Story of a Missing "S"

reesetee Ah, yes. What a spectaculatory list it is. :-) Apr 4, 2011

ruzuzu Yes, four years ago--before I found this place and all of you stole my spare time with your cleverness and your madeupatory ways.

A foo on both your houses!

Oh, and... um... btw, I've *favorited* this list. Apr 3, 2011

sionnach While this list remains one of my all-time favorites, I must confess to being baffled by its title. And who the hell is "Parker Smith", and what has he done with uselessness?

Ah, those were the good old days, weren't they? The halcyon days of "about 4 years ago"..... Apr 3, 2011

reesetee This was also, I believe, where the famed madeupatory was coined. I eagerly await its return. Dec 1, 2009

PossibleUnderscore Chicken catch-a-tory! Hahahahahaha! Nov 30, 2009

sionnach Yes, indeed there was. I think the problem is that the whole discussion is not being shown, as there is a maximum amount of text that is shown per screen. (And no 'continue' or 'past comments' option, to allow the whole glorious discussion to be recaptured - HINT!).

To test this explanation, as I write this, the earliest comment visible in the discussion is one that I made:

"Also, with apologies for the delay, cunctatory".

That "also" is a clear indication that there were earlier comments not shown. But, if my hypothesis is correct, just adding this comment will make the one just quoted disappear from visibility as well.

This limited visibility thing is not confined just to discussions like this one - I am unable to retrieve any but the most recent comments on my profile. I'm sure they are not gone for good, and an eventual technical fix should remedy the problem. Nov 30, 2009

milosrdenstvi Wasn't there something here about chicken catch-a-tory? Or was that somewhere else? Nov 30, 2009

uselessness Bwahahahahaha. That was, of course, my plan all along. Nov 30, 2009

sionnach This page is where my addiction really started. Perhaps not surprisingly, it turns out that uselessness was to blame all along. Nov 30, 2009

sionnach Me too. Apr 8, 2009

mollusque I miss uselessness! Jun 24, 2008

reesetee You can "favorite" it, though. :-) Jun 24, 2008

bilby Oh dear. Houston? Jun 23, 2008

jennarenn You can't list a list on a list. So here I sit, listlessly wishing that somebody had listed this list as a specific word. Jun 23, 2008

bilby Why can't you list this list on your conversations list? Jun 23, 2008

jennarenn It was beautiful, wasn't it? I wish I could list this list on my conversations list. Jun 23, 2008

bilby *gobsmacked* Jun 23, 2008

reesetee Wow, that was...poetic.

So you're saying this *isn't* all about me? ;-) Feb 24, 2007

uselessness It's like watching an Indy 500 wreck in slow motion... and then rewinding to see it again and again. Fascinating; frightening; beautiful; and compellingly obscene. Even I morbidly look on as the disaster grows, sweeping across the lanes in a gruesome domino effect as it escalates a fender-bender into an angry, fireballing hundred-car pileup -- and I am internally torn between alternating swells of horror and fatherly pride.

Like any good car accident, it's never the fault of just one driver. Feb 24, 2007

reesetee It's the suppository thing, isn't it? Feb 24, 2007

sionnach this list is dead to me now Feb 23, 2007

oroboros Y'all are WAY too clever fer yer own goods! oof! (foo in reverse). Feb 23, 2007

abraxaszugzwang oh! Well! I . . . . !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Feb 23, 2007

sionnach Did I open Pandora's box? I think not. Foo right backatcha! In fact, pfui Teufel! :-) Feb 23, 2007

uselessness "Powers of its own?" Lookatchuself!! This is all your doing! And reesetee's, and oroboros'. But mostly yours. Foo. Feb 23, 2007

sionnach (ahem!) copulatory, aleatory, inhibitory, clerestory, dextrorotatory, investigatory. Also auditory, preparatory, circulatory, subdirectory,contributory, signatory, compensatory, reformatory, defamatory, congratulatory, peremptory, territory, ambulatory.

