Inspired by my Literary Studies professor when he used “as it were�? a few times during a lecture, and this article I found upon my subsequent googling for “as it were�?.
I can’t believe I haven’t added antepenultimate yet! Do you want to? Regarding quodlibetarian I gave my preference the spelling without the “r”—it seems to be more “common”. ^^
/p??n?lt?m?t/ looks like an error. A stressed schwa?
Random House says /p??n?lt?m?t/ which not only looks more reasonable but also agrees with my printed version of the Heritage Dictionary (including the /?/s and schwas in the unstressed syllables).
“When we landed here, it seemed natural to us to direct our lander to the shore of our bay, since we thought the water we saw was potable and might be used for irrigation.” – Gene Wolfe, On Blue’s Waters
The two German words “binden�? (“to bind�?) and “Spelunke�? come to mind (the latter with some effort). It’s a strange dated word for a small very filthy pub or dive, similar to a “Kaschemme�? only that this word is even more obscure in my view (I can’t remember ever having heard it before) and the thing it denotes even more filthy.
And then there is of course “Speläologie�? == “Speleology�?.
I once had a teacher who recommended pronouncing proper names the way they are pronounced by the people they denote, so “Jon Stewart�? is /ˈdʒɑn ˈstuɚt/ but “Patrick Stewart�? is /ˈpætrɪk ˈstju�?ət/. I’ve since grown accustomed to pronouncing “Oxford�? the British way, but there are lots of traps and pitfalls: How am I to pronounce “Dictionary�? in “Oxford English Dictionary�? (after all it’s capitalized) and how “Oxford�? in “New Oxford American Dictionary�?? It’s all very discombobulating.
Is there some guiding rule, some accepted standard, some elegant dichotomy?
I think there should be lists on various topics (perhaps not “favorites�? as that tends to make hard decisions even harder) with an artificial word maximum, so that if you want to add for example an eleventh word to a 10-words-max. list, you first have to delete another.
See also my Underwordied list. I have no strict policy on which lexemes to list and which not, but words that are already listed by three different people are unlikely to make it in.
I just found this word, twice underlined, on something that looks like an old physics homework with excursions into seemingly inscrutable calculations. Mysterious.
McKean’s Law: “Any correction of the speech or writing of others will contain at least one grammatical, spelling, or typographical error.”
Just for illustration: Today I’ve found that McKean’s Law extends—albeit in a slightly changed manner—even to nonverbal conversations.
Our instructor in Literary Studies talked about something unrelated to “a sworn statement by an authorized official filed in court briefly describing the nature of each charge against a suspect, tantamount to an indictment but without the involvement of a grand jury” (Wiktionary: Information) when he slipped (rarity!) saying “... informations ...”.
I was like *facetiously cringe* and I saw across the room a girl was like *facetiously cringe* than we were like *eye contact* and she was like *wink* and I was like *wink*. Then I was like *oh noez*: McKean’s Law.
Five minutes later I was second in the line of students who needed to talk to our instructor. The one before me had the problem that his name wasn’t on the attendant list when the names were read out earlier. When it was my turn I said “I wasn’t on your list either”, he asked “Sorry?” and I repeated my sentence stumbling over every word.
Of course I still lack feel for the new design, but it looks pretty neat. Can I somehow rearrange the modules on the word pages? I’ll go exploring it in the afternoon. :-D
Edit: Isn’t my user name supposed to be displayed near the upper right corner? My feeling tells me it should.
“When asked the whereabouts of the campus bookstore, a university student who replied ‘There’s a great show about California condors on Channel 4 tonight’ would certainly cause raised eyebrows, though you couldn’t point to ungrammatical English as the culprit. The student’s grammatical competence would appear to be fine, but his or her communicative competence would seem not up to snuff.�? – Language: Its Structure and Use by Edward Finegan
“Eels also reach a phenomenal age. One from Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson province was more than 100 years old and 1.2 metre long. When you consider that beast was already cruising around the lake in the nineteenth century, at one time swimming about under the light of Halley’s Comet, and already quite a large animal when World War 1 broke out, it is impossible not to feel some respect for such a creature, or at least hold it in awe. Think about this: a great many of the eels caught are considerably older than the people that catch them.�? – Source
Since I read (at some point in my childhood) that despite their only six eyes the jumping spiders in our garden have such acute vision, I have always felt somewhat self-conscious around them...
“ ‘Thou wretch!—thou vixen!—thou shrew!’ said I to my wife on the morning after our wedding; ‘thou witch!—thou hag!—thou whippersnapper—thou sink of iniquity!—thou fiery-faced quintessence of all that is abominable!—thou—thou—’ here standing upon tiptoe, seizing her by the throat, and placing my mouth close to her ear, I was preparing to launch forth a new and more decided epithet of opprobrium, which should not fail, if ejaculated, to convince her of her insignificance, when to my extreme horror and astonishment I discovered that I had lost my breath.”
Hehe, next time I’ll choose a less conotationally equivocal term.
I made a printout of that map there to carry around with me, just in case. And I also got my hands on the CD from the Atlas of North American English which he cites on that page. It lay dormant in one of the university’s libraries.
I feel a couple Heaven forbid! getting ready to meet this suggestion, but what about little "Thanks" buttons like in many forum softwares for comments and lists?
I’m looking for another word for the meaning “an option that is selected automatically unless an alternative is specified�?, one that is less ambiguous.
(Is default commonly used in that meaning or is my proximity to computer science clouding my judgment?)
And then I have a question concerning the pronunciation: The dictionary only lists /dɪˈfɔlt/ but I frequently hear (American) native speakers say /ˈdifɔlt/. Have you made similar observations?
“Nevertheless all three of these cards appeared completely genuine, sharp-edged rectangles two thumbs by three, their complex labyrinths of gold encysted in some remarkable substance that was almost indestructible, yet nearly invisible.” (“Cards” are the currency in the Whorl.)
Yet strictly speaking you’re not yet covered by the License to Err since as of now—unless it’s a cache issue—you haven’t added it to any lists.
But that reminds me of an emendation I was planning to apply—an important emendation, at least for as long as we still have Time separating past and future. Thanks.
Mollusque, that would be great. I believe last.fm allows sending custom queries to the server and I think they prevent DoSing by allowing only one query per second.
I like my rice rather hard. I cook it only until it’s reasonably soft—or at least what I call reasonably soft—then pour it through a sieve to get rid of the hot water and quickly refresh it with cold water. Then I put the rice back into the pot and on the (switched off but still hot) cooking plate to get it dry and keep it warm while making sure it doesn’t scorch.
But don’t take my word for it; trust our countless satisfied customers:
“The License to Err has changed my life! When I was a child I was scolded for mispronouncing ‘epitome’—it was so embarrassing. Now, whenever similar things happen to me, I just tell them to check my Wordie profile, that I have the License to Err. I feel totally free now; it’s absolutely amazing! (And that’s no hyperbole.)” – Richard B., IL
“Once I flee out into the desert for fear of making mistakes. For the same reason I was just about to lose confidence in my respiratory system when a little critter with big ears hopped by, recognized my affliction and promptly produced a License to Err from his pouch. I was saved!” – Michael O., SA
“For too long I have been treading gingerly through life, eschewing any risk for fear that I might somehow err. Well, no longer. Thanks to telofy and Wordie PRO!, I now have License to Err. That’s right, boys and girls – if I screw up now, no big deal! I just laugh about it and get on with my life. And I gotta say, its a wonderful feeling. :-)” – Ptero D., NY
“For a while I pretended I couldn’t speak due to a recent removal of vocal cord nodules, but after a few years my family began to suspect that something else entirely might be my problem. I was subsequently diagnosed with atelophobia and prescribed a License to Err. I promptly got better.” – Jennifer F., TN
“I know what your thinking!” – Henry C., CA
So what are you waiting for? Add the License to Err now; it’s completely free!
And if you add the License to Err within the next several decades you’ll receive all grammar errors in this post free of charge!
So add the License to Err now!
(Now please comment so the rest of the world has an opportunity to obtain the License to Err.)
What about something equivalent to a blockquote/blockquote BBCode tag that highlights quotations in some pretty way? (Perhaps with some built-in method of handling the source?)
Colloquy, confabulation—mmmh! While “confabulation�? sounds kinda funny I think, “discourse�? could perhaps serve as a more serious alternative.
And what about marking citations in some way instead of splitting comments into citations and foobar?
And while I'm at it, is Wordie going to be redesigned? I don't mean—in this case—any changes affecting the structure or appearance of the site, but perhaps changing the (base) font-size values in the css to pt, sweeping out some of the redundancy, assigning IDs and class names to elements to set their properties in the style sheet, etc.?
(I've always been using Wordie with the Stylish add-on to make it look the way I prefer. ;-))
Yes, schwa is teh alsome. I also like its rhotic brother ɚ as is apparent from r-coloring.
And /ə/ (as a phoneme) has so many pleasant allophones in English. Sometimes I hear the unstressed “a�? in such words as askance, about or aura pronounced with a somewhat a-ish inclination (�? I'd say). In Blackadder I even once heard the schwa in “Blackadder�? pronounced that way—prior to that I thought that was just a German accent thing. The same is true for other unstressed vowels that are reduced to a schwa. See Wikipedia: Vowel reduction in English or of course the main article about vowel reduction.
I'm sure John will restore both lists presently, but just in case, these are the cached versions of “Units of Language�?—I don't know what the other list was. Adding words automatically is reasonably easy using iMacros.
Often I get the feeling that I can discern three “levels�? of creativity underlying for example philosophies, methodologies or novels. Surely that is an oversimplification, but then again I know of no way of grasping anything on any level that doesn’t rely on some degree of simplification, at least on the lowest known level. Also, objectively, it feels wrong to arrange them hierarchically, yet I’ve observed that with each step upward on this imagined ladder, the works become increasingly enjoyable to me.
I’ve come across several instances where two seemingly contradictory concepts had been combined in such a way that neither of them had lost any of its appealing aspects but that they suddenly complemented each other like two at first repellent magnets that just had to be turned a little and now firmly stick together. I chose to call this a synthesis of the two concepts and to put it at the top of my imagined hierarchy.
Then there is what I like to call the compromise, where the contradiction had been mollified by way of scraping off all the—often appealing—aspects that clash. The result being some indistinct and inconspicuous gray mass or soft background noise.
And then, of course, there is the possibility to just lump the two concepts together and ignore the contradiction and the resulting inconsistencies.
What I’m asking is not really whether there is something missing from this system—surely there is, after all it is designed to oversimplify things—but what is actually wrong with it. (But mostly, I just wanted to tidy up and test-drive this train of thought.)
Yes, thanks a lot, rolig. And I’m delighted to know that there are other people bothered by such uncertainties/inconsistencies. After consulting that article (and the poll, but I’m not sure that can be called “consulting�?) I’m unsure whether that space is really as omission-worthy as is implied there, after all it’s usually a slow process—stepping on a hyphen intermediately—that leads up to that degree of coalescence. However the bigger the gap the more ambiguous seems the stress to me; one might be prone to assign a secondary stress to the “’a�?. So I’m not entirely convinced, but inclined to settle for I’m’a as a viable utilitarian compromise. For now.
“Beset, as you should know, by woe and eager for a situation of venerational tranquility, I bethought me of this manteion, the new calde’s own, as a place to which I might retire, pray and contemplate the inscrutable ways of the gods.” (emphasis in the original)
—Patera Incus in The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
“-ng�? is a special case, as in all accents that I’m aware of, that “-g�? is completely silent (not merely devoiced). Its influence however is that the “-n-�? is not pronounced /n/ as twice in “pronounced�? but /ŋ/ as in “sing�?; that’s the only sound (on phonemic level) that distinguishes “sing�? (/sɪŋ/) and “sin�? (/sɪn/). (Hence it’s called a minimal pair. For more information please consult The Phonetic Rap.)
At the end of words with more than one syllable that distinction is lost in some accents, for example Southern American English and African American Vernacular English, so that “tappening�? (/ˈtæpənɪŋ/) becomes what is commonly transcribed as “tappenin’�? (/ˈtæpənɪn/).
Nonetheless I’ve heard the hypercorrection /ɹɔŋg/ instead of /ɹɔŋ/ (“wrong�?) in an accent reduction video on youtube when the coach was concentrating very hard—too hard—on enunciating as clear as possible for an audience whose listening comprehension skills she couldn’t know or estimate.
You are right about the special relevance for German native speakers (and Spanish and Italian etc.): “Bund�? (“union�?) and “bunt�? (“colorful�?) are homophones: bʊnt.
Hence undue devoicing in word-final position is a common pronunciation mistake among us. Another study I skimmed over yesterday compared the ability of L2 learners with such native languages to distinguish words whose only difference is in the voicing of a word-final consonant, and to reproduce those words.
The paper I posted yesterday however makes a very important distinction in that it focuses on words in phrase-final position, so it would sound strange and German accented to constantly devoice the word-final “s�?s in sentences like “He ushered the guys out the door.�? but not in “Planes!�? (She devoiced a lot in that video; perhaps it's even a little affected.)
Scott here however demonstrates both very clearly many times (devoicing with “friends�? (z̥) in final position at about 0:03 for example and of course lots and lots of voiced /z/ (z) in mid-sentence) but I guess you guys can observe that on yourselves anyway.
I prefer z̥ and z for distinguishing the sounds because I feel the difference in the intensity of the air stream between z̥ and s rather distinctly when I’m speaking, though I don’t know if I would normally hear it.
Throughout the last one or two weeks I’ve focused on getting the distinction between /s/ (after consonant sounds) and /z/ (after all other sounds) down, which means that I read Gene Wolfe to myself. I already noticed that with some words in some contexts I had this slight epiphanic feeling like “Yeah, of course! That sounds so much better!�? and in other contexts it sounded strange and was even hard to pronounce (only usually that means that I’ll just have to practice more).
Then two days ago we (two friend and I) went to the cinema where we were presented with the 2012 trailer. Of course I had to point out the planes (“Planes! – More planes! – Flying giraffe!�?) but after the first “Planes!�? I became self-consciously aware of (1) my devoiced pronunciation and (2) the fact that two English native speakers were sitting to my left (and probably more behind and in front of me for we were watching District 9 in English). Hence my next “planes�? ended very voiced—not that anyone heard it over the noise of all that disaster-ing, catastrophe-ing and apocalypse-ing around us.
Afterwards I wondered which pronunciation had been more correct.
Yesterday then I added another layer of wondering, when I wondered what happened when a word-final /z/ is followed by a word-initial /s/; this may serve as such an example. On IDEA I learned that sometimes nothing happens and sometimes the /z/ becomes devoiced. I then (after what feels like a few months) re-watched Brooke’s video (Thanks, Brooke!) and my wonder culminated in some frantic googling which unearthed that paper that finally Oedipused the mystery for me. :-)
Oh, and about the r-sounds issue on pirates, those little articulatory gems seems to be especially controversial: I don’t think the English ɹ is especially hard to pronounce for Germans, it’s just not in our inventory, but the German �? (the one I use) as well as its voiceless counterpart x (or χ) seem to be pretty tricky (as in “Bach�?, the composer, also the German word for “brook�?. ^^)
Even some Germans have problems pronouncing the southern German ʀ—a trill—and especially hard is r—also a trill—which is heard in some older RP-ish (I think) varieties of British English (Stephen Fry uses it and of course Noel Coward—a lot) and which is the rhotic consonant in Spanish and surely also some other languages. I can’t pronounce it yet, but I think, after much training, I at least have the tongue movement down—more or less.
And then there is also the alveolar tap, ɾ, as in General American “city�? (ˈsɪɾi) which is also sometimes used as rhotic sound by people like Stephen Fry and Noel Coward. It sounds like one tap/flap of the alveolar trill r, I think.
Hmm, this looks long. Good thing my browser didn’t crash. ^^
Sionnach: Yes that's Wordie! And so wonderfully eloquent.
John, what you’re planning sounds like a very sensible (series of) next step(s) to me. Also the discussion appeared to imply that future (or Future?) Wordie and Wordnik are to be operating on the same database—at least in appearance—so I think is would be only consistent to equip them with the same range of functionality. Of course we Wordizens want to keep our design (or the structure underlying that design) and we want to be able to behold it (split!) seconds after typing “wordie.org�? into the address bar (or clicking the bookmark or typing “w�? and using the auto-complete). So my idea—for the moment forgetting all about those personalized pages*—would be to hide the functions and widgets that Wordnik brings into the marriage just one click away, and on Wordnik to, if necessary, do the same with the functions and widgets Wordie provides. Once you have a good overview over the structure and the programming of the Wordnik page, I'm sure you or the whole team will have no problem devising a design that integrates seamlessly with Wordie's minimalist approach without leaving gaps when it is hidden.
This suggestion, as I see it, has no influence on your idea of a “Zeitgeist�? page as I mostly have word pages and list pages in mind right now.
*I still like that idea though. Also a module displaying data gathered from other websites of one's choice by means of powerful regular expressions searching the source code would come in handy. ^^
I kind of like this description, but I’m afraid it might be too much of a cliché. Do you feel it’s too cliché to be used seriously without quotes, high-pitched undulating voice, “so called�? and the like?
Around here we sometimes say ™ to mark certain clichés and to distance ourselves from them. It’s practically always used in a humorous way and I think there’s a tendency to use it with oversimplifications that are often employed for promoting ideologies. For example: “You use that search engine? I thought you said it was Evil™.�? (Only in German of course.)
Is it also used that way in the English speaking world?
What is the reason that suggests this change? If it's just that the introduction is unnecessary for the regulars and just pushing the relevant part (comments, etc.) down by a couple em, I agree. Then you could just make a shiny big introduction that is deflatable and automatically—and smoothly of course—becomes a little bar once you're logged in. Or are you even planning personalized customized homepages for registered users à la iGoogle? (Not that I'm using that, but with Wordie I think I would enjoy it.)
sionnach: Yeah... Mostly they are just afraid because as long as the stick to every inch of protocol they can blame whatever goes wrong on the paragraphs; when they use their own judgment and intellect however, they are personally liable and potentially doomed. (I'm going to have to renew my ID soon, wish me luck. ^^) Yet, luckily, I observe the latter rather more frequently than I expect. And it's good to hear that this kinda thing is different in other countries.
Why Germany? I’m not saying that Germany isn’t gradually degenerating into this idea of a police state that so many politicians seem to have grown fond of throughout the recent years, in fact I’m marching against* this exact thing tomorrow, but I think that many other (industrialized) countries have gone much farther into that direction already, and in that respect I’m rather glad to be living here...
*However I like to call it marching for freedom; “against�? doesn’t accord with my Aikidoish inclination. :-)
Rule two I’ve learned exactly like that. Rule one, it seems to me, might be true sometimes, so perhaps not as a rule, but rather as an observation that allows probabilistic extrapolation or something like that...
Pauses are often accompanied by an “er” or “um”, those little words usually start with a vowel sound, so that might be a reason for the pauses-/ði/.
OK, now I’ve come up with a few—three—rather general suggestions for Wordnik.
Paul, the man behind dict.cc might be interested in cooperating with Wordnik (if he doesn’t already). It would be very convenient to have a personalized word page whose modules include one showing translations from dict.cc.
And what about Wiktionary? An IPA pronunciation that distinguishes /ɚ/ and /əɹ/, and /�?/ and /ɜɹ/ would be much appreciated.
Perhaps a compilation of regional pronunciation variations in full-blown phonetic IPA notation is a bit much to ask right now, but it would certainly be quite intriguing.
As an alternative to spamming Wordie I suggest you use meta-tags to better position your website in search results. Also—correct me if I'm wrong—you seem to target Christian customers, so why not open up to all the other religions out there and offer customized t-shirts for their followers as well?
I checked and found out that trepidatious is included at least in the Heritage dictionary and that I'm not feeling like that at all! So please make that the little neophiliac in me is right. :-)
Also this is probably a great opportunity to add a bulk moving feature for words and categorization for the lists page. And I'm looking forward to case sensitivity.
Best of luck!
(By the bye, a few years back I once used erinaceous in a school exam.)
Such a feature would be utterly redundant: You could just make an open list labeled “Friends�?; everyone could add themselves. (Why isn't it "themself" as substitute for "himself/herself"?)
“I'm sure you know this old man: One of his eyes resembles that of a vulture—a pale blue eye with a film over it. You won't believe what I've found out: I can possess him by means of astral projection. Let me show you.�?
I only know about the hair space in conjunction with em dashes, but I don’t use them there. The thin space however is very useful in German as all abbreviations of more than two letters that are separated by dots need it after the dots, e.g.: “z. B.�? (e.g.)
The Duden standard is to use a standard space if a thin space is unavailable, yet people often put no space at all, even on magazine covers...
There is even a very useful search directly on xkcd.com, but the fun is mostly in using those URLs in conversations even though there is no computer around; proves one's nerdiness.
They call me Caucasian and yet I don't know the first thing about that region...
Pretty character by the way, it looks like a heart perched on a twig—and since a twig is something divided in two that might just as well represent the one heart that is shared by two bodies and minds, metaphorically speaking.
Sometimes it's useful to know a few xkcd numbers by heart in case an argument comes up that was already refuted in an xkcd, then you can just cite the URL.
Ned is a bit of a problem: He's (one of) the main character(s) in Pushing Daisies where only his first name is known. So on the one hand one could argue that he only has one name as the reality of the series is defined by nothing but the information the series provides, however on the other hand it's supposed to be set in our reality—augmented with all the buoyancy of the forensic fairytale—which suggests that his last name in fact does exist in the series and that only it never came up.
I rather tend towards the latter option because I think it's natural to see our reality as some kind of default state or raw structure upon which and into which (if things are decidedly different) every story is built. Hence I've added the name for now.
Interesting, I knew a "de Oliveira" once, that seems to be a rather common name.
Now that the list is open to fictional characters I have rather to many ideas... I guess I'll restrict myself to the ones where the difference in populatity is expecially stark.
For comparison a letter in an upper class dialect from the same book:
30th Nemesis 332
To the Clergy of the Chapter,
Both Severally and Collectively
Greetings in the name of Pas, in the name of Scylla, and in the names of all gods! Know that you are ever in my thoughts, as in my heart.
The present disturbed state of Our Sacred City obliges us to be even more conscious of our sacred duty to minister to the dying, not only to those amongst them with whose recent actions we may sympathize, but to all those to whom, as we apprehend, Hierax may swiftly reveal his compassionate power. Thus it is that I implore you this day to cultivate the perpetual and indefatigable predisposition toward mercy and pardon whose conduit you so frequently must be.
Many of you have appealed for guidance in these most disturbing days. Nay, many appeal so still, even hourly. Most of you will have learned before you read this epistle of the lamented demise of the presiding officer of the Ayuntamiento.
