
-Guardian.co.uk
October 13, 2009
skipvia commented on the word thought-terminating clichés
"How do you respond to “Islam is the solution�? or “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior�?? How do you converse with someone who justifies the war in Iraq—as Christopher Hitchens does—with the tautology that we have to “kill them over there so they do not kill us over here�?? Those who speak in these thought-terminating clichés banish rational discussion. Their minds are shut. They sputter and rant like a demented Othello. The paucity of public discourse in our culture, even among those deemed to be public intellectuals, is matched by the paucity of public discourse in the Arab world."
- Truthdig: The War on Language (an excellent read)
October 2, 2009
skipvia commented on the word spotted dick
Or is it "Spotted Richard?"
-TheRegister.com
October 1, 2009
skipvia commented on the word high altitude flatus expulsion
98.6 is a pretty consistent temperature. Maybe mountaineers with hypothermia experience it differently.
September 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the word high altitude flatus expulsion
Sheer poetry.
September 19, 2009
skipvia commented on the word fig
My sister-in-law in Los Alamos makes fig ice cream. It's not as good as you might hope...
September 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the word cheese grits
Head cheese?
September 16, 2009
skipvia commented on the word south carolina
"Too small to be a country, to large to be an insane asylum."
-James L. Pettigrew, 1863 (Reference)
The more things change...
September 15, 2009
skipvia commented on the word the audacity of dope
HAR!
September 14, 2009
skipvia commented on the word wordnik
Speak for yourself, reesetee... :-)
September 14, 2009
skipvia commented on the word havercrafte man pore m�?rm�?hi ast!
Is there a Farsi phase for "my nipples explode with delight?"
September 12, 2009
skipvia commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
So--here's what I love about Wordie. I love that the joyfully organized chaos of conversations and comments takes a preeminent spot in the interface. I love that we can list whole madeupical phrases, play with book titles with one letter changed, make lists like My Little Phonies, Sweet Tooth Fairy, and Firmament-Clogging Rotteness, and apply the Wordie Treatment as necessary--or whenever we just feel like it. I love sionnach, chained_bear, plethora, reesetee, prolagus, uselessness (miss him...), treeseed (ditto), bilby, pterodactyl, dontcry, rolig, frogapplause, yarb, whichbe, mollusque, gangerh, seanahan, fbharjo, jennaren, brookdale_chick (still laughing), trivet, vanquishedone, and all the other Wordies that I've forgotten to mention--and, of course, our own slack bastard John. I love the black and white (and blue) pages with no pictures except when sionnach gets the urge or when the occasional emo kid appears. I love panvocalics, specific excrement, and random words. And I love being goaded.
I'm not necessarily making suggestions for Wordnik. I don't find much of this there, though. I've joined, and I'll give it a fighting chance, but I'll sure miss Wordie.
September 12, 2009
skipvia commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
I feel so...goaded.
September 12, 2009
skipvia commented on the word wordnik
I dibs being the Special Correspondent on Sarah Palin.
September 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word wordnik
What if they don't allow fart jokes?
September 9, 2009
skipvia commented on the word wordnik
So...couldn't we assimilate them? Then Prolagus and I wouldn't have to grow up. :-)
September 9, 2009
skipvia commented on the word zymergy
I had to look it up, c_b...
August 28, 2009
skipvia commented on the word zymergy
Welcome to the spelling hall of shame, hern--an organization that I founded and still rain rein reign (choose the proper spelling) over as its most prolific contributor.
August 28, 2009
skipvia commented on the list the-bucolic-abattoir
For some reason, I woke up this morning with the overwhelming urge to change the name of this list from "Sounds One Way, Means Another" to "The Bucolic Abattoir." I think it was the pizza.
August 28, 2009
skipvia commented on the word death panel
At least she's not our governor anymore...
August 14, 2009
skipvia commented on the word halfrican american
You know, I'm quite sure I have never heard "yes siree." I've always encountered it as an emphatic "no." I wonder if it's regional.
Who is Bob, anyway?
August 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word no siree
Not just no...hell, no. Often said to Bob, for reasons unknown.
My grandfather used to say "No siree, bobtail catbird."
August 8, 2009
skipvia commented on the word halfrican american
We're not race-baiting. No siree, not Rush Limbaugh.
And, apparently, no one has listed no siree, a phrase I hear all the time.
August 8, 2009
skipvia commented on the word desultory
Nobody defines it better than Paul Simon. Or here, if you want the audio.
I suspect this is the only use of desultory in a song title.
August 8, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lord adonis
It kind of makes you wonder what sort of career his parents envisioned for him.
Reminds me of Rhythm Belcher...
August 6, 2009
skipvia commented on the word palindrone
Har! Our (finally!) ex-governor is famous for those.
August 4, 2009
skipvia commented on the list the-penis-game
I don't know if you accept images, pleth, but this one rang a bell, so to speak.
