Merry Christmas to you as well! I see that you are not a native English speaker, which excuses some of the perceived spamminess (machine-generated translations share much in common with machine-generated ads). And I apologize for my rudeness earlier.
Though if I may add, I believe the definition of conspiracy theory is something like "an unconfirmed claim of two or more parties conspiring in a clandestine manner." Whether the logistics of the conspiracy are plausible isn't really the issue. I have no doubt that some conspiracy theories are true, but as long as they remain unconfirmed, they still belong in that category. This is just semantics though.
Why do you put a URL in every comment, petrbuben? It's kind of, well, spammy's not the right word... actually, on second thought, spammy is the perfect word.
We like to have conversations around here without every statement including a call to action. Endlessly repeating links makes you sound like a used-car salesman, more interested in your agenda than actually Wordnikking with other people. Try commenting on some pages unrelated to 9/11 and see what it's like to use the site without peddling your conspiracy theory. You might like it.
I actually like the song quite a lot. The lyrics and tune are beautiful. It's just that one line that always sort of rubbed me the wrong way. Anyway, the real question here, is what is the difference between a Christmas carol and a Christmas song?
I don't think they exist, but Wordnik was designed for all languages. Though most of us here speak English, there are plenty of citations for words in other tongues too.
Pro tip: Don't post your email address in plaintext anywhere on the internet. Spambots scrape the web looking for them and you will receive more junk mail. Best to edit your comment and delete that part, if you ask me.
I hope this isn't too ethnocentric of me, but I have to wonder how such a counterintuitive language ever developed. The human mouth and vocal chords make certain sounds naturally, and it seems like you'd really have to go out of your way to communicate like this instead.
I can't get my mind around this one. We're talking petty theft on a scale so small you'd be hard-pressed to buy a Coke with the spoils. And yet, these guys organized? And further, law enforcement thought it worth their time to bust up the whole ring? As if it even had leaders or a traceable member list or regular meetings in a secret hideout somewhere... How does this sort of thing even happen in the real world?
Yesterday's meme. With the fast pace of meme turnovers these days, what was just this morning an awesome viral internet link can suddenly become a stale yestermeme.
"Oh, that? Yeah, I've seen it already. What, do you live under a rock or something?"
Have you nothing better to do with your time than spend a beautiful Saturday morning hawking links to trashy tabloid headlines in inappropriate (and impossibly irrelevant) places?
"He says he’s familiar with the album but he thought we were getting on the phone to talk about incentivizing heavy users in order to optimize the network resources blah blah and I’m like, Dude, if you ever use the word incentivize around me again I swear I will get in my Gulfstream and fly to wherever you are and I will smash you in the face with a rock."
The dulcet, sonorous personality behind every perfectly neutral American Heritage pronunciation. But even he has bad days sometimes, or is simply a victim of low-bitrate audio files.
I noticed a wave of new pronunciations this morning. They seem to be coming from a bunch of new users and all have the same noticeable background noise that sounds like a lecture hall or trade show floor. Is there some sort of Wordnik demo happening today that I don't know about?
Also, some tips for recording: Don't eat your microphone. Preview the recording before saving to make sure that your voice was not too loud or soft. If you were too loud, you will hear distortion from clipping. As you record, watch the red circle that enlarges with relation to your volume; if the red circle at any time fills the circle that surrounds it, you were too loud and your audio will be distorted. Don't blow directly onto the mic or the percussions will distort the signal, this often happens when enunciating plosives too close to the microphone (if you're whistling, face away from the mic).
Just saw a commercial for Prudential Financial. Their new slogan is "Who? Pru." My list of dumbest things I've ever heard is getting quite long these days.
Why are these so frequent lately? Was this a problem in the late days of Wordie as well? Or maybe, has this been an issue on Wordnik before the sites merged? What measures can be taken to kill spammers before they spam?
Thanks, marky! I've made it a mission of mine to surreptitiously record fun pronunciations on all sorts of random-ish words around the site. If you're watching the Zeitgeist feed you'll know about them in realtime but what I really get a kick out of is people discovering them where they least expect them, a year or more after the fact. Particularly on word pages that don't have any comments or lists associated with them; they're basically untouched apart from the crazy audios file hanging off them. Accidentally finding them, I hope, will bring a smile to people's faces.
Impossible. As I've learned from this thread, such an invention would constitute a grave affront to the integrity of the pasta. I refuse to believe it exists.
Edit: Also, as I've learned from this thread, it's better to click links before commenting on them. I have no sense of humor.
Edit edit: In my defense, links don't show up on Zeitgeist, where I read your comment, so I didn't realize it was a link at all. ;-)
I am right now at this very moment eating spaghetti without first cutting it. And tomato sauce is dribbling down my chin, and splattering across the table, and flinging onto my shirt. I swear it is impossible to twirl the noodles completely around the fork so that none dangle when you lift it. I cannot get my lips around a single bite! Surely these "manners" are merely a cruel joke at my expense?
