"A few questions on assent before the divine sooner had they entered. Herself as well as be a winsome woman interference seemed of the he kept."
AND
"Suggests may be divided on waste produced in adapted to swift running builds. The site of the great dikes of dense Louisburg destroyed in Shark dissection."
This search phrase apparently produces Engrish gold
synonymous with "peach on a fellow". Looking for a list of narking synonyms (Gossiphoning is related but not quite it) and want to see if there is one there before I fire it up!
"My dear, I should like to stick you full of barbed arrows like a p-p-pin cushion...Where do you lurk? I shall come down your burrow and ch-chivvy you out like an old st-t-toat." -Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited, Waugh
Chubbz has been ousted from all his territory by a cat half his size (the indomitable spitfire Liz from Korea), but is too old/fat/dignified to condescend to do anything about it. So, there is peace and love--of a sort--in the feline universe of my parents' place.
I know; it was a wretched thing to happen. Before it veered into the laughter of the damned, though, friends were critiquing the hierarchy of pity re: animal slaughter (e.g. who's crying for the factory cows?)
I wonder whether what seems to be a fundamental human lack of pity for the death of tiny things means there is a fundamental pity for large, smart things--or if the whole thing is so much PR
the cat of an oddball (I assume) Japanese office lady with lots of leisure time in which to arrange elaborate things for Maru to do (play the tambourine with his tail; pass obstacle courses; leap into things that are impossibly high; stare uncannily at the camera)
"The first ingredient you add to the soup must be some dried ocre (a West India vegetable), the quantity according to your judgment." (The Lady's Own Cookery Book)
One prof in particular is a veritable wellspring of Frackademic language. It helps that many of his own articles are on our syllabus so we can get black-on-white access to avant-garde coinage -_-
lit. "with the throat into the strawberries", meaning "running throat-first into the strawberry field", i.e. helter-skelter, heedlessly, letting your stomach lead you
shorthand to mean "lack of skill" e.g. "Tumhara ladies department shorthand" (you're no good with the ladies) as heard in Dhoom 2
as for Konglish, one-piece as in "one-piece swimsuit" seems to have a risque connotation; one of my students brought it up as an example of clothing items and everyone tittered 0.0
funny--once in translation these Indonesian snippets look like Trinnie English patois c. 1958 i.e. the time Naipaul wrote The Suffrage of Elvira. The phenomenon (how current now I'm not sure) is due to Hindi et al., I believe, using adjective reduplication instead of "very" (indeed I have heard Punjabi speakers transfer the pattern into English).
From the novel:
"Is this election sweetness that sweeten you up, Baksh. But see how this sweetness going to turn sour sour. See?"
"1935 in DORLAND Med. Dict. 1970 R. REINBOTH in Benson & Phillips Hormones & Environment 515 In an ambosexual animal both male and female characteristics are associated normally in a single individualemeither simultaneously or in a temporal succession. 1978 Japanese Jrnl. Ichthyol. XXV. 101 Histological examination of gonads indicated that all individuals..are ambosexual as juveniles. "
yam mash, as described in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart; one of the dudes contemptuously envisions the neighboring village as a place where the men pound the women's foo foo. Imagine!
If we could get some Cantonese speakers in here the 'choy' part could be expanded considerably, as it is a garden-variety (ho ho ho) suffix for vegetables, many of 'em cruciferous
apparently genicle is an obsolete term for "a joint in the stalk of a plant". It doesn't quite sound awful, though, so I don't know how great a candidate it is for the list.
Maybe not blowhole but blowcash works for the nonce! These nouns sound really punchy to me (hence the list), whereas the verb-creating compounds are too far integrated into the regular stream, IMHO. I'm picking my brain for a verb made from a compound like this that can match lickspittle--that'll motivate a new list.
re: a pivotal vehicle in the murder case, from the mouth of the clueless owner thereof: "I thought someone had just buzzed off in it for a lark" (from a Marple episode; Body in the Library)
"'An absolute sitter came unstitched in the second race at Haydock Park,' said young Bingo, with some bitterness, 'and I dropped my entire month's allowance.'" (The Inimitable Jeeves)
"Hasn't got the nerve. Thinks you so much above him, don't you know. Looks on you as a sort of goddess. Worships the ground you tread on, but can't whack up the ginger to tell you so." (The Inimitable Jeeves)
Due to more varied immigration patterns in my neck of the woods, yearbook lists are getting more awesome every year. Honourable mention goes to Dragon Wei immediately followed by Zen Wilson (they only work in tandem, IMO)
the dehyphenated suggestion Wordnik gave parsed on first view as Shite Me, Game Gahit!--I like that one better (it is a brutal Tagalog game show in my...world of sexy fantasy?)
can't believe I forgot 'dilwala' (dil-wallah), lit. "heart-dude", meaning "loverman" or "he who is devoted to matters of the heart", immortalized in the 11-year-run but still shite mega-megahit Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge ("The 'dil-wallahs' will get the brides")
I thought hikikomori went way deeper than 'recluse', also that it specifically pertained to the young (whereas we associate reclusivity with older individuals?)
She was a redoubtable fighter, and strange cats were vanquished in one round. The fearless little spitfire would even attack dogs and rout them utterly.
so, there we were, my co-host and I, ready to interview AM for dinky community radio.
she has a remarkable psychosomatic capacity in relation to liquor; placebo effect all over the place.
in short, what's his face--the lead singer--held her hair back during the *ahem* ejective process the whole night while I listened to the rest of the band complain about how boring it was to go on tour (read: no groupies), but really they're very happy to have done so well for themselves, being a tiny little Strine band and all.
I hold it an eternal example of the success of the unconventional in achieving one's goals (my friend having been, needless to say, quite soppy about the fellow).
pronounced by Jennifer Paterson as 'yog-hort', two separate words, practically. to wit, "none of this nonsense about yoghurt instead of cream. yoghurt is not instead of cream"
flapping isn't connected to length. for example, Canadian English distinguishes 'riding' and 'writing' by length, the latter having a short /ai/, but they both have a flap where their 't' or 'd' ought to be. now, Hindi, besides flapping Ts and Ds, also does the N! it's a positive addiction.
moreover, I've found that the phonology of borrowings exhibits a strange combination of awareness and lack of awareness. In the form "chilLAY", the majority of speakers (or announcers, rather) seem to be more strongly aware of length than vowel quality. while /i/ is the vowel in the original country name, it is a short /i/, nigh impossible in Standard English--to this end, they have employed /I/, which satisfies the length component at the expense of the vowel. now, the question is, why should YOUR linguistic system feel the vowel quality is more important than length?
if the stress is on the 2nd syllable and it rhymes with 'delay', then it sounds like a good compromise between naturalness and authenticity. to me, there's nothing as American as the /ei/ used to approximate the pure /e/.
coined (perhaps?) by Cher Horowitz as a euphemism for menstruation, giving a faint scent of literariness to what is, after all, meant as a...*ahem* remake of Jane Austen's Emma
"It was very consoling, he thought, the way in which an act of kindness, in the fullness of time, returns to bless the benefactor. One gives a jolly-up to a girl in a ship. She goes her way, he goes his. He forgets; he has so many benefactions of the kind to his credit. But she remembers and then one day, when it is least expected, Fate drops into his lap the ripe fruit of his reward, this luscious creature waiting for him, all unaware, in the Malt House, Grantley Green."
"Basil had attended Sonia's levees (and there were three or four levees daily for, whenever she was at home, she was in bed) off and on for nearly ten yerars, since the days of her first, dazzling loveliness, when, almost alone among the chaste and daring brides of London, she had admitted mixed company to her bathroom."
"'My dear,' Ambrose had said, 'you can positively hear her imagination creaking, as she does them, like a pair of old, old corsets, my dear, on a harridan.'"
-Ambrose on the painteress Poppet, from Put Out More Flags
I'll do my best--this is hairy without LING terminology.
in an imaginary language with 5 consonants, say, you could have two different types of 't' and 3 different types of 'p', or, on the other end of the spectrum, each of the 5 in totally different places (e.g. one is bilabial, one is dental, one is velar, one is uvular and the last a totally different manner of articulation--non-pulmonic, such as a click). while the first situation describes a consonant class which is the most natural for our mouths to create, it's actually harder on the brain to contrast them with one another; a set with consonants which are very different from each other is easier. does that make sense? distinguishing 'pa' from 'ba' (which is, by the way, really hard for a lot of language groups) is more difficult than distinguishing, say, 'ta' from '!a'
there are different axes of ease and difficulty in the human linguistic process. something which is intuitive and simple on one level creates problems on another level, and vice versa.
I've seen certain Japanese-speaking students make their Ds like Ð; even more mysterious (in that asking why lent litle clarification). Very confusing to me personally, if not other teachers, in that Ð is a different phoneme in Bosnian
the human mouth is also naturally inclined toward contrastivity, though--it's necessary to reach outside the 'unmarked' places of articulation to make as many clear distinctions between sounds as possible, if that makes sense.
"Well", while correct, is so unnatural--in North American speech, at least--that I feel awkward teaching my students to say it in reply to "How are you?", going so far as to try to avoid the question altogether.
The incident of Canadian pair figure skaters Sale & Pelletier being "robbed" of Olympic gold by them wily Ruskis. After a LOT of palaver and too-close-for-comfort investigation into the judges' decisions, they released a second gold medal for pair skating that year. The old judging system was dumped and a new one instated after Skategate.
1) I thought it was chocha? Cho-cho is a hard-done-by literary heroine, innit?
2) This is a problem of the English language itself. There are no garden-variety words to describe genitalia--the elevator stops at the clinical, vulgar and ludicrous only.
I've been trying to dig for the name of the thing ever since, to no avail :{
you make light now, but a glimpse of the mustachioed WASP protagonist bulging out of his slacks is enough to turn one into a passionate advocate of sporing
the etymology, to boot (if wikipedia can be trusted) has nothing to with Hindi--deriving "from the Shoshone word 'tcaxxwal' or Cahuilla 'caxwal', transcribed by Spaniards as 'chacahuala'"
if pronunciation of "speak" is what we're going by, this applies to loads of language groups, though actually, not Spanish speakers, given 's' isn't acceptable word-initially in Spanish.
though I suppose one can't expect a high standard of linguistics in the field of racial prejudice.
