bilby has adopted no words, looked up 0 words, created 220 lists, listed 25145 words, written 29253 comments, added 0 tags, and loved 58 words.
Comments for bilby
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My stats say I have looked up 0 words and I suspect that's an undercount. Sayin'.
March 26, 2024
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I hope there are some exciting new flavours. How about roasted vendingmachine with caramel?
November 22, 2023
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Me too. Do you have room for some fufluns?
November 21, 2023
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Glad you're back!
November 21, 2023
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Yes I think it was something to do with my laptop and a new login system at Wordnik having a wee pith-feud.
November 20, 2023
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I have eaten all the cookies and now don't feel like hommous, but it's the thought that counts. Thank you Erin. I am now perilously close to commenting freely again.
November 20, 2023
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Hi Bilby! I'm so sorry you're trapped in the nether world. Can you try clearing your cookies? It will make room for more hommous.
November 20, 2023
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I have logged in 3 times in the last 5 minutes, yet whenever I click a word I find myself logged out again.
Thusly I am trapped in a nether world between bilby and unbilby. Send hommous.
November 20, 2023
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Hey why so many comments, you leather-tipped sandrabbit?
August 12, 2021
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*pokes bilby*
Hey, you're still around!
July 27, 2020
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*pokes bilby*
July 5, 2020
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Merci beaucoup, bilby, for the fresh-baked welcome fuflun from ruzuzu. I'm in love with wordniks' lists, and have been using them over the last year or so to cook up found poetry. Delicious.
April 26, 2020
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Where's vendingmachine, haven't seen him for ages? Too occupied with his paleo sushi petting zoo?
April 3, 2019
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Reading comments such as those at eckle-feckle I grieve that I missed some merry times at Wordnik.
November 3, 2018
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Been burrowing. As one does.
September 29, 2018
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Mmm. Tasty lichens.
September 28, 2018
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Ahoy, bilby! Long time no read. Have you been off foraging for tasty lichens?
September 28, 2018
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Bilby o bilby,
Didst thou die on latinx hill?
November 3, 2016
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Happens certain phases of Uranus.
August 31, 2016
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Hey bilby how long have you been a howling frumpmudgeon?
August 31, 2016
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*dusts badge*
November 5, 2015
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Hey are you some kind of self-appointed contribution cop, rat features?
November 5, 2015
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Wait--I thought it was turtles all the way down. Mind? Blown.
November 3, 2015
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how about a five-toad?
November 3, 2015
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Shut up you extruded rabbit.
November 2, 2015
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Are you talking to yourself again?
November 2, 2015
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I get an error trying to post either a new word or a comment here:
https://www.wordnik.com/lists/politicians-nicknames
November 2, 2015
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Nope, that's about it really.
August 28, 2015
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Do you have anything decent to say ear-whippet or are you just trying to flood these Polski doltskis off the front page?
August 28, 2015
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Hi Bilby - Just spotted a question you posed in a comment back in 2009 (!) on my aviation list ("Let's go strap on the ole air'chine and bore holes in the sky!") to wit: "what is a 'rooster tail'?" If it still matters see image here...or, since I've added it to the list: rooster tail.
June 15, 2015
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"bilby commented on the user bilby
I went to leave a comment on your page, and I arrived at a 404 and a steampunk rhino. Both of which are about right in your case."
Are you talking to yourself?
April 27, 2015
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I went to leave a comment on your page, and I arrived at a 404 and a steampunk rhino. Both of which are about right in your case.
April 27, 2015
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Did you like the new berry additions?
April 27, 2015
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Bilby is, as usual, a lode of useful information. I once went skiing in Chamonix, where les Guides des Alpes are universally admired, but I failed to understand the sense of their characteristic cries.
They're famed for feats of derring-do
But guides of the Alps are scholars too.
It's knowledge they seek
When they call from a peak
And plaintively ask, "Beaudelaire, he who?"January 11, 2015
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Bonsoir Monsieur Bilby,
Where are you, actuellement?
I am back in Paris, being forced to write about such big fat frauds as Charles "Mr Spleen" Baudelaire.
But in two more weeks I shall be free, free as a bird!
Now I need to go favourite the word "wentletrap".
Adieu !
January 10, 2015
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Where did "Community" go? Is it just my computer?
December 24, 2014
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Have I ever told you how much I like your bagpipes list?
December 15, 2014
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Are you in Bogota? I was just there! Ships passing in the cliché.
November 8, 2014
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and I you with a waistband of tittering finches. Don't disillusion me!
November 6, 2014
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Happy belated selfie day, old bean.