Sounds like the call letters of an east-coast talk radio station. "It's five minutes past the top of the hour on WTBH, coming up next it's NPR's All Things Considered."
I was hoping you, a real live Italian, might chime in! So do you just twirl the noodles around your fork without a spoon? If they dangle out of your mouth and require slurping, is that considered bad form?
How do you eat spaghetti? I'm told that the "proper" way is by using a spoon to keep the noodles in place as you wind them around the fork like a spool of thread. I usually cut all the noodles into bite-size pieces I can eat easily with a fork, but I'm told this makes me uncivilized, oafish, and uncouth. I'm also told Asian folks typically eat noodles (maybe not spaghetti) by dribbling them from their mouths and slurping them all up, which may be acceptable in certain cultures but strikes me as the most barbaric of all.
Friends, I need a definitive answer to this very important question! What is the right way?
I promise you, every time I've entered the afterlife I have, without fail, followed the injunctions of rumours with utmost religiosity. I have a perfect track record.
See also: The father of Nicholas Cage's character in The Weather Man. Michael Caine is a great actor but his American accent is laughable. In fairness, he does better in Secondhand Lions.
Linked from beetlestomper. Meaning, apparently, sniffing the whole box of markers for a cheap high. Holy crap! Does anybody remember the Sideways Stories from Wayside School series? Author Louis Sachar wrote himself into them as a character with a rainbow-colored mustache... I wonder if this is what he had in mind at the time. Certainly changes an innocent set of children's books, if so.
I was one of the original Wordies but I haven't been active on the site in close to two years. (teardrop) So I'm sure there's a buttload of community that's been built and a gajillion cool things I've missed during my absence.
When I got the email announcing the site had been Wordnikized, I took the opportunity to jump back into things and see what's changed. And much to my cryonic surprise, it doesn't seem like much has at all. Which may be a downer if you're super-progressive about internet roadmaps but I thought it was just swell to find things in a similar state to when I had left. There are some new faces but a lot of familiar ones also. There are some icky bugs but there were plenty of bugs back on YOW too (if those were fixed after I vanished, I never knew). WeirdNet and Vexamples are practically interchangeable. Plus, now we have PRONUNCIATIONS, which I think are freaking cool.
Not to mention, John has multiplied himself into no fewer than 5 busy bees—in an office, no less—and knowing that the resources behind this thing have quintupled feels downright liberating. I'm stoked.
Suck it, whiners. (I mean that as a brother among cherished brethren, with all due respect to my fellow Wordnikkers.) My experience may be… incomplete… but this is still one of the best corporate takeovers I've been part of and I have only optimism for the future of this crazy lexicommentary web site thing. Why so serious? Drive around the potholes and try to enjoy yourselves! Cheers!
Indeed. I'm going to label anyone who pronounces the two differently as an Overly Pretentious Individual. Just because you can emphasize the hard Ts, doesn't mean you should. ;-)
Given that alamoudi hasn't made anything but that one list (with nothing on it) and his/her/its profile contains two separate references to that domain, I'm leaning toward spam. I don't speak Arabic but that stuff smells the same in any language.
That's funny, this phrase always seems to make sense when used in context. On its own, though, I'm not really sure what it's supposed to mean. It's on par with saying "that's really something" with a sly tone and a knowing look. As if such a phrase has any literal meaning at all.
I expect to be pronouncing all of the words on this list with much enthusiasm this week simply because it's that time of year. And I'll also say them into a microphone (enthusiastically) now for crunchysaviour and everybody else on Wordnik. I am a generic American.
I don't know what happened, but pronunciations seem to be totally broke. I can't hear any, and I can't hear a preview when I try to record one. Also the "recent pronunciations" list on Zeitgeist is not showing the most recent pronunciations, which may or may not be related to the problem. The last one showing in that list ends with a period, a known problem character.
Although in retrospect, I see that I misread a small handful of them. Kinda wishing for that delete button for a do-over. Oh well, 'twas still fun. :-)
(The ones I really want to do end with periods, so I can't yet!)
Grant Barrett: This is cool! But I can't comment on the Feedback page. I'm being prompted to create an account or sign in, even though I'm currently logged in already.
Tagging pronunciations might be helpful. Tags for user accents/dialects and for identifying onomatopoeias immediately come to mind, but I'm sure folks would come up with other uses for pron' tags too.
I'm assuming the database is filled with many "words" that Wordnik auto-assimilated by crawling the web. So they'll show up with the Random feature even though they've never actually been seen on the site with human eyes. Which is different from Wordie, which required that all words be manually added to the database by users.
From the lowercase page's definition: "A Scottish dish consisting of a mixture of the minced heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep or calf mixed with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal." Sounds tasty, huh?
I'm unable to hear your pronunciations! I can play the audio files, but they all come across as a few seconds of silence (or white noise). Are you previewing them before saving, just to make sure your microphone's working?