That's it. I am walking away from this list, which clearly has developed some kind of evil powers of its own. Feb 23, 2007

uselessness Hey now, that wasn't meant to be inflammatory! Just truthatory! I won't have violence on my listory!! Feb 23, 2007

reesetee Yikes! A shootout! I think I'll go work on a list somewhere.... Feb 23, 2007

abraxaszugzwang You know U, first you doubt my sincerity, then you kick me while I'm down. Each time I let you have it. But you don't shit on a man's words. Not round these parts anyhow. Prepare to die. Feb 23, 2007

reesetee NOW you tell me. Feb 23, 2007

uselessness Probably one of AZ's. They don't count, you know. Feb 23, 2007

reesetee Really? I could have *sworn* I saw it on a Wordie list somewhere.... Feb 23, 2007

uselessness That's not a word! Feb 23, 2007

reesetee You're being cookietory at a time like this?? Feb 23, 2007

chained_bear *enjoys watching the tennis match*
Nearly choked on my cookie laughing at this... Feb 23, 2007

uselessness And you're just jealoutory. Feb 23, 2007

reesetee Okay, now you're just showingoffatory. Feb 23, 2007

uselessness Yes, it will be delivered in manners speedilatory and unmercilatory, and (I hope against hope) its punitory effect will yield correctory results. I have such good parentory skills! Feb 23, 2007

reesetee No! Not corporaltory punishment! Feb 23, 2007

uselessness It's a good list. It's a good child.

It's just spoiled rotten to the core, and needs a little loving discipline. *pulls out the spankpaddle* Feb 23, 2007

reesetee Indeed, they are. And indeed, you shouldn't. Feb 23, 2007

chained_bear Hey, sionnach's additions are terrific. I love that there is a list containing both depilatory and suppository. It's important never to confuse one of those objects with the other. Feb 23, 2007

reesetee This one's the wayward one, then? Feb 23, 2007

uselessness Never!!! My lists are like my childrens!! Feb 23, 2007

reesetee You're going to have to drive a stake through its heart, I think. ;-) Feb 23, 2007

uselessness ...and yet it lives on. Feb 23, 2007

sionnach promontory, conciliatory, depilatory Feb 23, 2007

uselessness I've created a monster! Feb 21, 2007

reesetee Perhaps you should rename the list "Frankenstein." Feb 21, 2007

uselessness I must admit, my feelings toward this list are now somewhere between regretory and iwannabashmyheadagainsthewallifihearthatonemoretimeatory. What was I thinking?!? Feb 21, 2007

reesetee Touché, sionnach!

P.S. Copulatory plug? Barf! Feb 21, 2007

sionnach Ever wonder if your kid's pet rat might be pregnant? Don't go palpating. Instead, why not check for that copulatory plug? Rats do it, spiders do it, iguanas etc. I knew that all those years of reviewing toxicology protocols would be useful for something - I can still remember the slightly nauseous feeling induced by first reading the phrase "copulatory plug".

http://ratguide.com/breeding/pregnancy/determining_pregnancy.php

Not as bad as the first concert I attended where the program featured aleatory music. But then, life is a crapshoot.

Clerestory windows, on the other hand, can be very soothing.

Finally, I think it is reasonable to suppose that Britain's Investigatory Powers Act, passed in the year 2000, has had an inhibitory effect on the freedoms of residents of that sceptered isle. I've heard that matters have taken such a turn to the right, it's screwing up their chemistry. Chiral molecules known to have been laevorotatory in the past suddenly flip to being dextrorotatory overnight. Feb 21, 2007

uselessness I exhort you for that suggestion! Feb 19, 2007

reesetee Exhortatory? And apologies for the earlier obfuscatoriness. ;-) Feb 19, 2007

uselessness Yes, sorry, it was obfuscated by all the fake words. :-)