August 2, 2009
skipvia commented on the word preamble
The Bhagavad Gita, yes.
I don't get to use my religion major very often...
August 1, 2009
skipvia commented on the word preamble
pree AM ble, the way God intended it be said.
August 1, 2009
skipvia commented on the word white culture
More white culture artifacts:
"Nation, as you know, I don’t see race," Colbert said. "People tell me I’m white and I believe them because my fridge is full of drinkable yogurt.�?
-The Raw Story
July 31, 2009
skipvia commented on the word white culture
And also by where it's parked, at least in that photo.
So--are Irish "white people?" How about Germans? Or is "white culture" limited to Americans?
*having an identity crisis*
July 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word white culture
"Glenn Beck said this today on Fox News: "This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture."
-TPM; Obama-haters Becoming Increasingly Racial in Their Rhetoric
I wonder what the artifacts and beliefs of white culture are? Commercials? Country clubs? Sunbathing?
July 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word go sarah go
She also made it to the most trusted news show on TV, The Daily Show, only this time it was the obverse: "You Go Girl" with "Please" in fine print.
I'm so proud of her. (My wife, that is--not, you know, the one who quit.)
July 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word go sarah go
C-B, I haven't laughed that loudly in some time. What a hoot. It actually kind of makes sense when Shatner says it.
July 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word go sarah go
She got on TV! Well, at least her sign made it. Too bad you couldn't read the small print.
If you want to know the true definition of narcissism, listen to Palin's speech.
July 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word go sarah go
The sign that my wife held at Sarah Palin's resignation event yesterday (the iQuitarod). Less visible at the bottom of the sign was the word "Please."
July 28, 2009
skipvia commented on the word stacked
Brickhouse!
July 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word broccoli
That would be aitch dubya. In 1990, dubya was probably too wasted to give a statement that coherent. Although, I guess he never reached that level even when he sobered up.
July 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lunar module
I always thought LEM was an acronym for "lunar exploration module." But I guess we're probably talking about the same thing.
July 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word unknown
I think the opening lines of this song say it all.
July 24, 2009
skipvia commented on the word nuttery
That does sound like a place I'd like to pass some time. Especially these days, with all the...ummm...nuts.
July 24, 2009
skipvia commented on the word nuttery
"Why the warm embrace of the deeply insane? The only possible reason is that the insane has become the base. Teabaggers and birthers are now the mainstream of the Republican Party. It has lost so many moderate voices that this nuttery is all it has left."
-Dan Sweeney, Embracing the Crazy
July 24, 2009
skipvia commented on the word birther
One who still believes, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, that Obama was not born on the US and therefore not a legitimate president.
"Michael Medved, a leading far-right voice, recently referred to the Birthers as "the worst enemy of the conservative movement." He added, "It makes us look weird. It makes us look crazy. It makes us look demented. It makes us look sick, troubled, and not suitable for civilized company."
-Steve Benen, Washington Monthly
As if they needed help...
July 23, 2009
skipvia commented on the list what-is-a-reesetee-anyhow
Oh...sorry, reesetee. I thought you...ummm...had some children.
I guess it's not too too odd to be unconjugated at your age. I think that was true of my high school French teacher, anyway.
July 22, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
*is relieved*
July 22, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
*still trying to figure out how "you're soaking in it" connects with wiener*
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
I'm starting to really like the word wiener. Wiener, wiener, wiener.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
Sometimes a wiener is just a wiener. You may already be one.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word currant
They're wild currants. They grow all over in interior Alaska. As to the difference, it may be largely semantic. Check this article from Wikipedia. The ones pictured are redcurrant berries.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word currant
A photo (20-Jul-09) of some currants from my back yard.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
Whoa--I thought the freckles were a map to the planet Nebali.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
He looks like he's using those wieners as a sort of chaser for whatever it is he is eating. (His mother could have at least cooked them, or maybe put them on a plate.)
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word three great premises
Sadly true, c_b. All you have to do is say it loudly enough and get some wackos to believe you and you've got gospel truth. "Sotomajor is a racist." "Obama wasn't born in the US." "Health care reform is socialism."
I know--let's get all the intelligent folks in the world to breed, and...oh, wait. We've tried that.
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word luncheon
What is it about wieners that makes people think of me?
July 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word fruitful ambiguity
Julian Gough of the UK's Prospect Magazine opined facetiously this past December that "Palin is a poet, and a fine one at that. What the philistine media take for incoherence is, in fact, the fruitful ambiguity of verse." His example of this "fruitful ambiguity" is a found poem he termed "The Relevance of Africa:"
And the relevance to me
With that issue,
As we spoke
About Africa and some
Of the countries
There that were
Kind of the people succumbing
To the dictators
And the corruption
Of some collapsed governments
On the
Continent,
The relevance
Was Alaska's.