That's a shame, as it's one of my favorite things about having been Wordnikized. Hope you or the devs get it figured out soon (though it sounds like a client-side issue to me).
We can leave our marks on words without composing scintillating comments. Yesterday I went on a small rampage of recording pronunciations for every thing Random Word threw at me (apart from foreign stuff I knew better than to guess at). I had particular fun with online handles and product names. I heartily encourage others to do the same.
If you're in a good environment for recording the audio (sometime I am, sometimes I'm not) you should do this for every word you ever come across. It only takes a few seconds. If there's already a "professional" recording for the word, and your accent/pronunciation is the same as it, there's no need to be redundant. But my experience with the random feature has been that the fast majority of words on the site have no accompanying audio at all.
Comments by uselessness
uselessness commented on the list daydream-believer
Indeed I am! Listing unique words since 2006.
(Though less frequently of late.)
May 11, 2011
uselessness commented on the user marky
What's up with you? I haven't been on Wordnik in a rather long time!
December 6, 2010
uselessness commented on the user john
Now that's what I call service! I haven't been around in a while, but it's nice to see you're still eager to please. :-)
September 11, 2010
uselessness commented on the user uselessness
704 pronunciations? That's nuts. I had no idea it was so high. How do I see them all? Looks like my pronunciation page only shows the last 50.
September 11, 2010
uselessness commented on the user ruzuzu
commentcount++;
How's the Wordnik world (Worldnik?) these days?
September 11, 2010
uselessness commented on the word earworm
If we could embed videos, I would embed this one.
January 16, 2010
uselessness commented on the word woty09
I nominate you're something of a hotdog, aren't you for poty09!
December 29, 2009
uselessness commented on the word snugWow
You really don't want to know.
December 29, 2009
uselessness commented on the list gifts-i-do-not-wish-to-receive
Was it a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle? What possible use could that have?
December 24, 2009
uselessness commented on the word porch monkey
The what? I don't have difficulty with my caucasians, thankyouverymuch.
December 24, 2009
uselessness commented on the word ice-cream
Such merry-making!
December 24, 2009
uselessness commented on the user petrbuben
Merry Christmas to you as well! I see that you are not a native English speaker, which excuses some of the perceived spamminess (machine-generated translations share much in common with machine-generated ads). And I apologize for my rudeness earlier.
Though if I may add, I believe the definition of conspiracy theory is something like "an unconfirmed claim of two or more parties conspiring in a clandestine manner." Whether the logistics of the conspiracy are plausible isn't really the issue. I have no doubt that some conspiracy theories are true, but as long as they remain unconfirmed, they still belong in that category. This is just semantics though.
December 24, 2009
uselessness commented on the user petrbuben
Why do you put a URL in every comment, petrbuben? It's kind of, well, spammy's not the right word... actually, on second thought, spammy is the perfect word.
We like to have conversations around here without every statement including a call to action. Endlessly repeating links makes you sound like a used-car salesman, more interested in your agenda than actually Wordnikking with other people. Try commenting on some pages unrelated to 9/11 and see what it's like to use the site without peddling your conspiracy theory. You might like it.
December 23, 2009
uselessness commented on the word have yourself a merry little christmas
I actually like the song quite a lot. The lyrics and tune are beautiful. It's just that one line that always sort of rubbed me the wrong way. Anyway, the real question here, is what is the difference between a Christmas carol and a Christmas song?
December 21, 2009
uselessness commented on the word lungers
Pronounced "lung-er" or "lunj-er"?
December 21, 2009
uselessness commented on the word have yourself a merry little christmas
A patronizing line in an otherwise very nice Christmas carol. It also happens to be the song's (patronizing) title. Well isn't that just precious.
December 21, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Flatline
Ah yes, the industry-standard way of promoting new music: hosting it on Playboy's web site. Nothing skeezy about that at all.
December 21, 2009
uselessness commented on the word rogue
I don't think they exist, but Wordnik was designed for all languages. Though most of us here speak English, there are plenty of citations for words in other tongues too.
Pro tip: Don't post your email address in plaintext anywhere on the internet. Spambots scrape the web looking for them and you will receive more junk mail. Best to edit your comment and delete that part, if you ask me.
December 21, 2009
uselessness commented on the word ð
telofy, maybe it was a typð?
December 21, 2009
uselessness commented on the word ǃʼOǃKung
I hope this isn't too ethnocentric of me, but I have to wonder how such a counterintuitive language ever developed. The human mouth and vocal chords make certain sounds naturally, and it seems like you'd really have to go out of your way to communicate like this instead.
December 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word racist
The private reaction, on the other hand—
well, it's about the same.
December 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word tip-jar thief ring
I can't get my mind around this one. We're talking petty theft on a scale so small you'd be hard-pressed to buy a Coke with the spoils. And yet, these guys organized? And further, law enforcement thought it worth their time to bust up the whole ring? As if it even had leaders or a traceable member list or regular meetings in a secret hideout somewhere... How does this sort of thing even happen in the real world?