The late Councillor Lemur was a man of extraordinary gifts, and his passing cannot but leave a void in every heart. How I long to devote the remainder of this necessarily curtailed missive to mourning his passing. Instead, for such are the exactions of this sad whorl, the whorl that passes, my duty to you requires that I forewarn you without delay against the baseless pretexts of certain vile insurgents who would have you to believe that they act in the late Councillor Lemur's name.
Let us set aside, my beloved clergy, all fruitless debate regarding the propriety of an intercaldéan caesura spanning some two decades. That the press of unhappy events then rendered an interval of that kind, if not desirable, then unquestionably attractive, we can all agree. That it represented, to judgements not daily schooled to the nice discriminations of the law, a severe strain upon the elasticity of our Charter, we can agree likewise, can we not? The argument is wholly historical now. O beloved, let us resign it to the historians.
What is inarguable is that this caesura, to which I have had reason to refer above, has attained to its ordained culmination. It cannot, O my beloved clergy, as it should not, survive the grievous loss which it has so recently endured. What, then, we may not illegitimately inquire, is to succeed that just, beneficent and ascendant government so sadly terminated?
Beloved clergy, let us not be unmindful of the wisdom of the past, wisdom which lies in no less a vehicle than our own Chrasmologic Writings. Has it not declared, "Vox poputi, vox dei"? which is to say, in the will of the masses we may discern words of Pas's. At the present critical moment in the lengthy epic of Our Sacred City, Pas's grave words are not to be mistaken. With many voices they cry out that the time has arrived for a precipitate return to that Charteral guardianship which once our city knew. Shall it be said of us that we stop our ears to Pas's words?
Nor is their message so brief, and so less than mistakable. From forest to lake, from the proud crown of the Palatine to the humblest of alleys they proclaim him. O my beloved clergy, with what incommunicable joy shall I do so additionally. For Supreme Pas has, as never previously, espoused for our city a caldé from within our own ranks, an anointed augur, holy, pious, and redolent of sanctity. …
Since it has to be little, it's a pencil. You win a Gene Wolfe thumbs up plus a quotation from the book I'm reading. ^^
“On legs as thin as sticks, the shadowy figures parted; a pencil of light settled on a dark bundle that stared up at her with Incus's agonized eyes. A rag covered his mouth.�? – Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
It was probably Munich... I live comparatively far to the left of Berlin where I hardly ever come in touch with this city's eponymous slang, but even my parents have never heard that word. In Bavaria however (though in Munich somewhat less I've heard) they speak this utterly different language—if they are really good at it I won't understand a word—so it's very possible that it is/was a common slang term there.
It yields a few thousand Google hits, but hardly any of them seem relevant.
(Oh, and I forgot to mention knuffig, such a cute word.)
This Wikipedia article is from the Alemannic Wikipedia. Quite intriguing.
(Only I'm afraid to think too much in German at the moment due to an English test I have to take in about a week...)
Edit: Guessing from the context it seems uffig means as much as open in Alemannic.
Diminutive for Molybdenum (according to Gene Wolfe's The Book of the Long Sun). It's probably also a tribute to Douglas Adams for Molybdenum has the atomic number 42.
Whether or not uwig is commonly regarded as a German word I'll leave unanswered, but for uffig we first need to find a definition. Perhaps due to words like affig or puffig it sounds somewhat derogative to me, furthermore uff is the canonical interjection for indicating physical exhaustion, so it could be a slang term applied to very straining and exhausting tasks.
Last time I checked there existed no definite—and not even a more than barely feasible—definition of knowledge; I hope in view of this impediment it is permissible for me to be somewhat more hazy on this subject...
I don't know about the Russian word this page honors, and of course you may generally feel free to enjoy whatever letter combinations you like, but to people who actually speak the respective languages such words are likely to sound not merely strange and awkward but in some cases even downright repugnant and might cause this feeling of embarrassment one feels in the stead of someone else—is there a word for that? ^^
As I said, this is probably not about razbliuto at all; I've no idea what word really feels like.
I once had an interesting forum discussion with my Aikido sensei about about the the choices we face and about this only too common notion of a good-evil-dichotomy that seems to make them easier for some of us. Unfortunately in German. But I also let two quotes speak for me, one regarding choices (playing with oxymoronicity):
“If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.�? – Angel, Angel (TV series)
And one about “good�? and “evil�?:
“But whether all that came to good or evil, I don't know. Until we reach the end of time, we don't know whether something's been good or bad; we can only judge the intentions of those who acted.�? – Severian, The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
“Would the congregation know by then of Lemur's demise? Quetzal debated the advisability of announcing the fact if they did not. It was a question of some consequence; and at length, for the temporary relief the act afforded him, he pivoted his hinged fangs from their snug grooves in the roof of his mouth, snapping each gratefully into its socket and grinning gleefully at his distorted image.�? – Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
In The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe a manteion is something like a temple and church combined with a school, but I have no clue how to pronounce it which can be quite annoying when I always stumble in my mental subvocalization...
Perhaps "facial expression" is not as detached and descriptive as I thought...
Except for "aspect" for which (in this sense) I don't really have a feeling, I went through those three words in the thesaurus and found them, as you said, rolig, too formal. "Look" is the one I rejected for being too ambiguous. I think I now favor "expression" without the "facial" as you said, and perhaps with something like "rich" in front. Thanks!
I'm looking for a synonym for facial expression (particularly regarding the eyes) that feels warmer, does not restrict the meaning and is not ambiguous.
If you happen to know one, please drop me a comment. Thx. :-)
This madeupical word is a hyblend of contempt and temptation which can be used for example to describe the disposition someone who wants to quit smoking might have toward his cigarettes.
“... Words. I have to remember to speak words now. I say something. But you do not hear me unless I move my lips. To move my lips and my tongue ... while I make this noise in my throat.�?
– Mamelta in Gene Wolfe's The Book of the Long Sun
A little excerpt from The Book of the Long Sun showing the kind of slang (usually called thieves' cant) some people in the City of Viron speak:
"That could get him tried for murder, Jugs," Auk told her. "No, what you want to do is roll this Crane over to Hoppy. Only if you're going to queer it, you'd be better off doing him. They'll beat it out of you, grab the deck and send you with him. It'd be a lily grab on you, Jugs, 'cause you helped
him. As for the Patera here, Crane saw to his hoof and rode him to Orchid's in his own dilly, so it'd be candy to smoke up something."
He waited for them to contradict him, but neither did.
"Only if you go flash, if you roll him over to some bob culls with somebody like me to say Pas for you, we'll all be stanch cits and heroes too. Hoppy'll grab the glory while we buy him rope. That way he'll hand us a smoke smile and a warm and friendly shake, hoping we'll have something else to roll another time. I've got to have pals like that to lodge and dodge. So do you two, you just don't know it. You scavy I never turned up the bloody rags, riffling some cardcase's ken? You scavy I covered 'em up and left him be? Buy it, I washed him if he'd stand still. And if he wouldn't, why, I rolled him over."
Silk nodded. "I see. I felt that your guidance would be of value, and I don't believe that Chenille could call me wrong. Could you, Chenille?"
She shook her head, her eyes sparkling.
"That's rum, 'cause I'm not finished yet. What's this hotpot's name, Jugs?"
"Simuliid."
"I'm flash. Big cully, ox weight, with a mustache?"
My thesaurus defines it as random. What a funny word. I have this voice in my head: imagine someone with a good valley girl accent saying something in the lines of “I'm, like, Tiffany, you know, from, like, Lawndale? (vocal fry) Ooohh, your (sic), like, from Lawndale, too? That's like sooo desultory? (vocal fry) Totally awesome?�?
Wait, I thought there was already a discussion about squirrels here... Only a few days ago I read about this shadowy tail of squirrels here on Wordie when I had just uploaded my latest squirrel video on YouTube. And then I read about squirreled on squirrelled. *discombobulated*
“His arm and ankle seemed more painful than ever; he told himself firmly that it was only because the palliating effects of the drug Crane had given him the night before—and of the potent drinks he had imprudently sampled—had worn off.”
I see some kind of intricate device used in the field of creative plumbing aka subversive plumbing (see Brazil). Surely your contraption has such a contraption built into it somewhere.
With a showman’s flourish, the seller reached beneath the stained red cloth that draped his table and produced a small wire cage containing an orange-and-white catachrest. Silk was no judge of these animals, but to him it appeared hardly more than a kitten.
“The prosperous-looking man mopped his streaming brow with a large peach-colored handkerchief that sent a cloying fragrance to war with the stenches of the street.”
“If the Fliers are human,” Silk admonished his charges, “it would surely be evil to stone them. If they are not, you must consider that they may be higher than we are in the spiritual whorl, just as they are in the temporal.” —Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
"They spoke in fragments and ellipses, in periphrastics and aposiopesis, in a style abundant in chiasmus, metonymy, meiosis, oxymoron, and zeugma; their dazzling rhetorical techniques left him baffled and uncomfortable, which beyond much doubt was their intention." – Robert Silverberg, Born With the Dead (on World Wide Words)
In the How I Met Your Mother (Season 4) episode Three Days of Snow Marshall says /məˈtʃʊɚ/ or I think even /məˈtʃjʊɚ/ while Lily pronounces it /məˈtʊɚ/, which was new to me, though listed first on dictionary.com. Robin also says /məˈtʊɚ/ and moreover especially stressed the word (twice), which however might have semantic reasons.
This semester has finally reached its end so that since yesterday afternoon I have more time to read stuff, watch stuff and hopefully reorganize a few of my lists. And hardly had I commenced my reading of The Dead by James Joyce when I came across this utterly discombobulating sentence:
“Hardly had she brought one gentleman into the little pantry behind the office on the ground floor and helped him off with his overcoat than the wheezy hall-door bell clanged again and she had to scamper along the bare hallway to let in another guest.�?
A quick search across the Internets only resulted in this hardly thrilling reinforcement of my intuitive grasp on that construction.
"It's gonna be legend—wait for it, and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is—dairy!" – Barney, How I Met Your Mother
“Hi Wordizens, I'm Rhoty. You can always readily recognize me by my low third formant. Tonight I'm invited to Schwa’s party and my longer brother ɝ is coming, too—it's going to be legen-er-dary!”
So far I've used my favorites as a collection of bookmarks of lists I didn't want to forget, but as that is not really the intended purpose of favorites, I'm now using the private note feature of this page to save them. That makes private notes one of my favorite words I guess. ^^
soup.io is missing under "also on". The URL structure is perfectly straight forward (e.g. telofy.soup.io), shouldn't be the slightest problem. Thanks. :-)
I could never decide whether to use quotation marks in "American style" or in "British style", meaning whether to put those punctuation marks that don't belong there into the quotation. (I, by the way, used those pseudo quotation marks in the last sentence to indicate that I actually know a few books by American authors that employ "British style" and vice versa.)
To me the first option looks flowier, while the second one has the distinct advantage of not being so illogical and ambiguous.
This morning I had the idea that I might use both versions: "American style" when writing fiction and "British style" when writing non-fiction. Do you think that is an acceptable compromise?
"a complete surrender to natural impulses without restraint or moderation; freedom from inhibition or conventionality: to dance with reckless abandon." – Random House
Wow. This word, this definition—I totally got goosebumps reading it.
Hi, I could use a feature that would allow me to categorize my lists so that the lists list shows—for example—first a number of lists that might be interesting for everyone (under an appropriate title) and then a few lists that are just my private—and most probably less interesting—vocabulary learning lists (under the appropriate title again). Also some Wordees with >100 lists on their lists list could profit from that.
Thanks a lot (also and specifically generally). ;-)
The idea came to me when I read the sentences "What exactly are you a professor of, Mr. Logan?" – "Art."
I just wasn't so sure about the "of". Someone clumsily trying to ancientize his sentence would probably also try and avoid preposition stranding but a reordering of the words would distract from the nub of the joke, so I changed that from the beginning.
Typical onomatopoeic expression among 20 to 30 year old computer science students at the Freie Universität Berlin, primarily amongst members of Spline, the student's project for Linux networks.
It means exactly what you think it means, at least when you think that it means exactly what it does mean. Sort of. Hard to explain...
In Ellen Muth's speech I can hear basically all varieties: with the usual alveolar flap, with the seemingly elided t and with pretty pronounced glottal stops. Something I should be listening out for once I have time is when the ts are pre-vocalic and when not and what bearing that has on their pronunciation.
The paper focuses on word-final pre-vocalic glottal stops, so the button phenomenon (phonemenon) probably won't be explained.
Darn, now I have to go to the next lecture...
There is a Wikipedia article that seems quite interesting, but I don't know how viable it is to try and apply that to American English.
Another edit:
I quickly listened to short sequences of Ellen Muth in of "The Young Girl and the Monsoon" (1999) and though there wasn't much time, I think I heard a few glottal stops at word-final pre-vocalic position.
This paper is highly intriguing. I just started reading but I have the suspicion that I might go on the answer all my questions about the American glottal stop. :-)
I'm not a native speaker of course but my natural way of pronouncing "button" is to obstruct (or rather completely stop) the airflow at and around the alveolar ridge like when pronouncing /n/ from right after the /ʌ/ onwards which renders the rest of the word nasal, and I think there is also something glottal going on. When I pronounce it the way Ellen does—the Cockneyesque way—the airflow isn't obstructed on the height of the alveolar ridge until the /n/. (It is of course for the /b/ with the lips and then in the glottis.)
There is a transcription of someone from Mississippi here, who used a lot of glottalization, too. It isn't as special as it seemed to me at first, I guess. I'll probably try and add a few glottal ts to my speech if I should happen to have mental resources to spare. ^^
In General American many ts are pronounced as alveolar taps (/ɾ/) but that is not what I mean.
I'll collect a few words as soon as I have a couple of minutes to spare. ^^
"Button" wasn't among the words I noticed but for "button" there is a mention in the glottal stop article.
I don't have much time right now but a few word are "thought", "doubt", "gotton" (same pattern as "button" I guess).
Very often the ts at the end of words are missing but many of them seem elided rather than glottalized. Those three up there sounded very glottal to me though.
And she already did that in the pilot, so she probably had the propensity before. Perhaps there are comprehensive books on American accents in one of my university's libraries.
I'm just listening to the commentary voice-over of the first season of Dead Like Me and noticed that Ellen Muth who is from Connecticut from time to time uses t-glottalization! That's so amazing! At that time on the set of Dead Like Me she has been working with Callum Blue who (at least there) uses consistent t-glottalization. Also the Wikipedia article says that even "Prince Harry frequently glottals his Ts". I can absolutely understand why that's so contagious. ;-)
By the way, yarb, Dead Like Me was shot in Vancouver, BC.
Oh yes, I didn't consider the element of quaintitude. That's definitely a plus for hyphens, but usually (or by default) I'm rather progressively oriented. I guess that once I gained a somewhat reliable feeling that the mainstream accepted spelling of a word is, I'll probably more or less stick with the most non-mainstream one that looks acceptable (and pretty) to me. (Unless I seek to evoke certain connotations.) This might very well be influenced by how often Gene Wolfe uses it.
Just recently I decided for myself to write email. Donald E. Knuth convinced me.
Imagine the time when people considered writing "newfangled" "new-fangled". ^^
I added antiestablishment. I tend to prefer the version without hyphen if I can find it in one of my favorite dictionaries (or if I think it looks much prettier).
Her aphorisms might be pithy (hopefully the a- is not a negation), furthermore there is π in there, and thy (somewhat out of context though). Unfortunately there's no pithy without a pit one has to avoid...
What about a little button then, which waits patiently somewhere around the comment box and when clicked opens a little box into which one can write the names of the people who are to be notified of ones comment (by means of a feed for example)?
When someone uses my sobriquet in our IRC channel and I happen do be present at that moment, my IRC client flashes and displays the line in red. I find that pretty handy.
Would it perhaps be possible for you to introduce a feed of the comments that contain one's own nickname, so to make it easier to address one another anywhere on the site?
"Other people may believe what it pleases them to believe, but I will do nothing without I know the reason why and know it clearly." – Dirk Gently, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" by Douglas Adams
"Why do I spend time thinking about this stuff?" -- cb
First off, I agree with what you figured out about the meanings of "hm", "hmm" and "hmmm" and hence I'm happy my fondness for that word no longer coaxes me to contribute my views.
The importance of this topic I think lies in the interjectional character of that sound: As it has very little of this tangible semantic kind of meaning, the word has great value for pointing out how important this other layer of meaning can be. Perhaps it could be called something like "connotative", but that word I think is not as apt as I would like it to be.
Great, someone noticed my Wordie PRO profile. I'm using the Web Developer extension to alter the HTML in such away that the menu provides the desired options. Then all I have to do is submit it. Ajax channels the data to the server where it isn't rechecked upon arrival.
"I come out here every night and start talking as if I know things." -- Stephen Colbert
Can someone tell me when/why it is/isn't know respectively knew in this kind of construction? I'm just watching a few procrastinated Colbert Report episodes and this sentence puzzles me... Thanks.
"I don't want any trouble. I just wanna be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one." – Buffy, BtVS
But it wouldn't be bases solely on your opinion; before I knew how huge the list would (still) be, I planned it just as a temporary container destined to be tuned into a little list in the comma separated sense inside the Grandiloquent Dictionary list's description. I thought there might be ten or twenty errors to be found or something like that. In order to retain these comments it would also be possible to recycle this list for something entirely different.
Thanks, I like that concept. Only I think it comes pretty close to how I've decided the words to enter my list. Words I didn't know were in immediately because they were interesting just for their novelty. Then there are those words, which I would have known if they had been employed somewhat differently. In some cases I neglected to copy out the context so that their interesting senses are then lost on me after a few weeks. But there are also words like veil which I knew and which are perfectly commonplace but which in that context sounded so gentle and light that I needed to note it down as well. I don't know if that is an intrinsic property of that word and I'm moreover entirely unsure whether or not anyone else would find that remarkable, but in that situation it forced me to ameliorate my Wordie sheet with it. Later, when I enter the words into Wordie, it's a rather mechanic process where I'm so overwhelmed by the masses of words I wrote down that I seldom rethink my selections.
Yet with Gene Wolfe who creates his own recondite neologisms by building upon ancient, foreign, and ancient and foreign words it would also be of interest to have list exclusively of words of his own creation. It's one of my plans for that list to draw some kind of distinction there, so I could move all other words to my Utilitarian lists for example. Perhaps I'll write a script for that for I don't have much time parallel to studying...
I'd be the last one to disqualify any combination of letters as not "being a word" just on the basis that it's not in this or that dictionary. One or two years ago I've been introduced to the world of logophilia by blogs, articles and videos by/of Erin McKean and obviously through the works of Gene Wolfe, so I abandoned the notion of a dictionary being some sort of word police even before it had any chance of manifesting itself. The whole purpose of this list was that at some point mollusque informed me that this Grandiloquent Dictionary contained quite a lot of errors (referring to stuff like -phillia). Being inclined towards perfectionism this bugged be, so I had to figure of a way to detect those errors. Only 2700 words are a bit much for me to look though by hand so I decided to write a program that could screen out all words which are guaranteed to be correct. My hope was to be left with a list of at most one hundred words, which would then be rather easy to look through manually. Unfortunately it didn't work out like that, so I more or less abandoned the project.
After a few months I let a script search through all the word pages looking for the tag "misspelling". Those are the words listed in the description of the other list.
Since this automated dictionary search failed to provide my with an agreeably shrunken number of words, I always planned on deleting this list for its utter uselessness. I didn't realize that it could be interpreted as sacrilege upon our sacred art of neologation (or the like). Even more reason to perform this sort of ablution on my lists list...
Edit: Until I decide what to do with this list, I've slightly changed the description up there. Could someone please have a quick look at the grammar? Some parts feel rather ambiguous...
Yes, I'm to some degree dependent on input from you guys as it is rather hard for me to differentiate between those words which are new only to me and such which might also be a novelty to native speakers. In some cases—for example proper—I've added the corresponding citation to the word page. In some cases I probably neglected to do that though it would have been necessary, but in many cases—apron being one of them I think—I simply didn't know the word at that time and copied it onto one of my special Wordie sheets.
So thanks a lot for your words, I'll process them immediately. :-)
Wow, thanks for those words. Especially homoseme seem to be a rare term.
I was merely in need of some word for referring to the non-silent "e"s in our participial adjectives or the words themselves. Like Hofstadter when he coined Capitalized Essences for such things as the Purpose of Life or often God.
The definition of heteronyms is a bit wide though. Perhaps it's best to describe them as rolig et al. did, or can someone coin a witty madeuponym ("neologism" is aged; 237 years according to the OED) for such participial adjectives? ^^
In some texts there are words in the past tense whose "e"s in their "-ed"s are supposed to be pronounced. Often the "e"s which aren't are apostrophed out:
Here it's damn cold and kind of loud outside at the moment (or "at this juncture of maturization"). To start the new year with a positive signal concerning the employment situation I like to call them hirecrackers, though I've only employed two of them this time. Oh, and 2009 has the digit sum 11 and so has my nickname. (Well, if you add the values of the letters according to the alphabet and then calculate the digit sum.)
You also listed inertial damper. But do they actually say inertial dampeners in Star Trek? That's more like when Janeway spills her tepid coffee on her elaborately drawn Minkowski diagrams... ^^
When displaying "Versicherungsgekkokotzenbedürfnis" on the front page, wordie truncates the word in the middle of the two byte German umlaut "ü", so only the 0xC3 was shown which of course can't be shown.
I'd call it "Versicherungsgeckokotzbedürfnis", but in both cases it might also be understood as the urge to throw up this lizardy creature instead of throwing up due to it.
Often I simultaneously preworry that I'm not worrying enough about the worrisome, and that I'm worrying too much and thus jamming the unworrying process, without the two preworries annihilating each other (or themselves?).
The Spanner (the German term, hence the capitalization) we use to put torsion on the rotator/plug of a lock when picking it is called tension wrench. (I'm a lockpicker.)
Lunke, a madeupical German term for the separator thingy you put on the conveyor belt at the counter in a supermarket. My favorite is Kundenknüppel, tough (roughly translated “customer baton”).
Ack, will I always have to keep learning? Won't I ever experience a sense of lasting satisfaction? Ok, just kidding, I guess. Kaufman was interviewed on The Colbert Report, only it seems the full episode has become rather unavailable at my destination for Colbert Nation procrastination...
I'm sorry I can't provide solutions to your predicaments...
You might want to try Explosions in the Sky, tough. Those guys have the audacity to aver that Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place and they prove it by means of their music. Unfortunately First Breath After Coma is not streamable. I can't speak from experience but rumor has it that within a decade or two hormonal processes will change to such a degree that you won't be able to feel the exact way you do now, so you might want to savor those emotions; they'll indubitably constitute an invaluable experience.
In Firefox there are several ways to open a link in a new tab for example Ctrl+Click, both mouse buttons, middle button and probably some more.