November 6, 2014
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...for of Afghan chutney is her soul compact
April 2, 2014
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Is there a way to search by tag?
March 27, 2014
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March 27, 2014
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oh, he do
March 14, 2014
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didn't you have a list called "Drinky-time, or the most happy of hours" or some such? Maybe it was someone else...
March 12, 2014
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Meow.
February 20, 2014
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Bilby, I wish you a happy new year. I am grateful for the comments you have given me. I have been slow to respond mostly because I could not figure out how to do it. I have been looking for an ongoing thread I could reply to but I have failed to find it, so now I have visited your dashboard. This seems rather roundabout, like exiting the house and ringing the doorbell again before replying, but it is all I can manage for the moment.
January 1, 2014
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Thanks for jomo. It's perfect.
December 16, 2013
%20on%20my%20aviation%20list%20(%22Let's%20go%20strap%20on%20the%20ole%20air'chine%20and%20bore%20holes%20in%20the%20sky!%22)%26nbsp%3Bto%20wit%3A%20%22what%20is%20a%20'rooster%20tail'%3F%22%20If%20it%20still%20matters%20see%20image%26nbsp%3B%3Ca%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.supermotors.net%2Fgetfile%2F773053%2Ffullsize%2Ff1402.jpg%22%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%3Ehere%3C%2Fa%3E...or%2C%20since%20I've%20added%20it%20to%20the%20list%3A%20%5Brooster%20tail%5D..&subject=I%20think%20oroboros%20is%20a%20spammer%21)
Comments by bilby
bilby commented on the word whiffletree
I've never seen an animal with a gate ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
July 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word taberfuckingnak
My very amateur take is that most languages don't cope well with infixing (leaving profanity aside).
July 14, 2024
bilby commented on the word dispope
I repope your unpope and raise you a bishop.
July 11, 2024
bilby commented on the word hedgers
Or are they Benson burners?
June 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word hedgers
People who smoke Benson & Hedges?
June 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word mary-bud
Ideal for your Sounds Like Dopehead Slang But Isn't list.
June 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word spoiler effect
Generally not applicable to transferable vote systems a.k.a. 'ranked choice'.
June 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word mycomycetous
My, my, what have we here?
June 24, 2024
bilby commented on the word horn stalkball
horn stalykball ... a kind of Polish cave game where you score points by using a deer horn to hit a ball between stalactites.
June 23, 2024
bilby commented on the word yerk
Clearly absent of enough work
I perchance may indulge a small quirk
By grabbing your knee
Bringing closer to me
And twanging it with playful yerk
June 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word beer-engine
C'mon, c'mon, do the locomotion with me!
June 19, 2024
bilby commented on the word real superhero
Lol spandex sighting!
June 19, 2024
bilby commented on the word dastardice
Might try to revive this.
June 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word from goo to you by way of the zoo
Is good!
June 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word jimmy
"There may even be active deception around this topic. A graph was recently put out by the ONS Office for National Statistics in the UK. The text on the graph states that the majority of Long COVID cases were contracted from cases people had more than two years ago, and at first glance, the graph seems to support the assertion. But if you look at the graph a little more closely, you realize they’ve monkeyed with the X-axis and the size of the bins groups of data within a specified range for each one of the bars in the chart. If you actually fix the X-axis, it’s clear that Long COVID has been skyrocketing in the last year. It appears that the ONS may have purposely manipulated the chart to hide the fact that Long COVID is exploding right now, because building such a jimmied custom chart takes MUCH more work than simply plotting the data."
- https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/from-long-covid-odds-to-lost-iq-points-ongoing-threats-you-dont-know-about
June 17, 2024
bilby commented on the word black bloc
Recently I've seen usage of this to describe clothing style. Protesters hope to make it difficult for them to be identified by 'authorities' by all wearing plain black clothing which they refer to as black bloc.
June 17, 2024
bilby commented on the word glass sponge
Apparently someone out there is counting the points on siliceous spicules.
June 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word proctologic
The kind of logic espoused by someone with their head up their arse?
June 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word Andrić Ivo
Try 'Bridge on the Drina' as a cure for insomnia.
June 16, 2024
bilby commented on the list hip-hip-hooray-wamgkCmN9k16CVIbLSOHP
hip and shoulder
June 15, 2024
bilby commented on the word R-Kellying
FFS leave chooks out of this.
June 14, 2024
bilby commented on the word vacancy control
New bit of management-speak for staff cuts. See here: https://tasmaniantimes.com/2024/06/on-mental-health-staffing-vacancy-control/
June 13, 2024
bilby commented on the word genipap
Also marmalade-box.