And cunctatory just sounds dirty. But it's a good one -- added! Feb 19, 2007

sionnach Also, with apologies for the delay, cunctatory Feb 19, 2007

sionnach Doesn't obfuscatory make the cut? Enquiring minds... Feb 19, 2007

uselessness Ooh, I do like that one. Thanks! Feb 19, 2007

reesetee Uselessness, just found another one: feretory. Apparently another word for reliquary. Feb 19, 2007

reesetee Sounds scrumptiatory. Feb 16, 2007

sionnach Foo, bub? This discussion is getting downright obfuscatory. It's giving me an appetite for some Italian food. Maybe some delicious chicken catch-a-tory.
(Instructions: first you have to hunt down your tory, then prepare them in a nice reduction of tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, herbs and wine. One sleek, well-fed, Tory serves a party of twelve, according to P.J. O' Rourke's groundbreaking book "Eat the Rich") Feb 16, 2007

oroboros Busted on RTFQ. I hereby retract, tory and story. foo. Feb 16, 2007

uselessness Oh dear, this list is quickly getting out of handatory. Feb 16, 2007

abraxaszugzwang Let's push for a retro-edit of Amadeus where Salieri uses "Foo." Feb 16, 2007

reesetee Recalcitricatory? Why yes, how good of you to notice. It was definitely madeupatory--even fakeatory, if you will. But try pronouncing it a few times. Doesn't it sound hilariatory? Feb 16, 2007

chained_bear You mean recalcitricatory or purgatorial? Foo. (Not really. I just wanted to call someone a foo and you, sir (?), as Salieri says in "Amadeus," were at hand.) Feb 16, 2007

uselessness That word sounded... rather... madeupatory? Feb 16, 2007

chained_bear God. This list is purgatorial. Feb 16, 2007

reesetee Sorry. Were we being recalcitricatory? Feb 16, 2007

uselessness My directions were explicatory.
"Word endings" are indicatory of suffixes, not entire words.
To think otherwise compromises the compilatory nature of this list.
Don't make me reprimand you in a more compulsatory manner.
Your recalcitrance will go down in history.
Foo. Feb 16, 2007

reesetee Foo, chained_bear. Clearly you didn't read the ever-so-explicit directions. Words that END in -tory (emphasis mine).

Well, okay, technically, Tory also ends in -tory. But really. Are we picking nits here or what?

Eew. I just grossed out my own self. Feb 16, 2007

chained_bear Do we not like Tories? I mean, what's wrong with tory? Besides that it's rightfully a proper (i.e. capped) noun?
p.s. "foo" made me laugh out loud. Feb 15, 2007

sionnach You know, "expectatory", like when you're trying to cough up one more word. In my defence, (or, if you prefer, "in exculpatory vein"), I'd already come up with a bunch, and anyway, my interest in the topic is really desultory, at best .
Personally, I prefer "exploitative" as the adjectival from, 'exploitatory' sounds more like a political strategy. Feb 15, 2007

reesetee Oh, that WAS smooth, sionnach! Feb 15, 2007

uselessness Nice try, bub. :-) Feb 15, 2007

sionnach Not contributing out of any kind of expectatory sense as far as winning anything; I just loves the wordies. Feb 15, 2007

uselessness Suggestions added. But you ain't won nuttin'. How you 'spect to beat out s'pository? Foo.

oroboros, on the other hand, loses for thinking tory and story count on this list. :-P Feb 15, 2007

oroboros rectory; story; directory; tory Feb 15, 2007

sionnach derogatory, supererogatory, minatory, interrogatory, accusatory, valedictory, contradictory, victory.. oh god, get this out of my head already - I can't look at these words anymore. Feb 15, 2007

reesetee Uh oh--must be another winner sionnach has in mind. ;-) Feb 15, 2007

sionnach olfactory, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, laudatory, hortatory, refectory. I'll stop now. Feb 15, 2007

uselessness LOL, suppository for the win! Feb 14, 2007

reesetee Thanks! Well then, umm...suppository? (blushing) Feb 14, 2007

uselessness No need to stop! Those were great! I'm pretty much at a loss to think of any more... though I'm sure there are plenty I've missed. Feb 14, 2007

reesetee Great list idea. How 'bout nugatory, transitory, lavatory, or predatory? Wait! Dormitory! Repository!

I'll stop now. Feb 14, 2007