December 18, 2009
uselessness commented on the word holiday
It's a jolly 'oliday with Mary!
Mary makes your 'eart so light
When the day is grey an' ordinary
Mary makes the sun shine bright!
December 18, 2009
uselessness commented on the word jugum penis
What is the sound of one shuddering? "Uggggggggggggh," maybe. Whatever that sound is, I'm making it now. Uggggggggggggh.
December 18, 2009
uselessness commented on the word bi
Bisexual.
December 17, 2009
uselessness commented on the word superbi
Also used as an adjective to describe someone who's not just a little bi.
December 17, 2009
uselessness commented on the word religitigation
Yeah, there's definitely something wrong about a soft g and a hard g in such close proximity.
December 17, 2009
uselessness commented on the user feedback
Looks like the pronunciations server needs a kick; I can't get any audio to play.
December 17, 2009
uselessness commented on the word pronunciations
Uh oh, looks like the server needs another kick! I can't get any of them to load. :-(
December 17, 2009
uselessness commented on the user shankargallery
Borderline? Looks more like the heartland to me.
December 17, 2009
uselessness commented on the list thats-what-she-said-and-other-spoken-earworms
Really!!
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word pisghetti
You know, it sounds less than appetizing when you say it like that.
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the list thats-what-she-said-and-other-spoken-earworms
There seems to be a problem with really?!. :-(
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION
Whispered with intensity.
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word wasted
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word wha happen
Reference to A Mighty Wind?
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word what did you do
Sounds a bit like Christopher Walken too...
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Rogerio
Poor Rogerio. Whoever he is, the Vexamples have not been kind to him. On the other hand, he sounds like a troll.
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word shenanigan
A curiosity: I've never seen one by itself. Usually they travel in packs.
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word ubber
I can only assume this is meant to be uber, which is annoying enough in its own right, but the Vexamples for this "word" leave me cringing in despair.
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word dumbassery
frogapplause, you are teh funny!
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word yestermeme
Yesterday's meme. With the fast pace of meme turnovers these days, what was just this morning an awesome viral internet link can suddenly become a stale yestermeme.
"Oh, that? Yeah, I've seen it already. What, do you live under a rock or something?"
December 16, 2009
uselessness commented on the word 'zuzu
Isn't this Jimmy Stewart's character's daughter in It's A Wonderful Life?
December 15, 2009
uselessness commented on the user orange123
Erm, actually it's Sunday, and I have nothing better to do with my time than ignore my calendar. Clearly.
December 14, 2009
uselessness commented on the user orange123
Have you nothing better to do with your time than spend a beautiful Saturday morning hawking links to trashy tabloid headlines in inappropriate (and impossibly irrelevant) places?
December 14, 2009
uselessness commented on the user orange123
SPAMMER!!!!!!
December 14, 2009
uselessness commented on the word incentivize
"He says he’s familiar with the album but he thought we were getting on the phone to talk about incentivizing heavy users in order to optimize the network resources blah blah and I’m like, Dude, if you ever use the word incentivize around me again I swear I will get in my Gulfstream and fly to wherever you are and I will smash you in the face with a rock."
-Fake Steve Jobs
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Mr. Pronunciation
Done.
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Mr. Pronunciation
The dulcet, sonorous personality behind every perfectly neutral American Heritage pronunciation. But even he has bad days sometimes, or is simply a victim of low-bitrate audio files.
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the word treacle
According to Mr. Pronunciation, it's "teekle."
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the word pronunciations
Is there any way for me to see all my pronunciations? Once they're bumped off my profile I lose them...
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Cthulhu
Oh, weird. I wonder how the misspelling became standard?
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the word pronunciations
I noticed a wave of new pronunciations this morning. They seem to be coming from a bunch of new users and all have the same noticeable background noise that sounds like a lecture hall or trade show floor. Is there some sort of Wordnik demo happening today that I don't know about?
Also, some tips for recording: Don't eat your microphone. Preview the recording before saving to make sure that your voice was not too loud or soft. If you were too loud, you will hear distortion from clipping. As you record, watch the red circle that enlarges with relation to your volume; if the red circle at any time fills the circle that surrounds it, you were too loud and your audio will be distorted. Don't blow directly onto the mic or the percussions will distort the signal, this often happens when enunciating plosives too close to the microphone (if you're whistling, face away from the mic).
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the word omar
I'm not entirely sure that's an accurate pronunciation...
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the word leprechaun
I can't read this word without thinking of Wayne Campbell. "I'm the leprechaun!"
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the list gate
Just found this interesting list, which I will not rip off wholesale here.
December 12, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Cthulhu
Is this not supposed to be Cthulu?
December 11, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Jews-Commit
Dashes were so much longer back in my day.
December 11, 2009
uselessness commented on the word kindrow
Swahili for Wordnik.
December 11, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Wordnik
Reversible? All I get is kindrow.
December 11, 2009
uselessness commented on the word [anything] - gate
I feel bad for the poor, besmirched Watergate Hotel. This is a pretty sad (and linguistically atrocious) legacy to leave.