June 13, 2024
bilby commented on the word batter
So how did they get the pyramids out of the deep fryer?
June 13, 2024
bilby commented on the word friend shaped
I'm a bit over -shaped formations. An egghead I follow on Twitter often talks about poll-shaped objects, meaning (opinion) polls he doesn't think have much integrity.
June 12, 2024
bilby commented on the word gahnite
Gah!
June 11, 2024
bilby commented on the word Minoans
My minor Minoan miner's mum moaned mainly about more mean mynahs mimicking Minoan mimes' memes.
June 10, 2024
bilby commented on the word plant hopper
Untrammelled vegan.
June 10, 2024
bilby commented on the word epiphylly
Girl's name for the type who likes to wear lace frocks while reading dark science fiction in the conservatory.
June 6, 2024
bilby commented on the word epiphylly
Pretty word.
June 6, 2024
bilby commented on the word crowbar
So, a crow walks into a bar. And the bartender says ...
June 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word crowbar
I'm not very convinced by this etymology.
June 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word droving
C'mon, potatoes aren't that expensive.
June 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word droving
Briefly I wondered why vendingmachine was roasting stones.
June 4, 2024
bilby commented on the user qwer1234
That's all you need.
June 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word dooms
Dooms interesting, hey what.
June 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word dooms
I was not aware of this usage as an intensifier. Promising.
June 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word jimsonweed
Well, close friends of Jim have known this for a long time.
May 29, 2024
bilby commented on the word short statured person
Modern alternative to derogatory midget and somewhat loaded dwarf.
May 29, 2024
bilby commented on the list banana-OHlBVHUJ1FA-xWseKqcCt
Bananas in Pyjamas
May 29, 2024
bilby commented on the word Bush Week
"What is it, Bush Week?" is an Australian expression used when something is poorly organised or underwhelming.
May 29, 2024
bilby commented on the list im-bushed-TPI9Kn08wQXn6EOB579qC
Bush Week
May 29, 2024
bilby commented on the list something-strange-pz6Zzj5dJzVRQjw1amlQf
Who 're you gonna call?
May 28, 2024
bilby commented on the word discountenance
So, not the face you make when you got a bargain.
May 28, 2024
bilby commented on the word bukkum-wood
Both alternatives have two sets of double letters.
The double-letter tree :-)
May 28, 2024
bilby commented on the word screwed-work
Not prostitution :-/
May 28, 2024
bilby commented on the word dangle-monkey
See dangles.
May 28, 2024
bilby commented on the word lash-pole
Pawel - a pale, Polish beanpole - used a preppy pal's pulley to pull an ash lash-pole across a creased cross-pole coarsely.
May 27, 2024
bilby commented on the word hygrometry
Hmmm. I think we need to explore the potential here for moist avoidance.
May 27, 2024
bilby commented on the word dangles
whichbe's definition reminds me of at least two US presidential candidates :-/
May 27, 2024
bilby commented on the word dangles
For a musical interlude see dangle-money.
May 27, 2024
bilby commented on the word Iriomote cat
So Iriomote is a remote island?
May 27, 2024
bilby commented on the word nutpick
Not a dance craze.
May 27, 2024
bilby commented on the word greyhound shelving
A term used by end-greyhound-racing advocates: the practice of counting as 'adopted' dogs that languish in kennels for months or years in order to make adoption figures look good.
May 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word chilicoyote
Surely when the Coyote brothers - Wil E. and Chil I. - team up they will finally catch that pesky road runner.
May 24, 2024
bilby commented on the word chilicoyote
Here was me hoping for a piquant baddie in a new Warner Brothers cartoon.
May 23, 2024
bilby commented on the word try
I confess I did not have Erin marked as a rugby fan!
May 23, 2024
bilby commented on the word startling
When a starling lands in a cup of T.
May 22, 2024
bilby commented on the word color TV
Almost as good as colour TV.
May 22, 2024
bilby commented on the word potato chaser
I just randomed an ethnic slur, how's your day going?
May 22, 2024
bilby commented on the word comminuible
One of those it-has-a-name? words.
May 22, 2024
bilby commented on the word unthawed
An incorrect usage, good gawd!
Using unthawed when shoulda used thawed
If you don't get it right
Then alexz just might
Send you to meet your sweet Lord
May 22, 2024
bilby commented on the word mandrins
A bit like an ornge, but smaller.
May 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word paracellulose
TCD definition writer clearly not impressed.
