Civet cats are perhaps best known for the scrapings of their perineal glands, which produce a musky substance used in high-end fragrances.
The substance has also traditionally been used in "Civet absolute," an ingredient in the food additives used to add butter, caramel, and rum flavorings to sweets.
Jean by Oliver went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. This is a song from the soundtrack of the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and was written by Rod McKuen who also recorded it.
I have a little school singing book from the early 1950s and it has this same song in it but they use the name of Aunt Nancy. I think Rhoda and Rhodie sound better.
My kids were brought up with a folk song called Go Tell Aunt Rhodie, about a grey goose who died in the mill pond a 'standing on her head. Is this the same song?
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte is the title song of the soundtrack for the film of the same name. It was recorded by Patti Page in 1965 and went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The metaphor of the silver bullet applies to any straightforward solution perceived to have extreme effectiveness. The phrase typically appears with an expectation that some new technology or practice will easily cure a major prevailing problem.
The term originates from folklore. Traditionally, the silver bullet is the only kind of bullet for firearms that is effective against a witch, vampire, monster, or a person living a charmed life.
The best known magical creature which is vulnerable to a silver bullet is a werewolf. The werewolf's vulnerability to silver actually dates back to the legend of The Beast of Gévaudan in which a gigantic Wolf is killed by a person wielding a gun loaded with silver bullets.
In different traditions, silver is thought to be the metal associated with the moon and with the human soul. It is likely that these associations have contributed to the legend of the silver bullet.
Cabin fever is a condition that produces restlessness and irritability caused from being in a confined space. The actual term is slang for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a party is isolated and/or shut in, alone or together, for an extended period.
The term possibly originated in the United States at the time when settlers would be snowed into their log cabins and had to wait for the spring thaw in order to travel to town. Another possible source for this phrase could be that during an outbreak of some disease, people who had a fever were confined to a cabin as a quarantine. Most likely, the phrase may be associated with ocean-crossing sailing ships in which passengers had to endure weeks and months of slow travel while living in cramped cabins below deck.
Maple syrup can also be processed into a wide variety of candy or confections including granulated or molded maple sugar, molded soft-sugar candy, maple cream, maple fondant, and "Jack Wax" or "Maple on Snow."
My favorite is molded maple sugar...semi-hardened maple sugar cooked down from maple syrup, molded into (usually) maple leaf shapes. Melts quickly in the mouth and has an surprisingly creamy consistency.
Rock candy (also called rock sugar) is a type of confectionery composed of relatively large sugar crystals. Homemade rock candy is commonly formed by allowing a supersaturated solution of sugar and water to crystallize onto a string or some other surface suitable for crystal nucleation. Heating the water before adding the sugar allows more sugar to dissolve and thus produces larger crystals. Crystals form after several days. Food coloring is often added to the mixture to produce colored candy.
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Excerpt from Big Rock Candy Mountain by Harry McClintock
On a summer day in the month of May a burly bum came hiking
Down a shady lane through the sugar cane, he was looking for his liking.
As he roamed along he sang a song of the land of milk and honey
Where a bum can stay for many a day, and he won't need any money
Oh the buzzin' of the bees in the cigarette trees near the soda water fountain,
At the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings on the Big Rock Candy Mountains
Turbinado sugar, also known as turbinated sugar, is a type of sugar cane extract. It is made by steaming unrefined raw sugar. Turbinado sugar is similar in appearance to brown sugar but paler, and in general the two can be exchanged freely in recipes. A popular brand name is Sugar in the Raw.
Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), a member of the Chenopodiaceae family, is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar.
The sugar beet is directly related to the beetroot, chard and fodder beet, all descended by cultivation from the sea beet.
Beet sugar accounts for 30% of the world's sugar production.
Well, I made a corrected entry...but this word has a nice ring to it. What is it called when Treeseed not only can't spell but can't see the light of day? A Phosmoron.
A prosphoron (Greek: Π�?όσφο�?ον, Offering) is a small loaf of bread used in Orthodox Christian ritual The plural form is prosphora(Π�?όσφο�?α).
A prosphoron is made up of two separate round pieces of dough which are placed one on top of another and baked together to form a single loaf. This double-loaf represents the two natures of Christ: human and divine. Before baking, each prosphoron is stamped with a seal usually bearing the image of a cross with the Greek letters IC XC NIKA ("Jesus Christ conquers") around the arms of the cross. This impression is baked into the bread and serves as a guide for the priest who will be cutting it.
To me it brings up the image of a butterfly and seems like a nick name that someone innocent and childlike would use for a butterfly.
Also it seems like it could mean someone "mingling" at a party, in a sincere way, only hurried by circumstance. Like a hostess who wants to be able to spend at least a few minutes with everyone at her party.
A pork barrel, literally, is a barrel in which pork is kept. The term is more commonly used as a political metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for projects that are intended primarily to benefit particular constituents or campaign contributors. This usage originated in American English.
Eureka (Greek "I have found it") is an exclamation used as an interjection to celebrate a discovery.
It is most famously attributed to the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes; he reportedly said "eureka!" when he stepped into a bath and noticed the water level rise -- he suddenly understood that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. This meant that the volume of irregular objects could be calculated with precision, a previously intractable problem. He is said to have been so eager to share it that he leapt out of his bathtub and ran through the streets of Syracuse naked.
An epicanthal fold, epicanthic fold, or epicanthus is a skin fold of the upper eyelid (from the nose to the inner side of the eyebrow) covering the inner corner (medial canthus) of the human eye. The epicanthal fold is present in people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent, as well as other ethnic groups including some Native Americans and Africans. Epicanthal folds may also be seen in young children of any race before the bridge of the nose begins to elevate.
The term "epicanthal fold" refers to a visually categorized feature; however the underlying physiological reason and purpose for its presence in any given individual may be entirely different.
All humans initially develop epicanthal folds in the womb. Some children lose them by birth, but epicanthal folds may also be seen in young children of any ethnicity before the bridge of the nose begins to elevate. They may persist where birth is pre-term, and sometimes also where the mother is alcoholic.
Epicanthal folds can cause a child's eyes to appear crossed, a scenario known as pseudostrabismus.
In many caucasian backgrounds and other groups who don't commonly possess the trait, the presence of the epicanthal fold can be a symptom of fetal alcohol syndrome, chromosomal disorders such as Down syndrome, Cri du Chat syndrome, or pre-term birth.
Pseudostrabismus is the false appearance of crossed eyes. When the eyes are actually crossed or not completely aligned with one another it is called strabismus. Pseudostrabimus generally occurs in infants and toddlers whose facial features are not fully developed. The bridge of their nose is wide and flat. With age, the bridge will narrow and the folds in the corner of the eyes will go away. This will cause the eyes to appear wider, and thus not have the appearance of strabismus. To detect the difference between strabismus and pseudostrabismus use a flashlight to shine into the child's eyes. When the child is looking at the light a reflection can be seen on the front surface of the pupil. If the eyes are aligned with one another then the reflection from the light will be in the same spot of each eye. If strabismus is present then the reflection from the light will not be in the same spot of each eye.
Ploidy is the number of homologous sets of chromosomes in a biological cell. The ploidy of cells can vary within an organism. In humans, most cells are diploid (containing one set of chromosomes from each parent), but sex cells (sperm and egg) are haploid. In contrast, tetraploidy (four sets of chromosomes) is a type of polyploidy and is common in plants, and not uncommon in amphibians, reptiles, and various species of insects.
Both men and women can be witches, brujos and brujas respectively. Brujos is the plural term that can mean either a group of male witches or both male and female witches. The female witch is considered the most powerful, and traditional brujos believe that the female passes down the sacred bloodline or spiritual bloodline (matriarchal lineage). This means that the line is inherited from a female but ends with a male.
The word bruja is believed to derive from bruxa, which is from the Celto-Iberian dialect in Spain evolving to what is known today as Gallego. It shares its roots with Portuguese. The present day Portuguese use the term bruxa. The original meaning is roughly, evil or unwholesome night-bird, but has evolved both in Portuguese and in Spanish to mean simply 'witch'.
The Dweller on the Threshold refers to an invisible malevolent entity that attaches to a human being. The term was first used by Bulwer-Lytton in his novel Zanoni.
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One explanation is that provided by Alice Bailey on Esoteric astrology, "From ancient recesses of the memory, from a deeply rooted past, which is definitely recalled, and from the racial and the individual subconscious (or founded and established thought reservoirs and desires, inherited and inherent) there emerges from individual past lives and experience, that which is the sumtotal of all instinctual tendencies, of all inherited glamours, and of all phases of wrong mental attitudes; to these, (as they constitute a blended whole) we give the name of the Dweller on the Threshold. This Dweller is the sumtotal of all the personality characteristics which have remained unconquered and unsubtle, and which must be finally overcome before initiation can be taken. Each life sees some progress made; some personality defects straightened out, and some real advance effected. But the unconquered residue, and the ancient liabilities are numerous, and excessively potent, and - when the soul contact's adequately established - there eventuates a life wherein the highly developed and powerful personality becomes, in itself, the Dweller on the Threshold.
Cauliflower ear (also hematoma auris or perichondrial hematoma) is a condition most common among wrestlers, rugby players, mixed martial artists, and boxers. If the external portion of the ear suffers a blow, a blood clot or other fluid may collect under the perichondrium. This separates the cartilage from the overlying perichondrium that is its source of nutrients, causing the cartilage to die. This leads to a formation of fibrous tissue in the overlying skin. When this happens, the outer ear becomes permanently swollen and deformed, thus resembling a cauliflower.
Kewpid agrees with Weart, quoted in Wikipedia article:
Later in 1946, the Operation Crossroads nuclear bomb tests were described as having a "cauliflower" cloud, but a reporter present also spoke of "the mushroom, now the common symbol of the atomic age." Mushrooms have traditionally been associated both with life and death, food and poison, making them a more powerful symbolic connection than, say, the "cauliflower" cloud.
Bible codes, originally known as Torah codes, are information patterns said to exist in encrypted or coded form in the text of the Bible, or, more specifically, in the Hebrew Torah, the first five books of Old Testament. The existence of these codes has been a topic of research by Old Testament scholars and students of Kabbalah for over a thousand years, and in more recent times have been a topic of study by modern mathematicians. In the mid-17th century influential mathematician Blaise Pascal, widely regarded as the "father of probability science" and "father of the modern computer" summarized his view in a one sentence assertion in his philosophical Pensées, concluding that "The Old Testament is a cipher."
Gematria (Rabbinic Hebrew גימטריה gēmaṭriy�?, from the Greek γεωμετ�?ία; English since the 17th century) is the numerology of the Hebrew language and Hebrew alphabet, and is used by its proponents to derive meaning or relative relationship. Several forms can be identified: the "revealed" form, which is prevalent in many forms of Rabbinic Judaism, and the "mystical form," a largely Cabbalistic practice. The word itself comes from the Greek word 'geometry' and the concept or system is the same as the Greek isopsephy and the Arabic Ḥis�?b al-Jummal. There is also a gematria of Latin-script languages, dating from the early Middle Ages, and very possibly back into Roman times, too. Recent times have also seen an emergence of new gematrias, though these lack a length of exploration that more ancient versions have seen.
The most common form of gematria is used occasionally in the Talmud and Midrash and elaborately by many post-Talmudic commentators. It involves reading words and sentences as numbers, assigning numerical instead of phonetic value to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. When read as numbers, they can be compared and contrasted with other words.
The Augur (pl: augurs) was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of the birds (flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of birds they are), known as "taking the auspices." The ceremony and function of the augur was central to any major undertaking in Roman society--public or private--including matters of war, commerce, and religion.
The derivation of the word augur is uncertain; ancient authors believed that it contained the words avi and gero --Latin for "directing the birds"--but historical-linguistic evidence points instead to the root aug-, "to increase, to prosper."
The words daemon, dæmon, are Latinized spellings of the Greek δαίμων (daimon), used purposely today to distinguish the daemons of Ancient Greek religion, good or malevolent "supernatural beings between mortals and gods, such as inferior divinities and ghosts of dead heroes" (see Plato's Symposium), from the Judeo-Christian usage demon, a malignant spirit that can seduce, afflict, or possess humans.
In economics, the term boom and bust refers to the movement of an economy through economic cycles.
The boom and bust cycle describes the cycle of economic upswings and downswings in the business economy and is considered inseparable from capitalism.
According to most economists, an economic boom is typically characterized by an increased level of economic output, a corresponding increase in aggregate demand, falling unemployment, and often, a rise in the inflation rate. During busts, or recessions, aggregate demand is low, inflation decreases, unemployment rises and national income falls. In extreme recessions deflation (a sustained fall in the general price level) may occur.
I have seen this word used as a generic term for a manmade ecological catastrophe, as in "We've got to clean up the river and stop the mill from dumping here. This thing is turning into a Chernobyl."
The most popular of Jewish folk dances/Israeli folk dances. It is usually performed to Jewish folk songs/Israeli folk songs, typically to the music of Hava Nagila.
To start the dance, everybody forms a circle, holding hands, and steps forward toward the right with the left foot, then follows with the right foot. The left foot is then brought back, followed by the right foot. This is done while holding hands and circling together in a fast and cheerful motion to the right. Large groups allow for the creation of several concentric circles.
"Hava Nagila" (הבה נגילה in Hebrew) is a Hebrew folk song, the title meaning "Let us rejoice". It is a song of celebration, especially popular amongst irreligious Jewish and Roma communities. In popular culture, it is used as a metonym for Judaism, and is a staple of band performers at Jewish festivals.
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When I was growing up in southern California in the early 1960s we were taught this song in public school physical education class along with a dance. The dance and the song together were called "The Hava Nagila" but the dance was actually the Horah.
The bathing machine was a device, popular in the 19th century, which was intended to allow people to wade in the ocean at beaches without violating Victorian notions of modesty. Bathing machines were in the form of roofed and walled wooden carts which would be rolled into the sea. Some had solid wooden walls; others had canvas walls over a wooden frame.
The bathing machine was part of sea-bathing etiquette which was more rigorously enforced upon women than men, but was expected to be observed by people of both sexes among those who wished to be considered "proper".
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I really urge you to read the rest of the Wikipedia entry for this contraption and see the pictures. Who knew?
Sheepshead is a card game related to the Skat family of games, originating in Central Europe in the late 1700s under the German name Schafkopf. Although Schafkopf literally means "sheepshead", the term is actually derived from Middle High German and referred to playing cards on an overturned barrel (from kopfen, meaning playing cards, and Schaff, meaning a barrel).
Sheepshead is played by two to eight players, where the variant with five players is the most common, by far. In the United States, Sheepshead is most commonly played in Wisconsin, which has a strong Germanic population.
Orange blossom is a traditional flower at weddings and its use dates back to the Crusades. It is believed to have been used by the Saracens to symbolise chastity and purity and the evergreen leaves are a symbol for everlasting love. A traditional ingredient of love potions
In architecture, a flying buttress, or arc-boutant, is usually on a religious building, used to transmit the thrust of a vault across an intervening space (which might be an aisle, chapel or cloister), to a buttress outside the building. The employment of the flying buttress means that the load bearing walls can contain cut-outs, such as for large windows, that would otherwise seriously weaken the vault walls.
The purpose of a buttress was to reduce the load on the vault wall. The majority of the load is carried by the upper part of the buttress, so making the buttress as a semi-arch provides almost the same load bearing capability, yet in a much lighter as well as a much cheaper structure. As a result, the buttress flies through the air, rather than resting on the ground and hence is known as a flying buttress.
The name phaeton derives from a Greek mythological character, Phaethon, who almost set the world on fire with his reckless driving. This type of carriage was made of wicker, making it quite lightweight. The Phaeton was intended for pleasure driving.
He drove a great roomy, double "phaeton" drawn by two satin bay horses.
A maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties. The cherries are first preserved in a brine solution (usually sulfur dioxide or alcohol), then soaked in a suspension of food coloring, sugar syrup, artificial and natural flavors, and other components. Maraschino cherries dyed red are typically almond-flavored, while cherries dyed green are usually peppermint-flavored.
The name maraschino refers to the marasca cherry and the maraschino liqueur made from it, in which maraschino cherries were originally preserved. They were, at first, produced for and consumed as a delicacy by royalty and the wealthy. Today they are a common dessert and drink garnish. Carmine, the coloring agent commonly used as a food dye, is derived from the cochineal insect.
This an old "company bread" and I'm not sure of its origins but I know it was old in my grandmother's day. It is a dessert quick bread containing walnuts, chocolate morsels, and most importantly cherries, maraschino cherries in particular. It is usually served at Christmastime. There are many recipes for Bishop's Bread on the Internet. Try making one.
The Antidoron (Greek: Ἀντίδω�?ον, Antíd�?ron) is ordinary, blessed, but non-eucharistic and non-consecrated, leavened bread seen in Eastern Orthodox and other Christian churches. It comes from the remains of the loaves of bread (prosphora) from which portions are cut for consecration as the Eucharist during the Divine Liturgy. Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine Rite also follow the practice of blessing and distributing antidoron.
Pandowdy - It is a deep-dish dessert that can be made with a variety of fruit, but is most commonly made with apples sweetened with molasses or brown sugar. The topping is a crumbly type of biscuit except the crust is broken up during baking and pushed down into the fruit to allow the juices to come through. Sometimes the crust is on the bottom and the desert is inverted before serving. The exact origin of the name Pandowdy is unknown, but it is thought to refer to the deserts plain or dowdy appearance.
A buckle is a type of cake made in a single layer with berries added to the batter. It is usually made with blueberries. The topping is similar to a streusel, which gives it a buckled or crumpled appearance.
Crisps and Crumbles - Crisps are baked with the fruit mixture on the bottom with a crumb topping. The crumb topping can be made with flour, nuts, bread crumbs, cookie or graham cracker crumbs, or even breakfast cereal. Crumbles are the British version of the American Crisp.
Betty or Brown Betty - A Betty consist of a fruit, most commonly apples, baked between layers of buttered crumbs. Betties are an English pudding dessert closely related to the French apple charlotte. Betty was a popular baked pudding made during colonial times in America.
noun. a sheer silk or rayon crepe of dull texture.
My note: Often with a crinkled look.
The New York Times of August 8, 1918, reporting on the wedding of President Woodrow Wilson's daughter Alice Wilson had this to say:
"The bride wore a gown of white Georgette crepe embroidered in beads and silk threads, made over satin. The skirt was short, with a panel in the back. Her tulle veil, which formed a train, was held with a coronet of rare old lace, loaned by Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, and the orange blossoms were those worn by the sisters of the bridegroom at their weddings."
The umiak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac or oomiak is a type of boat used by the Inuit for transportation. Its name means "woman's boat," as opposed to the kayak, which means "man's boat".
The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal as portrayed in the satirical pen and ink illustrated stories created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson during a twenty year period spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States.
The Gibson Girl was tall, slender yet with ample bosom, hips and bottom in the S-curve torso shape achieved by wearing a swan-bill corset. The images of her epitomized the late nineteenth and early 20th-century Western preoccupation with statuesque, youthful features, and ephemeral beauty. Her neck was thin and her hair piled high upon her head in the contemporary bouffant, pompadour, and chignon ("waterfall of curls") fashions.
The tall, narrow-waisted ideal feminine figure was portrayed as multi-faceted, always at ease and fashionable. Gibson depicted her as an equal and sometimes teasing companion to men.
: any of numerous rather large leaf-eating scarab beetles (subfamily Melolonthinae) that fly chiefly in late spring and have larvae that are white grubs which live in soil and feed chiefly on the roots of grasses and other plants —called also june beetle
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found predominantly in the upland parts of the British Isles but also in some parts of continental Europe.
They consist of a concave depression, no more than a few centimetres across, pecked into a rock surface and often surrounded by concentric circles also etched into the stone. Sometimes a linear channel called a gutter leads out from the middle.
The decoration occurs as a petroglyph on natural boulders and outcrops and also as an element of megalithic art on purposely worked megaliths such as the slab cists of the Food Vessel culture, some stone circles and passage graves such as the clava tombs and on the capstones at Newgrange.
Linnea borealis or americana, Caprofoliaceae, also known as twinflowers. Pink or white bell-shaped flowers of the honeysuckle family, which grow in terminal pairs. They bloomfrom late June to early August.
In addition to the basin and pitcher for washing the hands and face, washstands often had a roller or peg on the side for a towel and a cupboard underneath for the chamber pot.
A rug made with left-over scraps of fabric or from the remants of old clothes. In modern times made of new fabric. Long ropes are braided together from the scraps then the ropes are stitched together in an oval or round shape. See Braided rug example here
In square dancing allemande is a series of moves where dancers face their corners and turn around each other 360 degrees, dropping the handhold at the end as the dancers rejoin their respective partners. A lot of people in square dancing spell this "alamand." The caller usually calls out "allemande left" or "allemande right".
'Right and Left Grand', also known as 'Grand Right and Left', is a square dance move in which all eight dancers in the set, moving in a circular fashion, execute a series of four alternating hand pull-bies (right pull by, left pull by, right pull by, left pull by). Men (or gents) travel counter-clockwise around the ring, and ladies travel clockwise. The result is that all dancers end up half way across the set facing the same person they started with.
Dosado (also written do-sa-do) or Dos-a-dos (also written dos a dos) or do-si-do (also written do si do) is a basic dance step in such dances as square dance, contra dance, polka, various historical dances, and some reels.
The term is a corruption of the original French term dos-à-dos for the dance move, which means "back to back", as opposed to "vis-à-vis" which means "face to face".
It is a circular movement where two people, who are initially facing each other, walk around each other without or almost without turning, i.e, facing in the same direction (same wall) all the time. In most cases it takes 6-8 counts to complete.
A tectonic plate (also called lithospheric plate) is a massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere. Plate size can vary greatly, from a few hundred to thousands of kilometers across; the Pacific and Antarctic Plates are among the largest. Plate thickness also varies greatly, ranging from less than 15 km for young oceanic lithosphere to about 200 km or more for ancient continental lithosphere (for example, the interior parts of North and South America).
A stratovolcano, also called a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano composed of many layers of hardened lava, tephra, and volcanic ash. These volcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions.
A debutante (or deb) (from the French débutante, "female beginner") is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal presentation known as her "debut" or "coming out". Originally, it meant the young woman was eligible for marriage, and part of the purpose was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select upper class circle. This traditional event varies by region, but is typically referred to as a debutante ball if it is for a group of debutantes. A lone debutante might have her own "coming out party", or she might have a party with a sister or other close relative.
Out behind the woodpile or in some cases the wood shed is where your pa takes you to get a lickin', sometimes with a hick'ry switch. It is also the subject of a wonderful poem called The Wood-pile by Robert Frost.
A device that signals when a fish hits on your line. A flag "tips up" when the fish strikes and gives you the freedom to leave the fishing hole for a moment. (Possibly to drink beer or to warm up in the shanty.)
Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison in the state of Mississippi, USA. It is located on 18,000 acres (73 km²) in Parchman, Mississippi, and was built in 1901.
A number of bluesmen have been imprisoned in Parchman Farm and the prison features in a number of blues songs such as "Parchman Farm".
"Parchman Farm" is the title of songs about Mississippi State Penitentiary, known as Parchman Farm, a hard time prison because of the Trusty system which was later outlawed.
There have been a number of blues songs written about Parchman Farm and several Blues musicians were imprisoned there, including Bukka White (who wrote "Parchman Farm Blues"), and Eddie 'Son' House. In 1939, folklorist Alan Lomax recorded White and others at Parchman Farm for the Library of Congress. (Louisiana's Angola Prison Farm had a similar musical impact.)
Mose Allison created a much-covered version of "Parchman Farm". It has been covered by Blues Project, Cactus, Michael Chapman, Blue Cheer, Ray Condo, Rick Derringer, Georgie Fame, The Kingston Trio, John Mayall, Johnny Winter and others.
one of two identical single beds usually placed side by side in a single bedroom. Many married couples slept in twin beds in the 1940s and 1950s for the sake of "decency" and also individual comfort
A splitting maul (or mall) is a heavy, long-handled hammer used for splitting a piece of wood along its grain. One side of it is identical to a sledge hammer and the other side is an axe. In parts of England the word denotes a tool with a very heavy wooden head, used for splitting wood in conjunction with a metal wedge. This tool is also known as a beetle; there is a well known pub on the Thames at Goring called the Beetle and Wedge.
A small, usually five piece set of tools that is kept by the fireplace or woodstove to use in the management of the fire. Pieces include the rack which the tools are hung on, a small dust broom, a small ash shovel, a prod or poker, a hook or sometimes a set of tongs. Often made of cast iron.
A potbelly stove is a cast iron wood burning stove, round with a bulge in the middle. They were designed to heat large spaces and were often found in train stations or one-room schoolhouses.
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We used to have an old potbelly stove in our garage that my dad used to burn papers in. He also used it to warm up the garage when he was out there working on the car.
In cooking, a cook stove is a very basic stove heated by burning wood or fossil fuels. Cook stoves are the most common way of cooking and heating food in developing countries.
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When I was growing up this is what we called the large cast iron wood stove in my grandma's kitchen.
Herpes simplex type 1 is usually the cause of common nonsexually transmitted cold sores.
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Herpes is a disease of the nerve endings and the frequent blowing or whiping of the nose during a cold can irritate the skin around the mouth and nose which can irritate nerve endings already afflicted with the dormant virus and cause it to become active. Sunburns can have the same effect.(My personal observations.)
While both oral and genital herpes are characteristically "nuisance infections" that are not life-threatening, cold sores (on the face) can cause rare severe or fatal disease if they travel to the eyes or brain.
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(I say that it is for this reason that one should be careful that one's doctor does not misdiagnose a cold sore as impetigo as happened to my ex-husband.0
The Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is one of the eight herpes viruses known to affect humans (and other vertebrates). Multiple names are used to refer to same virus, creating some confusion. Varicella virus, zoster virus, human herpes 3 (HHV-3), and Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) all refer to the same viral pathogen. The disease caused by this pathogen is called chickenpox or Varicella disease during the initial infection. A reactivation of the infection is commonly called shingles, herpes zoster or simply zoster.
Herpes is actually a generic term which includes chickenpox, shingles, cold sores. It can be mistaken as Impetigo so make sure your doctor is careful with the diagnosis.
I had shingles as a child and the nerves were so inflamed and painful that even if someone yelled at me or upset me emotionally they would react in severe pain. Horrible disease...my doctor said it was related to Chickenpox.
A phrase used by my relatives and others of our circle of friends from western Pennsylvania in the 1950s to mean "clear the dinner table of dishes following dinner." I think it came from the word "rid" meaning rid the table of dishes. However they also used the term "red up" as in, "I'll be with you in a minute as soon as I red up the kitchen a bit," which meant to "restore order to the kitchen".
from the 1881 novel for children by Margaret Sidney, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew:
"Two hundred candles!" echoed Joel, in amazement. "My whockety! what a lot!"
"Don't say such dreadful words, Joel," put in Polly, nervously, stopping to pick up her spool of basting thread that was racing away all by itself; "'tisn't nice."
A peculiar form of chamber pot, the Bourdaloue, was designed specifically for females. The oblong rectangle or oval shape of the vessel, sometimes with a higher front enabled the woman to urinate from a squatting or standing posture without much risk of mishap, and also to help deal with the clothing of the day. The name "Bourdaloue" allegedly comes from that of a famous French Catholic priest, Louis Bourdaloue (1632 - 1704), who delivered such long sermons that females of the aristocracy attending them had their maids bring in such pots discreetly under their dresses so that they could urinate without having to leave. However, this explanation is probably a myth.
The Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry offshore winds that characteristically sweep through in Southern California and northern Baja California in late fall and winter. Temperature-wise, they can range from hot to cold, depending on the prevailing temperatures in the source regions, the Great Basin and upper Mohave Desert.
There are claims that the original form is Santana winds, from the Spanish vientos de Satán ("winds of Satan".) According to the Los Angeles Almanac: "The original spelling of the name of the winds is unclear, not to mention the origin. The name Santana Winds is said to be traced to Spanish California, when the winds were called devil winds due to their heat.
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There are numerous wonderful popular references to the Santa Ana winds on the Wikipedia page concering them...worth checking out.
When I was a child growing up in southern California, the Santa Ana winds that came in late fall and winter were so strong that they would uproot the tumbleweeds and propel them with such force that even though they are extremely light weight, in and of themselves, they would actually knock me down if I couldn't get out of the way fast enough.
According to Wikipedia oopsie-daisy is baby talk. I agree and I use it to minimize the upset when a small accident happens or a small mistake is made by my toddler grandson.
Baby talk is a long-established and universally understood traditional term. Baby talk, motherese, parentese or child-directed speech (CDS) is a nonstandard form of speech used by adults in talking to toddlers and infants. It is usually delivered with a "cooing" pattern of intonation different from that of normal adult speech: high in pitch, with many glissando variations that are more pronounced than those of normal speech. Baby talk is also characterized by the shortening and simplifying of words. Baby talk is also used by people when talking to their pets, and between adults as a form of affection, intimacy, bullying or patronizing.
Heat lightning is a misnomer for the faint flashes of lightning on the horizon or other clouds from distant thunderstorms that do not have accompanying sounds of thunder. Heat lightning was named because it often occurs on hot summer nights, and to distinguish it from lightning with accompanying thunder.
A Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer, synonym Hyla crucifer) is a small tree frog widespread throughout the eastern USA. Spring peepers are nocturnal frogs, so they are mostly heard but not seen. They are especially easy to hear due to their extremely loud mating call which gives them the name "peeper," but it is often hard to pinpoint the source of the sound, especially when many are peeping at once.
Leopard frogs, which are also called meadow frogs and grass frogs, are a collection of so-called true frog within the genus Rana. Once abundant in North America and Canada, their population has declined in recent years because of pollution and deforestation. Leopard frogs are often used as environmental indicator species because of their heightened sensitivity to chemical pollutants found in the air and water.
Leopard frogs are recognized by their green or brown coloration with distinct light-edged dark spots across the back and white underside. They also have a characteristic line of raised glandular skin, called the dorsolateral ridge, extending from each eye to the groin.
Garbage Pail Kids is a series of trading cards produced by the Topps Company, originally released in 1985 and designed to parody the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls created by Xavier Roberts, which were immensely popular at the time. Each sticker card featured a Garbage Pail Kid character, with some comical abnormality or suffering some terrible fate, and a humorous, word play-rich character name. Two (and occasionally three) versions of each card were produced, with variations featuring the same artwork but different character names. Fifteen regular series were released in the United States, with various sets released in other countries. Two large format card editions were also released, as well as a set of posters.
Cabbage Patch Kids are a brand of doll created by Xavier Roberts in 1978. The Cabbage Patch Kids name was created by Atlanta designer, writer and licensing agent, Roger L. Schlaifer. His original idea was inspired by the old wives that babies were born under a cabbage leaf. The plastic version of the Robert' dolls became the toy phenomenon of the eighties — with people rioting in stores to purchase the hot, new dolls — and everything else branded Cabbage Patch Kids.
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A Cabbage Patch Kid came with a birth certificate and a name and description of their personality but you could send in a corrected form and choose a name you preferred. There were dozens and dozens of variations in hair and eye color and gender and age and clothing style.
Standardbreds are a breed of horse best known for their ability to race in harness at a trot or pace instead of under saddle at a gallop. Developed in North America, the breed is now recognized worldwide for its harness racing ability. They are solid, well-built horses with good dispositions that are also used under saddle for a variety of equestrian activities, particularly in the Midwest and eastern United States.
Harness racing is a form of horse-racing in which the horses race in a specified gait. They usually pull two-wheeled carts called sulkies.
Races can be conducted in two differing gaits; trotting and pacing. The difference is that a trotter moves its legs forward in diagnonal pairs, right front and left hind, then left front and right hind striking the ground simutaneously, whereas a pacer moves its legs laterally, right front and right hind together, then left front and left hind.
In continental Europe races are conducted exclusively between trotters, whereas in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States races are also held for pacers.
A dust devil is a rotating updraft, ranging from small (half a meter wide and a few meters tall) to large (over 10 meters wide and over 1000 meters tall). Dust devils are usually harmless, but rare ones can grow in size to threaten both people and property. They are comparable to tornadoes in that both are an unusual weather phenomenon of swirling air vortices. Tornadoes form as an updraft attached to a wall cloud at the back of a thunderstorm. Dust devils form as an updraft under sunny conditions during clear to fair weather, rarely coming close to the intensity of a tornado.
In the southwestern United States, dust devils can be known as dancing devils. In Death Valley, California, they may be called a sand auger or dust whirl.
In Australia they are called willy-willies or whirly-whirlies, a word thought to come from Yindjibarndi or a neighbouring language.
Navajo refer to them as chiindii, a ghost or spirit of a Navajo. If a chiindii spins clockwise it is said to be a good spirit; if it spins counterclockwise it is said to be a bad spirit.
In Egypt, they are usually called "Fasset El 'Afreet" or the ghost's wind.
Among the Kikuyu of Kenya, it is known as "ngoma cia aka" meaning women's devil's/demon's.
A Fire whirl or swirl, sometimes called fire devils or fire tornadoes, can be seen during intense fires in combustible building structures or more commonly in forest or bush fires. A fire whirl is a vortex-shaped formation of burning gasses being released from the combustible material. The genesis of the vortex is probably similar to that of a dust devil. But, as distinct from the dust devil, it is improbable that the height reached by the fire gas vortex is greater than the visible height of the vortical flames because of turbulence in the surrounding gasses which inhibit creation of a stable boundary layer between the rotating/rising gasses relative to the surrounding gasses.
Parker Brothers originally developed NERF, beginning with a four-inch (102 mm) polyurethane foam ball. In 1969, a games inventor came to the company with a volleyball game that was safe for indoor play. After studying the game carefully, Parker Brothers decided to eliminate everything but the foam ball. In 1970, the NERF ball was introduced as the "world's first official indoor ball". Marketed that one can "Throw it indoors; you can't damage lamps or break windows. You can't hurt babies or old people." The ball filled a strong consumer need and by the year's end more than four million NERF balls had been sold. The four-inch (102 mm) ball was followed closely by a large version called "Super NERF Ball". Shortly after, in 1972, a basketball game called "NERFoop" and the NERF football joined the family. The football fast became the most popular NERF ball.
I remember, as a young child, touring a model home that was a design that was to be a part of a tract housing development. It was so plain and impersonal. I hated it. I'm glad my parents decided against buying one. See Skipvia's Free Association List
Tract housing (also known as Cookie-Cutter Houses) is a style of housing development in which multiple identical, or nearly-identical, homes are built to create a community. Tract housing may encompass dozens of square miles of areas. Tract housing developments are typically found in American suburbs.
These are wonderful American grapes and they have an interesting history. They are the usual grapes used in the jelly for the traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and 'Concord' jelly is universally sold in U.S. supermarkets. 'Concord' grapes are used for grape juice, and their distinctive purple color has led to grape flavored soft drinks and candy being artificially colored purple.
Concord grapes are a cultivar derived from the grape species Vitis labrusca (a.k.a. fox grape) which are used both as table grapes, wine grapes and juice grapes.
The skin of a Concord grape is typically dark blue or purple, and often is covered with a lighter colored "bloom" which can be rubbed off. It is a slip-skin variety, meaning that the skin is easily separated from the fruit. Concord grapes have large seeds and are highly aromatic. They are often used to make grape jelly, grape juice, grape-flavored soft drinks, and candy. The grape is sometimes used to make wine, particularly kosher wine, though it is not generally favored for that purpose due to the strong "foxy" (sometimes described as candied-strawberry/musky) flavor. Traditionally, most commercially produced Concord wines have been finished sweet, but dry versions are possible if adequate fruit ripeness is achieved.
A mirror ball, disco ball, glitter ball, or ball mirror is a roughly spherical object that reflects light directed at it in many directions, producing a complex display. Its surface consists of hundreds or thousands of facets, nearly all of approximately the same shape and size, and each having a mirrored surface. Usually it is mounted well above the heads of the people present, suspended from a device that causes it to rotate steadily on a vertical axis, and illuminated by spotlights, so that stationary viewers experience beams of light flashing over them, and see myriad spots of light spinning around the walls of the room.
What are now called "disco balls" were first used in nightclubs in the 1920s.
A gazing ball, also known as a yard globe, lawn ball, garden ball, gazing globe, mirror ball, or chrome ball, is a mirrored sphere typically displayed atop a conical ceramic or wrought iron stand as a lawn ornament, and is often cited as a premier example of camp or kitsch. Its size ranges from 2 to 22 inches in diameter, with the most popular gazing ball being about 12 inches (33 cm). Gazing balls were traditionally glass but can now be stainless steel, ceramic, or stained glass.
Gazing balls originated in 13th century Venice workshops where they were hand-blown by skilled Italian craftsmen.
A witch ball is a hollow sphere of plain or stained glass with glass filaments suspended in its interior that was hung in cottage windows in 18th century England to ward off evil spirits, witch's spells or ill fortune. Later, they were often posted on top of a vase or suspended by a cord (as from the mantelpiece or rafters) for a decorative effect. Witch balls appeared in America in the 19th century and are often found in gardens under the name "gazing ball". However, "gazing balls" contain no strands within their interior.
According to folk tales, witch balls would entice evil spirits with their bright colours; the strands inside the ball would then capture the spirit and prevent it from escaping.
Witch balls sometimes measure as large as 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter.
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Witch Balls have made a comeback in the present time.
Steamer trunks which are sometimes referred to as Flat-Tops, first appeared in the late 1870s, although the greater bulk of them date from the 1880-1920 period. They are distinguished by either their flat or slightly-curved tops and were usually covered in canvas, leather or patterned paper.
Saratoga trunks were the premium trunks of many makers (or the exclusive design of many premium trunk makers) and actually can encompass nearly every other style of trunk manufactured if loosely-defined, although generally they are limited to before the 1880s. The most readily-recognizable feature of Saratogas are their myriad (and generally very complex) compartments, trays, and heavy duty hardware.
Jenny Lind Trunks have a distinctive hour glass or keyhole shape when viewed from the side. They were named after the Swedish singer of the same name (and figure) who toured America in the mid 19th Century along with PT Barnum. In fact, she was well-known to carry a trunk of this style with her while on the road, and they became quite popular even though they were only made for a relatively short period of time (1855-1865.)
Jenny Lind was a Swedish-born opera singer. Her full name was Johanna Maria Lind, and she lived from 1820 to 1887. In 1850, Lind traveled to the United States as part of a concert tour promoted by none other than P.T. Barnum, of Barnum & Bailey's Circus fame. While in America, Lind became America's first big celebrity. P.T. Barnum, being a master of marketing, played upon her virtues, namely modesty and charity, to endear her to the public.
Supposedly, during her popular tour of the U.S., Lind slept in a bed with turned posts or spindles. So, cribs with turned posts became known as Jenny Lind cribs, and they are still known as such today. Jenny Lind cribs today tend to be simple designs with drop sides, and are sold by many different manufacturers. These cribs still feature the same turned, knobby legs and posts as they did when they were first named for The Swedish Nightingale.
A Steamer is a flavored milk beverage available in some coffeehouses and cafes in North America. A steamer consists of steamed milk and a shot of flavor syrup. The result is a hot, flavored non-coffee beverage.
Supervolcano is the popular term for a large volcano that usually has a large caldera and can potentially produce devastation on an enormous, sometimes continental, scale. Such eruptions would be able to cause severe cooling of global temperatures for many years afterwards because of the huge volumes of sulfur and ash erupted. They are the most dangerous type of volcano. Examples include Yellowstone Caldera in Yellowstone National Park of western USA, Lake Taupo in New Zealand and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. Supervolcanoes are hard to identify centuries later, given the enormous areas they cover.
A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current) is a common and devastating result of some volcanic eruptions. The flows are fast-moving currents of hot gas, and rock (collectively known as tefra), which travel away from the volcano at speeds generally greater than 80 km/hr (50mph).1 The gas can reach temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 F). The flows normally hug the ground and travel downhill, or spread laterally under gravity. Their speed depends upon the density of the current, the volcanic output rate, and the gradient of the slope. The word pyroclast is derived from the Greek πυ�?ος, meaning fire, and κλαστός, meaning broken.
There once was a chain of restaurants in Minnesota called The Pannekuchen Huis. They specialized in what they said were Dutch souffles. They were called pannekuchen. They were kind of like a Yorkshire pudding only sweet. They took up a whole dinner plate and they were very puffy and light. The girls would literally come running from the kitchen with the hot pannekuchen so that it would get to you before it began to deflate. They were served with wonderful sauteed fruits and syrups or with pecans. I actually have the recipe and they are astonishingly good.
Kuchen, the German word for "cake," is used as the name for several different types of sweet desserts, pastries, and gateaux. The term itself may cover as many distinct desserts as its English counterpart "cake."
Kuchen desserts are presumably handed down from people of German heritage and as such are often popular in many areas of German settlement in the United States, particularly North Dakota, South Dakota, Indiana, and Minnesota. Kuchen was introduced into the Chilean cuisine when German immigrants settled southern Chile in the 1850s. Kuchens in Chile do always have fruits, such as apples, strawberries or murtas. Now kuchens are found in nearly every Chilean supermarket. In Brazil, it is called "cuca" and it is found in areas of German settlement, like Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states.
Kugel (Yiddish: קוגל kugl or קוגעל, pronounced either koogel with the "oo" like the "oo" in "book or "look", or kigel, as was pronounced in Galicia, Central Europe) is any one of a wide variety of traditional baked Jewish side dishes or desserts. It is sometimes translated as "pudding" or "casserole".
Kugels may be sweet or savory. The most common types are made from egg noodles (called lochshen kugels) or potatoes and often contain eggs, but there are recipes in everyday use in modern Jewish kitchens for a great diversity of kugels made with different vegetables, fruit, batters, cheese, and other flavorings and toppings.
Blind mole rats are rodents in the family Spalacidae, but are unique enough to be given a separate subfamily, Spalacinae.
Blind mole rats are truly blind. Their very small eyes are completely covered by a layer of skin. Unlike many other fossorial rodents, Blind mole rats do not have enlarged front claws and do not appear to use their forearms as a primary digging tool. Digging is almost exclusively conducted using their powerful front teeth, which are separated from the rest of the mouth by a flap of skin. When a blind mole rat closes its mouth, its incisors are still on the outside.
A job that used to be done by the mother or grandmother of the new mother or if failing that, by one's own common sense and trial and error.
A lactation consultant is a healthcare provider recognized as an expert in the fields of human lactation and breastfeeding. The USLCA, United States Lactation Consultant Association, is the presiding organization in the United States of America and the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) is the professional association for certified laction consultants internationally. A Board Certified Lactation Consultant will have the initials IBCLC and/or RLC after her/his name, as a physician would have MD or DO, or a registered nurse would have RN. Lactation Consultants can be found in private practice, on staff in hospitals, and in the public health arena.
A whoopee cushion, also known as a poo-poo cushion and Razzberry Cushion, is a practical joke device that produces a noise resembling a raspberry or human flatulence. It is made from two sheets of rubber that are glued together at the edges. There is a small opening with a flap at one end for air to enter and leave the cushion.
To use it, one must first inflate it with air and then place it on a chair. An unsuspecting victim sits on the whoopee cushion, forcing the air out of the opening, which causes the flap to vibrate and produce its distinctive sound.
The item was invented around 1950 by the Jem Rubber Co. of Toronto, Canada, by employees who were experimenting with scrap sheets of rubber. The owner of the company approached Samuel Adams, the inventor of numerous practical jokes and owner of S.S. Adams Co., with the newly invented item. Adams said that the item was "too vulgar" and would never sell. Fortunately for Jem Rubber, other companies were interested and the product quickly proved to be a success.
Another name for decayed, compacted Sphagnum moss, called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires.
Peat moss can be used as a soil additive which increases the soil's capacity to hold water. This is often necessary when dealing with very sandy soil, or plants that need an increased moisture content to flourish.
Fritos® is the name of a brand of corn chips made by Frito-Lay. Originally called Fritatas, Elmer Doolin was so taken with the bag of corn chips served with his lunch in San Antonio, Texas that he paid $100 for the recipe. In 1932, he started the Frito Corporation. Original Fritos ingredients are limited to whole corn, corn oil, and salt. Even today, Fritos (original and barbecue flavor) are a vegan snack.
Under the Selective Service System in the United States, a registrant not acceptable for military service is said to be classified 4-F. To be eligible for Class 4-F, a registrant must have been found not qualified for service in the Armed Forces by a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) under the established physical, mental, or moral standards.
The Selective Service System is the means by which the United States administers military conscription. It entails registering all men between the ages of 18 and 25 with the system for the purpose of having information available about potential soldiers in the event of war.
A conscientious objector (CO) is an individual following the religious, moral or ethical dictates of his or her conscience that are incompatible with being a combatant in military service, or being part of the armed forces as a combatant organization. In the first case, conscientious objectors may be willing to accept non-combatant roles during conscription or military service. In the second case, the objection is to any role within armed forces and results in complete rejection of conscription or military service and, in some countries, assignment to an alternative civilian service as a substitute for conscription or military service. Some conscientious objectors may consider themselves either pacifist or antimilitarist.
Cannon fodder is an informal term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where soldiers are forced to deliberately fight against hopeless odds (with the foreknowledge that they will suffer extremely high casualties) in an effort to achieve a strategic goal. An example is the trench warfare in World War I. The term may also be used (somewhat pejoratively) to differentiate infantry from other forces (such as artillery, air force or the navy), who generally have a much higher survival rate.
The term derives from fodder - food for livestock - however in this case soldiers are the metaphorical food for cannons.
Colcannon (Irish: cál ceannan - white head) is a food made from mashed potatoes, kale or cabbage, butter, salt, and pepper. It can contain other ingredients such as milk, cream, leeks, onions, chives, garlic, boiled ham or Irish bacon. At one time it was a cheap, year-round staple food.
An old Irish Halloween tradition was to serve colcannon with prizes of small coins concealed in it, as the English do with Christmas pudding. This is still done today and small amounts of money are placed in the potato.
There are many varieties of these small, finger-shaped potatoes, but they all tend to be low in starch, and great for roasting or making potato salads.
: a silverside (Leuresthes tenuis) of the California coast notable for the regularity with which it comes inshore to spawn at nearly full moon
As a child growing up in California I remember the "grunion run" when crowds of people would assemble on the beach in the moonlight and scoop up dozens and dozens of the grunion fish as they came inshore to spawn. In those days I thought it was quite a fun and festive time but now it seems unfair and cruel.
Bossa Nova is a style of Brazilian music popularized by Vinicius de Moraes, Antônio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto. Bossa Nova acquired a large following, initially by young musicians and college students. Although the Bossa Nova movement only lasted six years (1958-63), it contributed a number of songs to the standard jazz repertoire.
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Excerpt from the lyrics to Blame It On the Bossa Nova by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil as performed by Eydie Gorme
Sheets of paper which are soaked into an LSD solution, dried, and perforated into small squares of individual dosage units. The paper is then cut into small square pieces called "tabs" or "hits". The user can then absorb the LSD out of the paper using his/her tongue, or simply swallow it. Individual producers often print designs onto the paper serving to identify different makers, batches or strengths, and such "blotter art" often emphasizes psychedelic themes.
An entheogen, in the strictest sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a religious or shamanic context. Entheogens generally come from plant sources which contain molecules closely related to endogenous neurochemicals. They occur in a wide variety of sacraments of various religious rites UDV/NAC and have been shown to directly provoke what users perceive as spiritual/mystical experiences.
The word entheogen is a neologism derived from the ancient Greek : ἔνθεος (entheos) and γενέσθαι (genesthe). Entheos literally means "god (theos) within", translates as "inspired" and is the root of the English word "enthusiasm". The Greeks used it as a term of praise for poets and other artistscitation needed. Genesthe means "to generate". So an entheogen is "that which generates God (or godly inspiration) within a person".
Set and setting describes the context for psychoactive and particularly psychedelic drug experiences: one's mindset and the setting in which the user has the experience. This is especially relevant for psychedelic or hallucinogenic experiences; the term was coined by Timothy Leary.
Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, LSD-25, or acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family. Probably the best known psychedelic, it has been used mainly as a recreational drug, an entheogen, and a tool to supplement various practices for transcendence, including in meditation, psychonautics, art projects, and illicit (though at one time legal) psychedelic psychotherapy, whether self-administered or not. It is synthesized from lysergic acid derived from ergot, a grain fungus that typically grows on rye and was first synthesized by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann.
James is a rock band from Manchester, England, formed in 1981. After an uphill struggle throughout the 1980s, they went on to become a consistently successful act of the 1990s, scoring a string of hit singles during the decade including "Sit Down" and "Laid".
Twizzlers are a popular brand of licorice candy in the United States, although most of its flavors do not contain the licorice extract of traditional black licorice. They are the product of Y&S Candies, Inc., of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, now a subsidiary of The Hershey Company.
Y&S Candies was founded in 1845, then known as Young and Smylie; they established the Y&S trademark in 1870. In 1902, three small firms (S.V. & F.P. Schudder, H.W. Petherbridge, and Young & Smylie) merged to create the National Licorice Company. In 1968, the company dropped the "National Licorice Company" moniker in favor of the current name. In 1977, the company was acquired by Hershey Foods, which became The Hershey Company in 2005.
The company produces Twizzlers in cherry, strawberry, chocolate, watermelon, and licorice flavors, and a variety of shapes and sizes. In addition to their Twists, Bites, and Nibs of various sizes.
Limited edition cherry cola and "rainbow" (fruit variety consisting of strawberry, lemonade, orange, watermelon, blue raspberry and grape) flavors were sold in 2006 and 2007.
Civil liberties is the name given to freedoms that protect the individual from government to a certain extent. Civil liberties set limits for government so that it cannot abuse its power and interfere with the lives of its citizens.
Common civil liberties include freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, and additionally, the right to due process, to fair trial, and to privacy.
The formal concept of civil liberties dates back to the Magna Carta of 1215 which in turn was based on pre-existing documents.
Hair testing is a type of drug testing considered highly accurate and can go back normally 3 months (6 months or longer possible with specialist tests), showing any drugs of abuse used in the detection window. As hair grows out, any drugs used are encased in the hair shaft, so the longer the hair, the longer back in the individual's drug history the laboratory can detect. Accredited hair drug testing laboratories, however, only use hair within about 2.5–4 cm of the scalp, and discard the rest. With head hair each 0.5 inch (1.27 cm) corresponds to about 30 days. This limits the detection history to about 90 days, depending upon the rate at which the individual's hair grows. Some people attempt to circumvent this through shaving their heads. This does not usually work.In the absence of the required amount of hair on the scalp, body hair can be used as an acceptable substitute. If all hair is shaven, the follicles of the hair may be used in place of the hair. Removing the hair follicles is more painful.
Additionally, for pre-employment hair testing, the inability to obtain a sample may be grounds for not hiring the individual. There is a growing trend in major companies and law enforcement agencies to utilize hair analysis on account of its efficiency and reputation as the gold standard when considering test accuracy. This technology makes use of radioimmunoassay technology with subsequent confirmation by mass spectrometry.
In recent years, hair testing has been the subject of a number of law suits. Studies have shown that different ethnic groups have different hair structure, potentially leading to false-positive
: the tubular epithelial sheath that surrounds the lower part of the hair shaft and encloses at the bottom a vascular papilla supplying the growing basal part of the hair with nourishment
A drug test is commonly a technical examination of urine, blood, sweat, hair follicles, or oral fluid samples to determine the presence or absence of specified drugs or their metabolized traces.
In my opinion, drug testing has become a serious civil liberties violation as it is required more and more frequently by employers in the United States and with increasingly more invasive techniques for even low-level employment where the outcome of a drug test is largely irrelevant. They are used to marginalize certain elements of the population. Often "insurance regulations" are the justification.
Chou(x) pastry, paste, or dough (French pâte à choux, German Brandteig) is a light pastry dough used to make profiteroles, croquembouches, eclairs, French crullers, beignets, and gougères. It contains only butter, water, flour, and eggs. Its raising agent is the high moisture content, which creates steam during cooking, puffing out the pastry.
Choux pastry is usually baked but for beignets it is fried. In Austrian cuisine it is also boiled to make Marillenknödel, a sweet apricot dumpling; in that case it does not puff, but remains relatively dense.
A chef by the name of Panterelli invented the dough in 1540, seven years after he left Florence, along with Catherine de' Medici and the entirety of her court. He used the dough to make a gâteau and named it Pâte à Panterelli. As time passed, the recipe of the dough evolved, and the name changed to Pâte à Popelin, which was used to make Popelins, small cakes made in the shape of a woman's breasts. Then, Avice, a pâtissier in the eighteenth century, created what was then called Choux Buns. The name of the dough changed to Pâte à Choux, as Avice's buns looked similar in appearance to choux, which is French for cabbages. From there, Antoine Carême made modifications to the recipe, resulting in the recipe most commonly used now for profiteroles.
Simple syrup is an essential ingredient in numerous cocktails. Simply put, it is sugar and water. The sugar is super-saturated by heating the water.
Simple syrup is often used to offset the tart taste of many drinks to make a more balanced mixture. For example, in a Whiskey Sour, simple syrup is added to lemon juice to make flavorful mix.
The ratio of sugar to water can be left to personal preference, traditionally it is one part water to two parts sugar.
Royal icing is a hard white icing, made from softly beaten egg whites, icing sugar (powdered sugar), and sometimes lemon juice. It is used on Christmas cake, wedding cakes, gingerbread houses and many other cakes and biscuits, either as a smooth covering like marzipan, or in sharp peaks. Glycerine is occasionally added to prevent the icing from setting too hard.
As well as coating cakes and biscuits, royal icing is usually considered a decorative icing since it can be used to create many decorative effects, such as flowers and figures. Royal icing is often piped into shapes which are allowed to harden on a non-stick surface. These can then be arranged to create edible decorative effects on a variety of sweet foods.
Especially amoung black people in the southern United States, sugar means affection, as in "Give me some sugar." By extension it can mean give me some sex.
The free association is obvious here...I wish my mind would have been a little more creative...but there you have it. See Skipvia's Free Association List
Dixieland music is a style of jazz which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s. Dixieland jazz combined brass band marches, French quadrilles, ragtime and blues with collective, polyphonic extemporization by trumpet (or cornet), trombone, and clarinet over a "rhythm section" of piano, guitar, banjo, drums, and a double bass or tuba.
Acting approach, based on Stanislavsky's teachings. As explained in the book "An Actor Prepares", it involves internal rather than external preparation. It was taught by Lee Strasberg and his Actor's Studio, graduates of which included Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Montgomery Clift, Julie Harris and others.
Religious drama depicting Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.Passion plays originated in the Middle Ages, when they were performed as part of the celebration of Good Friday.
Movement in the 1940s-1960s that expressed existentialist philosophy through theatrical style. Absurdist plays are filled with non-sensical dialogue and plot, which convey the inability of people to communicate with each other and the irrationality of existence. Principal figures in absurdist theatre were Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco and Jean Genet.
In literature, a dénouement (pronounced /deɪnu�?ˈmɑ̃/) consists of a series of events that follow a dramatic or narrative's climax, thus serving as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader. Etymologically, the French word dénouement is derived from the Old French word denoer, "to untie", from nodus, Latin for "knot." Simply put, a dénouement is the unraveling or untying of the complexities of a plot.
A smudge pot (also known as a choofa or orchard heater) is an oil-burning device used to prevent frost on fruit trees. Usually a smudge pot has a large round base with a chimney coming out of the middle of the base. The smudge pot is placed between trees in an orchard, allowing the heat and smoke from the burning oil to prevent the accumulation of frost on the fruit of the grove. Smudge pots were developed after a disastrous freeze in Southern California in 1913 wiped out a whole crop.
"Break a leg" is a well-known saying in theatre which means "good luck". It is typically said to actors before they go out onto stage to perform.
The expression is a theatrical superstition that replaces the phrase "good luck," which is considered bad luck. The expression is sometimes used outside the theatre as superstitions and customs travel through other professions and then into common use.
Thank you, sionnach. I am having fun. I like to see how other people connect with words, too. This is such an interesting site. I have enjoyed your humor from day one.
Balling the jack is best known as the name of a dance from the Dixieland heyday around 1913.
"First you put your two knees close up tight
Then you sway them to the left, then you sway them to the right
Step around the floor kind of nice and light
Then you twist around and twist around with all your might,
Stretch your loving arms straight out into space,
Then you do the Eagle Rock with style and grace.
Swing your foot way 'round then bring it back.
Now that's what I call Ballin' the Jack."
Later it was expanded to mean just dancing in general or just having a good time.
It also means risking everything on one attempt. At slangcity.com a reader had this to say about the "risk" meaning:
"To "ball" a "jack" refers possibly to the action of risking a shot in "Boules", or Bocce or its sister game Petanque. The jack in either case is the smaller ball for which the goal of the game is to either throw your team's ball closest to it, or to knock away your opponent's ball. To hit the target ball to another location, or to "ball the jack", is to alter the focus of the gameplay. To do so requires great accuracy, and assuming the game is scored for money instead of points (it is a drinking game, and takes skill and a bit of luck as well), takes risk as well, for in double or triple team play, you only get one shot (one ball per player). So to "ball the jack" is to risk a miss, and a wasted shot, at something that is really important to you."
It is also a term used by railroad men. Hobart Smith does a song with the lines "Balling the jack, lining track / You can't shovel no more" and the liner notes say it comes from railroad section gangs in the early 1870's. To fix a crooked rail you had one person sit on the track and site along it to see where it needed to be straightened (lining the track), then two men would put jacks at an angle against the inside ball of the rail and lever it until it was straight. Then you had to shovel ballast back in under the ties and tamp it down. The ball of the rail is the curved part going up to the flattened surface on top of the rail. The jack had a groove across the top that fit against the ball so it wouldn't slip off.
It has also been used as a euphemism for sexual intercourse in some jazz and blues lyrics.
Linea nigra (Latin for "black line") or línea negra (altered by influence of Spanish negra) refers to the dark vertical line that appears on the abdomen during pregnancy. The brownish streak is usually about a centimeter in width. The line runs vertically along the midline of the abdomen from the pubis to the xiphoid process - the bottom-most part of the rib cage in the center or tip of the sternum.
It is caused by pregnancy hormones that increase production of the pigment melanin, also known as hyperpigmentation. Why this process of hyperpigmentation occurs in a straight vertical line is uncertain.
There is an old wives' tale associated with línea negra: if the línea negra runs to the navel, it's a girl, and if it goes all the way up to the xiphoid, it's a boy.
An insulated box usually with a handle or handles that holds ice and beer. Used to keep the beer refrigerated and close at hand at the same time. I'm watching the Super Bowl so that's the only relevant meaning at the moment.
Just a little trick of the ear and the mind free associates with chained, even though the "shee" of chinoiserie sounds nothing like the "chay" of chained. See Free Association
Toning is the elongation of a note or tone using breath and voice.
It is used in preparing for meditation and in ritual. It is an aid in relaxation and in the raising of energy. Group toning is quite beautiful and powerful.
Bowfins are an order (Amiiformes) of primitive ray-finned fish. Only one species, the bowfin Amia calva, family Amiidae, exists today, although additional species in six families are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils. These included the huge Leedsichthys, the biggest fish that ever existed. The bowfin and the gar are two of the freshwater fishes still extant that existed, almost unchanged from their current form, while the great dinosaurs roamed the earth.
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I used to catch a bowfin that locals called a dogfish when I lived in Minnesota.
I used to catch a kind of bowfin that was called a dogfish when I lived in Minnesota. They always reminded me of coelacanths. Bowfins are an order (Amiiformes) of primitive ray-finned fish. Only one species, the bowfin Amia calva, family Amiidae, exists today, although additional species in six families are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils.
A profiterole or cream puff (U.S.) is a food made from a small, round baked choux pastry filled with a sweet filling. The most common form nowadays is a dessert filled with whipped cream or pastry cream, and often served with chocolate sauce or a caramel glaze.