December 11, 2009
uselessness commented on the word [anything] - gate
For shame, thtownse, what provoked you to make such a controversial statement? You just instigated Wordnikgate!
December 11, 2009
uselessness commented on the word inarticulate
Love it, AZ!
December 11, 2009
uselessness commented on the user eddma23
Thank heavens! I'm running dangerously low on spam.
December 11, 2009
uselessness commented on the word colonel
It sounds like the American Heritage pronouncer is starting the word with a "p."
December 11, 2009
uselessness commented on the word gentium
It's like a Pentium, for the common folk.
December 8, 2009
uselessness commented on the word alawel
LOL
December 7, 2009
uselessness commented on the word me'kite'lsultinej
Megadeth Sultanage?
December 7, 2009
uselessness commented on the word summer kisses, winter tears
frogapplause made me sad. bilby cheered me up again!
December 7, 2009
uselessness commented on the user hostmonster
First hostgator, now hostmonster? The world of web hosting is a frightful one, indeed.
December 7, 2009
uselessness commented on the list initialisms
So weird: The link for SOCMOB doesn't work. All the others do.
December 6, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Schadenfreudgeon
Interesting. Sorry I missed it the first time 'round.
December 6, 2009
uselessness commented on the word pru
Just saw a commercial for Prudential Financial. Their new slogan is "Who? Pru." My list of dumbest things I've ever heard is getting quite long these days.
December 6, 2009
uselessness commented on the word J. Edgar Hoover
That pronunciation really sucks, bilby.
December 6, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
I suppose this would be a bad time for me to mention that I cut my ramen too. Apparently I have no respect for my noodles.
December 6, 2009
uselessness commented on the user siriusdorr
HERE WE GO AGAIN.
Why are these so frequent lately? Was this a problem in the late days of Wordie as well? Or maybe, has this been an issue on Wordnik before the sites merged? What measures can be taken to kill spammers before they spam?
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Schadenfreudgeon
What are you on about?
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word you're something of a hotdog, aren't you
It may well be the most nonsensical thing I've ever heard, but I love the phenomenon transpiring on the pronunciations page.
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word randomishion
A nobler cause there never was.
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the user marky
Thanks, marky! I've made it a mission of mine to surreptitiously record fun pronunciations on all sorts of random-ish words around the site. If you're watching the Zeitgeist feed you'll know about them in realtime but what I really get a kick out of is people discovering them where they least expect them, a year or more after the fact. Particularly on word pages that don't have any comments or lists associated with them; they're basically untouched apart from the crazy audios file hanging off them. Accidentally finding them, I hope, will bring a smile to people's faces.
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word grantmcbarrett
The universe is off-balance as long as Grant has no Mc in his last name.
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word toodly-doo
I actually thought this "word" came first, and toodles was the stupid variation.
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word horse-coursing
A horse is a horse, of course, of course.
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word caramel
The American Heritage audio pronunciation is unlike any I've heard before. I've heard "CAR mull" and "CARE a mell" but never "CAR a mull."
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word as if one is a small garden snake attempting to eat Brazil
Subjunctive for brackets for subjunctive brackets, please, please.
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
Impossible. As I've learned from this thread, such an invention would constitute a grave affront to the integrity of the pasta. I refuse to believe it exists.
Edit: Also, as I've learned from this thread, it's better to click links before commenting on them. I have no sense of humor.
Edit edit: In my defense, links don't show up on Zeitgeist, where I read your comment, so I didn't realize it was a link at all. ;-)
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
Yes, I am a big fan of the shorter pastas. Stuffed shells and ravioli are awesome too!
December 5, 2009
uselessness commented on the word toodly-doo
Better not click on that "Pronunciations" link above, then. I've heard e-punches are even worse than real ones.
December 4, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
Nope, just my laptop power supply. Fortunately?
December 4, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Spaghetti
It's the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster! Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?
December 4, 2009
uselessness commented on the word governator
People were calling him that before 2009, weren't they? I thought the nickname was basically in place ever since his election way back in '03.
December 4, 2009
uselessness commented on the word mother trucker
Yes, she drives a Peterbilt.
December 4, 2009
uselessness commented on the word inconceivable
Whoever created the Vizzini account to record a pronunciation, I think I'm in love with you.
December 4, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
Thank you, sensei. I will refine my technique in the spaghetto dojo and report on my progress once the art has been mastered.
December 4, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
I am right now at this very moment eating spaghetti without first cutting it. And tomato sauce is dribbling down my chin, and splattering across the table, and flinging onto my shirt. I swear it is impossible to twirl the noodles completely around the fork so that none dangle when you lift it. I cannot get my lips around a single bite! Surely these "manners" are merely a cruel joke at my expense?
December 3, 2009
uselessness commented on the word press here for a random word
I pressed here for a random word and all I got was a bunch of nipples.