May 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word strategic vacancy management
A euphemism for cutting employment by not replacing departing staff.
"The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has sounded the alarm over the university management’s reckless cost-saving measures. In a move that reeks of short-sightedness, the University management’s proposed 'strategic vacancy management' threatens to plunge the institution into a crisis of morale, burnout, and diminished educational quality." - https://tasmaniantimes.com/2024/05/nteu-concerned-over-utas-jobs/
May 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word blennioidea
I wonder how you achieve that. Is it like three Xmas gatherings in a row without any punches or plates thrown?
May 15, 2024
bilby commented on the word blennioidea
Superfamily. No pressure then.
May 15, 2024
bilby commented on the word King Billy pine
"Athrotaxis selaginoides is a species of Athrotaxis, endemic to Tasmania in Australia, where it grows at 400–1,120 m elevation. In its habitat in the mountains, snow in winter is very usual. It is often called King Billy pine or King William pine (believed to be in reference to William Lanne, an Aboriginal Tasmanian man),3 although it is not a true pine." - Wikipedia
May 15, 2024
bilby commented on the word ankle grinder
There is quite a bit of background to this: https://tasmaniantimes.com/tag/william-crowther.
May 15, 2024
bilby commented on the word ankle grinder
"Some absolute legend has taken down the Crowther statue with an Ankle Grinder (new name all tradies must use from now on.)
No it wasn’t me, I had plans to but the heart attack put that on the back foot."
May 15, 2024
bilby commented on the word joglo
An open-sided Javanese hall. https://blue.kumparan.com/image/upload/fl_progressive,fl_lossy,c_fill,q_auto:best,w_640/v1634025439/01811812e9daa2e2d6db12ed45414b0e.jpg
May 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word bankshall
Hmmm. The Javanese structure referred to is typically called a joglo and looks like this: https://blue.kumparan.com/image/upload/fl_progressive,fl_lossy,c_fill,q_auto:best,w_640/v1634025439/01811812e9daa2e2d6db12ed45414b0e.jpg
May 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word biffin
Biff, Betty and Bill buffed a big bellyful of beefy baked biffins.
May 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word biffin
Another QMS classic. Far out.
May 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word grain-soap
Give soap the finger!
May 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word Dorking fowl
Sounds like a minced oath.
May 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word deckled
Etymology available at deckle.
May 4, 2024
bilby commented on the word short manure
Thank you vendy.
May 3, 2024
bilby commented on the word fecifork
Wow.
May 3, 2024
bilby commented on the word ambulance cemetery
"Ambulance Cemetery:
A new term coined by Israeli army at Al-Amal Hospital in #Gaza, where they destroyed all medical ambulances & buried them under rubble.
They not only killed doctors & wounded but also aimed to prevent any chance of survival for injured, ensuring their demise."
- https://x.com/NourNaim88/status/1785676704221966533
May 1, 2024
bilby commented on the word camass-rat
Finally, the ass-rat we've been looking for.
May 1, 2024
bilby commented on the word short manure
Stock trading strategy? Slur on dwarfs? The mind boggles.
May 1, 2024
bilby commented on the word bag
Compare etymology of budget.
May 1, 2024
bilby commented on the user jrex167
Never mind. Commenting only costs two cents.
May 1, 2024
bilby commented on the word parlor-jumping
Feels like this is a terrible omission from the Paris Olympics.
May 1, 2024
bilby commented on the word atrochous
Next time I get a puncture while out riding my bike I can stoically tell myself: "Wheelless, as a rotifer."
April 30, 2024
bilby commented on the word swough
Ideal for pronunciation roulette.
April 30, 2024
bilby commented on the word argentaffin
New flavour of fuflun just dropped.
April 30, 2024
bilby commented on the word moral injury
Dr Saul said that at the time of writing our 2024/25 budget submission, the service operated on 0.8 of a psychiatrist, three nurses and a 0.4 registrar. The Registrar position would not continue this year, thereby halving the medical cover for the prison.
"The only positions funded as part of the prison mental health service are the psychiatrist and one nursing position.
"Staff working in the service are at risk of burnout due to stress and moral injury, that is, burnout caused by witnessing adverse patient outcomes due to a lack of resources."
- https://tasmaniantimes.com/2024/04/bed-block-causing-hobart-hospital-crisis/
April 30, 2024
bilby commented on the word fishify
A feisty firefly fishified fifty-five finely-frilled file-filled folders of fee-free Fife firefighter photos.
April 29, 2024
bilby commented on the word postils
Didn't Jesus have 12 of these?