A diving bell, also known as a wet bell, is a cable-suspended airtight chamber, open at the bottom, that is lowered underwater to operate as a base or a means of transport for a small number of divers. The pressure of the water keeps the air trapped inside the bell. They were the first type of diving chamber. Unlike a submarine the diving bell is not designed to move under the control of its occupants, nor to operate independently of its tether.
A tipi (also teepee, tepee) is a conical tent originally made of animal skins or birch bark and popularized by the Native Americans of the Great Plains. Tipis are stereotypically associated with Native Americans in general, but Native Americans from places other than the Great Plains used different types of dwellings. The term wigwam is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a dwelling of this type.
The tipi was durable, provided warmth and comfort in winter, was dry during heavy rains, and was cool in the heat of summer. Tipis could be disassembled and packed away quickly when a tribe decided to move, and could be reconstructed quickly when the tribe settled in a new area. This portability was important to those Plains Indians who had a nomadic lifestyle.
The word "tipi" comes into English from the Lakota language; the word thípi consists of two elements: the verb thí, meaning "to dwell," and a pluralizing enclitic (a suffix-like ending that marks the subject of the verb as plural), pi, and means "they dwell." In Lakota, formal verbs can be used as nouns, and this is the case with thípi, which in practice just means "house."
A wigwam or wickiup is a domed single-room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes. The term wickiup is generally used to label these kinds of dwellings in American Southwest and West. Wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the American Northeast. The use of these terms by non-Native Americans is somewhat arbitrary and can refer to many distinct types of Native American structures regardless of location or cultural group including the tipi.
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I know some Native Americans who scoff at the generic use of this word.
In North America two groups of longhouses emerged. The Native American long house of the tribes usually connected with the Iroquois in the northeast and an unrelated type used by many tribes long the west and northwest Pacific coast of North America.
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The Oneida Indians who are part of the Iroquois have their Wisconsin reservation near my home and they have a longhouse on display at their museum.
A frame, one of ten "innings" in a bowling game; originally it referred to the box on the scoresheet where the score for a single frame is recorded, after which one bowler has to buy beer for all the others. This is often a pre-determined frame, with the low scorer in that frame getting stuck with the tab. Sometimes, if all bowlers but one roll strikes in a frame, that becomes the beer frame and the bowler who didn't strike has to buy.
In the U.S., an establishment where individuals and teams go to play the sport of ten-pin bowling. Usually has a bar and snack-bar as well as pool tables and pin ball machines.
A Jumping Jack, or side straddle hop as it is called in the United States military, is a physical exercise performed by jumping to a position with the legs spread wide and the hands touching overhead and then returning to a position with the feet together and the arms at the sides.
More intensive versions include bending down and touching the floor in between each jump.
It is also commonly known as a star jump, especially to children of Commonwealth nations. In Canada, the term is stride jump, and the hands are not expected to touch above the head.
The first genre of music to be commonly known as honky tonk music was a style of piano playing related to ragtime, but emphasizing rhythm more than melody or harmony, since the style evolved in response to an environment where the pianos were often poorly cared for, tending to be out of tune and having some nonfunctioning keys. Hence an out-of-tune upright piano is sometimes called a honky-tonk piano.
Such honky tonk music was an important influence on the formation of the boogie woogie piano style.
Guerrilla theater also called street theater is one form of guerrilla communication/communication guerrilla. Guerrilla communication refers to unconventional forms of communication and/or intervention in public events or discourse, for reasons ranging from political activism to marketing.
This form of guerrilla communication is the creation of ritual via participative public spectacle to disrupt or protest a public event or to shift the perspectives of passers-by. Another way to create such spectacle is via tactical frivolity.
Francis Marion (February 26, 1732–February 27, 1795) was a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army and later brigadier general in the South Carolina Militia during the American Revolutionary War. He became known as the "Swamp Fox" for his ability to use decoys and ambushes to disrupt enemy communications, capture supplies, and free prisoners. His use of guerrilla tactics helped set in motion the decline of open battles in the conflict. Early records indicate that he was a sailor before the Revolutionary War.
Marion is considered one of the fathers of modern guerrilla warfare, and is credited in the lineage of the United States Army Rangers.
A cap gun or cap pistol is a toy gun that creates a loud sound akin to a gunshot and a puff of smoke when the trigger is pulled. Cap guns were originally made of cast iron, but after World War II were made of zinc alloy, and most newer models are made of plastic.
Cap guns get their name from the small discs of explosive compounds (roughly 1.4 to 1.6 mm in diameter) that provide the noise and smoke, effectively the same as the separate percussion cap used to replace the flintlock in real firearms, although invariably smaller and made from cheap plastic or paper rather than soft metal. Some were typically arranged in plastic rings of six, seven, or eight. There were also single caps, roll caps (of 50 to 500), and disk caps, all of which were actually extremely small versions of percussion fireworks.
In Yiddish (from which the word has migrated into American English, although the use is still rare), mensch roughly means "a good person." A "mensch" is a particularly good person, like "a stand-up guy," a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague.
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I free associate this word with Skipvia's word mounch because it sounds similar to me.
A dunk tank, also known as a dunking booth or dunking machine, is an attraction mainly used in funfairs, fundraisers, and personal parties. Basically, a dunk tank consists of a large tank of water, over which a seat is suspended. By striking a target, the seat will tip or fall into the tank of water, thus "dunking" whoever is sitting on the seat.
A banana split is an ice cream-based dessert. In its classic form it is served in a long dish called a "boat". A banana is cut in two lengthwise (hence the split) and laid in the dish. Variations abound, but the classic banana split is made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream served in a row between the split banana. Pineapple topping is spooned over the vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup over the chocolate, and strawberry topping over the strawberry. It is garnished with crushed nuts, whipped cream and maraschino cherries.
David Evans Strickler, a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, who enjoyed inventing sundaes at the store's soda fountain, invented the banana-based triple ice cream sundae in 1904. The sundae originally cost 10 cents, twice the price of other sundaes, and caught on with students of nearby Saint Vincent College.
During a relay race, members of a team take turns swimming or running (usually with a baton) parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. In the Olympic games, there are many types of relay races that are part of track and field.
Fruit Loops is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by Kelloggs and sold in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, Germany and Latin America as well as South Africa. The cereal pieces come in a variety of bright colors and a blend of artificial fruit flavors. Kellogg's introduced Froot Loops in 1963.
Baton twirling is a competitive sport involving the manipulation of a balanced metal rod with the hands and body to a co-ordinated routine, similar to rhythmic gymnastics. A baton routine may run solo or as a team in practiced sets.
Wax lips are the common name of a candy product made of colored and flavored wax, molded to resemble a pair of over-sized red lips. The lips have a bite plate in the back; when the plate is held between the teeth, the wax lips cover the wearer's own lips, to comic effect. Invented by the American Candy Company in the early 20th century, they became a popular novelty in the United States for many decades, especially during the Halloween season. Their popularity among children can be attributed mainly to the comedy of wearing the lips; although they were intended to be used as a sort of chewing gum after the novelty of the gag wore off, the lips were often simply discarded rather than eaten.
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There were also several similar molds used to make wax teeth, wax moustaches, wax finger nails, etc.
A snickerdoodle is a soft sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar. It has a characteristically crackly surface, and can be crisp or soft, depending on preference. In modern recipes, the leavening agent is usually baking powder which, in baking, is most commonly used in cakes but not often in cookies. They traditionally contain cream of tartar. They're yummy. Google up a recipe and make some.
A bobby sock is a type of sock that was especially fashionable in the 1940s and 1950s. They are characteristically ankle-length and frilly, and worn by girls often as part of a school uniform. They were popular to wear with saddle shoes, loafers or Oxfords.
Sock Hop is a term coined in the 1950s in the United States, following the growth in popularity of rock and roll, to refer to informal sponsored dances at American high schools, typically held on the grounds of the high school itself in the gymnasium or cafeteria. Music was often recorded, sometimes live.
Initially the term referred to the practice of removing one's shoes in order to dance in stocking feet, typically to spare the floor from the scuff marks of dress shoes.
: a building for the cooling, handling, or bottling of milk
Our milk house was made of cinder blocks and fieldstones and was whitewashed inside and out and had a concrete floor. It contained a double sink and a large stainless steel bulk tank to hold the milk that was piped in from the electric milking machines in the milking parlor in the barn. The milk was unpasteurized and was taken away to the dairy by a service using large tank trucks called milk trucks. We sold individual glass bottles of the milk to our friends and neighbors for 25 cents a gallon as late as 1969.
Paranoid personality disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that denotes a personality disorder with paranoid features. It is characterized by an exaggeration of the cognitive modules for sensitivity to rejection, resentfulness, distrust, as well as the inclination to distort experienced events. Neutral and friendly actions of others are often misinterpreted as being hostile or contemptuous.
People with this disorder tend to have excessive trust in their own knowledge and abilities and usually avoid close relationships with others. They search for hidden meanings in everything and read hostile intentions into the actions of others. They are quick to “challenge the loyalties of friends and loved ones and often appear cold and distant to others�?. They usually shift blame to others and tend to carry long grudges.
Based on little or no evidence, they suspect that others are out to harm them and usually find hostile or malicious motives behind other people's actions.
A snow globe is a transparent sphere usually made of glass enclosing a miniaturized scene of some sort, often together with a model of a landscape. The sphere also encloses the water in the globe; the water serves as the medium through which the "snow" falls. To activate the snow, the globe is physically shaken to churn up the white particles. The globe is then placed back in its position and the flakes fall down slowly through the water. Today's snow globes sometimes have a built-in music box in the base.
Precisely when the first snow globe, also called a waterglobe or snowdome, was made remains unclear, but they appear to date from France during the early 1800s.
A pool noodle (also known as a water log) or as simply a noodle is a cylindrical piece of polyethylene foam. Pool noodles may used by people of all ages while swimming. They are useful when learning to swim, for floating, for rescue reaching, and in various forms of water play.
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They come in various thicknesses and colors and are extremely buoyant.
In railroading, the pilot is the device mounted at the front of a locomotive to deflect obstacles from the track that might otherwise derail the train. Archaically this was called a cowcatcher, and this is still the common layman's usage, but this term is deprecated and has not been used by railroad workers for more than a century.
A baler is a piece of farm machinery that is used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay or straw) into bales and bind the bales with twine. There are several different types of balers that are commonly used. Balers are also used in the material recycling facilities, primarily for baling plastic, paper or cardboard for transport to a recycling facility.
A Bunsen burner is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.
Lithotripsy is a surgical procedure that attempts to break up a kidney stone or a stone in the gallbladder with minimal collateral damage by using an externally applied, focused, high-intensity acoustic pulse.
The scientific name of this procedure is Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL).
Kidney stones, also called renal calculi, are solid concretions (crystal aggregations) of dissolved minerals in urine; calculi typically form inside the kidneys or bladder. The terms nephrolithiasis and urolithiasis refer to the presence of calculi in the kidneys and urinary tract, respectively.
Sweethearts are small heart-shaped candies sold around Valentine's Day. Each heart is printed with a message such as "Be Mine", "Kiss Me", "Call Me", and "Miss You". Sweethearts are made by the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO.
The package from NECCO calls them "Sweethearts", which is the other common way of referring to them, but below that it says "tiny conversation hearts" as well as "#1 valentine candy." A similar type of candy is sold in the UK under the name Love Hearts.
Sweethearts are small heart-shaped candies sold around Valentine's Day. Each heart is printed with a message such as "Be Mine", "Kiss Me", "Call Me", and "Miss You". Sweethearts are made by the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO.
The package from NECCO calls them "Sweethearts", which is the other common way of referring to them, but below that it says "tiny conversation hearts" as well as "#1 valentine candy." A similar type of candy is sold in the UK under the name Love Hearts.
The insect order Mantodea or mantises consists of approximatively 2,300 species worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats.
The term "mantises" (or the more colloquial "praying mantises") should be used when referring to the entire order. Often mistakenly spelled preying mantis (an eggcorn, since they are notoriously predatory), they are in fact named for the typical "prayer-like" stance. The word mantis derives from the Greek word mantis for prophet or fortune teller. In Europe, the name "praying mantis" refers to only a single species, Mantis religiosa.
Water birth is a method of giving birth, which involves immersion in warm water. Proponents believe this method to be safe and provides many benefits for both mother and infant, including pain relief and a less traumatic birth experience for the baby.
In the late 1960s, French obstetrician Frederick Leboyer (see Leboyer Method)developed the practice of immersing newly-born infants in warm water to help ease the transition from the womb to the outside world, and to mitigate the effects of any possible birth trauma.
Another French obstetrician, Michel Odent, took Leboyer's work further, using the warm-water birth pool for pain relief for the mother, and as a way to normalize the birth process. When some women refused to get out of the water to finish giving birth, Odent started researching the possible benefits for the baby of being born under water, as well as the potential problems in such births. By the late 1990s, thousands of women had given birth at Odent's birthing center at Pithiviers, and the notion of water birth had spread to many other Western countries.
A precursor to modern water birth, a gentle method of child birth
Frederick Leboyer (born 1918) is a French obstetrician, best known for his 1975 book, Birth Without Violence, which popularized gentle birthing techniques, in particular, the practice of immersing newly-born infants in a small tub of warm water — known as a "Leboyer bath" — to help ease the transition from the womb to the outside world. He graduated from the University of Paris School of Medicine.
The Lamaze Technique is a prepared childbirth technique developed in the 1940s by French obstetrician Dr. Fernand Lamaze as an alternative to the use of medical intervention during labor. Dr. Lamaze was influenced by Soviet childbirth practices, which involved breathing and relaxation techniques under the supervision of a "monitrice" or midwife. The Lamaze method gained popularity in the United States after Marjorie Karmel wrote about her experiences in her 1959 book 'Thank You, Dr. Lamaze'.
In various Christian traditions the term scapular is also applied to a small devotional artifact worn by male and female non-monastics in the belief that this will be of spiritual benefit to them. The Roman Catholic Church considers it a sacramental. It consists of two small squares of cloth, wood or laminated paper, bearing religious images or text, which are joined by two bands of cloth. The wearer places one square on the chest, rests the bands one on each shoulder and lets the second square drop down the back.
The flying squirrels, scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini, are a tribe of squirrel (family Sciuridae). There are 43 species in this tribe. The 2 species of the genus Glaucomys (Glaucomys sabrinus and Glaucomys volans) are native to North America, and the Siberian flying squirrel is native to parts of northern Europe (Pteromys volans).
The term "flying" is somewhat misleading, since flying squirrels are actually gliders incapable of true flight. Steering is accomplished by adjusting tautness of the patagium, largely controlled by a small cartilaginous wrist bone. The tail acts as a stabilizer in flight, much like the tail of a kite, and as an adjunct airfoil when "braking" prior to landing on a tree trunk.
Holy cards are small, mass-produced, devotional pictures made for the use of the Catholic faithful. They typically depict a religious scene or a saint on a small image that is about the size of a playing card or collectible card. The reverse typically contains a prayer, some of which promise an indulgence for its recitation. The circulation of these cards is an important part of the visual folk culture of Catholics.
My Granny makes the best cracklin' ho cake �?� It tastes so good I can't wait to dip my plate �?� She's cookin' ham hocks in some white-acre peas �?� She's cookin' turnip greens and macaroni and cheese �?� Get on out my way I got to ease up to that pot �?� I like my cornbread while it's still piping hot �?� I love this food Lord I can't get enough
_Excerpt of lyrics from Ho Cakes, lyrics by JJ Grey of Mofro
Special flat, round cast iron griddles called hoe cake griddles are available commercially. Google up Paula Deen's awesome recipe.
Nicknames for the three bones of the middle ear, based on their shapes
The middle ear, an air-filled cavity behind the ear drum (tympanic membrane), includes the three ear bones or ossicles: the malleus (or hammer), incus (or anvil), and stapes (or stirrup).
This large plastic toy projector from Kenner was basically just a torch/flashlight and a lens. By sliding strips of slides through the projector you could project a 4 sq. feet image on to a screen or wall and "give-a-show".
Its plastic casing changed shape and colour over the years, but it always contained a bright projector light bulb and a slot that allowed the user to feed a strip of film through the light it emitted to create projected images. To put on a show, the Projector user dimmed the lights and aimed their Give-A-Show Projector at the blank wall of their choice. They then fed a projection strip containing six slides through the side of the Give-A-Show Projector. The end result was a series of four-foot images that told a story to the viewers through words and pictures.
Filmstrips were a common form of instructional multimedia used by instructors in both primary school and secondary (K-12). They were popular because they were simultaneously an easy-to-use and inexpensive way for an instructor to enhance and invigorate their curriculum by offering students and opportunity to learn by watching and listening in addition to reading.
The filmstrip itself was a spool - a strip - of 35 mm positive film with usually 30-50 images arranged sequentially would have a duration of between 10-20 min. The instructor would turn on a film projector that would show the first frame of the filmstrip. The instructor would, then, turn on a 33 RPM record or cassette tape, containing the audio material for the filmstrip (including narration). At the appropriate point a tone would sound, signalling the instructor to advance to the next frame.
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VCRs made filmstrips, for the most part, obsolete.
Fuzzy dice, known in the British Isles as furry dice or fluffy dice, are an automotive decoration consisting of two oversized plush dice which hang from the rear-view mirror.
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A common prize at carnival games of chance in the 1960s.
Tang is a sugared, fruit-flavored, non-carbonated soft drink from the USA. The original orange flavored Tang was formulated by General Foods Corporation in 1957 and first marketed (in powdered form) in 1959.
It was initially intended as a breakfast drink, but sales were poor until NASA began using it on Gemini flights in 1965, and that use was heavily advertised.
Dr. Denton is a (historically) well-known American brand of blanket sleepers, formerly manufactured by the Dr. Denton Sleeping Garment Mills of Centreville, Michigan. The company was founded in 1865, originally as the Michigan Central Woolen Company, and from the late 19th Century through the first half of the 20th Century was probably the single best-known manufacturer of blanket sleepers in the United States. The brand was so well-known that Dr. Dentons became (and remains today) a genericized trademark.
A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear. It originated as women's wear during the nineteenth-century United States clothing reform efforts, as an alternative to constricting garments, and soon gained popularity among men as well. The first union suit was patented in 1868. Traditionally made of red flannel with long arms and long legs, it buttoned up the front and had a button-up flap in the rear covering the buttocks (colloquially known as the "access hatch", "drop seat", "fireman's flap", and other names), allowing the wearer to eliminate bodily waste without removing the garment. Depending on the size, some union suits can have a dozen buttons on the front to be fastened through buttonholes from the neck down to the groin area.
A cuckoo clock is a clock, typically pendulum driven, that strikes the hours using small bellows and pipes that imitate the call of the Common Cuckoo in addition to striking a wire gong. The mechanism to produce the cuckoo call was installed in almost every kind of cuckoo clock since the middle of the eighteenth century and has remained almost without variation until the present.
The design of a cuckoo clock is now conventional. Most are made in the "traditional style" or "chalet" to hang on a wall. In the "traditional style" the wooden case is decorated with carved leaves and animals. Most now have an automaton of the bird that appears through a small trap door while the clock is striking. The bird is often made to move while the clock strikes, typically by means of an arm that lifts the back of the carving.
Burial at sea describes the procedure of disposing of human remains in the ocean.
Two reasons for burial at sea are if the deceased died while at sea and it is impractical to return the remains to shore, or if the deceased died on land but a burial at sea is requested for private or cultural reasons.
Burial at sea services are available at many different locations and with many different customs, either by ship or by aircraft. Usually, either the captain (or commanding officer) of the ship or aircraft or a representative of the religion performs the ceremony. Legally, a captain can bury remains at sea, provided that environmental regulations are satisfied. In the United States, ashes have to be scattered at least 3 miles from shore, and bodies can be given to the sea if the location is at least 600 feet (200 m) deep.
Epitaph to a Dog is a poem by the English poet Lord Byron. It was written in 1808 in honor of his Newfoundland dog, Boatswain, who had just died of rabies. Check it out..it's beautiful.
In the early 20th century before the common commercial use of a separate funeral location was popular the deceased were most often displayed in their casket in the parlor of the private home in which they had lived. When mortuaries began offering the service of displaying the deceased for public viewing and grieving, the term "funeral parlor" was used to make the practice seem like the more familiar custom of displaying the deceased at home.
A funeral home, or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
A funeral home, or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
Mongoloid spots are common in children from many different racial backgrounds. These patches of dermal melanocytosis are found in greater than 90% of African Americans, 81% of Asian, and 70% of Hispanic infants. Although they are often seen in the lumbosacral and gluteal areas they are not limited to those regions. They need to be distinguished from bruises of child abuse. Compared to a bruise they are more uniform in skin color, their borders are better defined, there is no induration or tenderness and they are stable over time.
A class ring (also known as a graduate, senior, or grad ring) is a ring worn by students and alumni to commemorate their graduation, generally from a high school, college, or university.
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Class rings were commonly exchanged in the 1950s and 1960s to commemorate a promise of going steady. These were usually high school rings but this was also practiced by college students. Girls would wrap the bands with thick layers of colored yarn in order to make the larger men's rings fit their own smaller fingers or they would wear them around their necks on a chain. Some men wore their girlfriend's ring on their pinky finger but most men did not wear the girl's class ring, considering it too effeminate.
A letterman, in U.S. sports, performing arts or academics, is a high school or college student who has met a specified level of participation and/or performance on a varsity athletic team, marching band, or in other performance school-sponsored activities.
The term comes from the practice of awarding each such participant a cloth "letter", which is usually the school's initial or initials, for placement on a "letter sweater" or "letter jacket" intended for the display of such an award. In some instances, the sweater or jacket itself may also be awarded, especially for the initial award to a given individual.
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The tradition of giving one's steady girlfriend one's letter jacket or letter sweater in lieu of a ring when going steady was common in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s.
Promise rings are bestowed to symbolize a promise that one person makes to another. In some cases, promise rings are precursors to engagement rings. While the latter symbolize a promise to marry, promise rings can stand for many other kinds of vows.
A fairly common trait in some breeds of dogs, notably in Siberian Huskies. A snow nose is a reddish or pink marking on a black or liver colored nose. Snow nose can disappear over warmer months and reappear over the winter months. There is nothing wrong with a snow nose, and it is perfectly acceptable in the breed.
A brand name that has become a generic term for a type of instant camera.
An instant camera is a type of camera with self-developing film. The most famous are those made by the Polaroid Corporation. The invention of modern instant cameras is generally credited to American scientist Edwin Land, who unveiled the first commercial instant camera, the Land Camera, in 1947, 10 years after founding the Polaroid Corporation.
In the United States, kringles are hand-rolled from Danish pastry dough (wienerbrød dough) that has been rested overnight before shaping, filling, and baking. Many layers of the flaky dough are layered, then shaped in an oval. After filling with fruit, nut, or other flavor combinations, the pastry is baked and iced.
In America, kringles are chiefly produced in Racine, Wisconsin, the North American city with the largest population of Danes outside of Greenland (which is a self-governing portion of the Kingdom of Denmark), and a center of expatriate Danish culture. Kringle and Danish culture are an important part of Racine's cultural identity, and several local bakeries make and ship the hundreds of thousands of kringles per year each.
A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody over and over again, but with each voice beginning at different times. "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is a well known children's round for 4 voices.
Burma-Shave was a United States brand of brushless shaving cream, famous for its advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small, sequential highway billboard signs.
Burma-Shave was introduced in 1925 by the Burma-Vita company, owned by Clinton Odell. It was a pungent, soapy-smelling concoction which the company at first had difficulty selling. To increase sales, the owners developed the famous Burma-Shave advertising sign program, and sales took off. At its peak, Burma-Shave was the second-highest selling brushless shaving cream in the United States.
Peeps (branded as PEEPS®) are small marshmallow candies, sold in the United States, that are shaped into baby chickens, rabbits, and other animals. Peeps are primarily used to fill Easter baskets. They are made from marshmallow, sugar, gelatin, and carnauba wax.
Peeps are produced by Just Born, a candy manufacturer based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Peeps were introduced in 1953 by Russian immigrant, Sam Born. When Just Born acquired Rodda Candy Company in 1953, they automated the process (originally the chicks were formed by hand) and mass-marketed them. Back in 1953, when the peeps were made by hand it took 27 hours to make one marshmallow peep. The yellow chicks were the original form of the candy — hence their name — but then the company introduced other colors and, eventually, the myriad shapes in which they are now produced.
Lefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread made out of potato, milk or cream and flour, and cooked on a griddle. Special tools are available for lefse baking, including long wooden turning sticks and special rolling pins with deep grooves. There are significant regional variations in the way lefse is made and eaten, but it generally resembles a flatbread although it is far thinner. In some parts of the United States (such as North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, northern and central Iowa, Wisconsin, and Washington), lefse is available in grocery stores.
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When I lived in Minnesota it was always possible to pick up part-time work hours making lefse for the huge Christmas rush demand for the product. So good with butter and cinnamon-sugar.
Boiling the dough before baking is what gives the wonderful chewy texture. You've never tasted a better bagel than one made in your own kitchen. Try it.
Gefilte fish (Yiddish: געפֿילטע פֿיש) are poached fish patties or balls made from a mixture of ground deboned fish, mostly carp (common carp). They are popular in the Ashkenazi Jewish community.
In traditional recipes for gefilte fish, the fish is first deboned, often while still at the market. Next, the fish is ground together with eggs, onions and flour, matzoh meal or challah, and then stuffed into the skin of the deboned fish, giving it the name gefilte (filled or stuffed, compare the German gefüllte). The whole stuffed fish is then poached with carrots and onions. When prepared this way, it is usually served in slices. This form of preparation eliminated the need for picking fish bones at the table and stretched the fish further, so that even poor families could enjoy fish on the Sabbath.
Before a Jewish funeral service begins first-degree Jewish relatives engage in the act of kriah, or tearing one's garment or pinning a black ribbon called a kriah ribbon to one's lapel. It is a powerful and ancient reaction to the harsh reality of death and an acknowledgment that death tears an irreparable hole in the fabric of our lives. The kriah ribbon, or the torn garment, is worn for the sheloshim period, the thirty days extending from the funeral. Traditionally, it is removed on Shabbat, the Sabbath.
Crochet (pronounced /kroʊˈʃeɪ/) is a process of creating fabric from yarn or thread using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the Middle French word croc or croche, meaning hook. Crocheting, similar to knitting, consists of pulling loops of yarn through other loops. Crochet differs from knitting in that only one loop is active at one time (the sole exception being Tunisian crochet), and that a crochet hook is used instead of knitting needles.
A granny square is a crochet technique for producing square fabric by working in rounds from the center outward. Granny squares are traditionally handmade. They resemble coarse lace. Although there is no theoretical limit to the maximum size of a granny square, crocheters usually create multiple small squares and assemble the pieces to make clothing, purses, Afghan blankets, and other household textiles.
Granny square apparel is a cyclical fashion that peaked in the 1970s.
"The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch swing with, never say a word, then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation that you ever had." — Anonymous
A bench style swing built of wooden slats that has a seat, a back and two arms and can usually seat two people. It is attached to chains at the arms and suspended from the ceiling beams of a porch.
Tire swings are a form of swing made from a car tire suspended by a heavy rope from a sturdy tree branch. This is an old-fashoned, simple swing commonly seen in the country, near farm houses.
Special factory-made "tire swings" are suspended by three chains and are suspended from heavy beams and are mounted horizontally so that more than one child can sit along the top edge. Some dangerous stunts can be done using these swings so they are not as commonly used in playgrounds these days.
Lawn darts (also called Jarts or yard darts) is a lawn game for two players or teams. A lawn dart set usually includes four large darts and two targets. The game play and objective are similar to both horseshoes and darts. The darts are similar to the ancient Roman plumbata. They are typically 12 inches long with a weighted metal or plastic tip on one end and three plastic fins on a rod at the other end. The darts are intended to be tossed underhand toward a horizontal ground target, where the weighted end hits first and sticks into the ground. The target is typically a plastic ring, and landing anywhere within the ring scores a point.
Wiffleball or whiffleball is a variation of the sport of baseball designed for indoor or outdoor play in confined areas. "Wiffle" is a registered trademark of The Wiffle Ball, Inc., which manufactures Wiffle balls from its location in Shelton, Connecticut. It is played using a perforated, light-weight, plastic ball and a long, plastic (typically yellow) bat, generally on a triangular playing field.
The Wiffle ball was invented by David N. Mullany of Fairfield, Connecticut in 1953 when he designed a ball that curved easily for his 12-year old son. It was named when his son and his friends would refer to a strikeout as a "wiff" (actually whiff). A classic Wiffle ball is about the same size as a regulation baseball and is hollow plastic no more than 1/8th of an inch thick. One hemisphere is perforated with eight 3/4" inch oblong holes, with a solid second hemisphere. Wiffle balls are typically packaged with a hollow, hard plastic, yellow bat that measures 31 inches (790 mm) in length and about 1.25 inches in diameter.
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Also refers to the game played with a Wiffleball and bat.
A side or back door entryway that acts as a barrier between outdoors and indoors, where coats and shoes or boots can be removed and thus keep dirt out of the main house. Often seen in farmhouses. Usually has a concrete or linoleum floor, sometimes with a floor drain. May have a bench to sit on while removing heavy boots and hooks to hang up outerwear.
In the days before air-conditioning, a "summer kitchen" was sometimes added to homes in order to remove the heat of the cooking fires from the main house during hot weather.
Commonly known as "short shorts." These are short, tight shorts, usually made of cotton, nylon, or some other common material. They are meant to emphasize the buttocks and the legs. Hot pants were very popular in the early 1970s, but declined in popularity during the late 1970s.
A pop gun is a toy gun that uses air pressure to fire a small projectile (often cork or foam) out of a barrel via piston action. The mechanism consists of a hollow cylindrical barrel which is sealed at one end with the projectile and at the other with a long-handled plunger. The plunger is rapidly forced down the barrel, building up internal air pressure until the projectile is forced out with the "pop" sound that lends the toy its name. The projectile may be tethered to the toy to prevent loss or for safety.
Motorcycles designed for racing over closed circuits, often with jumps, over varied terrain of gravel/mud/sand. Also called motocross bikes, when not being raced, they can also be used for informal off-road recreation, or "mudding".
Cracker Jack is a brand of snack consisting of caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts. It is also well known for being packaged with a "Toy Surprise Inside" of nominal value. This attained pop-culture status with the term "came in a Cracker Jack box" referring to an object of no real value.
Kool-Aid was invented by Gerard and Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. To reduce shipping costs, in 1927, Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder. This powder was named Kool-Ade (and a few years later, it was renamed 'Kool-Aid' due to a change in US Government regulations regarding the need for fruit juice in products using the term "Ade"). Perkins moved his production to Chicago in 1931 and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953.
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A powdered fruit flavoring that is mixed with regular granulated sugar and water by the customer to make a pitcherful of soft drink. It is a brand name that has become a generic term used to mean any inexpensive fruity soft drink mix or non-carbonated fruity soft drink.
A fishstick is a processed food made using a whitefish such as cod which have been battered and/or breaded. They are commonly available in the frozen food section of Western supermarkets, and on children's menus in family-oriented restaurants.
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In the 1950s they were nasty, soggy fishy little cakes with too much breading that were served to school children as part of the typical school lunch, especially on Fridays when Catholic children traditionally could not eat meat.
A souvenir sold at Disney theme parks that is a small round felt beanie style hat with two large round plastic ears that is designed to make the child or child at heart who is wearing it look like Mickey Mouse.
A space blanket is a blanket designed to be used in emergency situations to reduce heat loss from a person's body. The blanket consists of a thin sheet of plastic material (often PET film) that is coated with a metallic reflecting agent, usually gold or silver in color, which reflects about 80% of the wearer's radiated body heat back to him or her.
The most common dipole antenna is the "rabbit ears" type used with televisions. While theoretically the dipole elements should be along the same line, "rabbit ears" are adjustable in length and angle.
A dipole antenna, developed by Heinrich Rudolph Hertz around 1886, is an antenna with a center-fed driven element for transmitting or receiving radio frequency energy. These antennas are the simplest practical antennas from a theoretical point of view.
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In the days before cable television rabbit ears sat on top of the TV to help reception. They usually had a small round or oval shaped plastic base that had two long metal wands that could be adjusted projecting up from the base.
Chiclets are a brand of candy coated chewing gum made by Cadbury Adams. The product's name is derived from the Spanish word chicle (chewing gum) derived from (Nahuatl tziktli), the substance from which chewing gum was traditionally made. The original flavor was peppermint but many flavors have been added and discontinued over the decades since the introduction in 1906. Assorted fruit flavor is still available in Mexico, U.S. and Canada.
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One piece of Chiclets gum is a chiclet. Chiclet has become a generic term for any candy coated, pillow shaped gum.
Drumstick is the brand name for different novelty ice cream cones sold in the United States, Australia, Canada, and other countries across the world.
A typical Drumstick-brand ice cream cone is a waffle cone filled with ice cream, topped with chocolate and nuts, has a chunk of chocolate in the bottom of the cone and is commonly found in the frozen food section of a US grocery store. However in Australia a chocolate cone variety called Drumstick Royale is available, which replaces the waffle cone with a solid chocolate cone.
The original product was invented by I.C. Parker of The Drumstick Company in 1928.
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Drumstick has become a generic term for any brand or homemade icecream treat that features a sundae combination (icecream topped with a chocolate shell and chopped nuts) in a prepared waffle-type sugar cone.
A pea coat (or pea jacket, pilot jacket) is an outer coat, generally of a navy-colored heavy wool, originally worn by sailors of European navies. Pea coats are characterized by broad lapels, double-breasted fronts, often large wooden buttons, and vertical or slash pockets. Although it first appeared in the early 18th century, modern renditions still maintain the original design and composition.
The cigar store Indian or wooden Indian is an old advertisement figure made to represent cigar shops. The figures were often three-dimensional wooden sculptures several feet tall - up to life-sized. They are still occasionally used for their original advertising purpose but are more often seen in decorative uses, or, for older ones, as advertising collectibles.
Because of the general illiteracy of the populace, early store owners used descriptive emblems or figures to advertise their shops' wares. Indians and tobacco had always been associated because Indians introduced tobacco to Europeans, and the depiction of native people on smoke-shop signs was inevitable. As early as the seventeenth century, European tobacconists used figures of Indians to advertise their shops.
The current, popular understanding of the term “Diorama�? denotes a partially three-dimensional, full-size replica or scale model of a landscape typically showing historical events, nature scenes or cityscapes, for purposes of education or entertainment.
A haunted house could be any house that is inhabited by ghosts or disembodied spectres or other supernatural beings or energies.
A haunted house is also a type of funhouse seen around Halloween in the United States. Usually for profit and often for charitable causes, scary, spooky and/or grisly decorations are used in a mazelike series of rooms or settings in a large building such as a warehouse or old school or some similar empty building to create an interactive fun environment for people to pretend and have some chills and thrills and laughs. Live actors dressed as skeletons, monsters, ghosts, murderers and other ghouls animate dioramas. Spooky props such as smoke machines, fake blood and make-up are also used to create the atmosphere.
A sock monkey is a stuffed toy made from socks and fashioned in the likeness of a monkey. Sock monkeys hold an important place in the culture of North America as a symbol of ingenuity.
The iconic sock monkeys made from Red-Heel socks emerged at the earliest in 1932, the year the Nelson Knitting Company of Rockford, Illinois added the trademarked red heel to its product. Nelson Knitting added the red heel "de-tec-tip" to assure its customers they were buying "original Rockfords". This red heel gave the monkeys their distinctive mouth. The original brown heather color of the rest of the sock makes the monkey's coat.
Around 1951 the knitting company discovered their socks were being used to make monkey dolls. In 1953, Nelson Knitting became involved in a dispute over the design patent on the sock monkey pattern. They were awarded the patent in 1955, and began including the pattern with every pair of socks.
In photography, a fisheye lens is a wide-angle lens that takes in an extremely wide, hemispherical image. Originally developed for use in meteorology and astronomy and called "whole-sky lenses", fisheye lenses quickly became popular in general photography for their unique, distorted appearance. They are often used by photographers shooting broad landscapes to suggest the curve of the Earth.
One of several possible aspects or relationships between planets in a horoscope.
An arc of 150 degrees. Also known as the inconjunct; this aspect creates a certain uneasiness and a feeling of discomfort and has karmic lessons to teach us. It is a minor aspect.
Otherwise known as Inconjunct.
This aspect is the only one not measured by celestial longitude. It is of two or more planets having the same distance in declination in degrees, north or south of the celestial equator.
A disk shaped hard candy, usually peppermint or spearmint flavored but also available in several fruit flavors. It has a characteristic striped pattern that looks like a starburst. Some starlight mints have a white disk on the flat face of the mint and stripes on the sides. The peppermint ones are red and white and look like cousins to candy canes. They are usually individually wrapped in cellophane. Many restaurants in the U.S. make them available free of charge to their customers as an after-dinner mint or a breath mint.
A lemon drop is a sugary, lemon-flavored hard candy that is typically colored yellow and often shaped like a miniature lemon. They can be sweet or have a more sour flavor.
The term "lemon drop" is also occasionally applied to lemon-flavored throat lozenges.
A White Elephant Sale is a collection of used items being sold by a non-professional group of individuals second hand, much akin to a yard sale or garage sale, usually as a fund-raiser.
A garage sale, also called a "yard sale", "tag sale", "attic sale", "moving sale", or "junk sale", is an informal, irregularly scheduled event for the sale of used goods by private individuals.
A Bundt cake is the name used for a dessert cake cooked in a Bundt pan, whose essential attribute is its ringed shape. The Bundt pan (a registered trademark) was created in 1950 by H. David Dalquist, founder of Nordic Ware, at the request of members of the Hadassah Society's chapter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They were interested in a pan that could be used to make bundkuchen (sometimes called kugelhopf or Gugelhupf), a popular German and Austrian coffee cake. The old-world pans, made of delicate ceramic or heavy cast iron, were difficult to use. He modified some existing Scandinavian pan designs by introducing folds in the outer edge, and fashioned the pan out of aluminum.
Knife pleats are used for basic gathering purposes, and form a smooth line rather than springing away from the seam they have been gathered to. The pleats have a 3:1 ratio–three inches of fabric will create one inch of finished pleat. Knife pleats can be recognized by the way that they overlap in the seam.
Box pleats are knife pleats back-to-back, and have a tendency to spring out from the waistline. They have the same 3:1 ratio as knife pleats, and may also be stacked to form stacked box pleats. These stacked box pleats create more fullness and have a 5:1 ratio. They also create a bulkier seam. Inverted box pleats have the "box" on the inside rather than the outside.
A little black dress is an evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often with a short skirt, originally made popular in the 1920s by the fashion designer Coco Chanel. Intended by Chanel to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, accessible to the widest market possible and in a neutral color, its continued ubiquity is such that many refer to it by its abbreviation, LBD.
The "little black dress" is considered essential to a complete wardrobe by many women and fashion observers.
Pleiadeans (also spelled Pleiadian or Plejaran) is the name given to what are said to be a group of Nordic alien extraterrestrials and "multidimensional spirit beings" from the Pleiades star cluster in the constellation of Taurus), approximately 400 light years from planet Earth. Their home planet is said to be called Erra, and various descriptions of their appearance have been given by those whom claim have been in contact with them.
Contactees who claim to have been in contact with the Pleiadeans include Billy Meier and James Gilliland.
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I think Shirley MacLaine mentions them in Out On a Limb.
Mothman is the name given to a being or creature reported in the Charleston and Point Pleasant areas of West Virginia between November 12, 1966, near Clendenin, and December 1967. Most observers describe the Mothman as a winged man-sized creature with large reflective red eyes and large moth-like wings. The creature often appeared to have no head, with its eyes set into its chest. A number of hypotheses have been presented to explain eyewitness accounts, ranging from misidentification and coincidence, to paranormal phenomena and conspiracy theories.
In the early Beatle-mania years, the Beatles would occasionally wear black, and then later grey, Edwardian collarless suits. This style of suit was adopted from the Mod youth cult, then at its peak in the UK. These suits became extremely common for new bands to wear after 1964.
Beatle boots are tight-fitting, cuban-heeled, ankle-length boots with a pointed toe which originated in 1963 when Brian Epstein (then manager of the Beatles) discovered Chelsea boots while browsing in the London footwear company Anello & Davide, and consequently commissioned four pairs (with the addition of Cuban heels) for The Beatles to complement their new suit image upon their return from Hamburg, who wore them under drainpipe trousers.
The Beatle haircut, also known as the mop-top (or moptop) is a mid-length hairstyle named after and popularised by the Beatles. It is a straight cut - collar-length at the back and over the ears at the sides, with straight bangs.
The Nehru jacket is a hip-length tailored coat for men or women, with a stand-up or "mandarin" collar, and modeled on the South Asian achkan or sherwani, an apparel worn by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964. However, unlike the achkan, which falls somewhere below the knees of the wearer, the Nehru jacket is not only shorter, but also, in all respects other than the collar, resembles the suit jacket.
The apparel was created in India in the 1940s as Band Gale Ka Coat (Hindi/Urdu: "Closed Neck Coat") and has been popular on the subcontinent since, especially as the top half of a suit worn on formal occasions. It began to be marketed as the Nehru jacket in the West in the mid-1960s; it was briefly popular there in the late 1960s and early 1970s, its popularity spurred by growing awareness of foreign cultures, by the minimalism of the Mod lifestyle, and, in particular, by the Beatles, who popularized the garment.
A Pop-Tart is a flat rectangular toaster pastry approximately 3 in (75 mm) by 5.5 in (115 mm), made by the Kellogg Company. Pop-Tarts have a sugary filling sealed inside two layers of rectangular, thin pastry crust; each layer of this crust is about 0.1 in (2 mm) thick. Most varieties have frosting, but some do not. They can be eaten without being warmed, but are often warmed inside a toaster. They are usually sold in pairs inside foil packages, and do not require refrigeration.
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Has become a generic term for any toaster pastries.
Oi, pronounced /ˈɔɪ/, is a British / Welsh, Irish, Australian slang interjection used to get someone's attention, or to express surprise or disapproval. The American English equivalent is the interjection "hey".
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See Also Oi! is a working class street-level subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s
The Youth International Party (whose adherents were known as Yippies, a variant on "Hippies") was a highly theatrical and anti-authoritarian political party established in the United States in 1967. An offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the 1960s, the Yippies presented a more radically youth-oriented and countercultural alternative to those movements. They employed theatrical gestures—such as advancing a pig ("Pigasus the Immortal") as a candidate for President in 1968—to mock the social status quo. The Yippies had no formal membership or hierarchy: Abbie Hoffman, Anita Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Nancy Kurshan, and Paul Krassner were among the founders of the Yippies (according to his own account, Krassner coined the name).
Big hair is a term that can refer to hairstyles that emphasize large volume or largely styled hair. Big hair was popular in the late 1970s, as popularized by Dolly Parton and Farrah Fawcett, a development from earlier bouffant styles. The term is also used in the punk, goth and alternative cultures and is particularly associated with alternative fashion of the 1980s, or inspired by the period. In either usage, big hair in modern times generally suggests an eye-catching, untidy, tangled, voluminous hairstyle, worn by conformist women in the 1970s, non-conformist of all sexes in the 1980s.
Backcombing is a way of combing hair which is used to create volume as well as to create certain hairstyles. Backcombing, also known as "teasing", means repeatedly combing the hair towards the scalp, causing the hair to tangle and knot up. This method is often used in creating various big hair styles such as beehives and dreadlocks.
The French term à gogo, often anglicized as A Go-Go, meaning "in abundance, galore". Alternate spellings vary widely, particularly concerning the placement and number of dashes as well as the use of the "a". The term is often used in popular culture, especially in the field of music and dancing. Though earlier uses of the phrase were meant to lend a cosmopolitan feel to subjects, modern usage tends more toward an ironic, campy appeal.
Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in London, United Kindgom, located in the area of 'Carnaby' in the district of Soho, near Oxford Street, and just to the east of Regent Street. The area around Carnaby Street is known simply as 'Carnaby'. It consists of twelve pedestrianised streets with 168 fashion and lifesyle retailers, including a large number of independent fashion boutiques.
In the 1960s, Carnaby Street was made popular by followers of the Mod style. Many independent fashion boutiques, and designers such as Mary Quant and 'Lord John' were located in and around Carnaby Street as well as various underground music bars such as the 'Roaring Twenties'. With bands such as The Beatles, Small Faces, and Rolling Stones appearing in the area to work, shop, and socialize, it became one of London's coolest destination associated with the Swinging Sixties.
Go-Go boots are a low-heeled style of women’s fashion boot worn since the mid-sixties when fashion silhouettes focused on accentuating the leg. The term “go-go�? refers to the fact that they were often seen on and associated with dancers at discotheques such as Whisky a Go Go.
Go-go boots are either calf-, knee- or above knee-high boots with a low or flat heel. The style is a very simple shape with a chiseled, rounded or pointed toe. The boot was usually fastened onto the foot by a side or back zipper, although by the Seventies it was not uncommon to find lace-up versions which accommodated a wider variety of calf sizes. Heel height ranges from flat to low 1�? shaped, with the occasional 2�? Cuban heel.
Materials were either synthetic or natural, with the oldest designs being made from plastic or vinyl of various colors, the most popular being white. Women’s styles tended to be taller, tighter and with a slightly higher heel than girl’s styles.
André Courrèges is often cited as the originator of the fashion go-go boots. In the 1960s Courrege boots became a generic term used to describe a white leather or plastic calf-length boot with a wide top, worn by women, typically with a knee-length or mini skirt or dress. André Courrèges (born 1923) is a French fashion designer, known for his ultra-modern designs.
A Rice Krispie treat is a sweet dessert or snack made from Rice Krispies, melted margarine or butter and melted marshmallows. Sometimes marshmallows and/or cereal that is seasonal is used to make these treats holiday specific. They are often homemade, but one can find them in many stores usually packaged under the Rice Krispies brand.
One variation is to use chocolate instead of marshmallows which is known as "Chocolate Crackles". Kellogg's has now produced commercial varieties of both the marshmallow and chocolate-based treats under the name of "Rice Krispies Squares".
Rice Krispie treats were invented in 1928 by Mildred Day, who was at the time working for the Kellogg Company, the maker of Rice Krispies. She used the cereal to develop the snack as a fundraiser for a Camp Fire Girls group.
Commonly in the U.S. a doughnut in the shape of a bar, with or without a filling. In Wisconsin in the United States a long john, by definition, is unfilled and frosted. It and can be found plain frosted or frosted with nuts or sprinkles or jimmies.
A bear claw is a sweet breakfast food, popular in the United States. It is an almond-flavored, yeast-raised pastry shaped in a large, irregular semicircle with slices around the outside, evoking the shape of a bear's claw. Bear claws often contain almond paste or raisins.
A Persian is an oval-shaped, cinnamon-bun-like pastry with a sweet, pink icing made of either raspberries or strawberries. It originated in and remains particular to the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
The Persian is a variation of the Pershing, a doughnut made from a yeast dough that is coiled with cinnamon and usually finished with a plain sugar glaze rather than pink icing. Pershings are widely available at doughnut shops elsewhere in North America.
The Pershing is a doughnut made from a yeast dough that is coiled with cinnamon and usually finished with a plain sugar glaze rather than pink icing of a Persian. Pershings are widely available at doughnut shops in North America.
La Leche League International (LLLI) is an international, nonprofit, nonpolitical, and nonsectarian organization, recognized as an authority on breastfeeding around the world. It was founded in 1956 in Franklin Park, Illinois, to give support and information to women who choose to breastfeed their babies. It currently has a presence in sixty-five countries.
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Usually known simply as La Leche League or just as "League."
"Blessed be" is probably the best-known Pagan expression. It is used as both a greeting and a farewell, and as a general expression of blessing or affirmation during ritual, similar to "amen".
In Neo-Paganism and Wicca, the phrase Amen is not normally used, being seen as Christian in origin. However, the rather archaic phrase So mote it be is often used instead, with basically the same meaning (mote is an archaic form of may). This possibly derives from Freemasonry, where in certain rituals the phrase "Amen, so mote it be" is used.
Codependence (or codependency) is a popular psychology concept popularized by Twelve-Step program advocates. A "codependent" is loosely defined as someone who exhibits too much, and often inappropriate, caring for persons who depend on him or her. A "codependent" is one side of a relationship between mutually needy people. The dependent, or obviously needy party(s) may have emotional, physical, financial difficulties, or addictions they seemingly are unable to surmount. The "codependent" party exhibits behaviour which controls, makes excuses for, pities, and takes other actions to perpetuate the obviously needy party's condition, because of their desire to be needed and fear of doing anything that would change the relationship.
A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles for recovery from addictive, compulsive, or other behavioral problems, originally developed by the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for recovery from alcoholism. The Twelve Steps were initially published in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous ("The Big Book") in 1939; since then more than 25 million copies have been printed in many languages. This method has been adapted as the foundation of other twelve-step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Co-Dependents Anonymous and Emotions Anonymous. As summarized by the American Psychological Association, working the Twelve Steps involves the following.
admitting that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion;
recognizing a greater power that can give strength;
examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member);
making amends for these errors;
learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior;
helping others that suffer from the same addictions or compulsions.
A kit - is set of objects, as in a toolkit, or what a soldier would put in his kit-bag.
A caboodle (or boodle) - is an archaic term meaning group or collection, usually of people.
There are several phrases similar to the whole kit and caboodle, which is first recorded in that form in 1884. Most of them are of US origin and all the early citations are American. Caboodle was never in common use outside the USA and now has died out everywhere, apart from its use in this phrase.
Black ice, also known as "glare ice" or "clear ice," typically refers to a thin coating of glazed ice on a surface, often a roadway. Black ice is ice frozen without many air bubbles trapped inside, making it transparent. Black ice takes the color of the material it lies on top of, often wet asphalt or a darkened pond. Its difficult-to-detect nature makes it a significant hazard to drivers, pedestrians, and sailors.
In the 1960s a poor boy was a popular kind of shirt for females. They were figure hugging rib-knit t-shirts that came in a wide range of solid colors. They were often worn tucked into hip huggers, either skirts or slacks which were worn with a wide leather belt.
My real first name is Terrie. My last name before I divorced the carbuncle was Reese. Hence t + reese +ed for good measure = treeseed. I am not reesetee. Really.
The term lamb is a name for the animal or meat of a domestic sheep. The meat of a sheep a year old or younger is generally known as lamb.
Lamb chops are cut from the rib, loin, and shoulder areas. The rib chops include a rib bone; the loin chops include only a chine bone. Shoulder chops are usually considered inferior to loin chops.
Lamb Chop is a fictional character, more precisely a fictional sheep, who is a sock puppet created by comedian and ventriloquist Shari Lewis. In 1957, Lamb Chop, a ewe, first appeared with Lewis on Hi Mom, a local morning show that aired on WNBC in New York.
Lamb Chop has been described as a "6-year-old girl, very intuitive and very feisty, a combination of obstinacy and vulnerability...you know how they say fools rush in where wise men fear to go? Well, Lamb Chop would rush in, then scream for help."
Charlie Horse was a charming hand puppet used by puppeteer Shari Lewis. A friend of Lamb Chop.
Shari Lewis (January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s.
The phrase "Swan song" is a reference to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is completely mute during its lifetime, except for singing a single, heartbreakingly beautiful song just before it dies.
It has been known since antiquity that this belief is false. In A.D. 77. Pliny the Elder refuted it in Natural History (book 10, chapter xxxii: olorum morte narratur flebilis cantus, falso, ut arbitror, aliquot experimentis, "observation shows that the story that the dying swan sings is false").
By extension, swan song has become an idiom referring to a final theatrical or dramatic appearance, or any final work or accomplishment.
: a front dive executed with the head back, back arched, and arms spread sideways and then brought together above the head to form a straight line with the body as the diver enters the water
Paddle ball is a one-person game played with an attached ball and paddle. Using a flat paddle with a small rubber ball attached at the center via an elastic string, the player tries to hit the ball with the paddle in succession as many times as possible. The paddle is usually made from either wood or plastic.
A beach ball (also beachball) is a large inflatable ball used in various games and other recreational activities traditionally conducted on the beach. Their large size and light weight means it takes little effort to propel one, and they travel slowly to their target, making them ideal for lazy games on hot days, though their lightness makes it difficult to play with them in strong wind.
The beach ball was invented by Jonathon DeLonge in 1938 in California. Beach balls are manufactured in a wide variety of sizes, with diameters ranging from a few inches to four feet. They generally consist of a set of soft plastic panels—two circular panels, one of which contains a valve for inflation, connected by a series of bulged-rectangle-shaped pieces, which are joined side-by-side and form most of the surface area of the ball.
An Empire silhouette is created by wearing a high-waisted dress, gathered near or just under the bust with a long, loose skirt, which skims the body. The outline is especially flattering to pear shapes wishing to disguise the stomach area or emphasise the bust. The shape of the dress helps to lengthen the body. The word "Empire" here refers to the period of the First French Empire.
Light as a feather, stiff as a board, sometimes known as lovely ness, is a game often played by children at slumber parties. One participant lies flat on the floor, and then the others space themselves around him/her, each placing a few fingers underneath his/her body. They then start chanting "light as a feather, stiff as a board" and eventually lift their friend, using what feels like surprisingly little effort.
A Chinese fire drill is a prank, or perhaps an expression of high spirits, that was popular in the United States during the 1960s. It is performed when a car is stopped at a red traffic light, at which point all of the car's occupants get out, run around the car, and return to their own (or go to other) seats. Chinese fire drills are sometimes executed when one needs to get something from the trunk of a car. Occasionally, if one of the participants is late to get inside the car, the others might drive off without him/her. People have reported this phenomenon as early as the 1940s, so it is possible that the phrase was current at the time, but simply was not recorded.
A kidnap breakfast is a fun activity usually carried out by a youth group in which individuals are unsuspectingly woken up from a sound sleep by their friends in the group and are compelled (in a friendly way) to come exactly as they are to a group breakfast gathering at another location.
A person who collects autographs, typically one who approaches, follows or imposes on celebrities for their signatures.
In the early 1960s a popular toy for teen girls was a stuffed animal looking much like a dachshund that had a smooth fabric which could be autographed by one's friends. This was also known as an autograph hound.
Instamatic was the name of a long-running series of inexpensive, easy-to-load 126 and 110 cameras made by Kodak beginning in 1963. The Instamatic was immensely successful, introducing a generation to low-cost photography and spawning numerous imitators.
Bat Masterson was a Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry. His horse was Stardust.
Radar found a wounded stray horse (later named Sophie), he gave her to Potter, so he could care for her. Potter was delighted to have a horse again, and rode her regularly. Potter was played by Harry Morgan.
An appaloosa horse named Joe was the mount of The Virginian played by James Drury on the TV series The Virginian. Some people have heard this as "Jody" but Drury is on record as saying the horse was named Joe. More than one appaloosa horse played this part.
My Friend Flicka is a 1941 novel by Mary O'Hara, about Ken McLaughlin, the son of a Wyoming rancher, and his horse Flicka. It was the first in a trilogy, followed by Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (1943) and Green Grass of Wyoming (1946). The popular 1943 film version featured a young Roddy McDowall. It was followed by film adaptations of the other two novels, in 1945 and 1948, and by a television series (1956-1958) that first aired on CBS, then on NBC, followed by reruns on ABC and on CBS between 1959 and 1966.
Traveller was used by General Robert E. Lee thoughout most of the Civil War.
Traveller (birth name "Jeff Davis") was born near the Blue Sulphur Springs, in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia), raised by Andrew Johnston. An American Saddlebred, he was of the Gray Eagle stock, and, as a colt, took the first prize at the Lewisburg, Virginia, fairs in 1859 and 1860. As an adult gelding, he was a sturdy horse, 16 hands high and 1,100 pounds (500 kg), iron gray in color with black points, a long mane and flowing tail.
A 1960s female hairstyle that featured shoulder length, essentially straight, blunt cut hair that turned up dramatically and uniformly on the ends. Sometimes worn with a middle or side part and at other times combed back and held off the forehead with a hair band.
A crew cut is a type of haircut in which the hair is cut fairly short. The term was most likely coined to describe the haircut worn by members of the Yale rowing crew. The name drew a contrast with football players of the time, who wore long hair to compensate for flimsy leather helmets.
The crew cut was adopted by the United States armed forces during World War II, and became a civilian fashion for men throughout the 1950s.
Comet is a powdered cleaning product sold in North America and distributed in the USA by Prestige Brands. Scratch Free Comet with Bleach Disinfectant Cleanser contains 1.2% sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate and 98.8% "other" ingredients. The only clues about the other ingredients in the product are disclaimers on the label that mention that the surfactants in the product are biodegradable and that it contains no phosphate. Despite being labeled as scratch free, its label instructs to use plenty of water on delicate surfaces. Comet is not recommended for use on silver, painted surfaces, walls, soft plastic, aluminum, or rubber, except for tires. Mixing Comet with other cleaners, specifically toilet bowl cleaners and products that contain ammonia, is dangerous.
The origin of the safety pin dates back to the Mycenaeans during the 14th century BC (Late Mycenaean III era). They are known as fibulae (singular fibula) and were used in the same manner as modern day safety pins. In fact, the very first fibulae of the 14th and 13th centuries B.C. looked remarkably like the safety pin. The origin of the fibulae is detailed in Chr. Blinkenberg's 1926 book Fibules grecques et orientales.
The safety pin was reinvented in July 1849 by American inventor Walter Hunt. The rights to the invention were sold for $400.
The precursor to the current 3-M tapes was developed in the 1930s by Richard Drew to seal a then-new transparent material known as cellophane. Although it is a trademarked brand name, it is sometimes used in the US and elsewhere as a generic term for transparent adhesive tape. The Scotch brand includes many different constructions of tape.
The concept of the variety store originated with the five and ten, or nickel and dime, or five and dime, or dimestore, a store where everything cost either five cents (a nickel) or ten cents (a dime). The originator of the concept may be Woolworths, which began in 1878 in Watertown, New York. Other five and tens that existed in the USA included W.T. Grant, J.J. Newberry's, McCrory's, Kresge, McClellan's, and Ben Franklin Stores.,/i>
A low flat "loafer" style shoe with a decorative stylized fold or slot on the front top. A 1950s fad involved the wearing of a shiny new penny in this fold...hence the name.
Saddle shoes are two-toned leather footwear, the normal coloration is white and black, although other colorations are frequently sold. The toe and back of the shoe are white and the name comes from the saddle of black leather on the middle part which has the eyelets. Saddle shoes are worn by both men and women. They were hugely popular in the 1950s.
A beauty mark or beauty spot is a dark facial mole that some people consider attractive, usually when it is within about an inch of the upper lip or around the eyes, and does not protrude from the skin (not polypoid). Doctors call them melanocytic nevus, more specifically the compound variant. Moles may also be located elsewhere on the body, but are not generally considered beauty spots.
False beauty spots can be applied to the face as a form of make-up. Beauty marks were particularly highly regarded during the 18th century and creating false ones became common, often in fanciful shapes such as hearts. Marilyn Monroe's beauty mark generated a new vogue for them during the twentieth century.
Babee Tenda is a children's furniture company to this day but in the 1950s they manufactured a unigue baby feeding table that was known by the same name as the company. A babee tenda was a square table with a hole cut in the middle of it that had a baby seat attached. It was on four legs with casters and doubled as an activity table. It was very popular and used in place of a high chair. They folded up and stored easily.
In 1965, Owen Maclaren, an aeronautical engineer, listened to his daughter complain about traveling from England to America with her heavy pram. Maclaren knew that she needed something with a light frame that could fold up compactly. Using his knowledge of aeroplanes, Maclaren designed a stroller with an aluminum frame and created the first true umbrella stroller. He then went on to found Maclaren which manufactured and sold his new design.
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These lightweight strollers that folded up so like an umbrella does, were nicknamed umbrella strollers.