About private messaging: I'm not sure I understand why it would be such a wordoom, just thought it would be a nice feature... Thank Goddess I'm not the one who has to decide such things in the end. ^^
When I had my XGA screen I found the font to be much too big, for it's set in pixel an absolute value. Now I have a WXGA+ display, and the font would still be much to big if I didn't use Stylish. Simple zooming doesn't suffice as some parts would actually become too small. Furthermore I can reduce the space between the words on lists; looks much better that way.
<a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/83734/book/20334358">Link-blah-foobar</a> should look like this: Link-blah-foobar
And on a(n) (un)realated note: I love fiction for I eschew real-life. Ok, that was cynical, I don't mean it like that, just kidding; please imagine many sortas, kindas and ;-)s inserted into that sentence.
About a year ago you asked whether or not to equip Wordie with a private messaging system. Personally I'm in favor of such an enhancement and I'm unable to infer a nay from the replies you got back then, so is something of that sort coming up?
Wow, other people need drugs to think of such things as you construct here; and I guess I would need some to fathom them (antecedent at your discretion). It's always thrilling when I can nevertheless make sense of things here often remind me of thoughts I once had yet still can't quite remember. Perhaps it's all due to change.
As I don't know your timezone, sleep well, whenever.
A friend has pointed out a problem with this list. There is a song called 99 Bottles of Beer which could easily be exploited to add any number of prime numbers to this list as there is a version of this song which is based upon an ever increasing sequence of numbers. That could definitely spoil th fun...
Perhaps you should restrict this list to prime numbers in songs with static lyrics or something such as that.
Ok, here comes my version, only with reversed causality:
Watchan is a program designed to watch 4chan (and other imageboards but I think they aren't yet included in the configuration) and the next sentence is false. The previous sentence is true so I haven't said anything and thus didn't break rules 1 and 2, right? Hmm, I think I have to note this paradox down in formalized notation to understand what I've just asserted... ^^
Hey, thanks, it's the name I gave a program of mine, but I won't spoil the game by elaborating on the origin of the term. ^^
(Unless someone wants me to.)
It has the tendency to crash after some time for the threads are not properly synchronized, but currently I don't have the time and motivation to continue that project...
That "ciao" is "a statement acknowledging something or someone" does not necessarily mean that any statement acknowledging something or someone is a ciao. Only for bijective relations both such statements would be true, respectively, it would be a bijective relation if both statements were true.
I think that perhaps bneenan84 is distinguishing between an objective and a subjective reality, so that when (s)he says "this website" (s)he's acknowledging its existence within this subjective reality while its existence in the objective reality remains doubtful. "I believe this website does not exist" would then either mean that the objective existence of a subjectively perceived website is doubted or simply that (s)he would believe "such a website" to be inexistent within whichever reality, referring to some kind of perhaps unlikely notion.
Please excuse possible inaccuracies, I'm currently in a lecture.
The expression found me while I was watching The Big Bang Theory, but the writers intended it to be obscure:
"Stay low. Bear left. Now keep true."
"What?"
"It means 'go straight'."
"Can't you just say 'go straight'..."
"You don't say 'go straight' when you give bearings, you say 'keep true'."
Concerning "thesaurus": At first I couldn't decide between "to thesaurus" and "to thesaurus up", but in the end I concluded that the latter sounds to deliberately run-of-the-mill.
Empirical: Great, and even one of the words I didn't thesaurus.
I can't imagine how I survived the years before I knew "empirical" resp. "empirisch". ^^
Under "true", there are a few promising entries in a couple of dictionaries I just checked (I have to connect to a VPN to access the OED):
"Determined with reference to the earth's axis, not the magnetic poles: true north." -- Heritage
"i. Of bearings: measured relative to true North." -- OED
And Heritage also avers that "true" and "tree" are related, and with the exception of the crooked and the gnarled ones, those are quite straight as well. ;-)
I'm not sure I know what you mean by idyllic hope but it sounds like something that would soon succumb to subfusc and probably ungrounded worries and anxieties accompanied by selectively over-interpreted empirical data. At least it's not always that way, so I always have to consoling knowledge that it is mainly just my subconscious filtering my perception in a somewhat unpropitious (inauspicious, unfavorable) way...
I hope you mean Schiller. Of course I'm not to doubt that it is the zenith of aptness.
I was only wondering about my "bid ... welcome" sentence. I never used that before for I just discovered that bid bit on dict.cc.
On a different note, I still regard my self as quite young, yet I worry that with time my hopes and dreams will crumble down to a desperate heap of resignation. The last time a few days ago, while being absent-minded during a lecture...
I'm honoured by your considerateness, quoting such a significant poet from my native country and I'm thus trying to convey my gratitude by employing your British orthography. ;-)
It seems you are on Wordie for about a week now, so let me bid you slightly delayed welcome.
I heard that "keep true" means as much as "go straight" when giving directions. Can anyone confirm that or back it up with a dictionary entry or something? Thanks.
I've had several discussions with friends about "^^". The point at issue is whether or not it ought to be separated from the text by a whitespace. Here some examples:
Intuitively I used the space at first, but then I observed many other people omitting it and asked them which usage they deem correct. Until recently the outcome of my informal survey remained largely to the disfavor of the whitespace, but now I notice an increasing number of instances of deliberate use of the separating space.
Smilies are usually separated from the text, while punctuation marks are not. Personally I'm inclined to assign "^^" to the category of smilies, hence my initial use of whitespaces, but lacking solid arguments for my position I yielded to the seeming majority who omitted them.
Now I don't know anymore what to do or believe, please help!
They usually have a decent virus and spyware collection I guess. Unless they run Linux. But to configure this socks proxy you only need the browser and the OpenSSH client.
Googling for "brennah kelsey taylor bonnie trevor lauren charlie" you get links to the Atholton High School. Or did they already mention the name of their school?
About the censoring at school: Simply run a ssh-server at home and then, when you are at school, just configure your browser to use it as a socks proxy. Not only will the censoring be ineffective, your connection will even be encrypted. In case you have a dynamic IP, simply use dyndns.com. That's how we did it back then in the good old days. Good luck.
Now that the election is nearly over, could you also optimize the css in a way that it looks decent on different resolutions? On xga the font is huge hence I've changed quite a lot with stylish. Thanks!
Well, I know Colbert Report, yet I've no clue for what kind of German exam this would be useful. Anyway, when you know the other one really good, like a good friend or something, or when he/she is a child, you would say "Wieso hasst du Freiheit?" or "Warum hasst du Freiheit?", when you are taking to someone in any more formal context, the "du" is to be replaced by "Sie".
Perhaps someone can add the IPA pronunciation, I'm not yet fit in writing IPA.
Hi, to screen my Grandiloquent Dictionary list for misspellings I wrote a script that searches each word's page for "misspell". When running the word through OED I had to decide whether or not I wanted to count these alternative spellings as misspelling. I decided in favor of that approach for in the OED page of these words, they are indicated thus: "query_type=misspelling". So I don't necessarily see misspelling and variant spelling as contradictory. What do you think?
"It the present perfect always implies a strong connexion with the present and is chiefly used in conversations, letters, newspapers, and wireless reports." -- Thomson & Martinet, A Practical English Grammar (fifth impression, 1972)
"Gunnie had been loyal to me and to Urth, not to her comrades; and perhaps we are unable to advance some paragon of loyalty to an apothegm only because loyalty (in the final analysis) is choice." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
I put html comment signs around the list name. It's just a temporary collection no one should be irritated by scrolling my lists. Oh, right, we need private lists. :-)
(And perhaps there should be a bit tighter restrictions for using html.)
I guess (ought I put some word here?) meeting them personally they'd turn out completely nice dudes (or she-dudes). Oh well, this world is quite confusing.^^
I use to enjoy reading through all those wonderful wikipedia articles about mental disorders. It's always soothing to know there are names for my problems. ;-)
Seconded. Whedon for president (or Bundeskanzler)!
But are dialogs usually that witty and snappy in Californian High School libraries and Magick Shops? Scares me... Our colder weather must render us totally dull around here then.
Yes, thanks, I like it, too, but as long as I'm not suddenly turned into a woman, I don't actually need the term homosexual that frequently. Besides, also in informal German speech it would sound spicy I think.^^
I wonder, when a native speaker hears the word queer in whatever context, is the first association homosexual or is the order really more like the one on dictionary.com (with homosexual in fifth place)?
@plethora & chained_bear: Yes, I totally agree. I really like German, yet there are various aspects that cause me to love English. Most of them are certainly utterly unconscious, a few others I think I have identified: In English there are so many words. The OED contains about 600,000 words, while the Duden holds about 130,000 to 145,000 words including common examples of those German compound nouns, by the help of which you can theoretically build infinitely many "correct" words. Of course there are also quite a lot foreign words, but while the wikipedia article on the English language says "the excessive use of Latinate words is considered at times to be either pretentious or an attempt to obfuscate an issue." in German it suffices to use just one of those foreign words and 80% of the population will be utterly discombobulated, will think you an arrogant pretentious spado (nothing against spados, it's a word Gene Wolfe used so I had to recycle it) and henceforth eschew you. With the remaining 20% it's real fun. Sometimes I could talk German with a friend of mine and in the course of this we used so many foreign and old words that save for us no one around us understood what we were talking about. In English even the most synonymous synonyms, of which there is such a variety, have each distinctly different connotations. I imagine, with what precision I could limn my thoughts once I acquired the necessary expertise. Also I yearn to read (and understand to some degree^^) works by Shakespeare and Joyce. Much similarly there is this fluency: I've read German texts by Novalis, which are gorgeous and convey a sense of flow that is marvelous, but almost anything else I've read and I'm reading sounds rather harsh and angular... In English it's but onerous for me to come about some text whose fluency, accuracy and elegance is such that—in a very positive sense—it gave me the creeps (looking for a better depiction).
Also there seems to be a much greater potential for puns in English than in German (very important point for me). And last but not, well, last of course it is much easier to learn more. In German I have to really strain all my serendipity to come across a new word that is not too specific as to be used in some situation and anyway, almost no one will understand me (ok, that's not the point). In English on the contrary I usually just have to visit a random website to find a few useful words I didn't know. That's much more convenient. Oh, and the dubbers always have so discongruous voices and the lips move all differently. And English slang tends to sound prettier I think.^^
Hmpf, now I feel bad for all the things I haven't listed...
Edit: Oh, and wikipedia says: "(...) there is no Academy to define officially accepted words and spellings." which in my view preserves a sense of purity. While within axiomatic systems or quasi-axiomatic ones there is this mathematical and logical purity which is maximized by beautiful precise unambiguous univocal definite definitions, language being a so diametrically opposite and complementary concept seems only to be harmed by such endeavors...
About the sorting: Whenever the list owner selects one sort of sort, it could be saved as the default sort of the list—for him and for everyone else.
Furthermore: Isn't there a way to achieve this "Move" and "Delete" with Ajax, so the page needn't be reloaded? When I go through my lists to move or delete specific words, I'm always quite lost when the page reloads and I have no clue where I was.
"As though an amschaspand had touched them with his radiant wand, the fog swirled and parted to let a beam of green moonlight fall." -- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
"(...) and the great families—then as now—preferred to inter their long-limbed dead in vaults on their own estates. But the armigers and optimates of the city favored the highest slopes, near the Citadel wall;" -- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
In Gene Wolfe's New Sun novels: An animal with prominent eyes that eats humans inheriting (parts of) their personalities and can then speak with their voices.
"Many abuattes roamed the gardens of the House Absolute, and because the lower servants (ditchers, porters, and the like) occasionally trapped them for the pot, they were wary of men. I often watched and envied them as they ran up some trunk without falling—and, indeed, seemingly without knowledge of the aching hunger of Urth at all." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
"I would have laughed at those windows, if I had not been laughing at myself already so that I would not weep. These Hierogrammates who ruled the universe and what lay beyond had not merely mistaken another for me, but now sought to remind me, who could forget nothing, of the scenes of my life; and did so (so it seemed to me) less skillfully than my own memories could have. For though every detail was present, there was something subtly mistaken about each view." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
"Not the monkeys, since the monkeys are there still. Perhaps something like the zoanthropes, though smaller. The zoanthropes always make for the mountains, I've noticed, and they climb trees in the high jungle there." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
"Or maybe a sailor will fight with an officer and get written up for punishment. Then he'll go off and join the jibers. We call them that because it's what you say a boat does when she makes a turn you don't want—she jibes." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
The space ship is so vast and ancient that various completely independent cultures have formed, plus sub-cultures, in this case the utterly undergroundy jibers.
“He seated himself on the floor at my feet, not cross-legged (as I would have sat in his place) but squatting in a way that reminded me at first of a dog, then of an atrox or some other great cat.”
"(...) and I had reached the moment when Father Inire and I had embraced, and I had mounted the pont to the ship of the Hierodules, which was to take me to this ship, the ship of the Hierogrammate, the ship of Tzadkiel, though I did not know it." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
"The mace head was a gear wheel; it struck him where the shoulder joins the neck, with every ounce of strength I possessed behind it.
I might as effectively have clubbed an arsinoither. Still conscious and still strong, he struck me as that animal strikes a dire-wolf. The mace flew from my hands, and his weight crushed the breath from my body." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
(Don't worry; despite everything that passage is going to be all happy endingy.)
"Looking past my guide, I saw something leap into view, hurl a spinning, many-pointed knife, and spring at us with the heavy-shouldered bounds of a thylacosmil." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
“A bolt of flame from some contus or war spear roared like a furnace, splashing blue fire across the bulkhead in back of me, …” —Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
“When Jonas and I rode to the House Absolute, we were attacked by Hethor’s notules, mirror-fetched creatures that fly like so many scraps of scorched parchment up a chimney, but for all their insubstantiality can kill.”
"A flier like a great locust thrummed overhead; I watched it until it was out of sight, feeling the ghost of the strange wind blown from the pentadactyls that had attacked our cavalry at Orithyia." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
"(...) and I was able for the first time to see the full face of their prisoner too. (...) I knew my own reflected my fear, and felt much as I had when the Ascian pentadactyls had whirled over Guasacht's schiavoni." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
"Most had now folded their hearts in the bowers of their petals, and only a pale moonvine blossomed, though there was no moon." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
"But yes, imagine that we desire to play shah mat upon a board whose squares are rafts on that sea. We move, yet even as we move the rafts stir and slip into some new combination; and to move, we must paddle from one raft to the next, which takes so long." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
"He had been an aquastor, like those who had fought for me in Yesod, created from my mind; thus he had believed, as I had, that the undine had saved me because I would be a torturer and an Autarch." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
“I had been brutal enough with the khaibit Thecla of the House Azure, then as mild and clumsy as any untouched boy with the real Thecla in her cell; …”
"Os was already far behind us, and would have been out of sight had not the atmosphere been as clear as hyalite." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
“The autochthons say that their cattle can speak but do not, knowing that to speak is to call up demons, all our words being only curses in the tongue of the empyrean.”
"The supplies he was giving us were in long sarcins of about the bigness of a demicannon's barrel lashed to the base of the bonaventure." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
"For a time the apostis glowed like a forge; gradually it dimmed and went out, and our ship resumed a more conventional position, (...)" -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
I would have liked to answer on your individual profile pages, but that would have been bound to ensue redundancy.
Most of these 3333+ words stem from the Grandiloquent Dictionary and weren't copied by hand. There is also a pretty little collection of quick-and-dirty python scripts I wrote, which are assisting me. ^^
Sleeping indeed becomes an issue btw. Since you pay for Wordie PRO per year and not per page traffic, it would be utter squander.
“You are the New Sun. You will be returned to your Urth, and the White Fountain will go with you. The death agonies of the world you know will be offered to the Increate. And they will be indescribable—continents will founder, as has been said. Much that is beautiful will perish, and with it most of your race; but your home will be reborn.”
In The Urth of the New Sun (Gene Wolfe), apports are all kinds of beings who are somehow unintentionally caught in the giant sails of spaceships floating through time and space.
Wow, thanks a lot, to everyone hunting down those errors.
About the description: I'm on it.
Edit:
I'm currently running all 2700 Words through aspell, dict.cc, dictionary.com, wordnet, ninjawords and thefreedictionary.com; this will take about an hour. About one third to one fourth of them fail this test so far.
Oh, thanks for notifying me; perhaps I can find a way to locate some of those misspellings. I wonder if I should change the list name once the words are different from those in the dictionary...
And I use to read wikipedia to acquaint myself the plot of anything before watching it as I sort of dislike that much suspense and tension. Not that I haven't had my timid emotional outbursts and demure paroxysms.^^
Trying to aptly limn emotional conditions is like trying to hit a puppy by throwing a live bee at it, you know?
Being German I write much less English than most of you I guess, so only a few months ago, spell-checking a readme and a changelog file for an OpenSource tool I wrote, I also had the same "separate" epiphany. Had to correct it in almost every file... ^^
I could use comprehensive statistics: For example the total time I'm online on wordie, how often each list was accessed, how many completely new terms I've contributed (and which), etc.
But most of all I need those customizable links in each list entry.
I've now activated "autohinter" and stuff, the font face looks ok now. My terminal looks quite different now, perhaps I'll switch back, don't know yet.
Concerning the size I've decided to use only 3 to 4 different sizes, instead of 9 viz. "small", "medium" and "xx-large" plus "300%" for h1.
My current approach is to delete everything from the all.css except for the part concerning fonts. That way I can perhaps introduce relative sizes and can also change the font face as that looks funny here.
Got a singular sense of readability the author of this all.css file.^^
Thanks! I've tried Stylish a few days ago, but later the solution with No Squint seemed more apt then. I guess I'm going to revise this verdict. Perhaps I'll finally register an OpenID to publish it, if the sheet should meet my expectations.
"Just underground lies the examination room; beneath it, and thus outside the tower proper (for the examination room was the propulsion chamber of the original structure) stretches the labyrinth of the oubliette." -- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
"… that by the time we reached the gate of the necropolis, the statue of Night atop the khan on the opposite bank was a minute scratch of black against the sun’s field of flame, …"
I'm also particularly fond of dual-level commenting structures as seen for example on youtube, for first-level comments usually address a broader audience, while with replies to comments there is often only a specific recipient, who could thus be easily informed once such interest in his stated opinion has been taken. Yet the necessity of restricting the structural depth of such conversation might be viewed as partially depriving the concept of its intrinsic theoretical elegance and purity... Whatever. Have fun.
Hi, a handy feature would be to have customizable links to arbitrary sites after each word in lists and on the individual word pages that include a placeholder for the specific word. Much like the buttons up there, but customizable. For example when scrolling through lists I often don't know what a word means, and for me, being German, the simplest solution is to look it up in dict.cc. It would be very convenient if there was a link to "http://www.dict.cc/?s=$w" ($w being a placeholder) which opens dict.cc in a new tab.
Another feature I miss is some way of decreasing the font size. Many pages provide a way to customize the main font size, for with different screen resolutions and different diopter different sizes seem appropriate. Atm I'm using the firefox addon "No Squint" to scale the page to 80%, yet as everything (optionally except pictures) is scaled, the text which is small anyway becomes a bit too small.
Also I'm missing links/buttons for wiktionary.org lookups, and in case you have some way of obtaining it, the IPA pronunciation of words could prove valuable as well. So far I'm always looking it up on dictionary.com.
"Allotheism - defined as the worship of strange gods - is based upon the sole principle continuously chaperoning mankind's amelioration: To ambitiously forgo the habitual liberate humanity's potentiality! Still for this artifice of evolution to prosper it is but essential to disunite with any biased animosity against heterodoxy and even iconoclasm lest one be entangled in as forlorn as fatuous devotion. Hence convert."
Comments by telofy
Show previous 200 comments...
Telofy commented on the word wordnik
Seconded.
And my newly created list Shiny German words throws an error. Right after creation I was able to add one word, but then it wouldn’t load anymore.
November 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnik
Too bad edit doesn’t work yet...
In the profile page redirection a slash (virgule :-) seems to be missing.
November 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnik
Redefining Chronology!
Wouldn’t it be useful to have the Wordie URLs link directly to useful pages like Zeitgeist and the comments pages?
And I hope—do hope—Unicode finally works! *hɵʊp̚*
And the IPA pronunciations of words containing the “cut” phoneme (/ʌ/) is still broken.
Can I edit? *test*
November 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the user nell_nelson
Thanks and thanks for your contributions. :-)
November 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the list comparative-utility
The Blackadder classic “as useful as a barber's shop on the steps of a guillotine�? is missing.
November 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the list phrases-to-sort-of-qualify-statements-as-it-were
Inspired by my Literary Studies professor when he used “as it were�? a few times during a lecture, and this article I found upon my subsequent googling for “as it were�?.
November 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
Hehe, great movie. :-)
November 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
I can’t believe I haven’t added antepenultimate yet! Do you want to? Regarding quodlibetarian I gave my preference the spelling without the “r”—it seems to be more “common”. ^^
(And do feel free to add all those names.)
November 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the word fireplace fender bender
And the difference between banks and shoes...?
(OK, sorry, stupid cliché.)
November 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the word nicketypickety
Thanks! Only, I have a widescreen display. Perhaps it fits once I posted this...
Edit: Nope, not yet.
November 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the word nicketypickety
... and my list ➚ (more or less ;-))
November 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the list sweet-tooth-fairy
I think “sweet tooth fairy” has become a perfect sweet tooth fairy by now, don’t you agree?
(I’m wondering when exactly that happened...)
November 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ∴
Wikipedia: therefore sign
November 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the word pardon, your shibboleth is showing!
Great, a very useful phrase.
November 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the user chained_bear
Has (s)he already a Wordie account? Anyway, another bunch of felicitations!
November 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
Addendum: The problem I’ve described there seems to be of general nature, nut and cut for example sound strangely unstressed, too.
November 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word penultimate
What happened to my dear Unicode? :-o
November 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word penultimate
/p??n?lt?m?t/ looks like an error. A stressed schwa?
Random House says /p??n?lt?m?t/ which not only looks more reasonable but also agrees with my printed version of the Heritage Dictionary (including the /?/s and schwas in the unstressed syllables).
November 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
Wordnik seems to be suffering from some Unicode related ailment:
Wordnik: Penultimate
(The “?�? concluding the second sentence is actually an interrobang.)
November 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word text
Wow, this article is so intriguing and hilarious, if I wanted to cite it here I’d end up copying it whole:
Pen Ultimate / Keep it short, twit
(Funny, not only if you’re pin–pen merged.)
November 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word coarticulation
See: Multiple Articulation and Coarticulation
November 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word irrigate
“When we landed here, it seemed natural to us to direct our lander to the shore of our bay, since we thought the water we saw was potable and might be used for irrigation.” – Gene Wolfe, On Blue’s Waters
November 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word irregardless
Soon this word will just unvanish away.
See also: irrigate
November 3, 2009
Telofy commented on the word aluminum
See also: Cyclops.
November 2, 2009
Telofy commented on the word spellbind
The two German words “binden�? (“to bind�?) and “Spelunke�? come to mind (the latter with some effort). It’s a strange dated word for a small very filthy pub or dive, similar to a “Kaschemme�? only that this word is even more obscure in my view (I can’t remember ever having heard it before) and the thing it denotes even more filthy.