April 24, 2024
bilby commented on the word rooster tail
From a coroner's report into the death of three idiots:
"21. The three were seen by several people between 12 noon and 12.30pm coming into the beach at Boat Harbour. The boat was run up onto the beach. Photographs taken by a tourist show the boat leaving the Boat Harbour Beach at 12.42pm.
22. A witness described seeing the boat also leave the Boat Harbour region with a “huge rooster tail”, that is to say a large volume of water being caused by the angle of the outboard engine. A rooster tail is ordinarily caused by an engine being poorly trimmed."
- Simon Cooper, 'Coroner's findings following the investigation into the death (Without Inquest) of Dixon, Isaiah Solomon; Thomas, Bree-Anna Mary Jennifer; Courto, Thomas James', 23 April 2024.
The full tale of woe is here: https://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/757461/Dixon,-Thomas-and-Courto-SJC-WEB.pdf
April 23, 2024
bilby commented on the word freesia
Like many flowers it can serve as a girl's name, as with the famous Siberian stripper Freesia Bitzov.
April 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word concrete juice
See GNU definition on gutta-percha.
April 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word gutta-percha
See also pachonta.
April 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word eumitosis
Like, um, dividing the European Union between western and former eastern bloc countries?
April 20, 2024
bilby commented on the list animals
Hi. Lists are either open, or collaborative, or closed.
open - anyone can add to the list
collaborative - named users can add
closed - only the list creator can add
In the cased of closed, it's often the practice here that users make suggestions. Like:
How about xxxx, would that fit?
April 19, 2024
bilby commented on the word undesexed
Wrong because of the double negative. Right because, well, her point was that the dishlicker was supposed to have been desexed according to racing 'industry' regulations, but hadn't been. And stylistically undesexed is surely preferable to the unwieldy alternative 'that had not been desexed'.
April 19, 2024
bilby commented on the word undesexed
An activist said this about an ex-racing greyhound today and it sounded right but also wrong. I'll see if I can find the transcript.
April 19, 2024
bilby commented on the word natte
FWIW I feel natte is nattier than nat.
April 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word cafe bird
Spotted on Twitter:
"You can report any bird species - we welcome reports of new behaviours, anywhere across Australia: Big City Birds app or website https://spotteron.com/bigcitybirds/info
Please report the cafe birds you see sneaking a free-feed at cafes, restaurants, etc 😉 @BigCityBirds1" - https://x.com/Wingtags/status/1780839872594583944
April 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word skibidi
Also very Ned Flanders.
April 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word amphibious turducken situation
Some day I may have to account for what I have done on this site over the years and I will plead the Fifth.
April 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word amphibious turducken situation
See hellbender.
April 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word hellbender
Alright then you long-eared louse factory.
dog in river = water dog
hellbender = water dog
alligator = hellbender = water dog.
QED.
April 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word hellbender
Show your workings.
April 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word hellbender
Now if there was an amphibious turducken situation where a dog paddling in the river was eaten by a hellbender, which was eaten in turn by an alligator, would not that parse as:
'Water dog eaten by water dog eaten by water dog'?
April 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word hellbender
"...Also called alligator, and water dog."
April 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word infringe
The Australian Border Force, the immigration blackshirts who need apparently need a pseudo-military name, have transitived this verb as meaning 'to impose a penalty'.
I do not like it.
"ABF Superintendent Vesna Gavranich said large amounts of currency crossing the border both inbound and outbound can be a sign of criminal activity.
“We are aware of organised crime groups attempting to depart Australia with undeclared excess cash in support of well-established money laundering networks," said Superintendent Gavranich.
“The ABF is committed to removing funds from the pockets of organised crime groups, and restricting their ability to cause harm to our communities."
“If you need to move significant amounts of cash across our border, to avoid heavy penalties you must simply declare it."
ABF infringed the man $3,756, which he paid before boarding his flight."
- https://www.abf.gov.au/newsroom-subsite/Pages/Passenger-fined-over-undeclared-currency.aspx
April 17, 2024
bilby commented on the word nang
Prompted to post this after I rode over one on my bike today, close to the city centre of Hobart. And my first thought was what a brutal little word is nang.
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word nozzie
See nang.
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word nang
"A dangerous gas and its canisters, designed for whipping cream and linked to two deaths and hundreds of hospitalisations, is being offered for delivery across Queensland.
Nangs — also known as nozzies, bulbs, and whippets — are small bulbs that contain nitrous oxide. The gas in the small canisters is often misused as a recreational drug. People ingest the dangerous product for a 20-30 second high in which the user may feel euphoric and relaxed."