City chicken is a food entrée comprised of cubes of meat that are placed on a wooden skewer (approximately 4-5 inches long), breaded, then fried and/or baked. The origins of the entrée and its name are not entirely known, however it is rumored to have begun during the Depression Era, when people took meat scraps and fashioned a make-shift drumstick out of them. Sometimes the meat was ground, and a drumstick-shaped mold was used to form the ground meat around a skewer. Today, better cuts of meat (usually pork loin, beef, and/or veal) are used. In spite of the name, the dish usually contains no chicken.
The dish (and hence the term) seem to be regionalized to the areas surrounding Pittsburgh, PA, ranging from Central Pennsylvania, Northern West Virginia, to as far west as the western suburbs of Cleveland, OH and Hamtramck, MI. It is also known as mock chicken.
Lake Winnebago is a large freshwater lake in eastern Wisconsin. It is the third largest natural freshwater lake completely within a U.S. state (behind Lake Okeechobee (Florida) and Red Lake (Minnesota)) respectively.
The Ibizan Hound, pronounced "I-bee-than" or "I-beez-an", also called Podenco Ibicenco in Spanish or Ca Eivissenc in Catalan, is an agile, deer-like dog of the hound family. There are two hair types of the breed: smooth and wire. The more commonly seen type is the smooth. Some consider there to be a third type, long, but most consider the longhair to be a variation of the wire.
A Girl Scout cookie is one of several varieties of cookie sold on neighborhood tours by Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) as a fundraiser for their organization. Members of the GSUSA have been selling cookies since 1917 to raise funds for their units. Top-selling girls can earn prizes for their efforts.
A Cub Scout is a member of the section of the worldwide Scouting movement for young persons, mainly boys normally aged 8–10. Originally, like the Boy Scouts, Cub Scouting was for boys only; girls were expected to join the Brownies and then the Girl Guides or Girl Scouts. Since about 1990 the Cubs has been open to both girls and boys in several countries. In the USA, it is exclusively open for boys to join.
Camp Fire USA is a nationwide youth organization that began on March 17, 1910 as Camp Fire Girls. The organization has been co-ed since 1975 and has youth from pre-kindergarten through age 21. For a time it was known as just Camp Fire and then as Camp Fire Boys and Girls as more boys joined the organization.
The organizational history and the story of the origins of Camp Fire are complex, but the short version would be that Camp Fire Girls was founded in 1910 by some of the same people who founded Boy Scouts of America. Luther Gulick and his wife Charlotte Vetter Gulick are credited as "official founders" of Camp Fire Girls.
In 1913, the "Blue Bird" program was introduced for younger girls and offered exploration of ideas and creative play built around family and community life. In 1989 the "Blue Bird" level became the "Starflight" level.
4-H in the United States is a youth organization administered by the Cooperative Extension System of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development."1 The four "H"'s stand for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.
Kewpie dolls and figurines are based on illustrations by Rose O'Neill that appeared in Ladies' Home Journal in 1909. These illustrations, which incorporated words and pictures with the recurring Kewpie characters, are considered to be early versions of the comic strip medium. The small dolls were extremely popular in the early 1900s. They were first made out of bisque and then celluloid. In 1949, Effanbee created the first hard plastic versions.
Their name, often shortened to "Kewpies", in fact is derived from "Cupid.". The early dolls, especially signed or bisque, are highly collectible and worth thousands of dollars. The time capsule at the 1939 New York World's Fair contained a Kewpie doll.
Round Up is an amusement ride consisting of circular horizontal platform with vertical cage like wall around the edge. The platform is attached to a motor on a hydraulic arm. The ride starts out by spinning until the centripetal force is enough to push riders against the wall. Then, the arm raises the horizontal platform to a vertical position in which riders, instead of spinning horizontally, are now spinning vertically.
The ride spins for a predetermined cycle until an automatic timer releases the hydraulic fluid from the arm causing the platform to return to its horizontal position.
In the UK this ride is commonly known as the 'Meteorite' or 'Meteor'.
Bumper car is the generic name for a type of flat ride consisting of several small electric cars that draw their power from an overhead grid, which is turned off by the operator at the end of a session. They are also known as dodgem cars, or simply dodgems, the last name being the usual term in British English.
The Zipper is a carnival ride designed in 1968 by Chance Rides Manufacturing, Inc., an American manufacturer of amusement rides based in Wichita, Kansas. This ride is noted for the extreme g-forces felt by its riders. The Zipper is still a very popular attraction at many fairs and carnivals.
The Rock-O-Plane is an amusement park ride. Its shape is similar to that of a Ferris wheel, but with seats that are enclosed and rock and roll as the ride turns. If the rocking builds sufficient momentum the seats will flip upside-down and end-over-end.
The Tilt-A-Whirl is a platform-type ride, consisting of seven freely-spinning cars that hold four riders each, which are attached at fixed pivot points on a rotating platform. As the platform revolves, parts of the platform are raised and lowered, and the resulting centrifugal and gravitational forces on the cars cause them to randomly spin in different directions and at variable speeds. The weight of passengers in these cars may intensify or dampen the spinning motion of the cars, adding to the random nature of the motion.
A slide, usually much taller and steeper than you would find on a playground. Some were as much as two stories high. Slides of comparable size can be seen today on carnival midways as separate attractions. Most were made of polished hardwood, and riders would sit on burlap mats to protect themselves from friction burns and to ensure that rubber-soled shoes didn't slow the slider down.
A large spinning disk. While the disk was stationary patrons would get on and sit in the center, then the opeator would start the disk spinning, and people would be thrown off by centripetal force, ending up against a padded wall. A variation was a disk with a raised center, shaped much like a Bundt cake mold; as the device speeded up people would slide downhilll as well as outward.
A horizontal revolving cylinder or "barrel" to try to walk through without falling down.
Sections of floor that undulated up and down, tipped from side to side or moved forward and back, either motorized ore activated by the person's weight. Stairs that moved up and down or tipped from side to side. The industry refers to these and similar devices as “floor tricks.�?
Compressed air jets shooting up from the floor, originally designed to blow up women's skirts, but effective at startling almost anyone and making them jump and scream.
A game at traveling carnivals, county/state fair midways, funfairs, entertainment boardwalks and amusement parks, featuring a pellet gun and typically either numerous moving mechanical tracks with small targets worth various minor prizes or points towards a major prize, or a paper target with a star on it which must be completely shot away to win a prize.
A snow cone (or sno cone) is a dessert item usually made of crushed or shaved ice flavored with brightly colored sugary syrup, usually fruit-flavored. Some are served with a spoon, and some are eaten with the hands like an ice cream cone.
Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of an upright wheel with passenger gondolas suspended from the rim.
Ferris wheels are a common type of amusement park ride and may also be found at urban parks and public places. Ferris wheels usually hold about 50-100 people.
A hot cross bun is a type of sweet spiced bun made with currants and leavened with yeast. It has a cross on the top which might be made in a variety of ways: it could be pastry, made from a simple flour and water mixture, cut from rice paper and glazed onto the bun, iced, or simply cut into the bun itself.
In many historically Christian countries, the buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the crucifixion. They are believed by some to pre-date Christianity, although the first recorded use of the term "hot cross bun" is not until 1733.
Hershey's Kisses are a type of chocolate manufactured by The Hershey Company. The bite-sized pieces of chocolate have a distinctive shape, commonly described as flat-bottomed teardrops. Hershey's Kisses are wrapped in squares of lightweight aluminum foil with a narrow strip of paper protruding from the top.
The Kisses are one of the most popular candies in the world.
Carnauba is a wax derived from the leaves of a plant native to northeastern Brazil, the carnauba palm (Copernicia prunifera). It is obtained from the leaves of the carnauba palm by collecting them, beating them to loosen the wax, then refining and bleaching the wax.
Carnauba wax can produce a glossy finish and as such is used in automobile waxes, shoe polishes, food products such as candy corn, guitar polishes, and floor and furniture polishes, especially when mixed with beeswax. It is used as a coating on dental floss. Use for paper coatings is the most common application in the United States. It is the main ingredient in surfboard wax, combined with coconut oil.
In foods, it is used as a formulation aid, lubricant, release agent, anticaking agent, and surface finishing agent in baked foods and mixes, chewing gum, confections, frostings, fresh fruits and juices, gravies, sauces, processed fruits and juices, soft candy, tic tacs and Altoids.
The ear-bones (otoliths) of freshwater drumfish or lake sheephead which are quite large and resemble porcelain in their peculiar whiteness, and have a semblance of the letter "L" seemingly cut on them. From this circumstance they are known as "lucky stones."
Small smooth white pebbles of quartz found in abundance in Ohio and probably elsewhere around the Great Lakes, Lake Erie in particular, worn smooth by the action of the water. Beloved of children. Of course powerful talismans of good luck.
Pow-wow is a system of American folk religion and magic associated with the Pennsylvania Dutch. It comes from the book Pow-wows, or, The Long Lost Friend, written by John George Hohman and first published in German as Der Lange Verborgene Freund in 1820. Despite the Native name, taken from an Algonquian word for a shaman, the collection is actually a very traditional collection of European magic spells, recipes, and folk remedies, of a type familiar to students of folklore. They mix Roman Catholic prayers, magic words, and simple rituals to cure simple domestic ailments and rural troubles. Once these charms and spells were written down in English, they escaped the (originally German) Pennsylvania Dutch community and influenced hoodoo and other forms of folk magic and folk religion in the United States.
"For there they were all turned into mokes with ears a yard long, for meddling with matters which they do not understand, as Lucius did in the story. And like him, mokes they must remain, till, by laws of development, the thistles develop into roses. Till then, they must comfort themselves with the thought that the longer their ears are, the thicker their hides; and so a good beating don't hurt them."
"And whether he would have ever escaped out of the town it is hard to say, if the dog had not taken it into his head that they were going to pull his master in pieces, and tackled them so sharply about the gastrocnemius muscle that he gave them some business of their own to think of at last; and while they were rubbing their bitten calves, Tom and the dog got safe away."
"Fava is a plant long associated with the Underworld, spirits of the dead, and chthonic forces in general."
_Raven Grimassi in Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft.
Fava beans are used in magical workings in the practice of Strega or hereditary Italian witchcraft. They are a fertility symbol and it is said that tiny likenesses of both male and female human genitalia can be seen by viewing the fava bean side-on.
Vicia faba, the broad bean, fava bean, faba bean, horse bean, field bean, tic bean is a species of bean (Fabaceae) native to north Africa and southwest Asia, and extensively cultivated elsewhere. Although usually classified in the same genus Vicia as the vetches, some botanists treat it in a separate monotypic genus as Faba sativa Moench.
Dichondra micrantha was very popular in southern California in the 1950s and 1960s as a grass substitute for lawns. When I lived there in the 60s almost everyone in our neighborhood had a dichondra lawn. They were beautiful, thick, glossy, lush, neat and cool. They did not require mowing. When I returned to my old neighborhood for a visit in 2005 there was not one dichondra lawn to be seen. Not sure why. They were something of a status symbol back in the day.
Stone skipping is a pastime which involves throwing a stone with a flattened surface across a lake or other body of water in such a way that it bounces off the surface of the water. The object of the game is to see how many times a stone can be made to bounce before sinking. In North America it is also referred to as "skipping rocks".
The pastime is also called stone skimming, stone skiting, and ducks and drakes in the UK; and stone skiffing in Ireland according to Jerdone "Jerry" Coleman-McGhee, in his book, The Secrets of Stone Skipping.
A teetotum is a form of gambling top. It has a polygonal body marked with letters or numbers, which indicate the result of each spin. In its earliest form the body was square (in some cases via a stick through a regular six-sided die), marked on the four sides by the letters A (Lat. aufer, take) indicating that the player takes one from the pool, D (Lat. depone, put down) when a fine has to be paid, N (Lat. nihil, nothing), and T (Lat. totum, all), when the whole pool is to be taken.
Some accounts give such letters as P, N, D (dimidium, half), and H or T or other combinations of letters.
Other combinations of letters that could be found were:
NG, SZ, TA, TG, NH, ND, M.
Which stood for (In Latin):
ZS - Zona Salve, save all
TA - Tibi Adfer, take all
NH - Nihil Habeas, nothing left
LS - L (i.e., 50) Solve, save 50
ND - Nihil Dabis, nothing happens
Teetotum survives today as dreidel, a Jewish game played on Hanukkah.
The Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) (sometimes called Hoodiecrow) is a Eurasian bird species in the crow genus. Widely distributed, it is also known locally as Scotch Crow, Danish Crow, and Grey Crow in Ireland, which is what its Welsh name, Brân Lwyd, translates as.
It is so similar in morphology and habits to the Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) that for many years they were considered by most authorities to be merely geographical races of one species. The fact that hybridization was observed where their ranges overlapped added weight to this view. However, since 2002, the Hooded Crow has been elevated to full species status after closer observation the hybridisation was less than expected and hybrids had decreased vigour.
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Described at length in Chapter VII of Water Babies by Charles Kingsley, 1937. Seen elsewhere in literature in The Tale of the Hoodie which is a Scottish fairy tale, collected by John Francis Campbell in his Popular Tales of the West Highlands. Andrew Lang included it, as The Hoodie-Crow, in The Lilac Fairy Book.
In ufology, Greys, also known as Roswell aliens, Zetas, and Reticulians, are aliens or extraterrestrial life forms that appear in purported modern day encounters and other UFO-related paranormal phenomena. Said to be one of several species of aliens, greys make up approximately 75 percent of all aliens reported in the United States, 20 percent of all aliens reported in Continental Europe, and 12 percent of all aliens reported in Great Britain.
Typically, Greys are described as being either approximately 120 cm (four feet) tall or over six feet tall, with grey (sometimes blue-grey/green-grey) skin. Their body is typically described as being elongated, and lacking in muscular definition. Their legs are shorter and jointed differently than one would expect in a human, giving them an apparently awkward gait. Their arms often reach down to their knees, and some accounts give them three digits, or three digits and a thumb on each hand. They have a bulbous, hairless head supported by a thin neck, which is dominated by large, (usually black) lidless eyes. They typically have small flat noses, small mouths and small ears lacking a pinna. In some cases, Greys are said to have slit-like nostrils on a flat face.
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Written about extensively by authors Whitley Strieber and Budd Hopkins.
Minchiate is a late-medieval card game, probably originating in 15th century Florence, Italy; it is no longer widely played. Minchiate can also refer to the special deck of playing cards used in the game. The deck is closely related to the tarot cards, but contains an expanded suit of trumps. The game was similar to tarocchi and the game of tarot. In the view of some people, the larger number of trump cards may shed light on what the original intentions of the creators of the Tarot deck meant by the images they included.
Puka shells are pieces of a Cone Snail shell. Puka is the Hawaiian word for "hole" and refers to the naturally occurring hole in the middle of the shell fragment.
The shell of the Cone Snail is cone-shaped, and closed at the larger end. While the abandoned shell is tossed in the surf and coral rubble, the pointed end is ground into sand. The "puka" is formed when the minor apex of the large end is eroded by the same forces that wear off the point.
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In the midwestern United States at least Puka Shell necklaces were a huge fad in the early 1970s.
The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis, formerly in genus Alca) is an extinct bird. It was the only species in the genus Pinguinus - flightless giant auks from the Atlantic - to survive until modern times, but it has been extinct since the mid-19th century. It was also known as garefowl or gairfowl (from the Old Norse geirfugl, meaning "spear-bird", a reference to the shape of its beak), or penguin (before the birds known today under that name were called so).
In the past, the Great Auk was found in great numbers on islands off eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Ireland and Great Britain, but it was eventually hunted to extinction.
An important character in Charles Kingsley's novel, Water Babies, 1937, is the Last of the Gairfowl, an ancient female Great Auk who advises Tom on his journey.
Webster's Third New International Dictionary Unabridged
noun
a submarine bank frequented by cod
"And away Tom went for seven days and seven nights due north-west, till he came to a great codbank, the like of which he never saw before. The great cod lay below in tens of thousands, and gobbled shell-fish all day long; and the blue sharks roved above in hundreds, and gobbled them when they came up."
A baby carriage (in North American English), perambulator (in British English, perambulator is usually shortened to pram), generally used for newborn babies and have the infant lying down facing the pusher.
Etymology: French & Spanish; French jalap, from Spanish jalapa, from Jalapa, Mexico
Date: 1644
1 a: the dried tuberous root of a Mexican plant (Ipomoea purga syn. Exogonium purga) of the morning-glory family; also : a powdered purgative drug prepared from it that contains resinous glycosides b: the root or derived drug of plants related to the one supplying jalap
Carmex is a topical lip balm which claims to reduce cold sores and dry chapped lips, supplied in a characteristic white container with a yellow cap. Carmex has been manufactured by Carma Laboratories in Franklin, Wisconsin since 1937. Its active ingredients include menthol, camphor, and phenol (an anesthetic). Also included are fragrance in petrolatum, natural lanolin, cocoa butter, salicylic acid, and a wax base. Many users find the menthol and camphor produce a cool, soothing sensation when applied.
It was created by Alfred Woelbing in the early 1930s, who originally sold it from the trunk of his car.
ChapStick is a brand name for lip balm manufactured by Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, used in the United States, Australia, Canada, and United Kingdom. It is intended to help treat and prevent chapped lips; hence the name.
Due to ChapStick's popularity, the term has become a genericized trademark, used to refer to any lip balm contained in a lipstick-style tube and applied in the same manner as lipstick. However, the term is still a registered trademark, with rights exclusively owned by Wyeth.
A tincture used as an antiseptic for cuts and scrapes. Generally known as “Methiolade�? (aka Merthiolate or Mercuricom), it came in a little brown bottle with a glass applicator that looked like a dropper. In fact, this product contained mercury and the highly poisonous bacteriostat ingredient, Thimerosal. It stained the skin a pinkish-orange and burned like the fires of hell. When this happend the parent would caution the child to "blow on it" which did not help.
A tincture that was a bright pinkish-orange and came in a small glass bottle. It was applied topically with a tiny glass applicator. It was 26% mercury and it was an amazing healing agent. It did sting! It was in common use in the early 1950s.
This nasty stuff was dark almost black, thick and incredibly drying and administered into the nose via a medicine dropper. It usually had to be combined with mineral oil because it was so drying. It made one's nose look monstrous. It was given to me as a child in the 1950s.
VapoRub ointment is a mentholated topical cream intended to assist with minor medical conditions that temporarily impair breathing, including the common cold. It is applied to the chest, often immediately before sleeping, or inhaled by melting it in very hot water. VapoRub was created in the 1880s by Lunsford Richardson, a Selma, North Carolina pharmacist, as a salve for treating colds and pneumonia. Richardson later moved to Greensboro, North Carolina and began marketing it as Vicks VapoRub, named in honor of his brother-in-law, Dr. Joshua Vick, a Selma physician. In 1948, Edward Mabry became president of Vicks, then known as the Vicks Chemical Company. In 1985, it was sold to Procter & Gamble.
Active Ingredients:
Camphor 4.8% (Cough suppressant and topical analgesic)
Eucalyptol 1.2% (Cough suppressant)
Menthol 2.6% (Cough suppressant and topical analgesic)
When I was ill with bronchitis as a little girl my mother would rig up a vaporizer tent by putting a card table up over the head of my bed. This she would drape with a sheet. She would direct the long nozzle of the vaporizer machine under the sheet and suffumigate me with Vicks VapoRub. I would dwell in this little moist cave until my breathing was restored. In those days (the early 1950s) hot water vaporizers were used. They were incredibly dangerous and many children were burned by them. However, I loved this process because I imagined myself in wonderful tropic climes of deserted isles. I loved the vaporizer.
English name for the household sprite known in Irish as clúracán, clúrachán, clutharachán. The cluricaune is one of three kinds of solitary fairy in Ireland, the other two being the leprechaun and the far darrig. Dinneen's Dictionary (Dublin, 1927) defines the term only as ‘dwarfish sprite’. The cluricaune is usually a withered little man, like the leprechaun, but he may have more of a pink tinge to his nose. As a solitary fairy, he is more likely to be dressed in red than in green. He shows no desire to do work of any kind and is dressed like a weekend gentleman with silver buckles on his shoes, gold lace on his cap, and blue silk stockings below his breeches. Like the leprechaun, he may know where gold is hidden, but he may carry in addition the spré na scillenagh "shilling fortune" or sparán na scillinge "purse of shillings", a purse flowing with silver.
A lutin is the French name for a type of hobgoblin in French folklore and fairy tales. Female lutins are called lutines.
A lutin is like a hobgoblin in the mythology of Normandy, similar to house-spirits of Germany and Scandinavia. It sometimes takes the form of a horse.
Belief in lutins also spread to North America, particularly the Canadian province of Quebec, as spirits in the form of either pets (such as dogs or rabbits) or other common animals. Cats which are completely white are especially considered likely to be lutins, although seemingly any distinctive animal which dwells on or near the home may be regarded as such.
A Marid (Arabic : مارد ) in common mythology is a djinn associated with open waters of the Seas and Oceans where it finds sanctuary. Marids are mentioned in the Qur'an (in Sura As-Saaffat:7 (37:7): And to guard against every rebellious (Marid) devil.), as well as pre-Islamic Arabian mythology and throughout Asia.
Canned mandarin segments are peeled to remove the white pith prior to canning; otherwise, they turn bitter. Segments are peeled using a chemical process. First, the segments are scalded in hot water to loosen the skin; then they are bathed in a lye solution which digests the albedo and membranes. Finally, the segments undergo several rinses in plain water.
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I always thought these things didn't look natural.
Coral Castle is a stone structure created by the Latvian-American eccentric, Edward Leedskalnin, north of the city of Homestead, Florida in Miami-Dade County at the intersection of U.S. Route 1 (South Dixie Highway) and Southwest 157th Ave. The structure comprises numerous megalithic stones (mostly coral), each weighing several tons.
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Mysteries abound with regard to this place. One of the stones is engraved with this:
Jiffy Pop is a popular brand of popcorn currently owned by ConAgra Foods. The product combines unpopped popcorn kernels and oil with an aluminum pan and folded aluminum foil lid. As the pan is heated, the popping corn causes the foil to unfold and puff up.
Fred Mennen of Indiana is credited with developing the product in 1958 after five years of experimentation. Mennen began marketing Jiffy Pop in 1959, and within one year it had reached the national U.S. market.
Popcorn combined with a thick sugar or molasses or caramel syrup and formed into balls. In my family and many other midwestern United States families that I know of these are wrapped in colored cellophane and used as Christmas tree ornaments or eaten as a Christmas treat.
Kettle corn is a sweet-and-salty variety of popcorn that adds granulated sugar, salt, and oil.
In the 1700s, kettle corn was introduced to colonial palates in the United States. It is referenced in the diaries of Dutch Settlers in Pennsylvania circa 1776. It was a special festival/fair snack food.
Candy corn is a confection popular in the United States, particularly around Halloween. The candy is usually tri-colored with a yellow base, orange center, and white tip, although the color combinations may vary. Candy corn is made primarily from sugar, corn syrup and honey. Carnauba wax is usually added. Although it is most popular at Halloween, it is available year-round.
Sweet corn (Zea mays var. rugosa), also called sweetcorn, sugar corn, or simply corn, is a variety of maize with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally-occurring recessive mutation in the genes which control conversion of sugar to starch inside the endosperm of the corn kernel. Unlike field corn varieties, which are harvested when the kernels are dry and fully mature, sweet corn is picked when immature and eaten as a vegetable, rather than a grain. Since the process of maturation involves converting sugar into starch, sweet corn stores poorly and must be eaten, canned, or frozen before the kernels become tough and starchy.
A Deva in the New Age movement refers to any of supposed the spiritual forces or beings behind nature. According to Theosophists like Leadbeater and Alice A. Bailey, Devas represent a separate evolution to that of humanity. The concept of Devas as nature-spirits derives from the writings of the Theosophist Geoffrey Hodson
In the Findhorn material, the term refers to archetypal spiritual intelligences behind species, in other words the group soul of a species. But elsewhere the term is used to designate any elemental or nature spirit, the equivalent of fairies.
An elemental is a mythological being first appearing in the alchemical works of Paracelsus. Traditionally, there are four types: gnomes, earth elementals; undines, water elementals; sylphs, air elementals; and salamanders, fire elementals.
Moonstone glass, manufactured by Anchor Hocking, is a somewhat opaque white color. It is commonly found in hobnail with the bumps being solid white and the smooth glass part being more opaque. It was made in the 1930s and 1940s. Whole table settings were manufactured including several serving pieces. Candy dishes, flower vases and candle stick holders were also made in this pattern and color.
In English mythology, Herne the Hunter is an equestrian ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire.
Herne is said to have been a huntsman in the employ of King Richard II (reigned 1377-1399) in and around Windsor Forest. He saved the King's life when he was attacked by a cornered white hart, but was mortally wounded himself in the process. A local wizard brought him back to health using his magical powers, which entailed tying the dead animal's antlers on Herne's head. In return, however, Herne had to give up his hunting skills. The other king's huntsmen framed him as a thief. As a result he lost the favor of the king. He was found the next day, hanging dead from a lone oak tree. That same oak tree is in the Home Park at Windsor Castle.
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In some traditions of modern Wicca, Herne the Hunter is seen as a manifestation of the horned god, god of the forest, the green world.
"Now the doctors had it all their own way; and to work they went in earnest, and they gave the poor professor divers and sundry medicines, as prescribed by the ancients and moderns, from Hippocrates to Feuchtersleben, as below, viz.:-
Scarlet fever is a disease caused by an exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes Group A and occurs rarely with impetigo or other streptococcal infections. It is characterized by sore throat, fever, a 'strawberry' tongue, and a fine sandpaper rash over the upper body that may spread to cover almost the entire body. This disease was also once known as Scarlatina (from the Italian scarlattina).
"Water Ouzel, an alternative name for the White-throated Dipper, a dark waterside bird with a white throat, superficially like a thrush though not closely related."
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"...drink in at your eyes the beauty of that glorious place, and listen to the water ouzel piping on the stones..."
"Ah, my little man, when you are a big man, and fish such a stream as that, you will hardly care, I think, whether she be roaring down in full spate, like coffee covered with scald cream, while the fish are swirling at your fly as an oar-blade swirls in a boat-race..."
A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were common in Italy, Switzerland, and England (from 1523) but working water-meadows have now largely disappeared.
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"Or was it such a salmon stream as I trust you will see among the Hampshire water-meadows before your hairs are gray, under the wise new fishing laws..."
The term Nosey Parker isn’t recorded until 1907. The term nosey for someone inquisitive, figuratively always sticking their nose into other people’s affairs, is a little older, dating back to the 1880s. Before that, anyone called nosey was just somebody with a big nose, like the Duke of Wellington, nicknamed Old Nosey.
Thank you for sharing the word stridulation but even moreso thank you for the wonderful citation about John Collier and Fancies and Goodnights. I plan to try to get a copy of it today.
Abishag - "father of error", a young woman of Shunem, distinguished for her beauty. She was chosen to be a helper and servant to David in his old age. Among Abishag's jobs was to lie next to David and keep him warm; however, David did not have sexual relations with her. (1 Kings 1:4). After David's death Adonijah persuaded Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, to entreat the king to permit him to marry Abishag. Solomon suspected in this request an aspiration to the throne, and therefore caused him to be put to death (1 Kings 2:17-25). On the other hand, some point to the possibility that Abishag is the female protagonist in the Song of Songs and that Solomon put Adonijah to death in order to obtain Abishag for himself.
Balm of Gilead is a healing compound (a balm) made from the resinous gum of the North American tree species Populus candicans.
It takes its name from the allusive phrase "balm in Gilead", referring to the balm or balsam carried from Gilead by the caravan of merchants to whom Joseph was sold by his brothers (Genesis chapter 37).
"Come away, children,"said the otter in disgust, "it is not worth eating after all. It is only a nasty eft, which nothing eats, not even those vulgar pike in the pond."
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German brunno spring of water
Date: before 12th century
creek
"And the otter grew so sentimental (for otters can be very sentimental when they choose, like a good many people who are both cruel and greedy, and no good to anybody at all) that she sailed solemnly away down the burn, and Tom saw her no more for that time."
'...perhaps you can get up at five in the morning, and go down to Cordery's Moor, and watch by the great withypollard which hangs over the backwater, where the otters breed sometimes, and then say, if otters at play in the water are not the merriest, lithest, gracefullest creatures you ever saw."
: any of an order (Trichoptera) of insects with four membranous usually hairy wings, vestigial mouthparts, slender many-jointed antennae, and aquatic larvae
Caddis fly larvae are among the fanciful creatures that the central figure Tom encounters in the under water world in Charles Kingsley's novel Water Babies, 1937
1 a: a loud outcry formerly used in the pursuit of one who is suspected of a crime b: the pursuit of a suspect or a written proclamation for the capture of a suspect
A Big Wheel is a type of tricycle, traditionally made of plastic, with an oversized front wheel, that rides very low to the ground. Introduced by Louis Marx and Company in 1969, the Big Wheel was a very popular toy in the 1970s in the United States, partly because of its low cost and partly because consumer groups said it was a safer alternative to the traditional tricycle or bicycle.
In 1957 the hula hoop was reinvented by Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, founders of the Wham-O toy company. The new Hula Hoops were made possible by Marlex, a recently invented durable plastic.
Knerr and Medlin were unable to patent their vastly profitable "re-invention", as it had been in use for thousands of years; making the device out of a new material did not meet patent requirements of originality. They were largely able, however, to protect their invention by trademarking "Hula hoop".
After the hoop was released in 1958, Wham-O sold over 100 million in two years. As the fad ran its course, Wham-O again struck lucky with the release of their Frisbee.
The game of Marco Polo is a form of tag or blind man's bluff often played in a swimming pool. The game is popular in the UK, United States, Argentina, Canada, Paraguay, Spain and Brazil, and possibly in other parts of the world.
Kick the can is a game, related to tag, hide and seek, and capture the flag which can be played outdoors by anywhere from three to a few dozen people.
In general the game goes something like this: One person (possibly a team of people) is (are) designated as "it" and a can (paint can or metal pail (bucket)) or similar object is placed in the open (usually the middle of a backyard,a green, a cove or cul de sac, parking lot or very lightly traveled street).
The other players run off and hide while the "it" covers his eyes and counts to a previously decided number.
"It" then tries to find and tag each of the players. Any player who is tagged (caught and touched) is sent to the holding pen (jail) which is simply a designated area for all the captured players to congregate, generally in plain sight of the can. Any player who has not been caught can "kick the can." If they can kick the can without being caught then they set all of the captured players free.
If "it" catches all of the players he or she wins that round and generally a new "it" is designated for the next round.
Thus this game is one of skill, strategy and stealth as well as fleetness.
Red Rover is an outdoor game played primarily by children on playgrounds. "Red Rover" was very popular into the 1970s.
Players on a team hold hands, forming a "chain". The leader of a team will call a player from the opposing team. That player must try and break through two players' hands (a link) to stay on their own team. If the player is not able to break through the link, that team will gain control of that player. Before a player would try to break the link, the link would normally say "Red Rover, Red Rover, we call (player's name) over!"
Typically, the weaker players are chosen first to increase the chance of taking them.
When only one player is left on a team, they must try and break through a link. If they do not succeed, the opposing team wins. Otherwise, they are able to get a player back for their team.
Twister is a game of physical skill produced by Hasbro Games. The game includes a plastic sheet covered with large colored circles, which is spread out on the floor. Any number of people can play, though more than four is a tight fit.
The game has one spinner, divided into quarters by color; each quadrant specifies left foot, right foot, left hand, or right hand. After spinning, the combination is called; players must move the part to a matching location. No two people can have a part on the same circle (rules are different for more people). Due to the scarcity of colored circles, players will often be required to put themselves in unlikely or precarious positions, eventually resulting in someone's fall. The game is best played and more commonly played in barefeet to avoid falling.
Chinese checkers or Chinese chequers is a board game that can be played by two to six people. The objective of the game is to place one's pieces in the corner opposite their starting position of a pitted 6-pointed star by single moves or jumps over other pieces. There are 121 marble slots on a Chinese checker board.
Rubik's Cube (commonly misspelled rubix, rubick's or rubics cube) is a mechanical puzzle invented in 19741 by the Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the "Magic Cube" by its inventor, this puzzle was renamed "Rubik's Cube" by Ideal Toys in 1980.
Hokey Pokey, also known as Hokey Cokey, is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It is well known in English-speaking countries.
Put your whole self in. What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about?
The Slip 'n Slide is a toy manufactured by Wham-O for use on lawns in the summer.
The toy is a long sheet of thin plastic, flanked lengthwise on one side by a heat-sealed tubular fold. The tube can be attached to any ordinary garden hose. Water runs through the tube and out small perforations, spraying onto the sliding surface. The Slip 'n Slide then becomes very slippery, enabling users to dive onto the plastic and slide the length of the sheet. Household materials such as dish soap or oil can also be used to reduce friction on the sheet.
There are retail card decks specifically for playing Old Maid, but it is just as easy to play with a regular deck of 52 cards. In this case, one Queen is removed from the deck and the remaining 51 cards are used. Players try to collect tricks of pairs without drawing the single Queen or Old Maid.
Rook is a trick-taking game, usually played with a specialized deck of cards. Sometimes referred to as "Christian cards" or "missionary poker", Rook playing cards were introduced by Parker Brothers in 1906 to provide an alternative to standard playing cards for those in the Puritan tradition who considered the face cards in a regular deck inappropriate because of their association with gambling and cartomancy.
The name of a table game, the object of which is to be the first player to complete a comic model of an insect from the supplied plastic parts, as determined by the roll of a die. Its rules are essentially the same as those of the dice game Beetle. The patent is held by Milton Bradley.
One person is the "fox". One is the "mother hen". The other "eggs" line up next to each other, with the fox facing them. The mother hen whispers a color into the ear of each egg. The fox then says..."knock-knock", the line answers "who's there?". Fox replies "a hungry fox".
The line says.."what do you want?" Fox answers "colored eggs". The line yells "what color?". The fox then says a color. Whoever is that color then runs around a selected area (to the far oak tree in the yard and back to the mother hen, for example), with the fox giving chase.
If the wolf catches the "egg", then that person joins the fox's team or sits out, depending on how the kids want to play it.
A playground game where one child plays the mother and the other children take direction from her as she commands various types of "steps" in various amounts. The first child to reach "mother" on the other end of the playing field becomes the new mother. Players must remember to ask "Mother May I"? before moving or they have to go back to the starting line.
Dodgeball (or dodge ball) is the name of a traditional game taught in physical education classes in the U.S. and Canada as well as other such parts of the world, usually in elementary school, but is played in middle, high school, college and as a professional sport as well. It is also popular in informal settings and is often played by schoolchildren on a playground or in a gym. There are many variations of the game, but each involve players trying to avoid being hit by a ball that players on the other team are throwing at them.
Remember the metal ones that fit over your regular shoes by means of clamps and then strapped around your ankle? You had to use a special key to adjust the size.
Betsy McCall was announced in April of 1951 and first appeared on the pages of McCall's magazine in May, 1951. She was a paper doll girl and a page about her activities appeared in each issue of McCall's Magazine. She usually appeared with three outfits to cut out. Sometimes members of her family or her friends and pets were included.
Eventually a line of plastic, poseable fashion dolls named Betsy McCall was produced.
The Crissy Doll was created in the Ideal Toy Corporation's prototype department in 1968. This auburn-haired 18 inch (460 mm) fashion doll was known for the ability to adjust the length of its hair so a child could choose to make the hair short or long. While having stationary foundation or base hair rooted to its head, the Crissy doll also had another adjustable thick strand or lock of hair that emerged from an opening in the top of the doll’s head.
Erector Set is the trade name of a toy construction set that was wildly popular in the United States during much of the 20th century. It consists of collections of small metal beams with regular holes for nuts, bolts, screws, and mechanical parts such as pulleys, gears, and small electric motors. Erector beams have flanges.
The Erector Set was invented by A.C. Gilbert in 1911, and was manufactured by the A. C. Gilbert Company at the Erector Square factory in New Haven, Connecticut, from 1913 until its bankruptcy in 1967.
Paint by number (or painting by numbers) are kits, popularized in the 1950s, by Max Klein and the Palmer Paint Company, among others. Included in the kits is a number board or canvas with corresponding paints to be filled in.
A Slinky, or "Lazy-Spring," is a coil-shaped toy invented by mechanical engineer Richard James in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Slinkies come in various sizes. The shape is a simple helix, or coil design, of a ribbon of material, originally metal. The Slinky can "walk" down stairs as the coils stretch and reform as gravity moves them down each step.
The game is typically played by three players (although more can participate) with a rope (or, more frequently, a string of rubber bands) of about 5-6 meters in length that has been tied into a circle. Two of the participants (holders) face each other about 3 meters apart, with their feet together, and position the rope around their ankles so that it is taut. The third player (the jumper) then stands between the two sides of the rope and must accomplish a specific series of moves without making an error or pausing.
Chinese Jump Rope is a universal game. German speaking children call Chinese Jump Rope Gummitwist, and is popular among young girls in Germany, Austria, Italy and countries of ex-Yugoslavia. In New Zealand and Great Britain children refer to the game as "Elastics". It is also known as skip-tape.
Silly Putty (originally called nutty putty) is a silicone plastic, marketed today as a toy for children, but originally created as an accident during the course of research into potential rubber substitutes for use by the United States during World War II.
Troll dolls, originally known as Leprocauns and also known as Dam dolls, Wishniks, Treasure Trolls, and Norfins, became one of America's biggest toy fads beginning in the autumn of 1963, and lasting throughout 1965. With their brightly colored hair and cute faces, they were featured in both Life Magazine and Time Magazine in articles which commented on the "good luck" they would bring to their owners.
Trolls became fads again in brief periods throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, with as many as ten different manufacturers (such as Russ Berrie, Jakks Pacific, Applause, Hasbro, Mattel, Nyform, Trollkins and Ace Novelty) creating them.
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In 1960s Ohio where I grew up and collected Troll or Dam Dolls as we called them...the only doll considered authentic and "cool" was the Dam doll. The true Dam doll had the word "dam" stamped on the back, between the shoulders. Imposters were many. The true original Dam doll only came with brown/amber eyes. Imposters had other eye colors as well. The quality was superior in the true Dam doll. Originals came with sheep wool hair and glass eyes.
Cat scratch fever is a usually benign infectious disease caused by the intracellular bacterium Bartonella. It is most commonly found in children 1-2 weeks following a cat scratch. It was first described in 1889 by Henri Parinaud.
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The American rock guitarist Ted Nugent wrote a song called Cat Scratch Fever.
Albert Payson Terhune (December 21, 1872 – February 18, 1942) was an American author, dog breeder, and journalist. He is best known for his novels relating the adventures of his beloved collies and as a breeder of collies at his Sunnybank Kennels, the lines of which still exist in today's Rough Collies.
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His book, Lad: A Dog is perhaps his best known work and is about a magnificent sable and white rough coated collie.
Pet Rocks were a 1970s fad conceived in Los Gatos, California by an advertising executive, Gary Dahl. The first Pet Rocks were ordinary gray pebbles bought at a builder's supply store and marketed as if they were live pets. The fad lasted only about six months, ending with the Christmas season in December 1975; but in its short run, the Pet Rock made Dahl a millionaire.
The people of Hunza, called Hunzakuts, are famous for robust health, longevity, valor, and self-reliance. Lifespan often exceeds 100.
Some attribute this health to "a simple diet of fresh food, no coffee or tea, no sugar, plenty of fruit, lots of minerals in the drinking water, and delicate meat in the winter only, from goats fed of the finest grass and herbs...they worked hard in the summer and climbed in the mountains for exercise and danced in the winter...there was little mental stress. We could trust our neighbors to help in a disaster...With such vigor and peace of mind combined, it is no wonder an average person lived to be 90 or 100."
A mood ring is a ring which contains a thermochromic element, such as liquid crystal. The ring changes color in response to the body temperature of its wearer. The color is said, by some proponents, to indicate the emotional state of the wearer.
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell. It was about a gunner in a Sperry ball turret on a World War II American bomber aircraft, who was killed and whose remains were unceremoniously hosed out of the turret. Jarrell, who served in the Army Air Force, provided the following explanatory note:
"A ball turret was a plexiglass sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two .50 caliber machine guns and one man, a short small man. When this gunner tracked with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from below, he revolved with the turret; hunched upsidedown in his little sphere, he looked like the fetus in the womb. The fighters which attacked him were armed with cannon firing explosive shells. The hose was a steam hose."
A ball turret was a particular form of aircraft gun turret mounted on aircraft during World War II. The most popular one was manufactured by the Sperry Corporation.
Never used to describe a modern male practitioner of Wicca...a male witch is simply a male witch. To a Wiccan, warlock is at worst considered a derogatory term and at best a comic one.
Etymology: Middle English warloghe, from Old English wǣrloga one that breaks faith, the Devil, from wǣr faith, troth + -loga (from lēogan to lie); akin to Old English wǣr true — more at very, lie
Date: 14th century
1 : a man practicing the black arts : sorcerer — compare witch
A Hedgewitch is someone who practices Hedgewitchery or Hedgecraft.
HedgeCraft is a spiritual path and is a form of Traditional Witchcraft. It is most commonly practiced by modern Pagans. Hedgecraft is based on the village wisewoman of European folklore.
Hedgewitches often practice herbalism, magick, wildcrafting, and many different forms of healing. The use of shamanic techniques is a part of this tradition. Such techniques as the use of trance inducing plants, drumming, dance, chanting and meditation. Hedgewitches are generally unconcerned with overly formal magical workings, preferring more simple folk magic.
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Kitchen witch is a term sometimes used in place of the term hedgewitch in the United States.
Kitchen witch is a term that refers to a practitioner of witchcraft or Wicca who uses only simple, ready to hand elements in their ritual and magical workings instead of elaborate tools, costumes and complex formulae. It also describes someone who uses basic home remedies or simple herbal magic or who practices folk magic rather than ceremonial or formal magic.
For a short time in the 1980s a small figurine of a long-nosed hag on a broomstick was popular in the midwestern United States and was hung in kitchens as a good luck talisman. This figurine was marketed and sold under the term "kitchen witch."
Shapeshifting is a common theme in folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is a change in the physical form or shape of a person or animal. Shapeshifting involves physical changes such as alterations of age, gender, race, or general appearance or changes between human form and that of an animal, plant, or inanimate object.
Nixie (aka Näcken / Nøkken) is a mythical, female water creature appearing in Scandinavian and Germanic folk tales. (The male counterpart is the "Nokk")
The Charge of the Goddess is a traditional inspirational text sometimes used in Wicca. The earliest Wiccan version was written by Gerald Gardner, who drew from Charles Godfrey Leland's Aradia and other sources. Doreen Valiente, a student of Gardner, originally wrote a Charge in verse, and later in prose: the prose version is the one known today.
The pinto bean (Spanish: frijol pinto, literally "painted bean") is named for its mottled skin (compare pinto horse), hence it is a type of mottled bean. It is the most common bean in the United States and northwestern Mexico, and is most often eaten whole in broth or mashed and refried. Either whole or mashed, it is a common filling for burritos. The young pods may also be used as green beans.
Near King, Wisconsin there is a chain of lakes, many of which have marl bottoms. The white color of the marl makes the lakes appear to be a beautiful turquoise color. My favorite of the chain of lakes is tiny gemlike Marl Lake, a round brooch of bluish-green surrounded by tall pines. It is located in the Whispering Pines area of Hartman Creek State Park.
I am a newby here, too. I also had trouble understanding what a citation was intended to be...and then I went insane and made so many citations...I was a kid in a candy store!
Citations are anything you put in the comment box of a word. Some of them are real notes about the word or its history and some are your personal observations about a word. Some are jokes. Some are free-association things...bits of poetry or song or literature that the word appears in or brings to mind. Some are just conversations between wordies...chit chat...for fun.
Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake. The dish is mostly associated with the north midlands, north Connacht and southern Ulster, in particular the counties of Sligo, Leitrim and Cavan. There are many different recipes but all contain finely grated, raw potatoes and all are served fried. The most popular version of the dish consists of finely grated, raw potato and mashed potato with flour, baking soda, buttermilk and sometimes egg. The grated potato may be strained to remove most of the starch and water but this is not necessary. The mixture is fried on a griddle pan for a few minutes on each side, similar to a normal pancake.
Blue Moon ice cream is the name of a number of bright blue colored flavors of ice cream. All of the varieties of Blue Moon are available almost exclusively in the mid-west United States.
Blue Moon is found mainly in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin; found less frequently in Indiana, Iowa, Illinois and Ohio; and has reportedly been available (either in the past or currently) in Missouri and even western Pennsylvania. A possibly similar, possibly identical flavor has also been sold in Italy under the name "Puffo", which is Italian for "Smurf"; it was probably given this name because its blue color resembled the Smurfs.
The varieties of Blue Moon vary in both color and flavor. Many aficionados of each variety of Blue Moon claim that their variety is the "real one," the "original," etc. Some dairies that make Blue Moon keep their ingredients a secret, adding to the mystique.
A number of different sources on the internet claim to know what flavor Blue Moon is. Since these sources disagree with each other, it is unclear which, if any, are correct.
Did you ever try Blue Moon? My son loves it best of all and I loathe it. I like English Toffee or what is sometimes called Butter Brickle...I also love Maple Nut. How 'bout Baskin-Robbins Pralines and Cream? Yum
Mr. Potato Head is a popular children's toy, first sold in 1952 by Hasbro, consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with attachable plastic parts, such as a mustache, hat and nose, to make a face. Shoes can be added as well.
When it was first sold to the public in 1952, it became the first toy to be sold through national television advertising and netted Hasbro more than $4 million in its first year of production. In 1953, Mrs. Potato Head was added, and soon after, Brother Spud and Sister Yam completed the Potato Head family. Although originally produced as separate plastic parts to be stuck into a real potato or other vegetable, a plastic body was added to the kit in 1964.
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You cannot know how I clamoured for a Mr. Potato Head in 1956! One of the coolest toys ever.
I read about a little octopus who was given a small toy figure of Mr. Potato Head and the little octopus became so attached to this toy that he would become aggressive if his keepers tried to remove it from him. He became adept at opening and closing a small compartment in the back of the toy. Somehow this story makes me love octopuses and appreciate them in a whole new way. I think it is a sad tale.
Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.
The terms derive from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic tassa (cup), and the Greek suffixes -graph, -logy, and -mancy (divination).
The common name for ergotism is "St. Anthony's Fire", in reference to the symptoms, such as severe burning sensations in the limbs.These are caused by effects of ergot alkaloids on the vascular system due to vasoconstriction of blood vessels, sometimes leading to gangrene and loss of limbs due to severely restricted blood circulation. The neurotropic activities of the ergot alkaloids may also cause hallucinations and attendant irrational behaviour, convulsions, and even death. Monks of the order of St. Anthony the Great specialized in treating ergotism victims with balms containing tranquilizing and circulation-stimulating plant extracts
Tilting at windmills is an English idiom which means "attacking imaginary enemies." The word “tilt,�? here, comes from jousting. This idiomatic phrase originated in the novel Don Quixote, and is often used today in reference to persistent engagement in a futile activity. At one point in the novel, Don Quixote fights windmills that he imagines to be giants.
The shell of the pistachio nut is naturally a beige colour, but it is sometimes dyed red or green in commercial pistachios. Originally the dye was applied by importers to hide stains on the shells caused when the nuts were picked by hand. However most pistachios are now picked by machine and the shells remain unstained, making dyeing unnecessary (except that some consumers have been led to expect coloured pistachios).
The Chambered Nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) is the best known species of nautilus. The shell, when cut away reveals a lining of lustrous nacre, and displays a nearly perfect equiangularspiral.
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The Chambered Nautilus is the title and subject of a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
: a seed of any of several Mexican shrubs (genera Sebastiania and Sapium) of the spurge family that tumbles about because of the movements of the larva of a small tortricid moth (Cydia saltitans syn. Laspeyresia saltitans) inside it
Legend says that Gerry Garcia, leader of the band The Grateful Dead, found the phrase in a Funk and Wagnall's Dictionary
The dictionary entry reads along these lines:
GRATEFUL DEAD: The motif of a cycle of folk tales which begin with the hero coming upon a group of people ill-treating or refusing to bury the corpse of a man who had died without paying his debts. He gives his last penny, either to pay the man's debts or to give him a decent burial. Within a few hours he meets with a travelling companion who aids him in some impossible task, gets him a fortune or saves his life. The story ends with the companion disclosing himself as the man whose corpse the hero had befriended.(Funk & Wagnall's Dictionary).
The name has also been attributed to this quote, though it's generally believed that they came across this one later:
The Wiccan ritual feature known as Cakes and Ale is often celebrated as a way of thanking the gods for their blessings. It is also a method of grounding one's heightened energies following magical workings. "Cakes" can be any snacky thing like bread, crackers, actual cake or cookies. Sometimes the cookies are baked in symbolic shapes such as crescent moons. The "ale" can be alcoholic or it can be apple cider, juice, or even water.
Ronald C. "Pigpen" McKernan (September 8, 1945 – March 8, 1973) was a founding member of the jam band Grateful Dead. His musical contributions to the Grateful Dead included vocals, Hammond organ, harmonica, percussion, and occasionally guitar. He died at the age of 27.
The Anguipede is a divinity that is often found on magical amulets from the Greco-Roman period.
The Anguipede is depicted as a creature with the head of a rooster and snakes for legs, symbolism thought to be of Persian origin. Sometimes inscribed below is Iao, a form of the Tetragrammaton - the four letters used to represent the name of the God of Judaism.
Twrch Trwyth is the name of a particularly potent wild boar Culhwch is instructed to hunt in the Middle Welsh prose tale Culhwch and Olwen. Twrch is named as the son of Prince Tared, cursed into the form of a wild creature; he has poisonous bristles, and carries a pair of scissors, a comb and a razor on his head, between his ears.
"Twrch" means "wild boar" in Welsh (other meanings include "hog" and "mole"), and Twrch Trwyth may be cognate with Old Irish Orc tréith "Triath's boar", which is found in Cormac's Irish Glossary.
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He figures heavily in the tasks of Ysbaddaden the giant.
1 a: an area just beyond ordinary legal and ethical limits
2: a world of fantasy, illusion, or unreality
Also
The Twilight Zone is a television anthology series created (and often written) by its narrator and host Rod Serling. Each episode (156 in the original series) is a self-contained fantasy, science fiction, or horror story, often concluding with an eerie or unexpected twist. Although advertised as science fiction, the show rarely offered scientific explanations for its fantastic happenings. It often had a moral lesson that pertained to everyday life.
Throughout the various introductions for the original series, the Twilight Zone is described as another dimension. It is "a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind," "a place of things and ideas," "between the pit of Man's fears, and the summit of his knowledge."
This is a poetic term that is sometimes seen in lyrics to pop songs but I've seen it in gospel and blues offerings as well. Sometimes it is spelled love-light and love light. It apparently means love energy or love vibration or love emanation or love expression.
Turn on the light, let it shine on me,
turn on your love light, let it shine on me
_From Turn On Your Love Light by Deadric Malone and Joe Scott, performed by Bobby "Blue" Bland, The Grateful Dead and others
The I Ching; also called “Book of Changes�? or “Classic of Changes�? is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. The book is a symbol system used to identify order in chance events. The text describes an ancient system of cosmology and philosophy that is intrinsic to ancient Chinese cultural beliefs. The cosmology centres on the ideas of the dynamic balance of opposites, the evolution of events as a process, and acceptance of the inevitability of change. In Western cultures and modern East Asia, the I Ching is sometimes regarded as a system of divination. The classic consists of a series of symbols, rules for manipulating these symbols, poems, and commentary.
"Sophocles called The Furies 'Daughters of Earth and Shadow.' Aeschylus called them 'Children of Eternal Night.' Either epithet made them offspring of the eternal spirit of primal darkness at the creation and linked them to the primordial concept of the Mother's Curse whereby the Goddess inevitably ended each life that she brought forth."
_Barbara Walker, The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects
The Orphic egg is usually represented as an egg surrounded by a coiled serpent. The egg symbolizes the belief in the Greek Orphic religion that the universe originated from within a silver egg. The first emanation from this egg, described in an ancient hymn, was Phanes-dionysus, the personification of light:
"ineffable, hidden, brilliant scion, whose motion is whirring, you scattered the dark mist that lay before your eyes and, flapping your wings, you whirled about, and through this world you brought pure light."
Thanks for the encouragement, Asativum. I'm glued to my computer by circumstance at the moment and I have so enjoyed the distraction of my endless citations, however redundant they turned out to be.
Just don't want to appear insensitive or oblivious. I'm enjoying the camaraderie on this site, too.
OH MY GOD! reesetee! I just processed your explanation about citations! I didn't really comprehend what you meant about the little icon buttons under the words. I have been having the best time amusing myself with citations over the last few days...only to have the unsettling understanding dawn upon my vacant wilderness of a brain this minute that my efforts have most probably been a ludicrous and obnoxious thing to do...not to mention entirely redundant.
I feel like I walked out of the ladies' room with my skirt tucked up in my pantihose! Oh, well...
A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet that can be used to transport persons who are on it instantaneously or quickly to their destination.
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For a good tale of a magic carpet try, The Phoenix and the Carpet a fantasy novel for children, written in 1904 by E. Nesbit.
Triquetra is a word derived from the Latin tri- ("three") and quetrus ("cornered"). Its original meaning was simply "triangle" and it has been used to refer to various three-cornered shapes. Nowadays, it has come to refer exclusively to a certain more complicated shape formed of three vesicae piscis, sometimes with an added circle in or around it.
Ichthys (Greek, transliterated and Latinized as ichthys, icthus, ichthus or ikhthus; ichthus), is the Ancient and Classical Greek word for "fish." In English it refers to a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, said to have been used by early Christians as a secret symbol and now known colloquially as the "Jesus fish"
The vesica piscis (pisces) is a shape which is the intersection two circles of the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. The name literally means the bladder of the fish in Latin. It has been the subject of mystical speculation at several periods of history, perhaps first among the Pythagoreans, who considered it a holy figure.
–noun a monument consisting of a four-sided shaft tapering inward from top to bottom and bearing a head or bust; those of Hermes usually had an erect penis, which passersby stroked for luck.
The Flower of Life is the modern name given to a geometrical figure composed of multiple evenly-spaced, overlapping circles, that are arranged so that they form a flower-like pattern with a sixfold symmetry like a hexagon. The center of each circle is on the circumference of six surrounding circles of the same diameter. This has been an important symbol of sacred geometry for many people from various religious backgrounds.
The Frog Prince, is a fairy tale, best known through the Brothers Grimm's written version. In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends a frog (possibly meeting him after dropping a gold ball into his pond), who magically transforms into a handsome prince. Although in modern versions the transformation is invariably triggered by the princess kissing the frog, in the original Grimm version of the story, the frog's spell was broken when the princess threw it against a wall in disgust. In other early versions it was sufficient for the frog to spend the night on the princess's pillow.
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This is a kind of man that I have known. It is someone who seems unremarkable at first but who turns out to be wonderful. Sort of like a "diamond in the rough". Sometimes this can happen in reverse. You can kiss a prince and then after a while he turns into a frog. Has happened to me several times.
A cirque is an amphitheatre-like valley, or valley head, formed at the head of a glacier by erosion. A cirque is also known as a cwm in Wales, a coomb or coombe in England, and a corrie in Scotland and Ireland, although these terms apply to a specific feature of which several may be found in a cirque.
"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase that has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language, and seems to have become a widely accepted convention for opening oral narratives by around 1600. These stories often then end with "... and they all lived happily ever after", or, originally, "happily until their deaths."
It is particularly apparent in fairytales for younger children, where it is almost always the opening line of a tale. It was commonly used in the original translations of the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, or the Brothers Grimm as a translation for the German es war einmal (literally "it was once").
The phrase is also frequently used in oral storytelling, such as retellings of myths, fables, and folklore.
Avalon (probably from the Celtic word abal: apple) is a legendary island somewhere in the British Isles featured in the Arthurian legend, famous for its beautiful apples. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae ("The History of the Kings of Britain") as the place where King Arthur is taken to recover from his wounds after his last battle at Camlann, and where his sword Caliburn (Excalibur) was forged. The concept of such an "Isle of the Blessed" has parallels in other Indo-European mythology, in particular Tír na nÓg and the Greek Hesperides, the latter also noted for its apples.
In Scottish folklore, Sunwise or Sunward was considered the “prosperous course�?, turning from east to west in the direction of the sun. The opposite course was known in Scotland as widdershins (Lowland Scots), or tuathal (Scottish Gaelic, lit. northerly), and would have been anti-clockwise. It is perhaps no coincidence that, in the Northern Hemisphere, "sunwise" and "clockwise" run in the same direction. This is probably because of the use of the sun as a timekeeper on sundials etc, whose features were in turn transferred to clock faces themselves. Another influence may also have been the right-handed bias in many human cultures.
This is descriptive of the ceremony observed by the druids, of walking round their temples by the south, in the course of their directions, always keeping their temples on their right. This course deiseal was deemed propitious, the contrary course, tuathal, fatal, or at least, unpropitious. From this ancient superstition are derived several Gaelic customs which were still observed around the turn of the twentieth century, such as drinking over the left thumb, as Toland expresses it, or according to the course of the sun. Wicca uses the idiosyncratic spelling deosil - however, this is not used in any of the three Gaelic languages.
Tabula rasa (Latin: scraped tablet or clean slate) refers to the epistemological thesis that individual human beings are born with no innate or built-in mental content, in a word, "blank", and that their entire resource of knowledge is built up gradually from their experiences and sensory perceptions of the outside world.
A torc, also spelled torq or torque is a rigid circular neck ring or necklace that is open-ended at the front.
A bronze Gaulish torc.Torcs are a type of Scythian and Celtic jewellery, produced in the European Iron Age, from circa the 8th century BC to the 3rd century AD.
Nielloware jewellery from Thailand was a popular gift from American soldiers stationed there to their girlfriends/wives back home from the 1920s to the 1970s. Most of it was completely handmade jewelry.
The technique is as follows: The artisan would carve a particular character or pattern into the silver, leaving the figure raised by carving out the "background". He would then use the niello inlay to fill in the "background". After being baked in an open fire, the alloy would harden. It would then be sanded smooth and buffed. Finally, a silver artisan would add minute details by hand. Filigree was often used for additional ornamentation. Nielloware is classified as only being black and silver colored. Other colored jewelry originating during this time uses a different technique and is not considered niello.
Many of the characters shown in nielloware are characters in the Hindu legend Ramayama. Important Thai cultural symbols were also frequently used.
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One of the most popular characters seen in nielloware is Nang Fa the fairy of happiness, also known simply as the Siam faery.
Niello is a black metallic alloy of sulphur, copper, silver, and usually lead, used as an inlay on engraved metal. It can be used for filling in designs cut from metal. The Egyptians are credited with originating niello decoration, which spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages.
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This process is used in making nielloware jewelry.
The Siamese fighting fish, incorrectly known as the Japanese fighting fish (Betta splendens), commonly called a betta, (pronounced 'bet-ah') is one of the most popular species of freshwater aquarium fish. It is native to the Mekong river basin in Southeast Asia and called pla-kad in its native Thailand.
Fairy Dust, also seen as faery dust or pixie dust is the trail of sparkling material that often follows mythical creatures such as pixies and fairies in general when they are visually represented. Sometimes, this trail is interpreted as being a tangible substance, often imbued with magic powers.
Lamé is a type of fabric woven or knit with metallic yarns. It is usually gold or silver in color; sometimes copper lamé is seen. Lamé is often used in evening and dress wear; and in theatrical and dance costumes.
Cloth of gold is a fabric woven with a gold-wrapped or spun weft - referred to as "a spirally spun gold strip". In most cases, the core yarn is silk wrapped with a band or strip of high content gold filé. In rarer instances, fine linen and wool have been used as the core.
Physalis alkekengi (Bladder-cherry, Chinese Lantern, Japanese-lantern, or Winter cherry; Japanese: h�?zuki), is a relative of P. peruviana (Cape Gooseberry), easily identifiable by the larger, bright orange to red papery covering over its fruit, which resemble Chinese lanterns. It is native from southern Europe east across southern Asia to Japan.