And then there is of course “Speläologie�? == “Speleology�?.
November 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word spellbind
Ain’t.
October 31, 2009
Telofy commented on the word esteem
Perhaps someone should make a list only for perfect gramograms—plus a little tolerance for vowel reduction.
October 31, 2009
Telofy commented on the word earcatcher
Hardly know her. She’s in one of the courses I take at the university and we were discussing some radio program.
October 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word earcatcher
Credit for this ad-hoc coinage goes to Tina.
October 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the list words-with-four-consecutive-vowels
I hope those French names are not too cheaty.
A thanks goes to Wordlist. :-)
By the way, I noticed that onomatopoeiaing is rather scarce in the Firefly comics.
October 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0
I gathered the Poe quote was sufficient warning. ;-)
October 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0
I will now play the Oedipus to the 128 bit key enigma.
October 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word it sucks to be me
Sounds like someone is afraid of being possessed.
October 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word to tell me the guy whom he subletted his room to is not so nice as him
I like the “not so ... as�? construction.
October 26, 2009
Telofy commented on the word names
I once had a teacher who recommended pronouncing proper names the way they are pronounced by the people they denote, so “Jon Stewart�? is /ˈdʒɑn ˈstuɚt/ but “Patrick Stewart�? is /ˈpætrɪk ˈstju�?ət/. I’ve since grown accustomed to pronouncing “Oxford�? the British way, but there are lots of traps and pitfalls: How am I to pronounce “Dictionary�? in “Oxford English Dictionary�? (after all it’s capitalized) and how “Oxford�? in “New Oxford American Dictionary�?? It’s all very discombobulating.
Is there some guiding rule, some accepted standard, some elegant dichotomy?
Thanks in advance.
October 26, 2009
Telofy commented on the word rfl
I think there should be lists on various topics (perhaps not “favorites�? as that tends to make hard decisions even harder) with an artificial word maximum, so that if you want to add for example an eleventh word to a 10-words-max. list, you first have to delete another.
October 26, 2009
Telofy commented on the word crwth
/kɹuθ/
October 26, 2009
Telofy commented on the list concepts-and-words-i-m-apparently-the-only-one-interested-in-on-wordie
See also my Underwordied list. I have no strict policy on which lexemes to list and which not, but words that are already listed by three different people are unlikely to make it in.
October 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word vittle
Yep, and I think, for fairness’ sake, vittle should be pronounced /ˈvɪktʃuəl/.
October 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word facile
I just found this word, twice underlined, on something that looks like an old physics homework with excursions into seemingly inscrutable calculations. Mysterious.
October 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word paronomasia
Sorry, this paronomasia is puny.
(By the way, why is the plural paronomasias, not paronomasiae?)
October 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word pick
Is that perhaps an instance of catachresis? (As described here.)
October 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word depitation
A probably madeupical word by 208.59.171.15 on Wikipedia: stylistic device (2008-09-24):
“Depitation is the over-use of extravagant or highfalutin words so as to appear more intelligent.
Example: The falluably sic irrevocable cat met its intrinsic match in the oppositional form of a dog.”
– (2009-10-24)
October 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word disadvantageous
Definitely!
And you might enjoy reading The Chaos for inspiration.
October 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word disadvantageous
/dɪsædvənˈteɪdʒəs/
Are there native speakers who pronounce this /dɪsəd'væntədʒəs/?
(That’d be some consolation...)
October 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wobe
Me too! The last time I read it was only about a week ago.
Edit: But I think it was a verb.
October 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wobe
This word appeared in a dream tonight; it had something to do with waves.
October 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word juxtaposition
Yay, I finally had opportunity to use it. Studying English is just marvelous.
October 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the list x-s-y-where-x-is-somebody-s-name
McKean’s Law, add it quickly before someone notices how long we’ve been remiss in listing it. ;-)
October 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word mckean’s law
McKean’s Law: “Any correction of the speech or writing of others will contain at least one grammatical, spelling, or typographical error.”
Just for illustration: Today I’ve found that McKean’s Law extends—albeit in a slightly changed manner—even to nonverbal conversations.
Our instructor in Literary Studies talked about something unrelated to “a sworn statement by an authorized official filed in court briefly describing the nature of each charge against a suspect, tantamount to an indictment but without the involvement of a grand jury” (Wiktionary: Information) when he slipped (rarity!) saying “... informations ...”.
I was like *facetiously cringe* and I saw across the room a girl was like *facetiously cringe* than we were like *eye contact* and she was like *wink* and I was like *wink*. Then I was like *oh noez*: McKean’s Law.
Five minutes later I was second in the line of students who needed to talk to our instructor. The one before me had the problem that his name wasn’t on the attendant list when the names were read out earlier. When it was my turn I said “I wasn’t on your list either”, he asked “Sorry?” and I repeated my sentence stumbling over every word.
■
October 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word adsense
I have to deactivate both AdBlock and NoScript just so I can click on an ad here once in a while. ^^
October 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the word oliver
Is that “to plos�? at about 1:20 here?
October 21, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnik
I would also like the site to use typographic quotation marks and apostrophes, oh, and dashes (m&n) and all that fancy stuff. :-)
October 18, 2009
Telofy commented on the word chillax
Seen on Soup.
October 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnik
Rad indeed!
Of course I still lack feel for the new design, but it looks pretty neat. Can I somehow rearrange the modules on the word pages? I’ll go exploring it in the afternoon. :-D
Edit: Isn’t my user name supposed to be displayed near the upper right corner? My feeling tells me it should.
Edit no. 2:
Sorry, I logged out and in again: now it’s there.
October 16, 2009
Telofy commented on the word de facto
I just heard someone say “de facto�? in air quotes. That’s discombobulating.
Edit: Again!
October 16, 2009
Telofy commented on the word teh
Important question in regard to teh alsome: does /tə/ change into /ti/ before vowels?
October 16, 2009
Telofy commented on the word snuff
“When asked the whereabouts of the campus bookstore, a university student who replied ‘There’s a great show about California condors on Channel 4 tonight’ would certainly cause raised eyebrows, though you couldn’t point to ungrammatical English as the culprit. The student’s grammatical competence would appear to be fine, but his or her communicative competence would seem not up to snuff.�? – Language: Its Structure and Use by Edward Finegan
October 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ugfuzzies
“I hate ugfuzzies, you know, that sticky lint that won’t brush off of your computer monitor.”
—Wordnik FAQ
October 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word exodus
Unless it’s employed to describe the Exodus From The Long Sun whorl through space toward either of two planets called Green and Blue.
October 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word hoverkraf saya penuh belut
“Eels also reach a phenomenal age. One from Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson province was more than 100 years old and 1.2 metre long. When you consider that beast was already cruising around the lake in the nineteenth century, at one time swimming about under the light of Halley’s Comet, and already quite a large animal when World War 1 broke out, it is impossible not to feel some respect for such a creature, or at least hold it in awe. Think about this: a great many of the eels caught are considerably older than the people that catch them.�? – Source
October 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word squid-zombies
Suddenly squid-zombies, thousands of them!
October 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word vegetarian neo-tropical jumping spider
Since I read (at some point in my childhood) that despite their only six eyes the jumping spiders in our garden have such acute vision, I have always felt somewhat self-conscious around them...
October 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the list lost-for-word
Thank you all, that helps.
October 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the list lost-for-word
Hi and help! I need a word to describe the feeling you have when someone else is disappointed in you.
Thanks a bunch!
October 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word whippersnapper
“ ‘Thou wretch!—thou vixen!—thou shrew!’ said I to my wife on the morning after our wedding; ‘thou witch!—thou hag!—thou whippersnapper—thou sink of iniquity!—thou fiery-faced quintessence of all that is abominable!—thou—thou—’ here standing upon tiptoe, seizing her by the throat, and placing my mouth close to her ear, I was preparing to launch forth a new and more decided epithet of opprobrium, which should not fail, if ejaculated, to convince her of her insignificance, when to my extreme horror and astonishment I discovered that I had lost my breath.”
—Loss of Breath by Edgar Allan Poe
October 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word north american english dialects
Wikipedia: Midland American English
October 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word uo�?ƃpn�?ɹɟu�?p�?ɥɔs
Couldn’t bring myself to insert spaces. :-)
October 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the user gangerh
Hey, thanks. I’m honored. :-D
October 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word north american english dialects
Hehe, next time I’ll choose a less conotationally equivocal term.
I made a printout of that map there to carry around with me, just in case. And I also got my hands on the CD from the Atlas of North American English which he cites on that page. It lay dormant in one of the university’s libraries.
Perfectly marvelous as well!
October 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word captch
A guess at a captcha: “Correct captch (try 2)”
—Plowshare (exact source)
October 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word north american english dialects
Just wanted to share this awesome page with you guys.
October 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word echolocution
Rebuttal of an argument by repeating it in a mocking voice?
(Heard here.)
October 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the word features
I feel a couple Heaven forbid! getting ready to meet this suggestion, but what about little "Thanks" buttons like in many forum softwares for comments and lists?
October 3, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wtf
WTF? That’s free viral publicity!
October 2, 2009
Telofy commented on the word [fish]
Even more cruel if it’s plural. I can’t begin to imagine how these ♓ must feel...
October 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word inexist
This word no longer inexists.
Remember when it was still autologic?
Haha, g’ol’ times.
October 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word default
I’m looking for another word for the meaning “an option that is selected automatically unless an alternative is specified�?, one that is less ambiguous.
(Is default commonly used in that meaning or is my proximity to computer science clouding my judgment?)
And then I have a question concerning the pronunciation: The dictionary only lists /dɪˈfɔlt/ but I frequently hear (American) native speakers say /ˈdifɔlt/. Have you made similar observations?
Thanks!
October 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word subjunctive case
On “as if�? rolig furnished me with some very insightful insights into the use of the subjunctive mood.
The subjunctive mood is one more thing I learned primarily thanks to The Book of the New Sun two years ago. :-)
September 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ameliorate
Lovely word! I wrote a little something about it here.
And this is the list of all words/phrases posted during that semester (by all participants).
September 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word autohint
Note to self and whomever is interested. This is all it takes to make Wordie’s typeface look cool in X:
telofy@reverie:/etc/fonts/conf.d$ sudo ln -s /etc/fonts/conf.avail/10-autohint.conf 10-autohint.conf
September 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word encyst
“Nevertheless all three of these cards appeared completely genuine, sharp-edged rectangles two thumbs by three, their complex labyrinths of gold encysted in some remarkable substance that was almost indestructible, yet nearly invisible.” (“Cards” are the currency in the Whorl.)
—The Book of the Long Sun, Gene Wolfe
September 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word marijuana butter
Yep, it’s pretty liposoluble I’ve read.
September 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
Couldn’t think of has. If it’s awkward, that’s bearable, but if it’s wrong I’ll invoke my License to Err. ;-)
Source
September 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
As I see it, the current way of formatting bears two major problems: XSS/defacing and the impossibility of (Strict) standard compliance. A more secure solution may be using a wiki-like syntax for formatting (''foobar'' for italics, and so on), images (e.g. http://blah.org/path/name.png|alignment etc.|alt text'>Image:http://blah.org/path/name.png|alignment etc.|alt text) and something special for links (List:Fnord Words|Consult this list, Wordnik:foobar, Tag:woty09, foobar/Word:foobar for Wordie words etc.). Wikisyntax is blah, but I don’t see why that extra pair of brackets would be necessary here...
Despite the risks I do like the freedom of Some html is allowed. ^^
September 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word oogy
“Well, I think you know how I feel about rules... Or you might not: I feel oogy about them.�? – Topher Brink in Dollhouse
September 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word schwa
Schwa is the stomach punch sound. Heard here.
(And she uses willow as an example word. :-))
September 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word quip
Quippy is cute, too.
September 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the user pterodactyl
Yes, now you are under the protection of the License to Err. And that’s an excellent idea by the way; I shall do the same.
September 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word dwell
According to OED:
dwale, dwalm/dwam, dwang, dwarf, dway-berry, dweeb, dwele, dwell, dwelth, dweomercræft, dwere, (dwerg), dwild, dwile, dwindle, dwine (plus related terms)
September 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the user pterodactyl
Another content customer, what an honor. :-)
Yet strictly speaking you’re not yet covered by the License to Err since as of now—unless it’s a cache issue—you haven’t added it to any lists.
But that reminds me of an emendation I was planning to apply—an important emendation, at least for as long as we still have Time separating past and future. Thanks.
September 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
Mollusque, that would be great. I believe last.fm allows sending custom queries to the server and I think they prevent DoSing by allowing only one query per second.
September 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word parboiled
I like my rice rather hard. I cook it only until it’s reasonably soft—or at least what I call reasonably soft—then pour it through a sieve to get rid of the hot water and quickly refresh it with cold water. Then I put the rice back into the pot and on the (switched off but still hot) cooking plate to get it dry and keep it warm while making sure it doesn’t scorch.
Tastes yummy that way. :-)
September 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word trove
I'm sure these corpora abound with examples.
September 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word license to err
Have you ever been worried you might make a mistake?
Have you ever stayed in bed for days,
afraid you might do something wrong if you opened your eyes?
Then the License to Err is just the thing for you!
License to Err, the huge Wordie PRO success, now available to the public!
Just add it to one of your lists and you’ll officially be allowed to blunder.
But don’t take my word for it; trust our countless satisfied customers:
“The License to Err has changed my life! When I was a child I was scolded for mispronouncing ‘epitome’—it was so embarrassing. Now, whenever similar things happen to me, I just tell them to check my Wordie profile, that I have the License to Err. I feel totally free now; it’s absolutely amazing! (And that’s no hyperbole.)” – Richard B., IL
“Once I flee out into the desert for fear of making mistakes. For the same reason I was just about to lose confidence in my respiratory system when a little critter with big ears hopped by, recognized my affliction and promptly produced a License to Err from his pouch. I was saved!” – Michael O., SA
“For too long I have been treading gingerly through life, eschewing any risk for fear that I might somehow err. Well, no longer. Thanks to telofy and Wordie PRO!, I now have License to Err. That’s right, boys and girls – if I screw up now, no big deal! I just laugh about it and get on with my life. And I gotta say, its a wonderful feeling. :-)” – Ptero D., NY
“For a while I pretended I couldn’t speak due to a recent removal of vocal cord nodules, but after a few years my family began to suspect that something else entirely might be my problem. I was subsequently diagnosed with atelophobia and prescribed a License to Err. I promptly got better.” – Jennifer F., TN
“I know what your thinking!” – Henry C., CA
So what are you waiting for? Add the License to Err now; it’s completely free!
And if you add the License to Err within the next several decades you’ll receive all grammar errors in this post free of charge!
So add the License to Err now!
(Now please comment so the rest of the world has an opportunity to obtain the License to Err.)
September 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
Yay, great news! :-D
I'll quickly change my email address.
Prolagus:
What about something equivalent to a blockquote/blockquote BBCode tag that highlights quotations in some pretty way? (Perhaps with some built-in method of handling the source?)
September 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
I take it you're looking for synonyms?
Colloquy, confabulation—mmmh! While “confabulation�? sounds kinda funny I think, “discourse�? could perhaps serve as a more serious alternative.
And what about marking citations in some way instead of splitting comments into citations and foobar?
And while I'm at it, is Wordie going to be redesigned? I don't mean—in this case—any changes affecting the structure or appearance of the site, but perhaps changing the (base) font-size values in the css to pt, sweeping out some of the redundancy, assigning IDs and class names to elements to set their properties in the style sheet, etc.?
(I've always been using Wordie with the Stylish add-on to make it look the way I prefer. ;-))
September 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word chicken is boring
Chicken is huge fun.
September 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word schwa
Yes, schwa is teh alsome. I also like its rhotic brother ɚ as is apparent from r-coloring.
And /ə/ (as a phoneme) has so many pleasant allophones in English. Sometimes I hear the unstressed “a�? in such words as askance, about or aura pronounced with a somewhat a-ish inclination (�? I'd say). In Blackadder I even once heard the schwa in “Blackadder�? pronounced that way—prior to that I thought that was just a German accent thing. The same is true for other unstressed vowels that are reduced to a schwa. See Wikipedia: Vowel reduction in English or of course the main article about vowel reduction.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the schwa t-shirts.
(A schwa might not be the most brilliant tune as phones go, but never judge a sound by its sound alone!)
September 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word disappearing lists
I'm sure John will restore both lists presently, but just in case, these are the cached versions of “Units of Language�?—I don't know what the other list was. Adding words automatically is reasonably easy using iMacros.
September 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordie
Hmm. I know I’m six months late, but “Wordie�? and “worthy�? are a minimal pair.
And I think it’s fun to listen to someone who uses remarkably apt words.
September 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word 403 forbidden finger
:-D
September 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word the rock
Thank you, too kind.
It’s like a tonic to my soul which henceforth no server, giving me the 403 Forbidden finger, shall be able to pierce.
September 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word the rock
Thx. But those errors discombobulate me.
Edit: Judging from the HTTP header it's probably that website that doesn't like me; via a proxy I can access it.
September 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word cranberry lifecycle
☕
September 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word the rock
Hmm, I get a 403 Forbidden and a 404 Not Found...
September 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word fourscore
Seen on xkcd.
There must be a list for this dainty disyllable (and its brothers and sisters) so I can take it off “Underwordied�?.
September 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word deathwish
cf. Thanatos
September 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the user sionnach
Wow, that’s teh alsome, you’re Over 9000! ;-)
September 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the word faszinierlich
The German word “faszinierend�? (“fascinating�? or “intriguing�?) with a different suffix to make it sound cute.
Any idea how “intriguing�? could be resuffixed to make it sound like a little fluffy bunny?
September 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the word dackelblick
“Blick�? is more like “look�? here, in the sense of (see also:) facial expression.
I usually use *puppy eyes* in English.
September 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the word happenstance
“You can expect to see this word about twice a year.�? – Wordnik
Wow, I had thought it was fairly common until I noticed that it was even missing from one of my dictionaries. But it's so useful.
September 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the word synthesis
Often I get the feeling that I can discern three “levels�? of creativity underlying for example philosophies, methodologies or novels. Surely that is an oversimplification, but then again I know of no way of grasping anything on any level that doesn’t rely on some degree of simplification, at least on the lowest known level. Also, objectively, it feels wrong to arrange them hierarchically, yet I’ve observed that with each step upward on this imagined ladder, the works become increasingly enjoyable to me.
I’ve come across several instances where two seemingly contradictory concepts had been combined in such a way that neither of them had lost any of its appealing aspects but that they suddenly complemented each other like two at first repellent magnets that just had to be turned a little and now firmly stick together. I chose to call this a synthesis of the two concepts and to put it at the top of my imagined hierarchy.
Then there is what I like to call the compromise, where the contradiction had been mollified by way of scraping off all the—often appealing—aspects that clash. The result being some indistinct and inconspicuous gray mass or soft background noise.
And then, of course, there is the possibility to just lump the two concepts together and ignore the contradiction and the resulting inconsistencies.
What I’m asking is not really whether there is something missing from this system—surely there is, after all it is designed to oversimplify things—but what is actually wrong with it. (But mostly, I just wanted to tidy up and test-drive this train of thought.)
September 21, 2009
Telofy commented on the word it's hard to sex people on the internet!
This might help. :-)
September 21, 2009
Telofy commented on the word imma let you finish
Yes, thanks a lot, rolig. And I’m delighted to know that there are other people bothered by such uncertainties/inconsistencies. After consulting that article (and the poll, but I’m not sure that can be called “consulting�?) I’m unsure whether that space is really as omission-worthy as is implied there, after all it’s usually a slow process—stepping on a hyphen intermediately—that leads up to that degree of coalescence. However the bigger the gap the more ambiguous seems the stress to me; one might be prone to assign a secondary stress to the “’a�?. So I’m not entirely convinced, but inclined to settle for I’m’a as a viable utilitarian compromise. For now.
September 21, 2009
Telofy commented on the word imma let you finish
Yay, the meme has reached Wordie! :-)
Bye the way, is Imma the canonical spelling for that or is it I’mma (or something else entirely)?
September 21, 2009
Telofy commented on the list skip-the-light-fontastic
Of course I'd like to see Gentium on this list. :-)
(wacky: nope; powerful: yeah; intriguing: hmm; whimsical: nope; exotic: hmm)
September 19, 2009
Telofy commented on the word bethink
“Beset, as you should know, by woe and eager for a situation of venerational tranquility, I bethought me of this manteion, the new calde’s own, as a place to which I might retire, pray and contemplate the inscrutable ways of the gods.” (emphasis in the original)
—Patera Incus in The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
September 18, 2009
Telofy commented on the word bad taxidermy
The title by itself reminded me of The Landlady by Roald Dahl, but I guess that gal was actually rather more skilled.
September 18, 2009
Telofy commented on the word pirates
Talk Like a Pirate Day might actually be fun.
On a normal day:
Someone: “C’mon, talk like a pirate, pal!�?
Somebody: “No.�?
On a September 19:
Someone: “C’mon, talk like a pirate, pal!�?
Somebody: “I’m disinclined to acquiesce.�?
(My reaction about the r-sounds somehow ended up on devoicing.)
September 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word sausage
I wonder if snausages are tinny.
September 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word devoicing
“-ng�? is a special case, as in all accents that I’m aware of, that “-g�? is completely silent (not merely devoiced). Its influence however is that the “-n-�? is not pronounced /n/ as twice in “pronounced�? but /ŋ/ as in “sing�?; that’s the only sound (on phonemic level) that distinguishes “sing�? (/sɪŋ/) and “sin�? (/sɪn/). (Hence it’s called a minimal pair. For more information please consult The Phonetic Rap.)
At the end of words with more than one syllable that distinction is lost in some accents, for example Southern American English and African American Vernacular English, so that “tappening�? (/ˈtæpənɪŋ/) becomes what is commonly transcribed as “tappenin’�? (/ˈtæpənɪn/).
Nonetheless I’ve heard the hypercorrection /ɹɔŋg/ instead of /ɹɔŋ/ (“wrong�?) in an accent reduction video on youtube when the coach was concentrating very hard—too hard—on enunciating as clear as possible for an audience whose listening comprehension skills she couldn’t know or estimate.
You are right about the special relevance for German native speakers (and Spanish and Italian etc.): “Bund�? (“union�?) and “bunt�? (“colorful�?) are homophones: bʊnt.
Hence undue devoicing in word-final position is a common pronunciation mistake among us. Another study I skimmed over yesterday compared the ability of L2 learners with such native languages to distinguish words whose only difference is in the voicing of a word-final consonant, and to reproduce those words.
The paper I posted yesterday however makes a very important distinction in that it focuses on words in phrase-final position, so it would sound strange and German accented to constantly devoice the word-final “s�?s in sentences like “He ushered the guys out the door.�? but not in “Planes!�? (She devoiced a lot in that video; perhaps it's even a little affected.)