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-27/business-offers-to-deliver-dangerous-nitrous-oxide/100718828
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word steam-crack
Okay then. I feared this was the ye old railway equivalent of plumber's crack.
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word quaigh
A variant is quaich.
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word quaigh
Pronouned quaff or queff methinks.
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word colporrhagia
Ok, who favourited this?
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word lectica
Maybe we can revive this for inflatable furniture.
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word oroblanco
Aaand don't forget that all colours are more vivid than just colors :-/
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word oroblanco
I mean if you said, 'She was wearing a raspberry mini-skirt', the listener's assumption would probably be that you meant raspberry-coloured. As opposed to raspberry-scented, made of raspberries, etc. I guess 'featuring a raspberry pattern' would also compute. Context matters. If it was 'She was wearing a raspberry mini-skirt that complemented her cream blouse' there's even less doubt that the fruit is the colour.
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word oroblanco
Arguably lots: lime, tangerine, etc.
Though I asked an AI bot and it said starfruit, wth?
April 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word moo-woo
"These sequences look to me like moo-woo: the oft-repeated and oft-debunked story that cows can protect the atmosphere. It’s as if environmentalists had made a film about artisanal coal mining, told heroic stories about the workers, and allowed their viewers to believe that coal mined this way is good for the planet." - George Monbiot, 'There’s no such thing as a benign beef farm – so beware the ‘eco-friendly’ new film straight out of a storybook', 15 April 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/15/beef-farm-eco-friendly-film-documentary-livestock
April 15, 2024
bilby commented on the word tank slapper
I was thinking this might have a military meaning.
April 15, 2024
bilby commented on the word headfirst
From a Twitter thread about nicknames:
"A Scotsman called Rob Slater whose clocking-in card bore the name R.Slater. His nickname among his workmates was 'Heed First'." - https://twitter.com/OldCountryGirl4/status/1778341846453833811
April 13, 2024
bilby commented on the word skiascopy
Ok so not applicable to groundhogs?
April 10, 2024
bilby commented on the word sugar of doubtful identity
See chondroglucose.
April 8, 2024
bilby commented on the word chondroglucose
sugar of doubtful identity
April 8, 2024
bilby commented on the word darem
In modern Italian dare una mano means exactly the same as lend a hand does in English.
April 8, 2024
bilby commented on the word limopsid
Shorter but still luxurious version of the stretch limopsid.
April 7, 2024
bilby commented on the word Robson rotation
What about oil derricks? Or is there dastardly deed of derrick-deck dereliction at hand?
April 6, 2024
bilby commented on the word noseleaf
Anyone collecting bats?
April 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word rocket packs
How many rockets per pack?
April 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word Robson rotation
Example: lets say our candidates are
Bloggs
Ruzuzu
Trumplikeweirdo
Hellokittyrectalcream
One set of ballot papers are printed with names as above. Another set would be printed with Ruzuzu at the top, another with Trumplikeweirdo at the top, another with Hellokittyrectalcream at the top.
In practice it actually gets a bit complicated and there can be up to 420 versions of a ballot paper in a 7-member division.
See here for more on how the sausages are made: https://www.tec.tas.gov.au/info/Robson_Rotation_Paper.pdf
April 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word Robson rotation
"Robson rotation is a process of rotating candidate names within each column so that the advantage of appearing at the top of the column or directly below another popular candidate are shared equally between candidates. Neil Robson, a former member of the House of Assembly, introduced the process to the Tasmanian Parliament in 1979." - Tasmanian Electoral Commission
April 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word Hare-Clark
About the Hare-Clark voting system: https://www.tec.tas.gov.au/info/Publications/HareClark.html
April 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word cut up
FWIW in the 23 March 2024 state election we had to elect 7 members for each of the 5 divisions, for a 35-seat House of Assembly. As of today 5 April the cut up is still being done. In my division of Clark there were 35 candidates, and the other 4 all had over 30.
April 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word cut up
Let's say there are 10 candidates standing in a division, which elects 5 members to the House of Assembly. A valid vote has to number at least 5 candidates 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and can continue (or not) all the way to 10. In the first count, ballots are sorted into piles according to the number 1 vote. The candidate with the lowest total is declared eliminated. Their pile of votes are then allocated to candidates according to the number 2 preference on those ballot papers. And so on, until only 6 candidates remain ... the 5 with the highest number of votes are declared elected.
April 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word cut up
In Tasmania (Australia), this is used as a noun or a verb to describe the distribution of a candidate's second and lower preference votes when they are eliminated from a Hare-Clark (voting system) count.