It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 40-60 cm tall, with spirally arranged leaves 6-12 cm long and 4-9 cm broad. The flowers are white, with a five-lobed corolla 10-15 mm across, with an inflated basal calyx which matures into the papery orange fruit covering, 4-5 cm long and broad.
Epigaea repens (Mayflower or Trailing Arbutus) is a low, spreading shrub in the Ericaceae family. It is found from Newfoundland to Florida, west to Kentucky and the Northwest Territory. It can also be found in parts of Central Europe and Western Africa.
The species flowers are pink, fading to nearly white, very fragrant, about 1/2 in. across when expanded, few or many in clusters at ends of branches.
This is the shrub that comes to most people’s minds when they think of spirea. Your grandparents probably grew bridal veil spirea in their gardens. Spiraea x vanhouttei is commonly called ‘bridal veil spirea’, but Spiraea prunifolia is also known by that name. These are large bushes, growing up to ten feet tall and sometimes as much as twenty feet wide. Their arching branches are laden with tiny white flowers in the spring.
Sealing wax was used to seal "letters close" and later (from about the 16th century) envelopes. It was also used to take the impression of seals on important documents, or to create a hermetic seal on containers. Now mainly used for decorative purposes, it was formerly used to ensure that the contents of the envelope were secure.
The rosy cross (also called "rose cross" and "rose croix") is a symbol largely associated with the semi-mythical Christian Rosencreutz (1378-1484), alchemist and founder of the Rosicrucian Order. It has several meanings, depending on the source. Some modern Rosicrucians claim that the rosy cross predates Christianity, where "the cross represents the human body and the rose represents the individual's unfolding consciousness." It has also been suggested that the rose represents silence while the cross signifies "salvation, to which the Society of the Rose-Cross devoted itself by teaching mankind the love of God and the beauty of brotherhood, with all that they implied."
Some also saw the Rosy Cross as a symbol of the human process of reproduction elevated to the spiritual: "The fundamental symbols of the Rosicrucians were the rose and the cross; the rose female and the cross male, both universal phallic ... As generation is the key to material existence, it is natural that the Rosicrucians should adopt as its characteristic symbols those exemplifying the reproductive processes. As regeneration is the key to spiritual existence, they therefore founded their symbolism upon the rose and the cross, which typify the redemption of man through the union of his lower temporal nature with his higher eternal nature."
Rabicano is a genetic modifier that creates a mealy, splotchy, or roan-like effect. This roaning is usually limited to the underside, flanks, legs, and tail head areas.
Milk glass is a relatively recent name for opaque, milky white or colored glass, that is blown or pressed into a wide variety of shapes. Animal-shaped covered dishes are popular collectibles. First made in Venice in the 16th century, the white color is achieved through the addition of tin oxide. 19th-century glassmakers called milky white opaque glass "Opal". Other milk glass colors include blue, pink, yellow, brown, and black.
Carnival glass is an inexpensive pressed glass, made as both functional and ornamental objects, always iridescent and found in a wide spectrum of colors. Carnival glass gets its iridescent sheen from the application of metallic salts while the glass is still hot from the pressing, then re-firing the glass. Glass workers sometimes refer to carnival glass as "dope glass" because the process of applying the iridescent coloring to the surface is called "doping".
The Fenton Art Glass Company was founded in 1905, and was the first and largest producer of carnival glass, producing many different pieces in over 150 patterns.
Carnival glass is made in many translucent colors, primarily amethyst, marigold, cobalt, green, and red. It is also made in opaque white, called milk glass, and before the hazards of radiation were well known, it was made in semi-transparent or translucent pale green, called vaseline or uranium glass.
Tinted glassware machine-produced during the 1930s, most commonly found in green, pink, yellow (amber) or clear colorless. Some patterns were give-aways in boxes of laundry detergent. Highly collectible.
This is the result of an extremely curious and observant nature as a child...not something I do for kicks as an adult. I just remember that the progression of the phosphenes was usually the same, starting out with the op art images. I do, however, wonder to this day if other people see the same things.
Games, non-competitive games of skill performed in a fashion similar to the Olympics in honor of Tailtiu.
The Teltown Funeral Games were held for centuries to commemorate the death of Tea "Teia" Tephi (queen Tailte - Tailtiu), the queen of all Ireland, who lived in her palace on Rath Dubh at Teltown and reigned in the sixth century B.C. These games were held in the form of a Fair and were not only to commemorate Teia Tephi and her death, but were also to help the people to remember The Perfect Laws of Freedom and Justice contained in The Torah, that she brought with her when she came to Ireland from Jerusalem, arriving in 583 B.C.
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Tailitiu ‘Great Land’, was the Irish cognate of the roman Telus. A Fir Bolg queen and the foster-mother of Lugh. She instituted agriculture and died clearing the land that would become Co. Meath. Lugh instituted funerary games at Teltown, held on Lughnasadh, to honour both her and her accomplishments.
A gorsedd (plural gorseddau), is a community of bards. The word means "throne" in Welsh. It is occasionally spelled gorseth (especially in Cornwall), or Goursez in Brittany
The rambling roses are the forerunners of our modern day climbing roses. Rambling roses are low-maintenance flowers that offer clever camouflage and old-fashioned romance.
Unlike "climbers" whose strong stems in limited quantities generally reach no higher than 18 feet, ramblers have an abundance of long, flexible canes that can reach 30 to 40 feet.
Magic words are words which have a specific, and sometimes unintended, effect. They are often nonsense phrases used in fantasy fiction or by stage prestidigitators. Certain comic book heroes use magic words to activate their super powers.
Abracadabra - prototypical magic word used by magicians
Alakazam
Cei-u used by the DC Comics superhero, Johnny Thunder, to summon his magical genie-like Thunderbolt
Hocus pocus - a phrase used by magicians
Klaatu barada nikto - A phrase used in the 1951 movie "The Day The Earth Stood Still"
Open sesame - used by the character Ali Baba in the English version of a tale from the collection popularly known as 1001 Arabian Nights
Presto chango or Hey Presto - used by magicians (probably intended to suggest "quick change")
Sim Sala Bim a phrase used by magicians; popular in the 19th Century. Also, "Sim Sim Sala Bim" are the magic words said by Hadji on the shows The Adventures of Jonny Quest and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.
Shazam - used by the comic book hero Captain Marvel
Izzy wizzy, let's get busy - Used on The Sooty Show when using Sooty's magic wand.
Salix caprea (also known as Goat Willow), native to northern Europe and northwest Asia.
Salix discolor (also known as American Pussy Willow), native to northern North America.
When grown comercially by florists, the shoots are picked just as the buds expand in spring, and can last indefinitely once dried. The branches can be put in vases or the buds can be used for table decoration."
"In astrology, the Arabian/Arabic parts or lots are constructed points based on mathematical calculations of three horoscopic entities such as planets or angles. The distance between two of the points is added to the position of the third (very often the ascendant) to derive the location of the lot."
"Pudding stone, is a conglomerate rock made up of a mixture of different, irregular sized grains and pebbles held together by a finer matrix, usually formed from quartz sand. The sedimentary rock is formed in river channels and may contain various minerals such as chromite, corundum, platinum, diamond, gold, sapphire, and zircon. Its name is said to derive from a resemblance to Christmas pudding."
"Op art, also known as optical art, is a genre of visual art, especially painting, that makes use of optical illusions. Op art is also known as geometric abstraction and hard-edge abstraction, although the preferred term for it is perceptual abstraction.
Optical Art is a method of painting concerning the interaction between illusion and picture plane, between understanding and seeing. Op art works are abstract, with many of the better known pieces made in only black and white. When the viewer looks at them, the impression is given of movement, hidden images, flashing and vibration, patterns, or alternatively, of swelling or warping."
If you continually apply pressure to your eyes, the phosphenes change and become more complex. My pressure phosphenes start out with a grid of black and white op art squares scattered with sparkling starlike flecks of red, electric blue and green. This kind of hurts so I don't recommend doing it.
an ornamental usually thorny United States tree (Maclura pomifera) of the mulberry family with shiny ovate leaves and hard bright orange wood; also : its yellowish-green globose fruit
As a child I played in "wars" with the other neighborhood children and used these heavy, dangerous missiles. They are the size of baseballs. They were also called monkey balls.
"The Ouroboros, also spelled Ourorboros, Oroborus, Uroboros or Uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle. It has been used to represent many things over the ages, but it most generally symbolizes ideas of cyclicality, unity, or infinity. The ouroboros has been important in religious and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in alchemical illustrations. More recently, it has been interpreted by psychologists, such as Carl Jung, as having an archetypical significance to the human psyche."
"Herbaceous plants in the family Lamiaceae, known as self-heals or "allheal" for their use in herbal medicine. Most are native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but Prunella vulgaris (the Common Self-heal) is Holarctic in distribution, occurring in North America as well, and is a common lawn weed.
Self-heals are low-growing plants, and thrive in moist wasteland and grass, spreading rapidly to cover the ground. They are members of the mint family and have the square stem common to mints."
a gathering of people especially for the expression of their mutual love
Love-ins of the late 1960s that I have attended, featured music, art, dancing, meditation, and all manner of groovy happenings and people...oh, yeah, and drugs.
"Flower Children originated as a synonym for hippie, especially those who gathered in San Francisco and environs during the summer of 1967, which was called the Summer of Love. It was the custom of "Flower Children" to wear flowers to symbolize peace and love. During the earliest years of its use, the term was most commonly used in the plural, only rarely in the singular."
"The Scarlet pimpernel (Red pimpernel, Red chickweed, Poor man's barometer, Shepherd's weather glass, or Shepherd's clock; Anagallis arvensis) is a low-growing, annual plant in the family Myrsinaceae, growing in Europe, Asia and North America.
The stems are about 45 cm long and generally prostrate. The bright green ovate sessile leaves grow opposite. The small orange flowers grow in the leaf axils from spring till autumn. The petal margin is somewhat crenate."
_Wikipedia
"The Scarlet Pimpernel is a classic play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution. A secret society of English aristocrats, known as the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, is engaged in rescuing their French counterparts from the guillotine. Their leader, the Scarlet Pimpernel, takes his nickname from the small red flower with which he signs his messages. Despite being the talk of London society, no one except his small band of 19 followers, and possibly his close friend, the Prince of Wales, knows the Pimpernel's true identity."
"Rampion features prominently in some versions of the story of Rapunzel. In the Grimm's brothers' fairy tale 'Rapunzel' it is noted that 'rapunzel' is the name given to a local form of rampion."
Love beads are one of the traditional accoutrements of hippies. They consist of one or more long strings of beads, frequently handmade, worn about the neck by both genders. The love bead trend probably evolved from the hippie fascination with non-Western cultures, such as those of India and Native America, which make common use of similar beads.
"Mabon is the name used by some Wiccans and Neopagans for one of their eight annual primary holidays. It is celebrated on the Autumnal Equinox. Also called Harvest Home, the Feast of the Ingathering, Thanksgiving, or simply Autumn Equinox, this holiday is a ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and God during the winter months. The name derives from Mabon ap Modron, a character from Welsh mythology."
"In Wicca, Lughnasadh is one of the eight sabbats or solar festivals in the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. It is the first of the three autumn harvest festivals, the other two being Mabon and Samhain. One telling of the story commemorates the sacrifice and death of the Wiccan Corn God; in its cycle of death, nurturing the people, and rebirth, the corn is considered an aspect of their Sun God. Some Neopagans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the god in bread, and then symbolically sacrificing and eating it. These celebrations are not based on Celtic culture, despite using the Celtic name for the sabbat.
Some Wiccans and other Neopagans also use the name Lammas for the sabbat, taken from the Anglo-Saxon and Christian holiday which occurs at about the same time. As the name (from the Anglo-Saxon hlafmæsse "loaf-mass", "loaves festival") implies, it is an agrarian-based festival and feast of thanksgiving for grain and bread, which symbolizes the first fruits of the harvest. Wiccan and other eclectic Neopagan rituals may incorporate elements from either festival."
"Litha is one of the eight solar holidays or sabbats observed by Wiccans, though the New Forest traditions (those referred to as British Traditional Wicca) tend to use the traditional name Midsummer. It is celebrated on the Summer Solstice, or close to it. The holiday is considered the turning point at which summer reaches its height and the sun shines longest. Among the Wiccan sabbats, Midsummer is preceded by Beltane, and followed by Lughnasadh or Lammas."
"Beltane or Bealtaine is an ancient Gaelic holiday celebrated around May 1. Historically, this festival was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. There were similar festivals held at the same time in the other Celtic countries of Wales, Brittany and Cornwall. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the Celtic Nations and the diaspora, and has experienced a degree of revival in recent decades.
Wiccans and Wiccan-inspired Neopagans celebrate a variation of Beltane as a sabbat, one of the eight solar holidays. Although the holiday may use features of the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the bonfire, it bears more relation to the Germanic May Day festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as maypole dancing). Some Wiccans celebrate 'High Beltaine' by enacting a ritual union of the May Lord and Lady.
Among the Wiccan sabbats, Beltane is a cross-quarter day; it is celebrated in the northern hemisphere on May 1 and in the southern hemisphere on November 1. Beltane follows Ostara and precedes Midsummer."
Ostara is one of the four lesser Wiccan holidays or sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. Ostara is celebrated on the vernal equinox, in the Northern hemisphere around March 21 and in the Southern hemisphere around September 23, depending upon the specific timing of the equinox. Among the Wiccan sabbats, it is preceded by Imbolc and followed by Beltane
"Wiccans celebrate a variation of Imbolc as one of four "fire festivals", which make up half of the eight holidays (or "sabbats"), of the wheel of the year. Imbolc is defined as a cross-quarter day, midway between the winter solstice (Yule) and the spring equinox (Ostara). The precise astrological midpoint in the Northern hemisphere is when the sun reaches fifteen degrees of Aquarius. In the Southern hemisphere, if celebrated as the beginning of Spring, the date is the midpoint of Leo. Among Dianic Wiccans, Imbolc (also known as "Candlemas") is the traditional time for initiations."
a grizzled color of fur resulting from the barring of each hair in several alternate dark and light bands, typically seen in small animals such a rodents
"Merle is a color combination in dogs’ coats. It is a solid base color (usually red/brown or black) with lighter blue/gray or reddish patches, which gives a mottled or uneven speckled effect. Although most breeds that can have merle coats also typically have white markings (such as around the neck, under the belly, and so on), and often tan points (typically between the white and the darker parts of the coat), these are separate colors from the merle; some dogs do appear completely merled with no white or tan markings.
Merle can also alter other colors and patterns besides the usual red or black. These combinations such as Brindle Merle or Liver Merle are not typically accepted in breed standards.
In addition to altering base coat color, merle also modifies eye color and coloring on the nose and paw pads. The merle gene modifies the dark pigment in the eyes, occasionally changing dark eyes to blue, or part of the eye to be colored blue. Since merle causes random modifications, however, both dark-eyed, blue-eyed, and odd-colored eyes. Color on paw pads and nose may be mottled pink and black."
"Didicoy (Romani diddicoi; also diddicoy, diddycoy) was a 19th and early 20th century term of the Roma (Gypsies) for travellers with no Roma blood. There was often fierce competition between the groups, and the Roma tended to blame their own reputation for criminality on the didicoys masquerading as Gypsies.
Among the settled population in Britain, ironically, the term became a slang expression for 'Gypsy'."
"White chocolate is a confection of sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids. Unlike chocolate, white chocolate contains neither chocolate liquor nor cocoa solids. The low melting point of cocoa butter allows white chocolate and chocolate to remain solid at room temperature, yet melt easily in the mouth. As such, white chocolate has a texture similar to that of milk chocolate."
Noxzema is a skin cleanser marketed by Procter & Gamble.
Since 1914, it has been sold in a small blue jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus, among other ingredients. Originally developed as a sunburn remedy, it is popular among women as a facial cleanser and make-up remover. It can also be used for cleaning chapped, sunburned, or otherwise irritated skin.
Melt one stick of butter in a 350 degree oven until melted. Remove from oven and top with 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut, 1 cup toll house morsels, 3/4 cup butterscotch morsels, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk. Return to oven and bake for about 30 minutes.
Oh, uselessness, they were totally yummy and I loved how cute they were...I can't believe my parents involved me in such racist notions but they did, many times, in seemingly innocuous ways...thank goodness, things change.
"Baba Yaga (Russian: Ба�?ба-Яга�?), is, in Slavic folklore, the wild old woman; the witch; and mistress of magic. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits. In Russian tales, Baba Yaga is portrayed as a hag who flies through the air in a mortar, using the pestle as a rudder and sweeping away the tracks behind her with a broom made out of silver birch. She lives in a log cabin that moves around on a pair of dancing chicken legs, and/or surrounded by a palisade with a skull on each pole."
_Wikipedia
Reverred as one of the dark or crone goddesses in some traditions of modern Wicca.
The tomtes (in Germany, kobolds) are a pre-Christian race of spirit beings well-known to the north Europeans. Generally, they are considered to be spirits of place who become familiars of a household.
The tomte is a short (three feet or so) elderly man of unpredictable disposition, attired in grey woolen clothes and wearing a red cap.
Unlike their English cousins, the gnomes, who most frequently dwell in the countryside, tomtes reside in towns, houses, barns or cellars. They live only where there is cleanliness, order and discipline.
A tomte or nisse is a mythical creature of Scandinavian folklore originating from Norse paganism. Tomte or Nisse were believed to take care of a farmer's home and children and protect them from misfortune, in particular at night, when the housefolk were asleep. Tomte is the common Swedish name, derived from his place of residence and area of influence: the house lot or tomt.
The Bobbsey Twins are the principal characters of what was, for many years, the Stratemeyer Syndicate's longest-running series of children's novels, penned under the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope. The characters were two sets of fraternal twins. Bert and Nan were the older dark haired twins and Freddie and Flossie were the younger blond haired twins.
When two people are very much alike in their looks or behavior they are sometimes derisively compared with the Bobbsey Twins.
A long-running original television show, Fantasy Island, airing from 1978 to 1984. The original series starred Ricardo Montalban as Mr. Roarke, the enigmatic overseer of a mysterious island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, where people from all walks of life could come and live out their fantasies, albeit for a price.
The term fantasy island, as in "You're on fantasy island." has come to mean you are living in a dreamworld or you are not facing reality.
St. Lawrence of Rome is said to have been martyred on an outdoor gridiron. Legend says that during his torture Lawrence cried out "I am already roasted on one side and, if thou wouldst have me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other." Today statues of St. Lawrence usually depict him standing next to a gridiron.
"In Irish mythology and folklore, a geis (/ˈɡɛʃ/, plural geasa) is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or spell. A geis can be compared with a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone under a geis violates the associated taboo, the infractor will suffer dishonour or even death. On the other hand, the observing of one's geasa is believed to bring power and good fortune."
A candy cane is a hard cane-shaped candy stick. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint; however, it is also made in a variety of other stripes of different thicknesses. The candy cane is a traditional candy surrounding the Christmas holiday in North America, although it is possible to find them throughout the year.
A lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, dum-dum,or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. They are available in many flavors and shapes.
"Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped mints and fruit-flavored hard candy. The candy is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in aluminum foil rolls of eleven pieces.
In 1912, chocolate manufacturer Clarence Crane (Cleveland, Ohio) invented Life Savers as a "summer candy" that could withstand heat better than chocolate. Since the mints looked like miniature life preservers, he called them Life Savers."
Jelly bird eggs (also seen as jellybird) are a type of confectionery that comes in many different (primarily fruit) flavors and colors, including pastels and speckled varieties. They are small (the size of a red kidney bean or smaller), shaped like a small bird egg and usually have a hard candy shell and gummy interior. The confection is primarily made of sugar.
"In the early 1930's, Ferrara Pan Candy Company created the famous Red Hot using the cold panned candy method. The idea of a piece of cinnamon hard candy was developed prior to the production of Ferrara Pan's Red Hots. The name "cinnamon imperials" is a generic name used by the candy industry to indicate a piece of cinnamon hard candy. The cold panned process involves building candy pieces from candy centers and tossing them into revolving pans while adding flavor, color and other candy ingredients. This process continues until the pieces become the desired size. Red Hots are a registered trademark of Ferrara Pan Candy Company."
A drum kit (or drum set or trap set) is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as a cowbell, wood block, chimes or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer.
"Salt water taffy is a kind of taffy originally produced and marketed in the Atlantic City, New Jersey area beginning in the late 19th century.
The origins of the name are unknown. It could be because the recipe for the candy contains both salt and water. The most popular story, although probably apocryphal, concerns a candy-store owner, Mr. David Bradley, whose shop was flooded during a major storm in 1883. His entire stock of taffy was soaked with salty Atlantic Ocean water. When a young girl asked if he had any taffy for sale, he is said to have offered some "salt water taffy." The girl was delighted, she bought the candy and proudly walked down to the beach to show her friends. Mr. Bradley's mother was in the back and heard the exchange. She loved the name and so Salt Water Taffy was born.
Whatever the origins, Joseph Fralinger popularized the candy by boxing it and selling it as an Atlantic City souvenir. His company is still one of the largest retailers of salt water taffy."
Pixy Stix is a powdered candy packaged in a wrapper that resembles a drinking straw. In the US, they are popular during Halloween. Pixy Stix are made by Willy Wonka and similar products are made by other companies. The candy is usually poured from the wrapper into the mouth.
2)The cinnamon bear is a subspecies of the American black bear (Ursus americanus). The most striking difference between a cinnamon bear and any other black bear is the cinnamon bear's brown or red-brown fur, reminiscent of cinnamon, from which the name 'cinnamon bear' is derived.
Bavarian cream or Crème bavaroise or simply Bavaroisis is a classic dessert. Bavarian cream is similar to flour- or cornstarch-thickened crème pâtissière but thickened with gelatin instead and flavoured with liqueur. It is lightened with whipped cream when on the edge of setting up, before being moulded, for a true Bavarian cream is usually filled into a fluted mould, chilled until firm, then turned out onto a serving plate. The American "Bavarian Cream doughnuts" are actually filled with a version of a crème pâtissière, causing local linguistic confusion.
Tootsie Rolls are a chocolatey chew candy that have been manufactured for more than 100 years. The cylindrical cocoa-flavored candies come individually wrapped, and are an American cultural icon.
NECCO Wafers are the oldest continuously manufactured candy in the United States. NECCO is the company name, short for the New England Confectionery Company.
NECCO rolls contain eight flavors and colors: lemon (yellow), orange (orange), lime (green), clove (purple), cinnamon (white), wintergreen (pink), licorice (black), and chocolate (brown). Entire rolls of chocolate wafers are also available in certain locations.
"Ribbon candy and Christmas at Aunt Tillie's house bring back memories of the 1960's. Maybe I liked the ribbon candies because they were bigger than any other piece and lasted the longest or maybe I liked them just because they were from Aunt Tillie's candy jar! Or maybe it is the gentle "wave" of the curls that so fascinated me with this piece of candy - it was more like an art form than something to eat. However, after marveling over it, the sugary taste was a fine memory also! ~ Margaret from Iowa"
_oldtimecandy.com
Hard candy in many bright colors and flavors, extruded in uniformly waving strands, folded back on itself several times and cut into pieces. A popular Christmas candy especially in the 1950 and 1960s.
also an alcoholic drink made with Vincent Van Gogh® Dutch Chocolate Vodka, Butterscotch Liqueur and Hazelnut Liqueur that is served chilled in a shot glass.
Licorice candy extruded into long thin spagetti like ropes up to several feet long. A popular movie treat in the 1950s sold under the name Red Vines. It came in black or red.
from fudgemail.com: "Sweet, but not sticky. Kind of buttery, never greasy. Hard, but not tough. Thin and translucent. Aromatic, infused with the flavor of roasted peanuts. These are the qualities of
a jellylike or gummy confection usually cut in cubes and dusted with sugar. It comes in many flavors with rosewater and lemon being the most popular
Turkish Delight is the addictive confection by which Edmund Pevensie is seduced into service of the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
Noxzema is a skin cleanser marketed by Procter & Gamble.
Since 1914, it has been sold in a small blue jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus, among other ingredients. Originally developed as a sunburn remedy, it is popular among women as a facial cleanser and make-up remover. It can also be used for cleaning chapped, sunburned, or otherwise irritated skin.
an Old World annual herb (Nigella damascena) of the buttercup family having usually blue or white flowers enveloped in numerous finely dissected bracts
A protocarnivorous plant (sometimes also paracarnivorous, subcarnivorous, or borderline carnivore), according to some definitions, traps and kills insects or animals but lacks the ability to either directly digest or absorb nutrients from its prey like a carnivorous plant. The morphological adaptations such as sticky trichomes or pitfall traps of protocarnivorous plants parallel the trap structures of confirmed carnivorous plants.
Some authors prefer the term "protocarnivorous" because it implies that these plants are on the evolutionary path to true carnivory, while others oppose the term for the very same reason.
" The cranesbills make up the genus Geranium of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in the eastern part of the Mediterranean.
The species Geranium viscosissimum is considered to be protocarnivorous.
The name "cranesbill" derives from the appearance of the seed-heads, which have the same shape as the bill of a crane. The genus name is derived from the Greek word geranos, meaning "crane". The long, palmately cleft leaves are broadly circular in form. Their rose, pink to blue or white flowers have 5 petals."
Hen and chicks (also known as Hen-and-chickens) is a common name for a group of small succulents belonging to the flowering plant family Crassulaceae, native to Europe and northern Africa. They grow close to the ground with leaves formed around each other in a rosette, and propagating by offsets. The 'hen' is the main plant, and the 'chicks' are the offspring, which start as tiny buds on the main plant and soon sprout their own roots, taking up residence close to the mother plant.
(n): any of several plants having ashy-gray or white tomentose leaves; especially : an herbaceous artemisia (Artemisia stelleriana) with grayish foliage found especially along the eastern coast of the United States
(n): any of several dicotyledonous plants of a family (Onagraceae, the evening-primrose family) and especially of the type genus (Oenothera); especially : a coarse biennial herb (O. biennis) of North America with yellow flowers that open in the evening
"Scabiosa is a genus in the teasel Family Dipsacaceae of flowering plants. Many of the species in this genus have common names that include the word scabious; however some plants commonly known as scabious are currently classified in related genera such as Knautia and Succisa; at least some of these were formerly placed in Scabiosa. Another common name for members of this genus is pincushion flowers."
(n): any of a widely distributed genus (Impatiens of the family Balsaminaceae) of annual or perennial herbs with irregular spurred or saccate flowers and forcefully dehiscent capsules
Comments by treeseed
Show previous 200 comments...
treeseed commented on the word george
George Jackson, Bob Dylan, 1972
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fernando
Fernando, Abba, 1976
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lollipop
My Boy Lollipop, Millie Small, 1964
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mickey
Mickey, Toni Basil, 1982
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word liberty valance
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Gene Pitney, 1962. From the 1962 film of the same name.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word stagger lee
Stagger Lee, Lloyd Price, 1959
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tom
Tom Dooley, Kingston Trio, #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ringo
The spoken word song Ringo recorded by Lorne Greene, went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964 and was about the real life gunslinger Johnny Ringo.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word teddy
The song Teddy by Connie Francis went to #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word billie joe
Ode to Billie Joe, 1967, Bobbie Gentry
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word albert
The song Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, performed by Paul and Linda McCartney, went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 11 in 1971.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scotty
The cringe-worthy Watching Scotty Grow, 1971, Bobby Goldsboro
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word civet cat
Civet cats are perhaps best known for the scrapings of their perineal glands, which produce a musky substance used in high-end fragrances.
The substance has also traditionally been used in "Civet absolute," an ingredient in the food additives used to add butter, caramel, and rum flavorings to sweets.
from http://www.slate.com/id/2093538/
I have read elsewhere that civet cat perineal glands are also used in creating some artificial grape flavoring for sweets and soft drinks.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word arizona
Arizona is a song that went to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970, recorded by Mark Lindsay, formerly of Paul Revere and the Raiders
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word aubrey
Aubrey, 1973, Bread
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jude
I read somewhere, donkey's years ago, that "Jude" is actually Julian Lennon. I wonder if there is any truth to that.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word merseybeat
(archaic) A name for the characteristic style of music produced by pop groups from Merseyside between 1958 and 1964, typified by the Beatles.
_Wiktionary
See More on Merseybeat
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word aunt rhoda
I love Lonnie Donegan but I've never heard his Aunt Rody. I'd like to do so.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word niki hoeky
Niki Hoeky, 1967, P.J. Proby
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nadia
Nadia's Theme (The Young and the Restless), 1976, Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word maria
Take a Letter, Maria by R. B. Greaves went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word patches
Patches, 1962, Dickey Lee (about a girl)
Patches, 1971, Clarence Carter (about a boy)
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word judy
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills and Nash, 1969
Judy in Disguise (with Glasses) - John Fred and His Playboys, #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1968
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word josie
Josie by Donovan, 1966
Josie by Steely Dan, 1978
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word joanna
Joanna, 1984, Kool and the Gang
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jean
Jean by Oliver went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. This is a song from the soundtrack of the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and was written by Rod McKuen who also recorded it.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word iesha
Iesha by Another Bad Creation made it to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word aunt rhoda
I have a little school singing book from the early 1950s and it has this same song in it but they use the name of Aunt Nancy. I think Rhoda and Rhodie sound better.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word aunt rhoda
My kids were brought up with a folk song called Go Tell Aunt Rhodie, about a grey goose who died in the mill pond a 'standing on her head. Is this the same song?
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the list songbirds
Oh, gangerh, I know what you mean about earworm! I am a pop music victim of serious earworm from waaaaay back!
This is a fun list.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word charlotte
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte is the title song of the soundtrack for the film of the same name. It was recorded by Patti Page in 1965 and went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hazel
Hooray for Hazel is a song by Tommy Roe that went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word holly
Holly Holy is a song by Neil Diamond that went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word helen
Helen Wheels, 1974, Paul McCartney
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gina
Gina, 1962, Johnny Mathis
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word frankie
Frankie and Johnny, 1961, Brook Benton
also 1963, Sam Cooke and 1966, Elvis Presley
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fanny
Fanny (Be Tender with My Love), 1976, Bee Gees
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word emma
Emma, 1975, Hot Chocolate
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word elenore
Elenore, 1968, The Turtles
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word diana
A song called Diana by Paul Anka went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lisa
I'm Not Lisa, 1975, Jessi Colter
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jenny
The name Jenny figures in these two songs:
Jenny, Jenny, 1957, Little Richard
Jenny, Take a Ride!, 1966, Mitch Ryder
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word desiree
Desiree, 1978, Neil Diamond
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dede dinah
DeDe Dinah, 1958, Frankie Avalon
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word daisy jane
Daisy Jane, 1975, America
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word clair
Clair, 1972, Gilbert O'Sullivan
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cindy
Cindy's Birthday, 1962, Johnny Crawford
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word clementine
Clementine by Bobby Darin is a song that went to #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960.
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word carrie-ann
Carrie-Ann, 1967, The Hollies
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word candida
Candida is the name of a song that went to # 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973, by Dawn (before they became Tony Orlando and Dawn)
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word elvira
Elvira, Oak Ridge Boys, 1981
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word betty
Black Betty, 1977, Ram Jam (also covered by Tom Jones)
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beth
Beth, 1976, Kiss
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word linda
Linda, 1963, Jan and Dean
Bella Linda, 1969, Grassroots
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word yoko
Ballad of John and Yoko, 1969, The Beatles
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word athena
Athena, 1982, The Who
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ariel
Ariel, 1977, Dean Friedman
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mary lou
Hello Mary Lou, 1961, Ricky Nelson (Written by Gene Pitney)
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word allison
Allison Road, 1994, Gin Blossoms
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word leah
Ah! Leah!, 1981, Donnie Iris
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word abigail
Abigail Beecher, 1964, Freddie Cannon
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word silver bullet
The metaphor of the silver bullet applies to any straightforward solution perceived to have extreme effectiveness. The phrase typically appears with an expectation that some new technology or practice will easily cure a major prevailing problem.
The term originates from folklore. Traditionally, the silver bullet is the only kind of bullet for firearms that is effective against a witch, vampire, monster, or a person living a charmed life.
The best known magical creature which is vulnerable to a silver bullet is a werewolf. The werewolf's vulnerability to silver actually dates back to the legend of The Beast of Gévaudan in which a gigantic Wolf is killed by a person wielding a gun loaded with silver bullets.
In different traditions, silver is thought to be the metal associated with the moon and with the human soul. It is likely that these associations have contributed to the legend of the silver bullet.
_Wikipedia
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cabin fever
Cabin fever is a condition that produces restlessness and irritability caused from being in a confined space. The actual term is slang for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a party is isolated and/or shut in, alone or together, for an extended period.
The term possibly originated in the United States at the time when settlers would be snowed into their log cabins and had to wait for the spring thaw in order to travel to town. Another possible source for this phrase could be that during an outbreak of some disease, people who had a fever were confined to a cabin as a quarantine. Most likely, the phrase may be associated with ocean-crossing sailing ships in which passengers had to endure weeks and months of slow travel while living in cramped cabins below deck.
_Wikipedia
February 9, 2008
treeseed commented on the word maple sugar candy
Maple syrup can also be processed into a wide variety of candy or confections including granulated or molded maple sugar, molded soft-sugar candy, maple cream, maple fondant, and "Jack Wax" or "Maple on Snow."
_http://www.baking911.com/candy/maple.htm
My favorite is molded maple sugar...semi-hardened maple sugar cooked down from maple syrup, molded into (usually) maple leaf shapes. Melts quickly in the mouth and has an surprisingly creamy consistency.
February 8, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rock candy
Rock candy (also called rock sugar) is a type of confectionery composed of relatively large sugar crystals. Homemade rock candy is commonly formed by allowing a supersaturated solution of sugar and water to crystallize onto a string or some other surface suitable for crystal nucleation. Heating the water before adding the sugar allows more sugar to dissolve and thus produces larger crystals. Crystals form after several days. Food coloring is often added to the mixture to produce colored candy.
_Wikipedia
Excerpt from Big Rock Candy Mountain by Harry McClintock
On a summer day in the month of May a burly bum came hiking
Down a shady lane through the sugar cane, he was looking for his liking.
As he roamed along he sang a song of the land of milk and honey
Where a bum can stay for many a day, and he won't need any money
Oh the buzzin' of the bees in the cigarette trees near the soda water fountain,
At the lemonade springs where the bluebird sings on the Big Rock Candy Mountains
February 8, 2008
treeseed commented on the word turbinado sugar
Turbinado sugar, also known as turbinated sugar, is a type of sugar cane extract. It is made by steaming unrefined raw sugar. Turbinado sugar is similar in appearance to brown sugar but paler, and in general the two can be exchanged freely in recipes. A popular brand name is Sugar in the Raw.
_Wikipedia
February 8, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sugar beet
Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.), a member of the Chenopodiaceae family, is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar.
The sugar beet is directly related to the beetroot, chard and fodder beet, all descended by cultivation from the sea beet.
Beet sugar accounts for 30% of the world's sugar production.
_Wikipedia
February 8, 2008
treeseed commented on the word phosphoron
I'm glad to hear that...such a nice word.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word phosphoron
Well, I made a corrected entry...but this word has a nice ring to it. What is it called when Treeseed not only can't spell but can't see the light of day? A Phosmoron.
Thanks, Mollusque.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word prosphoron
A prosphoron (Greek: Π�?όσφο�?ον, Offering) is a small loaf of bread used in Orthodox Christian ritual The plural form is prosphora(Π�?όσφο�?α).
A prosphoron is made up of two separate round pieces of dough which are placed one on top of another and baked together to form a single loaf. This double-loaf represents the two natures of Christ: human and divine. Before baking, each prosphoron is stamped with a seal usually bearing the image of a cross with the Greek letters IC XC NIKA ("Jesus Christ conquers") around the arms of the cross. This impression is baked into the bread and serves as a guide for the priest who will be cutting it.
_Wikipedia
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flutterby
To me it brings up the image of a butterfly and seems like a nick name that someone innocent and childlike would use for a butterfly.
Also it seems like it could mean someone "mingling" at a party, in a sincere way, only hurried by circumstance. Like a hostess who wants to be able to spend at least a few minutes with everyone at her party.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pork barrel
A pork barrel, literally, is a barrel in which pork is kept. The term is more commonly used as a political metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for projects that are intended primarily to benefit particular constituents or campaign contributors. This usage originated in American English.
_Wikipedia
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word eureka
Eureka (Greek "I have found it") is an exclamation used as an interjection to celebrate a discovery.
It is most famously attributed to the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes; he reportedly said "eureka!" when he stepped into a bath and noticed the water level rise -- he suddenly understood that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. This meant that the volume of irregular objects could be calculated with precision, a previously intractable problem. He is said to have been so eager to share it that he leapt out of his bathtub and ran through the streets of Syracuse naked.
_Wikipedia
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word epicanthal fold
Please excuse me for putting all this technical jargon in here but I am saving this to share with my son later. My grandson has issues with this.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word epicanthal fold
An epicanthal fold, epicanthic fold, or epicanthus is a skin fold of the upper eyelid (from the nose to the inner side of the eyebrow) covering the inner corner (medial canthus) of the human eye. The epicanthal fold is present in people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent, as well as other ethnic groups including some Native Americans and Africans. Epicanthal folds may also be seen in young children of any race before the bridge of the nose begins to elevate.
The term "epicanthal fold" refers to a visually categorized feature; however the underlying physiological reason and purpose for its presence in any given individual may be entirely different.
All humans initially develop epicanthal folds in the womb. Some children lose them by birth, but epicanthal folds may also be seen in young children of any ethnicity before the bridge of the nose begins to elevate. They may persist where birth is pre-term, and sometimes also where the mother is alcoholic.
Epicanthal folds can cause a child's eyes to appear crossed, a scenario known as pseudostrabismus.
In many caucasian backgrounds and other groups who don't commonly possess the trait, the presence of the epicanthal fold can be a symptom of fetal alcohol syndrome, chromosomal disorders such as Down syndrome, Cri du Chat syndrome, or pre-term birth.
_Wikipedia
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pseudostrabismus
Pseudostrabismus is the false appearance of crossed eyes. When the eyes are actually crossed or not completely aligned with one another it is called strabismus. Pseudostrabimus generally occurs in infants and toddlers whose facial features are not fully developed. The bridge of their nose is wide and flat. With age, the bridge will narrow and the folds in the corner of the eyes will go away. This will cause the eyes to appear wider, and thus not have the appearance of strabismus. To detect the difference between strabismus and pseudostrabismus use a flashlight to shine into the child's eyes. When the child is looking at the light a reflection can be seen on the front surface of the pupil. If the eyes are aligned with one another then the reflection from the light will be in the same spot of each eye. If strabismus is present then the reflection from the light will not be in the same spot of each eye.
_Wikipedia
See also epicanthal fold
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ploidy
Ploidy is the number of homologous sets of chromosomes in a biological cell. The ploidy of cells can vary within an organism. In humans, most cells are diploid (containing one set of chromosomes from each parent), but sex cells (sperm and egg) are haploid. In contrast, tetraploidy (four sets of chromosomes) is a type of polyploidy and is common in plants, and not uncommon in amphibians, reptiles, and various species of insects.
_Wikipedia
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the list •-de-rerum-natura
I'm not sure I understand what kind of words you are looking for, kewpid. I love diatoms. Would that be a word that would fit on your list?
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the user skipvia
Thanks so much for that classic toy article. Loved it!
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coconut mushroom cloud
Wow...I never heard of a coconut mushroom until I googled these...they look cute.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word strange
one of six flavors of quarks
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flavor
There are six different types of quark, usually known as flavors: up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word interference
Interference is the addition (superposition) of two or more waves that results in a new wave pattern.
_Wikipedia
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bruja
Female witch (Spanish)
Both men and women can be witches, brujos and brujas respectively. Brujos is the plural term that can mean either a group of male witches or both male and female witches. The female witch is considered the most powerful, and traditional brujos believe that the female passes down the sacred bloodline or spiritual bloodline (matriarchal lineage). This means that the line is inherited from a female but ends with a male.
The word bruja is believed to derive from bruxa, which is from the Celto-Iberian dialect in Spain evolving to what is known today as Gallego. It shares its roots with Portuguese. The present day Portuguese use the term bruxa. The original meaning is roughly, evil or unwholesome night-bird, but has evolved both in Portuguese and in Spanish to mean simply 'witch'.
_Wikipedia
.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word glamour
(n.)a physical illusion created by magic
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dweller on the threshold
The Dweller on the Threshold refers to an invisible malevolent entity that attaches to a human being. The term was first used by Bulwer-Lytton in his novel Zanoni.
_Wikipedia
One explanation is that provided by Alice Bailey on Esoteric astrology, "From ancient recesses of the memory, from a deeply rooted past, which is definitely recalled, and from the racial and the individual subconscious (or founded and established thought reservoirs and desires, inherited and inherent) there emerges from individual past lives and experience, that which is the sumtotal of all instinctual tendencies, of all inherited glamours, and of all phases of wrong mental attitudes; to these, (as they constitute a blended whole) we give the name of the Dweller on the Threshold. This Dweller is the sumtotal of all the personality characteristics which have remained unconquered and unsubtle, and which must be finally overcome before initiation can be taken. Each life sees some progress made; some personality defects straightened out, and some real advance effected. But the unconquered residue, and the ancient liabilities are numerous, and excessively potent, and - when the soul contact's adequately established - there eventuates a life wherein the highly developed and powerful personality becomes, in itself, the Dweller on the Threshold.
_Wikipedia
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word noodle
See also pool noodle
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word metropolis
In DC Comics, the Earth home of Superman
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gotham
Interesting, kewpid. Brings to mind Batman's Gotham City.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mushroom cloud
That makes me think of psilocybin when you talk about mushrooms in lieu of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cauliflower ear
Cauliflower ear (also hematoma auris or perichondrial hematoma) is a condition most common among wrestlers, rugby players, mixed martial artists, and boxers. If the external portion of the ear suffers a blow, a blood clot or other fluid may collect under the perichondrium. This separates the cartilage from the overlying perichondrium that is its source of nutrients, causing the cartilage to die. This leads to a formation of fibrous tissue in the overlying skin. When this happens, the outer ear becomes permanently swollen and deformed, thus resembling a cauliflower.
_Wikipedia
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mushroom cloud
Kewpid agrees with Weart, quoted in Wikipedia article:
Later in 1946, the Operation Crossroads nuclear bomb tests were described as having a "cauliflower" cloud, but a reporter present also spoke of "the mushroom, now the common symbol of the atomic age." Mushrooms have traditionally been associated both with life and death, food and poison, making them a more powerful symbolic connection than, say, the "cauliflower" cloud.
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bible code
Bible codes, originally known as Torah codes, are information patterns said to exist in encrypted or coded form in the text of the Bible, or, more specifically, in the Hebrew Torah, the first five books of Old Testament. The existence of these codes has been a topic of research by Old Testament scholars and students of Kabbalah for over a thousand years, and in more recent times have been a topic of study by modern mathematicians. In the mid-17th century influential mathematician Blaise Pascal, widely regarded as the "father of probability science" and "father of the modern computer" summarized his view in a one sentence assertion in his philosophical Pensées, concluding that "The Old Testament is a cipher."
_Wikipedia
February 7, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gematria
Gematria (Rabbinic Hebrew גימטריה gēmaṭriy�?, from the Greek γεωμετ�?ία; English since the 17th century) is the numerology of the Hebrew language and Hebrew alphabet, and is used by its proponents to derive meaning or relative relationship. Several forms can be identified: the "revealed" form, which is prevalent in many forms of Rabbinic Judaism, and the "mystical form," a largely Cabbalistic practice. The word itself comes from the Greek word 'geometry' and the concept or system is the same as the Greek isopsephy and the Arabic Ḥis�?b al-Jummal. There is also a gematria of Latin-script languages, dating from the early Middle Ages, and very possibly back into Roman times, too. Recent times have also seen an emergence of new gematrias, though these lack a length of exploration that more ancient versions have seen.
The most common form of gematria is used occasionally in the Talmud and Midrash and elaborately by many post-Talmudic commentators. It involves reading words and sentences as numbers, assigning numerical instead of phonetic value to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. When read as numbers, they can be compared and contrasted with other words.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word augur
The Augur (pl: augurs) was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of the birds (flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of birds they are), known as "taking the auspices." The ceremony and function of the augur was central to any major undertaking in Roman society--public or private--including matters of war, commerce, and religion.
The derivation of the word augur is uncertain; ancient authors believed that it contained the words avi and gero --Latin for "directing the birds"--but historical-linguistic evidence points instead to the root aug-, "to increase, to prosper."
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word daemon
The words daemon, dæmon, are Latinized spellings of the Greek δαίμων (daimon), used purposely today to distinguish the daemons of Ancient Greek religion, good or malevolent "supernatural beings between mortals and gods, such as inferior divinities and ghosts of dead heroes" (see Plato's Symposium), from the Judeo-Christian usage demon, a malignant spirit that can seduce, afflict, or possess humans.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word boom and bust
In economics, the term boom and bust refers to the movement of an economy through economic cycles.
The boom and bust cycle describes the cycle of economic upswings and downswings in the business economy and is considered inseparable from capitalism.
According to most economists, an economic boom is typically characterized by an increased level of economic output, a corresponding increase in aggregate demand, falling unemployment, and often, a rise in the inflation rate. During busts, or recessions, aggregate demand is low, inflation decreases, unemployment rises and national income falls. In extreme recessions deflation (a sustained fall in the general price level) may occur.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mushroom cloud
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: circa 1909
: a mushroom-shaped cloud; specifically : one caused by the explosion of a nuclear weapon
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word easter grass
Shredded colored cellophane simulating grass that is used as a bed for candies in Easter baskets
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chernobyl
See ghost town
I have seen this word used as a generic term for a manmade ecological catastrophe, as in "We've got to clean up the river and stop the mill from dumping here. This thing is turning into a Chernobyl."
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ghost town
noun
Date: 1931
: a once-flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource
_Wikipedia
Also as the result of an ecological disaster as in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York or Chernobyl
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gore with the wind
Great minds think alike, as the saying goes, reesetee.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word demiurge
This sounds like it should mean "an accidental erection occurring during a massage or an examination by a female doctor"
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word horah
See also Hava Nagila
The most popular of Jewish folk dances/Israeli folk dances. It is usually performed to Jewish folk songs/Israeli folk songs, typically to the music of Hava Nagila.
To start the dance, everybody forms a circle, holding hands, and steps forward toward the right with the left foot, then follows with the right foot. The left foot is then brought back, followed by the right foot. This is done while holding hands and circling together in a fast and cheerful motion to the right. Large groups allow for the creation of several concentric circles.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hava nagila
"Hava Nagila" (הבה נגילה in Hebrew) is a Hebrew folk song, the title meaning "Let us rejoice". It is a song of celebration, especially popular amongst irreligious Jewish and Roma communities. In popular culture, it is used as a metonym for Judaism, and is a staple of band performers at Jewish festivals.
_Wikipedia
When I was growing up in southern California in the early 1960s we were taught this song in public school physical education class along with a dance. The dance and the song together were called "The Hava Nagila" but the dance was actually the Horah.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word baggywrinkle
reesetee, I love this word and the name of your list on which it is found.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bathing machine
The bathing machine was a device, popular in the 19th century, which was intended to allow people to wade in the ocean at beaches without violating Victorian notions of modesty. Bathing machines were in the form of roofed and walled wooden carts which would be rolled into the sea. Some had solid wooden walls; others had canvas walls over a wooden frame.
The bathing machine was part of sea-bathing etiquette which was more rigorously enforced upon women than men, but was expected to be observed by people of both sexes among those who wished to be considered "proper".
_Wikipedia
I really urge you to read the rest of the Wikipedia entry for this contraption and see the pictures. Who knew?
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word muskellunge
Nickname: Muskie
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sheepshead
Sheepshead is a card game related to the Skat family of games, originating in Central Europe in the late 1700s under the German name Schafkopf. Although Schafkopf literally means "sheepshead", the term is actually derived from Middle High German and referred to playing cards on an overturned barrel (from kopfen, meaning playing cards, and Schaff, meaning a barrel).
Sheepshead is played by two to eight players, where the variant with five players is the most common, by far. In the United States, Sheepshead is most commonly played in Wisconsin, which has a strong Germanic population.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lucifer's hamper
Before now I've never known anyone else that has read Lucifer's Hammer.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word orange blossom
Orange blossom is a traditional flower at weddings and its use dates back to the Crusades. It is believed to have been used by the Saracens to symbolise chastity and purity and the evergreen leaves are a symbol for everlasting love. A traditional ingredient of love potions
_http://www.webwedding.co.uk/articles/traditions.htm
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flying buttress
In architecture, a flying buttress, or arc-boutant, is usually on a religious building, used to transmit the thrust of a vault across an intervening space (which might be an aisle, chapel or cloister), to a buttress outside the building. The employment of the flying buttress means that the load bearing walls can contain cut-outs, such as for large windows, that would otherwise seriously weaken the vault walls.
The purpose of a buttress was to reduce the load on the vault wall. The majority of the load is carried by the upper part of the buttress, so making the buttress as a semi-arch provides almost the same load bearing capability, yet in a much lighter as well as a much cheaper structure. As a result, the buttress flies through the air, rather than resting on the ground and hence is known as a flying buttress.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gore with the wind
In which Al Gore tries to sell the idea of wind mill power to ease Global Warming
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word game show
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1958
: a television program on which contestants compete for prizes in a game (as a quiz)
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word host horizon
In which an errant game show MC stumbles upon a mythical paradise
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gravels with charley: in search of america
In which John Steinbeck and his poodle Charley take work in a quarry
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word phaeton
The name phaeton derives from a Greek mythological character, Phaethon, who almost set the world on fire with his reckless driving. This type of carriage was made of wicker, making it quite lightweight. The Phaeton was intended for pleasure driving.
He drove a great roomy, double "phaeton" drawn by two satin bay horses.
_From Pat of Silver Bush by L.M. Montgomery, 1933
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word maraschino cherry
A maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties. The cherries are first preserved in a brine solution (usually sulfur dioxide or alcohol), then soaked in a suspension of food coloring, sugar syrup, artificial and natural flavors, and other components. Maraschino cherries dyed red are typically almond-flavored, while cherries dyed green are usually peppermint-flavored.
The name maraschino refers to the marasca cherry and the maraschino liqueur made from it, in which maraschino cherries were originally preserved. They were, at first, produced for and consumed as a delicacy by royalty and the wealthy. Today they are a common dessert and drink garnish. Carmine, the coloring agent commonly used as a food dye, is derived from the cochineal insect.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bishop's bread
This an old "company bread" and I'm not sure of its origins but I know it was old in my grandmother's day. It is a dessert quick bread containing walnuts, chocolate morsels, and most importantly cherries, maraschino cherries in particular. It is usually served at Christmastime. There are many recipes for Bishop's Bread on the Internet. Try making one.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word antidoron
The Antidoron (Greek: Ἀντίδω�?ον, Antíd�?ron) is ordinary, blessed, but non-eucharistic and non-consecrated, leavened bread seen in Eastern Orthodox and other Christian churches. It comes from the remains of the loaves of bread (prosphora) from which portions are cut for consecration as the Eucharist during the Divine Liturgy. Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine Rite also follow the practice of blessing and distributing antidoron.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pandowdy
Pandowdy - It is a deep-dish dessert that can be made with a variety of fruit, but is most commonly made with apples sweetened with molasses or brown sugar. The topping is a crumbly type of biscuit except the crust is broken up during baking and pushed down into the fruit to allow the juices to come through. Sometimes the crust is on the bottom and the desert is inverted before serving. The exact origin of the name Pandowdy is unknown, but it is thought to refer to the deserts plain or dowdy appearance.
_Whatscookingamerica.net/History
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word buckle
A buckle is a type of cake made in a single layer with berries added to the batter. It is usually made with blueberries. The topping is similar to a streusel, which gives it a buckled or crumpled appearance.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word crisp
See crumble
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word crumble
Crisps and Crumbles - Crisps are baked with the fruit mixture on the bottom with a crumb topping. The crumb topping can be made with flour, nuts, bread crumbs, cookie or graham cracker crumbs, or even breakfast cereal. Crumbles are the British version of the American Crisp.
_whatscookingamerican.net/History
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word brown betty
Betty or Brown Betty - A Betty consist of a fruit, most commonly apples, baked between layers of buttered crumbs. Betties are an English pudding dessert closely related to the French apple charlotte. Betty was a popular baked pudding made during colonial times in America.
_Whatscookingamerica.net/History/cobblerhistory.htm
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chromo
Thefreedictionary.com:
n. pl. chro·mos Informal
A chromolithograph.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coronet
See Georgette crepe
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tulle
See Georgette crepe
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word georgette crepe
from dictonary.reference.com:
noun. a sheer silk or rayon crepe of dull texture.
My note: Often with a crinkled look.
The New York Times of August 8, 1918, reporting on the wedding of President Woodrow Wilson's daughter Alice Wilson had this to say:
"The bride wore a gown of white Georgette crepe embroidered in beads and silk threads, made over satin. The skirt was short, with a panel in the back. Her tulle veil, which formed a train, was held with a coronet of rare old lace, loaned by Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, and the orange blossoms were those worn by the sisters of the bridegroom at their weddings."
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word whiffet
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: probably alteration of whippet
Date: 1839
: a small, young, or unimportant person
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word umiak
The umiak, umiaq, umiac, oomiac or oomiak is a type of boat used by the Inuit for transportation. Its name means "woman's boat," as opposed to the kayak, which means "man's boat".
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kalpa
Wow...that is so wonderful. Thank you for sharing that.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hoop skirt
A hoop skirt or hoopskirt is a women's undergarment worn in various periods to hold the skirt extended into a fashionable shape.
Hoop skirts typically consist of a fabric petticoat with casings to hold a stiffening material, variously rope, osiers, whalebone, steel or nylon.
Lightweight hoop skirts, usually with nylon hoops, are worn today under very full-skirted wedding gowns.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gibson girl
The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal as portrayed in the satirical pen and ink illustrated stories created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson during a twenty year period spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States.
The Gibson Girl was tall, slender yet with ample bosom, hips and bottom in the S-curve torso shape achieved by wearing a swan-bill corset. The images of her epitomized the late nineteenth and early 20th-century Western preoccupation with statuesque, youthful features, and ephemeral beauty. Her neck was thin and her hair piled high upon her head in the contemporary bouffant, pompadour, and chignon ("waterfall of curls") fashions.
The tall, narrow-waisted ideal feminine figure was portrayed as multi-faceted, always at ease and fashionable. Gibson depicted her as an equal and sometimes teasing companion to men.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word man-about-town
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Inflected Form(s): plural men–about–town \ˌmen-\
Date: 1734
: a worldly and socially active man
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word junebug
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Usage: often capitalized J
Date: 1829
: any of numerous rather large leaf-eating scarab beetles (subfamily Melolonthinae) that fly chiefly in late spring and have larvae that are white grubs which live in soil and feed chiefly on the roots of grasses and other plants —called also june beetle
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cup and ring marks
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found predominantly in the upland parts of the British Isles but also in some parts of continental Europe.
They consist of a concave depression, no more than a few centimetres across, pecked into a rock surface and often surrounded by concentric circles also etched into the stone. Sometimes a linear channel called a gutter leads out from the middle.
The decoration occurs as a petroglyph on natural boulders and outcrops and also as an element of megalithic art on purposely worked megaliths such as the slab cists of the Food Vessel culture, some stone circles and passage graves such as the clava tombs and on the capstones at Newgrange.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ticking
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: 2tick
Date: 1649
: a strong linen or cotton fabric used in upholstering and as a covering for a mattress or pillow
See feather tick and bedtick
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word feather tick
A casing or bag made of ticking which is stuffed with feathers or goose down as a type of bedding or mattress.
See bedtick
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bedtick
freedictionary.com:
n. 1. A tick or bag made of cloth called ticking, used for inclosing the materials of a bed.
See feather tick
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word honeysuckle
See Junebells
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word junebells
Linnea borealis or americana, Caprofoliaceae, also known as twinflowers. Pink or white bell-shaped flowers of the honeysuckle family, which grow in terminal pairs. They bloomfrom late June to early August.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word washstand
In addition to the basin and pitcher for washing the hands and face, washstands often had a roller or peg on the side for a towel and a cupboard underneath for the chamber pot.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word braided rug
Also called braid rug or rag rug
A rug made with left-over scraps of fabric or from the remants of old clothes. In modern times made of new fabric. Long ropes are braided together from the scraps then the ropes are stitched together in an oval or round shape. See Braided rug example here
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word morning star
Another name for Venus, see also evening star
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word evening star
Venus is known as the evening star and also as the morning star
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word knack
Some think knacks are natural born magical or paranormal or supernatural powers...uncanny knack...such as psychic ability
Orson Scott Card's series of novels called The Alvin Maker Series is full of characters with this type of knack.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word wincey
This is the fabric that the famous Anne of Green Gables was wearing when she first arrived at the train station where Matthew met her.
"A child of about eleven, garbed in a very short, very tight, very ugly dress of yellowish-gray wincey."
_From Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery, 1908
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word replicant
A replicant is a bioengineered or biorobotic being created in the film Blade Runner (1982).
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word terminator
a cyborg assassin
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the list in-the-name-of-all-that-is-good-and-holy
Freemasons use the term the Architect or the Grand Architect...and there was that character in the Matrix trilogy by that name. Hmmm?
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rose of sharon
The word wrath and the Grapes of Wrath (quite possibly my favorite book) brought to mind the wonderful character, Rose of Sharon. See Free Associate
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Etymology: Plain of Sharon, Palestine
Date: circa 1847
: a commonly cultivated Asian shrub or small tree (Hibiscus syriacus) having showy bell-shaped rose, purple, or white flowers
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the user sonofgroucho
Thank you for stopping by, S of G. It's a pleasure to be getting to know you...in this strange and fun way.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word corner
In square dancing the lady on a man's left is his corner, and conversely the man on a lady's right is her corner. See also allemande
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word allemande
In square dancing allemande is a series of moves where dancers face their corners and turn around each other 360 degrees, dropping the handhold at the end as the dancers rejoin their respective partners. A lot of people in square dancing spell this "alamand." The caller usually calls out "allemande left" or "allemande right".
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word allemande
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: French, from feminine of allemand German
Date: 1685
1: a musical composition or movement (as in a baroque suite) in moderate tempo and duple or quadruple time
2 a: a 17th and 18th century court dance developed in France from a German folk dance b: a dance step with arms interlaced
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word right and left grand
'Right and Left Grand', also known as 'Grand Right and Left', is a square dance move in which all eight dancers in the set, moving in a circular fashion, execute a series of four alternating hand pull-bies (right pull by, left pull by, right pull by, left pull by). Men (or gents) travel counter-clockwise around the ring, and ladies travel clockwise. The result is that all dancers end up half way across the set facing the same person they started with.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dosado
Dosado (also written do-sa-do) or Dos-a-dos (also written dos a dos) or do-si-do (also written do si do) is a basic dance step in such dances as square dance, contra dance, polka, various historical dances, and some reels.
The term is a corruption of the original French term dos-à-dos for the dance move, which means "back to back", as opposed to "vis-à-vis" which means "face to face".