According to my grammaticality judgement, both "The series were on for years before being cancelled" and "The series was on for years before being cancelled" check out fine
I'd really like to be hardcore enough to eat a bug, but the only way it's gonna happen is if they start cutting bread flour with ground crickets on the sly
PS: PU, I'm ganking that one for "Just because..."
in one of L.M. Montgomery's Anne volumes, the titular heroine fights a local battle, coaxing a fatcat out of painting an ad for some tonic or other onto the fence along the main road. so, the first wave of large-scale advertising is successfully beaten back. reading this scene from the 21st century is heartbreaking; little did she know just how ugly it would get :(
ow-->o before r in English; in fact, the other diphthongs turn to full vowels in this context as well (though you can articulate 'flour' and 'fire', say, as one-syllable words, producing a diphthong-r sequence--but that's another kettle of fish)
if I were named after great-granny A'lelia, I wouldn't marry a Bundles into the bargain. or maybe that would be the ultimate form of sticking it to the man.
looking at demonyms (if that's the word) like aleman and chinee next to ones like european and japanese, one wonders if these are two separate semantic categories within botany
while appearing to be a precursor of 'renegade' in that precise old-timey "it used to be like this but now we spell it differently" way, it's a different word with a different etymology, according to my dabblings. hm!
"As a matter of fact, in the Southwest the Mexican and Indian population resort to the Nopal (that is, the flat-jointed sort of Opuntia) not only for the tuna fruit, as described in a previous chapter, but also for the succulent flesh of the stem, which may be made to do duty as a vegetable."
-from Useful Wild Plants Of The United States And Canada by Charles Francis Saunders
sorry, bilby--my inquiries re: hyeonmi have been fruitless. the literal meaning is 'puffy rice', but I can't quite figure out a slangy direction from there. 'dwenjang', for example (lit. 'soybean paste') means 'golddigger' or 'high-maintenance girlfriend' idiomatically, so you can see the connections are quite abstruse.
in my experience, a manouver wherein a drunken Korean major insists your boyfriend link arms with him in order for drinks to be mutually poured down throats
the decisive dish in a battle between Iron Chef French and the Californian challenger. much to everyone's surprise, the latter's bisque was superior. the shock the judging panel showed at this turn of events was intriguing, seeming to encode an initial assumption that the exquisiteness of such a dish was beyond the crude sensibility of an American. all parties showed face and dignity at this awkward cultural junction, the judges smiling through their disbelief, the victor managing despite clenched teeth to give the final interview, and the vanquished maintaing good-natured silence.
in short, the Bisque Battle remains one for the vaults for the cultural analyst.
I'm experimenting with the imaginary paradigm. 'umbragenous' sounds sort of disgusting whereas 'umbrageous' is a clean-sounding word. there's umbrager (sounds close to 'dowager'), tres umbragé, umbraglio &c &c
this is one of the lists that makes me lament the all-smallcaps Wordie entry restrictions. you just can't put on "SWEET STUFF FOR SALE" or "Winnie the Pooh TIE"
read twice before objecting, please! presumptuous umbrage on Wordie really ruins my day.
I don't like the thought, rolig, that while it may occur to you that I _might_ disdain bigots, there's always that 'evidence' that could turn the needle over to the other side.
I was going to include you in the list, reesetee--but I didn't want to be presumptuous.
-_- is not abstruse in my circles; it's a pretty standard pictorial representation of a headdesk or "oh, brother". let me also point out the phrase new word bandied around by bigots in the original comment.
it's sort of beneath any Wordie to consider it consistent with another Wordie's character to self-identify as a bigot...I hope.
do you--y'all--also object to fairly obvious sarcasm?
I make the bold suggestion that taking upon oneself the work of noting/policing (in a fairly low-key capacity, granted) offensive Wordie content can be an impediment to thorough reading comprehension.
new word bandied around by bigots on Youtube (yeah, I know--great place to follow 'discussion') to describe those pussies who are letting their country get taken over by the Islamic Agenda -_-
not to be confused with Bangor, a Welsh city that boasts mention in 2 works of literature I've read, and who knows how many more (this being, as far as I know, the only noteworthy thing about it)
I can no longer see this word without being reminded of Tambura Rasa, the excellent gypsy band from Vancity...even though the band name is gimicky and sort of lame
lit. flower-powder, Korean for 'pollen'. this is notable as 'garu' is a common suffix in cuisine (e.g. flour as we know it is 'mil-garu' ie. 'wheat-powder'; pepper is 'huchu-garu' ie. 'pepper-powder')
immediately this jumped out to me to mean "a grid that is rad". seeing 'rad' as a legitimate adjective--despite oneself--marks one as a casualty of high school
such a pity. though I did find that in Hong Kong, there was plenty of savoury bread, and also the sweet stuff wasn't so wretchedly bad (boribbang excepted; it's delicious)
you'd know, I warrant. I heard a word on a Dubliners track that sounds like 'falooran' or 'felorrin', meaning 'masculine virility' (re: old man a young woman has married out of necessity, "He's got no feloorin" so then she sleeps with this handsome young man). Google, however, is convinced it doesn't exist. you know what this word is?
past verb, diminutive form of 'srao'--"shat". Balasevic sings, in an anti-Milosevic satire, kud si srljo, nisi gledo: "you weren't looking where you shat". then, he inverts the meaning--ti si srljo kud si gledo: "you shat as far as you could see"
I wonder if other languages have diminutive verbs.
the nastiest and most memorable seagull I ever came across was Fatty. we were at a bay, waiting for the ferry, tossing bits of fish&chips to the birds. Fatty comes by, manages to ward off the other gulls and eat their bits. when he got full, he kept shooing them off anyway, letting the food go uneaten out of sheer territorial spite. hmph!
'lewd conduct with minor' is defined in Idaho as such. considering the number of juvenile sex offenders (legally speaking) in the Idaho registry (named here rather than the registry of another state because it has a handy-dandy 'juvenile' search function), the term starts to drive one mad with curiosity. what's the range of acts we're talking about here? if a teenager is spotted groping a teenager, will said teenager be registered? sex laws abound with mystery.
it's not esoteric, just awkward (which I suspect the teacher tried to find a high-falutin' synonym for and failed). I can't see a justified use of puissant in any paper after the 18th century.
ubiquitous term on Korean packaging and cookbooks (the English version thereof, I mean). one of the many evils of the aspirational 50s American vocabulary that the early education system was weaned on.
the kind you just take home and eat, no cooking, just a little hot sauce (not just the silken stuff, either). in certain places, you can get it warm, straight out of the...whatever it's made in. the Korean soybean is something else. it gives tofu a deep, slightly nutty flavour; you can smell it on the cutting board.
the longer I live here, the more awake I am to the delights of the uncooked--fish, garlic, squid, tofu...
in French it's used for putting the extra bit of cabaret passion on a chanson (e.g. Piaf's il me l'a dit, l'a jure POUR LA VIIIIUUUUHHH), which is pretty awesome. and let's not forget Yogi Bear's schwa-epenthesis! in Hindi, you can shove a schwa into lots of consonant clusters, making learners grateful they don't have to pronounce 'ndh' and the like. how could anyone hate such a useful vowel?
the Korean counterpart to the Chinese Guan Yin, goddess of mercy and compassion. in Korea, this is a male deity, but the body shape and attire are totally unchanged. the only addition is an awful, thin little green moustache, which jars ludicrously with the soft curves and flowing robes of the Goddess of Mercy.
the five-colour pattern used to decorate Korean temples (and other edifices, though no other type of building has such intricate and dizzying use of this pattern). see here
floating celestial female musician, numerously engraved on every temple bell and painted onto ceiling panels.
it`s said that the apsara derives from the gandharva and kinnara figures, subsequently feminized and beautified in the passage of Buddhism to Korea through China (the influence of seductive Daoist sky maidens with the long hair ribbons).
Korean term for 'monk', regardless of gender. I still like to call the female ones nuns, though. There is a very clear gender division and tension between male and female monks in Korea, due to fairly sexist interpretations of the text and the influence of Korean society, historically misogynist.
this gave me deja-vu for a second, but then I realized I was just remembering a similar concept from this review: "He holds the film like a can of beer in a paper bag -- the cool sip of salvation on a blistering day -- until it is revealed as a Molotov cocktail." (review of Do the Right Thing)
"'I'd not like to sleep with that wife of yours. She's too athletic. It'd be like sleeping with a bundle of faggots. I suppose though you're a pair of turtle doves...'"
we're going to write some letters to the mayor about this, as they're technically illegal
dog consumption has the worst effect on animal-human relations that I've seen here. horses and cows, for example, are treated well and people are fond of them. however, The Edible Dog (known as 'shit dog'), as if to force the natural affection people have towards dogs out of their system, is maltreated and reviled, and specifically put into a different conceptual category from The Pet Dog (and different spatial category, ie. it's continually chained).
this, combined the fact that dogs are incredibly difficult to keep caged up (I doubt whether a farmowner is even able to sleep on premises), howling and barking ceaselessly, I mean ceaselessly, makes it a totally inadvisable meat.
to make this relevant to language--I've noticed that in the vocabularies of my students, "dog" and "puppy" are different animals, the latter being the official designation of the Pet Dog (largely lapdogs and fluffballs from foreign).
the original word has 4 syllables, whereas the English borrowing has 2. this looks odd to my eyes because I'm so used to seeing English borrowings in Korean attain extra syllables (e.g. stand has 3 in the K version; 'ice cream' has 5)
somewhat connected to Imma let you finish. Kanye establishes confusing race dichotomy by implying Beyonce--the palest you can get short of Jelly Roll Morton--was robbed of the award because of blackness. it's not that B's internalized racism isn't proof of the injustice of the media, but she's bad evidence for a case like this, given that her stardom and pallor have increased exponentially over the last 10 years (also see Jessica Alba). in short, Beyonce is exactly pale (and consequently, beloved) enough to win awards among any number of white competitors--and has.
apparently a cockamamie sort of cure, believed "useful for ailments of the spleen, due to the spleen-shaped sori on the backs of the fronds" according to Wiki
I'm going to look for the CANNOT EXPLODE guarantee on the package of the next cleaning product I buy. seems like half that shit can and will explode as soon as you shake it!
the lost meaning of this verb pops up sometimes, making things suddenly clearer. Fergie's "the boys, they wanna sex me" really spoke to my confusion about her(?) sex (and species, for that matter)
and all foods for which the word has been borrowed when there is already a word there.
for example, in Korean there is 'dak'-"chicken", and 'chickin', the former being just dandy and the latter THE junkest of stomach-caving, sauce-drowned, non-food junk. the message is clear: chickin ≠ chicken.
sad to say, Slackman lives up to his name by failure to explicitly connect what's happening to the trash now with the racist government policy that played into the swine cull. there's a more interesting story underneath this mild denunciation of the government's poor bureaucracy.
the most harrowing interruption to pastoral beauty. as it turns out, they've got to shove them quite deep in the idyllic countryside because the howling that comes from the cages can be heard for miles :(
what Mexican fishermen call the Humboldt squid, because of the red-white colour changes the squid exhibit when struggling with the nets (at up to 2m in length, one can imagine the force)
is anyone else disillusioned with the flavour of pheasant? one imagines a feast of kings, 'fat swan roasted whole' and the like...but it's sort of turkeyish
I'm trying to imagine what the process of the encasement looks like. do you slap thin slices of salami all around? do you fork out the gooey stuffing from a raw sausage and paste it on?
the kind with visible mouth stitches, an ambiguous space around the circumference of the eye, the wrong angle for the limbs--the stuff of nightmares.
so, the guy's in there with his horror animals, but I didn't think anyone would actually BUY any of them. then I came across a misguided dentist's office with a really dead-looking turtle in the window :(
besides describing two things that are found in Jeju, the name of a restaurant. this is one of many examples of the deplorable abbreviation "sandwich" has received in Korean ad culture.
one would do well to pass the cold greasy brains (which I'm going to steal, thank you kindly). word is, brains are inhabited by bacteria that don't die in the cooking process (though 18 hours--who knows?)
myself, I never had an eye I didn't like.