Scott here however demonstrates both very clearly many times (devoicing with “friends�? (z̥) in final position at about 0:03 for example and of course lots and lots of voiced /z/ (z) in mid-sentence) but I guess you guys can observe that on yourselves anyway.
I prefer z̥ and z for distinguishing the sounds because I feel the difference in the intensity of the air stream between z̥ and s rather distinctly when I’m speaking, though I don’t know if I would normally hear it.
Throughout the last one or two weeks I’ve focused on getting the distinction between /s/ (after consonant sounds) and /z/ (after all other sounds) down, which means that I read Gene Wolfe to myself. I already noticed that with some words in some contexts I had this slight epiphanic feeling like “Yeah, of course! That sounds so much better!�? and in other contexts it sounded strange and was even hard to pronounce (only usually that means that I’ll just have to practice more).
Then two days ago we (two friend and I) went to the cinema where we were presented with the 2012 trailer. Of course I had to point out the planes (“Planes! – More planes! – Flying giraffe!�?) but after the first “Planes!�? I became self-consciously aware of (1) my devoiced pronunciation and (2) the fact that two English native speakers were sitting to my left (and probably more behind and in front of me for we were watching District 9 in English). Hence my next “planes�? ended very voiced—not that anyone heard it over the noise of all that disaster-ing, catastrophe-ing and apocalypse-ing around us.
Afterwards I wondered which pronunciation had been more correct.
Yesterday then I added another layer of wondering, when I wondered what happened when a word-final /z/ is followed by a word-initial /s/; this may serve as such an example. On IDEA I learned that sometimes nothing happens and sometimes the /z/ becomes devoiced. I then (after what feels like a few months) re-watched Brooke’s video (Thanks, Brooke!) and my wonder culminated in some frantic googling which unearthed that paper that finally Oedipused the mystery for me. :-)
Oh, and about the r-sounds issue on pirates, those little articulatory gems seems to be especially controversial: I don’t think the English ɹ is especially hard to pronounce for Germans, it’s just not in our inventory, but the German �? (the one I use) as well as its voiceless counterpart x (or χ) seem to be pretty tricky (as in “Bach�?, the composer, also the German word for “brook�?. ^^)
Even some Germans have problems pronouncing the southern German ʀ—a trill—and especially hard is r—also a trill—which is heard in some older RP-ish (I think) varieties of British English (Stephen Fry uses it and of course Noel Coward—a lot) and which is the rhotic consonant in Spanish and surely also some other languages. I can’t pronounce it yet, but I think, after much training, I at least have the tongue movement down—more or less.
And then there is also the alveolar tap, ɾ, as in General American “city�? (ˈsɪɾi) which is also sometimes used as rhotic sound by people like Stephen Fry and Noel Coward. It sounds like one tap/flap of the alveolar trill r, I think.
Hmm, this looks long. Good thing my browser didn’t crash. ^^
September 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word devoicing
An intriguing paper I'm reading at the moment:
Devoicing of Word-Final /z/ in English
September 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word pirates
The German pirate party’s (“Piratenpartei�?) color is orange.
September 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the list words-some-people-can-t-pronounce-no-matter-how-often-they-try
For “pin�? and “pen�? see, well, pin-pen merger.
September 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
208. :-D
September 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
Sionnach: Yes that's Wordie! And so wonderfully eloquent.
John, what you’re planning sounds like a very sensible (series of) next step(s) to me. Also the discussion appeared to imply that future (or Future?) Wordie and Wordnik are to be operating on the same database—at least in appearance—so I think is would be only consistent to equip them with the same range of functionality. Of course we Wordizens want to keep our design (or the structure underlying that design) and we want to be able to behold it (split!) seconds after typing “wordie.org�? into the address bar (or clicking the bookmark or typing “w�? and using the auto-complete). So my idea—for the moment forgetting all about those personalized pages*—would be to hide the functions and widgets that Wordnik brings into the marriage just one click away, and on Wordnik to, if necessary, do the same with the functions and widgets Wordie provides. Once you have a good overview over the structure and the programming of the Wordnik page, I'm sure you or the whole team will have no problem devising a design that integrates seamlessly with Wordie's minimalist approach without leaving gaps when it is hidden.
This suggestion, as I see it, has no influence on your idea of a “Zeitgeist�? page as I mostly have word pages and list pages in mind right now.
*I still like that idea though. Also a module displaying data gathered from other websites of one's choice by means of powerful regular expressions searching the source code would come in handy. ^^
September 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the list people-commonly-known-by-their-first-names
Like Marilyn Manson?
September 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word the warm and fuzzy feeling
Very probably. Thanks.
September 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ™
Very good, thanks!
September 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word unfuck
Unfuck BRD on the Freedom Not Fear march yesterday (September 12, 2009).
September 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word the warm and fuzzy feeling
I kind of like this description, but I’m afraid it might be too much of a cliché. Do you feel it’s too cliché to be used seriously without quotes, high-pitched undulating voice, “so called�? and the like?
(Related question on ™.)
September 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ™
Around here we sometimes say ™ to mark certain clichés and to distance ourselves from them. It’s practically always used in a humorous way and I think there’s a tendency to use it with oversimplifications that are often employed for promoting ideologies. For example: “You use that search engine? I thought you said it was Evil™.�? (Only in German of course.)
Is it also used that way in the English speaking world?
September 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
What is the reason that suggests this change? If it's just that the introduction is unnecessary for the regulars and just pushing the relevant part (comments, etc.) down by a couple em, I agree. Then you could just make a shiny big introduction that is deflatable and automatically—and smoothly of course—becomes a little bar once you're logged in. Or are you even planning personalized customized homepages for registered users à la iGoogle? (Not that I'm using that, but with Wordie I think I would enjoy it.)
sionnach: Yeah... Mostly they are just afraid because as long as the stick to every inch of protocol they can blame whatever goes wrong on the paragraphs; when they use their own judgment and intellect however, they are personally liable and potentially doomed. (I'm going to have to renew my ID soon, wish me luck. ^^) Yet, luckily, I observe the latter rather more frequently than I expect. And it's good to hear that this kinda thing is different in other countries.
September 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
Why Germany? I’m not saying that Germany isn’t gradually degenerating into this idea of a police state that so many politicians seem to have grown fond of throughout the recent years, in fact I’m marching against* this exact thing tomorrow, but I think that many other (industrialized) countries have gone much farther into that direction already, and in that respect I’m rather glad to be living here...
*However I like to call it marching for freedom; “against�? doesn’t accord with my Aikidoish inclination. :-)
September 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the word dystraction
When I'm sick of the telephone ringing. (Just an example.)
September 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word pterotrooper
Wow ptero, now I savvy how your comment about feathers on Wordnik was funny on even more levels than I thought.
Darn, I responded that I thought you were right, how lame. I should've said that I shared your ’pinion. Now it’s too late. Dang. ^^
September 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word the
Rule two I’ve learned exactly like that. Rule one, it seems to me, might be true sometimes, so perhaps not as a rule, but rather as an observation that allows probabilistic extrapolation or something like that...
Pauses are often accompanied by an “er” or “um”, those little words usually start with a vowel sound, so that might be a reason for the pauses-/ði/.
September 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnikie suggestion box
OK, now I’ve come up with a few—three—rather general suggestions for Wordnik.
Paul, the man behind dict.cc might be interested in cooperating with Wordnik (if he doesn’t already). It would be very convenient to have a personalized word page whose modules include one showing translations from dict.cc.
And what about Wiktionary? An IPA pronunciation that distinguishes /ɚ/ and /əɹ/, and /�?/ and /ɜɹ/ would be much appreciated.
Perhaps a compilation of regional pronunciation variations in full-blown phonetic IPA notation is a bit much to ask right now, but it would certainly be quite intriguing.
September 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word vanilla m and m
Here you go: Vanilla M＆M :-)
September 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word brave new worldie
Wordie's a lexicographical phantasmagoria; this is as incontrovertible as it is double-dactylian.
September 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnik
Oh yes, ptero, you’re so right! I, too, want that action figure. And one of Gene Wolfe. :-)
(Is he joining us, too?)
September 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the user esperluette
Hi & welcome to Wordie! *bow*
September 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the list prayerware--2
As an alternative to spamming Wordie I suggest you use meta-tags to better position your website in search results. Also—correct me if I'm wrong—you seem to target Christian customers, so why not open up to all the other religions out there and offer customized t-shirts for their followers as well?
Here's a list. Don't forget Discordianism.
(I hope you're not offended by my split infinitive; I like it.)
September 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word alway
In another half millennium madmouth the 15th may be tempted to add anyway to that list.
September 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wordnik
Numerous congratulations John and Wordie!
I checked and found out that trepidatious is included at least in the Heritage dictionary and that I'm not feeling like that at all! So please make that the little neophiliac in me is right. :-)
Also this is probably a great opportunity to add a bulk moving feature for words and categorization for the lists page. And I'm looking forward to case sensitivity.
Best of luck!
(By the bye, a few years back I once used erinaceous in a school exam.)
September 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the word changieren
Pronunciation: ʃɑ̃ˈʒi�?�?ən or, according to Wiktionary, even ʃɑ̃ˈʒi�?ʀən
Pretty German word for “to iridesce�? (and a few other things).
A little prettier even than “irisieren�? I think.
Picture.
September 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the word �?�
Yesterday's status quo is restored.
(Yay, a polar bear, now I see it! Sort of.)
September 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the word �?�
Not any longer.
September 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the word mackers
An euphemism for Macbeth. See The Scottish play.
September 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the word scew wiff
Misspelling of skew-whiff.
September 3, 2009
Telofy commented on the word 1337
In my neck of the words we have the time 13:37 (1:37 p.m.) every day—it's a great source of glee, continually.
September 2, 2009
Telofy commented on the word isv
Usually it’s “i. S. v.�?—the main reason I mention this is to use my thin spaces. :-)
August 31, 2009
Telofy commented on the word add me
Interesting, thanks.
Besides, oneself is clearly underwordied.
August 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word add me
Such a feature would be utterly redundant: You could just make an open list labeled “Friends�?; everyone could add themselves. (Why isn't it "themself" as substitute for "himself/herself"?)
August 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word any last words
“No.�? (To the question “Do you have any cheese at all?�?)
August 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word any last words
One night in 18—:
“I'm sure you know this old man: One of his eyes resembles that of a vulture—a pale blue eye with a film over it. You won't believe what I've found out: I can possess him by means of astral projection. Let me show you.�?
August 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word any last words
“Sounds nice; what does it mean?�?
“Let's see... It says here on Wordie that when you pronounce that word and walk five steps your heart explodes...�?
August 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word any last words
Hey, let's role-play a Cyanide and Happiness comic!
August 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word any last words
Look, Hamsters love it when you tickle them like this.
August 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word lame
Recursive acronym for LAME Ain't an Mp3 Encoder. However LAME has since become a great mp3 encoder.
August 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word travolting
“More than one reviewer called the film Battlefield Earth ‘Travolting’.�?
Source
August 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word resyllabification
e.g. pain-staking
Source
August 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the list x-is-my-favorite-y
Please add whatever is missing and droll.
There are far too many lists of “favorites�?, so I can't determine whether this list is unique—I hope it is.
August 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word thin space
I only know about the hair space in conjunction with em dashes, but I don’t use them there. The thin space however is very useful in German as all abbreviations of more than two letters that are separated by dots need it after the dots, e.g.: “z. B.�? (e.g.)
The Duden standard is to use a standard space if a thin space is unavailable, yet people often put no space at all, even on magazine covers...
August 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word thin space
Yay! Now I have the thin space on my keyboard. I had never been able to find out its keysym, but this page divulged it: 0x0aa7! Hooray!
Here on Wordie one can just use   by the way.
August 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word tony
Tony of Plymouth!
August 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word gentium
My favorite typeface
August 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word 0
The symbol is reminiscent of a loop, so no wonder it has a penchant for self-referentiality.
For better illustration, Zeno's flag:
August 26, 2009
Telofy commented on the list x-s-y-where-x-is-somebody-s-name
Finagle's law (�? even unlisted so far)
August 26, 2009
Telofy commented on the word 0
Unbe-infix-lievable!
But luckily I have a list for suchlike.
August 26, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ejective voiceless uvular plosive
Here.
I would like to be able to pronounce that thing (or the stop) before I wear that t-shirt though. ^^
August 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word bunny hugging
An illustration of the original point of this page.
August 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word xkcd
There is even a very useful search directly on xkcd.com, but the fun is mostly in using those URLs in conversations even though there is no computer around; proves one's nerdiness.
As does the Summer Glau meme of course! :-)
August 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word asstard
The signature insult of Casey & Andy. This probably being its first occurrence.
August 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ღ
They call me Caucasian and yet I don't know the first thing about that region...
Pretty character by the way, it looks like a heart perched on a twig—and since a twig is something divided in two that might just as well represent the one heart that is shared by two bodies and minds, metaphorically speaking.
August 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word xkcd
Yeah, I'm hooked since the 130s.
Sometimes it's useful to know a few xkcd numbers by heart in case an argument comes up that was already refuted in an xkcd, then you can just cite the URL.
August 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ყ
My research indicates it might be /qʼ/.
August 25, 2009
Telofy commented on the word bunny hugging
Does dust bunny hugging count?
August 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ralph
"to pray to the porcelain god" (regurgitate)
August 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word join, or die.
Quite an eye catcher, this Oxford comma.
August 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ontic
/ˈɒntɪk/
August 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the list people-commonly-known-by-their-first-names
Ned is a bit of a problem: He's (one of) the main character(s) in Pushing Daisies where only his first name is known. So on the one hand one could argue that he only has one name as the reality of the series is defined by nothing but the information the series provides, however on the other hand it's supposed to be set in our reality—augmented with all the buoyancy of the forensic fairytale—which suggests that his last name in fact does exist in the series and that only it never came up.
I rather tend towards the latter option because I think it's natural to see our reality as some kind of default state or raw structure upon which and into which (if things are decidedly different) every story is built. Hence I've added the name for now.
August 24, 2009
Telofy commented on the list people-commonly-known-by-their-first-names
Interesting, I knew a "de Oliveira" once, that seems to be a rather common name.
Now that the list is open to fictional characters I have rather to many ideas... I guess I'll restrict myself to the ones where the difference in populatity is expecially stark.
August 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the list people-commonly-known-by-their-first-names
There are rumors that Emilie Autumn are actually her first and middle name, but they are probably no more than desultory rumors.
Update: Nope, it’s accurate.
Different question: Is this list restricted to real people?
August 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word advisalment
Source
August 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the list gene-wolfe
For comparison a letter in an upper class dialect from the same book:
August 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word
"U+200B: ZERO WIDTH SPACE" – Ms. Unicode Table, Ph.D.
August 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the list the-cheese-connoisseur-s-list-of
There's a link missing here.
August 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the word pulchritude
Then just look for "by skipvia".
August 18, 2009
Telofy commented on the word mandatory
Thanks! So it's probably something obscure or new-fangled and British.
August 18, 2009
Telofy commented on the word rauschpfeife
True. My excuse of course is that Rausch means "high" or "intoxication" depending on the drug and Pfeife is "pipe".
August 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word enchant
album even
August 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word rauschpfeife
I hope I'm not the only one who first thought of pot...
But look here, this is also an instrument.
August 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word mandatory
Can someone tell me why Stephen Fry stresses mandatory on the second syllable in this video (around 1:28)?
I'm especially interested in that because some time ago I used to read it (hopefully never aloud) that way for a while before I noticed the mistake.
August 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word little tail
Since it has to be little, it's a pencil. You win a Gene Wolfe thumbs up plus a quotation from the book I'm reading. ^^
“On legs as thin as sticks, the shadowy figures parted; a pencil of light settled on a dark bundle that stared up at her with Incus's agonized eyes. A rag covered his mouth.�? – Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
August 16, 2009
Telofy commented on the word something divided in two
It was probably Munich... I live comparatively far to the left of Berlin where I hardly ever come in touch with this city's eponymous slang, but even my parents have never heard that word. In Bavaria however (though in Munich somewhat less I've heard) they speak this utterly different language—if they are really good at it I won't understand a word—so it's very possible that it is/was a common slang term there.
It yields a few thousand Google hits, but hardly any of them seem relevant.
(Oh, and I forgot to mention knuffig, such a cute word.)
This Wikipedia article is from the Alemannic Wikipedia. Quite intriguing.
(Only I'm afraid to think too much in German at the moment due to an English test I have to take in about a week...)
Edit: Guessing from the context it seems uffig means as much as open in Alemannic.
Edit: They have lots of one-letter words. Rad! ^^
August 16, 2009
Telofy commented on the word p!
Good point.
Not sure I picked the single most significant picture, but then again I had already posted the link down there anyway.
August 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word p!
Let n=p.
Iterative definition:
Recursive definition:
Wikipedia: Factorial
August 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word livid
“Stop! That is not spoken correcitically.�? – The Caterpillar
August 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word moly
Diminutive for Molybdenum (according to Gene Wolfe's The Book of the Long Sun). It's probably also a tribute to Douglas Adams for Molybdenum has the atomic number 42.
August 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word from a place moving
locomotive?
August 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word penis fencing
See Google cache.
(At least for the article.)
August 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word something divided in two
(link)
Whether or not uwig is commonly regarded as a German word I'll leave unanswered, but for uffig we first need to find a definition. Perhaps due to words like affig or puffig it sounds somewhat derogative to me, furthermore uff is the canonical interjection for indicating physical exhaustion, so it could be a slang term applied to very straining and exhausting tasks.
Pronunciation: /'ʊfɪç/
August 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word epistemological self-consciousness
Last time I checked there existed no definite—and not even a more than barely feasible—definition of knowledge; I hope in view of this impediment it is permissible for me to be somewhat more hazy on this subject...
August 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word blinking heck
Blinking hack.
August 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the list slam-fodder
Perhaps a poem read in the course of a Poetry Slam?
August 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word cosi cosi
Without the accent and thus stress on the first syllable, Cosi is a short form for the name Cosima.
August 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word momonga
If you want to see one flying, er, gliding: link
August 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word tank
Operator of the Nebuchadnezzar in Matrix.
August 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word scissors
Cool, I've just transcribed an interview with Emilie Autumn who, among other things, talked about her her song Shalott!
Hmm, I wonder what's the quantity of something as lovely as alleviate.
August 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word razbliuto
I don't know about the Russian word this page honors, and of course you may generally feel free to enjoy whatever letter combinations you like, but to people who actually speak the respective languages such words are likely to sound not merely strange and awkward but in some cases even downright repugnant and might cause this feeling of embarrassment one feels in the stead of someone else—is there a word for that? ^^
As I said, this is probably not about razbliuto at all; I've no idea what word really feels like.
August 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word irreconcilable goods
I once had an interesting forum discussion with my Aikido sensei about about the the choices we face and about this only too common notion of a good-evil-dichotomy that seems to make them easier for some of us. Unfortunately in German. But I also let two quotes speak for me, one regarding choices (playing with oxymoronicity):
“If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.�? – Angel, Angel (TV series)
And one about “good�? and “evil�?:
“But whether all that came to good or evil, I don't know. Until we reach the end of time, we don't know whether something's been good or bad; we can only judge the intentions of those who acted.�? – Severian, The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
August 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word about
We're under attag!
August 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word stimulatify
Let's ifyify salsify.
August 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word kleptomania
Here in Germany Magpies are said to suffer from that.
August 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word universal serial bus
?
This is awesome.
August 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word a turning
Verse was what I had intended thus the black cat, my hints are for something divided in two which is still unsolved.
This however is now probably the most sursolved word so far.
Sorry, for the ambiguity.
August 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word a turning
It seems that fits as well.
August 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word fangs
“Would the congregation know by then of Lemur's demise? Quetzal debated the advisability of announcing the fact if they did not. It was a question of some consequence; and at length, for the temporary relief the act afforded him, he pivoted his hinged fangs from their snug grooves in the roof of his mouth, snapping each gratefully into its socket and grinning gleefully at his distorted image.�? – Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
August 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word social networks
Social networks must be pretty deserted during vacation time when people have nothing to procrastinate.
August 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word viscoelastic
That means it's still underwordied.
August 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the word manteion
In The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe a manteion is something like a temple and church combined with a school, but I have no clue how to pronounce it which can be quite annoying when I always stumble in my mental subvocalization...
August 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the word chaos
The Chaos and The Chaos
August 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the word email courier
Yeah... I have people calling me to ask that...
August 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the word facial expression
Perhaps "facial expression" is not as detached and descriptive as I thought...
Except for "aspect" for which (in this sense) I don't really have a feeling, I went through those three words in the thesaurus and found them, as you said, rolig, too formal. "Look" is the one I rejected for being too ambiguous. I think I now favor "expression" without the "facial" as you said, and perhaps with something like "rich" in front. Thanks!
August 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the word facial expression
I'm looking for a synonym for facial expression (particularly regarding the eyes) that feels warmer, does not restrict the meaning and is not ambiguous.
If you happen to know one, please drop me a comment. Thx. :-)
August 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the word prosilient
Not long ago I happened upon this marvelous online version of the OED which defines prosilient as "Outstanding, prominent."
August 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word caldé
The Caldé is the highest office of the City of Viron in The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe.
According to this list the word Caldé originates with the Spanish "alcalde" and is thus probably pronounced /ˈkalde/.
Look out for "Silk for Caldé" graffiti in your neighborhood.
(And please add the accent if they forgot it.)
August 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word quantum flux
Peel this.
August 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word contemptation
This madeupical word is a hyblend of contempt and temptation which can be used for example to describe the disposition someone who wants to quit smoking might have toward his cigarettes.
August 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word fold severally
:-)
August 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the user sionnach
Yeah, pretty pretty, especially since 17 is a prime number.
Congratulations!!
(two exclamation points to make the line 17 characters long)
August 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word fold severally
I don't think it really accords with the severally part, but multiply comes to mind...
August 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word a turning
noun
(And it sounds kinda cute to me.)
(And it's also a perfectly commonplace word.)
(And short.)
August 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word a turning
@madmouth: The next and probably last horror is going to be a nicely surreal interpretation of a (human) thumb.
But first you need to find out what it is that is divided in two.
August 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word anatine
Watch this video for further information.
August 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word phonetics
“... Words. I have to remember to speak words now. I say something. But you do not hear me unless I move my lips. To move my lips and my tongue ... while I make this noise in my throat.�?
– Mamelta in Gene Wolfe's The Book of the Long Sun
August 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word obiit
Looks a bit like Bush with its “i�?s so close together...
August 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word a turning
Thumbs up! (Or one anyway.)
August 10, 2009
Telofy commented on the word little plowshare
Better this way? ;-)
August 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the word little plowshare
To see if your answer is correct please scroll down.– I dare you!