It is a circular movement where two people, who are initially facing each other, walk around each other without or almost without turning, i.e, facing in the same direction (same wall) all the time. In most cases it takes 6-8 counts to complete.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beau
In square dancing, the dancer in the left-hand position, relative to his (or her) partner. See belle
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word belle
In square dancing, the dancer in the right-hand position, relative to his (or her) partner. See beau
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tectonic plate
A tectonic plate (also called lithospheric plate) is a massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere. Plate size can vary greatly, from a few hundred to thousands of kilometers across; the Pacific and Antarctic Plates are among the largest. Plate thickness also varies greatly, ranging from less than 15 km for young oceanic lithosphere to about 200 km or more for ancient continental lithosphere (for example, the interior parts of North and South America).
from http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/tectonic.html
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also called a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano composed of many layers of hardened lava, tephra, and volcanic ash. These volcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word effluvia
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Inflected Form(s): plural ef·flu·via also ef·flu·vi·ums
Etymology: Latin effluvium act of flowing out, from effluere
Date: 1651
1: an invisible emanation; especially : an offensive exhalation or smell
2: a by-product especially in the form of waste
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word eluviation
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)ē-ˌlü-vē-ˈ�?-shən\
Function: noun
Etymology: eluvial of eluviation (from e- + -luvial—as in alluvial) + -ation
Date: 1899
: the transportation of dissolved or suspended material within the soil by the movement of water when rainfall exceeds evaporation
— elu·vi·al \ē-ˈlü-vē-əl\ adjective
— elu·vi·at·ed \-ˈlü-vē-�?-təd\ adjective
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word alluvial fan
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1873
: the alluvial deposit of a stream where it issues from a gorge upon a plain or of a tributary stream at its junction with the main stream
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fry bread
Also seen as "frybread"
Two great memories of mine:
Navajo fry bread with red beans and rice at a small market stand in Monument Valley and a thin hungry Indian dog with which to share them.
Oneida fry bread with sugar and cinnamon at the big summer pow-wow on the reservation in Oneida, Wisconsin
See fry bread here.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word debutante
See deb
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word debut
See coming out party
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coming out party
A debutante (or deb) (from the French débutante, "female beginner") is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal presentation known as her "debut" or "coming out". Originally, it meant the young woman was eligible for marriage, and part of the purpose was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select upper class circle. This traditional event varies by region, but is typically referred to as a debutante ball if it is for a group of debutantes. A lone debutante might have her own "coming out party", or she might have a party with a sister or other close relative.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word come out
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
intransitive verb
Date: 13th century
1 a: to come into public view : make a public appearance b: to become evident
2: to declare oneself especially in public utterance
3: to turn out in an outcome : end up
4: to make a debut
5 a: to openly declare one's homosexuality b: to openly declare something about oneself previously kept hidden —often used with as
— com·ing–out \ˌkə-miŋ-ˈau̇t\ noun or adjective
— come out with
1: to give expression to
2: publish
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word woodpile
Out behind the woodpile or in some cases the wood shed is where your pa takes you to get a lickin', sometimes with a hick'ry switch. It is also the subject of a wonderful poem called The Wood-pile by Robert Frost.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tip-up
See a classic wooden tip-up here
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tip-up
(noun)
a piece of ice-fishing tackle
A device that signals when a fish hits on your line. A flag "tips up" when the fish strikes and gives you the freedom to leave the fishing hole for a moment. (Possibly to drink beer or to warm up in the shanty.)
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word parchman farm
I went straight to the Parchman Farm from delta. Ain't never done no man no harm. See Free Association
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word parchman farm
Mississippi State Penitentiary, also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison in the state of Mississippi, USA. It is located on 18,000 acres (73 km²) in Parchman, Mississippi, and was built in 1901.
A number of bluesmen have been imprisoned in Parchman Farm and the prison features in a number of blues songs such as "Parchman Farm".
"Parchman Farm" is the title of songs about Mississippi State Penitentiary, known as Parchman Farm, a hard time prison because of the Trusty system which was later outlawed.
There have been a number of blues songs written about Parchman Farm and several Blues musicians were imprisoned there, including Bukka White (who wrote "Parchman Farm Blues"), and Eddie 'Son' House. In 1939, folklorist Alan Lomax recorded White and others at Parchman Farm for the Library of Congress. (Louisiana's Angola Prison Farm had a similar musical impact.)
Mose Allison created a much-covered version of "Parchman Farm". It has been covered by Blues Project, Cactus, Michael Chapman, Blue Cheer, Ray Condo, Rick Derringer, Georgie Fame, The Kingston Trio, John Mayall, Johnny Winter and others.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word duck call
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1872
: a device for imitating the calls of ducks
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word twin bed
a single bed
one of two identical single beds usually placed side by side in a single bedroom. Many married couples slept in twin beds in the 1940s and 1950s for the sake of "decency" and also individual comfort
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dentures
As a child, my grandmother's dentures in a glass of water on the nightstand used to traumatize me.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word junket
My grandmother used to make junket for dessert. It was kind of gross, like runny pudding.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word junk mail
Postal mail used in direct marketing
Spam: electronic junk mail
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word worthless junk trip
1. any trip to the Dollar Store or one in which nothing of interest is purchased
2. a trip on a small Chinese boat where the fishing cormorants do not succeed
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beetle
See splitting maul
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word splitting maul
A splitting maul (or mall) is a heavy, long-handled hammer used for splitting a piece of wood along its grain. One side of it is identical to a sledge hammer and the other side is an axe. In parts of England the word denotes a tool with a very heavy wooden head, used for splitting wood in conjunction with a metal wedge. This tool is also known as a beetle; there is a well known pub on the Thames at Goring called the Beetle and Wedge.
_Wikipedia
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word log splitter
a hydraulic machine used to quickly split logs for fire wood
If you are as careless as my ex-husband it can be used to split fingers, too.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word oriflamme
What a cool word!
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fields
Ha ha! That's a fine mind you have there, sionnach!
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word creosote
Creosote is the sticky resin left behind in the stovepipe when wood is burned. It can build up and cause chimney fires.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fire screen
Merriam-Webster Dictonary:
noun
Date: 15th century
: a protective screen before a fireplace
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coal hod
also called a coal scuttle
also used for wood or ash
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scuttle
coal or fireplace scuttle also called a coal hod
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word face cord
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: circa 1926
: a unit of wood cut for fuel equal to a stack 4 × 8 feet with lengths of pieces from about 12 to 16 inches
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fireset
A small, usually five piece set of tools that is kept by the fireplace or woodstove to use in the management of the fire. Pieces include the rack which the tools are hung on, a small dust broom, a small ash shovel, a prod or poker, a hook or sometimes a set of tongs. Often made of cast iron.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kindling wood
small pieces of dry wood or sticks used to start a fire
In our house these are stored in the kindling box right next to the woodstove.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word potbelly stove
A potbelly stove is a cast iron wood burning stove, round with a bulge in the middle. They were designed to heat large spaces and were often found in train stations or one-room schoolhouses.
_Wikipedia
We used to have an old potbelly stove in our garage that my dad used to burn papers in. He also used it to warm up the garage when he was out there working on the car.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cook stove
In cooking, a cook stove is a very basic stove heated by burning wood or fossil fuels. Cook stoves are the most common way of cooking and heating food in developing countries.
_Wikipedia
When I was growing up this is what we called the large cast iron wood stove in my grandma's kitchen.
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word guitar picking nose
the sound of a guitar being played badly, as in "That's a guitar picking nose!"
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chamber pot plant
a poorly tended marijuana plant that is dwarfed or unhealthy...schwag
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cold sore
Herpes simplex type 1 is usually the cause of common nonsexually transmitted cold sores.
_Wikipedia
Herpes is a disease of the nerve endings and the frequent blowing or whiping of the nose during a cold can irritate the skin around the mouth and nose which can irritate nerve endings already afflicted with the dormant virus and cause it to become active. Sunburns can have the same effect.(My personal observations.)
While both oral and genital herpes are characteristically "nuisance infections" that are not life-threatening, cold sores (on the face) can cause rare severe or fatal disease if they travel to the eyes or brain.
_Wikipedia
(I say that it is for this reason that one should be careful that one's doctor does not misdiagnose a cold sore as impetigo as happened to my ex-husband.0
February 6, 2008
treeseed commented on the word varicella zoster
The Varicella zoster virus (VZV) is one of the eight herpes viruses known to affect humans (and other vertebrates). Multiple names are used to refer to same virus, creating some confusion. Varicella virus, zoster virus, human herpes 3 (HHV-3), and Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) all refer to the same viral pathogen. The disease caused by this pathogen is called chickenpox or Varicella disease during the initial infection. A reactivation of the infection is commonly called shingles, herpes zoster or simply zoster.
_Wikipedia
See impetigo
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word impetigo
Certain forms of herpes can be and are frequently misdiagnosed as Impetigo. Make sure to question your doctor. See cold sore
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word herpes
Herpes is actually a generic term which includes chickenpox, shingles, cold sores. It can be mistaken as Impetigo so make sure your doctor is careful with the diagnosis.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word shingles
I had shingles as a child and the nerves were so inflamed and painful that even if someone yelled at me or upset me emotionally they would react in severe pain. Horrible disease...my doctor said it was related to Chickenpox.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word red the table
A phrase used by my relatives and others of our circle of friends from western Pennsylvania in the 1950s to mean "clear the dinner table of dishes following dinner." I think it came from the word "rid" meaning rid the table of dishes. However they also used the term "red up" as in, "I'll be with you in a minute as soon as I red up the kitchen a bit," which meant to "restore order to the kitchen".
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lay the table
a phrase meaning "set the table with dishes and flatwear for a meal"
also lay the cloth meaning to put the tablecloth on the table
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word my whockety
from the 1881 novel for children by Margaret Sidney, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew:
"Two hundred candles!" echoed Joel, in amazement. "My whockety! what a lot!"
"Don't say such dreadful words, Joel," put in Polly, nervously, stopping to pick up her spool of basting thread that was racing away all by itself; "'tisn't nice."
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word potty mouth
childish term for someone using foul language or swearing
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chamber pot
from cello to chamber music to chamber pot...Get yer mind outta the potty, Treeseed! See Free Association
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bourdaloue
A peculiar form of chamber pot, the Bourdaloue, was designed specifically for females. The oblong rectangle or oval shape of the vessel, sometimes with a higher front enabled the woman to urinate from a squatting or standing posture without much risk of mishap, and also to help deal with the clothing of the day. The name "Bourdaloue" allegedly comes from that of a famous French Catholic priest, Louis Bourdaloue (1632 - 1704), who delivered such long sermons that females of the aristocracy attending them had their maids bring in such pots discreetly under their dresses so that they could urinate without having to leave. However, this explanation is probably a myth.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word 7
This is a song by Prince, too.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word 7
I cross my Zs and 0s but not my 7s.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word santa ana wind
The Santa Ana winds are strong, extremely dry offshore winds that characteristically sweep through in Southern California and northern Baja California in late fall and winter. Temperature-wise, they can range from hot to cold, depending on the prevailing temperatures in the source regions, the Great Basin and upper Mohave Desert.
There are claims that the original form is Santana winds, from the Spanish vientos de Satán ("winds of Satan".) According to the Los Angeles Almanac: "The original spelling of the name of the winds is unclear, not to mention the origin. The name Santana Winds is said to be traced to Spanish California, when the winds were called devil winds due to their heat.
_Wikipedia
There are numerous wonderful popular references to the Santa Ana winds on the Wikipedia page concering them...worth checking out.
See also my account at tumbleweed
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tumbleweed
When I was a child growing up in southern California, the Santa Ana winds that came in late fall and winter were so strong that they would uproot the tumbleweeds and propel them with such force that even though they are extremely light weight, in and of themselves, they would actually knock me down if I couldn't get out of the way fast enough.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word oopsie-daisy
According to Wikipedia oopsie-daisy is baby talk. I agree and I use it to minimize the upset when a small accident happens or a small mistake is made by my toddler grandson.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word baby talk
Baby talk is a long-established and universally understood traditional term. Baby talk, motherese, parentese or child-directed speech (CDS) is a nonstandard form of speech used by adults in talking to toddlers and infants. It is usually delivered with a "cooing" pattern of intonation different from that of normal adult speech: high in pitch, with many glissando variations that are more pronounced than those of normal speech. Baby talk is also characterized by the shortening and simplifying of words. Baby talk is also used by people when talking to their pets, and between adults as a form of affection, intimacy, bullying or patronizing.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word heat lightning
Heat lightning is a misnomer for the faint flashes of lightning on the horizon or other clouds from distant thunderstorms that do not have accompanying sounds of thunder. Heat lightning was named because it often occurs on hot summer nights, and to distinguish it from lightning with accompanying thunder.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word spring peeper
A Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer, synonym Hyla crucifer) is a small tree frog widespread throughout the eastern USA. Spring peepers are nocturnal frogs, so they are mostly heard but not seen. They are especially easy to hear due to their extremely loud mating call which gives them the name "peeper," but it is often hard to pinpoint the source of the sound, especially when many are peeping at once.
_Wikipedia
See also pinkletink
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pinkletink
The folk name for a spring peeper frog on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts in the United States.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word leopard frog
Leopard frogs, which are also called meadow frogs and grass frogs, are a collection of so-called true frog within the genus Rana. Once abundant in North America and Canada, their population has declined in recent years because of pollution and deforestation. Leopard frogs are often used as environmental indicator species because of their heightened sensitivity to chemical pollutants found in the air and water.
Leopard frogs are recognized by their green or brown coloration with distinct light-edged dark spots across the back and white underside. They also have a characteristic line of raised glandular skin, called the dorsolateral ridge, extending from each eye to the groin.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word garbage pail kids
Garbage Pail Kids is a series of trading cards produced by the Topps Company, originally released in 1985 and designed to parody the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls created by Xavier Roberts, which were immensely popular at the time. Each sticker card featured a Garbage Pail Kid character, with some comical abnormality or suffering some terrible fate, and a humorous, word play-rich character name. Two (and occasionally three) versions of each card were produced, with variations featuring the same artwork but different character names. Fifteen regular series were released in the United States, with various sets released in other countries. Two large format card editions were also released, as well as a set of posters.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cabbage patch kid
Cabbage Patch Kids are a brand of doll created by Xavier Roberts in 1978. The Cabbage Patch Kids name was created by Atlanta designer, writer and licensing agent, Roger L. Schlaifer. His original idea was inspired by the old wives that babies were born under a cabbage leaf. The plastic version of the Robert' dolls became the toy phenomenon of the eighties — with people rioting in stores to purchase the hot, new dolls — and everything else branded Cabbage Patch Kids.
_Wikipedia
A Cabbage Patch Kid came with a birth certificate and a name and description of their personality but you could send in a corrected form and choose a name you preferred. There were dozens and dozens of variations in hair and eye color and gender and age and clothing style.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the list chillin-with-the-villains
I am late to the game but may I suggest Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word standardbred
Standardbreds are a breed of horse best known for their ability to race in harness at a trot or pace instead of under saddle at a gallop. Developed in North America, the breed is now recognized worldwide for its harness racing ability. They are solid, well-built horses with good dispositions that are also used under saddle for a variety of equestrian activities, particularly in the Midwest and eastern United States.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word harness racing
Harness racing is a form of horse-racing in which the horses race in a specified gait. They usually pull two-wheeled carts called sulkies.
Races can be conducted in two differing gaits; trotting and pacing. The difference is that a trotter moves its legs forward in diagnonal pairs, right front and left hind, then left front and right hind striking the ground simutaneously, whereas a pacer moves its legs laterally, right front and right hind together, then left front and left hind.
In continental Europe races are conducted exclusively between trotters, whereas in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States races are also held for pacers.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dust devil
A dust devil is a rotating updraft, ranging from small (half a meter wide and a few meters tall) to large (over 10 meters wide and over 1000 meters tall). Dust devils are usually harmless, but rare ones can grow in size to threaten both people and property. They are comparable to tornadoes in that both are an unusual weather phenomenon of swirling air vortices. Tornadoes form as an updraft attached to a wall cloud at the back of a thunderstorm. Dust devils form as an updraft under sunny conditions during clear to fair weather, rarely coming close to the intensity of a tornado.
In the southwestern United States, dust devils can be known as dancing devils. In Death Valley, California, they may be called a sand auger or dust whirl.
In Australia they are called willy-willies or whirly-whirlies, a word thought to come from Yindjibarndi or a neighbouring language.
Navajo refer to them as chiindii, a ghost or spirit of a Navajo. If a chiindii spins clockwise it is said to be a good spirit; if it spins counterclockwise it is said to be a bad spirit.
In Egypt, they are usually called "Fasset El 'Afreet" or the ghost's wind.
Among the Kikuyu of Kenya, it is known as "ngoma cia aka" meaning women's devil's/demon's.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fire whirl
A Fire whirl or swirl, sometimes called fire devils or fire tornadoes, can be seen during intense fires in combustible building structures or more commonly in forest or bush fires. A fire whirl is a vortex-shaped formation of burning gasses being released from the combustible material. The genesis of the vortex is probably similar to that of a dust devil. But, as distinct from the dust devil, it is improbable that the height reached by the fire gas vortex is greater than the visible height of the vortical flames because of turbulence in the surrounding gasses which inhibit creation of a stable boundary layer between the rotating/rising gasses relative to the surrounding gasses.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dr. scholl's
See Original Women's Wooden Exercise Sandal
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nerf ball
Parker Brothers originally developed NERF, beginning with a four-inch (102 mm) polyurethane foam ball. In 1969, a games inventor came to the company with a volleyball game that was safe for indoor play. After studying the game carefully, Parker Brothers decided to eliminate everything but the foam ball. In 1970, the NERF ball was introduced as the "world's first official indoor ball". Marketed that one can "Throw it indoors; you can't damage lamps or break windows. You can't hurt babies or old people." The ball filled a strong consumer need and by the year's end more than four million NERF balls had been sold. The four-inch (102 mm) ball was followed closely by a large version called "Super NERF Ball". Shortly after, in 1972, a basketball game called "NERFoop" and the NERF football joined the family. The football fast became the most popular NERF ball.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tract housing
I remember, as a young child, touring a model home that was a design that was to be a part of a tract housing development. It was so plain and impersonal. I hated it. I'm glad my parents decided against buying one. See Skipvia's Free Association List
Tract housing (also known as Cookie-Cutter Houses) is a style of housing development in which multiple identical, or nearly-identical, homes are built to create a community. Tract housing may encompass dozens of square miles of areas. Tract housing developments are typically found in American suburbs.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word concord grape
These are wonderful American grapes and they have an interesting history. They are the usual grapes used in the jelly for the traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and 'Concord' jelly is universally sold in U.S. supermarkets. 'Concord' grapes are used for grape juice, and their distinctive purple color has led to grape flavored soft drinks and candy being artificially colored purple.
Concord grapes are a cultivar derived from the grape species Vitis labrusca (a.k.a. fox grape) which are used both as table grapes, wine grapes and juice grapes.
The skin of a Concord grape is typically dark blue or purple, and often is covered with a lighter colored "bloom" which can be rubbed off. It is a slip-skin variety, meaning that the skin is easily separated from the fruit. Concord grapes have large seeds and are highly aromatic. They are often used to make grape jelly, grape juice, grape-flavored soft drinks, and candy. The grape is sometimes used to make wine, particularly kosher wine, though it is not generally favored for that purpose due to the strong "foxy" (sometimes described as candied-strawberry/musky) flavor. Traditionally, most commercially produced Concord wines have been finished sweet, but dry versions are possible if adequate fruit ripeness is achieved.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mirror ball
A mirror ball, disco ball, glitter ball, or ball mirror is a roughly spherical object that reflects light directed at it in many directions, producing a complex display. Its surface consists of hundreds or thousands of facets, nearly all of approximately the same shape and size, and each having a mirrored surface. Usually it is mounted well above the heads of the people present, suspended from a device that causes it to rotate steadily on a vertical axis, and illuminated by spotlights, so that stationary viewers experience beams of light flashing over them, and see myriad spots of light spinning around the walls of the room.
What are now called "disco balls" were first used in nightclubs in the 1920s.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gazing ball
A gazing ball, also known as a yard globe, lawn ball, garden ball, gazing globe, mirror ball, or chrome ball, is a mirrored sphere typically displayed atop a conical ceramic or wrought iron stand as a lawn ornament, and is often cited as a premier example of camp or kitsch. Its size ranges from 2 to 22 inches in diameter, with the most popular gazing ball being about 12 inches (33 cm). Gazing balls were traditionally glass but can now be stainless steel, ceramic, or stained glass.
Gazing balls originated in 13th century Venice workshops where they were hand-blown by skilled Italian craftsmen.
_Wikipedia
See witch ball
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word witch ball
A witch ball is a hollow sphere of plain or stained glass with glass filaments suspended in its interior that was hung in cottage windows in 18th century England to ward off evil spirits, witch's spells or ill fortune. Later, they were often posted on top of a vase or suspended by a cord (as from the mantelpiece or rafters) for a decorative effect. Witch balls appeared in America in the 19th century and are often found in gardens under the name "gazing ball". However, "gazing balls" contain no strands within their interior.
According to folk tales, witch balls would entice evil spirits with their bright colours; the strands inside the ball would then capture the spirit and prevent it from escaping.
Witch balls sometimes measure as large as 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter.
-Wikipedia
Witch Balls have made a comeback in the present time.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word steamer trunk
Steamer trunks which are sometimes referred to as Flat-Tops, first appeared in the late 1870s, although the greater bulk of them date from the 1880-1920 period. They are distinguished by either their flat or slightly-curved tops and were usually covered in canvas, leather or patterned paper.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word saratoga trunk
Saratoga trunks were the premium trunks of many makers (or the exclusive design of many premium trunk makers) and actually can encompass nearly every other style of trunk manufactured if loosely-defined, although generally they are limited to before the 1880s. The most readily-recognizable feature of Saratogas are their myriad (and generally very complex) compartments, trays, and heavy duty hardware.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jenny lind trunk
Jenny Lind Trunks have a distinctive hour glass or keyhole shape when viewed from the side. They were named after the Swedish singer of the same name (and figure) who toured America in the mid 19th Century along with PT Barnum. In fact, she was well-known to carry a trunk of this style with her while on the road, and they became quite popular even though they were only made for a relatively short period of time (1855-1865.)
_Wikipedia
See also Jenny Lind crib
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jenny lind crib
Jenny Lind was a Swedish-born opera singer. Her full name was Johanna Maria Lind, and she lived from 1820 to 1887. In 1850, Lind traveled to the United States as part of a concert tour promoted by none other than P.T. Barnum, of Barnum & Bailey's Circus fame. While in America, Lind became America's first big celebrity. P.T. Barnum, being a master of marketing, played upon her virtues, namely modesty and charity, to endear her to the public.
Supposedly, during her popular tour of the U.S., Lind slept in a bed with turned posts or spindles. So, cribs with turned posts became known as Jenny Lind cribs, and they are still known as such today. Jenny Lind cribs today tend to be simple designs with drop sides, and are sold by many different manufacturers. These cribs still feature the same turned, knobby legs and posts as they did when they were first named for The Swedish Nightingale.
_About.com
See also Jenny Lind trunk
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word steamer
A Steamer is a flavored milk beverage available in some coffeehouses and cafes in North America. A steamer consists of steamed milk and a shot of flavor syrup. The result is a hot, flavored non-coffee beverage.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word carbon dating
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1951
: the determination of the age of old material (as an archaeological or paleontological specimen) by means of the content of carbon
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word supervolcano
Supervolcano is the popular term for a large volcano that usually has a large caldera and can potentially produce devastation on an enormous, sometimes continental, scale. Such eruptions would be able to cause severe cooling of global temperatures for many years afterwards because of the huge volumes of sulfur and ash erupted. They are the most dangerous type of volcano. Examples include Yellowstone Caldera in Yellowstone National Park of western USA, Lake Taupo in New Zealand and Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. Supervolcanoes are hard to identify centuries later, given the enormous areas they cover.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pyroclastic flow
A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current) is a common and devastating result of some volcanic eruptions. The flows are fast-moving currents of hot gas, and rock (collectively known as tefra), which travel away from the volcano at speeds generally greater than 80 km/hr (50mph).1 The gas can reach temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 F). The flows normally hug the ground and travel downhill, or spread laterally under gravity. Their speed depends upon the density of the current, the volcanic output rate, and the gradient of the slope. The word pyroclast is derived from the Greek πυ�?ος, meaning fire, and κλαστός, meaning broken.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pannekuchen
There once was a chain of restaurants in Minnesota called The Pannekuchen Huis. They specialized in what they said were Dutch souffles. They were called pannekuchen. They were kind of like a Yorkshire pudding only sweet. They took up a whole dinner plate and they were very puffy and light. The girls would literally come running from the kitchen with the hot pannekuchen so that it would get to you before it began to deflate. They were served with wonderful sauteed fruits and syrups or with pecans. I actually have the recipe and they are astonishingly good.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kuchen
Kuchen, the German word for "cake," is used as the name for several different types of sweet desserts, pastries, and gateaux. The term itself may cover as many distinct desserts as its English counterpart "cake."
Kuchen desserts are presumably handed down from people of German heritage and as such are often popular in many areas of German settlement in the United States, particularly North Dakota, South Dakota, Indiana, and Minnesota. Kuchen was introduced into the Chilean cuisine when German immigrants settled southern Chile in the 1850s. Kuchens in Chile do always have fruits, such as apples, strawberries or murtas. Now kuchens are found in nearly every Chilean supermarket. In Brazil, it is called "cuca" and it is found in areas of German settlement, like Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kugel
Kugel (Yiddish: קוגל kugl or קוגעל, pronounced either koogel with the "oo" like the "oo" in "book or "look", or kigel, as was pronounced in Galicia, Central Europe) is any one of a wide variety of traditional baked Jewish side dishes or desserts. It is sometimes translated as "pudding" or "casserole".
Kugels may be sweet or savory. The most common types are made from egg noodles (called lochshen kugels) or potatoes and often contain eggs, but there are recipes in everyday use in modern Jewish kitchens for a great diversity of kugels made with different vegetables, fruit, batters, cheese, and other flavorings and toppings.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word blind mole rat
Blind mole rats are rodents in the family Spalacidae, but are unique enough to be given a separate subfamily, Spalacinae.
Blind mole rats are truly blind. Their very small eyes are completely covered by a layer of skin. Unlike many other fossorial rodents, Blind mole rats do not have enlarged front claws and do not appear to use their forearms as a primary digging tool. Digging is almost exclusively conducted using their powerful front teeth, which are separated from the rest of the mouth by a flap of skin. When a blind mole rat closes its mouth, its incisors are still on the outside.
_Wikipedia
They have a really interesting social network.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lactation consultant
A job that used to be done by the mother or grandmother of the new mother or if failing that, by one's own common sense and trial and error.
A lactation consultant is a healthcare provider recognized as an expert in the fields of human lactation and breastfeeding. The USLCA, United States Lactation Consultant Association, is the presiding organization in the United States of America and the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) is the professional association for certified laction consultants internationally. A Board Certified Lactation Consultant will have the initials IBCLC and/or RLC after her/his name, as a physician would have MD or DO, or a registered nurse would have RN. Lactation Consultants can be found in private practice, on staff in hospitals, and in the public health arena.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the user vanishedone
I loved those Cannon Fodder videos. You rock.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word whoopee cushion
A whoopee cushion, also known as a poo-poo cushion and Razzberry Cushion, is a practical joke device that produces a noise resembling a raspberry or human flatulence. It is made from two sheets of rubber that are glued together at the edges. There is a small opening with a flap at one end for air to enter and leave the cushion.
To use it, one must first inflate it with air and then place it on a chair. An unsuspecting victim sits on the whoopee cushion, forcing the air out of the opening, which causes the flap to vibrate and produce its distinctive sound.
The item was invented around 1950 by the Jem Rubber Co. of Toronto, Canada, by employees who were experimenting with scrap sheets of rubber. The owner of the company approached Samuel Adams, the inventor of numerous practical jokes and owner of S.S. Adams Co., with the newly invented item. Adams said that the item was "too vulgar" and would never sell. Fortunately for Jem Rubber, other companies were interested and the product quickly proved to be a success.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word peat moss
Another name for decayed, compacted Sphagnum moss, called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires.
Peat moss can be used as a soil additive which increases the soil's capacity to hold water. This is often necessary when dealing with very sandy soil, or plants that need an increased moisture content to flourish.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fritos
Fritos® is the name of a brand of corn chips made by Frito-Lay. Originally called Fritatas, Elmer Doolin was so taken with the bag of corn chips served with his lunch in San Antonio, Texas that he paid $100 for the recipe. In 1932, he started the Frito Corporation. Original Fritos ingredients are limited to whole corn, corn oil, and salt. Even today, Fritos (original and barbecue flavor) are a vegan snack.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word 4-f
Under the Selective Service System in the United States, a registrant not acceptable for military service is said to be classified 4-F. To be eligible for Class 4-F, a registrant must have been found not qualified for service in the Armed Forces by a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) under the established physical, mental, or moral standards.
Also 4-F'er - a man with this classification
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word selective service system
The Selective Service System is the means by which the United States administers military conscription. It entails registering all men between the ages of 18 and 25 with the system for the purpose of having information available about potential soldiers in the event of war.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (CO) is an individual following the religious, moral or ethical dictates of his or her conscience that are incompatible with being a combatant in military service, or being part of the armed forces as a combatant organization. In the first case, conscientious objectors may be willing to accept non-combatant roles during conscription or military service. In the second case, the objection is to any role within armed forces and results in complete rejection of conscription or military service and, in some countries, assignment to an alternative civilian service as a substitute for conscription or military service. Some conscientious objectors may consider themselves either pacifist or antimilitarist.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cannon fodder
Cannon fodder is an informal term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where soldiers are forced to deliberately fight against hopeless odds (with the foreknowledge that they will suffer extremely high casualties) in an effort to achieve a strategic goal. An example is the trench warfare in World War I. The term may also be used (somewhat pejoratively) to differentiate infantry from other forces (such as artillery, air force or the navy), who generally have a much higher survival rate.
The term derives from fodder - food for livestock - however in this case soldiers are the metaphorical food for cannons.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word little girl
What Mike Myers' character Dieter from Saturday Night Live says:
Dieter: Would you like to touch my monkey?
Guest: I would be honored to.
Dieter: Touch him! Love him! Liebe meine abschmenkee!
Guest shakes hands with Dieter's pet monkey
Dieter: Now I am as happy as a little girl.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word colcannon
Colcannon (Irish: cál ceannan - white head) is a food made from mashed potatoes, kale or cabbage, butter, salt, and pepper. It can contain other ingredients such as milk, cream, leeks, onions, chives, garlic, boiled ham or Irish bacon. At one time it was a cheap, year-round staple food.
An old Irish Halloween tradition was to serve colcannon with prizes of small coins concealed in it, as the English do with Christmas pudding. This is still done today and small amounts of money are placed in the potato.
_Wikipedia
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fingerling potato
There are many varieties of these small, finger-shaped potatoes, but they all tend to be low in starch, and great for roasting or making potato salads.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the list poetic-butterfly-names
We have a fritillary called the aphrodite fritillary. I love the sound of that. I think my favorite name is the pearl cresent. I love your list!
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the list poetic-butterfly-names
Have you heard of the Hackberry Emperor? It lives in my state of Wisconsin.
February 5, 2008
treeseed commented on the word grunion
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: probably from Spanish gruñón grunter
Date: 1917
: a silverside (Leuresthes tenuis) of the California coast notable for the regularity with which it comes inshore to spawn at nearly full moon
As a child growing up in California I remember the "grunion run" when crowds of people would assemble on the beach in the moonlight and scoop up dozens and dozens of the grunion fish as they came inshore to spawn. In those days I thought it was quite a fun and festive time but now it seems unfair and cruel.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word swedish fish
The nearest Trader Joe's to me is two hours away! Now that's suffering.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bossa nova
Bossa Nova is a style of Brazilian music popularized by Vinicius de Moraes, Antônio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto. Bossa Nova acquired a large following, initially by young musicians and college students. Although the Bossa Nova movement only lasted six years (1958-63), it contributed a number of songs to the standard jazz repertoire.
_Wikipedia
Excerpt from the lyrics to Blame It On the Bossa Nova by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil as performed by Eydie Gorme
Blame it on the bossa nova with its magic spell
Blame it on the bossa nova that he did so well
Oh, it all began with just one little dance
But then it ended up a big romance
Blame it on the bossa nova
The dance of love
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bubble and squeak
Bubble and squeak in my auntie's kitchen in south Wales...one of my fondest and tastiest memories.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word blotter
Sheets of paper which are soaked into an LSD solution, dried, and perforated into small squares of individual dosage units. The paper is then cut into small square pieces called "tabs" or "hits". The user can then absorb the LSD out of the paper using his/her tongue, or simply swallow it. Individual producers often print designs onto the paper serving to identify different makers, batches or strengths, and such "blotter art" often emphasizes psychedelic themes.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word microdot
small tablet, small pill, a dose of LSD
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word entheogen
An entheogen, in the strictest sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a religious or shamanic context. Entheogens generally come from plant sources which contain molecules closely related to endogenous neurochemicals. They occur in a wide variety of sacraments of various religious rites UDV/NAC and have been shown to directly provoke what users perceive as spiritual/mystical experiences.
The word entheogen is a neologism derived from the ancient Greek : ἔνθεος (entheos) and γενέσθαι (genesthe). Entheos literally means "god (theos) within", translates as "inspired" and is the root of the English word "enthusiasm". The Greeks used it as a term of praise for poets and other artistscitation needed. Genesthe means "to generate". So an entheogen is "that which generates God (or godly inspiration) within a person".
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tracers
A type of hallucination, after image-like trails of moving objects, also called simply "trails" or "acid trails"
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word set and setting
Set and setting describes the context for psychoactive and particularly psychedelic drug experiences: one's mindset and the setting in which the user has the experience. This is especially relevant for psychedelic or hallucinogenic experiences; the term was coined by Timothy Leary.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lysergic acid diethylamide
Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, LSD-25, or acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family. Probably the best known psychedelic, it has been used mainly as a recreational drug, an entheogen, and a tool to supplement various practices for transcendence, including in meditation, psychonautics, art projects, and illicit (though at one time legal) psychedelic psychotherapy, whether self-administered or not. It is synthesized from lysergic acid derived from ergot, a grain fungus that typically grows on rye and was first synthesized by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word laid
Something to get
Also a cool song by the band James
James is a rock band from Manchester, England, formed in 1981. After an uphill struggle throughout the 1980s, they went on to become a consistently successful act of the 1990s, scoring a string of hit singles during the decade including "Sit Down" and "Laid".
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word twizzlers
Twizzlers are a popular brand of licorice candy in the United States, although most of its flavors do not contain the licorice extract of traditional black licorice. They are the product of Y&S Candies, Inc., of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, now a subsidiary of The Hershey Company.
Y&S Candies was founded in 1845, then known as Young and Smylie; they established the Y&S trademark in 1870. In 1902, three small firms (S.V. & F.P. Schudder, H.W. Petherbridge, and Young & Smylie) merged to create the National Licorice Company. In 1968, the company dropped the "National Licorice Company" moniker in favor of the current name. In 1977, the company was acquired by Hershey Foods, which became The Hershey Company in 2005.
The company produces Twizzlers in cherry, strawberry, chocolate, watermelon, and licorice flavors, and a variety of shapes and sizes. In addition to their Twists, Bites, and Nibs of various sizes.
Limited edition cherry cola and "rainbow" (fruit variety consisting of strawberry, lemonade, orange, watermelon, blue raspberry and grape) flavors were sold in 2006 and 2007.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word swedish fish
Have you had chocolate flavored Twizzlers? Well, that's an odd little sideroom of heaven.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word derobe
So, Reesetee are you a scion of the peanut butter cup family?
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word civil liberties
Civil liberties is the name given to freedoms that protect the individual from government to a certain extent. Civil liberties set limits for government so that it cannot abuse its power and interfere with the lives of its citizens.
Common civil liberties include freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, and additionally, the right to due process, to fair trial, and to privacy.
The formal concept of civil liberties dates back to the Magna Carta of 1215 which in turn was based on pre-existing documents.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hair testing
Hair testing is a type of drug testing considered highly accurate and can go back normally 3 months (6 months or longer possible with specialist tests), showing any drugs of abuse used in the detection window. As hair grows out, any drugs used are encased in the hair shaft, so the longer the hair, the longer back in the individual's drug history the laboratory can detect. Accredited hair drug testing laboratories, however, only use hair within about 2.5–4 cm of the scalp, and discard the rest. With head hair each 0.5 inch (1.27 cm) corresponds to about 30 days. This limits the detection history to about 90 days, depending upon the rate at which the individual's hair grows. Some people attempt to circumvent this through shaving their heads. This does not usually work.In the absence of the required amount of hair on the scalp, body hair can be used as an acceptable substitute. If all hair is shaven, the follicles of the hair may be used in place of the hair. Removing the hair follicles is more painful.
Additionally, for pre-employment hair testing, the inability to obtain a sample may be grounds for not hiring the individual. There is a growing trend in major companies and law enforcement agencies to utilize hair analysis on account of its efficiency and reputation as the gold standard when considering test accuracy. This technology makes use of radioimmunoassay technology with subsequent confirmation by mass spectrometry.
In recent years, hair testing has been the subject of a number of law suits. Studies have shown that different ethnic groups have different hair structure, potentially leading to false-positive
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hair follicle
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1838
: the tubular epithelial sheath that surrounds the lower part of the hair shaft and encloses at the bottom a vascular papilla supplying the growing basal part of the hair with nourishment
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word drug test
A drug test is commonly a technical examination of urine, blood, sweat, hair follicles, or oral fluid samples to determine the presence or absence of specified drugs or their metabolized traces.
_Wikipedia
See also hair testing
In my opinion, drug testing has become a serious civil liberties violation as it is required more and more frequently by employers in the United States and with increasingly more invasive techniques for even low-level employment where the outcome of a drug test is largely irrelevant. They are used to marginalize certain elements of the population. Often "insurance regulations" are the justification.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pâte à choux
Chou(x) pastry, paste, or dough (French pâte à choux, German Brandteig) is a light pastry dough used to make profiteroles, croquembouches, eclairs, French crullers, beignets, and gougères. It contains only butter, water, flour, and eggs. Its raising agent is the high moisture content, which creates steam during cooking, puffing out the pastry.
Choux pastry is usually baked but for beignets it is fried. In Austrian cuisine it is also boiled to make Marillenknödel, a sweet apricot dumpling; in that case it does not puff, but remains relatively dense.
A chef by the name of Panterelli invented the dough in 1540, seven years after he left Florence, along with Catherine de' Medici and the entirety of her court. He used the dough to make a gâteau and named it Pâte à Panterelli. As time passed, the recipe of the dough evolved, and the name changed to Pâte à Popelin, which was used to make Popelins, small cakes made in the shape of a woman's breasts. Then, Avice, a pâtissier in the eighteenth century, created what was then called Choux Buns. The name of the dough changed to Pâte à Choux, as Avice's buns looked similar in appearance to choux, which is French for cabbages. From there, Antoine Carême made modifications to the recipe, resulting in the recipe most commonly used now for profiteroles.
_Wikipedia
See also chou
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word simple syrup
Simple syrup is an essential ingredient in numerous cocktails. Simply put, it is sugar and water. The sugar is super-saturated by heating the water.
Simple syrup is often used to offset the tart taste of many drinks to make a more balanced mixture. For example, in a Whiskey Sour, simple syrup is added to lemon juice to make flavorful mix.
The ratio of sugar to water can be left to personal preference, traditionally it is one part water to two parts sugar.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word royal icing
Royal icing is a hard white icing, made from softly beaten egg whites, icing sugar (powdered sugar), and sometimes lemon juice. It is used on Christmas cake, wedding cakes, gingerbread houses and many other cakes and biscuits, either as a smooth covering like marzipan, or in sharp peaks. Glycerine is occasionally added to prevent the icing from setting too hard.
As well as coating cakes and biscuits, royal icing is usually considered a decorative icing since it can be used to create many decorative effects, such as flowers and figures. Royal icing is often piped into shapes which are allowed to harden on a non-stick surface. These can then be arranged to create edible decorative effects on a variety of sweet foods.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sugar
Especially amoung black people in the southern United States, sugar means affection, as in "Give me some sugar." By extension it can mean give me some sex.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word boll weevil
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1895
: a usually grayish or brown weevil (Anthonomus grandis grandis) that feeds on the squares and bolls of the cotton plant
The Boll Weevil Song lyrics as sung by Eddie Cochran
wah-hoo)
well the boll weevil is a little black bug
come from a-mexico they say
came all the way to texas
just a-lookin' for a place to stay
just a-lookin' for a home, just a-lookin' for a home
(doo-doo-wop-wop)
well the first time that i seen the boll weevil
he was a-sittin' on the square
well the next time that i seen him
he had his a-family there
just a-lookin' for a home, just a-lookin' for a home
(doo-doo-wop-wop)
well the farmer took the boll weevil
and he put him on the red hot sand
well the weevil said this is a-mighty hot
but i take it like a man
this will be my home, this will be my home
well the f armer took the boll weevil
and he put him on a keg of ice
well the weevil said to the farmer
this is mighty cool and nice
this will be my home, this will be my home
(doo-doo-wop-wop)
well if anybody should ask you
who it was who sang this song
say a guitar picker from a-oklahoma city
with a pair of blue jeans on
just a-lookin' for a home, just a-lookin' for a home
(doo-doo-wop-wop)
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word exorcise
The free association is obvious here...I wish my mind would have been a little more creative...but there you have it. See Skipvia's Free Association List
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word golden oldie
A song that was once popular
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word top banana
yourdictionary.com:
noun
a top performer in show business; specif., the star comedian in a burlesque show
the most important person in any group
Etymology: prob. so named from the banana-shaped soft club carried by burlesque comedians
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word song and dance
thefreedictionary.com:
n. pl. song and dances or songs and dances
1. A theatrical performance that combines singing and dancing.
2. Slang
a. An excessively elaborate effort to explain or justify.
b. An elaborate story or explanation intended to deceive or mislead.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dixieland
Dixieland music is a style of jazz which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s. Dixieland jazz combined brass band marches, French quadrilles, ragtime and blues with collective, polyphonic extemporization by trumpet (or cornet), trombone, and clarinet over a "rhythm section" of piano, guitar, banjo, drums, and a double bass or tuba.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bojangles
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949) was a pioneer and pre-eminent African-American tap dance performer.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word soft-shoe
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
adjective
Date: 1920
: of or relating to tap dancing done in soft-soled shoes without metal taps
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tap dance
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1928
a step dance tapped out audibly by means of shoes with hard soles or soles and heels to which taps have been added
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word black light
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1927
invisible ultraviolet light
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word matinee
In modern movie theaters, the showings of a film that occur before 5:00 pm and which usually cost less to see, sometimes half of the regular price.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word method acting
Also called The Method
Acting approach, based on Stanislavsky's teachings. As explained in the book "An Actor Prepares", it involves internal rather than external preparation. It was taught by Lee Strasberg and his Actor's Studio, graduates of which included Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Montgomery Clift, Julie Harris and others.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word revue
A famous example of a revue is the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway in the 1920s
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word passion play
Religious drama depicting Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.Passion plays originated in the Middle Ages, when they were performed as part of the celebration of Good Friday.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cabaret
Excerpt from the lyrics to the song "Cabaret" by Fred Ebb from the Musical of the same name.
No use permitting
some prophet of doom
To wipe every smile away.
Come hear the music play.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret!
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word theater of the absurd
Movement in the 1940s-1960s that expressed existentialist philosophy through theatrical style. Absurdist plays are filled with non-sensical dialogue and plot, which convey the inability of people to communicate with each other and the irrationality of existence. Principal figures in absurdist theatre were Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco and Jean Genet.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dénouement
In literature, a dénouement (pronounced /deɪnu�?ˈmɑ̃/) consists of a series of events that follow a dramatic or narrative's climax, thus serving as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader. Etymologically, the French word dénouement is derived from the Old French word denoer, "to untie", from nodus, Latin for "knot." Simply put, a dénouement is the unraveling or untying of the complexities of a plot.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word smudge pot
A smudge pot (also known as a choofa or orchard heater) is an oil-burning device used to prevent frost on fruit trees. Usually a smudge pot has a large round base with a chimney coming out of the middle of the base. The smudge pot is placed between trees in an orchard, allowing the heat and smoke from the burning oil to prevent the accumulation of frost on the fruit of the grove. Smudge pots were developed after a disastrous freeze in Southern California in 1913 wiped out a whole crop.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word break a leg
"Break a leg" is a well-known saying in theatre which means "good luck". It is typically said to actors before they go out onto stage to perform.
The expression is a theatrical superstition that replaces the phrase "good luck," which is considered bad luck. The expression is sometimes used outside the theatre as superstitions and customs travel through other professions and then into common use.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the user sionnach
Thank you, sionnach. I am having fun. I like to see how other people connect with words, too. This is such an interesting site. I have enjoyed your humor from day one.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word balling the jack
Balling the jack is best known as the name of a dance from the Dixieland heyday around 1913.
"First you put your two knees close up tight
Then you sway them to the left, then you sway them to the right
Step around the floor kind of nice and light
Then you twist around and twist around with all your might,
Stretch your loving arms straight out into space,
Then you do the Eagle Rock with style and grace.
Swing your foot way 'round then bring it back.
Now that's what I call Ballin' the Jack."
Later it was expanded to mean just dancing in general or just having a good time.
It also means risking everything on one attempt. At slangcity.com a reader had this to say about the "risk" meaning:
"To "ball" a "jack" refers possibly to the action of risking a shot in "Boules", or Bocce or its sister game Petanque. The jack in either case is the smaller ball for which the goal of the game is to either throw your team's ball closest to it, or to knock away your opponent's ball. To hit the target ball to another location, or to "ball the jack", is to alter the focus of the gameplay. To do so requires great accuracy, and assuming the game is scored for money instead of points (it is a drinking game, and takes skill and a bit of luck as well), takes risk as well, for in double or triple team play, you only get one shot (one ball per player). So to "ball the jack" is to risk a miss, and a wasted shot, at something that is really important to you."
It is also a term used by railroad men. Hobart Smith does a song with the lines "Balling the jack, lining track / You can't shovel no more" and the liner notes say it comes from railroad section gangs in the early 1870's. To fix a crooked rail you had one person sit on the track and site along it to see where it needed to be straightened (lining the track), then two men would put jacks at an angle against the inside ball of the rail and lever it until it was straight. Then you had to shovel ballast back in under the ties and tamp it down. The ball of the rail is the curved part going up to the flattened surface on top of the rail. The jack had a groove across the top that fit against the ball so it wouldn't slip off.
It has also been used as a euphemism for sexual intercourse in some jazz and blues lyrics.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word skip out
In Wisconsin when we wanted to play hooky from school we used to say, "Let's skip out today."
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word linea nigra
Linea nigra (Latin for "black line") or línea negra (altered by influence of Spanish negra) refers to the dark vertical line that appears on the abdomen during pregnancy. The brownish streak is usually about a centimeter in width. The line runs vertically along the midline of the abdomen from the pubis to the xiphoid process - the bottom-most part of the rib cage in the center or tip of the sternum.
It is caused by pregnancy hormones that increase production of the pigment melanin, also known as hyperpigmentation. Why this process of hyperpigmentation occurs in a straight vertical line is uncertain.
There is an old wives' tale associated with línea negra: if the línea negra runs to the navel, it's a girl, and if it goes all the way up to the xiphoid, it's a boy.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word spring fever pitch
Standing on the mound, ankle deep in melting snow, he winds up and lays one squarely across the plate.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fever pitch
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1846
: a state of intense excitement and agitation
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cooler
An insulated box usually with a handle or handles that holds ice and beer. Used to keep the beer refrigerated and close at hand at the same time. I'm watching the Super Bowl so that's the only relevant meaning at the moment.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chinoiserie
Just a little trick of the ear and the mind free associates with chained, even though the "shee" of chinoiserie sounds nothing like the "chay" of chained. See Free Association
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word deb
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1920
: debutante
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word uhhh!
Uttered with a breathy staccato sigh
A peevish expression of unwillingness, often accompanied by slumping the shoulders in dejection.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word toning
Toning is the elongation of a note or tone using breath and voice.
It is used in preparing for meditation and in ritual. It is an aid in relaxation and in the raising of energy. Group toning is quite beautiful and powerful.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jodhpurs
I have been pronouncing this word wrong for at least 50 years. Thank goodness for Wordie
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word shortstop
My first baseball card of note was from a Topps pack in 1959 and it was of a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates named Dick Groat. See Free Associate
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dogfish
Bowfins are an order (Amiiformes) of primitive ray-finned fish. Only one species, the bowfin Amia calva, family Amiidae, exists today, although additional species in six families are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils. These included the huge Leedsichthys, the biggest fish that ever existed. The bowfin and the gar are two of the freshwater fishes still extant that existed, almost unchanged from their current form, while the great dinosaurs roamed the earth.
_Wikipedia
I used to catch a bowfin that locals called a dogfish when I lived in Minnesota.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coelacanth
I used to catch a kind of bowfin that was called a dogfish when I lived in Minnesota. They always reminded me of coelacanths. Bowfins are an order (Amiiformes) of primitive ray-finned fish. Only one species, the bowfin Amia calva, family Amiidae, exists today, although additional species in six families are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word euglena
My 10th grade Biology teacher, Mr. Miranda, loved euglenas...and so I've remembered them after all these years...now that's a good teacher.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word profiterole
YUM!
A profiterole or cream puff (U.S.) is a food made from a small, round baked choux pastry filled with a sweet filling. The most common form nowadays is a dessert filled with whipped cream or pastry cream, and often served with chocolate sauce or a caramel glaze.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bubblegum
Have you ever had a bubblegum cigar? My favorite were the yellow banana flavored ones that sold for 5 cents when I was a kid. See Free Associate
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cigar
Have you ever had a bubblegum cigar? My favorite are the yellow banana flavored ones that sold for 5 cents when I was a kid.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word holy card sharp
What Robin says when he and Batman happen upon a group of gamblers at a high stakes poker game.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word diving bell hop
a hospitality worker in competition with others of his craft, attempting to reach the door of an incoming taxi cab
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ululation
In Arab countries ululation is commonly used by women to express celebration or grief, especially at weddings and funerals.
It was used by Native American women of the Great Plains in much the same way.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word diving bell
A diving bell, also known as a wet bell, is a cable-suspended airtight chamber, open at the bottom, that is lowered underwater to operate as a base or a means of transport for a small number of divers. The pressure of the water keeps the air trapped inside the bell. They were the first type of diving chamber. Unlike a submarine the diving bell is not designed to move under the control of its occupants, nor to operate independently of its tether.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lodgepole pine
Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tipi
A tipi (also teepee, tepee) is a conical tent originally made of animal skins or birch bark and popularized by the Native Americans of the Great Plains. Tipis are stereotypically associated with Native Americans in general, but Native Americans from places other than the Great Plains used different types of dwellings. The term wigwam is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a dwelling of this type.
The tipi was durable, provided warmth and comfort in winter, was dry during heavy rains, and was cool in the heat of summer. Tipis could be disassembled and packed away quickly when a tribe decided to move, and could be reconstructed quickly when the tribe settled in a new area. This portability was important to those Plains Indians who had a nomadic lifestyle.
The word "tipi" comes into English from the Lakota language; the word thípi consists of two elements: the verb thí, meaning "to dwell," and a pluralizing enclitic (a suffix-like ending that marks the subject of the verb as plural), pi, and means "they dwell." In Lakota, formal verbs can be used as nouns, and this is the case with thípi, which in practice just means "house."
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word wigwam
A wigwam or wickiup is a domed single-room dwelling used by certain Native American tribes. The term wickiup is generally used to label these kinds of dwellings in American Southwest and West. Wigwam is usually applied to these structures in the American Northeast. The use of these terms by non-Native Americans is somewhat arbitrary and can refer to many distinct types of Native American structures regardless of location or cultural group including the tipi.
_Wikipedia
I know some Native Americans who scoff at the generic use of this word.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word longhouse
In North America two groups of longhouses emerged. The Native American long house of the tribes usually connected with the Iroquois in the northeast and an unrelated type used by many tribes long the west and northwest Pacific coast of North America.
_Wikipedia
The Oneida Indians who are part of the Iroquois have their Wisconsin reservation near my home and they have a longhouse on display at their museum.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word boomerang
S of G,
I wish we had The Magic Boomerang here in the U.S. back when I was growing up.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bowling
In the U.S. a term meant to refer to ten-pin bowling.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beer frame
A frame, one of ten "innings" in a bowling game; originally it referred to the box on the scoresheet where the score for a single frame is recorded, after which one bowler has to buy beer for all the others. This is often a pre-determined frame, with the low scorer in that frame getting stuck with the tab. Sometimes, if all bowlers but one roll strikes in a frame, that becomes the beer frame and the bowler who didn't strike has to buy.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bowling alley
In the U.S., an establishment where individuals and teams go to play the sport of ten-pin bowling. Usually has a bar and snack-bar as well as pool tables and pin ball machines.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word squat thrust
This term sounds vulgar to me.
A squat thrust is a calisthenic exercise. It typically is performed as follows:
From a standing "parade rest" position, drop to a squat position with your hands on the ground near your feet.
Throw the feet back, putting yourself into a push up position.
Again pull the feet forward to a squat position with hands on the floor.
Stand again in a parade rest position.
Repeat many times.
Performing the exercise at a fast speed maximizes its effectiveness.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jumping jack
A Jumping Jack, or side straddle hop as it is called in the United States military, is a physical exercise performed by jumping to a position with the legs spread wide and the hands touching overhead and then returning to a position with the feet together and the arms at the sides.
More intensive versions include bending down and touching the floor in between each jump.
It is also commonly known as a star jump, especially to children of Commonwealth nations. In Canada, the term is stride jump, and the hands are not expected to touch above the head.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word boogie woogie
See honky tonk
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word honky tonk
The first genre of music to be commonly known as honky tonk music was a style of piano playing related to ragtime, but emphasizing rhythm more than melody or harmony, since the style evolved in response to an environment where the pianos were often poorly cared for, tending to be out of tune and having some nonfunctioning keys. Hence an out-of-tune upright piano is sometimes called a honky-tonk piano.
Such honky tonk music was an important influence on the formation of the boogie woogie piano style.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word guerrilla
See swamp fox
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word guerrilla theater
Guerrilla theater also called street theater is one form of guerrilla communication/communication guerrilla. Guerrilla communication refers to unconventional forms of communication and/or intervention in public events or discourse, for reasons ranging from political activism to marketing.
This form of guerrilla communication is the creation of ritual via participative public spectacle to disrupt or protest a public event or to shift the perspectives of passers-by. Another way to create such spectacle is via tactical frivolity.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word swamp fox
Francis Marion (February 26, 1732–February 27, 1795) was a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army and later brigadier general in the South Carolina Militia during the American Revolutionary War. He became known as the "Swamp Fox" for his ability to use decoys and ambushes to disrupt enemy communications, capture supplies, and free prisoners. His use of guerrilla tactics helped set in motion the decline of open battles in the conflict. Early records indicate that he was a sailor before the Revolutionary War.
Marion is considered one of the fathers of modern guerrilla warfare, and is credited in the lineage of the United States Army Rangers.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scaredy cat
(also known as fraidy cat), from scared + cat, is a slang term for a person who is very skittish or fearful.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fraidy cat
Fraidy cat, from afraid + cat, (also known as scaredy cat) is a slang term for a person who is very skittish or fearful.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cap gun
A cap gun or cap pistol is a toy gun that creates a loud sound akin to a gunshot and a puff of smoke when the trigger is pulled. Cap guns were originally made of cast iron, but after World War II were made of zinc alloy, and most newer models are made of plastic.
Cap guns get their name from the small discs of explosive compounds (roughly 1.4 to 1.6 mm in diameter) that provide the noise and smoke, effectively the same as the separate percussion cap used to replace the flintlock in real firearms, although invariably smaller and made from cheap plastic or paper rather than soft metal. Some were typically arranged in plastic rings of six, seven, or eight. There were also single caps, roll caps (of 50 to 500), and disk caps, all of which were actually extremely small versions of percussion fireworks.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word shrovetide
Lovely etymology for carnival. Thank you, gangerh.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word white rabbits
This is lovely and I now have a new OCD symptom.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word harmony
I can't see the word war without yearning for harmony among people and peace for our planet. See Free Association
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the user skipvia
Skipvia, I love your new list of free associations. I hope lots of people play.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mensch
In Yiddish (from which the word has migrated into American English, although the use is still rare), mensch roughly means "a good person." A "mensch" is a particularly good person, like "a stand-up guy," a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague.
_Wikipedia
I free associate this word with Skipvia's word mounch because it sounds similar to me.
Go to Public List: Free Association and join in the fun of free associating with Skipvia.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dunk tank
A dunk tank, also known as a dunking booth or dunking machine, is an attraction mainly used in funfairs, fundraisers, and personal parties. Basically, a dunk tank consists of a large tank of water, over which a seat is suspended. By striking a target, the seat will tip or fall into the tank of water, thus "dunking" whoever is sitting on the seat.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word banana split
A banana split is an ice cream-based dessert. In its classic form it is served in a long dish called a "boat". A banana is cut in two lengthwise (hence the split) and laid in the dish. Variations abound, but the classic banana split is made with scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream served in a row between the split banana. Pineapple topping is spooned over the vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup over the chocolate, and strawberry topping over the strawberry. It is garnished with crushed nuts, whipped cream and maraschino cherries.
David Evans Strickler, a 23-year-old apprentice pharmacist at Tassel Pharmacy in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, who enjoyed inventing sundaes at the store's soda fountain, invented the banana-based triple ice cream sundae in 1904. The sundae originally cost 10 cents, twice the price of other sundaes, and caught on with students of nearby Saint Vincent College.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word relay race
During a relay race, members of a team take turns swimming or running (usually with a baton) parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. In the Olympic games, there are many types of relay races that are part of track and field.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fruit loop
Slang term for a crazy, whacky, goofy individual
Fruit Loops is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by Kelloggs and sold in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, Germany and Latin America as well as South Africa. The cereal pieces come in a variety of bright colors and a blend of artificial fruit flavors. Kellogg's introduced Froot Loops in 1963.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word baton twirling
Baton twirling is a competitive sport involving the manipulation of a balanced metal rod with the hands and body to a co-ordinated routine, similar to rhythmic gymnastics. A baton routine may run solo or as a team in practiced sets.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word baton twirler
People who twirl batons
See Majorette
Also seen as simply "twirler"
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word shin splints
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun plural but singular or plural in construction
Date: circa 1930
: injury to and inflammation of the tibial and toe extensor muscles or their fasciae caused by repeated minimal traumas (as by running)
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word wax lips
Wax lips are the common name of a candy product made of colored and flavored wax, molded to resemble a pair of over-sized red lips. The lips have a bite plate in the back; when the plate is held between the teeth, the wax lips cover the wearer's own lips, to comic effect. Invented by the American Candy Company in the early 20th century, they became a popular novelty in the United States for many decades, especially during the Halloween season. Their popularity among children can be attributed mainly to the comedy of wearing the lips; although they were intended to be used as a sort of chewing gum after the novelty of the gag wore off, the lips were often simply discarded rather than eaten.
_Wikipedia
There were also several similar molds used to make wax teeth, wax moustaches, wax finger nails, etc.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word snickerdoodle
A snickerdoodle is a soft sugar cookie rolled in cinnamon sugar. It has a characteristically crackly surface, and can be crisp or soft, depending on preference. In modern recipes, the leavening agent is usually baking powder which, in baking, is most commonly used in cakes but not often in cookies. They traditionally contain cream of tartar. They're yummy. Google up a recipe and make some.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bobby sock
A bobby sock is a type of sock that was especially fashionable in the 1940s and 1950s. They are characteristically ankle-length and frilly, and worn by girls often as part of a school uniform. They were popular to wear with saddle shoes, loafers or Oxfords.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sock hop
Sock Hop is a term coined in the 1950s in the United States, following the growth in popularity of rock and roll, to refer to informal sponsored dances at American high schools, typically held on the grounds of the high school itself in the gymnasium or cafeteria. Music was often recorded, sometimes live.