-Huffington Post, Sarah Palin, the Anti-Poet
What we've had to put up with for 18 months is about to be unleashed on the rest of you. We're counting the days until July 26th...
July 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the word three great premises
Palin's authentic, all right: An authentic product of what author Charles P. Pierce calls the "Three Great Premises" of America's decayed TV celebrity culture. First, "Any theory is valid if it moves units," i..e. sells advertising. Second, "Anything can be true if someone says it loudly enough." Third, "Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is measured by how fervently they believe it."
-Salon; Sarah Palin Should Just Go Home
July 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the word ex-governor palin with her machete flailin'
I think it was a copy of the Constitution.
July 19, 2009
skipvia commented on the word late blight
He did, and there was absolutely nothing that could be done. Now he's worried about the potatoes, which are also susceptible.
July 19, 2009
skipvia commented on the word currant
No clue c_b. It was a delightful discovery. Thanks, groqqa.
July 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the word late blight
Destroyed my son's prodigious crop (Ithaca, NY) in about 2 days. Dreadful.
July 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the word currant
For some reason this post just made my day--maybe because I'm looking out over the wild currants growing in my back yard. We make jelly from them.
I love Wordie...
July 17, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lulus
For me it was "To Sir With Love." Unfortunately.
July 14, 2009
skipvia commented on the word out of her depth in a shallow pool
From Peggy Noonan, a former Republican speech writer, on Sarah Palin:
"In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. "I'm not wired that way," "I'm not a quitter," "I'm standing up for our values." I'm, I'm, I'm.
In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying."
-WSJ Online: A Farewell to Harms
Couldn't have said it better myself.
July 12, 2009
skipvia commented on the word liberal
Even WeirdNet gets this one right.
July 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word hush puppies
Right on, c_b. You have to get up at 4:00am to have barbecue ready by supper.
I'm familiar with a similar story about the etymology of the term, but in the stories I was told it was hunters sitting around campfires that fried up the cornmeal and fed it to the hounds to keep them quiet.
July 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word liberal
Walter Cronkite: "I think the distinction is both clear and important. I think being a liberal, in the true sense, is being nondoctrinaire, nondogmatic, non-committed to a cause - but examining each case on its merits. Being left of center is another thing; it's a political position. I think most newspapermen by definition have to be liberal; if they're not liberal, by my definition of it, then they can hardly be good newspapermen. If they're preordained dogmatists for a cause, then they can't be very good journalists; that is, if they carry it into their journalism."
Can we take this term back, somehow?
July 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word hot the bottle
That would be luncheon, c_b. Not that I want to contribute to your nightmares--just for the sake of wordieternity.
July 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word hot the bottle
Copremesis. This is a fun place.
July 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word crunchy meat sack
I was immediately reminded of one of my favorite Gary Larson cartoons.
July 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word hot the bottle
Pimiento load comes to mind...
July 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lame duck
I might go just to watch her squirm.
July 9, 2009
skipvia commented on the word iquitarod
*wishing I had thought of that*
July 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word retarded flight attendant
Actually, I should have said "see lame duck," but for some reason probably related to senility or at least dementia I bracketed flight attendant. I didn't mean to disparage flight attendants. They've suffered enough by being associated with our ex-after-seeing-the-bright-lights-and-soon-to-become-really-ex-governor.
July 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lame schmuck
*Hee hee*
Where do I sign up?
July 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word baculum
We love our bacula up here, reesetee. Next time you come up, we'll go to Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn and see some...ummm...bacula.
July 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word retarded flight attendant
See flight attendant.
July 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lame duck
I'm also fond of Bil Maher's term retarded flight attendant, although it's a slam on both cognitively challenged people and flight attendants.
July 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lame schmuck
See lame duck.
July 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lame duck
I'm going to start using the term lame schmuck.
July 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lame duck
As Alaskans, we're so proud that our ex-governor has given a whole new meaning to this term.
July 4, 2009
skipvia commented on the word soul mate
And don't forget the restraining order.
I guess the folks over at the Promise Keepers, to which Gov. Sanford belongs, had better change their locks, too.
July 3, 2009
skipvia commented on the word blizzard
Amen, sister.
July 2, 2009
skipvia commented on the word bagelhead
You know, placed strategically it could be a temporary boon to hemorrhoid sufferers.
*always looking for the silver lining*
July 2, 2009
skipvia commented on the word bagelhead
Just when you think body manipulation can't get any worse...
July 1, 2009
skipvia commented on the word creepy
Help, mollusque! This is really creeping me out.
July 1, 2009
skipvia commented on the word cellophane
I have a feeling it's more like "I Can't Believe It's the Goat We Sacrificed on the Altar to Ba'al Last Night."
June 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word puke bowl
Oh. My. God.