December 3, 2009
uselessness commented on the word the
"Thee" means (meant?) to thrive or prosper? And that definition comes first? Surely that couldn't have been right in 1913, or ever.
December 3, 2009
uselessness commented on the word puritan purist
Jeez, you variable punctuation marks are all the same. TERRIBLE DRIVERS. *rimshot*
December 3, 2009
uselessness commented on the word microastrology
Quantum entanglement fortune telling! Isn't theoretical physics basically the occult of the 21st century anyway?
December 3, 2009
uselessness commented on the word 404
*listens to a's pronunciation*
...........................'d.
December 3, 2009
uselessness commented on the word pornial
I've seen some embarrassing misreads in my time, but you'd have to be blind as a bat to get this from that.
December 3, 2009
uselessness commented on the word WTBH
Sounds like the call letters of an east-coast talk radio station. "It's five minutes past the top of the hour on WTBH, coming up next it's NPR's All Things Considered."
December 3, 2009
uselessness commented on the list funny-place-names-in-the-garden-state
Another familiar face!
December 3, 2009
uselessness commented on the word frumpy
Dude, you're such a frump.
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word transmogrification
The communion wafers… they're horrible!
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word choo choo train
The third pronunciation is undeniably the greatest. Kudos to a.
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
Guess it's high time I became more civilized, oafless, and couth.
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word I am affronted
Somebody ought to put some clothes on that wall!
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word puritan purist
Ex: Correlation or causation?
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
I was hoping you, a real live Italian, might chime in! So do you just twirl the noodles around your fork without a spoon? If they dangle out of your mouth and require slurping, is that considered bad form?
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word vegemite virgin
I don't get it, is peanut butter an exotic item for folks in some corners of the world? I thought it was universal.
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word photoshop
And the Eye of Newt gets Gimped.
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Eurasiamericantarcticaustalafrica
I think it's a typo. :-(
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word taunton
I feel the sudden urge to visit Taunton, find this guy, and taunt him. I really am so real.
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
Okay... so, uh... what's wrong with cutting, exactly?
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spaghetti
How do you eat spaghetti? I'm told that the "proper" way is by using a spoon to keep the noodles in place as you wind them around the fork like a spool of thread. I usually cut all the noodles into bite-size pieces I can eat easily with a fork, but I'm told this makes me uncivilized, oafish, and uncouth. I'm also told Asian folks typically eat noodles (maybe not spaghetti) by dribbling them from their mouths and slurping them all up, which may be acceptable in certain cultures but strikes me as the most barbaric of all.
Friends, I need a definitive answer to this very important question! What is the right way?
December 2, 2009
uselessness commented on the word qualtify
This word is five times better than the last word you made up!
December 1, 2009
uselessness commented on the word poofter
I 'ardly knew 'er!
December 1, 2009
uselessness commented on the word making wood work
*groan*
December 1, 2009
uselessness commented on the list story-of-a-missing-s
Bwahahahahaha. That was, of course, my plan all along.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word vegemite virgin
Tastes like chicken.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word vegemite virgin
I promise you, every time I've entered the afterlife I have, without fail, followed the injunctions of rumours with utmost religiosity. I have a perfect track record.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the list christmas-wish-list
World peace? But Christmas is the season for people buying me stuff!
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word vegemite virgin
Somehow that doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word the game of the hose
I'm tempted to sue you, just so you'll learn that the Internet is serious business.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word americaine
See also: The father of Nicholas Cage's character in The Weather Man. Michael Caine is a great actor but his American accent is laughable. In fairness, he does better in Secondhand Lions.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word granhermanesco
They'd probably be glad at the unfairness though, as it means their names come up a lot more frequently in conversation than they otherwise would.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word vegemite virgin
I've heard that stuff is insufferable to anyone who wasn't brainwashed in the Australian school system. I shall remain celibate until the day I die.
Edit: And after then too, I suppose.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word going for the rainbow-colored mustache
Linked from beetlestomper. Meaning, apparently, sniffing the whole box of markers for a cheap high. Holy crap! Does anybody remember the Sideways Stories from Wayside School series? Author Louis Sachar wrote himself into them as a character with a rainbow-colored mustache... I wonder if this is what he had in mind at the time. Certainly changes an innocent set of children's books, if so.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word YOW
I thought that was YEEOUCH!?
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the user feedback
Disambiguation boxes are a brilliferous idea.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word songlifting
Good article. I'm actually surprised they didn't go with something more nefarious-sounding. Like datathieving or audiobastardry.
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the user abraxaszugzwang
You're back! Missed you, dude!
November 30, 2009
uselessness commented on the word wordnik
I was one of the original Wordies but I haven't been active on the site in close to two years. (teardrop) So I'm sure there's a buttload of community that's been built and a gajillion cool things I've missed during my absence.