Initially the term referred to the practice of removing one's shoes in order to dance in stocking feet, typically to spare the floor from the scuff marks of dress shoes.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word freemartin
Female born twin to a bull calf (about 9 out of 10 of these will not conceive). A sterile heifer born twin with a bull.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word springing
Springing: (Adj.)A term commonly associated with female cattle showing signs of advanced pregnancy, meaning they are close to giving birth. See heifer
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word heifer
a springing heifer or a springer is a young cow about to deliver her first calf
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word milk house
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1583
: a building for the cooling, handling, or bottling of milk
Our milk house was made of cinder blocks and fieldstones and was whitewashed inside and out and had a concrete floor. It contained a double sink and a large stainless steel bulk tank to hold the milk that was piped in from the electric milking machines in the milking parlor in the barn. The milk was unpasteurized and was taken away to the dairy by a service using large tank trucks called milk trucks. We sold individual glass bottles of the milk to our friends and neighbors for 25 cents a gallon as late as 1969.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word paranoid
Paranoid personality disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that denotes a personality disorder with paranoid features. It is characterized by an exaggeration of the cognitive modules for sensitivity to rejection, resentfulness, distrust, as well as the inclination to distort experienced events. Neutral and friendly actions of others are often misinterpreted as being hostile or contemptuous.
People with this disorder tend to have excessive trust in their own knowledge and abilities and usually avoid close relationships with others. They search for hidden meanings in everything and read hostile intentions into the actions of others. They are quick to “challenge the loyalties of friends and loved ones and often appear cold and distant to others�?. They usually shift blame to others and tend to carry long grudges.
Based on little or no evidence, they suspect that others are out to harm them and usually find hostile or malicious motives behind other people's actions.
_Wikipedia
Marrying a man like this can lead to divorce.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word snow globe
A snow globe is a transparent sphere usually made of glass enclosing a miniaturized scene of some sort, often together with a model of a landscape. The sphere also encloses the water in the globe; the water serves as the medium through which the "snow" falls. To activate the snow, the globe is physically shaken to churn up the white particles. The globe is then placed back in its position and the flakes fall down slowly through the water. Today's snow globes sometimes have a built-in music box in the base.
Precisely when the first snow globe, also called a waterglobe or snowdome, was made remains unclear, but they appear to date from France during the early 1800s.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pool noodle
A pool noodle (also known as a water log) or as simply a noodle is a cylindrical piece of polyethylene foam. Pool noodles may used by people of all ages while swimming. They are useful when learning to swim, for floating, for rescue reaching, and in various forms of water play.
_Wikipedia
They come in various thicknesses and colors and are extremely buoyant.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pilot
The actual name of the device known as a cowcatcher.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cowcatcher
In railroading, the pilot is the device mounted at the front of a locomotive to deflect obstacles from the track that might otherwise derail the train. Archaically this was called a cowcatcher, and this is still the common layman's usage, but this term is deprecated and has not been used by railroad workers for more than a century.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word baler
A baler is a piece of farm machinery that is used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay or straw) into bales and bind the bales with twine. There are several different types of balers that are commonly used. Balers are also used in the material recycling facilities, primarily for baling plastic, paper or cardboard for transport to a recycling facility.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hay loft
Another word for hay mow
The upper story of a barn where loose or baled hay or straw is stored
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hay mow
Another word for hay loft
The upper story of a barn where loose or baled hay or straw is stored
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chert
"Climb a long tall hick'ry
Bend it over, "skinnin' cats."
Playin' baseball with chert rocks
Usin' sawmill slabs for bats"
_excerpt of lyrics from Mountain Music by Randy Owen of the band Alabama
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bunsen burner
A Bunsen burner is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lithotripsy
Lithotripsy is a surgical procedure that attempts to break up a kidney stone or a stone in the gallbladder with minimal collateral damage by using an externally applied, focused, high-intensity acoustic pulse.
The scientific name of this procedure is Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL).
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kidney stone
Kidney stones, also called renal calculi, are solid concretions (crystal aggregations) of dissolved minerals in urine; calculi typically form inside the kidneys or bladder. The terms nephrolithiasis and urolithiasis refer to the presence of calculi in the kidneys and urinary tract, respectively.
_Wikipedia
Passing a kidney stone is incredibly painful.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ju ju heart
a small red heart-shaped cherry flavored jelly candy available year round but commonly sold around Valentines Day.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sweethearts
Sweethearts are small heart-shaped candies sold around Valentine's Day. Each heart is printed with a message such as "Be Mine", "Kiss Me", "Call Me", and "Miss You". Sweethearts are made by the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO.
The package from NECCO calls them "Sweethearts", which is the other common way of referring to them, but below that it says "tiny conversation hearts" as well as "#1 valentine candy." A similar type of candy is sold in the UK under the name Love Hearts.
_Wikipedia
See also conversation heart
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word conversation heart
Another name for an individual Sweethearts candy
Sweethearts are small heart-shaped candies sold around Valentine's Day. Each heart is printed with a message such as "Be Mine", "Kiss Me", "Call Me", and "Miss You". Sweethearts are made by the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO.
The package from NECCO calls them "Sweethearts", which is the other common way of referring to them, but below that it says "tiny conversation hearts" as well as "#1 valentine candy." A similar type of candy is sold in the UK under the name Love Hearts.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word eggcorn
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: Middle English nekename additional name, alteration (resulting from misdivision of an ekename) of ekename, from eke eke, also + name name
Date: 15th century
1 : a usually descriptive name given instead of or in addition to the one belonging to a person, place, or thing
2 : a familiar form of a proper name (as of a person or a city)
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word praying mantis
The insect order Mantodea or mantises consists of approximatively 2,300 species worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats.
The term "mantises" (or the more colloquial "praying mantises") should be used when referring to the entire order. Often mistakenly spelled preying mantis (an eggcorn, since they are notoriously predatory), they are in fact named for the typical "prayer-like" stance. The word mantis derives from the Greek word mantis for prophet or fortune teller. In Europe, the name "praying mantis" refers to only a single species, Mantis religiosa.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word woolly bear
During late Summer and early Fall we often see Woolly Bear caterpillars crossing the road...not sure why they do this.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word woolly bear
The true woolly bear, sometimes called woolly worm, is the caterpillar stage of the Isabella tiger moth, Pyrrharctia isabella.
This moth is found throughout the United States and in parts of Canada and Mexico.
_milkweedcafe.com
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word water birth
Water birth is a method of giving birth, which involves immersion in warm water. Proponents believe this method to be safe and provides many benefits for both mother and infant, including pain relief and a less traumatic birth experience for the baby.
In the late 1960s, French obstetrician Frederick Leboyer (see Leboyer Method)developed the practice of immersing newly-born infants in warm water to help ease the transition from the womb to the outside world, and to mitigate the effects of any possible birth trauma.
Another French obstetrician, Michel Odent, took Leboyer's work further, using the warm-water birth pool for pain relief for the mother, and as a way to normalize the birth process. When some women refused to get out of the water to finish giving birth, Odent started researching the possible benefits for the baby of being born under water, as well as the potential problems in such births. By the late 1990s, thousands of women had given birth at Odent's birthing center at Pithiviers, and the notion of water birth had spread to many other Western countries.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word leboyer method
A precursor to modern water birth, a gentle method of child birth
Frederick Leboyer (born 1918) is a French obstetrician, best known for his 1975 book, Birth Without Violence, which popularized gentle birthing techniques, in particular, the practice of immersing newly-born infants in a small tub of warm water — known as a "Leboyer bath" — to help ease the transition from the womb to the outside world. He graduated from the University of Paris School of Medicine.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lamaze
The Lamaze Technique is a prepared childbirth technique developed in the 1940s by French obstetrician Dr. Fernand Lamaze as an alternative to the use of medical intervention during labor. Dr. Lamaze was influenced by Soviet childbirth practices, which involved breathing and relaxation techniques under the supervision of a "monitrice" or midwife. The Lamaze method gained popularity in the United States after Marjorie Karmel wrote about her experiences in her 1959 book 'Thank You, Dr. Lamaze'.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word doula
See also monitrice
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word monitrice
See also doula, midwife
term commonly associated with Lamaze Technique Childbirth
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scapular
In various Christian traditions the term scapular is also applied to a small devotional artifact worn by male and female non-monastics in the belief that this will be of spiritual benefit to them. The Roman Catholic Church considers it a sacramental. It consists of two small squares of cloth, wood or laminated paper, bearing religious images or text, which are joined by two bands of cloth. The wearer places one square on the chest, rests the bands one on each shoulder and lets the second square drop down the back.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flying squirrel
The flying squirrels, scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini, are a tribe of squirrel (family Sciuridae). There are 43 species in this tribe. The 2 species of the genus Glaucomys (Glaucomys sabrinus and Glaucomys volans) are native to North America, and the Siberian flying squirrel is native to parts of northern Europe (Pteromys volans).
The term "flying" is somewhat misleading, since flying squirrels are actually gliders incapable of true flight. Steering is accomplished by adjusting tautness of the patagium, largely controlled by a small cartilaginous wrist bone. The tail acts as a stabilizer in flight, much like the tail of a kite, and as an adjunct airfoil when "braking" prior to landing on a tree trunk.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word holy card
Holy cards are small, mass-produced, devotional pictures made for the use of the Catholic faithful. They typically depict a religious scene or a saint on a small image that is about the size of a playing card or collectible card. The reverse typically contains a prayer, some of which promise an indulgence for its recitation. The circulation of these cards is an important part of the visual folk culture of Catholics.
_Wikipedia
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hoecake
My Granny makes the best cracklin' ho cake �?� It tastes so good I can't wait to dip my plate �?� She's cookin' ham hocks in some white-acre peas �?� She's cookin' turnip greens and macaroni and cheese �?� Get on out my way I got to ease up to that pot �?� I like my cornbread while it's still piping hot �?� I love this food Lord I can't get enough
_Excerpt of lyrics from Ho Cakes, lyrics by JJ Grey of Mofro
Special flat, round cast iron griddles called hoe cake griddles are available commercially. Google up Paula Deen's awesome recipe.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hammer, anvil and stirrup
Nicknames for the three bones of the middle ear, based on their shapes
The middle ear, an air-filled cavity behind the ear drum (tympanic membrane), includes the three ear bones or ossicles: the malleus (or hammer), incus (or anvil), and stapes (or stirrup).
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word give-a-show projector
This large plastic toy projector from Kenner was basically just a torch/flashlight and a lens. By sliding strips of slides through the projector you could project a 4 sq. feet image on to a screen or wall and "give-a-show".
Its plastic casing changed shape and colour over the years, but it always contained a bright projector light bulb and a slot that allowed the user to feed a strip of film through the light it emitted to create projected images. To put on a show, the Projector user dimmed the lights and aimed their Give-A-Show Projector at the blank wall of their choice. They then fed a projection strip containing six slides through the side of the Give-A-Show Projector. The end result was a series of four-foot images that told a story to the viewers through words and pictures.
_Nostalgia central.com
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word filmstrip
Filmstrips were a common form of instructional multimedia used by instructors in both primary school and secondary (K-12). They were popular because they were simultaneously an easy-to-use and inexpensive way for an instructor to enhance and invigorate their curriculum by offering students and opportunity to learn by watching and listening in addition to reading.
The filmstrip itself was a spool - a strip - of 35 mm positive film with usually 30-50 images arranged sequentially would have a duration of between 10-20 min. The instructor would turn on a film projector that would show the first frame of the filmstrip. The instructor would, then, turn on a 33 RPM record or cassette tape, containing the audio material for the filmstrip (including narration). At the appropriate point a tone would sound, signalling the instructor to advance to the next frame.
_Wikipedia
VCRs made filmstrips, for the most part, obsolete.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fuzzy dice
Fuzzy dice, known in the British Isles as furry dice or fluffy dice, are an automotive decoration consisting of two oversized plush dice which hang from the rear-view mirror.
_Wikipedia
A common prize at carnival games of chance in the 1960s.
February 4, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tang
Tang is a sugared, fruit-flavored, non-carbonated soft drink from the USA. The original orange flavored Tang was formulated by General Foods Corporation in 1957 and first marketed (in powdered form) in 1959.
It was initially intended as a breakfast drink, but sales were poor until NASA began using it on Gemini flights in 1965, and that use was heavily advertised.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dr. dentons
Dr. Denton is a (historically) well-known American brand of blanket sleepers, formerly manufactured by the Dr. Denton Sleeping Garment Mills of Centreville, Michigan. The company was founded in 1865, originally as the Michigan Central Woolen Company, and from the late 19th Century through the first half of the 20th Century was probably the single best-known manufacturer of blanket sleepers in the United States. The brand was so well-known that Dr. Dentons became (and remains today) a genericized trademark.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word union suit
A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear. It originated as women's wear during the nineteenth-century United States clothing reform efforts, as an alternative to constricting garments, and soon gained popularity among men as well. The first union suit was patented in 1868. Traditionally made of red flannel with long arms and long legs, it buttoned up the front and had a button-up flap in the rear covering the buttocks (colloquially known as the "access hatch", "drop seat", "fireman's flap", and other names), allowing the wearer to eliminate bodily waste without removing the garment. Depending on the size, some union suits can have a dozen buttons on the front to be fastened through buttonholes from the neck down to the groin area.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word break wind
Whoever came up with this term must have been a poet.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word break wind
A euphemism for flatulence
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cuckoo clock
A cuckoo clock is a clock, typically pendulum driven, that strikes the hours using small bellows and pipes that imitate the call of the Common Cuckoo in addition to striking a wire gong. The mechanism to produce the cuckoo call was installed in almost every kind of cuckoo clock since the middle of the eighteenth century and has remained almost without variation until the present.
The design of a cuckoo clock is now conventional. Most are made in the "traditional style" or "chalet" to hang on a wall. In the "traditional style" the wooden case is decorated with carved leaves and animals. Most now have an automaton of the bird that appears through a small trap door while the clock is striking. The bird is often made to move while the clock strikes, typically by means of an arm that lifts the back of the carving.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word burial at sea
Burial at sea describes the procedure of disposing of human remains in the ocean.
Two reasons for burial at sea are if the deceased died while at sea and it is impractical to return the remains to shore, or if the deceased died on land but a burial at sea is requested for private or cultural reasons.
Burial at sea services are available at many different locations and with many different customs, either by ship or by aircraft. Usually, either the captain (or commanding officer) of the ship or aircraft or a representative of the religion performs the ceremony. Legally, a captain can bury remains at sea, provided that environmental regulations are satisfied. In the United States, ashes have to be scattered at least 3 miles from shore, and bodies can be given to the sea if the location is at least 600 feet (200 m) deep.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word epitaph
Epitaph to a Dog is a poem by the English poet Lord Byron. It was written in 1808 in honor of his Newfoundland dog, Boatswain, who had just died of rabies. Check it out..it's beautiful.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word funeral parlor
In the early 20th century before the common commercial use of a separate funeral location was popular the deceased were most often displayed in their casket in the parlor of the private home in which they had lived. When mortuaries began offering the service of displaying the deceased for public viewing and grieving, the term "funeral parlor" was used to make the practice seem like the more familiar custom of displaying the deceased at home.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word funeral home
A funeral home, or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
_Wikipedia
Also called a funeral parlor
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word funeral parlor
Another term for mortuary or funeral home
A funeral home, or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mongoloid spot
Mongoloid spots are common in children from many different racial backgrounds. These patches of dermal melanocytosis are found in greater than 90% of African Americans, 81% of Asian, and 70% of Hispanic infants. Although they are often seen in the lumbosacral and gluteal areas they are not limited to those regions. They need to be distinguished from bruises of child abuse. Compared to a bruise they are more uniform in skin color, their borders are better defined, there is no induration or tenderness and they are stable over time.
_ethnomed.org
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word class ring
A class ring (also known as a graduate, senior, or grad ring) is a ring worn by students and alumni to commemorate their graduation, generally from a high school, college, or university.
_Wikipedia
Class rings were commonly exchanged in the 1950s and 1960s to commemorate a promise of going steady. These were usually high school rings but this was also practiced by college students. Girls would wrap the bands with thick layers of colored yarn in order to make the larger men's rings fit their own smaller fingers or they would wear them around their necks on a chain. Some men wore their girlfriend's ring on their pinky finger but most men did not wear the girl's class ring, considering it too effeminate.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word going steady
Exclusive dating
See promise ring
pinned
letter jacket
class ring
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word letter jacket
A letterman, in U.S. sports, performing arts or academics, is a high school or college student who has met a specified level of participation and/or performance on a varsity athletic team, marching band, or in other performance school-sponsored activities.
The term comes from the practice of awarding each such participant a cloth "letter", which is usually the school's initial or initials, for placement on a "letter sweater" or "letter jacket" intended for the display of such an award. In some instances, the sweater or jacket itself may also be awarded, especially for the initial award to a given individual.
_Wikipedia
The tradition of giving one's steady girlfriend one's letter jacket or letter sweater in lieu of a ring when going steady was common in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pin
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
to present (a young woman) with a fraternity pin as a pledge of affection
Also "going steady"
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pinned
Going steady with a college fraternity boy/man
See pin
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word promise ring
Promise rings are bestowed to symbolize a promise that one person makes to another. In some cases, promise rings are precursors to engagement rings. While the latter symbolize a promise to marry, promise rings can stand for many other kinds of vows.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word snow nose
A fairly common trait in some breeds of dogs, notably in Siberian Huskies. A snow nose is a reddish or pink marking on a black or liver colored nose. Snow nose can disappear over warmer months and reappear over the winter months. There is nothing wrong with a snow nose, and it is perfectly acceptable in the breed.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word polaroid camera
A brand name that has become a generic term for a type of instant camera.
An instant camera is a type of camera with self-developing film. The most famous are those made by the Polaroid Corporation. The invention of modern instant cameras is generally credited to American scientist Edwin Land, who unveiled the first commercial instant camera, the Land Camera, in 1947, 10 years after founding the Polaroid Corporation.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kringle
In the United States, kringles are hand-rolled from Danish pastry dough (wienerbrød dough) that has been rested overnight before shaping, filling, and baking. Many layers of the flaky dough are layered, then shaped in an oval. After filling with fruit, nut, or other flavor combinations, the pastry is baked and iced.
In America, kringles are chiefly produced in Racine, Wisconsin, the North American city with the largest population of Danes outside of Greenland (which is a self-governing portion of the Kingdom of Denmark), and a center of expatriate Danish culture. Kringle and Danish culture are an important part of Racine's cultural identity, and several local bakeries make and ship the hundreds of thousands of kringles per year each.
_Wikipedia
I like the cherry ones and the pecan.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the list a-recipe-for-uselessness
What a totally cool list. I am inspired.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word candy striper
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: from the striped uniform worn suggesting the stripes on some sticks of candy
Date: 1963
: a teenage volunteer worker at a hospital
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word round
A round is a musical composition in which two or more voices sing exactly the same melody over and over again, but with each voice beginning at different times. "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is a well known children's round for 4 voices.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word spacey
Also spaced out
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word space case
Someone not grounded in reality
See also space cadet
spacey
airhead
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hippie dippy
(adjective)derogative term describing a hippie or other free spirited person, meaning not grounded in reality
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word airy-fairy
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
adjective
Date: 1850
1.chiefly British : delicate fairylike
2.chiefly British : lacking substance or purpose
not practical or not useful in real situations
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pie in the sky
something good that is unlikely to happen
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word easy as pie
Have you ever made a pie? It is not easy.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word piece of cake
In general usage the phrase piece of cake denotes a task that can be done easily, without much or any effort.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word burma-shave
Burma-Shave was a United States brand of brushless shaving cream, famous for its advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small, sequential highway billboard signs.
Burma-Shave was introduced in 1925 by the Burma-Vita company, owned by Clinton Odell. It was a pungent, soapy-smelling concoction which the company at first had difficulty selling. To increase sales, the owners developed the famous Burma-Shave advertising sign program, and sales took off. At its peak, Burma-Shave was the second-highest selling brushless shaving cream in the United States.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word peeps
Peeps (branded as PEEPS®) are small marshmallow candies, sold in the United States, that are shaped into baby chickens, rabbits, and other animals. Peeps are primarily used to fill Easter baskets. They are made from marshmallow, sugar, gelatin, and carnauba wax.
Peeps are produced by Just Born, a candy manufacturer based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Peeps were introduced in 1953 by Russian immigrant, Sam Born. When Just Born acquired Rodda Candy Company in 1953, they automated the process (originally the chicks were formed by hand) and mass-marketed them. Back in 1953, when the peeps were made by hand it took 27 hours to make one marshmallow peep. The yellow chicks were the original form of the candy — hence their name — but then the company introduced other colors and, eventually, the myriad shapes in which they are now produced.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lefse
Lefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread made out of potato, milk or cream and flour, and cooked on a griddle. Special tools are available for lefse baking, including long wooden turning sticks and special rolling pins with deep grooves. There are significant regional variations in the way lefse is made and eaten, but it generally resembles a flatbread although it is far thinner. In some parts of the United States (such as North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, northern and central Iowa, Wisconsin, and Washington), lefse is available in grocery stores.
_Wikipedia
When I lived in Minnesota it was always possible to pick up part-time work hours making lefse for the huge Christmas rush demand for the product. So good with butter and cinnamon-sugar.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bagel
Boiling the dough before baking is what gives the wonderful chewy texture. You've never tasted a better bagel than one made in your own kitchen. Try it.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word persimmon
If you've never had persimmon spice cake, google up one of many recipes and end your suffering and deprivation.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gefilte fish
Gefilte fish (Yiddish: געפֿילטע פֿיש) are poached fish patties or balls made from a mixture of ground deboned fish, mostly carp (common carp). They are popular in the Ashkenazi Jewish community.
In traditional recipes for gefilte fish, the fish is first deboned, often while still at the market. Next, the fish is ground together with eggs, onions and flour, matzoh meal or challah, and then stuffed into the skin of the deboned fish, giving it the name gefilte (filled or stuffed, compare the German gefüllte). The whole stuffed fish is then poached with carrots and onions. When prepared this way, it is usually served in slices. This form of preparation eliminated the need for picking fish bones at the table and stretched the fish further, so that even poor families could enjoy fish on the Sabbath.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kriah
Ritual rending of garments, part of the mourning tradition and ritual in Judaism.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kriah ribbon
Before a Jewish funeral service begins first-degree Jewish relatives engage in the act of kriah, or tearing one's garment or pinning a black ribbon called a kriah ribbon to one's lapel. It is a powerful and ancient reaction to the harsh reality of death and an acknowledgment that death tears an irreparable hole in the fabric of our lives. The kriah ribbon, or the torn garment, is worn for the sheloshim period, the thirty days extending from the funeral. Traditionally, it is removed on Shabbat, the Sabbath.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chrochet
Crochet (pronounced /kroʊˈʃeɪ/) is a process of creating fabric from yarn or thread using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the Middle French word croc or croche, meaning hook. Crocheting, similar to knitting, consists of pulling loops of yarn through other loops. Crochet differs from knitting in that only one loop is active at one time (the sole exception being Tunisian crochet), and that a crochet hook is used instead of knitting needles.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word granny square
A granny square is a crochet technique for producing square fabric by working in rounds from the center outward. Granny squares are traditionally handmade. They resemble coarse lace. Although there is no theoretical limit to the maximum size of a granny square, crocheters usually create multiple small squares and assemble the pieces to make clothing, purses, Afghan blankets, and other household textiles.
Granny square apparel is a cyclical fashion that peaked in the 1970s.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word features
Hi John,
Could you please add Playlist.com to the choose a service drop-down box? I would love to see what others like to listen to while playing on Wordie.
Thanks.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word porch
See porch swing
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word porch swing
"The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch swing with, never say a word, then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation that you ever had." — Anonymous
A bench style swing built of wooden slats that has a seat, a back and two arms and can usually seat two people. It is attached to chains at the arms and suspended from the ceiling beams of a porch.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tire swing
Tire swings are a form of swing made from a car tire suspended by a heavy rope from a sturdy tree branch. This is an old-fashoned, simple swing commonly seen in the country, near farm houses.
Special factory-made "tire swings" are suspended by three chains and are suspended from heavy beams and are mounted horizontally so that more than one child can sit along the top edge. Some dangerous stunts can be done using these swings so they are not as commonly used in playgrounds these days.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word skinny dipping
Skinny dipping, also spelled skinny-dipping, is swimming naked, i.e. without any swimsuit. It is best when done in an outdoor body of water.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lawn darts
Lawn darts (also called Jarts or yard darts) is a lawn game for two players or teams. A lawn dart set usually includes four large darts and two targets. The game play and objective are similar to both horseshoes and darts. The darts are similar to the ancient Roman plumbata. They are typically 12 inches long with a weighted metal or plastic tip on one end and three plastic fins on a rod at the other end. The darts are intended to be tossed underhand toward a horizontal ground target, where the weighted end hits first and sticks into the ground. The target is typically a plastic ring, and landing anywhere within the ring scores a point.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word wiffleball
Wiffleball or whiffleball is a variation of the sport of baseball designed for indoor or outdoor play in confined areas. "Wiffle" is a registered trademark of The Wiffle Ball, Inc., which manufactures Wiffle balls from its location in Shelton, Connecticut. It is played using a perforated, light-weight, plastic ball and a long, plastic (typically yellow) bat, generally on a triangular playing field.
The Wiffle ball was invented by David N. Mullany of Fairfield, Connecticut in 1953 when he designed a ball that curved easily for his 12-year old son. It was named when his son and his friends would refer to a strikeout as a "wiff" (actually whiff). A classic Wiffle ball is about the same size as a regulation baseball and is hollow plastic no more than 1/8th of an inch thick. One hemisphere is perforated with eight 3/4" inch oblong holes, with a solid second hemisphere. Wiffle balls are typically packaged with a hollow, hard plastic, yellow bat that measures 31 inches (790 mm) in length and about 1.25 inches in diameter.
_Wikipedia
Also refers to the game played with a Wiffleball and bat.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mud room
Also seen as mudroom.
A side or back door entryway that acts as a barrier between outdoors and indoors, where coats and shoes or boots can be removed and thus keep dirt out of the main house. Often seen in farmhouses. Usually has a concrete or linoleum floor, sometimes with a floor drain. May have a bench to sit on while removing heavy boots and hooks to hang up outerwear.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word summer kitchen
In the days before air-conditioning, a "summer kitchen" was sometimes added to homes in order to remove the heat of the cooking fires from the main house during hot weather.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hot pants
Commonly known as "short shorts." These are short, tight shorts, usually made of cotton, nylon, or some other common material. They are meant to emphasize the buttocks and the legs. Hot pants were very popular in the early 1970s, but declined in popularity during the late 1970s.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pop gun
A pop gun is a toy gun that uses air pressure to fire a small projectile (often cork or foam) out of a barrel via piston action. The mechanism consists of a hollow cylindrical barrel which is sealed at one end with the projectile and at the other with a long-handled plunger. The plunger is rapidly forced down the barrel, building up internal air pressure until the projectile is forced out with the "pop" sound that lends the toy its name. The projectile may be tethered to the toy to prevent loss or for safety.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bb gun
BB guns are a type of air gun designed to fire usually spherical projectiles, called BBs after the Birdshot pellet of approximately the same size.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dirt bike
Motorcycles designed for racing over closed circuits, often with jumps, over varied terrain of gravel/mud/sand. Also called motocross bikes, when not being raced, they can also be used for informal off-road recreation, or "mudding".
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cracker jack
Cracker Jack is a brand of snack consisting of caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts. It is also well known for being packaged with a "Toy Surprise Inside" of nominal value. This attained pop-culture status with the term "came in a Cracker Jack box" referring to an object of no real value.
Chorus of Take Me Out to the Ballgame:
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.
Words written in 1908 by Jack Norworth
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kool-aid
Kool-Aid was invented by Gerard and Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. To reduce shipping costs, in 1927, Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder. This powder was named Kool-Ade (and a few years later, it was renamed 'Kool-Aid' due to a change in US Government regulations regarding the need for fruit juice in products using the term "Ade"). Perkins moved his production to Chicago in 1931 and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953.
_Wikipedia
A powdered fruit flavoring that is mixed with regular granulated sugar and water by the customer to make a pitcherful of soft drink. It is a brand name that has become a generic term used to mean any inexpensive fruity soft drink mix or non-carbonated fruity soft drink.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fishstick
A fishstick is a processed food made using a whitefish such as cod which have been battered and/or breaded. They are commonly available in the frozen food section of Western supermarkets, and on children's menus in family-oriented restaurants.
_Wikipedia
In the 1950s they were nasty, soggy fishy little cakes with too much breading that were served to school children as part of the typical school lunch, especially on Fridays when Catholic children traditionally could not eat meat.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ears hat
A souvenir sold at Disney theme parks that is a small round felt beanie style hat with two large round plastic ears that is designed to make the child or child at heart who is wearing it look like Mickey Mouse.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word space blanket
A space blanket is a blanket designed to be used in emergency situations to reduce heat loss from a person's body. The blanket consists of a thin sheet of plastic material (often PET film) that is coated with a metallic reflecting agent, usually gold or silver in color, which reflects about 80% of the wearer's radiated body heat back to him or her.
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February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rabbit ears
The most common dipole antenna is the "rabbit ears" type used with televisions. While theoretically the dipole elements should be along the same line, "rabbit ears" are adjustable in length and angle.
A dipole antenna, developed by Heinrich Rudolph Hertz around 1886, is an antenna with a center-fed driven element for transmitting or receiving radio frequency energy. These antennas are the simplest practical antennas from a theoretical point of view.
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In the days before cable television rabbit ears sat on top of the TV to help reception. They usually had a small round or oval shaped plastic base that had two long metal wands that could be adjusted projecting up from the base.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chiclet
Chiclets are a brand of candy coated chewing gum made by Cadbury Adams. The product's name is derived from the Spanish word chicle (chewing gum) derived from (Nahuatl tziktli), the substance from which chewing gum was traditionally made. The original flavor was peppermint but many flavors have been added and discontinued over the decades since the introduction in 1906. Assorted fruit flavor is still available in Mexico, U.S. and Canada.
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One piece of Chiclets gum is a chiclet. Chiclet has become a generic term for any candy coated, pillow shaped gum.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word drumstick
Drumstick is the brand name for different novelty ice cream cones sold in the United States, Australia, Canada, and other countries across the world.
A typical Drumstick-brand ice cream cone is a waffle cone filled with ice cream, topped with chocolate and nuts, has a chunk of chocolate in the bottom of the cone and is commonly found in the frozen food section of a US grocery store. However in Australia a chocolate cone variety called Drumstick Royale is available, which replaces the waffle cone with a solid chocolate cone.
The original product was invented by I.C. Parker of The Drumstick Company in 1928.
_Wikipedia
Drumstick has become a generic term for any brand or homemade icecream treat that features a sundae combination (icecream topped with a chocolate shell and chopped nuts) in a prepared waffle-type sugar cone.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word car coat
Car coat, a hooded hip-length casual jacket inspired by the parka, popular in the 1960s.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pea coat
A pea coat (or pea jacket, pilot jacket) is an outer coat, generally of a navy-colored heavy wool, originally worn by sailors of European navies. Pea coats are characterized by broad lapels, double-breasted fronts, often large wooden buttons, and vertical or slash pockets. Although it first appeared in the early 18th century, modern renditions still maintain the original design and composition.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cigar store indian
The cigar store Indian or wooden Indian is an old advertisement figure made to represent cigar shops. The figures were often three-dimensional wooden sculptures several feet tall - up to life-sized. They are still occasionally used for their original advertising purpose but are more often seen in decorative uses, or, for older ones, as advertising collectibles.
Because of the general illiteracy of the populace, early store owners used descriptive emblems or figures to advertise their shops' wares. Indians and tobacco had always been associated because Indians introduced tobacco to Europeans, and the depiction of native people on smoke-shop signs was inevitable. As early as the seventeenth century, European tobacconists used figures of Indians to advertise their shops.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word knuckle sandwich
slang term for a punch in the mouth
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word diorama
The current, popular understanding of the term “Diorama�? denotes a partially three-dimensional, full-size replica or scale model of a landscape typically showing historical events, nature scenes or cityscapes, for purposes of education or entertainment.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word haunted house
A haunted house could be any house that is inhabited by ghosts or disembodied spectres or other supernatural beings or energies.
A haunted house is also a type of funhouse seen around Halloween in the United States. Usually for profit and often for charitable causes, scary, spooky and/or grisly decorations are used in a mazelike series of rooms or settings in a large building such as a warehouse or old school or some similar empty building to create an interactive fun environment for people to pretend and have some chills and thrills and laughs. Live actors dressed as skeletons, monsters, ghosts, murderers and other ghouls animate dioramas. Spooky props such as smoke machines, fake blood and make-up are also used to create the atmosphere.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chenille
I love chenille bedspreads and they symbolize homey, country grandma style to me.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sock monkey
A sock monkey is a stuffed toy made from socks and fashioned in the likeness of a monkey. Sock monkeys hold an important place in the culture of North America as a symbol of ingenuity.
The iconic sock monkeys made from Red-Heel socks emerged at the earliest in 1932, the year the Nelson Knitting Company of Rockford, Illinois added the trademarked red heel to its product. Nelson Knitting added the red heel "de-tec-tip" to assure its customers they were buying "original Rockfords". This red heel gave the monkeys their distinctive mouth. The original brown heather color of the rest of the sock makes the monkey's coat.
Around 1951 the knitting company discovered their socks were being used to make monkey dolls. In 1953, Nelson Knitting became involved in a dispute over the design patent on the sock monkey pattern. They were awarded the patent in 1955, and began including the pattern with every pair of socks.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fisheye lens
In photography, a fisheye lens is a wide-angle lens that takes in an extremely wide, hemispherical image. Originally developed for use in meteorology and astronomy and called "whole-sky lenses", fisheye lenses quickly became popular in general photography for their unique, distorted appearance. They are often used by photographers shooting broad landscapes to suggest the curve of the Earth.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word quincunx
In Astrology, Quincunx:
One of several possible aspects or relationships between planets in a horoscope.
An arc of 150 degrees. Also known as the inconjunct; this aspect creates a certain uneasiness and a feeling of discomfort and has karmic lessons to teach us. It is a minor aspect.
Otherwise known as Inconjunct.
This aspect is the only one not measured by celestial longitude. It is of two or more planets having the same distance in declination in degrees, north or south of the celestial equator.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word starlight mint
A disk shaped hard candy, usually peppermint or spearmint flavored but also available in several fruit flavors. It has a characteristic striped pattern that looks like a starburst. Some starlight mints have a white disk on the flat face of the mint and stripes on the sides. The peppermint ones are red and white and look like cousins to candy canes. They are usually individually wrapped in cellophane. Many restaurants in the U.S. make them available free of charge to their customers as an after-dinner mint or a breath mint.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word root beer barrel
Hard candy, usually individually wrapped in cellophane, root beer flavored, shaped like a miniature barrel
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lemon drop
A lemon drop is a sugary, lemon-flavored hard candy that is typically colored yellow and often shaped like a miniature lemon. They can be sweet or have a more sour flavor.
The term "lemon drop" is also occasionally applied to lemon-flavored throat lozenges.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word white elephant sale
A White Elephant Sale is a collection of used items being sold by a non-professional group of individuals second hand, much akin to a yard sale or garage sale, usually as a fund-raiser.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word garage sale
A garage sale, also called a "yard sale", "tag sale", "attic sale", "moving sale", or "junk sale", is an informal, irregularly scheduled event for the sale of used goods by private individuals.
_Wikipedia
See also rummage sale
White elephant sale
In Wales I have heard these sales called boot sales and jumble sales
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bundt cake
A Bundt cake is the name used for a dessert cake cooked in a Bundt pan, whose essential attribute is its ringed shape. The Bundt pan (a registered trademark) was created in 1950 by H. David Dalquist, founder of Nordic Ware, at the request of members of the Hadassah Society's chapter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They were interested in a pan that could be used to make bundkuchen (sometimes called kugelhopf or Gugelhupf), a popular German and Austrian coffee cake. The old-world pans, made of delicate ceramic or heavy cast iron, were difficult to use. He modified some existing Scandinavian pan designs by introducing folds in the outer edge, and fashioned the pan out of aluminum.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word knife pleat
Knife pleats are used for basic gathering purposes, and form a smooth line rather than springing away from the seam they have been gathered to. The pleats have a 3:1 ratio–three inches of fabric will create one inch of finished pleat. Knife pleats can be recognized by the way that they overlap in the seam.
_Wikipedia
See also box pleat
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word box pleat
Box pleats are knife pleats back-to-back, and have a tendency to spring out from the waistline. They have the same 3:1 ratio as knife pleats, and may also be stacked to form stacked box pleats. These stacked box pleats create more fullness and have a 5:1 ratio. They also create a bulkier seam. Inverted box pleats have the "box" on the inside rather than the outside.
_Wikipedia
See also knife pleat
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word little black dress
A little black dress is an evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often with a short skirt, originally made popular in the 1920s by the fashion designer Coco Chanel. Intended by Chanel to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, accessible to the widest market possible and in a neutral color, its continued ubiquity is such that many refer to it by its abbreviation, LBD.
The "little black dress" is considered essential to a complete wardrobe by many women and fashion observers.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pleiadians
Pleiadeans (also spelled Pleiadian or Plejaran) is the name given to what are said to be a group of Nordic alien extraterrestrials and "multidimensional spirit beings" from the Pleiades star cluster in the constellation of Taurus), approximately 400 light years from planet Earth. Their home planet is said to be called Erra, and various descriptions of their appearance have been given by those whom claim have been in contact with them.
Contactees who claim to have been in contact with the Pleiadeans include Billy Meier and James Gilliland.
_Wikipedia
I think Shirley MacLaine mentions them in Out On a Limb.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mothman
Mothman is the name given to a being or creature reported in the Charleston and Point Pleasant areas of West Virginia between November 12, 1966, near Clendenin, and December 1967. Most observers describe the Mothman as a winged man-sized creature with large reflective red eyes and large moth-like wings. The creature often appeared to have no head, with its eyes set into its chest. A number of hypotheses have been presented to explain eyewitness accounts, ranging from misidentification and coincidence, to paranormal phenomena and conspiracy theories.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beatle suit
In the early Beatle-mania years, the Beatles would occasionally wear black, and then later grey, Edwardian collarless suits. This style of suit was adopted from the Mod youth cult, then at its peak in the UK. These suits became extremely common for new bands to wear after 1964.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beatle jacket
See also beatle suit
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cuban heels
n.
A broad heel of moderate height with a slightly tapered back and straight front, used in shoes and some boots.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beatle boots
Beatle boots are tight-fitting, cuban-heeled, ankle-length boots with a pointed toe which originated in 1963 when Brian Epstein (then manager of the Beatles) discovered Chelsea boots while browsing in the London footwear company Anello & Davide, and consequently commissioned four pairs (with the addition of Cuban heels) for The Beatles to complement their new suit image upon their return from Hamburg, who wore them under drainpipe trousers.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beatle haircut
The Beatle haircut, also known as the mop-top (or moptop) is a mid-length hairstyle named after and popularised by the Beatles. It is a straight cut - collar-length at the back and over the ears at the sides, with straight bangs.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beatle jacket
See also Nehru jacket
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nehru jacket
The Nehru jacket is a hip-length tailored coat for men or women, with a stand-up or "mandarin" collar, and modeled on the South Asian achkan or sherwani, an apparel worn by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964. However, unlike the achkan, which falls somewhere below the knees of the wearer, the Nehru jacket is not only shorter, but also, in all respects other than the collar, resembles the suit jacket.
The apparel was created in India in the 1940s as Band Gale Ka Coat (Hindi/Urdu: "Closed Neck Coat") and has been popular on the subcontinent since, especially as the top half of a suit worn on formal occasions. It began to be marketed as the Nehru jacket in the West in the mid-1960s; it was briefly popular there in the late 1960s and early 1970s, its popularity spurred by growing awareness of foreign cultures, by the minimalism of the Mod lifestyle, and, in particular, by the Beatles, who popularized the garment.
_Wikipedia
Sometimes referred to as a Beatle jacket
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pop-tart
A Pop-Tart is a flat rectangular toaster pastry approximately 3 in (75 mm) by 5.5 in (115 mm), made by the Kellogg Company. Pop-Tarts have a sugary filling sealed inside two layers of rectangular, thin pastry crust; each layer of this crust is about 0.1 in (2 mm) thick. Most varieties have frosting, but some do not. They can be eaten without being warmed, but are often warmed inside a toaster. They are usually sold in pairs inside foil packages, and do not require refrigeration.
_Wikipedia
Has become a generic term for any toaster pastries.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the list the-truth-is-in-here
Don't forget Rosicrucians.
The Golden Dawn
Scottish Rite
Nice work...hope you don't disappear.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word owie
A word commonly used by small children or infants to describe a wound. (Common in the mid-western United States)
See also boo boo
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word boo boo
a slang term usually used by children or with children meaning a small injury or sore, abrasion, cut
See also owie
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word oi!
Oi! is a working class street-level subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s
See also oi
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word oi
Oi, pronounced /ˈɔɪ/, is a British / Welsh, Irish, Australian slang interjection used to get someone's attention, or to express surprise or disapproval. The American English equivalent is the interjection "hey".
_Wikipedia
See Also Oi! is a working class street-level subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word yippie
The Youth International Party (whose adherents were known as Yippies, a variant on "Hippies") was a highly theatrical and anti-authoritarian political party established in the United States in 1967. An offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the 1960s, the Yippies presented a more radically youth-oriented and countercultural alternative to those movements. They employed theatrical gestures—such as advancing a pig ("Pigasus the Immortal") as a candidate for President in 1968—to mock the social status quo. The Yippies had no formal membership or hierarchy: Abbie Hoffman, Anita Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Nancy Kurshan, and Paul Krassner were among the founders of the Yippies (according to his own account, Krassner coined the name).
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word big hair
Big hair is a term that can refer to hairstyles that emphasize large volume or largely styled hair. Big hair was popular in the late 1970s, as popularized by Dolly Parton and Farrah Fawcett, a development from earlier bouffant styles. The term is also used in the punk, goth and alternative cultures and is particularly associated with alternative fashion of the 1980s, or inspired by the period. In either usage, big hair in modern times generally suggests an eye-catching, untidy, tangled, voluminous hairstyle, worn by conformist women in the 1970s, non-conformist of all sexes in the 1980s.
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Often achieved through teasing, backcombing or ratting the hair.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word backcombing
Backcombing is a way of combing hair which is used to create volume as well as to create certain hairstyles. Backcombing, also known as "teasing", means repeatedly combing the hair towards the scalp, causing the hair to tangle and knot up. This method is often used in creating various big hair styles such as beehives and dreadlocks.
_Wikipedia
Also known as ratting.
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rat
(v) give hair the appearance of being fuller by teasing or backcombing the hair
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word a go-go
The French term à gogo, often anglicized as A Go-Go, meaning "in abundance, galore". Alternate spellings vary widely, particularly concerning the placement and number of dashes as well as the use of the "a". The term is often used in popular culture, especially in the field of music and dancing. Though earlier uses of the phrase were meant to lend a cosmopolitan feel to subjects, modern usage tends more toward an ironic, campy appeal.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word carnaby street
Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in London, United Kindgom, located in the area of 'Carnaby' in the district of Soho, near Oxford Street, and just to the east of Regent Street. The area around Carnaby Street is known simply as 'Carnaby'. It consists of twelve pedestrianised streets with 168 fashion and lifesyle retailers, including a large number of independent fashion boutiques.
In the 1960s, Carnaby Street was made popular by followers of the Mod style. Many independent fashion boutiques, and designers such as Mary Quant and 'Lord John' were located in and around Carnaby Street as well as various underground music bars such as the 'Roaring Twenties'. With bands such as The Beatles, Small Faces, and Rolling Stones appearing in the area to work, shop, and socialize, it became one of London's coolest destination associated with the Swinging Sixties.
_Wikipedia
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word go-go boots
Go-Go boots are a low-heeled style of women’s fashion boot worn since the mid-sixties when fashion silhouettes focused on accentuating the leg. The term “go-go�? refers to the fact that they were often seen on and associated with dancers at discotheques such as Whisky a Go Go.
Go-go boots are either calf-, knee- or above knee-high boots with a low or flat heel. The style is a very simple shape with a chiseled, rounded or pointed toe. The boot was usually fastened onto the foot by a side or back zipper, although by the Seventies it was not uncommon to find lace-up versions which accommodated a wider variety of calf sizes. Heel height ranges from flat to low 1�? shaped, with the occasional 2�? Cuban heel.
Materials were either synthetic or natural, with the oldest designs being made from plastic or vinyl of various colors, the most popular being white. Women’s styles tended to be taller, tighter and with a slightly higher heel than girl’s styles.
_Wikipedia
See also Courrege boots
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word courrege boots
André Courrèges is often cited as the originator of the fashion go-go boots. In the 1960s Courrege boots became a generic term used to describe a white leather or plastic calf-length boot with a wide top, worn by women, typically with a knee-length or mini skirt or dress. André Courrèges (born 1923) is a French fashion designer, known for his ultra-modern designs.
_Wikipedia
See also go-go boots
February 3, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rice krispie treat
A Rice Krispie treat is a sweet dessert or snack made from Rice Krispies, melted margarine or butter and melted marshmallows. Sometimes marshmallows and/or cereal that is seasonal is used to make these treats holiday specific. They are often homemade, but one can find them in many stores usually packaged under the Rice Krispies brand.
One variation is to use chocolate instead of marshmallows which is known as "Chocolate Crackles". Kellogg's has now produced commercial varieties of both the marshmallow and chocolate-based treats under the name of "Rice Krispies Squares".
Rice Krispie treats were invented in 1928 by Mildred Day, who was at the time working for the Kellogg Company, the maker of Rice Krispies. She used the cereal to develop the snack as a fundraiser for a Camp Fire Girls group.
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word long john
Commonly in the U.S. a doughnut in the shape of a bar, with or without a filling. In Wisconsin in the United States a long john, by definition, is unfilled and frosted. It and can be found plain frosted or frosted with nuts or sprinkles or jimmies.
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bear claw
A bear claw is a sweet breakfast food, popular in the United States. It is an almond-flavored, yeast-raised pastry shaped in a large, irregular semicircle with slices around the outside, evoking the shape of a bear's claw. Bear claws often contain almond paste or raisins.
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word persian
A Persian is an oval-shaped, cinnamon-bun-like pastry with a sweet, pink icing made of either raspberries or strawberries. It originated in and remains particular to the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
The Persian is a variation of the Pershing, a doughnut made from a yeast dough that is coiled with cinnamon and usually finished with a plain sugar glaze rather than pink icing. Pershings are widely available at doughnut shops elsewhere in North America.
_Wikipedia
See also pershing
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pershing
The Pershing is a doughnut made from a yeast dough that is coiled with cinnamon and usually finished with a plain sugar glaze rather than pink icing of a Persian. Pershings are widely available at doughnut shops in North America.
_Wikipedia
See also Persian
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word la leche league
La Leche League International (LLLI) is an international, nonprofit, nonpolitical, and nonsectarian organization, recognized as an authority on breastfeeding around the world. It was founded in 1956 in Franklin Park, Illinois, to give support and information to women who choose to breastfeed their babies. It currently has a presence in sixty-five countries.
_Wikipedia
Usually known simply as La Leche League or just as "League."
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word blessed be
"Blessed be" is probably the best-known Pagan expression. It is used as both a greeting and a farewell, and as a general expression of blessing or affirmation during ritual, similar to "amen".
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word amen
See also so mote it be
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word so mote it be
In Neo-Paganism and Wicca, the phrase Amen is not normally used, being seen as Christian in origin. However, the rather archaic phrase So mote it be is often used instead, with basically the same meaning (mote is an archaic form of may). This possibly derives from Freemasonry, where in certain rituals the phrase "Amen, so mote it be" is used.
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tax return
"Tax return" refers to a document which can be filed with a government body declaring liability for taxation.
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word codependence
Codependence (or codependency) is a popular psychology concept popularized by Twelve-Step program advocates. A "codependent" is loosely defined as someone who exhibits too much, and often inappropriate, caring for persons who depend on him or her. A "codependent" is one side of a relationship between mutually needy people. The dependent, or obviously needy party(s) may have emotional, physical, financial difficulties, or addictions they seemingly are unable to surmount. The "codependent" party exhibits behaviour which controls, makes excuses for, pities, and takes other actions to perpetuate the obviously needy party's condition, because of their desire to be needed and fear of doing anything that would change the relationship.
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word twelve-step program
A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles for recovery from addictive, compulsive, or other behavioral problems, originally developed by the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for recovery from alcoholism. The Twelve Steps were initially published in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous ("The Big Book") in 1939; since then more than 25 million copies have been printed in many languages. This method has been adapted as the foundation of other twelve-step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Co-Dependents Anonymous and Emotions Anonymous. As summarized by the American Psychological Association, working the Twelve Steps involves the following.
admitting that one cannot control one's addiction or compulsion;
recognizing a greater power that can give strength;
examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member);
making amends for these errors;
learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior;
helping others that suffer from the same addictions or compulsions.
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hatchet job
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
NOUN: Slang A crude or ruthless effort usually ending in destruction: did a hatchet job on the mayor's reputation.
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kitten-caboodle
Love this word...always makes me smile and I have heard people use this hatchet job many times.
See whole kit and caboodle
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word whole kit and caboodle
A kit - is set of objects, as in a toolkit, or what a soldier would put in his kit-bag.
A caboodle (or boodle) - is an archaic term meaning group or collection, usually of people.
There are several phrases similar to the whole kit and caboodle, which is first recorded in that form in 1884. Most of them are of US origin and all the early citations are American. Caboodle was never in common use outside the USA and now has died out everywhere, apart from its use in this phrase.
_Phrases.org.uk
See lengthy explanation of this term:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/kit-and-caboodle.html
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word black ice
Black ice, also known as "glare ice" or "clear ice," typically refers to a thin coating of glazed ice on a surface, often a roadway. Black ice is ice frozen without many air bubbles trapped inside, making it transparent. Black ice takes the color of the material it lies on top of, often wet asphalt or a darkened pond. Its difficult-to-detect nature makes it a significant hazard to drivers, pedestrians, and sailors.
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word petal pushers
Calf-length slacks for women, popular in the 1960s
Also called capris, clamdiggers
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word capris
Calf-length slacks for women, popular in the 1960s
Also called clamdiggers, petal pushers
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word clamdiggers
Calf-length slacks for women, popular in the 1960s
Also called capris, petal pushers
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hip huggers
low cut slacks or skirts worn with a wide leather belt in the 1960s
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word poor boy
In the 1960s a poor boy was a popular kind of shirt for females. They were figure hugging rib-knit t-shirts that came in a wide range of solid colors. They were often worn tucked into hip huggers, either skirts or slacks which were worn with a wide leather belt.
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the list public-list-a-horse-is-a-horse
Mollusque...that would be cool. The correlated words, I mean.
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the list public-list-a-horse-is-a-horse
My real first name is Terrie. My last name before I divorced the carbuncle was Reese. Hence t + reese +ed for good measure = treeseed. I am not reesetee. Really.
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lamb chop
The term lamb is a name for the animal or meat of a domestic sheep. The meat of a sheep a year old or younger is generally known as lamb.
Lamb chops are cut from the rib, loin, and shoulder areas. The rib chops include a rib bone; the loin chops include only a chine bone. Shoulder chops are usually considered inferior to loin chops.
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lamb chop
Lamb Chop is a fictional character, more precisely a fictional sheep, who is a sock puppet created by comedian and ventriloquist Shari Lewis. In 1957, Lamb Chop, a ewe, first appeared with Lewis on Hi Mom, a local morning show that aired on WNBC in New York.
Lamb Chop has been described as a "6-year-old girl, very intuitive and very feisty, a combination of obstinacy and vulnerability...you know how they say fools rush in where wise men fear to go? Well, Lamb Chop would rush in, then scream for help."
_Wikipedia
A friend of Charlie Horse. (See Charley Horse)
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word charley horse
Charlie Horse was a charming hand puppet used by puppeteer Shari Lewis. A friend of Lamb Chop.
Shari Lewis (January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s.
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word charley horse
Merriam-Webster Dictonary
noun
Etymology: from Charley, nickname for Charles
Date: 1888
: a muscular pain, cramping, or stiffness especially of the quadriceps that results from a strain or bruise
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word swan song
The phrase "Swan song" is a reference to an ancient belief that the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is completely mute during its lifetime, except for singing a single, heartbreakingly beautiful song just before it dies.
It has been known since antiquity that this belief is false. In A.D. 77. Pliny the Elder refuted it in Natural History (book 10, chapter xxxii: olorum morte narratur flebilis cantus, falso, ut arbitror, aliquot experimentis, "observation shows that the story that the dying swan sings is false").
By extension, swan song has become an idiom referring to a final theatrical or dramatic appearance, or any final work or accomplishment.
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word swan dive
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1898
: a front dive executed with the head back, back arched, and arms spread sideways and then brought together above the head to form a straight line with the body as the diver enters the water
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word high dive
A name for the higher platform diving board as opposed to the lower springboards found at public swimming pools.
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word paddle ball
Paddle ball is a one-person game played with an attached ball and paddle. Using a flat paddle with a small rubber ball attached at the center via an elastic string, the player tries to hit the ball with the paddle in succession as many times as possible. The paddle is usually made from either wood or plastic.
_Wikipedia
February 2, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beach ball
A beach ball (also beachball) is a large inflatable ball used in various games and other recreational activities traditionally conducted on the beach. Their large size and light weight means it takes little effort to propel one, and they travel slowly to their target, making them ideal for lazy games on hot days, though their lightness makes it difficult to play with them in strong wind.
The beach ball was invented by Jonathon DeLonge in 1938 in California. Beach balls are manufactured in a wide variety of sizes, with diameters ranging from a few inches to four feet. They generally consist of a set of soft plastic panels—two circular panels, one of which contains a valve for inflation, connected by a series of bulged-rectangle-shaped pieces, which are joined side-by-side and form most of the surface area of the ball.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word melamine
Melamine resin dinnerware (plates, saucers, cups, bowls) was quite popular in the 1960s...the oxymoron "pretty ugly" describes the dinnerware well.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word instamatic
What a wonderful photo, S of G! My first camera was a Brownie Starmite.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word empire
An Empire silhouette is created by wearing a high-waisted dress, gathered near or just under the bust with a long, loose skirt, which skims the body. The outline is especially flattering to pear shapes wishing to disguise the stomach area or emphasise the bust. The shape of the dress helps to lengthen the body. The word "Empire" here refers to the period of the First French Empire.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word babydoll
A short, empire waisted form of lingerie or sleep attire
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word light as a feather, stiff as a board
Light as a feather, stiff as a board, sometimes known as lovely ness, is a game often played by children at slumber parties. One participant lies flat on the floor, and then the others space themselves around him/her, each placing a few fingers underneath his/her body. They then start chanting "light as a feather, stiff as a board" and eventually lift their friend, using what feels like surprisingly little effort.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chinese fire drill
A Chinese fire drill is a prank, or perhaps an expression of high spirits, that was popular in the United States during the 1960s. It is performed when a car is stopped at a red traffic light, at which point all of the car's occupants get out, run around the car, and return to their own (or go to other) seats. Chinese fire drills are sometimes executed when one needs to get something from the trunk of a car. Occasionally, if one of the participants is late to get inside the car, the others might drive off without him/her. People have reported this phenomenon as early as the 1940s, so it is possible that the phrase was current at the time, but simply was not recorded.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kidnap breakfast
A kidnap breakfast is a fun activity usually carried out by a youth group in which individuals are unsuspectingly woken up from a sound sleep by their friends in the group and are compelled (in a friendly way) to come exactly as they are to a group breakfast gathering at another location.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word slumber party
A sleep-over party for children and teens. Also called a pajama party or a PJ party.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pajama party
Sleep-over party for children or teens. Also called a slumber party or a PJ party.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word autograph hound
A person who collects autographs, typically one who approaches, follows or imposes on celebrities for their signatures.
In the early 1960s a popular toy for teen girls was a stuffed animal looking much like a dachshund that had a smooth fabric which could be autographed by one's friends. This was also known as an autograph hound.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word instamatic
Instamatic was the name of a long-running series of inexpensive, easy-to-load 126 and 110 cameras made by Kodak beginning in 1963. The Instamatic was immensely successful, introducing a generation to low-cost photography and spawning numerous imitators.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word brownie starmite
Small inexpensive Kodak camera
Type: Solid body eyelevel rollfilm
Introduced: April 1960
Discontinued: June 1963
Film size: 127
Picture size: 1 5/8 X 1 5/8"
Manufactured: US and assembled in the UK May 1961-65
Lens: Fixed-focus f/11
Shutter: Rotary
Numbers made: ?
Original price: $10.50
Description:
Moulded plastic body; optical direct vision finder;
built-in flash gun for capless bulbs
_Brownie-camera.com
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word need your head read
A Welsh and Australian slang phrase (that I know of, perhaps others use it) meaning "you are crazy" or "you need psychiatric help."
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word head case
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1974
: nut (6a) 6 a: a foolish, eccentric, or crazy person
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word stardust
Bat Masterson was a Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry. His horse was Stardust.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sophie
Colonel Sherman T. Potter's horse on MASH.
Radar found a wounded stray horse (later named Sophie), he gave her to Potter, so he could care for her. Potter was delighted to have a horse again, and rode her regularly. Potter was played by Harry Morgan.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word penny
On the TV series Sugarfoot, Penny was the horse of fledgling frontier lawyer Tom Brewster (Will Hutchins.)
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word el loaner
Bret Maverick's (James Garner) horse on the TV series Maverick was El Loaner.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word blueboy
Mark McKane's (Johnny Crawford) horse on the TV series The Rifleman is named Blueboy.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word blaze king
On the TV series National Velvet, Velvet Brown's horse is named Blaze King, called King for short. Velvet was played by Lori Martin.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word joe
An appaloosa horse named Joe was the mount of The Virginian played by James Drury on the TV series The Virginian. Some people have heard this as "Jody" but Drury is on record as saying the horse was named Joe. More than one appaloosa horse played this part.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word little buck
Little Buck was the horse of Trampas (Doug McClure) on the TV series "The Virginian"
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word topper
Topper was a white horse with silver points and a Tennessee Walking Horse.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flicka
Flicka and her rider Ken McLaughlin
My Friend Flicka is a 1941 novel by Mary O'Hara, about Ken McLaughlin, the son of a Wyoming rancher, and his horse Flicka. It was the first in a trilogy, followed by Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (1943) and Green Grass of Wyoming (1946). The popular 1943 film version featured a young Roddy McDowall. It was followed by film adaptations of the other two novels, in 1945 and 1948, and by a television series (1956-1958) that first aired on CBS, then on NBC, followed by reruns on ABC and on CBS between 1959 and 1966.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word traveller
Traveller was used by General Robert E. Lee thoughout most of the Civil War.
Traveller (birth name "Jeff Davis") was born near the Blue Sulphur Springs, in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia), raised by Andrew Johnston. An American Saddlebred, he was of the Gray Eagle stock, and, as a colt, took the first prize at the Lewisburg, Virginia, fairs in 1859 and 1860. As an adult gelding, he was a sturdy horse, 16 hands high and 1,100 pounds (500 kg), iron gray in color with black points, a long mane and flowing tail.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flip
A 1960s female hairstyle that featured shoulder length, essentially straight, blunt cut hair that turned up dramatically and uniformly on the ends. Sometimes worn with a middle or side part and at other times combed back and held off the forehead with a hair band.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flattop
See Balboa notes
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word crew cut
A crew cut is a type of haircut in which the hair is cut fairly short. The term was most likely coined to describe the haircut worn by members of the Yale rowing crew. The name drew a contrast with football players of the time, who wore long hair to compensate for flimsy leather helmets.