Prolagus, hernesheir's anecdote ought to be placed within the annals
American 'r' is problematic for almost everyone (being unique or at any rate extremely rare in world phonology). It's just that, say, French and German speakers replace it with their 'r', which sounds to our ears more r-like than, say, the Japanese 'r'.
it's a real pity that only such small details from Li are available online; the larger stuff is really arresting--especially bird portraits. Lingnan painters seem to be in love with birds.
"So, if Gov. Mitt Romney ever wins the White House and gives a speech to a joint session of Congress, and an unknown Democratic congresswoman shouts 'Eat me!' from the back row, the only acceptable Republican response is: 'God bless America and our beautiful First Amendment.'"
there are such multitudes of carp in Hong Kong's various ponds and gardens that they teach one the unique pleasure of watching the serene yet vivid piscine ballet.
a 20th century school of Chinese nature painting that plays with Western techniques and concepts in order to view archetypal subjects with a different eye.
some details from paintings by Li Fuhong, a fairly recent Lingnan master here, here and here.
some pieces by older master Gao Jianfu here, Ju Chao here and Chen Shu Ren here
a ferry ride through the tiny archipelago off Sai Kung, the western fishing town, shows the archetypal, ideally beautiful Chinese landscape: mists dividing each island into a distinct groove of faded dream blue. but the sky is flecked not with the graceful silhouettes of long-legged birds, but thick, jagged black outlines of swooping raptors.
there are sections of Hong Kong still inhabited largely by aristocratic (or rich) Westerners--cozy, dozy, expensive beachside outskirts.
it was my first experience with vestigial colonialism, and the air was thick with it. the mere restaurant names felt (coming out of the clatter of Hong Kong streets) appalling and surreal--"Fish&Chips"; "Burger Shack"; "Steaks--Curries--Asian Dishes".
a female Golden Pheasant decided to ditch her mate and make eyes at the distinctly mauvais sujet Lady Amherst's Pheasant next door, leading to altercations between her male and the aforesaid every five minutes, no less the violent for the wire netting between them.
a small slice of the problems of breeding in captivity.
the public aviaries in HK feature many different species of exotic pigeon, including the handsome white one with blue eye-bands, and the big slow one with what looks like a miniature peacock's tail on its head.
the Daoist temple experience is so different from anything I've seen yet. a dim, brassy, cluttered, incredibly potent space; oodles of gods in every niche staring grotesquely from behind the flames and incense smoke, not caring a whit that it's a full 37 degrees in there, with little room to breathe besides.
a year in Korea conditioned me so extensively to the sight of fully armoured sun protection that in HK, I was gaping at people--in the summer sun--bare-headed--no sleeves--shirtless--brown! more the wonder, wearing swimwear on the beach
a lot of noodle-houses have all their offal braising together in the front window on a big fat barrel-like object, getting browner and more sizzling as the day goes on. I believe the contiguous method promotes a richer flavour; certainly the best tendon I've ever had was in just such a place.
the ugliness is really the ugliness of what modern English pronunciation does to the simple sound system of Latin. say it in a Spanish accent--instantly prettier
there's no shame, bilbers; WeirdNet is on your side. your uncle probably had some kind of tube lined with epithelial cells, right?
the plural form being identical in Italian and Croatian, the singular is bastardized to 'panin' (which entered Croatian vocab--I warrant, due to the proximity of the countries--earlier, hence means what it does in the Italian--'roll').
Comments by madmouth
Show previous 200 comments...
madmouth commented on the word moo goo gai pan, I'm a vegetable fan!
can you aught but bob in a hashmagandy?
maybe splutter, also
June 14, 2011
madmouth commented on the word pronephric
and/or - a lesser-known specimen of the aspic phylum?
June 14, 2011
madmouth commented on the word a sexually transmitted disease with a mortality rate of 100 percent
yes, but it meant well
June 14, 2011
madmouth commented on the user yarb
oh, Yarb-thing - why in the world haven't we had a coffee yet??
June 13, 2011
madmouth commented on the word the pet alligators that God flushed down the toilet
-Chuck Palahniuk
June 13, 2011
madmouth commented on the word meat bag
-Bender Bending Rodriguez
June 13, 2011
madmouth commented on the word virus with shoes
-Bill Hicks
June 13, 2011
madmouth commented on the word We must restore the dignity of this vegetable!
Broccoli has "crown" in the title. Inherent dignity!
June 13, 2011
madmouth commented on the word barometz
I wararnt tanuki balls can compensate for a lifetime of silence. Just listen to their whistly flapping - whooom .... whooom ....
June 11, 2011
madmouth commented on the word sippo
immortalized by one Piggy in "I can't hardly see with all them creeper-things"
June 11, 2011
madmouth commented on the word We must restore the dignity of this vegetable!
well, pick my woolly tufts if sionnach didn't just win the Internet
...again
June 11, 2011
madmouth commented on the word We must restore the dignity of this vegetable!
The lamb of Tartary should be up to sitting on both those chairs at once, n'est-ce pas?
June 10, 2011
madmouth commented on the word dirt nap
paging bilby!
June 10, 2011
madmouth commented on the list memories-of-hk
there tend to be piquant phrases floating around in a place one has never been, emerging strangely from strange contexts
June 10, 2011
madmouth commented on the list memories-of-hk
this is better than a surprise birthday party!!
June 9, 2011
madmouth commented on the word full online keyboard
update! "Red mercury bejeweled for palm" in the search engine pulls up, among other things, "Red tube-wanking homies"
Full online keyboard is like the entrance to a broken spoke funhouse
June 8, 2011
madmouth commented on the word full online keyboard
"A few questions on assent before the divine sooner had they entered. Herself as well as be a winsome woman interference seemed of the he kept."
AND
"Suggests may be divided on waste produced in adapted to swift running builds. The site of the great dikes of dense Louisburg destroyed in Shark dissection."
This search phrase apparently produces Engrish gold
June 7, 2011
madmouth commented on the list scots-reduplicative-words
*psst* there's also an open one, sizeable indeed. I am stealing left and right from this list to feed its insatiable maws ^^
June 2, 2011
madmouth commented on the word bricked
a state of phone in the 21st century, apparently.
May 29, 2011
madmouth commented on the word anent
...
an host of overjoyed
noncoms(first knocking on the head
him)do through icy waters roll
that helplessness which others stroke
with brushes recently employed
anent this muddy toilet bowl,
while kindred intellects evoke
allegiance per blunt instruments
...
-e.e. cummings
May 3, 2011
madmouth commented on the word nervous ticking
What do you stuff inside a high-anxiety pillow?
XD
April 30, 2011
madmouth commented on the list ic--becomes--icking
Having a bit of a piss as the list rules seem delightfully loose; delete as you will
April 30, 2011
madmouth commented on the word grass on your mate
synonymous with "peach on a fellow". Looking for a list of narking synonyms (Gossiphoning is related but not quite it) and want to see if there is one there before I fire it up!
April 28, 2011
madmouth commented on the word muckibus
Can't believe it's not listed!
April 23, 2011
madmouth commented on the list rabelais
The OED filed oodles of words when Urquhart translated Gargantua; that year was a bumper crop of vocab. See Rabelation also
April 23, 2011
madmouth commented on the list may-or-may-not-be-specific-but-it-s-definitely-not-excrement
constipulation. Thanks, Puritanism (Ward - Simple Cobbler of Aggawam in America)
April 17, 2011
madmouth commented on the word fistmeal
OED: Obs. The breadth of the fist.
April 17, 2011
madmouth commented on the list go-fug-yourself
all you-all're something of a hot dog, aren't you?
April 12, 2011
madmouth commented on the list go-fug-yourself
it was burgeoning excitement (rudeness would have three exclamation points ^^)
or did mis-peg your wryrony?
April 11, 2011
madmouth commented on the list go-fug-yourself
Go Fug Yourself!! The name of the list!!
April 11, 2011
madmouth commented on the word water-pump
badump-chh
April 9, 2011
madmouth commented on the word lacmus
...am henceforth naming children Litmus and Lacmus, irregardless of sex
April 8, 2011
madmouth commented on the list beyond-fair-to-middling
aces! aces!
April 8, 2011
madmouth commented on the word Shat Al Arab
YES!
April 8, 2011
madmouth commented on the word debauchery of hedonists
CALLING the nonce collective words list! this needs to go on it
April 6, 2011
madmouth commented on the word chivvy
"My dear, I should like to stick you full of barbed arrows like a p-p-pin cushion...Where do you lurk? I shall come down your burrow and ch-chivvy you out like an old st-t-toat." -Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited, Waugh
April 6, 2011
madmouth commented on the word stinkibus
slang. Obs. Bad liquor, esp. adulterated spirits. (OED)
April 5, 2011
madmouth commented on the word stimmer
akin to flimmer (says OED)
April 5, 2011
madmouth commented on the word stimulatrix
akin to instigatrix (OED says)
April 5, 2011
madmouth commented on the word slugplum
anything for birubii :}
April 5, 2011
madmouth commented on the word plum fir
another name for yew
April 5, 2011
madmouth commented on the word sloy
Obs. An opprobrious epithet for a woman.
1596 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) xi. lxviii. 288 "How tedious were a Shroe, a Sloy, a Wanton, or a Foole."
(OED)
April 5, 2011
madmouth commented on the word slugplum
"Obs. A sluggard." (OED)
April 5, 2011
madmouth commented on the word celtiform
shaped like a "celt, n.2
Etymology: (reputed) Latin celt-es (or ? celte, ? celtis) ‘stone-chisel, sculptor's chisel’.
An implement with chisel-shaped edge, of bronze or stone (but sometimes of iron), found among the remains of prehistoric man."
April 5, 2011
madmouth commented on the list stars-is-gods-lantern
A guy called Charles Morrow Wilson compiled them, the title being the list name :}
Highly recommend a tale called "Satyr in Arkansas".