June 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word ritual sacrifice
I...ummm...I'm at a loss for words.
June 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word cellophane
You've got to wonder what's in that substance being spread on the bread.
June 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word velveeta
Bilby, I hope that dish has plenty of 7-Up in its ingredients list. You can even have 7-Up salad with 7-Up dressing! For a real thirst quencher, wash it down with some 7-Up! (Don't forget to hit the Next button for examples...)
June 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word 23
Oops...right, c_b. 1988 would have put this in the Regan administration, and as we all know there was no hint of any kind of scandal during those years, unless of course you count illegally and covertly selling arms to Iran to illegally and covertly finance a revolution in Central America. At least there was no sex going on.
June 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word oath
Or was that McCain? Oh..wait...it was both of them.
June 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word douchenozzles
"Well, well, well. Governor Mark Sanford, a publicly admitted adulterer. Six months to a year in prison? Might be plenty of that "alone time" you seem to need to refresh yourself.
I hope to G-d all the self-righteous religious douchenozzles in South Carolina who laid flowers at Sanford's feet are now caught trying to talk the state out of prosecuting him for his sins."
-Adultery is a Crime in South Carolina
June 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word oath
I can't make this stuff up:
"In 2001, Gingrich, R-Ga., admitted he was having an affair with a young aide during the impeachment proceedings while married to his second wife. Gingrich told right wing Christian leader James Dobson that his fling was different from Clinton's because the president lied about it while under oath."
-ABC News: Sanford Was One of Many Who Criticized Clinton
June 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word youthful indiscretion
"Henry Hyde on Clinton: During the impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives, Hyde was the lead prosecutor and one of Clinton's most outspoken critics. Hyde, R-Ill., said the president should be impeached because he "trivializes, ignores and shreds the sanctity of the oath" of office.
During the impeachment proceedings it was revealed that Hyde had cheated on his wife during the 1960s. He dismissed the revelation by saying that it was a "youthful indiscretion." He was 42 at the time of the affair."
-ABC News: Sanford Was One of Many Who Criticized Clinton
June 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word 23
According to Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball, the number of high-profile political sex scandals that have occurred since the Monica Lewinsky affair in 1988. That we know about, anyway.
EDIT: Now including this handy visual aid!
June 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word oath
It would have been taken very, very, VERY seriously, I'm sure.
June 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word oath
SC Governor Mark Sanford: "The governor was not known as a moralist but has frowned on infidelity and as a congressman voted to impeach President Bill Clinton after the Monica Lewinsky affair. 'He lied under a different oath, and that’s the oath to his wife,' Mr. Sanford said at the time on CNN. 'So it’s got to be taken very, very seriously.'�?
We can only hope.
June 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word vomitoxin
Ah...those were the days, weren't they? Still, any word with vomit in it has to be pretty high on the list, doesn't it?
June 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word penis fencing
So, there's a market for stolen penises?
June 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word vomitoxin
A substance created by a certain type of grain mold. Could a word possibly be any more disgusting?
June 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word sarod
I had the immense pleasure of attending an Indian music workshop with Mr. Khan many years ago in North Carolina. An absolutely extraordinary musician.
June 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the word git
I can't encounter this word without thinking of the Mr. and Mrs. Git sketch.
June 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the list a-southern-season
"Fixin' to" goes straight to the list, w42. Bless your heart.
June 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the list phth
I didn't know that either when I started the list, wordlover42. I'm still looking some of them up. That's why I'm a Wordie. That, and the chicks. :-)
June 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the word the pen is on the table
*wincing at frogapplause's disturbing image*
*thinks of lorena bobbitt*
*wincing even more now*
June 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the list mary-you-re-i-what-i
I've always hated in a family way.
June 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the word demice
Could be used as a verb if you are an exterminator.
June 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the word bracketworthy
See the discussion on beautiful.
June 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the word beautiful
I like the term "Hallmark words," yarb. Sounds like a good list, and certainly bracketworthy.
Hey--so is bracketworthy.
June 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the word internet uprising
Absolutely fascinating. There are many other sources as well.
The whole world is finally watching.
June 17, 2009
skipvia commented on the word beautiful
Here's a list of the 100 most beautiful words in the English language. How do we know? The author's an actual poet, for crying out loud.
Bucolic?
June 17, 2009
skipvia commented on the word fierce
That was news to me too, rt.
June 17, 2009
skipvia commented on the word fierce
Then you might enjoy this page about typographic ligatures, fc.
June 17, 2009
skipvia commented on the word urodynamics
Didn't Jim Morrison get arrested for doing that?
June 16, 2009
skipvia commented on the word the pen is on the table
I wonder if this is in any way related to "la plume de ma tante est sur le bureau de mon oncle," a sentence used in many French lesson dialogs for English speakers--perhaps conveying that "all I remember about English is what I learned in junior high"?