August 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the list gene-wolfe
A little excerpt from The Book of the Long Sun showing the kind of slang (usually called thieves' cant) some people in the City of Viron speak:
August 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word desultory
A pity it doesn't come up in the actual lyrics of the song.
But I found also a band with that name.
August 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word sea dew
:-D
August 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word desultory
My thesaurus defines it as random. What a funny word. I have this voice in my head: imagine someone with a good valley girl accent saying something in the lines of “I'm, like, Tiffany, you know, from, like, Lawndale? (vocal fry) Ooohh, your (sic), like, from Lawndale, too? That's like sooo desultory? (vocal fry) Totally awesome?�?
August 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word shadow-tailed
Wait, I thought there was already a discussion about squirrels here... Only a few days ago I read about this shadowy tail of squirrels here on Wordie when I had just uploaded my latest squirrel video on YouTube. And then I read about squirreled on squirrelled. *discombobulated*
August 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word sea dew
rosemary
August 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word tooth of a lion
✓
August 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the word flowing in waves
There is unda in undulating, just a guess...
August 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word to breathe together
to conspire?
August 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wanderer
I hope it's planet; planet is kewl. :-)
August 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word seedy apple
Of course. :-)
August 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word palliate
“His arm and ankle seemed more painful than ever; he told himself firmly that it was only because the palliating effects of the drug Crane had given him the night before—and of the potent drinks he had imprudently sampled—had worn off.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
August 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wanderer
Some thesaurus-dictionary cross-referencing yields vagrant and vagabond. Is that licit or does it already verge on cheating?
August 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word wanderer
Viator?
August 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word time ghost
Zeitgeist?
Well, in this case I do have a certain advantage. :-)
Or are we supposed to comment on the list's page?
August 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the word pick
A slight twitch on the reins, and a prod from the Monk’s heels and they were off, picking their way
carefully down the rocky incline.
– Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective AgencyAugust 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the word contraption
I see some kind of intricate device used in the field of creative plumbing aka subversive plumbing (see Brazil). Surely your contraption has such a contraption built into it somewhere.
August 3, 2009
Telofy commented on the word quidity
Yes, the OED lists it as a known (mis)spelling of quiddity.
August 2, 2009
Telofy commented on the word catachrest
With a showman’s flourish, the seller reached beneath the stained red cloth that draped his table and produced a small wire cage containing an orange-and-white catachrest. Silk was no judge of these animals, but to him it appeared hardly more than a kitten.
...“Word,” the little catachrest said distinctly. “Shoe word, who add pan.”
...“Berry add word,” the catachrest told him spitefully, gripping die wire mesh of his cage. “Pack!”
He shook it, minute black claws sharper than pins visible at the tips of his fuzzy white toes.
“Add word!” he repeated. “Add speak!”
—Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
Hint: catachresis
August 2, 2009
Telofy commented on the word pata
After the market introduction of Serial ATA in 2003, the original ATA was retroactively renamed Parallel ATA. (Wikipedia: PATA)
July 31, 2009
Telofy commented on the word cloying
“The prosperous-looking man mopped his streaming brow with a large peach-colored handkerchief that sent a cloying fragrance to war with the stenches of the street.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
July 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word charge
“If the Fliers are human,” Silk admonished his charges, “it would surely be evil to stone them. If they are not, you must consider that they may be higher than we are in the spiritual whorl, just as they are in the temporal.” —Gene Wolfe, The Book of the Long Sun
July 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word aposiopesis
"They spoke in fragments and ellipses, in periphrastics and aposiopesis, in a style abundant in chiasmus, metonymy, meiosis, oxymoron, and zeugma; their dazzling rhetorical techniques left him baffled and uncomfortable, which beyond much doubt was their intention." – Robert Silverberg, Born With the Dead (on World Wide Words)
July 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
Thanks and welcome to Wordie!
Dactylian yields 253 Google hits so it definitely is in widespread use. If you have any more double-dactyls, feel free to add them. :-)
July 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word mature
In the How I Met Your Mother (Season 4) episode Three Days of Snow Marshall says /məˈtʃʊɚ/ or I think even /məˈtʃjʊɚ/ while Lily pronounces it /məˈtʊɚ/, which was new to me, though listed first on dictionary.com. Robin also says /məˈtʊɚ/ and moreover especially stressed the word (twice), which however might have semantic reasons.
July 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word than
This semester has finally reached its end so that since yesterday afternoon I have more time to read stuff, watch stuff and hopefully reorganize a few of my lists. And hardly had I commenced my reading of The Dead by James Joyce when I came across this utterly discombobulating sentence:
“Hardly had she brought one gentleman into the little pantry behind the office on the ground floor and helped him off with his overcoat than the wheezy hall-door bell clanged again and she had to scamper along the bare hallway to let in another guest.�?
A quick search across the Internets only resulted in this hardly thrilling reinforcement of my intuitive grasp on that construction.
But it's Joyce, James Joyce! ;-)
What am I missing?
July 18, 2009
Telofy commented on the list gene-wolfe
Word!
And thanks in advance.
July 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the list gene-wolfe
Wonderful, another Gene Wolfe reader. Welcome to my list.
I haven't read those two books yet. Next I'll turn to The Book of the Long Sun and There Are Doors.
Have great fun.
July 17, 2009
Telofy commented on the word marsupial
Hugh Laurie's favorite word.
July 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word infix
"It's gonna be legend—wait for it, and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the second half of that word is—dairy!" – Barney, How I Met Your Mother
July 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word r-coloring
July 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word private notes
So far I've used my favorites as a collection of bookmarks of lists I didn't want to forget, but as that is not really the intended purpose of favorites, I'm now using the private note feature of this page to save them. That makes private notes one of my favorite words I guess. ^^
July 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word features
Thanks, only, you must have put there a virgule instead of a dot between the sobriquet and the domain.
For now I tricked the bug. :-D
July 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word features
soup.io is missing under "also on". The URL structure is perfectly straight forward (e.g. telofy.soup.io), shouldn't be the slightest problem. Thanks. :-)
July 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the word squitch
see
July 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word zorn's lemma
See also.
July 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the word enantiomorphous
placeholder for a metasyntactic variable like foobar
See also metasyntactic variable.
July 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the list x-s-y-where-x-is-somebody-s-name
Rice's theorem. Very handy.
July 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ineffable
See also unfuck, I guess... ^^
July 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word malice
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Hanlon's razor
July 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word peloothered
According to this page: Irish slang for drunk.
July 2, 2009
Telofy commented on the word quotation marks
I could never decide whether to use quotation marks in "American style" or in "British style", meaning whether to put those punctuation marks that don't belong there into the quotation. (I, by the way, used those pseudo quotation marks in the last sentence to indicate that I actually know a few books by American authors that employ "British style" and vice versa.)
To me the first option looks flowier, while the second one has the distinct advantage of not being so illogical and ambiguous.
This morning I had the idea that I might use both versions: "American style" when writing fiction and "British style" when writing non-fiction. Do you think that is an acceptable compromise?
June 23, 2009
Telofy commented on the word proprioceptive feedback
I feel somewhat tipsy right now but I can still quickly and accurately touch the tip of my nose. Stoopid tests. ^^
June 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the word abandon
"a complete surrender to natural impulses without restraint or moderation; freedom from inhibition or conventionality: to dance with reckless abandon." – Random House
Wow. This word, this definition—I totally got goosebumps reading it.
June 21, 2009
Telofy commented on the word cellar door
We got a new one today.
June 16, 2009
Telofy commented on the word features
Hi, I could use a feature that would allow me to categorize my lists so that the lists list shows—for example—first a number of lists that might be interesting for everyone (under an appropriate title) and then a few lists that are just my private—and most probably less interesting—vocabulary learning lists (under the appropriate title again). Also some Wordees with >100 lists on their lists list could profit from that.
Thanks a lot (also and specifically generally). ;-)
June 14, 2009
Telofy commented on the word diuturnal
Is this word pronounced /ˌdaɪəˈt�?nl/ (GenAm)?
Here is more /-yʊ-/, but then again that guy speaks quite unnaturally slow and stresses three out of four syllables...
June 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word lüllefütten
Trifles no one is actually going to care about.
A word a friend of mine coined in an IRC chat:
"... lüllefütten (also kleinigkeiten, die niemanden am ende wirklich interessieren)"
The etymology is highly obscure.
May 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word buoyant
OK, thanks for your opinions. :-)
May 16, 2009
Telofy commented on the word buoyant
I'm having a problem deciding which pronunciation I like better, /ˈbɔɪənt/ or /ˈbujənt/.
Does anyone have a strong opinion about that they'd like to share?
Thanks.
A link.
May 15, 2009
Telofy commented on the word rynt
Rynt thee!
May 11, 2009
Telofy commented on the word art
That one is my own creation. :-)
The idea came to me when I read the sentences "What exactly are you a professor of, Mr. Logan?" – "Art."
I just wasn't so sure about the "of". Someone clumsily trying to ancientize his sentence would probably also try and avoid preposition stranding but a reordering of the words would distract from the nub of the joke, so I changed that from the beginning.
May 9, 2009
Telofy commented on the word art
"Of what exactly are you a professor?"
"Art."
"OK, of what exactly art thou a professor?"
May 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
Hi, and welcome to Wordie.
Thanks for your word. In the case of self-referentially I actually like the hyphenate version more, who knows why... Douglas Hofstadter perhaps. ^^
And thanks to everyone who donated double dactyls here. :-)
May 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word grummel brummel
Typical onomatopoeic expression among 20 to 30 year old computer science students at the Freie Universität Berlin, primarily amongst members of Spline, the student's project for Linux networks.
It means exactly what you think it means, at least when you think that it means exactly what it does mean. Sort of. Hard to explain...
May 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the word t-glottalization
In Ellen Muth's speech I can hear basically all varieties: with the usual alveolar flap, with the seemingly elided t and with pretty pronounced glottal stops. Something I should be listening out for once I have time is when the ts are pre-vocalic and when not and what bearing that has on their pronunciation.
The paper focuses on word-final pre-vocalic glottal stops, so the button phenomenon (phonemenon) probably won't be explained.
Darn, now I have to go to the next lecture...
There is a Wikipedia article that seems quite interesting, but I don't know how viable it is to try and apply that to American English.
Another edit:
I quickly listened to short sequences of Ellen Muth in of "The Young Girl and the Monsoon" (1999) and though there wasn't much time, I think I heard a few glottal stops at word-final pre-vocalic position.
April 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word t-glottalization
This paper is highly intriguing. I just started reading but I have the suspicion that I might go on the answer all my questions about the American glottal stop. :-)
April 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word t-glottalization
I'm not a native speaker of course but my natural way of pronouncing "button" is to obstruct (or rather completely stop) the airflow at and around the alveolar ridge like when pronouncing /n/ from right after the /ʌ/ onwards which renders the rest of the word nasal, and I think there is also something glottal going on. When I pronounce it the way Ellen does—the Cockneyesque way—the airflow isn't obstructed on the height of the alveolar ridge until the /n/. (It is of course for the /b/ with the lips and then in the glottis.)
There is a transcription of someone from Mississippi here, who used a lot of glottalization, too. It isn't as special as it seemed to me at first, I guess. I'll probably try and add a few glottal ts to my speech if I should happen to have mental resources to spare. ^^
April 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word t-glottalization
In General American many ts are pronounced as alveolar taps (/ɾ/) but that is not what I mean.
I'll collect a few words as soon as I have a couple of minutes to spare. ^^
"Button" wasn't among the words I noticed but for "button" there is a mention in the glottal stop article.
I don't have much time right now but a few word are "thought", "doubt", "gotton" (same pattern as "button" I guess).
Very often the ts at the end of words are missing but many of them seem elided rather than glottalized. Those three up there sounded very glottal to me though.
And she already did that in the pilot, so she probably had the propensity before. Perhaps there are comprehensive books on American accents in one of my university's libraries.
April 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the word t-glottalization
I'm just listening to the commentary voice-over of the first season of Dead Like Me and noticed that Ellen Muth who is from Connecticut from time to time uses t-glottalization! That's so amazing! At that time on the set of Dead Like Me she has been working with Callum Blue who (at least there) uses consistent t-glottalization. Also the Wikipedia article says that even "Prince Harry frequently glottals his Ts". I can absolutely understand why that's so contagious. ;-)
By the way, yarb, Dead Like Me was shot in Vancouver, BC.
April 30, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
Yep, I found that list yesterday. So many pretty dds – but I don't want to appear kleptomaniacal. ^^
April 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
Thanks. Sounds intriguing, I can't wait to force an opportunity to use it.
I separated the nicknames by \n instead of ,, so the authorizations for this list were mucked up for a few hours, sorry.
April 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
Oh yes, I didn't consider the element of quaintitude. That's definitely a plus for hyphens, but usually (or by default) I'm rather progressively oriented. I guess that once I gained a somewhat reliable feeling that the mainstream accepted spelling of a word is, I'll probably more or less stick with the most non-mainstream one that looks acceptable (and pretty) to me. (Unless I seek to evoke certain connotations.) This might very well be influenced by how often Gene Wolfe uses it.
Just recently I decided for myself to write email. Donald E. Knuth convinced me.
Imagine the time when people considered writing "newfangled" "new-fangled". ^^
April 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
Thanks you two.
I added antiestablishment. I tend to prefer the version without hyphen if I can find it in one of my favorite dictionaries (or if I think it looks much prettier).
April 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
I thought this /-tɹi/ was just a British thing, I'll consult Wikipedia on that tomorrow.
Then welcome to my list, /ˌsu:.pɚ.əˈɹɒg.ə.tɹi/. :-)
Thanks.
Edit: I opened the list for you in case you meet any more of our little (double dactylic and inevitably sesquipedalian) friends.
April 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the list double-dactyls
Hmm, it's one syllable too long and then there is also this second secondary (no pleonasm) stress.
But it's more important for the words to be hexasyllabic I think.
April 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word aretha apithy
Her aphorisms might be pithy (hopefully the a- is not a negation), furthermore there is π in there, and thy (somewhat out of context though). Unfortunately there's no pithy without a pit one has to avoid...
April 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word aretha apithy
According to this page it's /ɑɹˈiθə/ but I want it to be /'æɹəθə/ (like /ˈægəθə/) for obvious reasons.
Also this last name is reminiscent of many intriguing word somehow...
April 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word features
Ok, that's a major problem.
What about a little button then, which waits patiently somewhere around the comment box and when clicked opens a little box into which one can write the names of the people who are to be notified of ones comment (by means of a feed for example)?
April 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word features
No more than once per post. Prolagus, plethora
And I just did.
April 26, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ize
My teacher once taught me that isization (as opposed to izization) was a Cambridge thing.
April 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the word features
Hi John.
When someone uses my sobriquet in our IRC channel and I happen do be present at that moment, my IRC client flashes and displays the line in red. I find that pretty handy.
Would it perhaps be possible for you to introduce a feed of the comments that contain one's own nickname, so to make it easier to address one another anywhere on the site?
Have fun and blessed be. ;-)
April 22, 2009
Telofy commented on the word labiovelarize
I'm not sure about its double-dactylity: the last syllable carries a secondary stress. Help?
April 20, 2009
Telofy commented on the word lexicographical
Fun to say thanks to it being a double dactyl:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_dactyl
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/erin_mckean_redefines_the_dictionary.html
April 20, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ambeguous
Ok, thanks. I made my comment more specific.
April 16, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ambeguous
Spotted in (an online version of) Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition. Probably long fixed. Just thought Wordie should know about it.
Definition: pleading equivocally?
April 16, 2009
Telofy commented on the word without
"Other people may believe what it pleases them to believe, but I will do nothing without I know the reason why and know it clearly." – Dirk Gently, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" by Douglas Adams
April 13, 2009
Telofy commented on the user Telofy
Yeah, that's my Wordie PRO. :-)
(Also see below.)
April 12, 2009
Telofy commented on the user sarra
Hey, congrats to 2k words!
Happy thousand! ;-)
April 7, 2009
Telofy commented on the list my-german-needs-watering
"Mein Deutsch muss gegossen werden." or
"Mein Deutsch muss bewässert werden."
hf.
April 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word shrink
How did "shrink" come to mean a psychiatrist?
March 28, 2009
Telofy commented on the word hmmmm
"Why do I spend time thinking about this stuff?" -- cb
First off, I agree with what you figured out about the meanings of "hm", "hmm" and "hmmm" and hence I'm happy my fondness for that word no longer coaxes me to contribute my views.
The importance of this topic I think lies in the interjectional character of that sound: As it has very little of this tangible semantic kind of meaning, the word has great value for pointing out how important this other layer of meaning can be. Perhaps it could be called something like "connotative", but that word I think is not as apt as I would like it to be.
January 27, 2009
Telofy commented on the word schnitzengezungenhuyden
schnitz - imperative of schnitzen, to carve
Enge - tightness/narrowness
Zungen - tounges
Huyden - probably some foreign family name I never saw before
Spotted in The Daily Show from January 19, 2009.
January 21, 2009
Telofy commented on the user Telofy
Oh dear, he perpetuated my choices. What if one day I should find part of what I seek today? Will you update the screenshot?
Thanks for the clarification.
January 20, 2009
Telofy commented on the user Telofy
Should actually be visible to anyone...
January 20, 2009
Telofy commented on the user Prolagus
Great, someone noticed my Wordie PRO profile. I'm using the Web Developer extension to alter the HTML in such away that the menu provides the desired options. Then all I have to do is submit it. Ajax channels the data to the server where it isn't rechecked upon arrival.
Have fun.
January 20, 2009
Telofy commented on the word as if
Thanks a lot. I must definitely peruse that wikipedia article about the subjunctive mood again. :-)
Not only this section.
January 19, 2009
Telofy commented on the word as if
"I come out here every night and start talking as if I know things." -- Stephen Colbert
Can someone tell me when/why it is/isn't know respectively knew in this kind of construction? I'm just watching a few procrastinated Colbert Report episodes and this sentence puzzles me... Thanks.
January 18, 2009
Telofy commented on the word me
Who pronounces me /mei/?
If anyone has a clue, please post. I'm really curious.
(I just heard it in a song but that was just so it rhymes with away...)
January 8, 2009
Telofy commented on the word ridonkulous
If you create something that is entirely new to you, could that not be called inventing even if—unbeknownst to you—someone else invented it already?
Well, I didn't invent ridonkulous and nor do I claim to have done any such thing, which debunks that theory anyway.
January 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word tea cozy
"I don't want any trouble. I just wanna be alone and quiet in a room with a chair and a fireplace and a tea cozy. I don't even know what a tea cozy is, but I want one." – Buffy, BtVS
January 5, 2009
Telofy commented on the word auspuff
Not EVER to be confused with "Auster", the German word for oyster! ;-)
January 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the list great-character-names
Father Inire, Finnegan, Dinah, Willow Rosenberg, River Tam, Kaywinnit Lee "Kaylee" Frye, Dante Chevalier (I like his handwriting), Ophelia, HAL 9000, Hagbard Celine, The Tortoise, The Lady of Shallot, Berenice, Yasmin Howcomely.
Great list!
January 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the word earner
Thx. :-)
January 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the list the-i-grandiloquent-dictionary-i-less-such-words-which-are-also-included-in-at-least-one-of-several-other-dictionaries
Sure.
But it wouldn't be bases solely on your opinion; before I knew how huge the list would (still) be, I planned it just as a temporary container destined to be tuned into a little list in the comma separated sense inside the Grandiloquent Dictionary list's description. I thought there might be ten or twenty errors to be found or something like that. In order to retain these comments it would also be possible to recycle this list for something entirely different.
January 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the list mr-i-prolagus-i-is-surprised
As reply to your comment on my Gene Wolfe list:
Thanks, I like that concept. Only I think it comes pretty close to how I've decided the words to enter my list. Words I didn't know were in immediately because they were interesting just for their novelty. Then there are those words, which I would have known if they had been employed somewhat differently. In some cases I neglected to copy out the context so that their interesting senses are then lost on me after a few weeks. But there are also words like veil which I knew and which are perfectly commonplace but which in that context sounded so gentle and light that I needed to note it down as well. I don't know if that is an intrinsic property of that word and I'm moreover entirely unsure whether or not anyone else would find that remarkable, but in that situation it forced me to ameliorate my Wordie sheet with it. Later, when I enter the words into Wordie, it's a rather mechanic process where I'm so overwhelmed by the masses of words I wrote down that I seldom rethink my selections.
Yet with Gene Wolfe who creates his own recondite neologisms by building upon ancient, foreign, and ancient and foreign words it would also be of interest to have list exclusively of words of his own creation. It's one of my plans for that list to draw some kind of distinction there, so I could move all other words to my Utilitarian lists for example. Perhaps I'll write a script for that for I don't have much time parallel to studying...
January 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the list the-i-grandiloquent-dictionary-i-less-such-words-which-are-also-included-in-at-least-one-of-several-other-dictionaries
I'd be the last one to disqualify any combination of letters as not "being a word" just on the basis that it's not in this or that dictionary. One or two years ago I've been introduced to the world of logophilia by blogs, articles and videos by/of Erin McKean and obviously through the works of Gene Wolfe, so I abandoned the notion of a dictionary being some sort of word police even before it had any chance of manifesting itself. The whole purpose of this list was that at some point mollusque informed me that this Grandiloquent Dictionary contained quite a lot of errors (referring to stuff like -phillia). Being inclined towards perfectionism this bugged be, so I had to figure of a way to detect those errors. Only 2700 words are a bit much for me to look though by hand so I decided to write a program that could screen out all words which are guaranteed to be correct. My hope was to be left with a list of at most one hundred words, which would then be rather easy to look through manually. Unfortunately it didn't work out like that, so I more or less abandoned the project.
After a few months I let a script search through all the word pages looking for the tag "misspelling". Those are the words listed in the description of the other list.
Since this automated dictionary search failed to provide my with an agreeably shrunken number of words, I always planned on deleting this list for its utter uselessness. I didn't realize that it could be interpreted as sacrilege upon our sacred art of neologation (or the like). Even more reason to perform this sort of ablution on my lists list...
Edit: Until I decide what to do with this list, I've slightly changed the description up there. Could someone please have a quick look at the grammar? Some parts feel rather ambiguous...
January 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the user sionnach
Thank you. And I've taken the liberty of replying on my Gene Wolfe list. :-)
January 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the list gene-wolfe
Thanks, and also for my profile comment.
Yes, I'm to some degree dependent on input from you guys as it is rather hard for me to differentiate between those words which are new only to me and such which might also be a novelty to native speakers. In some cases—for example proper—I've added the corresponding citation to the word page. In some cases I probably neglected to do that though it would have been necessary, but in many cases—apron being one of them I think—I simply didn't know the word at that time and copied it onto one of my special Wordie sheets.
So thanks a lot for your words, I'll process them immediately. :-)
January 4, 2009
Telofy commented on the user sarra
Thanks, great you noticed! Now, I can finally add some more words. ;-)
January 3, 2009
Telofy commented on the word doctor how
The antepenultimate of the Time Lords.