April 1, 2011
madmouth commented on the word bean-cod
I'm gonna cheat and put it on LAK on name alone
March 8, 2011
madmouth commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
sexually...active...popes?
I LOVE YOU PROLAGUS
March 8, 2011
madmouth commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
me, too!
March 3, 2011
madmouth commented on the word honey buzzard
This one curls my toes with pleasure
March 1, 2011
madmouth commented on the word Nordic Union of Naturally Blond Pussy
So sayeth Berlusconi
February 22, 2011
madmouth commented on the word HOOBA PORKRIND!
c/o the Oatmeal
February 15, 2011
madmouth commented on the list the-many-names-of-chub-chub
hahaha--heshe, then
Chubbz has been ousted from all his territory by a cat half his size (the indomitable spitfire Liz from Korea), but is too old/fat/dignified to condescend to do anything about it. So, there is peace and love--of a sort--in the feline universe of my parents' place.
February 4, 2011
madmouth commented on the word the other other white meat
I know; it was a wretched thing to happen. Before it veered into the laughter of the damned, though, friends were critiquing the hierarchy of pity re: animal slaughter (e.g. who's crying for the factory cows?)
I wonder whether what seems to be a fundamental human lack of pity for the death of tiny things means there is a fundamental pity for large, smart things--or if the whole thing is so much PR
February 2, 2011
madmouth commented on the word the other other white meat
Cropped up in a laughter of the damned conversation about those sled dogs they killed :/
February 2, 2011
madmouth commented on the word mandrin
or...
January 26, 2011
madmouth commented on the user ruzuzu
way to tickle the suists :}
January 25, 2011
madmouth commented on the word giviak
an illuminating cartoon message appears on the image search
January 25, 2011
madmouth commented on the word mozzarella swastikas
that's one freaky song
January 25, 2011
madmouth commented on the list my-dick-in-your
trousseau! xDDD
January 25, 2011
madmouth commented on the list formerly-used-in-medicine
I added some synonyms for "apothecary" that OED's historical thesaurus gave me. Punchy, n'est-ce pas?
January 24, 2011
madmouth commented on the word all amort
not to be confused with all aboard
January 19, 2011
madmouth commented on the word They like, do not dig gays—with the volume up!
re: Xhosa society
January 13, 2011
madmouth commented on the word Convert thy post-apocalyptic keg wagon to run on zombie guts!
I'm getting the scientists working on the zombie guts technology as we speak
January 13, 2011
madmouth commented on the word Tifinagh
fun to say!
January 13, 2011
madmouth commented on the word jejunocolostomy
snicker-snack!
December 30, 2010
madmouth commented on the word plomb
indeed, "plomba" is the SBC word for filling now
December 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word bewhore
byhore is an obsolete variant, apparently
December 27, 2010
madmouth commented on the word brownswine
OED: Obs. rare. A porpoise.
December 27, 2010
madmouth commented on the list occupational-surnames
what's a brownsmith? 0.0
December 27, 2010
madmouth commented on the list quaint-locations
one may as well favourite England ^^
December 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word kurakkan-grinder
if I had my deserts it'd be kurakkan-gurainda
December 21, 2010
madmouth commented on the list the-ginger-man
IRELAND - THE LAND OF CRUT
December 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word cheeses of Nazareth
YES
December 10, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Hitler finds out
a tasty variety
December 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Maru
the cat of an oddball (I assume) Japanese office lady with lots of leisure time in which to arrange elaborate things for Maru to do (play the tambourine with his tail; pass obstacle courses; leap into things that are impossibly high; stare uncannily at the camera)
December 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word lady garden
cf. lady jungle (which has, as one might expect, been exploited for the fact it rhymes with "fungal" :S)
December 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word one frisky ray of sunlight away from
You fill in the blanks
December 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Porntip Rojanasunan
Director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science in Bangkok, presiding over David Carradine's death. WHOA
November 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the list fictional-music-genres
oh, the memories
fail wail and manthem account for so much of music *ahem I'm getting old* these days
November 9, 2010
madmouth commented on the word ocre
"The first ingredient you add to the soup must be some dried ocre (a West India vegetable), the quantity according to your judgment." (The Lady's Own Cookery Book)
Seems to be a variant of okra
November 9, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Shoeverine
this really reminds me of an old Amitabh film
November 8, 2010
madmouth commented on the list swine
this is eerily and impressively extensive
November 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the list pork-family-project
and I like to think he is merely voicing the inherent and somewhat obscured bigotry in the franchise, not creating any
November 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the list the-worts
then I will call this a purist's appendix :}
November 6, 2010
madmouth commented on the word spiel how you feel
arose from a bumble in putting "he spelt how he felt" (re: old Shakey) into the present tense
November 5, 2010
madmouth commented on the list frackademia
One prof in particular is a veritable wellspring of Frackademic language. It helps that many of his own articles are on our syllabus so we can get black-on-white access to avant-garde coinage -_-
November 5, 2010
madmouth commented on the word o-face
brought disturbingly to life by Nathan Barley rapping 0.0
November 3, 2010
madmouth commented on the list words-that-start-with-r
me-ow
November 3, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Black Tai
a people!
There are also the White Tai :D
November 2, 2010
madmouth commented on the word grlom u jagode
lit. "with the throat into the strawberries", meaning "running throat-first into the strawberry field", i.e. helter-skelter, heedlessly, letting your stomach lead you
November 2, 2010
madmouth commented on the list frackademia
how so? it looks just as I typed it in the list from my browser, and clicking on it is no problem 0.0
October 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word glorious fairy tongues
referring to sage :}
October 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word rape trade
courtesy of Avaaz
And they say activists are sensationalistic!
October 21, 2010
madmouth commented on the word flawn
The word (and meaning) has given us flan, and indeed the schmancier of us pronounce this dessert as 'flawn'
October 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the word lardy-dardy
bingo
October 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the word advertainment
"The following is paid advertainment. Apinions expressed are not necessarily those of anyone." (Rabbit and Mouse)
October 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word yowt
"To yell, yelp, howl, bellow." (OED)
October 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the list unglish
filmi samples (yours to take or leave as you see fit):
exactly and approximately
do the needful
shorthand to mean "lack of skill" e.g. "Tumhara ladies department shorthand" (you're no good with the ladies) as heard in Dhoom 2
as for Konglish, one-piece as in "one-piece swimsuit" seems to have a risque connotation; one of my students brought it up as an example of clothing items and everyone tittered 0.0
not that that's specifically useful for this list
October 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word same-same
funny--once in translation these Indonesian snippets look like Trinnie English patois c. 1958 i.e. the time Naipaul wrote The Suffrage of Elvira. The phenomenon (how current now I'm not sure) is due to Hindi et al., I believe, using adjective reduplication instead of "very" (indeed I have heard Punjabi speakers transfer the pattern into English).
From the novel:
"Is this election sweetness that sweeten you up, Baksh. But see how this sweetness going to turn sour sour. See?"
October 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word gnast
var. of gnash
Miss Jackson if you're gnasty?
October 15, 2010
madmouth commented on the word šišmiš
SBC. "bat" (the animal)
October 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the list plant-identity-crisis
that would go on Love Across Kingdoms which is an open list as well so please contribute!
October 6, 2010
madmouth commented on the word borborology
"Obs. rare. Filthy talk" (OED)
October 5, 2010
madmouth commented on the word the real McCoy
Thank you! I culled drappie from the article and it's making my world a better place
October 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word noddle
which is not to say they don't also doddle and maffle
October 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word fledgling sport
e.g. Floor Pong, which I invented, and got injured in the process of, myself :D
October 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word cramble
north. dial. "Boughs or branches of crooked and angular growth; used for rustic work or firewood." (OED)
October 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word ambosexual
"1935 in DORLAND Med. Dict. 1970 R. REINBOTH in Benson & Phillips Hormones & Environment 515 In an ambosexual animal both male and female characteristics are associated normally in a single individualemeither simultaneously or in a temporal succession. 1978 Japanese Jrnl. Ichthyol. XXV. 101 Histological examination of gonads indicated that all individuals..are ambosexual as juveniles. "
October 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word noddle
This may, though the "brain looks like a bunch of noodles stuck together" theory has a certain visual appeal", be the origin of use your noodle
October 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word offcome
obs. form of outcome
October 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the list carp
it is entirely unsurprising that there should be a Carp list and that ruzuzu should be behind it ^^
October 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word sweater cream
the byproduct of unprepared-for lactation?
October 3, 2010
madmouth commented on the word same-same
a Konglish collocation indicating a thing is the same as another.
October 3, 2010
madmouth commented on the word thot plickens
It seems to be in use as a garden-variety spoonerism (or whatever one calls that linguistic phenomenon)
October 3, 2010
madmouth commented on the word krap-krap-krap
'to scratch oneself vigorously' in Afrikaans (source)
October 1, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Nadia Wadia
'Nadia Wadia you have gone fardia
Whole of India has admiredia
Whole of world you put in whirlia
Beat their girls for you were girlia
I will buy you a brand new cardia
Let me be your bodyguardia...'
October 1, 2010
madmouth commented on the word banger-langer
Used by Lady Sovereign to mean 'smashing party'
October 1, 2010
madmouth commented on the word foo foo
yam mash, as described in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart; one of the dudes contemptuously envisions the neighboring village as a place where the men pound the women's foo foo. Imagine!
October 1, 2010
madmouth commented on the word fed to the gills
late to the party, but it's a list now :D
September 30, 2010
madmouth commented on the word moistly
used to mean 'drunkenly' in The Returne from Pernassus (presumably auth. unknown):
"Swaggering full moistly on a tauernes bench"
September 30, 2010
madmouth commented on the word custard marrow
a.k.a. mirliton, chayote
September 29, 2010
madmouth commented on the word cotch
Seems to be an old-timey, regional British variant of "catch"
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word in a hoo
" 'Mr. Copeland's in such a hoo that he's forgotten all about choking me off.' "
-From Overture to Death, Ngaio Marsh
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word with a thump that shook the crockery
" 'The lady let him down, did she?'
'With a thump that shook the crockery.' "
-From Overture to Death, Ngaio Marsh
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word big lion shit
dassies to bells is the unlikeliest culinary evolution I've heard of yet 0.0
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word chaw
"All other griefs allow a part
To other griefs, and ask themselves but some;
They come to us, but us Love draws,
He swallows us, and never chaws"
-From Donne's "The Broken Heart"
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word pea bean
this is the silliest-sounding word I've ever heard in my life :D
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word eefe
"Eefe to do" is such a neat little mouthful
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the list end-in-kin
OED offers the very old and very obsolete meatkin :D
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word flat-ways
employing the -ways synonymous to -wise suffix
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word anoint
obs. variant enhuile; pretty cute
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word mathe
"Now Sc. regional (chiefly north-east., Orkney, and Shetland). A maggot, a grub. Also: an insect egg from which a maggot may hatch." -OED
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word dishonorate
A lot of obsolete entries in the OED sound like they were coined by drunk 21st century celebrities
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word galloping cock-rot
coined in a conversation about Shakespeare, I believe, before the glass of wine even came into the picture
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word bree
O up then started our goodman,
An angry man was he:
“Will ye kiss my wife before my een,
And scad me wi pudding-bree?”