It's surprising how rarely you get to work phrases like "moi, j'aime mieux les frites" or "il faut que j'aille cherchez un livre" into conversations.
June 15, 2009
skipvia commented on the word nether petals
*will not go for the cherry joke--will not go for the cherry joke--will not go for the cherry joke*
June 14, 2009
skipvia commented on the word nether petals
You know, I have always kind of wondered about certain varieties of dinner rolls.
June 13, 2009
skipvia commented on the list heaveno-s-list
I notice heaveno didn't use heavenvetica for her note, opting instead for the pagan Times New Roman.
June 13, 2009
skipvia commented on the word nether petals
Better than impressing it with the mark of their nether throat, I imagine.
June 13, 2009
skipvia commented on the word barbecue
I warned you about this, c_b. :-)
The only true barbecue is pit-roasted pulled pork in a vinegar and pepper-based sauce. If it's not served with slaw and hush puppies, it's not barbecue. It may be good, but it's not barbecue.
Oh--and iced tea. Sweet.
June 12, 2009
skipvia commented on the word web 2.0
Yeah. I was hoping for sexting.
June 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word barbecue
Or, as it's known where I come from, just plain slaw.
There was a drive-in burger joint where I grew up that had two condiments for their burgers--chili and slaw. The first time I saw anyone put ketchup on a burger I nearly threw up.
June 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word financial tsunami
The 1,000,001st word in the English language. See Web 2.0.
June 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word web 2.0
Web 2.0 officially became the 1,000,000th word in the English Language today, June 10, 2009--at least according to the Global Language Monitor.
Isn't that two words?...
June 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word barbecue
If you want to start a lengthy, intractable argument in the South, ask someone what the best way to prepare barbecue is.
June 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word poetry in motion
Pleth: two things...
1. "Woe woe woe" is the funniest line I've read on Wordie in quite some time.
2. You make me feel very old.
June 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word poetry in motion
HA! Good one, gangerh.
June 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word poetry in motion
Really. We played Country Joe and the Fish.
June 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word bush-hogging
Even in the Finger Lakes region, you have to live with the New York State Legislature.
June 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the user Prolagus
I hope the other one is my invitation to Alaska.
June 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word bush-hogging
Ithaca is a true gem, its only drawback being that it's in New York.
*braces for the deluge*
June 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word bush-hogging
My son lives in Ithaca. The system really works.
June 9, 2009
skipvia commented on the word poetry in motion
So, reesetee...do you dare?
Some of my animosity toward this song may stem from a huge argument I had with my mother when I first heard the song on the radio way back when. I insisted that Tillotson was singing "Oh a tree in motion." I was...wrong.
June 9, 2009
skipvia commented on the word bush-hogging
A pretty common operation on farms--basically clearing and mulching brush from a piece of land. Here is a good example.
June 9, 2009
skipvia commented on the word poetry in motion
...There's so much I would change.
It doesn't need improvement--
It needs a complete RE AH RAAANGE!
June 9, 2009
skipvia commented on the word poetry in motion
Sixteen reasons why I hate the song, gangerh. And Johnny Tillotson. And the coloratura soprano's shameless ripoff of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Among other things.
June 9, 2009
skipvia commented on the word indelible
Astonishing. Of course, that does explain a few things...
June 8, 2009
skipvia commented on the word apostille professionals
Would you trust your international document certification to a service that can't seem to use a thesaurus properly?
"It is not just a case of supplying the original document and the Apostille Certificate gets issued but rather a document is handled dependant (sic) on what signatures or seals of authority it contains, country of intended use etc."
June 8, 2009
skipvia commented on the word topolanaked
No fair! Our politicians just lie and steal. Yours have orgies.
June 8, 2009
skipvia commented on the word apostille professionals
Oh...Oh! This is so ripe for the Wordie Treatment. Shall we?
*wondering where Palooka is these days*
June 8, 2009
skipvia commented on the word poetry in motion
I actually hate this song but now it's stuck in my head.
June 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word poetry in motion
She's much too nice to RE - AH - RAAANGE...
June 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word headline
I had to read this headline several times before parsing it correctly. Your results may vary if you are not a fan of the PBS series.
June 7, 2009
skipvia commented on the word slow down
Or, on another note, "OOWWWWW!!!! If you want our love to last."
June 6, 2009
skipvia commented on the word defenestrate
If the poor chap being tossed out of the window has the misfortune to lose his...ummm...family jewels to an inconveniently placed shard of broken glass, is he then defenecastrated?
I don't imagine he'd attempt to crawl back in.
June 3, 2009
skipvia commented on the word defenestrate
If you throw someone out of a window and they crawl back in, are they then refenestrated?