(Let this be the last one, please. ^^)
January 3, 2009
Telofy commented on the word earner
"someone who earn wages in return for their labor":
Is someone plural, or earn subjunctive and their synonym for his/her? The latter version I wouldn't understand really... Help.
January 3, 2009
Telofy commented on the word doctor why
The penultimate of the Time Lords.
January 3, 2009
Telofy commented on the word past tense
Wow, thanks for those words. Especially homoseme seem to be a rare term.
I was merely in need of some word for referring to the non-silent "e"s in our participial adjectives or the words themselves. Like Hofstadter when he coined Capitalized Essences for such things as the Purpose of Life or often God.
January 2, 2009
Telofy commented on the word inspirit
"... for Jesus said: Blessed are the poor inspirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ..." -- Matthew 5:3-10
It doesn't look like a verb here but even OED only lists "inspirit, v."
January 2, 2009
Telofy commented on the word past tense
Great article!
The definition of heteronyms is a bit wide though. Perhaps it's best to describe them as rolig et al. did, or can someone coin a witty madeuponym ("neologism" is aged; 237 years according to the OED) for such participial adjectives? ^^
January 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word past tense
Thank you!
I'm probably most interested in a term for those adjectives such as learned or blessed you mentioned. Thanks again.
January 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word at this juncture of maturization
Synonym for now coined by Alexander Haig.
(Found in On Writing Well by William Zinsser.)
January 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word past tense
Hi, I got the following question:
In some texts there are words in the past tense whose "e"s in their "-ed"s are supposed to be pronounced. Often the "e"s which aren't are apostrophed out:
But—save for the meter perhaps—is there any other rule when to pronounce them and when not?
And what is that called, so I can also google it?
Thanks in advance!
January 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word new year
Here it's damn cold and kind of loud outside at the moment (or "at this juncture of maturization"). To start the new year with a positive signal concerning the employment situation I like to call them hirecrackers, though I've only employed two of them this time. Oh, and 2009 has the digit sum 11 and so has my nickname. (Well, if you add the values of the letters according to the alphabet and then calculate the digit sum.)
Happy New Year then!
January 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word spanner
Hmm, torsion is torsion, I can't take credit for that one, but your right of course, what I meant was torque.
January 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word new year
Exactly, me too. What're we gonna do?
January 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word inertial dampener
There, there.
He bestowed you with a comment just about a month ago; perhaps he'll return...
January 1, 2009
Telofy commented on the word inertial dampener
You also listed inertial damper. But do they actually say inertial dampeners in Star Trek? That's more like when Janeway spills her tepid coffee on her elaborately drawn Minkowski diagrams... ^^
(Yet I found this Stargate article.)
December 31, 2008
Telofy commented on the word bathos
Yep. /ˈbeɪθɒs, -θɔs, -θoʊs/
December 31, 2008
Telofy commented on the word bathos
"I never should have used the word bathos"
December 31, 2008
Telofy commented on the word oneupmanship
But only three of the 12-14 English vowel sounds.
December 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word bugs
Hi John.
When displaying "Versicherungsgekkokotzenbedürfnis" on the front page, wordie truncates the word in the middle of the two byte German umlaut "ü", so only the 0xC3 was shown which of course can't be shown.
Something like this might help.
December 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word the day that one wishes the whole christmas season was over
Just added the appropriate tag to were.
December 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word versicherungsgekkokotzenbedürfnis
I'd call it "Versicherungsgeckokotzbedürfnis", but in both cases it might also be understood as the urge to throw up this lizardy creature instead of throwing up due to it.
"versicherungsgeckoinduzierter Brechreiz" would be less ambiguous, sadly it's two-wordy. ;-)
December 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word preworry
Often I simultaneously preworry that I'm not worrying enough about the worrisome, and that I'm worrying too much and thus jamming the unworrying process, without the two preworries annihilating each other (or themselves?).
But I don't recommend that approach.
December 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word watch batteries
¡lol!
December 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word spanner
The Spanner (the German term, hence the capitalization) we use to put torsion on the rotator/plug of a lock when picking it is called tension wrench. (I'm a lockpicker.)
December 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word vicine
"= vicinal" -- OED
December 29, 2008
Telofy commented on the word manatine
"Resembling a manatee; related to the manatees." -- OED
December 29, 2008
Telofy commented on the word autoplay
Basically with that symbol in the lower right corner of the window.
December 29, 2008
Telofy commented on the word autoplay
NoScript will probably do the trick; an invaluable add-on in many regards.
(Depends on the site though I guess.)
December 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word lunke
Lunke, a madeupical German term for the separator thingy you put on the conveyor belt at the counter in a supermarket. My favorite is Kundenknüppel, tough (roughly translated “customer baton”).
December 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the list alphabet-soup-round-1
Perhaps someone can help me, I can't induce what this game is about...
December 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word chicken
chicken
December 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word granular
Contributing my first random association.
December 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word prosilient
"Outstanding, prominent." -- OED
Thanks.
December 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word rincon
American military slang term for a series of under-financed and largely inconclusive recon missions in Japan during World War II.
December 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word synecdoche
Ack, will I always have to keep learning? Won't I ever experience a sense of lasting satisfaction? Ok, just kidding, I guess. Kaufman was interviewed on The Colbert Report, only it seems the full episode has become rather unavailable at my destination for Colbert Nation procrastination...
December 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word time, dear, is the friend of the young-employ it
Complementary to that:
"And this too shall pass away."
I read this in Harold & Maude but it seems it has been used by several famous persons.
December 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the list gahhhhh
Dear lyrical self,
I'm sorry I can't provide solutions to your predicaments...
You might want to try Explosions in the Sky, tough. Those guys have the audacity to aver that Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place and they prove it by means of their music. Unfortunately First Breath After Coma is not streamable. I can't speak from experience but rumor has it that within a decade or two hormonal processes will change to such a degree that you won't be able to feel the exact way you do now, so you might want to savor those emotions; they'll indubitably constitute an invaluable experience.
Oh, and have fun.
Merry Christmas.
December 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the word zetas
...
As conspiracies unwind
Will you slam shut
Or free your mind
Or stay hypnotised
When the Zetas fill the skies
Will our leaders tell us why
...
-- Muse, Exo-Politics
Just a random association.
December 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the word am
See amn't.
December 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
Yep, I once memorized that letter-number relation; very useful.
December 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
@ 27: Or 9?
December 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the list word-2
Live long and prosper!
December 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the word heiligenschein
My random word. How apt. :-)
(I mean with Christmas and all.)
December 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word expressions for merry christmas in various languages
Oh, and in German of course: Frohe Weihnachten /ˌfro�?ə ˈvaɪ̯naxtn̩/
December 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word expressions for merry christmas in various languages
In Lojban it's probably something close to:
ko zanlifri le xisyjbe nunsalci
At least according to this discussion.
December 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
Moving em masse: seconded.
In Firefox there are several ways to open a link in a new tab for example Ctrl+Click, both mouse buttons, middle button and probably some more.
About private messaging: I'm not sure I understand why it would be such a wordoom, just thought it would be a nice feature... Thank Goddess I'm not the one who has to decide such things in the end. ^^
Would private lists be a similar sacrilege?
December 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the user fbharjo
That's UTC-7 I guess.
I hope the double post was unintended so I don't bring harm to an artistic impression when I remove one... ^^
Merry Christmas.
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the user chained_bear
xkcd: That site offers but a small minority of comics that are less than hilarious to me. :-)
cheat sheet: It's not really exhaustive.
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the user wenya
Hey, I just noticed you are Wordee no. 10,000!
Congratulations!
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word 10,000th wordie
Actually the Wordee with the number 10,000 is wenya. This discrepancy can most likely be attributed to Wordees who deleted their accounts, I guess.
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word visceral
viceral, gut and this video are tightly intertwined in my mind.
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the list she-blinded-me-with-science
Hmm... ;-)
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word attachmeant
Does someone wont to nominate her (this word) for woty08?
I want to stick with ataraxia (for now)...
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word firefox add-ons
Stylish:
When I had my XGA screen I found the font to be much too big, for it's set in pixel an absolute value. Now I have a WXGA+ display, and the font would still be much to big if I didn't use Stylish. Simple zooming doesn't suffice as some parts would actually become too small. Furthermore I can reduce the space between the words on lists; looks much better that way.
This is my css code.
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word <:≡
How cute!
December 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word firefox add-ons
I'm currently using these:
Adblock Plus
NoScript
oldbar
Redirector (for appending "&fmt=18" to Youtube URLs)
Stylish (to make Wordie and dictionary.com look better)
Web Developer
WikiLook
Your turn.
December 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word �?
Not to be confused with �?棋.
December 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the user chained_bear
Nothing like youtube comments. :-)
December 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the user chained_bear
<a href="http://www.librarything.com/work/83734/book/20334358">Link-blah-foobar</a> should look like this: Link-blah-foobar
And on a(n) (un)realated note: I love fiction for I eschew real-life. Ok, that was cynical, I don't mean it like that, just kidding; please imagine many sortas, kindas and ;-)s inserted into that sentence.
December 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word wordie word of the year 2008
Being rushed I'm afraid this choice might be subject to alterations, yet for now my nominee is ataraxia.
December 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word reverie
My computer answers when I call it by its name:
telofy@reverie:~$ ping reverie
PING reverie (127.0.1.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from reverie (127.0.1.1): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.047 ms
December 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
Hi John.
About a year ago you asked whether or not to equip Wordie with a private messaging system. Personally I'm in favor of such an enhancement and I'm unable to infer a nay from the replies you got back then, so is something of that sort coming up?
December 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word fulgid
@ VanishedOne: egregious
December 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word reverie
The name I gave my computer.
December 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the user fbharjo
Wow, other people need drugs to think of such things as you construct here; and I guess I would need some to fathom them (antecedent at your discretion). It's always thrilling when I can nevertheless make sense of things here often remind me of thoughts I once had yet still can't quite remember. Perhaps it's all due to change.
As I don't know your timezone, sleep well, whenever.
December 22, 2008
Telofy commented on the word sitzprobe
Depends on the seating furniture.
I've a wicker chair here that is really comfy. Currently I'm sitting on a rather ordinary desk chair though.
December 22, 2008
Telofy commented on the word tuning machines
A useful little tuning program which is likely to be already included in most distribution's repositories.
Something entirely different, more from my area of study: The Turing Machine.
Edit: Well, not entirely. And sorry for playing the Oedipus (Thou art the informal notion of effective method in logic and mathematics).
December 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word equally
In Pushing Daisies I came upon the cute pronunciation /ikw'ɪli/. :-)
December 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word sigh
And for me most of you guys and she-guys have unfavorable timezones...
December 19, 2008
Telofy commented on the list •-prime-numbers-in-songs
A friend has pointed out a problem with this list. There is a song called 99 Bottles of Beer which could easily be exploited to add any number of prime numbers to this list as there is a version of this song which is based upon an ever increasing sequence of numbers. That could definitely spoil th fun...
Perhaps you should restrict this list to prime numbers in songs with static lyrics or something such as that.
Good luck.
December 19, 2008
Telofy commented on the word open-list
@Prolagus-Paradox: Kudos, wonderful. :-)
December 18, 2008
Telofy commented on the word pimpquin
You made me curious but all I can find are pimped penguins...
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1185609939055031680zvdUeF
http://forum.teamxbox.com/archive/index.php/t-552593.html
http://www.stubbychubby.com/seaanimals.htm
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1958.html
or ask her:
http://diab1e-b1anc.livejournal.com/11217.html?thread=31697
December 18, 2008
Telofy commented on the word haskell
An exceedingly flauschig and functional programming language.
December 17, 2008
Telofy commented on the word flauschig
An adjective (and now also adverb) of paramount importance to the German language.
December 17, 2008
Telofy commented on the word amooth
to amooth: to become increasingly exhausted and weary due to hot and humid weather.
to amooth s.o.: torture and interrogation method consisting of locking the subject up in a sauna for an extended period of time.
December 17, 2008
Telofy commented on the word watchan
Ok, here comes my version, only with reversed causality:
Watchan is a program designed to watch 4chan (and other imageboards but I think they aren't yet included in the configuration) and the next sentence is false. The previous sentence is true so I haven't said anything and thus didn't break rules 1 and 2, right? Hmm, I think I have to note this paradox down in formalized notation to understand what I've just asserted... ^^
Edit: Ok, I still don't fathom it.
December 17, 2008
Telofy commented on the word watchan
Hey, thanks, it's the name I gave a program of mine, but I won't spoil the game by elaborating on the origin of the term. ^^
(Unless someone wants me to.)
It has the tendency to crash after some time for the threads are not properly synchronized, but currently I don't have the time and motivation to continue that project...
December 17, 2008
Telofy commented on the word �?�
As a child I had a(n) (of course unused) toilet brush among my favorite cuddly toys.
December 16, 2008
Telofy commented on the word �? �? �? ▬ ▬ ▬ �? �? �?
· — — — — — · — · — · · · · ·
or
�? ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ �? ▬ �? ▬ �? �? �? �? �?
I like the small dots & dashes more for they are more congruous to my shy disposition...
December 16, 2008
Telofy commented on the word bliss
"Ignorance is bliss." -- Cypher, Matrix
December 16, 2008
Telofy commented on the word grammatolatry
syn: verbolatry
December 16, 2008
Telofy commented on the word ciao
You can't negate implications like that. ^^
That "ciao" is "a statement acknowledging something or someone" does not necessarily mean that any statement acknowledging something or someone is a ciao. Only for bijective relations both such statements would be true, respectively, it would be a bijective relation if both statements were true.
Ciao.
December 16, 2008
Telofy commented on the user plethora
Congrats!
(From another 08er ^^)
December 15, 2008
Telofy commented on the word maieutic
I think that perhaps bneenan84 is distinguishing between an objective and a subjective reality, so that when (s)he says "this website" (s)he's acknowledging its existence within this subjective reality while its existence in the objective reality remains doubtful. "I believe this website does not exist" would then either mean that the objective existence of a subjectively perceived website is doubted or simply that (s)he would believe "such a website" to be inexistent within whichever reality, referring to some kind of perhaps unlikely notion.
Please excuse possible inaccuracies, I'm currently in a lecture.
December 15, 2008
Telofy commented on the word unknown unknowns
That's just "A live-editing content system backed by a Git repository", so nothing bad at all.
December 15, 2008
Telofy commented on the list denizens
So mermaids are denizens, right? ;-)
December 14, 2008
Telofy commented on the word keep true
The expression found me while I was watching The Big Bang Theory, but the writers intended it to be obscure:
"Stay low. Bear left. Now keep true."
"What?"
"It means 'go straight'."
"Can't you just say 'go straight'..."
"You don't say 'go straight' when you give bearings, you say 'keep true'."
Concerning "thesaurus": At first I couldn't decide between "to thesaurus" and "to thesaurus up", but in the end I concluded that the latter sounds to deliberately run-of-the-mill.
And thanks for the quotes.
November 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word keep true
Empirical: Great, and even one of the words I didn't thesaurus.
I can't imagine how I survived the years before I knew "empirical" resp. "empirisch". ^^
Under "true", there are a few promising entries in a couple of dictionaries I just checked (I have to connect to a VPN to access the OED):
"Determined with reference to the earth's axis, not the magnetic poles: true north." -- Heritage
"i. Of bearings: measured relative to true North." -- OED
And Heritage also avers that "true" and "tree" are related, and with the exception of the crooked and the gnarled ones, those are quite straight as well. ;-)
November 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word keep true
I'm not sure I know what you mean by idyllic hope but it sounds like something that would soon succumb to subfusc and probably ungrounded worries and anxieties accompanied by selectively over-interpreted empirical data. At least it's not always that way, so I always have to consoling knowledge that it is mainly just my subconscious filtering my perception in a somewhat unpropitious (inauspicious, unfavorable) way...
How is self-trust uncomplicated to discuss? ^^
November 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word keep true
I hope you mean Schiller. Of course I'm not to doubt that it is the zenith of aptness.
I was only wondering about my "bid ... welcome" sentence. I never used that before for I just discovered that bid bit on dict.cc.
On a different note, I still regard my self as quite young, yet I worry that with time my hopes and dreams will crumble down to a desperate heap of resignation. The last time a few days ago, while being absent-minded during a lecture...
November 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word keep true
I'm honoured by your considerateness, quoting such a significant poet from my native country and I'm thus trying to convey my gratitude by employing your British orthography. ;-)
It seems you are on Wordie for about a week now, so let me bid you slightly delayed welcome.
(Strange construction... Does that work?)
November 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word housing
This is a picture from the opening sequence of The Big Bang Theory.
Is there a name for this particular housing scheme? I keep spotting such configurations on google maps.
November 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word keep true
I heard that "keep true" means as much as "go straight" when giving directions. Can anyone confirm that or back it up with a dictionary entry or something? Thanks.
November 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word erizo
Hence erinaceous.
November 20, 2008
Telofy commented on the word t20
"t" is the twentieth letter.
November 20, 2008
Telofy commented on the word moth
/mɔθθə/ or /mɔθðə/?
Or still differently?
In German it's "Motte", simply without the "h"s.
November 17, 2008
Telofy commented on the word ^^
I've started evaluating the chat log data. The current release can be found here: http://yu-shin.de/foo/evaluation.pdf
As stated in the document, newer versions will probably just overwrite the document (for reasons of laziness). Be warned.
And enjoy your reduplicated circumflexes.
November 7, 2008
Telofy commented on the word ^^
I seldom see ^_^, though I think it isn't uncommon either. But o_O and ^_^, it seems to me, represent two distinctly different emotions...
I'm currently downloading gigabytes of chat logs, so I can perhaps post some hard facts here by tomorrow. :-)
November 7, 2008
Telofy commented on the word ^^
I usually interpreted them as raised eyebrows. There is a short mention on wikipedia. Perhaps I should statistically analyze chat logs. Later...
Sleep well, whenever that will be in your timezone.
November 6, 2008
Telofy commented on the word ^^
Hello World.
I've had several discussions with friends about "^^". The point at issue is whether or not it ought to be separated from the text by a whitespace. Here some examples:
"It's over nine thousand!^^"
"It's over nine thousand! ^^"
Perhaps a special whitespace like a thin space would be appropriate.
Intuitively I used the space at first, but then I observed many other people omitting it and asked them which usage they deem correct. Until recently the outcome of my informal survey remained largely to the disfavor of the whitespace, but now I notice an increasing number of instances of deliberate use of the separating space.
Smilies are usually separated from the text, while punctuation marks are not. Personally I'm inclined to assign "^^" to the category of smilies, hence my initial use of whitespaces, but lacking solid arguments for my position I yielded to the seeming majority who omitted them.
Now I don't know anymore what to do or believe, please help!
Thanks in advance.
November 6, 2008
Telofy commented on the user bonnie
A problem is also that you might be successful: that can be pretty scary.
November 5, 2008
Telofy commented on the user bonnie
They usually have a decent virus and spyware collection I guess. Unless they run Linux. But to configure this socks proxy you only need the browser and the OpenSSH client.
I found a little description here.
November 4, 2008
Telofy commented on the user bonnie
Right, but often they are neither encrypted nor trusted—they can read your entire traffic if they wont.
Edit: Look what I found: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/each other :-)
November 4, 2008
Telofy commented on the word dekantieren
German for "to decant".
November 4, 2008
Telofy commented on the word english reasearch paper
Googling for "brennah kelsey taylor bonnie trevor lauren charlie" you get links to the Atholton High School. Or did they already mention the name of their school?
November 4, 2008
Telofy commented on the user bonnie
About the censoring at school: Simply run a ssh-server at home and then, when you are at school, just configure your browser to use it as a socks proxy. Not only will the censoring be ineffective, your connection will even be encrypted. In case you have a dynamic IP, simply use dyndns.com. That's how we did it back then in the good old days. Good luck.
November 4, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
Now that the election is nearly over, could you also optimize the css in a way that it looks decent on different resolutions? On xga the font is huge hence I've changed quite a lot with stylish. Thanks!
November 4, 2008
Telofy commented on the user reesetee
Great to hear someone is enjoying my lists. :-)
Good luck listing.
October 29, 2008
Telofy commented on the word german oral exam
Well, I know Colbert Report, yet I've no clue for what kind of German exam this would be useful. Anyway, when you know the other one really good, like a good friend or something, or when he/she is a child, you would say "Wieso hasst du Freiheit?" or "Warum hasst du Freiheit?", when you are taking to someone in any more formal context, the "du" is to be replaced by "Sie".
Perhaps someone can add the IPA pronunciation, I'm not yet fit in writing IPA.
Have fun.
October 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the user reesetee
Hi, to screen my Grandiloquent Dictionary list for misspellings I wrote a script that searches each word's page for "misspell". When running the word through OED I had to decide whether or not I wanted to count these alternative spellings as misspelling. I decided in favor of that approach for in the OED page of these words, they are indicated thus: "query_type=misspelling". So I don't necessarily see misspelling and variant spelling as contradictory. What do you think?
October 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word slitch
slitch:
= sleech
sleech:
1. Mud deposited by the sea or a river; soil composed of this.
2. A stretch of mud on a shore. Hence sleechy a., slimy, muddy.
-- OED
October 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word lichgate
See also lych gate.
October 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word ballicatter
Misspelling/Variant of ballycater.
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word flamfoo
Variant of flamfew.
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word hoxter
Misspelling of huckster.
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word huderon
Misspelling of huddroun.
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word nurk
Misspelling of nerk, according to OED.
(Nerk: "A foolish, objectionable, or insignificant person." -- OED)
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word ollendorfian
Misspelling of ollendorffian.
("Heinrich Gottfried Ollendorff (1803-65), German educator and grammarian" -- OED)
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word onimancy
Misspelling of onymancy.
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word orcheotomy
Misspelling of orchotomy.
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word psychopannuchist
Misspelling of psychopannychist.
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word jentation
"Breakfast" - OED
(pronunciation?)
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word deosculate
"To kiss affectionately. Hence deosculation, kissing." - OED
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word clapperdudgeon
OED lists these two alternative/non-standard spellings: clapperdogen, clapperdogeon.
"clapperdrudgeon" is not in the index.
October 21, 2008
Telofy commented on the word fernando poo
Anyone read Illuminatus!?
October 20, 2008
Telofy commented on the word grub
My bootloader. :-)
October 19, 2008
Telofy commented on the word sufferage
Searching for *age in the online OED yields 2855 results.^^
October 16, 2008
Telofy commented on the word serendipity
Bodhi, serendipity is our Lucksmith.
October 13, 2008
Telofy commented on the word connexion
"It the present perfect always implies a strong connexion with the present and is chiefly used in conversations, letters, newspapers, and wireless reports." -- Thomson & Martinet, A Practical English Grammar (fifth impression, 1972)
See also Oxford comma.