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word chawn
var. of chine
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word rennet
a.k.a. cheese-running (now obs.)
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the word caseweed
we ought to bring this cutie back, and its imaginary invert weedcase
September 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the list ancient-borders
I took Aman instead; Gondwanaland is the very stuff of the list title. Thanks, b
September 22, 2010
madmouth commented on the list frackademia
Oh they're coming alright -_-
September 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word tody
birder alert!
September 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word cuckoo flower
a.k.a. lady-smock
September 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the list ccle
Creepy stuff, bilby--the machine told me that you JUST added brittle so I can't do it 0.0
September 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word muscary
obs. term for umbel
September 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word fungal genomics
This phrase makes me feel like I'm in the future 0.0
September 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Vegetarian Haggis
Dunno how it hasn't shrunk to Vaggis yet xD
September 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word coold
*snort*
September 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the user madmouth
hot dog!
September 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word moist
'Freak him, freak her, whatever your choice
I didn't come to judge, I just came to get you moist'
-Missy Elliott
August 27, 2010
madmouth commented on the word 유채
!
It reminds me of this really drunk dude from the UK I met while in Korea. We were in a bar called Led Zeppelin, and the conversation went as follows:
mm: So, where'd you guys go before coming here?
ddfUK: D'yknow a place called Led Zeppelin?
mm: Uh...yeah. That's where we are.
ddfUK: Oh...not that one, then
Were you looking for Led Zeppelin?
August 27, 2010
madmouth commented on the word u-ie
In some parts of Alberta, Canada, you flip the shitty instead of banging a u-ie
August 27, 2010
madmouth commented on the list fanciful-self
*blush* only Wordies can really understand
August 27, 2010
madmouth commented on the list cruciferous-vegetables
If we could get some Cantonese speakers in here the 'choy' part could be expanded considerably, as it is a garden-variety (ho ho ho) suffix for vegetables, many of 'em cruciferous
August 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word fuff
And here I thought Hubert J. Farnsworth invented this one
August 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word tharf
"dude, I totally tharf to barf"
August 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the list it-has-a-name
copremesis, hoping no one ever experiences it firsthand 0.0
August 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word youster
"Fetid discharge from a wound; pus, sanies." OED
August 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word swaff
apparently 17th century English is really chavvy
August 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word diral
OED: "Of or pertaining to the Furies; dire."
August 25, 2010
madmouth commented on the word tapskin
Obsolete coinage for 'drumstick'
August 25, 2010
madmouth commented on the word baculiform
all baculiform appendages to exit the bum-fiddle at once
August 25, 2010
madmouth commented on the word slungshot
Why this isn't on Zamboni Palin is what I'd like to know
August 25, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Soo Soos
was I looking for sop soos? don't mind if I do!
August 25, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Rapa Nui
teehee!
August 25, 2010
madmouth commented on the list easy-to-phone
Call 1-800-FBHARJO for any and all palindromic services
August 25, 2010
madmouth commented on the list exit-strategy
variant on "bite the dust" found in Gray's "The Fatal Sisters: An Ode"--
Low the dauntless earl is laid
Gor'd with many a gaping wound
Fate demands a nobler head
Soon a king shall bite the ground
August 25, 2010
madmouth commented on the list rabelation
the first textual example of 'soup'!
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word stult
"A derisive name for a tailor." (OED)
0.0
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word smick-smack
obs. lip-smacking onomatopoeia. makes me want a Mix-Max
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word whitch
obs. variant of hutch, adding one more layer of good times to the which/witch common errors in usage list
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word swike
there's a swikeful also
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word headhood
obs. variant of headship, which could technically be realized as headhead *kerplotz*
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word ramsons
is there a list for sets of words whose letters are subtly switched around, e.g. ransoms ramsons?
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word queem
THERE'S ALSO queemly :D
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word moyce
obsolete variant of morse
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word retchup
best.typo.ever.
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word kopi luwak
*thumbs up*
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the list not-quite-as-awful-as-they-sound
apparently genicle is an obsolete term for "a joint in the stalk of a plant". It doesn't quite sound awful, though, so I don't know how great a candidate it is for the list.
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word vauntlay
Now archaic. "The releasing or setting on of a relay of hounds before the other pursuing hounds have passed; the relay of hounds so released" (OED)
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word trizzie
OED: "Austral. slang. Orig. uncertain: perh. f. TREY n. + -IE. A threepenny piece."
can we get a Strine for confirmation up in here?
August 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word forwent
This seems, though perfectly sensible a
derivation of an old one, a new word
August 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the word sowre
var. of sour
August 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word powreth
var. of poureth
August 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word cornpone
"It was 'baker's bread' -- what the quality eat -- none of your low-down cornpone."
-Huckleberry Finn
August 18, 2010
madmouth commented on the list names-for-the-children-of-neo-nazi-parents
It ain't that far-fetched -_-
August 18, 2010
madmouth commented on the list killjoy-et-al
Thar she blows
August 18, 2010
madmouth commented on the list killjoy-et-al
Maybe not blowhole but blowcash works for the nonce! These nouns sound really punchy to me (hence the list), whereas the verb-creating compounds are too far integrated into the regular stream, IMHO. I'm picking my brain for a verb made from a compound like this that can match lickspittle--that'll motivate a new list.
August 15, 2010
madmouth commented on the list killjoy-et-al
What is the word for this type of compound? It's driving me nuts!
August 12, 2010
madmouth commented on the word irish lord
a type of fish, apparently 0.0
August 12, 2010
madmouth commented on the word scrat
We may strive and scrat and fend, but it's little we can do arter all
-"Silas Marner"
August 12, 2010
madmouth commented on the word zambinosebleed
an occupational hazard for the ice-skating types
August 12, 2010
madmouth commented on the word turophile
I thought it may have an etymological link to tiramisu, but not so
August 8, 2010
madmouth commented on the word donutcry
an alternative to eating a whole chocolate cake when you've been chucked
August 8, 2010
madmouth commented on the word BYARB
Bring Your Aunt's Roumanian Boytoy -- a must at every do
August 8, 2010
madmouth commented on the list my-dick-in-your
why, thank you, SoG old boy
in passing, a wins it with 'plot hole'
August 8, 2010
madmouth commented on the word gumminia
There is something lurid about the phrase "a genus of fleshy sponges" 0.0
August 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word prink
Nigella: "I don't go in for prinking"
August 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word went absconding
oh, it made me cry alright, the more so for the hilarious headline (a Waughsian effect, of sorts)
August 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word silky cuscus
here it is
August 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word an absolute sitter
ah so; makes more sense this way
August 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word lack thereof
Not mine; my dick in your lack thereof was actually coined by a dear friend
August 6, 2010
madmouth commented on the list the-collected-poems-of-w-h-auden
Colleen, wordie of such eminence, where are you already?
August 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word went absconding
synonym for AWOL heard in this news piece
July 30, 2010
madmouth commented on the word galenious
I'm saving that beautiful piece of philological storytelling in my private files!
July 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the list favourite-etymologies
walnut might apply.
July 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word God's teeth!
With the Rockies themselves, I bet
July 21, 2010
madmouth commented on the list shades-of-humiliation
Thanks, ruzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzuzu! (ruzzers?)
July 21, 2010
madmouth commented on the word zib
"It seemed impossible to rouse the poor zib to a sense of his position" (The Inimitable Jeeves).
July 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the word in the fungus
Wodehousian phrase denoting beardedness (e.g. "Few people have ever looked fouler than young Bingo in the fungus")
July 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the word blue round the edges
A disaster; "From the moment he invited himself I felt that the thing was going to be blue round the edges, and it was." (The Inimitable Jeeves)
July 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the word fed to the gills
Angry, as in "He'll be fed to the gills if he finds out you're the fellow who ragged him in the Park" (The Inimitable Jeeves).
July 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the list the-many-names-of-chub-chub
I like 'em both
July 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word heterological
okay, so does THIS describe something like pulchritudinous (or matinal crepuscule)?
July 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word squanch
it gives me the cringies
July 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word buzz off
re: a pivotal vehicle in the murder case, from the mouth of the clueless owner thereof: "I thought someone had just buzzed off in it for a lark" (from a Marple episode; Body in the Library)
July 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word topping
"Besides this, the weather continued topping to a degree" (The Inimitable Jeeves)
July 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word an absolute sitter
dud horse, if I'm reading it correctly.
"'An absolute sitter came unstitched in the second race at Haydock Park,' said young Bingo, with some bitterness, 'and I dropped my entire month's allowance.'" (The Inimitable Jeeves)
July 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word whack up the ginger
"Hasn't got the nerve. Thinks you so much above him, don't you know. Looks on you as a sort of goddess. Worships the ground you tread on, but can't whack up the ginger to tell you so." (The Inimitable Jeeves)
July 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word get off the dime
is it equivalent to haul ass?
July 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the list descriptives-from-the-fantasy-novel-little-big-by-john-crowley
This is the second time Crowley's come up in so many days. *determined to read*
July 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word crostatina
Is what I had for breakfast every day during that long-ago sojourn in Italy. They also come in chocolate.
July 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word auletrides
flute-girl sounds like a more cultivated alternative to 'lady-boy' (see skin flute)
July 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word whorenithology
Coined by a birding friend when I showed him bilby's The Porn Birds
July 13, 2010
madmouth commented on the list a-dram-too-many
George Eliot lends us splashed up to the chin
July 13, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Anselmus Hendrawan
There is an Alfonsus by the same surname as well :D (emoticon denoting extreme happiness in the saying rather than derision, lest confusion arise)
July 12, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Toscanny Pandu-Oesman
Due to more varied immigration patterns in my neck of the woods, yearbook lists are getting more awesome every year. Honourable mention goes to Dragon Wei immediately followed by Zen Wilson (they only work in tandem, IMO)
July 12, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Moon Park
Thank you, Facebook.
July 6, 2010
madmouth commented on the list futurama
They sling such magnificent phrases on the show; I was surprised it was the first of its kind (there is one called Bender Bending Rodriguez, though).
July 2, 2010
madmouth commented on the word how to hide the like button
it's listed and selected in "preferences", but it doesn't show up in the "open blockable items" list. just gonna employ my selective vision
June 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Myfanwy
it might just be Welsh, though
June 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word how to hide the like button
I followed ze instructions. It's still there T.T
June 11, 2010
madmouth commented on the word better banger campaign
In conjunction with BBC Food's celebration of British Sausage Week 0.0
June 10, 2010
madmouth commented on the word boocoo
"Course they making boocoos of money, say Shug."