June 3, 2009
skipvia commented on the word anecdotalist
For what it's worth, Rolig, many rural southerners are still very good storytellers, both in terms of the story content and the rich metaphors that are so typically used to tell them. My grandfather was a master anecdotalist, and a lecturer on the Chautauqua Society circuit for much of his life. As children, we were all instructed in the conversational arts. Sadly, though, it's a dying tradition.
June 3, 2009
skipvia commented on the word vampire
*is surprised you can fry blood*
*is even more surprised that you could sell it*
June 2, 2009
skipvia commented on the word insomnia
A quick trip to Spain sounds wonderful, if somewhat impractical. Quick trips from Alaska to anywhere are non-existent. I'm jealous.
Wish I could help, Pro. At least, when you're awake, I get to read your much appreciated contributions to Wordie.
June 1, 2009
skipvia commented on the word insomnia
A little warm milch, perhaps, Pro?
OVALTINE!
June 1, 2009
skipvia commented on the word conflabbit
I'm waiting a few more years until I can authoritatively work whippersnapper into a conversation.
June 1, 2009
skipvia commented on the word antichrist
Will the Antichrist Be a Homosexual? Irrefutable logic from our ex-governor Sarah Palin's hometown newspaper.
June 1, 2009
skipvia commented on the word nougatory
*sigh* I love the Wordie treatment.
May 31, 2009
skipvia commented on the word self deception
Not as much as spam, spam, spam, baked beans, self-deception, and spam.
May 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word self deception
Self-deception, self-mutilation, self-promotion, spam, and self-gratification...it's not got much spam in it.
May 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the word gloaming
*thinks Roald Dahl must be much weirder than he's read*
May 28, 2009
skipvia commented on the word gloaming
I think if I had read Roald Dahl's poem, I'd associate gloaming with dark, too, Milo. Thanks for sharing that wonderful piece. Although tonight, in the gloaming around 11:00pm, I fear I'm going to be listening for oily boily bodies oozing onward...
May 28, 2009
skipvia commented on the word gloaming
Don't think so, Milo. From the Online Etymology Dictionary: "O.E. glomung, formed (probably on model of æfning "evening") from glom "twilight," related to glowan "to glow," hence "glow of sunrise or sunset," from P.Gmc. *glo- (see glow). Fell from currency except in Yorkshire dialect, but preserved in Scotland and reintroduced by Burns and other Scottish writers after 1785."
Which is interesting because I've never associated gloaming with dark. I've always thought it was evocative of diffuse light, all around you but without a specific source. But that's just me...
Edit: Gloaming is special in Alaska because it can last for hours.
May 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word gloaming
Or more accurately, I should have remembered.
Gelatinous is perfect, isn't it?
May 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word gloaming
I should have known... :-)
May 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word brouhaha
Exactly!
May 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word gloaming
Some words, without being onomatopoeic, seem to perfectly fit the item they name or describe. This is certainly one of them. So is brouhaha. And serene. I should make a list...
May 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word insomnia
At some point, many years ago, I gave up being the tortured artist/academic and decided that home was wherever I happened to be. Smooth sailing since then.
May 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word potato hole
Mmmmm...Green Onions...
May 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word devolution
It's just...so...clear now.
May 23, 2009
skipvia commented on the word hoe
Maybe WeirdNet is referring to pimping?...
May 22, 2009
skipvia commented on the word turdiform
Fecaloid may be my new favorite word.
May 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word gnome sane
Overheard yesterday at the end of virtually every sentence of an interview with an NBA basketball player. Literal translation: "Do you know what I'm saying?" At least, I think that's right. Nome seine?
May 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the word spelling
Cats' eyes and star sapphires, si.
May 19, 2009
skipvia commented on the word spelling
"Gorgeous Italian Spruce top with bearclaw figure that exhibits a brilliant shitoyance when turned in the light." Martin Music.
I think he means chatoyance, but maybe the guitar just looks like...ummm...crap.
May 19, 2009
skipvia commented on the word spam
Some fun spam comments I've received on one of my blogs recently:
"School is very importance for our children and your blog contain about teacher, I love it. Teacher will be good teach for our child."
"Any good books is very effective to us. I like every type of good books."
May 12, 2009
skipvia commented on the word devolution
What is it about Texas? Texas is Only 6000 Years Old!
May 8, 2009
skipvia commented on the word california dried plum digestive health month
If we had a Be Kind to Everyone Month, then we wouldn't need a Be Kind to Writers and Editors month.
I nominate you as chair, reesetee.
May 2, 2009
skipvia commented on the list awesome-words-part-1-less-common
Or maybe it's Brookdale_chick returning incognito.
I miss her.
May 2, 2009
skipvia commented on the word celibacy awareness month
I say forget it. It didn't work for Bristol Palin.
May 2, 2009
skipvia commented on the word california dried plum digestive health month
You know, we've only got twelve months. We should pick twelve things, give each one a month, and call it good. No more month sharing.