The crew cut was adopted by the United States armed forces during World War II, and became a civilian fashion for men throughout the 1950s.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word balboa
Balboa haircut, crew cut or flattop on top with long sides combed/greased back into a ducktail in the back. Seen in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word comet
Comet is a powdered cleaning product sold in North America and distributed in the USA by Prestige Brands. Scratch Free Comet with Bleach Disinfectant Cleanser contains 1.2% sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate and 98.8% "other" ingredients. The only clues about the other ingredients in the product are disclaimers on the label that mention that the surfactants in the product are biodegradable and that it contains no phosphate. Despite being labeled as scratch free, its label instructs to use plenty of water on delicate surfaces. Comet is not recommended for use on silver, painted surfaces, walls, soft plastic, aluminum, or rubber, except for tires. Mixing Comet with other cleaners, specifically toilet bowl cleaners and products that contain ammonia, is dangerous.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fibula
See also safety pin
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Inflected Form(s): plural fib·u·lae \-lē, -lī\ or fib·u·las
Etymology: Latin, pin, clasp; akin to Latin figere to fasten
Date: 1578
1 : the outer and usually smaller of the two bones between the knee and ankle in the hind or lower limbs of vertebrates
2 : a clasp resembling a safety pin used especially by the ancient Greeks and Romans
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word safety pin
The origin of the safety pin dates back to the Mycenaeans during the 14th century BC (Late Mycenaean III era). They are known as fibulae (singular fibula) and were used in the same manner as modern day safety pins. In fact, the very first fibulae of the 14th and 13th centuries B.C. looked remarkably like the safety pin. The origin of the fibulae is detailed in Chr. Blinkenberg's 1926 book Fibules grecques et orientales.
The safety pin was reinvented in July 1849 by American inventor Walter Hunt. The rights to the invention were sold for $400.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scotch tape
The precursor to the current 3-M tapes was developed in the 1930s by Richard Drew to seal a then-new transparent material known as cellophane. Although it is a trademarked brand name, it is sometimes used in the US and elsewhere as a generic term for transparent adhesive tape. The Scotch brand includes many different constructions of tape.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word five and dime
See also dimestore
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dimestore
The concept of the variety store originated with the five and ten, or nickel and dime, or five and dime, or dimestore, a store where everything cost either five cents (a nickel) or ten cents (a dime). The originator of the concept may be Woolworths, which began in 1878 in Watertown, New York. Other five and tens that existed in the USA included W.T. Grant, J.J. Newberry's, McCrory's, Kresge, McClellan's, and Ben Franklin Stores.,/i>
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word penny loafer
A low flat "loafer" style shoe with a decorative stylized fold or slot on the front top. A 1950s fad involved the wearing of a shiny new penny in this fold...hence the name.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word saddle shoes
Saddle shoes are two-toned leather footwear, the normal coloration is white and black, although other colorations are frequently sold. The toe and back of the shoe are white and the name comes from the saddle of black leather on the middle part which has the eyelets. Saddle shoes are worn by both men and women. They were hugely popular in the 1950s.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word poodle skirt
Postwar American style:
A wide swing felt skirt of a solid color displayed a design appliquéd or transferred to the fabric. The design was of course a coiffed French poodle.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beauty mark
A beauty mark or beauty spot is a dark facial mole that some people consider attractive, usually when it is within about an inch of the upper lip or around the eyes, and does not protrude from the skin (not polypoid). Doctors call them melanocytic nevus, more specifically the compound variant. Moles may also be located elsewhere on the body, but are not generally considered beauty spots.
False beauty spots can be applied to the face as a form of make-up. Beauty marks were particularly highly regarded during the 18th century and creating false ones became common, often in fanciful shapes such as hearts. Marilyn Monroe's beauty mark generated a new vogue for them during the twentieth century.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word spit curl
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
noun
Etymology: probably from its being sometimes plastered down with saliva
Date: 1831
: a spiral curl that is usually plastered on the forehead, temple, or cheek
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bobby pin
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: perhaps from 4bob
Date: 1926
: a flat wire hairpin with prongs that press close together
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pin curl
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1896
: a curl made usually by dampening a strand of hair with water or lotion, coiling it, and securing it by a hairpin or clip
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word binky
Another name for a baby's pacifier
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word high chair
Meriam-Webster Dictionary
noun
Date: 1848
: a child's chair with long legs, a footrest, and usually a feeding tray
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word babee tenda
Babee Tenda is a children's furniture company to this day but in the 1950s they manufactured a unigue baby feeding table that was known by the same name as the company. A babee tenda was a square table with a hole cut in the middle of it that had a baby seat attached. It was on four legs with casters and doubled as an activity table. It was very popular and used in place of a high chair. They folded up and stored easily.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word umbrella stroller
In 1965, Owen Maclaren, an aeronautical engineer, listened to his daughter complain about traveling from England to America with her heavy pram. Maclaren knew that she needed something with a light frame that could fold up compactly. Using his knowledge of aeroplanes, Maclaren designed a stroller with an aluminum frame and created the first true umbrella stroller. He then went on to found Maclaren which manufactured and sold his new design.
_Wikipedia
These lightweight strollers that folded up so like an umbrella does, were nicknamed umbrella strollers.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word city chicken
City chicken is a food entrée comprised of cubes of meat that are placed on a wooden skewer (approximately 4-5 inches long), breaded, then fried and/or baked. The origins of the entrée and its name are not entirely known, however it is rumored to have begun during the Depression Era, when people took meat scraps and fashioned a make-shift drumstick out of them. Sometimes the meat was ground, and a drumstick-shaped mold was used to form the ground meat around a skewer. Today, better cuts of meat (usually pork loin, beef, and/or veal) are used. In spite of the name, the dish usually contains no chicken.
The dish (and hence the term) seem to be regionalized to the areas surrounding Pittsburgh, PA, ranging from Central Pennsylvania, Northern West Virginia, to as far west as the western suburbs of Cleveland, OH and Hamtramck, MI. It is also known as mock chicken.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word winnebago
Lake Winnebago is a large freshwater lake in eastern Wisconsin. It is the third largest natural freshwater lake completely within a U.S. state (behind Lake Okeechobee (Florida) and Red Lake (Minnesota)) respectively.
_Wikipedia
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word oneida
(Onyota'a:ka or Onayotekaono, meaning the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone, Thwahrù•nęˀ in Tuscarora)
The Weirdnet usage of "warlike" is racist. Also they still live in New York, not just "formerly".
There is also a separate but related sovereign nation of Oneida in Wisconsin.
February 1, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ibizan hound
The Ibizan Hound, pronounced "I-bee-than" or "I-beez-an", also called Podenco Ibicenco in Spanish or Ca Eivissenc in Catalan, is an agile, deer-like dog of the hound family. There are two hair types of the breed: smooth and wire. The more commonly seen type is the smooth. Some consider there to be a third type, long, but most consider the longhair to be a variation of the wire.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word girl scout cookie
Thin Mints and Savannahs RULE!
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word girl scout cookie
A Girl Scout cookie is one of several varieties of cookie sold on neighborhood tours by Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) as a fundraiser for their organization. Members of the GSUSA have been selling cookies since 1917 to raise funds for their units. Top-selling girls can earn prizes for their efforts.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word webelo
One of the ranks in the Cub Scouts (Boy Scouts of America)
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cub scout
A Cub Scout is a member of the section of the worldwide Scouting movement for young persons, mainly boys normally aged 8–10. Originally, like the Boy Scouts, Cub Scouting was for boys only; girls were expected to join the Brownies and then the Girl Guides or Girl Scouts. Since about 1990 the Cubs has been open to both girls and boys in several countries. In the USA, it is exclusively open for boys to join.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word camp fire girl
Camp Fire USA is a nationwide youth organization that began on March 17, 1910 as Camp Fire Girls. The organization has been co-ed since 1975 and has youth from pre-kindergarten through age 21. For a time it was known as just Camp Fire and then as Camp Fire Boys and Girls as more boys joined the organization.
The organizational history and the story of the origins of Camp Fire are complex, but the short version would be that Camp Fire Girls was founded in 1910 by some of the same people who founded Boy Scouts of America. Luther Gulick and his wife Charlotte Vetter Gulick are credited as "official founders" of Camp Fire Girls.
In 1913, the "Blue Bird" program was introduced for younger girls and offered exploration of ideas and creative play built around family and community life. In 1989 the "Blue Bird" level became the "Starflight" level.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word 4-h
4-H in the United States is a youth organization administered by the Cooperative Extension System of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development."1 The four "H"'s stand for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kewpie doll
Kewpie dolls and figurines are based on illustrations by Rose O'Neill that appeared in Ladies' Home Journal in 1909. These illustrations, which incorporated words and pictures with the recurring Kewpie characters, are considered to be early versions of the comic strip medium. The small dolls were extremely popular in the early 1900s. They were first made out of bisque and then celluloid. In 1949, Effanbee created the first hard plastic versions.
Their name, often shortened to "Kewpies", in fact is derived from "Cupid.". The early dolls, especially signed or bisque, are highly collectible and worth thousands of dollars. The time capsule at the 1939 New York World's Fair contained a Kewpie doll.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word round up
Round Up is an amusement ride consisting of circular horizontal platform with vertical cage like wall around the edge. The platform is attached to a motor on a hydraulic arm. The ride starts out by spinning until the centripetal force is enough to push riders against the wall. Then, the arm raises the horizontal platform to a vertical position in which riders, instead of spinning horizontally, are now spinning vertically.
The ride spins for a predetermined cycle until an automatic timer releases the hydraulic fluid from the arm causing the platform to return to its horizontal position.
In the UK this ride is commonly known as the 'Meteorite' or 'Meteor'.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bumper car
Bumper car is the generic name for a type of flat ride consisting of several small electric cars that draw their power from an overhead grid, which is turned off by the operator at the end of a session. They are also known as dodgem cars, or simply dodgems, the last name being the usual term in British English.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word zipper
The Zipper is a carnival ride designed in 1968 by Chance Rides Manufacturing, Inc., an American manufacturer of amusement rides based in Wichita, Kansas. This ride is noted for the extreme g-forces felt by its riders. The Zipper is still a very popular attraction at many fairs and carnivals.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rock-o-plane
The Rock-O-Plane is an amusement park ride. Its shape is similar to that of a Ferris wheel, but with seats that are enclosed and rock and roll as the ride turns. If the rocking builds sufficient momentum the seats will flip upside-down and end-over-end.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tilt-a-whirl
The Tilt-A-Whirl is a platform-type ride, consisting of seven freely-spinning cars that hold four riders each, which are attached at fixed pivot points on a rotating platform. As the platform revolves, parts of the platform are raised and lowered, and the resulting centrifugal and gravitational forces on the cars cause them to randomly spin in different directions and at variable speeds. The weight of passengers in these cars may intensify or dampen the spinning motion of the cars, adding to the random nature of the motion.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word funhouse
Most common funhoue devices:
A slide, usually much taller and steeper than you would find on a playground. Some were as much as two stories high. Slides of comparable size can be seen today on carnival midways as separate attractions. Most were made of polished hardwood, and riders would sit on burlap mats to protect themselves from friction burns and to ensure that rubber-soled shoes didn't slow the slider down.
A large spinning disk. While the disk was stationary patrons would get on and sit in the center, then the opeator would start the disk spinning, and people would be thrown off by centripetal force, ending up against a padded wall. A variation was a disk with a raised center, shaped much like a Bundt cake mold; as the device speeded up people would slide downhilll as well as outward.
A horizontal revolving cylinder or "barrel" to try to walk through without falling down.
Sections of floor that undulated up and down, tipped from side to side or moved forward and back, either motorized ore activated by the person's weight. Stairs that moved up and down or tipped from side to side. The industry refers to these and similar devices as “floor tricks.�?
Compressed air jets shooting up from the floor, originally designed to blow up women's skirts, but effective at startling almost anyone and making them jump and scream.
An array of distorting mirrors.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word shooting gallery
A game at traveling carnivals, county/state fair midways, funfairs, entertainment boardwalks and amusement parks, featuring a pellet gun and typically either numerous moving mechanical tracks with small targets worth various minor prizes or points towards a major prize, or a paper target with a star on it which must be completely shot away to win a prize.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word snow cone
A snow cone (or sno cone) is a dessert item usually made of crushed or shaved ice flavored with brightly colored sugary syrup, usually fruit-flavored. Some are served with a spoon, and some are eaten with the hands like an ice cream cone.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ferris wheel
Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of an upright wheel with passenger gondolas suspended from the rim.
Ferris wheels are a common type of amusement park ride and may also be found at urban parks and public places. Ferris wheels usually hold about 50-100 people.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hot cross bun
Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
one ha' penny,
two ha' penny,
hot cross buns.
If you have no daughters,
give them to your sons,
one ha' penny,
two ha' penny,
Hot Cross Buns
A hot cross bun is a type of sweet spiced bun made with currants and leavened with yeast. It has a cross on the top which might be made in a variety of ways: it could be pastry, made from a simple flour and water mixture, cut from rice paper and glazed onto the bun, iced, or simply cut into the bun itself.
In many historically Christian countries, the buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the crucifixion. They are believed by some to pre-date Christianity, although the first recorded use of the term "hot cross bun" is not until 1733.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hershey's kiss
Hershey's Kisses are a type of chocolate manufactured by The Hershey Company. The bite-sized pieces of chocolate have a distinctive shape, commonly described as flat-bottomed teardrops. Hershey's Kisses are wrapped in squares of lightweight aluminum foil with a narrow strip of paper protruding from the top.
The Kisses are one of the most popular candies in the world.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rock hound
Rockhounding is the recreational collecting of rocks and/or mineral specimens from their natural environment. Rock hound, one such collector.
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word punk rock hound
A punk rock hound is a musician who is morally reprehensible or one who has large drooping ears.
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word the joy of looking
A book for people who can't get anything cooking.
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word carnauba wax
Carnauba is a wax derived from the leaves of a plant native to northeastern Brazil, the carnauba palm (Copernicia prunifera). It is obtained from the leaves of the carnauba palm by collecting them, beating them to loosen the wax, then refining and bleaching the wax.
Carnauba wax can produce a glossy finish and as such is used in automobile waxes, shoe polishes, food products such as candy corn, guitar polishes, and floor and furniture polishes, especially when mixed with beeswax. It is used as a coating on dental floss. Use for paper coatings is the most common application in the United States. It is the main ingredient in surfboard wax, combined with coconut oil.
In foods, it is used as a formulation aid, lubricant, release agent, anticaking agent, and surface finishing agent in baked foods and mixes, chewing gum, confections, frostings, fresh fruits and juices, gravies, sauces, processed fruits and juices, soft candy, tic tacs and Altoids.
_Wikipedia
YUM!
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bryn mawr
There is a town in south Wales where my grandfather was born called Brynmawr or Bryn-mawr. It means "big hill."
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beck
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: Middle English bek, from Old Norse bekkr; akin to Old English bæc brook, Old High German bah
Date: 14th century
British : creek
"Oh, dear, if I was but a little chap in Vendale again, to see the clear beck, and the apple-orchard, and the yew-hedge, how different I would go on!"
_Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word atomy
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Inflected Form(s): plural at·o·mies
Etymology: irregular from Latin atomi, plural of atomus atom
Date: 1591
: a tiny particle
"Hey!" he said, "why it's you, Tom! I suppose you have come here to laugh at me, you spiteful little atomy."
_Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lucky stone
The ear-bones (otoliths) of freshwater drumfish or lake sheephead which are quite large and resemble porcelain in their peculiar whiteness, and have a semblance of the letter "L" seemingly cut on them. From this circumstance they are known as "lucky stones."
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lucky stone
Small smooth white pebbles of quartz found in abundance in Ohio and probably elsewhere around the Great Lakes, Lake Erie in particular, worn smooth by the action of the water. Beloved of children. Of course powerful talismans of good luck.
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs: The strewing of which is an ineffective way of marking one's path home. Just ask Hansel and Gretel.
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word marco
The boy of And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word marco
The boy who is fishing in McElligot's Pool.
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fast wood nation
Har, indeed!
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word blundderbuss
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: by folk etymology from obsolete Dutch donderbus, from Dutch donder thunder + obsolete Dutch bus gun
Date: 1654
1 : a muzzle-loading firearm with a short barrel and flaring muzzle to facilitate loading
2 : a blundering person
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word corroboree
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: Dharuk (Australian aboriginal language of the Port Jackson area) garaabara
Date: 1811
1: a nocturnal festivity with songs and symbolic dances by which the Australian aborigines celebrate events of importance
2Australian a: a noisy festivity
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pow-wow
Pow-wow is a system of American folk religion and magic associated with the Pennsylvania Dutch. It comes from the book Pow-wows, or, The Long Lost Friend, written by John George Hohman and first published in German as Der Lange Verborgene Freund in 1820. Despite the Native name, taken from an Algonquian word for a shaman, the collection is actually a very traditional collection of European magic spells, recipes, and folk remedies, of a type familiar to students of folklore. They mix Roman Catholic prayers, magic words, and simple rituals to cure simple domestic ailments and rural troubles. Once these charms and spells were written down in English, they escaped the (originally German) Pennsylvania Dutch community and influenced hoodoo and other forms of folk magic and folk religion in the United States.
_Wikipedia
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tidewaiter
TheFreeDictionary.com
n.
A customs officer who boards incoming ships at a harbor.
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word moke
"For there they were all turned into mokes with ears a yard long, for meddling with matters which they do not understand, as Lucius did in the story. And like him, mokes they must remain, till, by laws of development, the thistles develop into roses. Till then, they must comfort themselves with the thought that the longer their ears are, the thicker their hides; and so a good beating don't hurt them."
_from Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gastrocnemius
"And whether he would have ever escaped out of the town it is hard to say, if the dog had not taken it into his head that they were going to pull his master in pieces, and tackled them so sharply about the gastrocnemius muscle that he gave them some business of their own to think of at last; and while they were rubbing their bitten calves, Tom and the dog got safe away."
_from Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word spirit rapping
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
1852
: communication by raps held to be from the spirits of the dead
Also spirit-rapping
January 31, 2008
treeseed commented on the word strega
Hereditary Italian witchcraft, a practitioner of that religion
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word garage band
Producers of some of the finest rock 'n' roll ever.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
an amateur rock band typically holding its rehearsals in a garage and usually having only a local audience
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fava
"Fava is a plant long associated with the Underworld, spirits of the dead, and chthonic forces in general."
_Raven Grimassi in Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft.
Fava beans are used in magical workings in the practice of Strega or hereditary Italian witchcraft. They are a fertility symbol and it is said that tiny likenesses of both male and female human genitalia can be seen by viewing the fava bean side-on.
Vicia faba, the broad bean, fava bean, faba bean, horse bean, field bean, tic bean is a species of bean (Fabaceae) native to north Africa and southwest Asia, and extensively cultivated elsewhere. Although usually classified in the same genus Vicia as the vetches, some botanists treat it in a separate monotypic genus as Faba sativa Moench.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word slumlord
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: slum + landlord
Date: 1953
: a landlord who receives unusually large profits from substandard properties
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dichondra
Dichondra micrantha was very popular in southern California in the 1950s and 1960s as a grass substitute for lawns. When I lived there in the 60s almost everyone in our neighborhood had a dichondra lawn. They were beautiful, thick, glossy, lush, neat and cool. They did not require mowing. When I returned to my old neighborhood for a visit in 2005 there was not one dichondra lawn to be seen. Not sure why. They were something of a status symbol back in the day.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word stone skipping
Stone skipping is a pastime which involves throwing a stone with a flattened surface across a lake or other body of water in such a way that it bounces off the surface of the water. The object of the game is to see how many times a stone can be made to bounce before sinking. In North America it is also referred to as "skipping rocks".
The pastime is also called stone skimming, stone skiting, and ducks and drakes in the UK; and stone skiffing in Ireland according to Jerdone "Jerry" Coleman-McGhee, in his book, The Secrets of Stone Skipping.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jump rope
Also called skip rope or skipping rope
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dreidel
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: Yiddish dreydl, from dreyen to turn, from Middle High German drǣjen, from Old High German dr�?en — more at throw
Date: 1916
1 : a 4-sided toy marked with Hebrew letters and spun like a top in a game of chance
2 : a children's game of chance played especially at Hanukkah with a dreidel
See teetotum
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word teetotum
A teetotum is a form of gambling top. It has a polygonal body marked with letters or numbers, which indicate the result of each spin. In its earliest form the body was square (in some cases via a stick through a regular six-sided die), marked on the four sides by the letters A (Lat. aufer, take) indicating that the player takes one from the pool, D (Lat. depone, put down) when a fine has to be paid, N (Lat. nihil, nothing), and T (Lat. totum, all), when the whole pool is to be taken.
Some accounts give such letters as P, N, D (dimidium, half), and H or T or other combinations of letters.
Other combinations of letters that could be found were:
NG, SZ, TA, TG, NH, ND, M.
Which stood for (In Latin):
ZS - Zona Salve, save all
TA - Tibi Adfer, take all
NH - Nihil Habeas, nothing left
LS - L (i.e., 50) Solve, save 50
ND - Nihil Dabis, nothing happens
Teetotum survives today as dreidel, a Jewish game played on Hanukkah.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pack ice
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1850
: sea ice formed into a mass by the crushing together of pans, floes, and brash
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sugarloaf
a hill or mountain shaped like a sugarloaf
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hoodiecrow
The Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) (sometimes called Hoodiecrow) is a Eurasian bird species in the crow genus. Widely distributed, it is also known locally as Scotch Crow, Danish Crow, and Grey Crow in Ireland, which is what its Welsh name, Brân Lwyd, translates as.
It is so similar in morphology and habits to the Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) that for many years they were considered by most authorities to be merely geographical races of one species. The fact that hybridization was observed where their ranges overlapped added weight to this view. However, since 2002, the Hooded Crow has been elevated to full species status after closer observation the hybridisation was less than expected and hybrids had decreased vigour.
_Wikipedia
Described at length in Chapter VII of Water Babies by Charles Kingsley, 1937. Seen elsewhere in literature in The Tale of the Hoodie which is a Scottish fairy tale, collected by John Francis Campbell in his Popular Tales of the West Highlands. Andrew Lang included it, as The Hoodie-Crow, in The Lilac Fairy Book.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word greys
In ufology, Greys, also known as Roswell aliens, Zetas, and Reticulians, are aliens or extraterrestrial life forms that appear in purported modern day encounters and other UFO-related paranormal phenomena. Said to be one of several species of aliens, greys make up approximately 75 percent of all aliens reported in the United States, 20 percent of all aliens reported in Continental Europe, and 12 percent of all aliens reported in Great Britain.
Typically, Greys are described as being either approximately 120 cm (four feet) tall or over six feet tall, with grey (sometimes blue-grey/green-grey) skin. Their body is typically described as being elongated, and lacking in muscular definition. Their legs are shorter and jointed differently than one would expect in a human, giving them an apparently awkward gait. Their arms often reach down to their knees, and some accounts give them three digits, or three digits and a thumb on each hand. They have a bulbous, hairless head supported by a thin neck, which is dominated by large, (usually black) lidless eyes. They typically have small flat noses, small mouths and small ears lacking a pinna. In some cases, Greys are said to have slit-like nostrils on a flat face.
_Wikipedia
Written about extensively by authors Whitley Strieber and Budd Hopkins.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word minchiate
Minchiate is a late-medieval card game, probably originating in 15th century Florence, Italy; it is no longer widely played. Minchiate can also refer to the special deck of playing cards used in the game. The deck is closely related to the tarot cards, but contains an expanded suit of trumps. The game was similar to tarocchi and the game of tarot. In the view of some people, the larger number of trump cards may shed light on what the original intentions of the creators of the Tarot deck meant by the images they included.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the list triads
The three Wisemen of The Nativity story
Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the list triads
Wham, Bam, Thank you, Ma'am
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the list triads
Maiden, Mother, Crone
Aspects of the Triple Goddess in Wicca
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word broken record breaker
Someone who's ear has gone numb so they've hung up the phone on their talkative friend.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word puka shell
Puka shells are pieces of a Cone Snail shell. Puka is the Hawaiian word for "hole" and refers to the naturally occurring hole in the middle of the shell fragment.
The shell of the Cone Snail is cone-shaped, and closed at the larger end. While the abandoned shell is tossed in the surf and coral rubble, the pointed end is ground into sand. The "puka" is formed when the minor apex of the large end is eroded by the same forces that wear off the point.
_Wikipedia
In the midwestern United States at least Puka Shell necklaces were a huge fad in the early 1970s.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word the bungle
The Bush White House: America's going to the Dogs and you don't want to know what's in 'em.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word the colon purple
Celie puts her foot up Mister's butt and takes charge of her own fate.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word crave new world
While the rest of us eat Soma and take in the Feelies, the Bush family and the rest of the Illuminati work their agenda.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word great auk
The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis, formerly in genus Alca) is an extinct bird. It was the only species in the genus Pinguinus - flightless giant auks from the Atlantic - to survive until modern times, but it has been extinct since the mid-19th century. It was also known as garefowl or gairfowl (from the Old Norse geirfugl, meaning "spear-bird", a reference to the shape of its beak), or penguin (before the birds known today under that name were called so).
In the past, the Great Auk was found in great numbers on islands off eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Ireland and Great Britain, but it was eventually hunted to extinction.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gairfowl
An important character in Charles Kingsley's novel, Water Babies, 1937, is the Last of the Gairfowl, an ancient female Great Auk who advises Tom on his journey.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gairfowl
Also garefowl
Another name for the now extinct Great Auk
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word codbank
Webster's Third New International Dictionary Unabridged
noun
a submarine bank frequented by cod
"And away Tom went for seven days and seven nights due north-west, till he came to a great codbank, the like of which he never saw before. The great cod lay below in tens of thousands, and gobbled shell-fish all day long; and the blue sharks roved above in hundreds, and gobbled them when they came up."
_from Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word widow's weeds
clothes (usually black) worn during a period of mourning for her husband
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cock-and-bull story
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1778
: an incredible story told as true
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jew's harp
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1595
: a small lyre-shaped instrument that when held between the teeth gives tones from a metal tongue struck by the finger
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word capiz shell
Your Dictionary.com:
noun
whitish, translucent shell of the Philippines, used in making lamp shades, decorative articles, etc.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mother-of-pearl
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
noun
Date: circa 1510
: the hard pearly iridescent substance forming the inner layer of a mollusk shell
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pandy
In the early 1900s in Wales, my grandfather was pandied on the left hand to force him to use his right hand in penmanship.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ferule
See pandy
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pandy
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): pan·died; pan·dy·ing
Etymology: probably from Latin pande, imperative singular of pandere to spread out (the hand), command of the schoolmaster to the boy
Date: 1863
British : to punish (a schoolboy) with a blow on the palm of the hand especially with a ferule
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word groundswell
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1786
1.usually ground swell : a broad deep undulation of the ocean caused by an often distant gale or seismic disturbance
2: a rapid spontaneous growth (as of political opinion) a groundswell of support
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word perambulator
Also called a pram in Great Britain
Also called a baby carriage or a baby buggy in the United States
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word baby buggy
A baby carriage (in North American English), perambulator (in British English, perambulator is usually shortened to pram), generally used for newborn babies and have the infant lying down facing the pusher.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jalap
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: French & Spanish; French jalap, from Spanish jalapa, from Jalapa, Mexico
Date: 1644
1 a: the dried tuberous root of a Mexican plant (Ipomoea purga syn. Exogonium purga) of the morning-glory family; also : a powdered purgative drug prepared from it that contains resinous glycosides b: the root or derived drug of plants related to the one supplying jalap
2: a plant yielding jalap
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word carmex
Carmex is a topical lip balm which claims to reduce cold sores and dry chapped lips, supplied in a characteristic white container with a yellow cap. Carmex has been manufactured by Carma Laboratories in Franklin, Wisconsin since 1937. Its active ingredients include menthol, camphor, and phenol (an anesthetic). Also included are fragrance in petrolatum, natural lanolin, cocoa butter, salicylic acid, and a wax base. Many users find the menthol and camphor produce a cool, soothing sensation when applied.
It was created by Alfred Woelbing in the early 1930s, who originally sold it from the trunk of his car.
_Wikipedia
It is addicting, if you ask me!
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chapstick
ChapStick is a brand name for lip balm manufactured by Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, used in the United States, Australia, Canada, and United Kingdom. It is intended to help treat and prevent chapped lips; hence the name.
Due to ChapStick's popularity, the term has become a genericized trademark, used to refer to any lip balm contained in a lipstick-style tube and applied in the same manner as lipstick. However, the term is still a registered trademark, with rights exclusively owned by Wyeth.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mercurchrome
This was very similar to Methiolade but did not burn quite so badly. Some parents even said it did not burn at all. This was, of course, a lie.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word methiolade
A tincture used as an antiseptic for cuts and scrapes. Generally known as “Methiolade�? (aka Merthiolate or Mercuricom), it came in a little brown bottle with a glass applicator that looked like a dropper. In fact, this product contained mercury and the highly poisonous bacteriostat ingredient, Thimerosal. It stained the skin a pinkish-orange and burned like the fires of hell. When this happend the parent would caution the child to "blow on it" which did not help.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mercurchrome
A tincture that was a bright pinkish-orange and came in a small glass bottle. It was applied topically with a tiny glass applicator. It was 26% mercury and it was an amazing healing agent. It did sting! It was in common use in the early 1950s.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word argyrol
This nasty stuff was dark almost black, thick and incredibly drying and administered into the nose via a medicine dropper. It usually had to be combined with mineral oil because it was so drying. It made one's nose look monstrous. It was given to me as a child in the 1950s.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word vaporub
VapoRub ointment is a mentholated topical cream intended to assist with minor medical conditions that temporarily impair breathing, including the common cold. It is applied to the chest, often immediately before sleeping, or inhaled by melting it in very hot water. VapoRub was created in the 1880s by Lunsford Richardson, a Selma, North Carolina pharmacist, as a salve for treating colds and pneumonia. Richardson later moved to Greensboro, North Carolina and began marketing it as Vicks VapoRub, named in honor of his brother-in-law, Dr. Joshua Vick, a Selma physician. In 1948, Edward Mabry became president of Vicks, then known as the Vicks Chemical Company. In 1985, it was sold to Procter & Gamble.
Active Ingredients:
Camphor 4.8% (Cough suppressant and topical analgesic)
Eucalyptol 1.2% (Cough suppressant)
Menthol 2.6% (Cough suppressant and topical analgesic)
Inactive Ingredients
Cedarleaf oil
Nutmeg oil
special Petrolatum
Thymol
Turpentine oil
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word suffumigate
See vaporizer
In the 1950s Vicks VapoRub was combined with hot water vapor to suffumigate patients with bronchitis.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word vaporizer
When I was ill with bronchitis as a little girl my mother would rig up a vaporizer tent by putting a card table up over the head of my bed. This she would drape with a sheet. She would direct the long nozzle of the vaporizer machine under the sheet and suffumigate me with Vicks VapoRub. I would dwell in this little moist cave until my breathing was restored. In those days (the early 1950s) hot water vaporizers were used. They were incredibly dangerous and many children were burned by them. However, I loved this process because I imagined myself in wonderful tropic climes of deserted isles. I loved the vaporizer.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coralline
Merriam-Webster Dicitonary
noun
Date: 1543
1 : a coralline red alga
2 : a bryozoan or hydroid that resembles a coral
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word vain-glory
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 13th century
1 : excessive or ostentatious pride especially in one's achievements
2 : vain display or show
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word suffumigate
from The Free Dictionary:
v. t. 1. To apply fumes or smoke to the parts of, as to the body in medicine; to fumigate in part.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cluricaune
English name for the household sprite known in Irish as clúracán, clúrachán, clutharachán. The cluricaune is one of three kinds of solitary fairy in Ireland, the other two being the leprechaun and the far darrig. Dinneen's Dictionary (Dublin, 1927) defines the term only as ‘dwarfish sprite’. The cluricaune is usually a withered little man, like the leprechaun, but he may have more of a pink tinge to his nose. As a solitary fairy, he is more likely to be dressed in red than in green. He shows no desire to do work of any kind and is dressed like a weekend gentleman with silver buckles on his shoes, gold lace on his cap, and blue silk stockings below his breeches. Like the leprechaun, he may know where gold is hidden, but he may carry in addition the spré na scillenagh "shilling fortune" or sparán na scillinge "purse of shillings", a purse flowing with silver.
_Answers.com
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lutin
A lutin is the French name for a type of hobgoblin in French folklore and fairy tales. Female lutins are called lutines.
A lutin is like a hobgoblin in the mythology of Normandy, similar to house-spirits of Germany and Scandinavia. It sometimes takes the form of a horse.
Belief in lutins also spread to North America, particularly the Canadian province of Quebec, as spirits in the form of either pets (such as dogs or rabbits) or other common animals. Cats which are completely white are especially considered likely to be lutins, although seemingly any distinctive animal which dwells on or near the home may be regarded as such.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word marid
A Marid (Arabic : مارد ) in common mythology is a djinn associated with open waters of the Seas and Oceans where it finds sanctuary. Marids are mentioned in the Qur'an (in Sura As-Saaffat:7 (37:7): And to guard against every rebellious (Marid) devil.), as well as pre-Islamic Arabian mythology and throughout Asia.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mandarin orange
Canned mandarin segments are peeled to remove the white pith prior to canning; otherwise, they turn bitter. Segments are peeled using a chemical process. First, the segments are scalded in hot water to loosen the skin; then they are bathed in a lye solution which digests the albedo and membranes. Finally, the segments undergo several rinses in plain water.
_Wikipedia
I always thought these things didn't look natural.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coral castle
Coral Castle is a stone structure created by the Latvian-American eccentric, Edward Leedskalnin, north of the city of Homestead, Florida in Miami-Dade County at the intersection of U.S. Route 1 (South Dixie Highway) and Southwest 157th Ave. The structure comprises numerous megalithic stones (mostly coral), each weighing several tons.
_Wikipedia
Mysteries abound with regard to this place. One of the stones is engraved with this:
"The Secret of the Universe is 7129/6105195"
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word corn chowder
Corn chowder is a type of white chowder similar to New England clam chowder, with corn and bacon substituted for clams in the recipe.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the list peoples-is-peoples
Orville Redenbacher
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jiffy pop
Jiffy Pop is a popular brand of popcorn currently owned by ConAgra Foods. The product combines unpopped popcorn kernels and oil with an aluminum pan and folded aluminum foil lid. As the pan is heated, the popping corn causes the foil to unfold and puff up.
Fred Mennen of Indiana is credited with developing the product in 1958 after five years of experimentation. Mennen began marketing Jiffy Pop in 1959, and within one year it had reached the national U.S. market.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word popcorn ball
Popcorn combined with a thick sugar or molasses or caramel syrup and formed into balls. In my family and many other midwestern United States families that I know of these are wrapped in colored cellophane and used as Christmas tree ornaments or eaten as a Christmas treat.
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kettle corn
Kettle corn is a sweet-and-salty variety of popcorn that adds granulated sugar, salt, and oil.
In the 1700s, kettle corn was introduced to colonial palates in the United States. It is referenced in the diaries of Dutch Settlers in Pennsylvania circa 1776. It was a special festival/fair snack food.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word candy corn
Candy corn is a confection popular in the United States, particularly around Halloween. The candy is usually tri-colored with a yellow base, orange center, and white tip, although the color combinations may vary. Candy corn is made primarily from sugar, corn syrup and honey. Carnauba wax is usually added. Although it is most popular at Halloween, it is available year-round.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word indian corn
Another name for maize
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sweetcorn
Sweet corn (Zea mays var. rugosa), also called sweetcorn, sugar corn, or simply corn, is a variety of maize with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally-occurring recessive mutation in the genes which control conversion of sugar to starch inside the endosperm of the corn kernel. Unlike field corn varieties, which are harvested when the kernels are dry and fully mature, sweet corn is picked when immature and eaten as a vegetable, rather than a grain. Since the process of maturation involves converting sugar into starch, sweet corn stores poorly and must be eaten, canned, or frozen before the kernels become tough and starchy.
_Wikipedia
January 30, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rose garden variety
a common type of promise made by used car salesmen
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word deva
Also Deva
A Deva in the New Age movement refers to any of supposed the spiritual forces or beings behind nature. According to Theosophists like Leadbeater and Alice A. Bailey, Devas represent a separate evolution to that of humanity. The concept of Devas as nature-spirits derives from the writings of the Theosophist Geoffrey Hodson
In the Findhorn material, the term refers to archetypal spiritual intelligences behind species, in other words the group soul of a species. But elsewhere the term is used to designate any elemental or nature spirit, the equivalent of fairies.
_Wikipedia
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word elemental
An elemental is a mythological being first appearing in the alchemical works of Paracelsus. Traditionally, there are four types: gnomes, earth elementals; undines, water elementals; sylphs, air elementals; and salamanders, fire elementals.
_Wikipedia
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word taxman
"Let me tell you how it will be;
There's one for you, nineteen for me.
'Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don't take it all.
'Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman."
from Taxman by George Harrison, recorded by The Beatles on their Revolver album.
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word moonstone
also Moonstone
Moonstone glass, manufactured by Anchor Hocking, is a somewhat opaque white color. It is commonly found in hobnail with the bumps being solid white and the smooth glass part being more opaque. It was made in the 1930s and 1940s. Whole table settings were manufactured including several serving pieces. Candy dishes, flower vases and candle stick holders were also made in this pattern and color.
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word herne the hunter
In English mythology, Herne the Hunter is an equestrian ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park in the English county of Berkshire.
Herne is said to have been a huntsman in the employ of King Richard II (reigned 1377-1399) in and around Windsor Forest. He saved the King's life when he was attacked by a cornered white hart, but was mortally wounded himself in the process. A local wizard brought him back to health using his magical powers, which entailed tying the dead animal's antlers on Herne's head. In return, however, Herne had to give up his hunting skills. The other king's huntsmen framed him as a thief. As a result he lost the favor of the king. He was found the next day, hanging dead from a lone oak tree. That same oak tree is in the Home Park at Windsor Castle.
_Wikipedia
In some traditions of modern Wicca, Herne the Hunter is seen as a manifestation of the horned god, god of the forest, the green world.
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hellebore
"Now the doctors had it all their own way; and to work they went in earnest, and they gave the poor professor divers and sundry medicines, as prescribed by the ancients and moderns, from Hippocrates to Feuchtersleben, as below, viz.:-
1. Hellebore, to wit -
Hellebore of Aeta.
Hellebore of Galatia.
Hellebore of Sicily.
And all other Hellebores, after the method of
the Helleborizing Helleboreists of the
Helleboric era. But that would not do.
Bumpsterhausen's blue follicles would not
stir an inch out of his encephalo digital
region.
_from Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scarlet fever
Scarlet fever is a disease caused by an exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes Group A and occurs rarely with impetigo or other streptococcal infections. It is characterized by sore throat, fever, a 'strawberry' tongue, and a fine sandpaper rash over the upper body that may spread to cover almost the entire body. This disease was also once known as Scarlatina (from the Italian scarlattina).
_Wikipedia
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scarlatina
Another name for Scarlet fever
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hidalgo
Hidalgo in Spanish were traditional titles of persons of nobility or gentry, derived from hijo de algo "son of some (important family)".
_Wikipedia
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word water ouzel
"Water Ouzel, an alternative name for the White-throated Dipper, a dark waterside bird with a white throat, superficially like a thrush though not closely related."
_Wikipedia
"...drink in at your eyes the beauty of that glorious place, and listen to the water ouzel piping on the stones..."
from Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scald cream
Also called clotted cream
A delicacy of Cornwall
"Ah, my little man, when you are a big man, and fish such a stream as that, you will hardly care, I think, whether she be roaring down in full spate, like coffee covered with scald cream, while the fish are swirling at your fly as an oar-blade swirls in a boat-race..."
from Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word clotted cream
Also called scald cream or scalded cream.
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word water-meadow
A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were common in Italy, Switzerland, and England (from 1523) but working water-meadows have now largely disappeared.
_Wikipedia
"Or was it such a salmon stream as I trust you will see among the Hampshire water-meadows before your hairs are gray, under the wise new fishing laws..."
from Water Babies - Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word shapeshifting
Your stapler is a shapeshifter. Why do you think they call it Swingline...that's just insider shapeshifter vernacular.
January 29, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nosey parker
(n): busybody
The term Nosey Parker isn’t recorded until 1907. The term nosey for someone inquisitive, figuratively always sticking their nose into other people’s affairs, is a little older, dating back to the 1880s. Before that, anyone called nosey was just somebody with a big nose, like the Duke of Wellington, nicknamed Old Nosey.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the user rolig
Hello rolig,
Thank you for sharing the word stridulation but even moreso thank you for the wonderful citation about John Collier and Fancies and Goodnights. I plan to try to get a copy of it today.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word abishag
Abishag - "father of error", a young woman of Shunem, distinguished for her beauty. She was chosen to be a helper and servant to David in his old age. Among Abishag's jobs was to lie next to David and keep him warm; however, David did not have sexual relations with her. (1 Kings 1:4). After David's death Adonijah persuaded Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, to entreat the king to permit him to marry Abishag. Solomon suspected in this request an aspiration to the throne, and therefore caused him to be put to death (1 Kings 2:17-25). On the other hand, some point to the possibility that Abishag is the female protagonist in the Song of Songs and that Solomon put Adonijah to death in order to obtain Abishag for himself.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the user sionnach
Those last few words, barleychild, ballicatter and the others in that group...SPLENDID!
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ascian
ascian (ASH-ee-in)- a person without a shadow
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word balm of gilead
Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'
excerpt from The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word balm of gilead
Balm of Gilead is a healing compound (a balm) made from the resinous gum of the North American tree species Populus candicans.
It takes its name from the allusive phrase "balm in Gilead", referring to the balm or balsam carried from Gilead by the caravan of merchants to whom Joseph was sold by his brothers (Genesis chapter 37).
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word balm of gilead
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Etymology: Gilead, region of ancient Palestine known for its balm
Date: 1629
: an agency that soothes, relieves, or heals
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the user sonofgroucho
Here is a nice word for your Naughty Words list..
Mound of Venus
In females the mons pubis is sometimes called the mons veneris (Latin, mound of Venus).
How cool is that?
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word teen angel
Written by Jean Surrey & Red Surrey and recorded by Mark Dinning
"...That fateful night the car was stalled
upon the railroad track
I pulled you out and we were safe
but you went running back
Teen angel, can you hear me
Teen angel, can you see me
Are you somewhere up above
And I am still your own true love
What was it you were looking for
that took your life that night
They said they found my high school ring
clutched in your fingers tight..."
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word strid
Webster's Dictionary, 1913 edition
(Strid) n. A narrow passage between precipitous rocks or banks, which looks as if it might be crossed at a stride. Prov. Eng. Howitt.
"...on through narrow strids and roaring cataracts, where Tom was deafened and blinded for a moment by the rushing waters..."
_From Water Babies, Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word eft
"Come away, children,"said the otter in disgust, "it is not worth eating after all. It is only a nasty eft, which nothing eats, not even those vulgar pike in the pond."
from Water Babies, Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word burn
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German brunno spring of water
Date: before 12th century
creek
"And the otter grew so sentimental (for otters can be very sentimental when they choose, like a good many people who are both cruel and greedy, and no good to anybody at all) that she sailed solemnly away down the burn, and Tom saw her no more for that time."
_Water Babies, Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pollard
See withy
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word withy
'...perhaps you can get up at five in the morning, and go down to Cordery's Moor, and watch by the great withy pollard which hangs over the backwater, where the otters breed sometimes, and then say, if otters at play in the water are not the merriest, lithest, gracefullest creatures you ever saw."
_Water Babies, Charles Kingsley, 1937
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word caddis fly
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 1787
: any of an order (Trichoptera) of insects with four membranous usually hairy wings, vestigial mouthparts, slender many-jointed antennae, and aquatic larvae
Caddis fly larvae are among the fanciful creatures that the central figure Tom encounters in the under water world in Charles Kingsley's novel Water Babies, 1937
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hue and cry
Merriam_Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: hue outcry
Date: 15th century
1 a: a loud outcry formerly used in the pursuit of one who is suspected of a crime b: the pursuit of a suspect or a written proclamation for the capture of a suspect
2: a clamor of alarm or protest
See also hue
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word big wheel
A Big Wheel is a type of tricycle, traditionally made of plastic, with an oversized front wheel, that rides very low to the ground. Introduced by Louis Marx and Company in 1969, the Big Wheel was a very popular toy in the 1970s in the United States, partly because of its low cost and partly because consumer groups said it was a safer alternative to the traditional tricycle or bicycle.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hula hoop
In 1957 the hula hoop was reinvented by Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, founders of the Wham-O toy company. The new Hula Hoops were made possible by Marlex, a recently invented durable plastic.
Knerr and Medlin were unable to patent their vastly profitable "re-invention", as it had been in use for thousands of years; making the device out of a new material did not meet patent requirements of originality. They were largely able, however, to protect their invention by trademarking "Hula hoop".
After the hoop was released in 1958, Wham-O sold over 100 million in two years. As the fad ran its course, Wham-O again struck lucky with the release of their Frisbee.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hokey pokey
Same thing.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word four square
Four square is a ball game played among four players on a square court divided into quadrants.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word marco polo
The game of Marco Polo is a form of tag or blind man's bluff often played in a swimming pool. The game is popular in the UK, United States, Argentina, Canada, Paraguay, Spain and Brazil, and possibly in other parts of the world.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kick the can
Kick the can is a game, related to tag, hide and seek, and capture the flag which can be played outdoors by anywhere from three to a few dozen people.
In general the game goes something like this: One person (possibly a team of people) is (are) designated as "it" and a can (paint can or metal pail (bucket)) or similar object is placed in the open (usually the middle of a backyard,a green, a cove or cul de sac, parking lot or very lightly traveled street).
The other players run off and hide while the "it" covers his eyes and counts to a previously decided number.
"It" then tries to find and tag each of the players. Any player who is tagged (caught and touched) is sent to the holding pen (jail) which is simply a designated area for all the captured players to congregate, generally in plain sight of the can. Any player who has not been caught can "kick the can." If they can kick the can without being caught then they set all of the captured players free.
If "it" catches all of the players he or she wins that round and generally a new "it" is designated for the next round.
Thus this game is one of skill, strategy and stealth as well as fleetness.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word red rover
Red Rover is an outdoor game played primarily by children on playgrounds. "Red Rover" was very popular into the 1970s.
Players on a team hold hands, forming a "chain". The leader of a team will call a player from the opposing team. That player must try and break through two players' hands (a link) to stay on their own team. If the player is not able to break through the link, that team will gain control of that player. Before a player would try to break the link, the link would normally say "Red Rover, Red Rover, we call (player's name) over!"
Typically, the weaker players are chosen first to increase the chance of taking them.
When only one player is left on a team, they must try and break through a link. If they do not succeed, the opposing team wins. Otherwise, they are able to get a player back for their team.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word twister
Twister is a game of physical skill produced by Hasbro Games. The game includes a plastic sheet covered with large colored circles, which is spread out on the floor. Any number of people can play, though more than four is a tight fit.
The game has one spinner, divided into quarters by color; each quadrant specifies left foot, right foot, left hand, or right hand. After spinning, the combination is called; players must move the part to a matching location. No two people can have a part on the same circle (rules are different for more people). Due to the scarcity of colored circles, players will often be required to put themselves in unlikely or precarious positions, eventually resulting in someone's fall. The game is best played and more commonly played in barefeet to avoid falling.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chinese checkers
Chinese checkers or Chinese chequers is a board game that can be played by two to six people. The objective of the game is to place one's pieces in the corner opposite their starting position of a pitted 6-pointed star by single moves or jumps over other pieces. There are 121 marble slots on a Chinese checker board.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rubik's cube
Rubik's Cube (commonly misspelled rubix, rubick's or rubics cube) is a mechanical puzzle invented in 19741 by the Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the "Magic Cube" by its inventor, this puzzle was renamed "Rubik's Cube" by Ideal Toys in 1980.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lite-brite
Lite-Brite is an electric toy introduced in 1967 by Hasbro that allows lighted pictures to be created.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word horse
a game played with a basketball
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hokey pokey
Hokey Pokey, also known as Hokey Cokey, is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It is well known in English-speaking countries.
Put your whole self in. What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's all about?
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word slip 'n slide
The Slip 'n Slide is a toy manufactured by Wham-O for use on lawns in the summer.
The toy is a long sheet of thin plastic, flanked lengthwise on one side by a heat-sealed tubular fold. The tube can be attached to any ordinary garden hose. Water runs through the tube and out small perforations, spraying onto the sliding surface. The Slip 'n Slide then becomes very slippery, enabling users to dive onto the plastic and slide the length of the sheet. Household materials such as dish soap or oil can also be used to reduce friction on the sheet.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sprinkler
Many children love to run through the sprinkler on a hot summer day...but eventually it is too cold to endure!
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bubbles
A commercial soap preparation sold in a small plastic bottle with a bubble "wand" for use by children in blowing soap bubbles for amusement.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word crazy eights
Crazy Eights is a card game for two or more players. The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards to a discard pile.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word old maid
There are retail card decks specifically for playing Old Maid, but it is just as easy to play with a regular deck of 52 cards. In this case, one Queen is removed from the deck and the remaining 51 cards are used. Players try to collect tricks of pairs without drawing the single Queen or Old Maid.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rook
Rook is a trick-taking game, usually played with a specialized deck of cards. Sometimes referred to as "Christian cards" or "missionary poker", Rook playing cards were introduced by Parker Brothers in 1906 to provide an alternative to standard playing cards for those in the Puritan tradition who considered the face cards in a regular deck inappropriate because of their association with gambling and cartomancy.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mandelbrot set
This vid rules. Thanks for the smile.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cootie
The name of a table game, the object of which is to be the first player to complete a comic model of an insect from the supplied plastic parts, as determined by the roll of a die. Its rules are essentially the same as those of the dice game Beetle. The patent is held by Milton Bradley.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word colored eggs
One person is the "fox". One is the "mother hen". The other "eggs" line up next to each other, with the fox facing them. The mother hen whispers a color into the ear of each egg. The fox then says..."knock-knock", the line answers "who's there?". Fox replies "a hungry fox".
The line says.."what do you want?" Fox answers "colored eggs". The line yells "what color?". The fox then says a color. Whoever is that color then runs around a selected area (to the far oak tree in the yard and back to the mother hen, for example), with the fox giving chase.
If the wolf catches the "egg", then that person joins the fox's team or sits out, depending on how the kids want to play it.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mother may i
A playground game where one child plays the mother and the other children take direction from her as she commands various types of "steps" in various amounts. The first child to reach "mother" on the other end of the playing field becomes the new mother. Players must remember to ask "Mother May I"? before moving or they have to go back to the starting line.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hangman
Word guessing game
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dodgeball
Dodgeball (or dodge ball) is the name of a traditional game taught in physical education classes in the U.S. and Canada as well as other such parts of the world, usually in elementary school, but is played in middle, high school, college and as a professional sport as well. It is also popular in informal settings and is often played by schoolchildren on a playground or in a gym. There are many variations of the game, but each involve players trying to avoid being hit by a ball that players on the other team are throwing at them.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word roller skate
Remember the metal ones that fit over your regular shoes by means of clamps and then strapped around your ankle? You had to use a special key to adjust the size.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word betsy mccall
Betsy McCall was announced in April of 1951 and first appeared on the pages of McCall's magazine in May, 1951. She was a paper doll girl and a page about her activities appeared in each issue of McCall's Magazine. She usually appeared with three outfits to cut out. Sometimes members of her family or her friends and pets were included.
Eventually a line of plastic, poseable fashion dolls named Betsy McCall was produced.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word betsy wetsy
BETSY WETSY was made by the IDEAL TOY CORPORATION, New York, starting in the 1950s.
Made in the USA. She could be fed a bottle (water) through a small whole in her mouth and then she would produce a wet diaper shortly thereafter.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ginny doll
Hard plastic 8' fashion doll manufactured by the Vogue Doll Company with outfits sold separately that was wildly popular in the early 1950s.
Eyes opened and closed.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word yo-yo
See Duncan Imperial
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word double dutch
Double Dutch a sport in which one person jumps rope with two ropes and one or more people jumping simultaneously.
Playing Double Dutch involves at least three people total: one or more jumping and two turning the ropes.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word crissy doll
The Crissy Doll was created in the Ideal Toy Corporation's prototype department in 1968. This auburn-haired 18 inch (460 mm) fashion doll was known for the ability to adjust the length of its hair so a child could choose to make the hair short or long. While having stationary foundation or base hair rooted to its head, the Crissy doll also had another adjustable thick strand or lock of hair that emerged from an opening in the top of the doll’s head.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word erector set
Erector Set is the trade name of a toy construction set that was wildly popular in the United States during much of the 20th century. It consists of collections of small metal beams with regular holes for nuts, bolts, screws, and mechanical parts such as pulleys, gears, and small electric motors. Erector beams have flanges.
The Erector Set was invented by A.C. Gilbert in 1911, and was manufactured by the A. C. Gilbert Company at the Erector Square factory in New Haven, Connecticut, from 1913 until its bankruptcy in 1967.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word paint by number
Paint by number (or painting by numbers) are kits, popularized in the 1950s, by Max Klein and the Palmer Paint Company, among others. Included in the kits is a number board or canvas with corresponding paints to be filled in.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word slinky
A Slinky, or "Lazy-Spring," is a coil-shaped toy invented by mechanical engineer Richard James in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Slinkies come in various sizes. The shape is a simple helix, or coil design, of a ribbon of material, originally metal. The Slinky can "walk" down stairs as the coils stretch and reform as gravity moves them down each step.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bugs
Hi John,
Can't seem to move Mr. Potatoe Head. Might it be the period after the Mr? I get the 500 Application error.
Maybe the same thing that causes problems with the apostrophe is happening here.
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chinese jump rope
The game is typically played by three players (although more can participate) with a rope (or, more frequently, a string of rubber bands) of about 5-6 meters in length that has been tied into a circle. Two of the participants (holders) face each other about 3 meters apart, with their feet together, and position the rope around their ankles so that it is taut. The third player (the jumper) then stands between the two sides of the rope and must accomplish a specific series of moves without making an error or pausing.
Chinese Jump Rope is a universal game. German speaking children call Chinese Jump Rope Gummitwist, and is popular among young girls in Germany, Austria, Italy and countries of ex-Yugoslavia. In New Zealand and Great Britain children refer to the game as "Elastics". It is also known as skip-tape.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word frisbee
Wham-o classic flying disk
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tiddledywinks
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Pronunciation: \ˈti-dəl-dē-ˌwiŋ(k)s\
Variant(s): or tid·dly·winks \ˈti-dəl-ē-, ˈtid-lē-\
Function: noun plural but singular in construction
Etymology: probably from English dialect tiddly little, alteration of little
Date: 1892
: a game whose object is to snap small disks from a flat surface into a small container
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word silly putty
Silly Putty (originally called nutty putty) is a silicone plastic, marketed today as a toy for children, but originally created as an accident during the course of research into potential rubber substitutes for use by the United States during World War II.
_Wikipedia
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word radio flyer
Classic children's wagon
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flexible flyer
Classic child's sled
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word duncan imperial
Class yo-yo
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word louisville slugger
Classic Baseball bat
January 28, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dam dolls
Dam dolls came in several sizes but the collectible one that was the object of a huge fad in the 1960s was about three inches high.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dam dolls
See troll doll
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word troll doll
Troll dolls, originally known as Leprocauns and also known as Dam dolls, Wishniks, Treasure Trolls, and Norfins, became one of America's biggest toy fads beginning in the autumn of 1963, and lasting throughout 1965. With their brightly colored hair and cute faces, they were featured in both Life Magazine and Time Magazine in articles which commented on the "good luck" they would bring to their owners.
Trolls became fads again in brief periods throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, with as many as ten different manufacturers (such as Russ Berrie, Jakks Pacific, Applause, Hasbro, Mattel, Nyform, Trollkins and Ace Novelty) creating them.
_Wikipedia
In 1960s Ohio where I grew up and collected Troll or Dam Dolls as we called them...the only doll considered authentic and "cool" was the Dam doll. The true Dam doll had the word "dam" stamped on the back, between the shoulders. Imposters were many. The true original Dam doll only came with brown/amber eyes. Imposters had other eye colors as well. The quality was superior in the true Dam doll. Originals came with sheep wool hair and glass eyes.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cat scratch fever
Cat scratch fever is a usually benign infectious disease caused by the intracellular bacterium Bartonella. It is most commonly found in children 1-2 weeks following a cat scratch. It was first described in 1889 by Henri Parinaud.
_Wikipedia
The American rock guitarist Ted Nugent wrote a song called Cat Scratch Fever.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word weimaraner
Some have blue eyes and some have amber eyes.
There were a few early litters produced with long silky coats but these were culled because they did not conform to the desired breed standard.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word collie
Albert Payson Terhune (December 21, 1872 – February 18, 1942) was an American author, dog breeder, and journalist. He is best known for his novels relating the adventures of his beloved collies and as a breeder of collies at his Sunnybank Kennels, the lines of which still exist in today's Rough Collies.
_Wikipedia
His book, Lad: A Dog is perhaps his best known work and is about a magnificent sable and white rough coated collie.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pet rock
Pet Rocks were a 1970s fad conceived in Los Gatos, California by an advertising executive, Gary Dahl. The first Pet Rocks were ordinary gray pebbles bought at a builder's supply store and marketed as if they were live pets. The fad lasted only about six months, ending with the Christmas season in December 1975; but in its short run, the Pet Rock made Dahl a millionaire.
_Wikipedia
Gary Dahl...not dumb as a rock.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hunza
Hunza Valley (Urdu: �?نز�?) is a mountainous valley near Gilgit in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hunza
The people of Hunza, called Hunzakuts, are famous for robust health, longevity, valor, and self-reliance. Lifespan often exceeds 100.
Some attribute this health to "a simple diet of fresh food, no coffee or tea, no sugar, plenty of fruit, lots of minerals in the drinking water, and delicate meat in the winter only, from goats fed of the finest grass and herbs...they worked hard in the summer and climbed in the mountains for exercise and danced in the winter...there was little mental stress. We could trust our neighbors to help in a disaster...With such vigor and peace of mind combined, it is no wonder an average person lived to be 90 or 100."
(Aramco World Magazine, Jan.-Feb. 1983)January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word thermochromism
Thermochromism is the ability of substance to change color due to a change in temperature.
_Wikipedia
See mood ring
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mood ring
A mood ring is a ring which contains a thermochromic element, such as liquid crystal. The ring changes color in response to the body temperature of its wearer. The color is said, by some proponents, to indicate the emotional state of the wearer.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ball turret
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell. It was about a gunner in a Sperry ball turret on a World War II American bomber aircraft, who was killed and whose remains were unceremoniously hosed out of the turret. Jarrell, who served in the Army Air Force, provided the following explanatory note:
"A ball turret was a plexiglass sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two .50 caliber machine guns and one man, a short small man. When this gunner tracked with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from below, he revolved with the turret; hunched upsidedown in his little sphere, he looked like the fetus in the womb. The fighters which attacked him were armed with cannon firing explosive shells. The hose was a steam hose."
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ball turret
A ball turret was a particular form of aircraft gun turret mounted on aircraft during World War II. The most popular one was manufactured by the Sperry Corporation.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word puddle jumper
another term for a jalopy or a small automobile
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the user sionnach
I actually had to look up Hedwig and the Angry Inch...this place is very educational. ;)
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the list problem-words
going off the rails
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word warlock
Never used to describe a modern male practitioner of Wicca...a male witch is simply a male witch. To a Wiccan, warlock is at worst considered a derogatory term and at best a comic one.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word warlock
From Merriam-Webster Dictionary
noun
Etymology: Middle English warloghe, from Old English wǣrloga one that breaks faith, the Devil, from wǣr faith, troth + -loga (from lēogan to lie); akin to Old English wǣr true — more at very, lie
Date: 14th century
1 : a man practicing the black arts : sorcerer — compare witch
2 : conjurer
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hedgewitch
A Hedgewitch is someone who practices Hedgewitchery or Hedgecraft.
HedgeCraft is a spiritual path and is a form of Traditional Witchcraft. It is most commonly practiced by modern Pagans. Hedgecraft is based on the village wisewoman of European folklore.
Hedgewitches often practice herbalism, magick, wildcrafting, and many different forms of healing. The use of shamanic techniques is a part of this tradition. Such techniques as the use of trance inducing plants, drumming, dance, chanting and meditation. Hedgewitches are generally unconcerned with overly formal magical workings, preferring more simple folk magic.