-The Color Purple
May 28, 2010
madmouth commented on the list names-for-female-strippers-pursuing-their-graduate-degrees
Sphinx? Rosh Hosanna? Emperatriz? Izanami? Lysistrata?
May 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the list archaic-occupations
I wouldn't call them dreadful, just...not very fun to read (though authorities assure me there's a very good reason for that?)
May 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word scrivener
"...
But in our amours amorists discern
Such fluctuations that their scrivening
Is breathless to attend each quirky turn
..."
-Wallace Stevens, fr. Monocle de Mon Oncle
May 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word yesty
there's a 'tweet' and 'like' button on them now :{
May 24, 2010
madmouth commented on the word troilism
What is it?
May 15, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Shite Mega-Megahit
the dehyphenated suggestion Wordnik gave parsed on first view as Shite Me, Game Gahit!--I like that one better (it is a brutal Tagalog game show in my...world of sexy fantasy?)
May 8, 2010
madmouth commented on the word boxwallah
Naipaul defines them as "the business executives of foreign, mostly British, firms" (An Area of Darkness, p.61)
May 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the list wallah
can't believe I forgot 'dilwala' (dil-wallah), lit. "heart-dude", meaning "loverman" or "he who is devoted to matters of the heart", immortalized in the 11-year-run but still shite mega-megahit Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge ("The 'dil-wallahs' will get the brides")
May 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word suggestions
The "edit comment" feature seems to cut off all but the 2-3 visible lines of text; I can't scroll down to the bottom of a long comment to fix it up :{
April 29, 2010
madmouth commented on the word he who smelt it dealt it
" ...
Dwight: Dude. Who whipped an egger?
Cubert: He who smelt it, dealt it.
Dwight: Yeah? Well, he who denied it, supplied it.
Cubert: Well, he who articulated it, particulated it.
Dwight: Well, he who refuted it, tooted it.
Cubert: Stalemate.
... "
-Futurama, Infosphere
April 29, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Amish nuttle
:D :D :D
April 29, 2010
madmouth commented on the word females ain't made for sufferin'
that's not what the Old Testament said :/
April 29, 2010
madmouth commented on the word trema
in SBC, it means "stage fright", presumably from the root meaning whence the Italian also comes.
you are probably having an, "oh, Wordnet!" moment there
April 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word cilantrophobe
with a bit of hard cilantrophobe grated over top?
April 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the list butter-beans-and-snaps
beautiful! I'm ganking tons of these for LAK if you don't mind
April 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word massausage
"I was a massausage in her masseur's grip"
-Professor Steve (see here)
April 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word cilantrophobe
*thumbs up*
I have made several curries which inspired the remark, "This is, like...all cilantro" (by no means in a displeased tone of voice, either).
April 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word coin slot cover
SEE HERE :0
April 25, 2010
madmouth commented on the list quaintnesses
thanks! it's almost reaching son-of-groucho levels of magnitude
April 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word faggot of herbs
the obvious potential for misunderstanding is what I love about this phrase
April 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word faigula
what is it?
April 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word contrastive stress
like, "I preSENT my PREsent to you"?
April 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word oo
Were you looking for op and Oö
nice!
April 12, 2010
madmouth commented on the word If you pass on the West you fail on the test
"...even if your chest is a boob Oktoberfest"
-Fug Girls as Kanye
April 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word hikikomori
I thought hikikomori went way deeper than 'recluse', also that it specifically pertained to the young (whereas we associate reclusivity with older individuals?)
March 29, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Saucy Sal
She was a redoubtable fighter, and strange cats were vanquished in one round. The fearless little spitfire would even attack dogs and rout them utterly.
-"Emily of New Moon", L.M. Montgomery
March 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the word one crowded hour
Glenn Richards a.k.a. Colonel Helpchunder
March 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the word fruit fly sperm
aand they couldn't resist a wink-wink title. I grimace-grinned
March 20, 2010
madmouth commented on the word one crowded hour
he sounds like a barrel of laughs.
so, there we were, my co-host and I, ready to interview AM for dinky community radio.
she has a remarkable psychosomatic capacity in relation to liquor; placebo effect all over the place.
in short, what's his face--the lead singer--held her hair back during the *ahem* ejective process the whole night while I listened to the rest of the band complain about how boring it was to go on tour (read: no groupies), but really they're very happy to have done so well for themselves, being a tiny little Strine band and all.
I hold it an eternal example of the success of the unconventional in achieving one's goals (my friend having been, needless to say, quite soppy about the fellow).
glamorous, eh?
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word ɷ
exactly!
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word one crowded hour
0.0
:{
Pokus?!
brain overload; will tell later
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word zmeu
cf. zmay or zmaj
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Bathtub Shitter
this one's also sort of a fun concept...you got your toilet shitters, your balcony shitters, and your bathtub shitters--the sickest mofos of all.
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word one crowded hour
...would lead to my wreck and ruin
I have a fun story involving Aggie Match
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word short'nin' bread
It's Louie, man! You haven't heard that marvelous song?
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the list shoyu-weenie-here-to-see-you
Has the unique advantage of being 100% indistinguishable from, say, Imaginary Japanese Band Names
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word downy
wiki: "Often overlooked, downy spells its name with a lower-case "D". This helps to distinguish it from like-named bands, such as Downy Mildew."
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word The Elephant of Music
They're not kidding
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Uverworld
who keep right on trucking with the album titles. to wit, Proglution and Bugright
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word weapons of mammary distraction
What is the word for this class of hilarious mishearing, of which mathematics of wonton burrito meals is an additional example?
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word short'nin' bread
Lazybones sleepin' in the shade
How you gonna get yo' cornmeal made?
What cornmeal, man?I like nothin' but short'nin' bread!
March 19, 2010
madmouth commented on the word yoghurt
pronounced by Jennifer Paterson as 'yog-hort', two separate words, practically. to wit, "none of this nonsense about yoghurt instead of cream. yoghurt is not instead of cream"
March 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word walid jumblatt
he looks like a Jumblatt
March 13, 2010
madmouth commented on the word be careful! The razor is razor-sharp.
cf. the ship's in ship-shape shape
March 10, 2010
madmouth commented on the word faggot of herbs
the far more delightful English equivalent of bouquet garni
March 7, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Chile
flapping isn't connected to length. for example, Canadian English distinguishes 'riding' and 'writing' by length, the latter having a short /ai/, but they both have a flap where their 't' or 'd' ought to be. now, Hindi, besides flapping Ts and Ds, also does the N! it's a positive addiction.
/off-topic
March 6, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Chile
moreover, I've found that the phonology of borrowings exhibits a strange combination of awareness and lack of awareness. In the form "chilLAY", the majority of speakers (or announcers, rather) seem to be more strongly aware of length than vowel quality. while /i/ is the vowel in the original country name, it is a short /i/, nigh impossible in Standard English--to this end, they have employed /I/, which satisfies the length component at the expense of the vowel. now, the question is, why should YOUR linguistic system feel the vowel quality is more important than length?
March 6, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Chile
if the stress is on the 2nd syllable and it rhymes with 'delay', then it sounds like a good compromise between naturalness and authenticity. to me, there's nothing as American as the /ei/ used to approximate the pure /e/.
March 6, 2010
madmouth commented on the word duwajiggyjiggycumjiggyju
a...word, I guess you'd call it, coined by a largely white 90s R&B band in the height of jiggy fever, bless their evanescent hearts.
the full text is:
duwajiggyjiggycumjiggyju
I just wanna drink Cristal wit' you
moreover, this is not the only mention of 'jiggy' in that particular song.
March 6, 2010
madmouth commented on the word taravana
really cool people get taravana, not the bends
March 5, 2010
madmouth commented on the word owl
let's compromise with at awl
March 5, 2010
madmouth commented on the word holy mackerel
I like the way you think
March 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word crimson tide
coined (perhaps?) by Cher Horowitz as a euphemism for menstruation, giving a faint scent of literariness to what is, after all, meant as a...*ahem* remake of Jane Austen's Emma
anyway, the association to 'wave' is fairly clear
March 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word owl
I'm not crazy--they're crazy. I swear!
March 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word jean dimmock
prosody?
March 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word jean dimmock
Aubrey Beardsley
March 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word owl
the turning around kind?
March 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word deadpan
today itself I ran across this meaning of 'pan' in the Canterbury Tales!
"...'who shall yeve a lovere any lawe?'
Love is a gretter lawe, by my pan" (1164-65)
March 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word naked
ah, equine eroticism--where would classical poetry be without you?
March 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word owl
It has been my long-held opinion that owls need to make some other face AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. this sort of thing verges on the obscene.
March 4, 2010
madmouth commented on the word Mozzarella
What an uncharitable view of eyeballs!
February 26, 2010
madmouth commented on the word paw-paw
"The fruit on the island, thought Miss Marple, was rather disappointing. It seemed always to be paw-paw."
February 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the user feedback
or 16! It could be an exponential sequence (if I've got that right)
February 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word crinkum-crankum
a VERY fine find, if I do say so myself
January 18, 2010
madmouth commented on the list clothing-for-a-postracial-era
it's a sartorial sweet tooth fairy!
January 17, 2010
madmouth commented on the word repeats so
Fanny Cradock used this to mean "it's so fattening"
January 16, 2010
madmouth commented on the word vrhnje
SBC for 'cream', the root being vrh (meaning "top"), so--"the stuff on top".
January 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word jolly-up
"It was very consoling, he thought, the way in which an act of kindness, in the fullness of time, returns to bless the benefactor. One gives a jolly-up to a girl in a ship. She goes her way, he goes his. He forgets; he has so many benefactions of the kind to his credit. But she remembers and then one day, when it is least expected, Fate drops into his lap the ripe fruit of his reward, this luscious creature waiting for him, all unaware, in the Malt House, Grantley Green."
-from Put Out More Flags
January 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word levee
"Basil had attended Sonia's levees (and there were three or four levees daily for, whenever she was at home, she was in bed) off and on for nearly ten yerars, since the days of her first, dazzling loveliness, when, almost alone among the chaste and daring brides of London, she had admitted mixed company to her bathroom."
-from Put Out More Flags
January 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word old queen
"'My dear,' Ambrose had said, 'you can positively hear her imagination creaking, as she does them, like a pair of old, old corsets, my dear, on a harridan.'"
-Ambrose on the painteress Poppet, from Put Out More Flags
January 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word cicala
"In a sea-side house to the farther south,
Where the baked cicalas die of drouth,
And one sharp tree--'tis a cypress--stands,
By the many hundred years red-rusted,
Rough iron-spiked, ripe fruit-o'er-crusted,
My sentinel to guard the sands
To the water's edge. ..."