April 5, 2024
bilby commented on the word cake-copper
Inferior to fuflun-copper.
April 1, 2024
bilby commented on the word softa
Take a break from your studies, young softa!
Come hither for yum vegan kofta
Though just a wee snack
It'll put you on track
To take your philosophising alofter
April 1, 2024
bilby commented on the word griffe
Ideal for your Brown Bastard or Classical Architecture? list.
April 1, 2024
bilby commented on the word deathblow
accidental deathblow fly away in a manger
March 31, 2024
bilby commented on the word cooccurrence
Coocoo cajoob!
March 31, 2024
bilby commented on the word zareba
Seems like it needs a permanent exclamation mark behind it.
Zareba! Gadzooks!
March 29, 2024
bilby commented on the word ycomen
If you listen carefully to the soundtrack of The Wicker Man (first version) they are singing Summer Is Ycomen In at the end.
March 27, 2024
bilby commented on the word dizzard
Also disard.
March 27, 2024
bilby commented on the word phronesis
Good call zu-keeper.
March 27, 2024
bilby commented on the user bilby
My stats say I have looked up 0 words and I suspect that's an undercount. Sayin'.
March 26, 2024
bilby commented on the word treacle-wormseed
Two vegan hot dogs please, one with ketchup, one with treacle-wormseed.
March 26, 2024
bilby commented on the word treacle-wormseed
Parses to just mustard I think.
March 26, 2024
bilby commented on the word wild river
Not sure if it's relevant but in Tasmania (Australia) we have the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.
March 26, 2024
bilby commented on the word exundating
You've tried dating with mixed results, right, but have you tried exundating?
March 26, 2024
bilby commented on the word hero call
On the river?
March 26, 2024
bilby commented on the word naartjie
Ideal for your Rare Fruit or Biting Insect? list.
March 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word lithopedion
If a bit ewww.
March 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word lithopedion
Feels like it would be devastating when used metaphorically.
March 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word phronesis
Great qms limerick below. Banger.
March 25, 2024
bilby commented on the word meeking
Uffa, someone's been verbing meek?
March 22, 2024
bilby commented on the word groove-fellow
Hey funky cat, send me a coal bucket, you dig?
Coming 'round like a merry-go, groove-fellow!
March 22, 2024
bilby commented on the word aquastat
These things are probably quite common yet it's the first time I've heard this word.
March 21, 2024
bilby commented on the word verbal statues
In Australia what was once known as the jabiru is now the black-necked stork. Apparently the name comes from the Tupi–Guaraní language and means 'swollen neck'. I have no idea how the name arrived in northern Australia.
But supposedly the objection was that the jabiru proper is the only bird in the genus Jabiru so it wasn't acceptable for a bird from another genus like the Australian black-necked stork to have the name as well.
Yeah too late, in a way, there's already a town called Jabiru in the Northern Territory, named after you-know-what.
Aand locals like me who lived in the NT for 25 years just liked the name jabiru better so continue to use it.
March 21, 2024
bilby commented on the word verbal statues
Bird names are a bin fire anyway.
March 21, 2024
bilby commented on the word on the doors
An Australian expression that equates roughly to 'while campaigning'. It refers to doorknocking but in reality includes conversations political canvassers have at markets, on the street, by phone, etc.
"The feedback I’m getting out there on the doors is very positive. We’ve had a huge campaign in terms of announcing the policies that are actually going to address some of the issues, the biggest issues in Tasmania at the moment: the cost of living crisis, the health crisis and the housing crisis." - Dean Winter, https://tasmaniantimes.com/2024/03/winter-after-10-years-of-liberals-its-time-for-change/
March 21, 2024
bilby commented on the word bryaceous
All you fake mosses out there have been warned.
March 21, 2024
bilby commented on the word cheeseweed
Serve on crackerweed for the ultimate wild-foraged canape.
March 21, 2024
bilby commented on the word cachalot
I suppose they do cachalot of squid.
March 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word lation
Hey, possible name for your autonomous self-driving taxi start-up.
March 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word tomium
Once a rare element named after a famous scientist, Tom, in a powerful windstorm it was blown right off the atomic table out the window into the yard where a bird snaffled it. The rest, as they say, is history.
March 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word inverted arch
I've come across a_holes and eye holes so we might as well have U-holes.
March 20, 2024
bilby commented on the word chawdron
Slop some chawdron in yer cauldron.