October 8, 2008
Telofy commented on the word apothegm
"Gunnie had been loyal to me and to Urth, not to her comrades; and perhaps we are unable to advance some paragon of loyalty to an apothegm only because loyalty (in the final analysis) is choice." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 7, 2008
Telofy commented on the word bugs
I put html comment signs around the list name. It's just a temporary collection no one should be irritated by scrolling my lists. Oh, right, we need private lists. :-)
(And perhaps there should be a bit tighter restrictions for using html.)
October 6, 2008
Telofy commented on the word sine
Could someone enlighten me as to whether or not sine in the Latin sense of "without" is also pronounced /saɪn/? Thanks.
Edit: I hope the program is right: http://www.dict.cc/?s=sine qua non
I now have access to the online OED, I'm so ecstatic!
OED says: /'saɪnɪ/ or /'sɪneɪ/
October 6, 2008
Telofy commented on the word vates
"I said, 'Your friend's neck has been broken.'
He answered, 'You should know, vates.'
'I broke it, then. I thought so.'"
-- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 6, 2008
Telofy commented on the word dear
“He burned the gnarled old apples and mulberries in his own fireplaces, for wood was dear;”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 6, 2008
Telofy commented on the word myste
Sorry, mystes seems to be already singular.
October 3, 2008
Telofy commented on the word mystes
OED says: "One initiated into mysteries."
It seems to be singular; I guess myste is wrong then, I'll delete it from my list.
October 3, 2008
Telofy commented on the word cerulean blue
Somewhere in that season I stopped watching X-Files. Yet Cerulean Blue stays burned into my brain.^^
October 3, 2008
Telofy commented on the list a-6
A∴A∴
Somehow reminiscent of Illuminatus!... :-)
October 3, 2008
Telofy commented on the word griefer
I guess (ought I put some word here?) meeting them personally they'd turn out completely nice dudes (or she-dudes). Oh well, this world is quite confusing.^^
October 3, 2008
Telofy commented on the list ways-in-which-my-brain-is-somewhat-broken
I use to enjoy reading through all those wonderful wikipedia articles about mental disorders. It's always soothing to know there are names for my problems. ;-)
October 3, 2008
Telofy commented on the word scourgey
Seconded. Whedon for president (or Bundeskanzler)!
But are dialogs usually that witty and snappy in Californian High School libraries and Magick Shops? Scares me... Our colder weather must render us totally dull around here then.
October 3, 2008
Telofy commented on the list autological-words
@yarb: dictionary.com concurs.
October 2, 2008
Telofy commented on the word queer
Yes, thanks, I like it, too, but as long as I'm not suddenly turned into a woman, I don't actually need the term homosexual that frequently. Besides, also in informal German speech it would sound spicy I think.^^
October 2, 2008
Telofy commented on the word wiktionary
A Firefox extension I've found to be exceedingly useful:
WikiLook
Have fun!
October 2, 2008
Telofy commented on the word queer
I wonder, when a native speaker hears the word queer in whatever context, is the first association homosexual or is the order really more like the one on dictionary.com (with homosexual in fifth place)?
October 2, 2008
Telofy commented on the list autological-words
I know the term from Gödel, Escher, Bach. But what's heterological doing here? (rofl)
October 2, 2008
Telofy commented on the word english
@plethora & chained_bear: Yes, I totally agree. I really like German, yet there are various aspects that cause me to love English. Most of them are certainly utterly unconscious, a few others I think I have identified: In English there are so many words. The OED contains about 600,000 words, while the Duden holds about 130,000 to 145,000 words including common examples of those German compound nouns, by the help of which you can theoretically build infinitely many "correct" words. Of course there are also quite a lot foreign words, but while the wikipedia article on the English language says "the excessive use of Latinate words is considered at times to be either pretentious or an attempt to obfuscate an issue." in German it suffices to use just one of those foreign words and 80% of the population will be utterly discombobulated, will think you an arrogant pretentious spado (nothing against spados, it's a word Gene Wolfe used so I had to recycle it) and henceforth eschew you. With the remaining 20% it's real fun. Sometimes I could talk German with a friend of mine and in the course of this we used so many foreign and old words that save for us no one around us understood what we were talking about. In English even the most synonymous synonyms, of which there is such a variety, have each distinctly different connotations. I imagine, with what precision I could limn my thoughts once I acquired the necessary expertise. Also I yearn to read (and understand to some degree^^) works by Shakespeare and Joyce. Much similarly there is this fluency: I've read German texts by Novalis, which are gorgeous and convey a sense of flow that is marvelous, but almost anything else I've read and I'm reading sounds rather harsh and angular... In English it's but onerous for me to come about some text whose fluency, accuracy and elegance is such that—in a very positive sense—it gave me the creeps (looking for a better depiction).
Also there seems to be a much greater potential for puns in English than in German (very important point for me). And last but not, well, last of course it is much easier to learn more. In German I have to really strain all my serendipity to come across a new word that is not too specific as to be used in some situation and anyway, almost no one will understand me (ok, that's not the point). In English on the contrary I usually just have to visit a random website to find a few useful words I didn't know. That's much more convenient. Oh, and the dubbers always have so discongruous voices and the lips move all differently. And English slang tends to sound prettier I think.^^
Hmpf, now I feel bad for all the things I haven't listed...
Edit: Oh, and wikipedia says: "(...) there is no Academy to define officially accepted words and spellings." which in my view preserves a sense of purity. While within axiomatic systems or quasi-axiomatic ones there is this mathematical and logical purity which is maximized by beautiful precise unambiguous univocal definite definitions, language being a so diametrically opposite and complementary concept seems only to be harmed by such endeavors...
October 2, 2008
Telofy commented on the word complementarity
See also complementarity.com. Yet it's still mostly in German.
October 2, 2008
Telofy commented on the word relative pronoun
I've got a whole book exclusively about the relative pronoun (in Latin)! *boast* ^^
October 2, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
About the sorting: Whenever the list owner selects one sort of sort, it could be saved as the default sort of the list—for him and for everyone else.
Furthermore: Isn't there a way to achieve this "Move" and "Delete" with Ajax, so the page needn't be reloaded? When I go through my lists to move or delete specific words, I'm always quite lost when the page reloads and I have no clue where I was.
October 2, 2008
Telofy commented on the word john mcgrath desktop buddy
"Some people juggle geese!" -- Wash, Firefly
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word amschaspand
"As though an amschaspand had touched them with his radiant wand, the fog swirled and parted to let a beam of green moonlight fall." -- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word arctother
"His jaws were as big as an arctother's and his canines as long
as my index finger (...)" -- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
"The claws of an arctother had been shaped from his fingers (...)" -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word optimate
"(...) and the great families—then as now—preferred to inter their long-limbed dead in vaults on their own estates. But the armigers and optimates of the city favored the highest slopes, near the Citadel wall;" -- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word alzabo
In Gene Wolfe's New Sun novels: An animal with prominent eyes that eats humans inheriting (parts of) their personalities and can then speak with their voices.
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word dimarchi
"They were guarded by dimarchi, hard-bitten troopers in armor that looked
as if it had been made for use and used." -- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word abuatte
"Many abuattes roamed the gardens of the House Absolute, and because the lower servants (ditchers, porters, and the like) occasionally trapped them for the pot, they were wary of men. I often watched and envied them as they ran up some trunk without falling—and, indeed, seemingly without knowledge of the aching hunger of Urth at all." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word hierogrammate
"I would have laughed at those windows, if I had not been laughing at myself already so that I would not weep. These Hierogrammates who ruled the universe and what lay beyond had not merely mistaken another for me, but now sought to remind me, who could forget nothing, of the scenes of my life; and did so (so it seemed to me) less skillfully than my own memories could have. For though every detail was present, there was something subtly mistaken about each view." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word zoanthrope
"Not the monkeys, since the monkeys are there still. Perhaps something like the zoanthropes, though smaller. The zoanthropes always make for the mountains, I've noticed, and they climb trees in the high jungle there." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word jiber
"Or maybe a sailor will fight with an officer and get written up for punishment. Then he'll go off and join the jibers. We call them that because it's what you say a boat does when she makes a turn you don't want—she jibes." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
The space ship is so vast and ancient that various completely independent cultures have formed, plus sub-cultures, in this case the utterly undergroundy jibers.
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word hetrochthnous
"The hetrochthnous worlds must by this time have reshaped humanity to conform to their own spheres." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
Probably derived from heterochthonous. Link.
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word atrox
“He seated himself on the floor at my feet, not cross-legged (as I would have sat in his place) but squatting in a way that reminded me at first of a dog, then of an atrox or some other great cat.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word bacculus
“… there stood the Autarch Severian, … the bacculus of power in his hand.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word pont
"(...) and I had reached the moment when Father Inire and I had embraced, and I had mounted the pont to the ship of the Hierodules, which was to take me to this ship, the ship of the Hierogrammate, the ship of Tzadkiel, though I did not know it." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word arsinoither
"The mace head was a gear wheel; it struck him where the shoulder joins the neck, with every ounce of strength I possessed behind it.
I might as effectively have clubbed an arsinoither. Still conscious and still strong, he struck me as that animal strikes a dire-wolf. The mace flew from my hands, and his weight crushed the breath from my body." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
(Don't worry; despite everything that passage is going to be all happy endingy.)
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word thylacosmil
"Looking past my guide, I saw something leap into view, hurl a spinning, many-pointed knife, and spring at us with the heavy-shouldered bounds of a thylacosmil." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word contus
“A bolt of flame from some contus or war spear roared like a furnace, splashing blue fire across the bulkhead in back of me, …” —Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word lucivee
“… or the lucivee with which Agia had torn my cheek, …”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
A (usually lethal) weapon, which can be held and hidden in one hand.
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word notule
“When Jonas and I rode to the House Absolute, we were attacked by Hethor’s notules, mirror-fetched creatures that fly like so many scraps of scorched parchment up a chimney, but for all their insubstantiality can kill.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word pentadactyl
"A flier like a great locust thrummed overhead; I watched it until it was out of sight, feeling the ghost of the strange wind blown from the pentadactyls that had attacked our cavalry at Orithyia." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word schiavoni
"(...) and I was able for the first time to see the full face of their prisoner too. (...) I knew my own reflected my fear, and felt much as I had when the Ascian pentadactyls had whirled over Guasacht's schiavoni." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word moonvine
"Most had now folded their hearts in the bowers of their petals, and only a pale moonvine blossomed, though there was no moon." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word shah mat
"But yes, imagine that we desire to play shah mat upon a board whose squares are rafts on that sea. We move, yet even as we move the rafts stir and slip into some new combination; and to move, we must paddle from one raft to the next, which takes so long." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word aquastor
"He had been an aquastor, like those who had fought for me in Yesod, created from my mind; thus he had believed, as I had, that the undine had saved me because I would be a torturer and an Autarch." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word khaibit
“I had been brutal enough with the khaibit Thecla of the House Azure, then as mild and clumsy as any untouched boy with the real Thecla in her cell; …”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word cultellarius
“Who’ll take you, Herena? Is your village raided by cultellarii?”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word urth
In Gene Wolfe's New Sun novels: The name of the planet earth in the far future (at the time our sun's life reaches its end).
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word kronosaur
“The crowd parted as waves separate for the terrible jaws of a kronosaur, and Ceryx advanced through it.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word hyalite
"Os was already far behind us, and would have been out of sight had not the atmosphere been as clear as hyalite." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word empyrean
“The autochthons say that their cattle can speak but do not, knowing that to speak is to call up demons, all our words being only curses in the tongue of the empyrean.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word bonaventure
See sarcin.
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word demicannon
See sarcin.
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word sarcin
"The supplies he was giving us were in long sarcins of about the bigness of a demicannon's barrel lashed to the base of the bonaventure." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word apostis
"For a time the apostis glowed like a forge; gradually it dimmed and went out, and our ship resumed a more conventional position, (...)" -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the word rent
“There was only the azure of her seas, glimpsed through the rents in her surging clouds, and occasionally a flash of land, brown or green.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
October 1, 2008
Telofy commented on the list •-wordie-pro
I'm afraid there must be a bug in "always be right"...
September 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the user Telofy
So it's actually a week now. Shiver me timbers!
I would have liked to answer on your individual profile pages, but that would have been bound to ensue redundancy.
Most of these 3333+ words stem from the Grandiloquent Dictionary and weren't copied by hand. There is also a pretty little collection of quick-and-dirty python scripts I wrote, which are assisting me. ^^
Sleeping indeed becomes an issue btw. Since you pay for Wordie PRO per year and not per page traffic, it would be utter squander.
Thanks for the motivation!
September 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word founder
“You are the New Sun. You will be returned to your Urth, and the White Fountain will go with you. The death agonies of the world you know will be offered to the Increate. And they will be indescribable—continents will founder, as has been said. Much that is beautiful will perish, and with it most of your race; but your home will be reborn.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
September 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word gradin
-- dictionary.com
September 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word enthean
"Divinely inspired; wrought up to enthusiasm." -- The Free Dictionary
September 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word question
I got a question, too. Does anyone know a movie or a series, where lots of seldom words and constructions are used?
September 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word amidoinitrite
"Am I doing it right?"
September 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the list such-and-such
amidoinitrite?
September 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word bibliophibians
Reminds me of M. C. Escher.
September 30, 2008
Telofy commented on the word ajax
There was a wikipedia link missing here.
September 29, 2008
Telofy commented on the word web 2.0
The more Ajax the more 2.0. Perhaps it's not that simple.
September 29, 2008
Telofy commented on the word apport
In The Urth of the New Sun (Gene Wolfe), apports are all kinds of beings who are somehow unintentionally caught in the giant sails of spaceships floating through time and space.
And thx for purport. :-)
September 29, 2008
Telofy commented on the word misandronist
Same as misandrist. Misspelling?
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word lebensabschnittsgefahrte
From the German "Lebensabschnittsgefährte".
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word schrecklichkreit
Misspelling of the German word "Schrecklichkeit" meaning as much as horribleness.
http://www.dict.cc/?s=schrecklichkeit
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word mutist
"But Sidero said one time that mutist means a rebel." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the list c s-bird-–-grandiloquent-dictionary
Wow, thanks a lot, to everyone hunting down those errors.
About the description: I'm on it.
Edit:
I'm currently running all 2700 Words through aspell, dict.cc, dictionary.com, wordnet, ninjawords and thefreedictionary.com; this will take about an hour. About one third to one fourth of them fail this test so far.
Another Edit:
Done. The resulting list is here.
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word fuck
Right, "f" and "d" are so ducking close on qwerty/z keyboards; that really ducks!
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the list c s-bird-–-grandiloquent-dictionary
Oh, thanks for notifying me; perhaps I can find a way to locate some of those misspellings. I wonder if I should change the list name once the words are different from those in the dictionary...
Thanks again and a grand weekend.
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word inert
A nerd is never inert.
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word buffy
And I use to read wikipedia to acquaint myself the plot of anything before watching it as I sort of dislike that much suspense and tension. Not that I haven't had my timid emotional outbursts and demure paroxysms.^^
Trying to aptly limn emotional conditions is like trying to hit a puppy by throwing a live bee at it, you know?
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word ardurous
Like ardent:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ardurous
"Lo! further on, Where flames the arduous Spirit of Isidore. --Cary."
Where did the "r" go?
September 28, 2008
Telofy commented on the word bugs
On the mobile pages there is a "=" missing:
input type"text" name="word" class="w220"
For example:
http://wordie.org/m
http://wordie.org/m/list/16708
Have fun!
September 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word rapprochement
/ˌræproʊʃˈmɑ̃; Fr. raprɔʃˈmɑ̃/
Source
September 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word thwart
Fuck, how do you get your tongue to pronounce this w after the θ in /θwɔrt/? ^^
Like this I guess...
September 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word coffle
also here
September 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the word immund
Is it pronounced /ɪ'mʌnd/?
September 27, 2008
Telofy commented on the list words-of-eulogistic-praise
Possible... ^^
Perhaps that would be a source for more words. Thanks.
September 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the word eirenicon
"a proposal made in order to achieve peace or harmony (formal)" -- MSN Encarta (sorry)
September 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the list words-i-assumed-i-had-not-been-misspelling-until-greeted-somewhere-by-the-fact-of-my-wrongness
Being German I write much less English than most of you I guess, so only a few months ago, spell-checking a readme and a changelog file for an OpenSource tool I wrote, I also had the same "separate" epiphany. Had to correct it in almost every file... ^^
"interesting" came out a bit earlier.
September 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
I could use comprehensive statistics: For example the total time I'm online on wordie, how often each list was accessed, how many completely new terms I've contributed (and which), etc.
But most of all I need those customizable links in each list entry.
Have a nice weekend. ~
September 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the list the-collins-death-row
Just added them all to dict.cc. They'll stage a superb comeback.
September 26, 2008
Telofy commented on the user vanishedone
Hi, great blog, I especially like your diction and those long sentences. :-)
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
I've now activated "autohinter" and stuff, the font face looks ok now. My terminal looks quite different now, perhaps I'll switch back, don't know yet.
Concerning the size I've decided to use only 3 to 4 different sizes, instead of 9 viz. "small", "medium" and "xx-large" plus "300%" for h1.
http://pastie.org/279025
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
My current approach is to delete everything from the all.css except for the part concerning fonts. That way I can perhaps introduce relative sizes and can also change the font face as that looks funny here.
Got a singular sense of readability the author of this all.css file.^^
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
Thanks! I've tried Stylish a few days ago, but later the solution with No Squint seemed more apt then. I guess I'm going to revise this verdict. Perhaps I'll finally register an OpenID to publish it, if the sheet should meet my expectations.
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word 7457
The actual answer is of course 42, as usual, but wikipedia tends to be more specific I'm afraid.^^
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word proper
"Just underground lies the examination room; beneath it, and thus outside the tower proper (for the examination room was the propulsion chamber of the original structure) stretches the labyrinth of the oubliette." -- Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
Oh, not the slightest idea, but they have a quite elaborate comments feature there. ;-)
A way of comparing and synchronizing lists would be totally awesome btw:
Deleting all words from list a which are already in lists b or c.
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word 7457
41
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
Right, hence the restriction to one extra level as on youtube. The majority of reply urges would become satisfiable.
Besides, if the text would be smaller—the way I like it—the lines would be too long anyway, so indention would be rather beneficial.
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word khan
"… that by the time we reached the gate of the necropolis, the statue of Night atop the khan on the opposite bank was a minute scratch of black against the sun’s field of flame, …"
—Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
I'm also particularly fond of dual-level commenting structures as seen for example on youtube, for first-level comments usually address a broader audience, while with replies to comments there is often only a specific recipient, who could thus be easily informed once such interest in his stated opinion has been taken. Yet the necessity of restricting the structural depth of such conversation might be viewed as partially depriving the concept of its intrinsic theoretical elegance and purity... Whatever. Have fun.
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word common sense
"Common sense isn't." -- Carol Schaffer
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word hypocrisy
"Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue." -- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word propensity
"Self-restraint is indulgence of the propensity to forgo." -- Ambrose Bierce
Edit:
According to wikiquote it's:
"Self-denial is indulgence of a propensity to forgo."
September 25, 2008
Telofy commented on the word whom
“… such is the kindness of the torturers, whom I was subsequently to betray.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
September 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the list dash-s-list
Wonderful, that list seems to exudes a certain ineffable flavor of Gene Wolfeiness. Care to contribute to my open Gene Wolfe list?
Ciao!
September 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
I know, No Squint just saves the scale for the entire site, so you don't have to resize each time you open a new page.
September 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word 7457
7457 is leetspeak for "tast". But what is "tast"?
Crossfoot is of course 23.
September 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word thanks
Thanks a bunch, John!
I can't imagine how I managed to survive the last 19 years without wordie.
September 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word features
Hi, a handy feature would be to have customizable links to arbitrary sites after each word in lists and on the individual word pages that include a placeholder for the specific word. Much like the buttons up there, but customizable. For example when scrolling through lists I often don't know what a word means, and for me, being German, the simplest solution is to look it up in dict.cc. It would be very convenient if there was a link to "http://www.dict.cc/?s=$w" ($w being a placeholder) which opens dict.cc in a new tab.
Another feature I miss is some way of decreasing the font size. Many pages provide a way to customize the main font size, for with different screen resolutions and different diopter different sizes seem appropriate. Atm I'm using the firefox addon "No Squint" to scale the page to 80%, yet as everything (optionally except pictures) is scaled, the text which is small anyway becomes a bit too small.
Also I'm missing links/buttons for wiktionary.org lookups, and in case you have some way of obtaining it, the IPA pronunciation of words could prove valuable as well. So far I'm always looking it up on dictionary.com.
And thanks a lot for this marvelous site!
September 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word puppy
"Trying to send him to a specific place is sort of like... like... trying to hit a puppy, by throwing a live bee at it." - Willow, BtVS (Triangle)
September 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word myste
Perhaps. Thanks. :-)
September 24, 2008
Telofy commented on the word dhole
“They would be on us like a pack of dholes, Madame”
—Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
September 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word oblesque
“I swerved to dodge an oblesque that appeared to shoot up before me, and collided full tilt with a man in a black coat.”
—Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
September 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word badelaire
"I heard the ring of steel on stone, as if someone had struck one of the grave markers with a badelaire." -- Gene Wolfe - "The Book of the New Sun"
September 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word myste
"Certain mystes aver that the real world has been constructed by the human mind, since (...)" -- Gene Wolfe - "The Book of the New Sun"
Help! What does that word mean?
September 23, 2008
Telofy commented on the word allotheism
Actually I've written it myself. First posted in an xkcd forum and now copied here, but you're right, I could have said so.
Have fun.
September 22, 2008
Telofy commented on the word pulchritudinous
Correct me if I'm at fault, but to me "pulchritudinous" sounds quite superficial in comparison to "beautiful"...
September 22, 2008
Telofy commented on the word allotheism
"Allotheism - defined as the worship of strange gods - is based upon the sole principle continuously chaperoning mankind's amelioration: To ambitiously forgo the habitual liberate humanity's potentiality! Still for this artifice of evolution to prosper it is but essential to disunite with any biased animosity against heterodoxy and even iconoclasm lest one be entangled in as forlorn as fatuous devotion. Hence convert."
September 22, 2008
Telofy commented on the word willow
"...
It's cruel I know
At least they tell me so
Well someone lock me up and throw away the key
Because I'm not ashamed, oh no
Oh, willow
That I only write love songs
To those whom I don't love
I only reach for him
Who's tied to someone else's glove
That which I hold inside
Which I admire and deride
Which I protect and hide is yours
Slander and dissention
They're parlor games to me
Papers overrun with lies too mad to mention
You say they never hurt you
No consequence, I'm happy
We're much too far above it all
But oh no, that's not true
These wicked pastimes take their toll
These tyrant vices break your soul
Deliver me from all I am
And all I never want to be
..."
-- Emilie Autumn - "Willow"
September 22, 2008
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