-from De Gustibus--
January 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word bespangle
"Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see
The dew bespangling herb and tree."
-from Corinna's Going A-Maying
January 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word fredaine
"'Sailors' wives may grumble, but the spark stays alight and besides, it's very easy for them to indulge a fredaine if they want.'"
-from The Fatal Gift
January 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word fecalith
just once it's been listed? once?!
January 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word punchable nun
I warrant it relies on the meaning of "punch" which is rather "poke" than "hit"
January 14, 2010
madmouth commented on the word freak out squres
oops! it was supposed to be freak out squares. John, howdya delete a variant?
January 8, 2010
madmouth commented on the word yo-yo
I'd thought the top was
January 3, 2010
madmouth commented on the word ballet
'bally' is a British pronunciation of extreme quaintness
December 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word unfavorite
Internet--couldn't we do any better than this?
December 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word paper made from elephant dung
I'm gonna meditate on that and make some steps toward enlightenment. dude
December 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word meatza
right here
December 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word polka
In SBC the root for the country name is 'polj-', whereas 'half' is 'pol-'. So, this makes sense.
December 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word lousy with rocks
what today we'd call blinged out
December 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word give the time
"I was personally acquainted with two girls he gave the time to."
(Caulfield on Stradlater, Catcher in the Rye)
December 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the list wilfred-j--funks--ten-most-beautiful-words-in-the-english-language--1932--1933
I nominate Wilfred J. Funk for the most beautiful word in the English language
December 22, 2009
madmouth commented on the word TMI
lowercase 'tmi' is a valid word-initial syllable in SBC (e.g. tmina - gloom)
December 22, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 圖
it is now!
December 22, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 圖
your (cranky, full-lipped penguin) robot
December 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word busuuti
not to be confused with bzooty, though of course they are known to go together rather well.
December 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word classic patriarchal rape-incest
a quadruple-whammy from Phyllis Chesler's big facepalm of a dissertation, Women & Madness.
December 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ǃʼOǃKung
I'll do my best--this is hairy without LING terminology.
in an imaginary language with 5 consonants, say, you could have two different types of 't' and 3 different types of 'p', or, on the other end of the spectrum, each of the 5 in totally different places (e.g. one is bilabial, one is dental, one is velar, one is uvular and the last a totally different manner of articulation--non-pulmonic, such as a click). while the first situation describes a consonant class which is the most natural for our mouths to create, it's actually harder on the brain to contrast them with one another; a set with consonants which are very different from each other is easier. does that make sense? distinguishing 'pa' from 'ba' (which is, by the way, really hard for a lot of language groups) is more difficult than distinguishing, say, 'ta' from '!a'
there are different axes of ease and difficulty in the human linguistic process. something which is intuitive and simple on one level creates problems on another level, and vice versa.
December 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ð
I've seen certain Japanese-speaking students make their Ds like Ð; even more mysterious (in that asking why lent litle clarification). Very confusing to me personally, if not other teachers, in that Ð is a different phoneme in Bosnian
December 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ǃʼOǃKung
the human mouth is also naturally inclined toward contrastivity, though--it's necessary to reach outside the 'unmarked' places of articulation to make as many clear distinctions between sounds as possible, if that makes sense.
December 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ophyron
my ophyron is a little hollow. is that normal?
December 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word freshly laundered cheese
One of the pitfalls to avoid when making paneer. Recipes stress the necessity of a purely washed cloth for straining purposes.
December 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the user ruzuzu
why, thank you! some of the more consonant soupy SBC words look horrific to the English eye and need to be heard to be salvaged.
so, are you another Euroslavian?
December 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word veni vidi vici
or Wenty, Witty, Wiki?
December 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chump one's style
"When sucka MCs try to chump my style
I let them know I'm versatile"
December 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word racist
JEsus
I mean, seriously--JEsus CHRIST
*reason fails, mind implodes, Satan's kingdom upon the earth &c.*
December 19, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bajingo
"I hope you don’t mind the off color lingo
But is that a pee spot atop your bajingo?"
-Pooh the Piglet, via Go Fug Yourself, addressing Pam Anderson
December 19, 2009
madmouth commented on the word c is for cookie
questionable transcription
December 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tansy
a word more beautiful than what it describes (as far as flowers go, anyway)
December 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word passion purpura
looking up purpura separately, though, is distinctly unromantic
December 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word maudlin
by far my favourite emotion, in fact it runs through Yugo veins--nay, gallops
December 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word squamish
then you'd have access to some of this panty bicycle/queen-shitting? with photos?
December 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word squamish
the eye flies to "panty bicycle; naked girls from squamish" in the sole text example. congratulations, Wordnik--you've justified yourself to me!!
December 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word kayageum
how sweet you sound, and how attractive you make everyone who plays you.
there's no beating floor lyres for aesthetic impact.
December 15, 2009
madmouth commented on the word all over
ie. covered with, e.g. "I'm all over spots". very British
December 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word good
"Well", while correct, is so unnatural--in North American speech, at least--that I feel awkward teaching my students to say it in reply to "How are you?", going so far as to try to avoid the question altogether.
December 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word skategate
The incident of Canadian pair figure skaters Sale & Pelletier being "robbed" of Olympic gold by them wily Ruskis. After a LOT of palaver and too-close-for-comfort investigation into the judges' decisions, they released a second gold medal for pair skating that year. The old judging system was dumped and a new one instated after Skategate.
December 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word serpigo
after 'serpent', connected by the Greek motorway to "herpes"?
December 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bisexual tiny person
Tila Tequila's job title
December 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word cho-cho
1) I thought it was chocha? Cho-cho is a hard-done-by literary heroine, innit?
2) This is a problem of the English language itself. There are no garden-variety words to describe genitalia--the elevator stops at the clinical, vulgar and ludicrous only.
December 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word Kon Crete
in all of character map, I couldn't find ONE thumbs-up squiggle.
December 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word faskinating
Popeye was here
December 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word just a teensy bit...y know
I've been trying to dig for the name of the thing ever since, to no avail :{
you make light now, but a glimpse of the mustachioed WASP protagonist bulging out of his slacks is enough to turn one into a passionate advocate of sporing
December 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chuckwalla
...and she is come to bring the jest full circle
*heads solemnly bowed*
December 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word just a teensy bit...y know
best/worst euphemism for pregnancy ever, heard on a rotten 70s Canadian (!!) sex farce
December 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chuckwalla
who's to say that isn't exactly what they call, say, club bouncers on the subcontinent, though?
December 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chuckwalla
the etymology, to boot (if wikipedia can be trusted) has nothing to with Hindi--deriving "from the Shoshone word 'tcaxxwal' or Cahuilla 'caxwal', transcribed by Spaniards as 'chacahuala'"
December 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word African glass
ie. diamonds
December 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word to the gravy
"If you hadn't done what you did we'd be a thousand dollars to the gravy right now!"
-Castor Oyl
December 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word oyster fruit
ie. pearls
December 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word force-meat
excellent name for a Shakespeare clown
December 9, 2009
madmouth commented on the word albumina
the text example implies this is the plural of 'albumen'--can anyone corroborate?
December 9, 2009
madmouth commented on the word murder
It was in Auchtermuchty, wannit?
December 8, 2009
madmouth commented on the word paqtaqawa'q
god made it funky
December 8, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spaghetti
absolutely right. ramyun is where it's at
December 6, 2009
madmouth commented on the word erottery
erotica + pottery? Internet putrescence, I rather think. Happy Breastmas!
December 6, 2009
madmouth commented on the word give the eye
Grinches are in season right about now
December 5, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spic
if pronunciation of "speak" is what we're going by, this applies to loads of language groups, though actually, not Spanish speakers, given 's' isn't acceptable word-initially in Spanish.
though I suppose one can't expect a high standard of linguistics in the field of racial prejudice.
December 5, 2009
madmouth commented on the word caramel
I've heard "car mull" more often than "car a mull"
December 5, 2009
madmouth commented on the word subji
an interesting romanization of what I have heretofore seen as sabzi
December 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word give the eye
I'm sure they're very nummy, but then Marilyn is, too--try 'er out
December 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word wordnik
Speaking of which, what happened to the profile link that allows us to view a user's comments?
December 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word vegemite virgin
this conversation makes vegemite sound intriguing, exciting even
December 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word give the eye
you haven't seen Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?!
FOR SHAME
December 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word give the eye
"bye-bye, baby
remember you're my baby
when they give you the eye
though I know you care
won't you write and declare
that though on the loose
you are still on the square?"
December 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word va j-j visor
while T-T's tears are blinding, j-j bawls with its eyes wide open to the horror
December 3, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tobaccy
according to the other verses, it might be "huggee and kissee nice" :{
December 3, 2009
madmouth commented on the word INCIST
a local business school thought this would be a good acronym for its internship program o.0
December 3, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tobaccy
...Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky-woo
-Dixon & Warren, "Nagasaki"
December 3, 2009
madmouth commented on the word seegars
a fatcat always smokes a fat seegar
December 3, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spaghetti
The character of spaghetti is compromised by cutting, it seems to me. There are plenty of short pastas out there, after all--why not eat those?
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word stold
also stoled
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word smacked 'em permanent
"You sure smacked 'em permanent, Popeye!"
"I always smacks 'em pernament"
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ain't gotta crust
'has no scruples'. this usage shows up in Grease: "You got your crust, I'm no object of lust--I'm just plain Sandra Dee"
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word stow the razberries
ie. shut your filthy clam
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word give the air
to turn down. also give the gate (to)
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word shipshape
"The ship's in shipshape shape"
-from Some Like it Hot
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tell the army
meaning, "I don't give a rat's clacker" (which latter is still one of the most disgusting-hypnotic phrases I've seen)
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word in bad with the law
not to be confused with in bed with the law
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word by cracky!
surely the most thematic exclamation in Popeye comics
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the word onct
as in "onct I crack 'em, they stay cracked" (referring to a sock upon yer button)
December 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the list place-names-of-distinction
I passed by Chuckanut Dr. near the US-Canada border
December 1, 2009
madmouth commented on the word series
According to my grammaticality judgement, both "The series were on for years before being cancelled" and "The series was on for years before being cancelled" check out fine
December 1, 2009
madmouth commented on the word merkin
AAAND it's back from the 16th century, everyone!
November 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fuckle
cf. fuckler, a demon from the brain of Babycakes
November 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word NIIGGA
I thought Assniiga was the 800-hour oral epic of the Lappish foothills
November 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word giant toasted ants
nutty and bacon-like? that's a bit of an overload
I'd really like to be hardcore enough to eat a bug, but the only way it's gonna happen is if they start cutting bread flour with ground crickets on the sly
PS: PU, I'm ganking that one for "Just because..."