March 19, 2024
bilby commented on the word tammar
The common name of the animal is derived from the thickets of the shrub locally known as tamma (Allocasuarina campestris) that sheltered it in Western Australia according to the Department of Environment and Conservation - https://web.archive.org/web/20110225064720/http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/component/option%2Ccom_docman/task%2Cdoc_download/gid%2C133/Itemid%2C/
March 19, 2024
bilby commented on the word foot passenger
What if the passenger is a double amputee?
March 19, 2024
bilby commented on the word golliwog
The rhyming slang definition is interesting with nowadays dog racing being considered a cruel form a animal exploitation in most civilised countries*.
A racist caricature as rhyming slang for an abomination, hoo-boy.
March 19, 2024
bilby commented on the word yachtsmanship
A bit like a catamaran. A yacht on each side and a sman in the middle.
March 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word yachtsmanship
But isn't a yacht a kind of ship? Might as well say yachtsmanyacht.
March 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word upsert
Apart from anything else it reminds of yucky stuff like upskirt.
March 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word upsert
I'm glad this has not escaped from the whiffy confines of geekdom.
March 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word impitoyable
Yes, pitylessly is the way to drink wine.
March 18, 2024
bilby commented on the word picket-fence pony
See danger zebra.
March 17, 2024
bilby commented on the word danger zebra
What's a zebra then? Picket fence pony? Pedestrian crossing of the savannah?
March 17, 2024
bilby commented on the list sweet-tooth-fairy
You've just been hiding because England can't win the Ashes to Ashes, eh.
March 16, 2024
bilby commented on the word azipod
Presumably an audio show about these would be an azipodcast.
March 15, 2024
bilby commented on the word shelter
I feel like I'm punching down a bit here given this is quite a modest little two syllable word but I just don't like the way it sounds.
March 14, 2024
bilby commented on the word shield
Same root as shelter.
March 14, 2024
bilby commented on the word forthrist
I could really forthrist a fresh orange juice right about now.
March 14, 2024
bilby commented on the word kick it in the dick
I have never heard it in Australia. Mind you, I haven't been to this kind of show in about the last 5 years.
March 14, 2024
bilby commented on the word saggar
Also seggar.
March 13, 2024
bilby commented on the word snippy
A preppie but snippy hippie papprazzi chappie snapped happy clappers happily clapping claptrap.
March 13, 2024
bilby commented on the word resegmentation
Spelling should be reseg-ment-ati-on.
March 12, 2024
bilby commented on the list words-with-letters-in-alphabetical-order
Raise you bellow.
March 12, 2024
bilby commented on the word sirloin
"The word surloin or sirloin is often said to be derived from the fact that the loin was knighted as Sir Loin by Charles II, or (according to early 19c. English dictionary writer Charles Richardson) by James I. Chronology makes short work of this statement; the word being in use long before James I was born. It is one of those unscrupulous inventions with which English 'etymology' abounds, and which many people admire because they are 'so clever.' The number of those who literally prefer a story about a word to a more prosaic account of it, is only too large." - Walter W. Skeat, 'An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language', 1882
March 11, 2024
bilby commented on the word abaci
Who knew?
March 10, 2024
bilby commented on the word hog's haw
See pomette bleue.
March 10, 2024
bilby commented on the word quassation
Saskia asked sassily to watch sad sasquatch quassation of cumquat crossisants.
March 9, 2024
bilby commented on the word quass
See also quassation.
March 9, 2024
bilby commented on the word officer-plant
I was not aware our officers were bright red. Must be the sun.
March 9, 2024
bilby commented on the word pantogen
Did it make all the Pantone colours too?
March 8, 2024
bilby commented on the word pea-pheasant
A pleasant Pisan peasant was fined for forfeiting phased-in pheasant fees for his feisty pea-pheasant.
March 6, 2024
bilby commented on the word plant-based
"For many people, adopting a plant-based diet aligns with their personal values and beliefs. Choosing plant-based foods can be seen as a way to practice kindness and compassion towards animals, the environment, and other humans. It can also be a way to challenge the status quo and promote positive change in society."
- https://tasmaniantimes.com/2024/02/plant-based-diet-can-improve-your-health-and-lifestyle/
March 6, 2024
bilby commented on the word beardruff
"Additionally, these oils are effective in addressing dry skin issues. They act as potent moisturisers, eliminating flaky and dry skin, commonly known as 'beardruff', thereby promoting healthy skin. The moisturising properties of beard oils are not limited to the beard alone but also extend to the skin beneath."
- https://tasmaniantimes.com/2024/03/what-do-beard-oils-do/
March 6, 2024
bilby commented on the user maralason
Welcome, hope you get a lot out of the site.
March 6, 2024
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