When I got the email announcing the site had been Wordnikized, I took the opportunity to jump back into things and see what's changed. And much to my cryonic surprise, it doesn't seem like much has at all. Which may be a downer if you're super-progressive about internet roadmaps but I thought it was just swell to find things in a similar state to when I had left. There are some new faces but a lot of familiar ones also. There are some icky bugs but there were plenty of bugs back on YOW too (if those were fixed after I vanished, I never knew). WeirdNet and Vexamples are practically interchangeable. Plus, now we have PRONUNCIATIONS, which I think are freaking cool.
Not to mention, John has multiplied himself into no fewer than 5 busy bees—in an office, no less—and knowing that the resources behind this thing have quintupled feels downright liberating. I'm stoked.
Suck it, whiners. (I mean that as a brother among cherished brethren, with all due respect to my fellow Wordnikkers.) My experience may be… incomplete… but this is still one of the best corporate takeovers I've been part of and I have only optimism for the future of this crazy lexicommentary web site thing. Why so serious? Drive around the potholes and try to enjoy yourselves! Cheers!
November 29, 2009
uselessness commented on the word amberlite
Well that's one family fishing resort I'll never be visiting. 'Round these parts we don't reward spammers with our business.
November 28, 2009
uselessness commented on the word apple pie
Based on her peter piper pronunciation, it sounds like frogapplause is an R-emphasizing Amerrrrrican like me. So:
Droopy drawerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs.
Coldsorrrrrrrrrrrrres.
Frogapplawwwwwws.
...see? Totally different.
November 26, 2009
uselessness commented on the word fattoria
If you're into regex, try _? to indicate a possible underscore. ;-)
November 26, 2009
uselessness commented on the word fattoria
Do they have auctioneers in your corner of the world?!
November 26, 2009
uselessness commented on the word lavaliere
Reminds me of this list of catalog words I made a long time ago.
November 26, 2009
uselessness commented on the word apple pie
You are missing an Australian accent, apparently...
November 26, 2009
uselessness commented on the list another-satisfied-customer
Awww yeah!
November 26, 2009
uselessness commented on the word cuttlefish
I think you just poked my eyes out with those finely sharpened Ts, 'nach! Next time file 'em down a bit, will ya? :-D
November 25, 2009
uselessness commented on the word cuttlefish
Indeed. I'm going to label anyone who pronounces the two differently as an Overly Pretentious Individual. Just because you can emphasize the hard Ts, doesn't mean you should. ;-)
November 25, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spam
Ah, that could be. Good thinking. :-)
November 25, 2009
uselessness commented on the word spam
Given that alamoudi hasn't made anything but that one list (with nothing on it) and his/her/its profile contains two separate references to that domain, I'm leaning toward spam. I don't speak Arabic but that stuff smells the same in any language.
November 25, 2009
uselessness commented on the word piece of work
That's funny, this phrase always seems to make sense when used in context. On its own, though, I'm not really sure what it's supposed to mean. It's on par with saying "that's really something" with a sly tone and a knowing look. As if such a phrase has any literal meaning at all.
November 25, 2009
uselessness commented on the word phobophobia
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
November 25, 2009
uselessness commented on the list annoying-american-pronunciations
I expect to be pronouncing all of the words on this list with much enthusiasm this week simply because it's that time of year. And I'll also say them into a microphone (enthusiastically) now for crunchysaviour and everybody else on Wordnik. I am a generic American.
November 24, 2009
uselessness commented on the word apple pie
"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."
-Carl Sagan
November 24, 2009
uselessness commented on the word forget what witticism you were originally going to insert here because you've just banged your knee on your desk
The pain I endure for the entertainment of Wordniks like you guys... ;-)
November 24, 2009
uselessness commented on the word pronunciations
I don't know what happened, but pronunciations seem to be totally broke. I can't hear any, and I can't hear a preview when I try to record one. Also the "recent pronunciations" list on Zeitgeist is not showing the most recent pronunciations, which may or may not be related to the problem. The last one showing in that list ends with a period, a known problem character.
November 24, 2009
uselessness commented on the word carer
The career carer called Carl carefully cared for Caren, the careless career car-caravaneer.
November 24, 2009
uselessness commented on the word comatoes
The superlative form is comatost. Or maybe comatoast.
November 23, 2009
uselessness commented on the word grapple
Don't grapple with my grapple!
November 23, 2009
uselessness commented on the word untypical
Pretty sure "untypical" isn't actually supposed to be a real word.
November 23, 2009
uselessness commented on the word software
Isn't software plural? I would never refer to "a software" but "some software" is fine. Or "a piece of software" or "a software program."
November 22, 2009
uselessness commented on the list take-this-word-and
Although in retrospect, I see that I misread a small handful of them. Kinda wishing for that delete button for a do-over. Oh well, 'twas still fun. :-)
(The ones I really want to do end with periods, so I can't yet!)
November 21, 2009
uselessness commented on the word gleek
So Fox actually promotes this word, even though John's definition below is widely known? Maybe not the best marketing decision ever made...
November 21, 2009
uselessness commented on the word A fly and a flea flew into a flue
A fly and a flea flew into a flue
Said the fly to the flea, "What shall we do?"