I vote we start with National Be Nice to Everyone month.
And then you have to do it.
April 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word climate refugee
Soon to be joining the Cartaret residents are the folks in Newtok, AK, whose village will be moved due to coastal erosion and permafrost melting. So will 26 other Alaskan villages.
April 28, 2009
skipvia commented on the word pinniped
♩
His clothes are loud, but never square...
♩
April 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word posthumorously
Like the Biggus Dickus scene in Life of Brian.
*heehee*
April 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word vice presidential prick
See prick.
April 23, 2009
skipvia commented on the list any-words-list-its-open
OMG!!! I'd forgotten how much I love this list!! Bucolic! Mucopurulent discharge!! OOSIK!!!! *hyperventilates*
April 23, 2009
skipvia commented on the word interociter
I love the MST3K jokes about interociters in their treatment of "This Island Earth."
April 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the word monkey
Really, Pro? How are terms like "the great apes" translated?
April 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the word 43
How old Dara Torres will be next year.
April 17, 2009
skipvia commented on the word rape
"If a guy can’t rape his wife...who’s he gonna rape?"
No, that's not from the fine folks in the Taliban. It's an actual quote from Wayne Ross, governor Sarah Palin's nominee for state Attorney General. Even our Republican-dominated legislature rejected him today by a 35-23 vote.
There's hope.
April 17, 2009
skipvia commented on the word echinacea
Nothing a little echidna tea wouldn't cure, I suspect.
April 16, 2009
skipvia commented on the word lord have mercy
As well as lawsy and lawdy, Miss Claudie.
April 16, 2009
skipvia commented on the list schwa-free
Words like deleted work if you're not from the South...
April 14, 2009
skipvia commented on the word pea green
Q: What's the difference between the tango and pea-green paint?
A: Anyone can learn to tango.
April 13, 2009
skipvia commented on the word into the words
The Wordie musical.
April 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word night of the living wordies
Dedicated to Prolagus, who seems to never sleep.
April 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the list if-wordie-were-a-movie-or-tv-series-it-would-be-called
Oh my...can't stop...
April 11, 2009
skipvia commented on the word sleeps
♩
Take me to the river.
Drop me in the WAH TER...
♩
April 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word sleeps
The lyrics are actually "a weenie whack a weenie whack a weenie whack a weenie whack."
Common mistake...
April 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word the 2009-2014 world outlook for 60-milligram containers of fromage frais
Or Victor?...
April 10, 2009
skipvia commented on the word evolution
Word. I'm going to start posting these observations there.
April 6, 2009
skipvia commented on the word evolution
OK--this isn't about evolution, specifically, but it partially answers a question I posed a few days ago: Can we get any more stupid?
Apparently, we can.
April 6, 2009
skipvia commented on the word embiggenated
Enlarged, as in "click here to see an embiggenated one." Seen here on DiscoverMagazine.com.
April 5, 2009
skipvia commented on the word boy-girl party
More like a rite of passage for American teenagers, VO. *still waiting for first invitation*
April 5, 2009
skipvia commented on the word wasilla hillbillies
Although it does kind of advance the argument proffered by so many of Palin's supporters that "she's just like us." You know, those of us who watch Jerry Springer and buy People.
April 5, 2009
skipvia commented on the word wasilla hillbillies
I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
April 5, 2009
skipvia commented on the word facebook
John, maybe you had better take a look at this.
April 4, 2009
skipvia commented on the word facebook
I like flush. It's harsh, but, like, what were they doing there in the first place, right?
April 3, 2009
skipvia commented on the word mount redoubt
"Readout" is correct, yarb.
C_B: Bears of any stripe (or no stripe) can always find a home in Alaska.
Reesetee: If a place requires reservations, I usually don't go there. Skinny Dick's is not such a place.
March 31, 2009
skipvia commented on the word mount redoubt
No fair rethinking your trip, reesetee. I've already made reservations at Skinny Dick's.
March 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word mount redoubt
Locally it's pronounced REE doubt.
March 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word headline
Headline of the day: Britain Running Out of Cocks. Fortunately, Wangs there are growing.
March 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word hawk moth caterpillar
Triple play!
March 30, 2009
skipvia commented on the word metaphor
A metaphor for our times: "This social networking comedy of errors spread like dancing hamsters across Twitter."
-Twitter Gets You Fired in 140 Characters or Less
March 29, 2009
skipvia commented on the list animal-animalia
Wow. I seen it! I seen it! I believes now!
March 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the list animal-animalia
Never heard of a skunk ape until just now, when I found it on Wikipedia. I guess I'll constrain my list to real animals.
March 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the list animal-identity-crisis
See also the Animal-Animalia list.
March 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word licky red panda
See also red panda for more unbearable cuteness...
March 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word mount redoubt
More excellent (updated) photos, including some amazing micrographs of ash particles, here.