_Wikipedia
Kitchen witch is a term sometimes used in place of the term hedgewitch in the United States.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kitchen witch
See hedgewitch
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kitchen witch
Kitchen witch is a term that refers to a practitioner of witchcraft or Wicca who uses only simple, ready to hand elements in their ritual and magical workings instead of elaborate tools, costumes and complex formulae. It also describes someone who uses basic home remedies or simple herbal magic or who practices folk magic rather than ceremonial or formal magic.
For a short time in the 1980s a small figurine of a long-nosed hag on a broomstick was popular in the midwestern United States and was hung in kitchens as a good luck talisman. This figurine was marketed and sold under the term "kitchen witch."
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word wine cellar
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Date: 14th century
: a room for storing wines; also : a stock of wines
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coins
In Tarot, another name for the suit of pentacles, relates to the suit of diamonds in regular playing cards, also the element of earth
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word diamonds
See rhombus
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rhombus
See diamonds
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word clubs
See trefoil
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word trefoil
See clubs
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is a change in the physical form or shape of a person or animal. Shapeshifting involves physical changes such as alterations of age, gender, race, or general appearance or changes between human form and that of an animal, plant, or inanimate object.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nixie
Nixie (aka Näcken / Nøkken) is a mythical, female water creature appearing in Scandinavian and Germanic folk tales. (The male counterpart is the "Nokk")
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word catch-as-catch-can
Very old form of freestyle wrestling that originated in the British Isles, essentially means you can grab a hold anywhere you can.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the list such-and-such
sugar and spice
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the list peoples-is-peoples
Engelbert Humperdinck
Pola Negri
Pia Zadora
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word charge of the goddess
The Charge of the Goddess is a traditional inspirational text sometimes used in Wicca. The earliest Wiccan version was written by Gerald Gardner, who drew from Charles Godfrey Leland's Aradia and other sources. Doreen Valiente, a student of Gardner, originally wrote a Charge in verse, and later in prose: the prose version is the one known today.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pinto
The pinto bean (Spanish: frijol pinto, literally "painted bean") is named for its mottled skin (compare pinto horse), hence it is a type of mottled bean. It is the most common bean in the United States and northwestern Mexico, and is most often eaten whole in broth or mashed and refried. Either whole or mashed, it is a common filling for burritos. The young pods may also be used as green beans.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word marl
Near King, Wisconsin there is a chain of lakes, many of which have marl bottoms. The white color of the marl makes the lakes appear to be a beautiful turquoise color. My favorite of the chain of lakes is tiny gemlike Marl Lake, a round brooch of bluish-green surrounded by tall pines. It is located in the Whispering Pines area of Hartman Creek State Park.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the list sweet-tooth-fairy
haunted house boat
(Like this?)
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nutella
Nutella is the brand name of a hazelnut-based sweet chocolate spread created by the Italian company Ferrero.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nutella
A graham cracker + a layer of smooth peanut butter + a layer of Nutella = pure bliss.
Tastes kind of like an upscale version of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the user gangerh
Hi gangerh. Welcome to Wordie.
I am a newby here, too. I also had trouble understanding what a citation was intended to be...and then I went insane and made so many citations...I was a kid in a candy store!
Citations are anything you put in the comment box of a word. Some of them are real notes about the word or its history and some are your personal observations about a word. Some are jokes. Some are free-association things...bits of poetry or song or literature that the word appears in or brings to mind. Some are just conversations between wordies...chit chat...for fun.
I hope to see you around.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rambling rose garden
See rambling rose
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word boxty
Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake. The dish is mostly associated with the north midlands, north Connacht and southern Ulster, in particular the counties of Sligo, Leitrim and Cavan. There are many different recipes but all contain finely grated, raw potatoes and all are served fried. The most popular version of the dish consists of finely grated, raw potato and mashed potato with flour, baking soda, buttermilk and sometimes egg. The grated potato may be strained to remove most of the starch and water but this is not necessary. The mixture is fried on a griddle pan for a few minutes on each side, similar to a normal pancake.
_Wikipedia
Boxty on the griddle,
Boxty in the pan,
If you can't make boxty,
You'll never get a man.
_Source unkown
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the user jennarenn
I put a description of Blue Moon on the wordie page for blue moon.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word blue moon
Blue Moon ice cream is the name of a number of bright blue colored flavors of ice cream. All of the varieties of Blue Moon are available almost exclusively in the mid-west United States.
Blue Moon is found mainly in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin; found less frequently in Indiana, Iowa, Illinois and Ohio; and has reportedly been available (either in the past or currently) in Missouri and even western Pennsylvania. A possibly similar, possibly identical flavor has also been sold in Italy under the name "Puffo", which is Italian for "Smurf"; it was probably given this name because its blue color resembled the Smurfs.
The varieties of Blue Moon vary in both color and flavor. Many aficionados of each variety of Blue Moon claim that their variety is the "real one," the "original," etc. Some dairies that make Blue Moon keep their ingredients a secret, adding to the mystique.
A number of different sources on the internet claim to know what flavor Blue Moon is. Since these sources disagree with each other, it is unclear which, if any, are correct.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the user jennarenn
Oh, no...sorry...they're just icecream flavors that are common around here in Wisconsin where I live.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the list ice-creams-i-have-loved
Did you ever try Blue Moon? My son loves it best of all and I loathe it. I like English Toffee or what is sometimes called Butter Brickle...I also love Maple Nut. How 'bout Baskin-Robbins Pralines and Cream? Yum
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mr. potato head
Mr. Potato Head is a popular children's toy, first sold in 1952 by Hasbro, consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with attachable plastic parts, such as a mustache, hat and nose, to make a face. Shoes can be added as well.
When it was first sold to the public in 1952, it became the first toy to be sold through national television advertising and netted Hasbro more than $4 million in its first year of production. In 1953, Mrs. Potato Head was added, and soon after, Brother Spud and Sister Yam completed the Potato Head family. Although originally produced as separate plastic parts to be stuck into a real potato or other vegetable, a plastic body was added to the kit in 1964.
_Wikipedia
You cannot know how I clamoured for a Mr. Potato Head in 1956! One of the coolest toys ever.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word octopus
I read about a little octopus who was given a small toy figure of Mr. Potato Head and the little octopus became so attached to this toy that he would become aggressive if his keepers tried to remove it from him. He became adept at opening and closing a small compartment in the back of the toy. Somehow this story makes me love octopuses and appreciate them in a whole new way. I think it is a sad tale.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tasseography
Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments.
The terms derive from the French word tasse (cup), which in turn derives from the Arabic tassa (cup), and the Greek suffixes -graph, -logy, and -mancy (divination).
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ergotism
See St. Anthony's Fire
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word st. anthony's fire
The common name for ergotism is "St. Anthony's Fire", in reference to the symptoms, such as severe burning sensations in the limbs.These are caused by effects of ergot alkaloids on the vascular system due to vasoconstriction of blood vessels, sometimes leading to gangrene and loss of limbs due to severely restricted blood circulation. The neurotropic activities of the ergot alkaloids may also cause hallucinations and attendant irrational behaviour, convulsions, and even death. Monks of the order of St. Anthony the Great specialized in treating ergotism victims with balms containing tranquilizing and circulation-stimulating plant extracts
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word antikythera mechanism
So cool.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tilting at windmills
Tilting at windmills is an English idiom which means "attacking imaginary enemies." The word “tilt,�? here, comes from jousting. This idiomatic phrase originated in the novel Don Quixote, and is often used today in reference to persistent engagement in a futile activity. At one point in the novel, Don Quixote fights windmills that he imagines to be giants.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pistachio
The shell of the pistachio nut is naturally a beige colour, but it is sometimes dyed red or green in commercial pistachios. Originally the dye was applied by importers to hide stains on the shells caused when the nuts were picked by hand. However most pistachios are now picked by machine and the shells remain unstained, making dyeing unnecessary (except that some consumers have been led to expect coloured pistachios).
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the list public-list-calculating-devices
How about slide rule?
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the list vorpal-swords
I LOVE this list!
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chambered nautilus
The Chambered Nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) is the best known species of nautilus. The shell, when cut away reveals a lining of lustrous nacre, and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral.
_Wikipedia
The Chambered Nautilus is the title and subject of a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mexican jumping bean
Also called simply "jumping bean"
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Date: circa 1889
: a seed of any of several Mexican shrubs (genera Sebastiania and Sapium) of the spurge family that tumbles about because of the movements of the larva of a small tortricid moth (Cydia saltitans syn. Laspeyresia saltitans) inside it
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word grateful dead
From Grateful Dead FAQ,
Legend says that Gerry Garcia, leader of the band The Grateful Dead, found the phrase in a Funk and Wagnall's Dictionary
The dictionary entry reads along these lines:
GRATEFUL DEAD: The motif of a cycle of folk tales which begin with the hero coming upon a group of people ill-treating or refusing to bury the corpse of a man who had died without paying his debts. He gives his last penny, either to pay the man's debts or to give him a decent burial. Within a few hours he meets with a travelling companion who aids him in some impossible task, gets him a fortune or saves his life. The story ends with the companion disclosing himself as the man whose corpse the hero had befriended.(Funk & Wagnall's Dictionary).
The name has also been attributed to this quote, though it's generally believed that they came across this one later:
"We now return our souls to the creator,
as we stand on the edge of eternal darkness.
Let our chant fill the void
in order that others may know.
In the land of the night
the ship of the sun
is drawn by the grateful dead."
-- Egyptian Book of the Dead
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bat
The Bat
Theodore Roethke
By day the bat is cousin to the mouse.
He likes the attic of an aging house.
His fingers make a hat about his head.
His pulse beat is so slow we think him dead.
He loops in crazy figures half the night
Among the trees that face the corner light.
But when he brushes up against a screen,
We are afraid of what our eyes have seen:
For something is amiss or out of place
When mice with wings can wear a human face.
from Collected poems of Theodore Roethke
My Doubleday, 1938
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cakes and ale
The Wiccan ritual feature known as Cakes and Ale is often celebrated as a way of thanking the gods for their blessings. It is also a method of grounding one's heightened energies following magical workings. "Cakes" can be any snacky thing like bread, crackers, actual cake or cookies. Sometimes the cookies are baked in symbolic shapes such as crescent moons. The "ale" can be alcoholic or it can be apple cider, juice, or even water.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the user mollusque
I love Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the user mollusque
No, I have no pre-existing lists. These words are just in my head and I am free-associating.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word wee
In the eyes of Mother Goose, what certain little pigs say all the way home or whenever they cannot find their way home.
(A song for five toes)
This little pig went to market;
This little pig stayed at home;
This little pig had roast beef;
And this little pig had none;
This little pig said, "Wee, wee, wee!
I can't find my way home."
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pig-pen
Pig-Pen, a character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pig-pen
Ronald C. "Pigpen" McKernan (September 8, 1945 – March 8, 1973) was a founding member of the jam band Grateful Dead. His musical contributions to the Grateful Dead included vocals, Hammond organ, harmonica, percussion, and occasionally guitar. He died at the age of 27.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word anguipede
The Anguipede is a divinity that is often found on magical amulets from the Greco-Roman period.
The Anguipede is depicted as a creature with the head of a rooster and snakes for legs, symbolism thought to be of Persian origin. Sometimes inscribed below is Iao, a form of the Tetragrammaton - the four letters used to represent the name of the God of Judaism.
_Wikipedia
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gorsedd
beer and bread See board
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word board
Beer and bread for board of bored bards. See gorsedd.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the user asativum
I just sit here and free-associate...the computer opens that up quite a bit because it's so instantaneous.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pig-wig
I think Lear was visiting the "bong tree" rather too often when he wrote this. But I love it.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pig-wig
Is this any relation to the "piggy-wig" of Edward Lear's famous Owl and the Pussycat? The one who supplied the wedding ring?
"They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows,
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose, his nose, his nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling your ring?"
Said the Piggy, "I will"
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the list pigs-on-parade
How about the little piggies who went to market?
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word twrch trwyth
Twrch Trwyth is the name of a particularly potent wild boar Culhwch is instructed to hunt in the Middle Welsh prose tale Culhwch and Olwen. Twrch is named as the son of Prince Tared, cursed into the form of a wild creature; he has poisonous bristles, and carries a pair of scissors, a comb and a razor on his head, between his ears.
"Twrch" means "wild boar" in Welsh (other meanings include "hog" and "mole"), and Twrch Trwyth may be cognate with Old Irish Orc tréith "Triath's boar", which is found in Cormac's Irish Glossary.
_Wikipedia
He figures heavily in the tasks of Ysbaddaden the giant.
Love this tale!
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word freddy the pig
I love Freddy. I have the book "Freddy and the Men from Mars" and have read most of the other titles in the series by Walter R. Brooks.
January 27, 2008
treeseed commented on the word twilight zone
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Date: 1909
1 a: an area just beyond ordinary legal and ethical limits
2: a world of fantasy, illusion, or unreality
Also
The Twilight Zone is a television anthology series created (and often written) by its narrator and host Rod Serling. Each episode (156 in the original series) is a self-contained fantasy, science fiction, or horror story, often concluding with an eerie or unexpected twist. Although advertised as science fiction, the show rarely offered scientific explanations for its fantastic happenings. It often had a moral lesson that pertained to everyday life.
Throughout the various introductions for the original series, the Twilight Zone is described as another dimension. It is "a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind," "a place of things and ideas," "between the pit of Man's fears, and the summit of his knowledge."
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word emanation
from Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Date: 1570
(n): the origination of the world by a series of hierarchically descending radiations from the Godhead through intermediate stages to matter
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lovelight
This is a poetic term that is sometimes seen in lyrics to pop songs but I've seen it in gospel and blues offerings as well. Sometimes it is spelled love-light and love light. It apparently means love energy or love vibration or love emanation or love expression.
Turn on the light, let it shine on me,
turn on your love light, let it shine on me
_From Turn On Your Love Light by Deadric Malone and Joe Scott, performed by Bobby "Blue" Bland, The Grateful Dead and others
And I wanna know
Baby when you're with me
Who do you think you're fooling?
Making me feel so sure
Turnin your lovelight down again
Why don't you let me be?
You don't know what you're doing
Making me feel so sure
Turning your lovelight down again
_From Lovelight by Robbie Williams
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word i ching
The I Ching; also called “Book of Changes�? or “Classic of Changes�? is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. The book is a symbol system used to identify order in chance events. The text describes an ancient system of cosmology and philosophy that is intrinsic to ancient Chinese cultural beliefs. The cosmology centres on the ideas of the dynamic balance of opposites, the evolution of events as a process, and acceptance of the inevitability of change. In Western cultures and modern East Asia, the I Ching is sometimes regarded as a system of divination. The classic consists of a series of symbols, rules for manipulating these symbols, poems, and commentary.
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word trigram
Also
any of the eight possible combinations of three whole or broken lines used especially in Chinese divination, I Ching
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word furies
Individually, they were:
Tisiphone (Retaliation-Destruction)
Megaera (Grudge)
Alecto (Unnameable)
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word furies
Also known as the Erinnyes (Angry Ones)
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word furies
"Sophocles called The Furies 'Daughters of Earth and Shadow.' Aeschylus called them 'Children of Eternal Night.' Either epithet made them offspring of the eternal spirit of primal darkness at the creation and linked them to the primordial concept of the Mother's Curse whereby the Goddess inevitably ended each life that she brought forth."
_Barbara Walker, The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cosmic egg
See orphic egg
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word orphism
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
(n):a mystic Greek religion offering initiates purification of the soul from innate evil and release from the cycle of reincarnation
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word orphic egg
The Orphic egg is usually represented as an egg surrounded by a coiled serpent. The egg symbolizes the belief in the Greek Orphic religion that the universe originated from within a silver egg. The first emanation from this egg, described in an ancient hymn, was Phanes-dionysus, the personification of light:
"ineffable, hidden, brilliant scion, whose motion is whirring, you scattered the dark mist that lay before your eyes and, flapping your wings, you whirled about, and through this world you brought pure light."
_Ask.com:Alternative Religions
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the user asativum
Thanks for the encouragement, Asativum. I'm glued to my computer by circumstance at the moment and I have so enjoyed the distraction of my endless citations, however redundant they turned out to be.
Just don't want to appear insensitive or oblivious. I'm enjoying the camaraderie on this site, too.
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the user mollusque
Thank you for the encouragement, Mollusque. I have been enjoying myself a lot. I'm a bit of a shut-in at the moment and this has been a boon.
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word joke
That, S of G, is my new favorite quotation. I love it...and so true.
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the user reesetee
OH MY GOD! reesetee! I just processed your explanation about citations! I didn't really comprehend what you meant about the little icon buttons under the words. I have been having the best time amusing myself with citations over the last few days...only to have the unsettling understanding dawn upon my vacant wilderness of a brain this minute that my efforts have most probably been a ludicrous and obnoxious thing to do...not to mention entirely redundant.
I feel like I walked out of the ladies' room with my skirt tucked up in my pantihose! Oh, well...
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word question
Lee press-on ears
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word deja vu
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
noun
Etymology: French, adjective, literally, already seen
Date: 1903
1 a: the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time
b: a feeling that one has seen or heard something before
2: something overly or unpleasantly familiar
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word magic carpet
A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet that can be used to transport persons who are on it instantaneously or quickly to their destination.
_Wikipedia
For a good tale of a magic carpet try, The Phoenix and the Carpet a fantasy novel for children, written in 1904 by E. Nesbit.
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word triquetra
Triquetra is a word derived from the Latin tri- ("three") and quetrus ("cornered"). Its original meaning was simply "triangle" and it has been used to refer to various three-cornered shapes. Nowadays, it has come to refer exclusively to a certain more complicated shape formed of three vesicae piscis, sometimes with an added circle in or around it.
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ichthys
Ichthys (Greek, transliterated and Latinized as ichthys, icthus, ichthus or ikhthus; ichthus), is the Ancient and Classical Greek word for "fish." In English it refers to a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, said to have been used by early Christians as a secret symbol and now known colloquially as the "Jesus fish"
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word crystal ball
A crystal ball is a crystal or glass ball believed to aid clairvoyance. It is sometimes known as a shew stone.
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word shew stone
Another name for a crystal ball used to aid clairvoyance
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word vesica pisces
The vesica piscis (pisces) is a shape which is the intersection two circles of the same radius, intersecting in such a way that the center of each circle lies on the circumference of the other. The name literally means the bladder of the fish in Latin. It has been the subject of mystical speculation at several periods of history, perhaps first among the Pythagoreans, who considered it a holy figure.
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word question
Yarb, where would we put the sparkly, dangly stuff?
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ushnisha
The ushnisha (Sanskrit, n.) is a bump at the top of the head of the Buddha. It symbolizes his wisdom and openness as an enlightened being.
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word herm
Dictionary.com
–noun a monument consisting of a four-sided shaft tapering inward from top to bottom and bearing a head or bust; those of Hermes usually had an erect penis, which passersby stroked for luck.
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flower of life
The Flower of Life is the modern name given to a geometrical figure composed of multiple evenly-spaced, overlapping circles, that are arranged so that they form a flower-like pattern with a sixfold symmetry like a hexagon. The center of each circle is on the circumference of six surrounding circles of the same diameter. This has been an important symbol of sacred geometry for many people from various religious backgrounds.
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word frog prince
The Frog Prince, is a fairy tale, best known through the Brothers Grimm's written version. In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends a frog (possibly meeting him after dropping a gold ball into his pond), who magically transforms into a handsome prince. Although in modern versions the transformation is invariably triggered by the princess kissing the frog, in the original Grimm version of the story, the frog's spell was broken when the princess threw it against a wall in disgust. In other early versions it was sufficient for the frog to spend the night on the princess's pillow.
_Wikipedia
This is a kind of man that I have known. It is someone who seems unremarkable at first but who turns out to be wonderful. Sort of like a "diamond in the rough". Sometimes this can happen in reverse. You can kiss a prince and then after a while he turns into a frog. Has happened to me several times.
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cwm
See cirque and corrie
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word corrie
See cirque or cwm
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cirque
A cirque is an amphitheatre-like valley, or valley head, formed at the head of a glacier by erosion. A cirque is also known as a cwm in Wales, a coomb or coombe in England, and a corrie in Scotland and Ireland, although these terms apply to a specific feature of which several may be found in a cirque.
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word once upon a time
"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase that has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language, and seems to have become a widely accepted convention for opening oral narratives by around 1600. These stories often then end with "... and they all lived happily ever after", or, originally, "happily until their deaths."
It is particularly apparent in fairytales for younger children, where it is almost always the opening line of a tale. It was commonly used in the original translations of the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, or the Brothers Grimm as a translation for the German es war einmal (literally "it was once").
The phrase is also frequently used in oral storytelling, such as retellings of myths, fables, and folklore.
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word maying
American Heritage Dictionary:
n. The celebration of May Day, especially by the gathering of spring flowers.
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word avalon
Avalon (probably from the Celtic word abal: apple) is a legendary island somewhere in the British Isles featured in the Arthurian legend, famous for its beautiful apples. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae ("The History of the Kings of Britain") as the place where King Arthur is taken to recover from his wounds after his last battle at Camlann, and where his sword Caliburn (Excalibur) was forged. The concept of such an "Isle of the Blessed" has parallels in other Indo-European mythology, in particular Tír na nÓg and the Greek Hesperides, the latter also noted for its apples.
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word deiseal
See deosil
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sunwise
See deosil
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word deosil
In Scottish folklore, Sunwise or Sunward was considered the “prosperous course�?, turning from east to west in the direction of the sun. The opposite course was known in Scotland as widdershins (Lowland Scots), or tuathal (Scottish Gaelic, lit. northerly), and would have been anti-clockwise. It is perhaps no coincidence that, in the Northern Hemisphere, "sunwise" and "clockwise" run in the same direction. This is probably because of the use of the sun as a timekeeper on sundials etc, whose features were in turn transferred to clock faces themselves. Another influence may also have been the right-handed bias in many human cultures.
This is descriptive of the ceremony observed by the druids, of walking round their temples by the south, in the course of their directions, always keeping their temples on their right. This course deiseal was deemed propitious, the contrary course, tuathal, fatal, or at least, unpropitious. From this ancient superstition are derived several Gaelic customs which were still observed around the turn of the twentieth century, such as drinking over the left thumb, as Toland expresses it, or according to the course of the sun. Wicca uses the idiosyncratic spelling deosil - however, this is not used in any of the three Gaelic languages.
_Wikipedia
January 26, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sand dollar
Sionnach,
Probably sand dollarless
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sand dollar
There's a Christian legend about the sand dollar and its markings.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tabula rasa
Tabula rasa (Latin: scraped tablet or clean slate) refers to the epistemological thesis that individual human beings are born with no innate or built-in mental content, in a word, "blank", and that their entire resource of knowledge is built up gradually from their experiences and sensory perceptions of the outside world.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word phosphenes
Thanks, but I'll pass on any further eyeball squashing. Once I tried LSD it kind of spoiled phosphenes for me.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word torc
A torc, also spelled torq or torque is a rigid circular neck ring or necklace that is open-ended at the front.
A bronze Gaulish torc.Torcs are a type of Scythian and Celtic jewellery, produced in the European Iron Age, from circa the 8th century BC to the 3rd century AD.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nielloware
Nielloware jewellery from Thailand was a popular gift from American soldiers stationed there to their girlfriends/wives back home from the 1920s to the 1970s. Most of it was completely handmade jewelry.
The technique is as follows: The artisan would carve a particular character or pattern into the silver, leaving the figure raised by carving out the "background". He would then use the niello inlay to fill in the "background". After being baked in an open fire, the alloy would harden. It would then be sanded smooth and buffed. Finally, a silver artisan would add minute details by hand. Filigree was often used for additional ornamentation. Nielloware is classified as only being black and silver colored. Other colored jewelry originating during this time uses a different technique and is not considered niello.
Many of the characters shown in nielloware are characters in the Hindu legend Ramayama. Important Thai cultural symbols were also frequently used.
_Wikipedia
One of the most popular characters seen in nielloware is Nang Fa the fairy of happiness, also known simply as the Siam faery.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word niello
Niello is a black metallic alloy of sulphur, copper, silver, and usually lead, used as an inlay on engraved metal. It can be used for filling in designs cut from metal. The Egyptians are credited with originating niello decoration, which spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages.
_Wikipedia
This process is used in making nielloware jewelry.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word siamese fighting fish
The Siamese fighting fish, incorrectly known as the Japanese fighting fish (Betta splendens), commonly called a betta, (pronounced 'bet-ah') is one of the most popular species of freshwater aquarium fish. It is native to the Mekong river basin in Southeast Asia and called pla-kad in its native Thailand.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tansy
My Heart, Being Hungry
My heart, being hungry, feeds on food
The fat of heart despise.
Beauty where beauty never stood,
And sweet where no sweet lies
I gather to my querulous need,
Having a growing heart to feed.
It may be, when my heart is full,
Having attained its girth,
I shall not find so beautiful
The meagre shapes of earth,
Nor linger in the rain to mark
The smell of tansy through the dark.
_Edna St. Vincent Millay
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fairy dust
Fairy Dust, also seen as faery dust or pixie dust is the trail of sparkling material that often follows mythical creatures such as pixies and fairies in general when they are visually represented. Sometimes, this trail is interpreted as being a tangible substance, often imbued with magic powers.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word virgin's bower
Merriam-Webster Dictionary: noun
Date: circa 1597
: any of several usually small-flowered and climbing clematises (especially Clematis virginiana)
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lamé
Lamé is a type of fabric woven or knit with metallic yarns. It is usually gold or silver in color; sometimes copper lamé is seen. Lamé is often used in evening and dress wear; and in theatrical and dance costumes.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cloth of gold
Cloth of gold is a fabric woven with a gold-wrapped or spun weft - referred to as "a spirally spun gold strip". In most cases, the core yarn is silk wrapped with a band or strip of high content gold filé. In rarer instances, fine linen and wool have been used as the core.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word chinese lantern
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
a collapsible translucent covering for a light
Wikipedia:
Physalis alkekengi (Bladder-cherry, Chinese Lantern, Japanese-lantern, or Winter cherry; Japanese: h�?zuki), is a relative of P. peruviana (Cape Gooseberry), easily identifiable by the larger, bright orange to red papery covering over its fruit, which resemble Chinese lanterns. It is native from southern Europe east across southern Asia to Japan.
It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 40-60 cm tall, with spirally arranged leaves 6-12 cm long and 4-9 cm broad. The flowers are white, with a five-lobed corolla 10-15 mm across, with an inflated basal calyx which matures into the papery orange fruit covering, 4-5 cm long and broad.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word maidenhair fern
any of a genus (Adiantum) of ferns with delicate palmately branched fronds —called also maidenhair
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word trailing arbutus
Epigaea repens (Mayflower or Trailing Arbutus) is a low, spreading shrub in the Ericaceae family. It is found from Newfoundland to Florida, west to Kentucky and the Northwest Territory. It can also be found in parts of Central Europe and Western Africa.
The species flowers are pink, fading to nearly white, very fragrant, about 1/2 in. across when expanded, few or many in clusters at ends of branches.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bridal veil
This is the shrub that comes to most people’s minds when they think of spirea. Your grandparents probably grew bridal veil spirea in their gardens. Spiraea x vanhouttei is commonly called ‘bridal veil spirea’, but Spiraea prunifolia is also known by that name. These are large bushes, growing up to ten feet tall and sometimes as much as twenty feet wide. Their arching branches are laden with tiny white flowers in the spring.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pollyanna
from Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Etymology: Pollyanna, heroine of the novel Pollyanna (1913) by Eleanor Porter died 1920 American fiction writer
Date: 1921
(n):a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word death mask
a cast taken from the face of a dead person
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sealing wax
Sealing wax was used to seal "letters close" and later (from about the 16th century) envelopes. It was also used to take the impression of seals on important documents, or to create a hermetic seal on containers. Now mainly used for decorative purposes, it was formerly used to ensure that the contents of the envelope were secure.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sand dollar
any of numerous flat circular sea urchins (order Clypeasteroida) that live chiefly in shallow water on sandy bottoms
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sally lunn
A slightly sweetened yeast-leavened bread, similar in flavor to brioche. I make mine in a tube pan. Some people make round domed loaves.
Legend has it that it was invented in the city of Bath, England by Sally Lunn
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pompitous
I always thought Steve Miller was singing "Prophetess of Love".
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rose croix
The rosy cross (also called "rose cross" and "rose croix") is a symbol largely associated with the semi-mythical Christian Rosencreutz (1378-1484), alchemist and founder of the Rosicrucian Order. It has several meanings, depending on the source. Some modern Rosicrucians claim that the rosy cross predates Christianity, where "the cross represents the human body and the rose represents the individual's unfolding consciousness." It has also been suggested that the rose represents silence while the cross signifies "salvation, to which the Society of the Rose-Cross devoted itself by teaching mankind the love of God and the beauty of brotherhood, with all that they implied."
Some also saw the Rosy Cross as a symbol of the human process of reproduction elevated to the spiritual: "The fundamental symbols of the Rosicrucians were the rose and the cross; the rose female and the cross male, both universal phallic ... As generation is the key to material existence, it is natural that the Rosicrucians should adopt as its characteristic symbols those exemplifying the reproductive processes. As regeneration is the key to spiritual existence, they therefore founded their symbolism upon the rose and the cross, which typify the redemption of man through the union of his lower temporal nature with his higher eternal nature."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rabicano
Rabicano is a genetic modifier that creates a mealy, splotchy, or roan-like effect. This roaning is usually limited to the underside, flanks, legs, and tail head areas.
Rabicano is often confused with true Roan.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word milk glass
Milk glass is a relatively recent name for opaque, milky white or colored glass, that is blown or pressed into a wide variety of shapes. Animal-shaped covered dishes are popular collectibles. First made in Venice in the 16th century, the white color is achieved through the addition of tin oxide. 19th-century glassmakers called milky white opaque glass "Opal". Other milk glass colors include blue, pink, yellow, brown, and black.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word carnival glass
Carnival glass is an inexpensive pressed glass, made as both functional and ornamental objects, always iridescent and found in a wide spectrum of colors. Carnival glass gets its iridescent sheen from the application of metallic salts while the glass is still hot from the pressing, then re-firing the glass. Glass workers sometimes refer to carnival glass as "dope glass" because the process of applying the iridescent coloring to the surface is called "doping".
The Fenton Art Glass Company was founded in 1905, and was the first and largest producer of carnival glass, producing many different pieces in over 150 patterns.
Carnival glass is made in many translucent colors, primarily amethyst, marigold, cobalt, green, and red. It is also made in opaque white, called milk glass, and before the hazards of radiation were well known, it was made in semi-transparent or translucent pale green, called vaseline or uranium glass.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word depression glass
Tinted glassware machine-produced during the 1930s, most commonly found in green, pink, yellow (amber) or clear colorless. Some patterns were give-aways in boxes of laundry detergent. Highly collectible.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word features
Point taken and I agree.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word love seat
(n): a double chair, sofa, or settee for two persons
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word sticky bun
a spiral-shaped cinnamon roll topped with melted brown sugar and butter
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word phosphenes
This is the result of an extremely curious and observant nature as a child...not something I do for kicks as an adult. I just remember that the progression of the phosphenes was usually the same, starting out with the op art images. I do, however, wonder to this day if other people see the same things.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rambling rose
Yarb, I MUST hear that version!
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word teltown games
Games, non-competitive games of skill performed in a fashion similar to the Olympics in honor of Tailtiu.
The Teltown Funeral Games were held for centuries to commemorate the death of Tea "Teia" Tephi (queen Tailte - Tailtiu), the queen of all Ireland, who lived in her palace on Rath Dubh at Teltown and reigned in the sixth century B.C. These games were held in the form of a Fair and were not only to commemorate Teia Tephi and her death, but were also to help the people to remember The Perfect Laws of Freedom and Justice contained in The Torah, that she brought with her when she came to Ireland from Jerusalem, arriving in 583 B.C.
_Jahtruth.net
Tailitiu ‘Great Land’, was the Irish cognate of the roman Telus. A Fir Bolg queen and the foster-mother of Lugh. She instituted agriculture and died clearing the land that would become Co. Meath. Lugh instituted funerary games at Teltown, held on Lughnasadh, to honour both her and her accomplishments.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gorsedd
A gorsedd (plural gorseddau), is a community of bards. The word means "throne" in Welsh. It is occasionally spelled gorseth (especially in Cornwall), or Goursez in Brittany
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rambling rose
The rambling roses are the forerunners of our modern day climbing roses. Rambling roses are low-maintenance flowers that offer clever camouflage and old-fashioned romance.
Unlike "climbers" whose strong stems in limited quantities generally reach no higher than 18 feet, ramblers have an abundance of long, flexible canes that can reach 30 to 40 feet.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rambling rose
Ramblin' Rose" is a 1962 popular song written by Noel Sherman and Joe Sherman and popularized by Nat King Cole.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word magic word
Magic words are words which have a specific, and sometimes unintended, effect. They are often nonsense phrases used in fantasy fiction or by stage prestidigitators. Certain comic book heroes use magic words to activate their super powers.
Abracadabra - prototypical magic word used by magicians
Alakazam
Cei-u used by the DC Comics superhero, Johnny Thunder, to summon his magical genie-like Thunderbolt
Hocus pocus - a phrase used by magicians
Klaatu barada nikto - A phrase used in the 1951 movie "The Day The Earth Stood Still"
Open sesame - used by the character Ali Baba in the English version of a tale from the collection popularly known as 1001 Arabian Nights
Presto chango or Hey Presto - used by magicians (probably intended to suggest "quick change")
Sim Sala Bim a phrase used by magicians; popular in the 19th Century. Also, "Sim Sim Sala Bim" are the magic words said by Hadji on the shows The Adventures of Jonny Quest and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.
Shazam - used by the comic book hero Captain Marvel
Izzy wizzy, let's get busy - Used on The Sooty Show when using Sooty's magic wand.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pussy willow
"Pussy Willow may refer to two species of willow:
Salix caprea (also known as Goat Willow), native to northern Europe and northwest Asia.
Salix discolor (also known as American Pussy Willow), native to northern North America.
When grown comercially by florists, the shoots are picked just as the buds expand in spring, and can last indefinitely once dried. The branches can be put in vases or the buds can be used for table decoration."
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word arabian parts
"In astrology, the Arabian/Arabic parts or lots are constructed points based on mathematical calculations of three horoscopic entities such as planets or angles. The distance between two of the points is added to the position of the third (very often the ascendant) to derive the location of the lot."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word life savers
I think a child could choke on a Life Savers candy.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fire sign
In astrology a fire sign refers to any of the signs Aries, Leo or Sagittarius
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word earth sign
In astrology an earth sign refers to any of the signs Taurus, Capricorn or Virgo.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word air sign
In astrology an air sign refers to any of the signs Gemini, Libra or Aquarius.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word water sign
In astrology a water sign refers to any of the signs Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pudding stone
Also seen as puddingstone
"Pudding stone, is a conglomerate rock made up of a mixture of different, irregular sized grains and pebbles held together by a finer matrix, usually formed from quartz sand. The sedimentary rock is formed in river channels and may contain various minerals such as chromite, corundum, platinum, diamond, gold, sapphire, and zircon. Its name is said to derive from a resemblance to Christmas pudding."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word okeydokey
From Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Etymology: reduplication of OK
Date: circa 1932
—used to express assent
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word op art
"Op art, also known as optical art, is a genre of visual art, especially painting, that makes use of optical illusions. Op art is also known as geometric abstraction and hard-edge abstraction, although the preferred term for it is perceptual abstraction.
Optical Art is a method of painting concerning the interaction between illusion and picture plane, between understanding and seeing. Op art works are abstract, with many of the better known pieces made in only black and white. When the viewer looks at them, the impression is given of movement, hidden images, flashing and vibration, patterns, or alternatively, of swelling or warping."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word phosphenes
If you continually apply pressure to your eyes, the phosphenes change and become more complex. My pressure phosphenes start out with a grid of black and white op art squares scattered with sparkling starlike flecks of red, electric blue and green. This kind of hurts so I don't recommend doing it.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lombardy poplar
a poplar of a staminate variety (Populus nigra italica) of a European poplar having a columnar shape and strongly ascending branches
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word osage orange
an ornamental usually thorny United States tree (Maclura pomifera) of the mulberry family with shiny ovate leaves and hard bright orange wood; also : its yellowish-green globose fruit
As a child I played in "wars" with the other neighborhood children and used these heavy, dangerous missiles. They are the size of baseballs. They were also called monkey balls.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cherry
slang term meaning mint, original or virginal condition...also meaning excellent
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ouroboros
"The Ouroboros, also spelled Ourorboros, Oroborus, Uroboros or Uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle. It has been used to represent many things over the ages, but it most generally symbolizes ideas of cyclicality, unity, or infinity. The ouroboros has been important in religious and mythological symbolism, but has also been frequently used in alchemical illustrations. More recently, it has been interpreted by psychologists, such as Carl Jung, as having an archetypical significance to the human psyche."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ribwort plantain
Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), also called English Plantain, is a plant of genus Plantago. It is a common weed of cultivated land.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word self-heal
"Herbaceous plants in the family Lamiaceae, known as self-heals or "allheal" for their use in herbal medicine. Most are native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but Prunella vulgaris (the Common Self-heal) is Holarctic in distribution, occurring in North America as well, and is a common lawn weed.
Self-heals are low-growing plants, and thrive in moist wasteland and grass, spreading rapidly to cover the ground. They are members of the mint family and have the square stem common to mints."
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word love-in
a gathering of people especially for the expression of their mutual love
Love-ins of the late 1960s that I have attended, featured music, art, dancing, meditation, and all manner of groovy happenings and people...oh, yeah, and drugs.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flower children
"Flower Children originated as a synonym for hippie, especially those who gathered in San Francisco and environs during the summer of 1967, which was called the Summer of Love. It was the custom of "Flower Children" to wear flowers to symbolize peace and love. During the earliest years of its use, the term was most commonly used in the plural, only rarely in the singular."
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scarlet pimpernel
"The Scarlet pimpernel (Red pimpernel, Red chickweed, Poor man's barometer, Shepherd's weather glass, or Shepherd's clock; Anagallis arvensis) is a low-growing, annual plant in the family Myrsinaceae, growing in Europe, Asia and North America.
The stems are about 45 cm long and generally prostrate. The bright green ovate sessile leaves grow opposite. The small orange flowers grow in the leaf axils from spring till autumn. The petal margin is somewhat crenate."
_Wikipedia
"The Scarlet Pimpernel is a classic play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution. A secret society of English aristocrats, known as the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, is engaged in rescuing their French counterparts from the guillotine. Their leader, the Scarlet Pimpernel, takes his nickname from the small red flower with which he signs his messages. Despite being the talk of London society, no one except his small band of 19 followers, and possibly his close friend, the Prince of Wales, knows the Pimpernel's true identity."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bugs
Still seem to be having problems with words containing an apostrophe. I cannot seem to add the term shepherd's purse or solomon's seal to my list.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word rampion
"Rampion features prominently in some versions of the story of Rapunzel. In the Grimm's brothers' fairy tale 'Rapunzel' it is noted that 'rapunzel' is the name given to a local form of rampion."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word love beads
Love beads are one of the traditional accoutrements of hippies. They consist of one or more long strings of beads, frequently handmade, worn about the neck by both genders. The love bead trend probably evolved from the hippie fascination with non-Western cultures, such as those of India and Native America, which make common use of similar beads.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word mabon
"Mabon is the name used by some Wiccans and Neopagans for one of their eight annual primary holidays. It is celebrated on the Autumnal Equinox. Also called Harvest Home, the Feast of the Ingathering, Thanksgiving, or simply Autumn Equinox, this holiday is a ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and God during the winter months. The name derives from Mabon ap Modron, a character from Welsh mythology."
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lughnasadh
"In Wicca, Lughnasadh is one of the eight sabbats or solar festivals in the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. It is the first of the three autumn harvest festivals, the other two being Mabon and Samhain. One telling of the story commemorates the sacrifice and death of the Wiccan Corn God; in its cycle of death, nurturing the people, and rebirth, the corn is considered an aspect of their Sun God. Some Neopagans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the god in bread, and then symbolically sacrificing and eating it. These celebrations are not based on Celtic culture, despite using the Celtic name for the sabbat.
Some Wiccans and other Neopagans also use the name Lammas for the sabbat, taken from the Anglo-Saxon and Christian holiday which occurs at about the same time. As the name (from the Anglo-Saxon hlafmæsse "loaf-mass", "loaves festival") implies, it is an agrarian-based festival and feast of thanksgiving for grain and bread, which symbolizes the first fruits of the harvest. Wiccan and other eclectic Neopagan rituals may incorporate elements from either festival."
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word litha
"Litha is one of the eight solar holidays or sabbats observed by Wiccans, though the New Forest traditions (those referred to as British Traditional Wicca) tend to use the traditional name Midsummer. It is celebrated on the Summer Solstice, or close to it. The holiday is considered the turning point at which summer reaches its height and the sun shines longest. Among the Wiccan sabbats, Midsummer is preceded by Beltane, and followed by Lughnasadh or Lammas."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word beltane
"Beltane or Bealtaine is an ancient Gaelic holiday celebrated around May 1. Historically, this festival was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. There were similar festivals held at the same time in the other Celtic countries of Wales, Brittany and Cornwall. The festival survives in folkloric practices in the Celtic Nations and the diaspora, and has experienced a degree of revival in recent decades.
Wiccans and Wiccan-inspired Neopagans celebrate a variation of Beltane as a sabbat, one of the eight solar holidays. Although the holiday may use features of the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the bonfire, it bears more relation to the Germanic May Day festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as maypole dancing). Some Wiccans celebrate 'High Beltaine' by enacting a ritual union of the May Lord and Lady.
Among the Wiccan sabbats, Beltane is a cross-quarter day; it is celebrated in the northern hemisphere on May 1 and in the southern hemisphere on November 1. Beltane follows Ostara and precedes Midsummer."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ostara
Ostara is one of the four lesser Wiccan holidays or sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. Ostara is celebrated on the vernal equinox, in the Northern hemisphere around March 21 and in the Southern hemisphere around September 23, depending upon the specific timing of the equinox. Among the Wiccan sabbats, it is preceded by Imbolc and followed by Beltane
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word imbolc
Also known as Imbolg
"Wiccans celebrate a variation of Imbolc as one of four "fire festivals", which make up half of the eight holidays (or "sabbats"), of the wheel of the year. Imbolc is defined as a cross-quarter day, midway between the winter solstice (Yule) and the spring equinox (Ostara). The precise astrological midpoint in the Northern hemisphere is when the sun reaches fifteen degrees of Aquarius. In the Southern hemisphere, if celebrated as the beginning of Spring, the date is the midpoint of Leo. Among Dianic Wiccans, Imbolc (also known as "Candlemas") is the traditional time for initiations."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word parson's nose
the tail of a dressed fowl, also called pope's nose
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word agouti
a grizzled color of fur resulting from the barring of each hair in several alternate dark and light bands, typically seen in small animals such a rodents
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word merle
"Merle is a color combination in dogs’ coats. It is a solid base color (usually red/brown or black) with lighter blue/gray or reddish patches, which gives a mottled or uneven speckled effect. Although most breeds that can have merle coats also typically have white markings (such as around the neck, under the belly, and so on), and often tan points (typically between the white and the darker parts of the coat), these are separate colors from the merle; some dogs do appear completely merled with no white or tan markings.
Merle can also alter other colors and patterns besides the usual red or black. These combinations such as Brindle Merle or Liver Merle are not typically accepted in breed standards.
In addition to altering base coat color, merle also modifies eye color and coloring on the nose and paw pads. The merle gene modifies the dark pigment in the eyes, occasionally changing dark eyes to blue, or part of the eye to be colored blue. Since merle causes random modifications, however, both dark-eyed, blue-eyed, and odd-colored eyes. Color on paw pads and nose may be mottled pink and black."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word didicoy
"Didicoy (Romani diddicoi; also diddicoy, diddycoy) was a 19th and early 20th century term of the Roma (Gypsies) for travellers with no Roma blood. There was often fierce competition between the groups, and the Roma tended to blame their own reputation for criminality on the didicoys masquerading as Gypsies.
Among the settled population in Britain, ironically, the term became a slang expression for 'Gypsy'."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the user yarb
You're so welcome, dear one.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word white chocolate
"White chocolate is a confection of sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids. Unlike chocolate, white chocolate contains neither chocolate liquor nor cocoa solids. The low melting point of cocoa butter allows white chocolate and chocolate to remain solid at room temperature, yet melt easily in the mouth. As such, white chocolate has a texture similar to that of milk chocolate."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word toll house morsel
Jeeze...you have to use a 9x 11" pan or baking dish...just putting the butter in the oven would create too much smoke.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word noxema
Your wish is my command, great Obi-wan Cannoli!
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the user uselessness
Thank you for your help with the Noxema/Noxzema debacle. I love this site. What fun! Words are so cool.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word noxzema
Noxzema is a skin cleanser marketed by Procter & Gamble.
Since 1914, it has been sold in a small blue jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus, among other ingredients. Originally developed as a sunburn remedy, it is popular among women as a facial cleanser and make-up remover. It can also be used for cleaning chapped, sunburned, or otherwise irritated skin.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word calico
The Duel
(The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat
by Eugene Field
The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;
'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink!
The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
(I wasn't there; I simply state
What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)
The gingham dog went " Bow-wow-wow!"
And the calico cat replied "Me-ow!"
The air was littered,an hour or so,
With bits of gingham and calico,
While the old Dutch clock in the chimney place
Up with it hands before its face,
For it always dreaded a family row!
(Now mind: I'm only telling you
What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)
The Chinese plate looked very blue,
And wailed,"Oh dear! What shall we do!"
But the gingham dog and the calico cat
Wallowed this way and tumbled that,
Employing every tooth and claw
In the awfullest way you ever saw-
And oh! how the gingham and calico flew!
(Don't fancy I exaggerate!
I got my news from the Chinese plate!)
Next morning where the two had sat
They found no trace of dog or cat;
And some folks think unto this day
That burglars stole the pair away!
But the truth about the cat and pup
Is this: they ate each other up!
Now what do you really think of that!
(The old Dutch clock, it told me so,
And that is how I came to know.)
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word toll house morsel
Ever had a bar cookie called Seven Layer Bars?
Melt one stick of butter in a 350 degree oven until melted. Remove from oven and top with 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut, 1 cup toll house morsels, 3/4 cup butterscotch morsels, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk. Return to oven and bake for about 30 minutes.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word newspeak
That, my dear uselessness, is the question of the hour.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nigger baby
Oh, uselessness, they were totally yummy and I loved how cute they were...I can't believe my parents involved me in such racist notions but they did, many times, in seemingly innocuous ways...thank goodness, things change.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word baba yaga
"Baba Yaga (Russian: Ба�?ба-Яга�?), is, in Slavic folklore, the wild old woman; the witch; and mistress of magic. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits. In Russian tales, Baba Yaga is portrayed as a hag who flies through the air in a mortar, using the pestle as a rudder and sweeping away the tracks behind her with a broom made out of silver birch. She lives in a log cabin that moves around on a pair of dancing chicken legs, and/or surrounded by a palisade with a skull on each pole."
_Wikipedia
Reverred as one of the dark or crone goddesses in some traditions of modern Wicca.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word noxema
Yes, a definite typo..how can i fix this?
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nigger toes
I find it mind-blowing that my parents and grandparents used these terms around us children with such a cavalier attitude.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word kobold
1 : a gnome that in German folklore inhabits underground places
2 : an often mischievous domestic spirit of German folklore
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tomte
The tomtes (in Germany, kobolds) are a pre-Christian race of spirit beings well-known to the north Europeans. Generally, they are considered to be spirits of place who become familiars of a household.
The tomte is a short (three feet or so) elderly man of unpredictable disposition, attired in grey woolen clothes and wearing a red cap.
Unlike their English cousins, the gnomes, who most frequently dwell in the countryside, tomtes reside in towns, houses, barns or cellars. They live only where there is cleanliness, order and discipline.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tomte
A tomte or nisse is a mythical creature of Scandinavian folklore originating from Norse paganism. Tomte or Nisse were believed to take care of a farmer's home and children and protect them from misfortune, in particular at night, when the housefolk were asleep. Tomte is the common Swedish name, derived from his place of residence and area of influence: the house lot or tomt.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bobbsey twins
The Bobbsey Twins are the principal characters of what was, for many years, the Stratemeyer Syndicate's longest-running series of children's novels, penned under the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope. The characters were two sets of fraternal twins. Bert and Nan were the older dark haired twins and Freddie and Flossie were the younger blond haired twins.
When two people are very much alike in their looks or behavior they are sometimes derisively compared with the Bobbsey Twins.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word fantasy island
A long-running original television show, Fantasy Island, airing from 1978 to 1984. The original series starred Ricardo Montalban as Mr. Roarke, the enigmatic overseer of a mysterious island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, where people from all walks of life could come and live out their fantasies, albeit for a price.
The term fantasy island, as in "You're on fantasy island." has come to mean you are living in a dreamworld or you are not facing reality.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word newspeak
Term coined by George Orwell in his dystopian novel 1984
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word turtle
a candy made with half of a pecan nutmeat covered in a layer caramel and topped with a layer of milk chocolate
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word gridiron
St. Lawrence of Rome is said to have been martyred on an outdoor gridiron. Legend says that during his torture Lawrence cried out "I am already roasted on one side and, if thou wouldst have me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other." Today statues of St. Lawrence usually depict him standing next to a gridiron.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word geis
"In Irish mythology and folklore, a geis (/ˈɡɛʃ/, plural geasa) is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow or spell. A geis can be compared with a curse or, paradoxically, a gift. If someone under a geis violates the associated taboo, the infractor will suffer dishonour or even death. On the other hand, the observing of one's geasa is believed to bring power and good fortune."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word toll house morsel
a semi-sweet chocolate chip
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word candy cane
A candy cane is a hard cane-shaped candy stick. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint; however, it is also made in a variety of other stripes of different thicknesses. The candy cane is a traditional candy surrounding the Christmas holiday in North America, although it is possible to find them throughout the year.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word aqua vitae
From Merriam-Webster dictionary:
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin, literally, water of life
Date: 15th century
: a strong alcoholic liquor (as brandy)
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word lollipop
A lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, dum-dum,or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. They are available in many flavors and shapes.
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word life savers
"Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped mints and fruit-flavored hard candy. The candy is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in aluminum foil rolls of eleven pieces.
In 1912, chocolate manufacturer Clarence Crane (Cleveland, Ohio) invented Life Savers as a "summer candy" that could withstand heat better than chocolate. Since the mints looked like miniature life preservers, he called them Life Savers."
_Wikipedia
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word jelly bird egg
Jelly bird eggs (also seen as jellybird) are a type of confectionery that comes in many different (primarily fruit) flavors and colors, including pastels and speckled varieties. They are small (the size of a red kidney bean or smaller), shaped like a small bird egg and usually have a hard candy shell and gummy interior. The confection is primarily made of sugar.
Another name for Jelly Bean.
A popular candy at Easter.
January 25, 2008
treeseed commented on the word red hots
"In the early 1930's, Ferrara Pan Candy Company created the famous Red Hot using the cold panned candy method. The idea of a piece of cinnamon hard candy was developed prior to the production of Ferrara Pan's Red Hots. The name "cinnamon imperials" is a generic name used by the candy industry to indicate a piece of cinnamon hard candy. The cold panned process involves building candy pieces from candy centers and tossing them into revolving pans while adding flavor, color and other candy ingredients. This process continues until the pieces become the desired size. Red Hots are a registered trademark of Ferrara Pan Candy Company."
_ferrarapan.com
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word nigger baby
This derogatory term was actually the name of a candy that was around in the early 1950s when I was growing up.
They were small jelly candies, black in color, flavored with licorice and shaped like a little naked baby. They were unwrapped penny candies.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word drum kit
A drum kit (or drum set or trap set) is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as a cowbell, wood block, chimes or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word salt water taffy
"Salt water taffy is a kind of taffy originally produced and marketed in the Atlantic City, New Jersey area beginning in the late 19th century.
The origins of the name are unknown. It could be because the recipe for the candy contains both salt and water. The most popular story, although probably apocryphal, concerns a candy-store owner, Mr. David Bradley, whose shop was flooded during a major storm in 1883. His entire stock of taffy was soaked with salty Atlantic Ocean water. When a young girl asked if he had any taffy for sale, he is said to have offered some "salt water taffy." The girl was delighted, she bought the candy and proudly walked down to the beach to show her friends. Mr. Bradley's mother was in the back and heard the exchange. She loved the name and so Salt Water Taffy was born.
Whatever the origins, Joseph Fralinger popularized the candy by boxing it and selling it as an Atlantic City souvenir. His company is still one of the largest retailers of salt water taffy."
_Wikipedia
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word pixy stix
Pixy Stix is a powdered candy packaged in a wrapper that resembles a drinking straw. In the US, they are popular during Halloween. Pixy Stix are made by Willy Wonka and similar products are made by other companies. The candy is usually poured from the wrapper into the mouth.
See also SweeTarts
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cinnamon bear
1)Hot cinnamon flavored gummy bear candy
2)The cinnamon bear is a subspecies of the American black bear (Ursus americanus). The most striking difference between a cinnamon bear and any other black bear is the cinnamon bear's brown or red-brown fur, reminiscent of cinnamon, from which the name 'cinnamon bear' is derived.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bavarian cream
Bavarian cream or Crème bavaroise or simply Bavaroisis is a classic dessert. Bavarian cream is similar to flour- or cornstarch-thickened crème pâtissière but thickened with gelatin instead and flavoured with liqueur. It is lightened with whipped cream when on the edge of setting up, before being moulded, for a true Bavarian cream is usually filled into a fluted mould, chilled until firm, then turned out onto a serving plate. The American "Bavarian Cream doughnuts" are actually filled with a version of a crème pâtissière, causing local linguistic confusion.
_Wikipedia
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word tootsie roll
Tootsie Rolls are a chocolatey chew candy that have been manufactured for more than 100 years. The cylindrical cocoa-flavored candies come individually wrapped, and are an American cultural icon.
_Wikipedia
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word necco wafers
NECCO Wafers are the oldest continuously manufactured candy in the United States. NECCO is the company name, short for the New England Confectionery Company.
NECCO rolls contain eight flavors and colors: lemon (yellow), orange (orange), lime (green), clove (purple), cinnamon (white), wintergreen (pink), licorice (black), and chocolate (brown). Entire rolls of chocolate wafers are also available in certain locations.
_Wikipedia
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word boston baked beans
Boston Baked Beans aren't really beans, they are candy coated peanuts and Ferrara Pan makes the best Boston Baked Bean in the candy business.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word ribbon candy
"Ribbon candy and Christmas at Aunt Tillie's house bring back memories of the 1960's. Maybe I liked the ribbon candies because they were bigger than any other piece and lasted the longest or maybe I liked them just because they were from Aunt Tillie's candy jar! Or maybe it is the gentle "wave" of the curls that so fascinated me with this piece of candy - it was more like an art form than something to eat. However, after marveling over it, the sugary taste was a fine memory also! ~ Margaret from Iowa"
_oldtimecandy.com
Hard candy in many bright colors and flavors, extruded in uniformly waving strands, folded back on itself several times and cut into pieces. A popular Christmas candy especially in the 1950 and 1960s.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word seafoam
An old-fashioned candy that is light and airy, which is the reason it is called seafoam.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coffee nip
Hard candy that tastes like coffee,
also an alcoholic drink made with Vincent Van Gogh® Dutch Chocolate Vodka, Butterscotch Liqueur and Hazelnut Liqueur that is served chilled in a shot glass.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word licorice whip
Licorice candy extruded into long thin spagetti like ropes up to several feet long. A popular movie treat in the 1950s sold under the name Red Vines. It came in black or red.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word peanut brittle
from fudgemail.com: "Sweet, but not sticky. Kind of buttery, never greasy. Hard, but not tough. Thin and translucent. Aromatic, infused with the flavor of roasted peanuts. These are the qualities of
unforgettable peanut brittle.
"January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word malted milk ball
Candy with a light, crisp, spherical malted center enrobed in a layer of creamy chocolate, also called Maltesers or Whoppers.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word turkish delight
a jellylike or gummy confection usually cut in cubes and dusted with sugar. It comes in many flavors with rosewater and lemon being the most popular
Turkish Delight is the addictive confection by which Edmund Pevensie is seduced into service of the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coneflower
any of several composite plants (as of the genera Echinacea and Ratibida) having cone-shaped flower disks
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word bee balm
any of several monardas
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word flax
A plant with fern-like airy, lacy foliage and small blue flowers
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word double-headed eagle
The double-headed eagle is a common symbol in heraldry and vexillology.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word noxema
Noxzema is a skin cleanser marketed by Procter & Gamble.
Since 1914, it has been sold in a small blue jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus, among other ingredients. Originally developed as a sunburn remedy, it is popular among women as a facial cleanser and make-up remover. It can also be used for cleaning chapped, sunburned, or otherwise irritated skin.
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word coleus
Extremely easy to propigate from cuttings
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word love-in-a-mist
an Old World annual herb (Nigella damascena) of the buttercup family having usually blue or white flowers enveloped in numerous finely dissected bracts
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word protocarnivorous
A protocarnivorous plant (sometimes also paracarnivorous, subcarnivorous, or borderline carnivore), according to some definitions, traps and kills insects or animals but lacks the ability to either directly digest or absorb nutrients from its prey like a carnivorous plant. The morphological adaptations such as sticky trichomes or pitfall traps of protocarnivorous plants parallel the trap structures of confirmed carnivorous plants.
Some authors prefer the term "protocarnivorous" because it implies that these plants are on the evolutionary path to true carnivory, while others oppose the term for the very same reason.
_Wikipedia
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word cranesbill
" The cranesbills make up the genus Geranium of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in the eastern part of the Mediterranean.
The species Geranium viscosissimum is considered to be protocarnivorous.
The name "cranesbill" derives from the appearance of the seed-heads, which have the same shape as the bill of a crane. The genus name is derived from the Greek word geranos, meaning "crane". The long, palmately cleft leaves are broadly circular in form. Their rose, pink to blue or white flowers have 5 petals."
_Wikipedia
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word grape hyacinth
any of several small bulbous spring-flowering herbs (genus Muscari) of the lily family with racemes of usually blue flowers
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scilla
any of a genus (Scilla) of Old World bulbous herbs of the lily family with narrow basal leaves and purple, blue, or white racemose flowers
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word hen and chicks
Hen and chicks (also known as Hen-and-chickens) is a common name for a group of small succulents belonging to the flowering plant family Crassulaceae, native to Europe and northern Africa. They grow close to the ground with leaves formed around each other in a rosette, and propagating by offsets. The 'hen' is the main plant, and the 'chicks' are the offspring, which start as tiny buds on the main plant and soon sprout their own roots, taking up residence close to the mother plant.
_Wikipedia
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word dusty miller
(n): any of several plants having ashy-gray or white tomentose leaves; especially : an herbaceous artemisia (Artemisia stelleriana) with grayish foliage found especially along the eastern coast of the United States
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word evening primrose
(n): any of several dicotyledonous plants of a family (Onagraceae, the evening-primrose family) and especially of the type genus (Oenothera); especially : a coarse biennial herb (O. biennis) of North America with yellow flowers that open in the evening
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word trumpet vine
(n): a North American woody vine (Campsis radicans) of the bignonia family having pinnate leaves and large typically red trumpet-shaped flowers
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word portulaca
Also known as Rose Moss or Moss Rose
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word scabiosa
"Scabiosa is a genus in the teasel Family Dipsacaceae of flowering plants. Many of the species in this genus have common names that include the word scabious; however some plants commonly known as scabious are currently classified in related genera such as Knautia and Succisa; at least some of these were formerly placed in Scabiosa. Another common name for members of this genus is pincushion flowers."
_Wikipedia
January 24, 2008
treeseed commented on the word impatiens
(n): any of a widely distributed genus (Impatiens of the family Balsaminaceae) of annual or perennial herbs with irregular spurred or saccate flowers and forcefully dehiscent capsules
January 24, 2008
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