"Let us fly," said the flea
Said the fly, "Shall we flee?"
So they flew through a flaw in the flue
November 21, 2009
uselessness commented on the user rogering
When I see your username I think of Tucker in There's Something About Mary!
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word non-extraordinary
Extraordinary is the new special.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Poseidon's steed: the story of seahorses, from myth to reality
IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU RESPECT MY CREDENTIALS!
SIGNED,
USELESSNESS, B.A.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word wordnikkers
Exactly.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word wordnikkers
No, that's the first baseman.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word wordnikkers
Doctor who?
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word BLATANT
BUT I WOULD HAVE IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU PESKY KIDS!
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word wordnikkers
Doctor Wordnik better be related to Doctor Robotnik, else I shall be quite put out!
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the user feedback
Ah, there we go. Now I can post here. Not that I have anything to say at the moment. ;-)
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the user whichbe
Grant Barrett: This is cool! But I can't comment on the Feedback page. I'm being prompted to create an account or sign in, even though I'm currently logged in already.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word wordnikkers
Wordies remind me of hippies. It's a match made in heaven! ;-)
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word bugs
I just noticed that there's no way to get to any of the subpages for this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game, and the remote control, and the lamp, and that's all I need. (apparently because it ends with a period).
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word wordnikkers
Native Wordniks are called Wordniks. Immigrant Wordniks from Wordie should be Weirdniks.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the list un
Haha, nice one!
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word comments
Tagging pronunciations might be helpful. Tags for user accents/dialects and for identifying onomatopoeias immediately come to mind, but I'm sure folks would come up with other uses for pron' tags too.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the list un
Maybe uncle?
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the list go-get--make-it--use-it-fizz-it--volt-it
*seems to be broken, except I can't edit my comment to fix that.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the list go-get--make-it--use-it-fizz-it--volt-it
Comment editing seems to broken in general, at the moment. :-(
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the list take-this-word-and
As of this morning, every word on this list has a recorded pronunciation.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the list go-get--make-it--use-it-fizz-it--volt-it
Not sure what you're going to do with this list but its name reminds me of a Daft Punk song.
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Orrore! Orrore! Ho visto un ramarro marrone! Arriva correndo il ramarro marrone!
If Speedy Gonzales were Italian... ;-)
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word konstantinopolitanischerdudelsackpfeifenmachergesellschaftsleiterin
Love it!
November 20, 2009
uselessness commented on the word earworm
The loss of the autoplaying earworm is one of the Great Tragedies of our time.
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word WESTLEY
AS YOU WISH!
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word decider
Whichbe is Dubya?
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word schadenfreude
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks unsavory thoughts upon seeing that menu.
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word comments
I'm assuming the database is filled with many "words" that Wordnik auto-assimilated by crawling the web. So they'll show up with the Random feature even though they've never actually been seen on the site with human eyes. Which is different from Wordie, which required that all words be manually added to the database by users.
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word chained_bear
This is bad. Very bad. Can somebody prod her?
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word pronunciation
I must be keeping you busy then!
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word peter piper
Nice! Sounds good to me. It's a 5-second limit.
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word pronunciation
There really should be a "delete" button. Alas, there is none. So make sure you get it right before you hit "save!"
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word Haggis
From the lowercase page's definition: "A Scottish dish consisting of a mixture of the minced heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep or calf mixed with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the slaughtered animal." Sounds tasty, huh?
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word YEW
Wouldn't that be YOW?
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word belvedere
Come here, boy.
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word unfriend
I use it. It's much more convenient than "remove X from my friends list."
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the user rolig
I'm unable to hear your pronunciations! I can play the audio files, but they all come across as a few seconds of silence (or white noise). Are you previewing them before saving, just to make sure your microphone's working?
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word completionist
That is weird. I'm running Safari on a Mac and it works fine for me, FWIW.
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word completionist
That's a shame, as it's one of my favorite things about having been Wordnikized. Hope you or the devs get it figured out soon (though it sounds like a client-side issue to me).
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word comments
Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but is there any way to see more than the 40 most recent comments? I feel that Zeitgeist is insufficient.
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word completionist
We can leave our marks on words without composing scintillating comments. Yesterday I went on a small rampage of recording pronunciations for every thing Random Word threw at me (apart from foreign stuff I knew better than to guess at). I had particular fun with online handles and product names. I heartily encourage others to do the same.
If you're in a good environment for recording the audio (sometime I am, sometimes I'm not) you should do this for every word you ever come across. It only takes a few seconds. If there's already a "professional" recording for the word, and your accent/pronunciation is the same as it, there's no need to be redundant. But my experience with the random feature has been that the fast majority of words on the site have no accompanying audio at all.
November 19, 2009
uselessness commented on the word misspeaks
Respectfully referred to as Widow Peaks, wife of the late P. Ike Peaks (who is succeeded by his twin brother S. Nick Peaks).
November 19, 2009
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