March 27, 2009
skipvia commented on the word blipper
Spaces count?
March 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word vegetables
Sorry, yarb. It's been a long time since I visited a McDonalds...
March 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word vegetables
How depressing, bilby. Add two all beef patties (god, I hate that word) and a drink (supersize!) and you've got yourself a Big Mac Happy Meal.
March 26, 2009
skipvia commented on the word nila
Thick sheet ice traditionally typical of Arctic seas; now being replaced by pancake ice as a result of global climate change.
March 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word pancake ice
Another sign of global warming in the Arctic--new ice formed in areas of open water, thinner than the solid nila ice sheets usually found in the Arctic. Pancake ice is round, allowing for more open water between pancakes, increasing solar absorption and therefore global warming even more. See Pancake Ice Takes Over the Arctic.
March 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word evolution
There's certainly ample evidence for that, c_b. See American Kids; Dumber Than Dirt.
What was that about breeding, c_b?
March 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word evolution
I'm so glad the good folks in Texas have our backs. Can we get any more stupid?
March 25, 2009
skipvia commented on the word red panda
Cover your eyes, c_b.
March 24, 2009
skipvia commented on the word mount redoubt
All is well, but I'm glad I don't have to fly anywhere today. Planes are grounded because of the ash cloud.
If we get any ashfall, (unlikely this far north) I'll try and collect some for you.
EDIT: Some good hi-res images here.
March 23, 2009
skipvia commented on the word i will marry a beautiful wife this time
You may ask yourself...
March 23, 2009
skipvia commented on the word i will marry a beautiful wife this time
I blame the Wolof for that misinterpretation, si. Boo Radley is one of my favorite characters and one on whom I've modeled much of my life. Him, and Billy Budd.
I can be quite gullible...
March 23, 2009
skipvia commented on the word i will marry a beautiful wife this time
This could also be interpreted as "Jar Jar Binks lays the tacos by his young offspring, Jar Jar Mason." In Wolof, "bu rafet"--literally, Boo Radley--can refer to anyone of limited mental capacity or unusual behavior and may be used to indicate that an individual (in this case, "Jabar," or Jar Jar) is inarticulate, cloying, immensely stupid, and without any redeeming qualities whatsoever.
March 23, 2009
skipvia commented on the word foreclosure dog
Dogs relegated to the pound by families experiencing foreclosure on their homes and are no longer capable of caring for pets.
Sign of the Times - Foreclosure Dog
March 22, 2009
skipvia commented on the word quantum entanglement
"To put it in a nutshell, in this quest I first found that whatever way you look at it the quantum mechanical formalism, when taken at face value, compels us to consider that two particles that have once interacted always remain bound in a very strange, hardly understandable way even when they are far apart, the connection being independent of distance.
Even though this connection-at-a-distance does not permit us to transmit messages, clearly it is real. In other words space, so essential in classical physics, seems to play a considerably less basic role in quantum physics.
I soon found out, as often happens, that these things had been known for quite a long time. Schrödinger had even given them a name: entanglement..."
Quantum weirdness: What we call reality is just a state of mind.
March 22, 2009
skipvia commented on the word solleret
Historydorky is an awfully good word not to be claimed by anyone...
March 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word whenever i see you, you are masticating
It's a normal, natural part of growing up, bilby. Society stigmatizes it, but...wait. Oh. Never mind.
March 21, 2009
skipvia commented on the word every time i eat asparagus...
You may have missed the somewhat related Euell Gibbons discussion on lingonberry, fb.
March 20, 2009
skipvia commented on the word goldilocks zone
The phrase "too hot nor too cold to hold" certainly has a lot of Os in it...
March 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the word goldilocks zone
The thin zone around a sun within which a planet's temperature is neither too hot nor too cold to hold liquid water and, therefore, perhaps, life--as we know it, Jim.
-Cruising the Goldilocks Zone -The Search for "Earth's Twins"
March 18, 2009
skipvia commented on the word fufluns
Nothing perks up my day more than a good Uranus joke.
March 15, 2009
skipvia commented on the word colon blow
How many bowls of your cereal would it take to get the fiber in one bowl of Colon Blow?
March 13, 2009
skipvia commented on the word banana
*whew*
March 6, 2009
skipvia commented on the word banana
Am I the only person that thinks that some people may use these items for...umm...something other than protecting bananas?
March 6, 2009
skipvia commented on the word the untied states
One of my former professors had a sign in his office that read "Dyslexics untie!" It took me a while to get it. I'd be a lousy copy editor.
March 6, 2009
skipvia commented on the word spinal chord
See the discussion on vocal chords.
March 3, 2009
skipvia commented on the word vocal chords
I've always thought that spinal chord made sense because having one places you in the chordata phylum. I guess it's an eggcorn as well.
March 3, 2009
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