November 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word morular
in one of L.M. Montgomery's Anne volumes, the titular heroine fights a local battle, coaxing a fatcat out of painting an ad for some tonic or other onto the fence along the main road. so, the first wave of large-scale advertising is successfully beaten back. reading this scene from the 21st century is heartbreaking; little did she know just how ugly it would get :(
November 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word morular
sometimes I can't help but conclude that the advertising universe is run and staffed by more advanced amoebozoa
November 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word frankingcense
at first glance I thought it was frinking cheese. d'oh
November 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word cuttlefish
unctious ochre
November 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word whatcher
Castor Oyl: Why POPEYE! I thought you were SHOT!!!
P: Whatcher think these is, button holes?
November 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word go'ner
gonna for the quainter set
November 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bags of liberty
that is, cashola
November 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word matching python panties
to say the least!
November 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the user bilby
hey--have you been to Regretsy? Oddery foddery, man (lemonade cow, anyone? Jesus' feet and shroud, with tiny stigmata dimples?)
November 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word matching python panties
As seen here, sweet dear Jesus
November 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word a few under the hat
"She may be a brainy bird, but I've got a few under the hat myself"
-Castor Oyl
November 26, 2009
madmouth commented on the word beauregard
ow-->o before r in English; in fact, the other diphthongs turn to full vowels in this context as well (though you can articulate 'flour' and 'fire', say, as one-syllable words, producing a diphthong-r sequence--but that's another kettle of fish)
November 26, 2009
madmouth commented on the word i lick my cheese
you'd think someone who had it in them to steal would also be capable of eating others' lickings.
November 26, 2009
madmouth commented on the word e for brick
"heave a brick"?
"ether brick"? :/
"Eva Brück"?
I'm stuck on this one.
November 26, 2009
madmouth commented on the word eebree
I call spoof
November 26, 2009
madmouth commented on the word cheese
that cheese and Gs should both be AAVE colloquialisms for money is one of my favourite coincidences
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word a'lelia bundles
if I were named after great-granny A'lelia, I wouldn't marry a Bundles into the bargain. or maybe that would be the ultimate form of sticking it to the man.
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word suttee
an innapropriate sort of romanization, in that it makes what ought never to sound...cute (like a diminutive item of furniture or perhaps a dessert)
I had hoped it was just Naipaul being creative, but plenty of precedent for this form exists, as it turns out.
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word nit
it was Vulturo--whose name just came back to me--and I like to think he means far worse than 'nitwit'
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the list pests
looking at demonyms (if that's the word) like aleman and chinee next to ones like european and japanese, one wonders if these are two separate semantic categories within botany
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word paladin
All her harvest buttoned in
All her ornaments untried
Waiting for the paladin
Prosperous and ocean-eyed
Who shall rub her secrets out
And behold the hinted bride
-from "The Anniad"
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word conshit
Ctrl + F and all will be revealed
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sterky
a dirty word not yet defined on Urban Dictionary...intriguing
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word love filth
"Caca was very popular. It was almost as popular as the graveyard"
-from Brad Neely's "Bible History #1"
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word nit
"I was in Zurich last week, you nit!"
-Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
It's a pity this corollary to the "louse" insult didn't come in til the 21st century. I, for one, plan to use it at the earliest opportunity.
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the list 4q2009
"fork you, 2009!" is the marquee in my brain (because IR no good at numerico-abbreviation puzzles)
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word runagate
while appearing to be a precursor of 'renegade' in that precise old-timey "it used to be like this but now we spell it differently" way, it's a different word with a different etymology, according to my dabblings. hm!
November 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word clearmeat
the more intuitive compound would be meatclear, I somehow think
November 22, 2009
madmouth commented on the word na vrh brda vrba mrda
SBC: "the willow shakes upon the hill".
November 22, 2009
madmouth commented on the word otou-san
ha! the literary and the banal follow close upon each other's heels
November 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the list tonguetwisters-from-around-the-world
I need that second one from the top erased :(
November 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word otou-san
my first reading is invariably 'Vani she done', a la "Mistah Kurtz, he dead"--even after a year on Wordie
that is to say, it's not as undistinguished as all that
November 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sachet d'epices
ohh
November 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ở
diacritic SOUP! I don't think I've ever yet slain me so hard
November 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sachet d'epices
It's not working
November 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sachet d'epices
French, lit. "wee bag o'spices". The mystery ingredient in Phở stock; imperceptible but absolutely crucial.
On a side note, how do we bracket nowadays?
November 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tuna fruit
"As a matter of fact, in the Southwest the Mexican and Indian population resort to the Nopal (that is, the flat-jointed sort of Opuntia) not only for the tuna fruit, as described in a previous chapter, but also for the succulent flesh of the stem, which may be made to do duty as a vegetable."
-from Useful Wild Plants Of The United States And Canada by Charles Francis Saunders
November 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pot-herb
Not as Drug-Related as They Sound
November 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sorrel mare
but of course. I noted yours long ago
November 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sorrel mare
at any rate, Anne of Green Gables led me to believe this is a legitimate animal name
November 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word partridge
Sounds like a fine fate
November 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word partridge
Of 'that little coquette Katrina':
"She was a blooming lass of fresh eighteen; plump as a patridge; ripe and melting and rosy-cheeked as one of her father's peaches"
-Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
I'm intrigued by the 'one ass, two chairs' approach to metaphors of objectification here. A patridge--ie. game--AND a neatly domesticated fruit!
November 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word we've got a black president, people
Lady Gaga's custom coda of self-justification (as seen here). I'm not wrong, I'm free also tickles the humerus
November 15, 2009
madmouth commented on the word checkerberry
If Chubby and Chuck got married, they wouldn't need a hyphen for the surname
November 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word a-utterin'
I enjoy this coinage for its delightful disregard for the CV liaison purpose of the a- prefix
November 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word Caribbee
'...
And I sez to meself as the ship she rolled,
"O Caribbee! O Barbaree!
O shores of South Amerikee!
O, never go there: if the truth be told,
You'll get more kicks than Spanish gold."'
-excerpt from "Spanish Gold", within The Magic Pudding
November 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spankies
a.k.a. spanky pants
November 9, 2009
madmouth commented on the user bilby
sorry, bilby--my inquiries re: hyeonmi have been fruitless. the literal meaning is 'puffy rice', but I can't quite figure out a slangy direction from there. 'dwenjang', for example (lit. 'soybean paste') means 'golddigger' or 'high-maintenance girlfriend' idiomatically, so you can see the connections are quite abstruse.
November 6, 2009
madmouth commented on the word love shot
in my experience, a manouver wherein a drunken Korean major insists your boyfriend link arms with him in order for drinks to be mutually poured down throats
but I bet it has a wider application
October 31, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 爸
It's gonna make you d'oh when the truth is out is all I'm gonna say.
October 31, 2009
madmouth commented on the word gulab
intrigué!
October 31, 2009
madmouth commented on the list take-five
huzzah
October 31, 2009
madmouth commented on the word regurgitalite
is it anything like regurgitalith?
October 31, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chank
according to image search, it's also "The Elvis of Fonts"
October 31, 2009
madmouth commented on the word gulab
Hindi: "rose". from it is derived gulabi, meaning "pink". it's the same in SBC: "rose" is ruža and "pink" is ruži�?asto
I wonder how many other languages have this derivation scheme
October 31, 2009
madmouth commented on the word jiggery pokery
they say it's a variant of joukery pawkery
October 31, 2009
madmouth commented on the word gauche
I once heard it pronounced "goach", which is the goachest thing one can do
October 30, 2009
madmouth commented on the word capgras’s syndrome
is there an umbrella term for these delusions having to do with duplication? a lot of the conditions on the list are variations on a theme
October 30, 2009
madmouth commented on the word reduplicative paramnesia
"Dear Diary,
We are complicated things."
-Babycakes
October 30, 2009
madmouth commented on the word trichotillomania
one of the scariest compulsions, with its nightmarish image of swollen, be-plucked eyelids
October 30, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bisque
the decisive dish in a battle between Iron Chef French and the Californian challenger. much to everyone's surprise, the latter's bisque was superior. the shock the judging panel showed at this turn of events was intriguing, seeming to encode an initial assumption that the exquisiteness of such a dish was beyond the crude sensibility of an American. all parties showed face and dignity at this awkward cultural junction, the judges smiling through their disbelief, the victor managing despite clenched teeth to give the final interview, and the vanquished maintaing good-natured silence.
in short, the Bisque Battle remains one for the vaults for the cultural analyst.
October 30, 2009
madmouth commented on the word dogloo
with a small enough dog, it could probably be both (potty and igloo, that is). I hear the tiny yappy kinds are very hard to house-train
October 30, 2009
madmouth commented on the list take-five
I like the strangely meaningful sequences that emerge from this list. "flood plain...fiber optic...false alarm", for example, has a certain poetry
October 30, 2009
madmouth commented on the word umbragenous
heh--mucilagenous was the one it sounded closest to to me (e.g. "I've got an umbragenous growth on the brain")
if umbragella is the shield in an umbraglio, what's the weapon? will a hearty umbreugneu do?
perhaps we can contrast the phony umbraglio with a genuine call to umbrage
October 30, 2009
madmouth commented on the word profound self-entitlement
the precise "no, I want you to pet me here, not that other place 30cm away" brand being in evidence this evening -_-
October 30, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bumbo
image search suggests the meaning has changed somewhat
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word umbragenous
I'm experimenting with the imaginary paradigm. 'umbragenous' sounds sort of disgusting whereas 'umbrageous' is a clean-sounding word. there's umbrager (sounds close to 'dowager'), tres umbragé, umbraglio &c &c
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the list craigslist-stuff-for-sale
this is one of the lists that makes me lament the all-smallcaps Wordie entry restrictions. you just can't put on "SWEET STUFF FOR SALE" or "Winnie the Pooh TIE"
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word wanted firecrackers
at least twice as expensive as firecrackers with no criminal record
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word dogloo
some poor chump paid 130 bucks for this thing
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word "free" weightlifting weights
I scratched my head at least twice on this one
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word single pain sliding doors
this could be a new Sailormoon attack under favourable circumstances
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ethnomasochism
'So the one-legged jockey says--'
'What'd he say?'
'So the one-legged jockey says, "Don't worry about me, baby--I ride side-saddle!"'
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word intersex awareness day
Interawareness Sex Day might also be good
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word zoutch
it's also a verb! how delightful--"Hold on, I gotta zoutch. I'll call you back"
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ethnomasochism
read twice before objecting, please! presumptuous umbrage on Wordie really ruins my day.
I don't like the thought, rolig, that while it may occur to you that I _might_ disdain bigots, there's always that 'evidence' that could turn the needle over to the other side.
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ethnomasochism
I was going to include you in the list, reesetee--but I didn't want to be presumptuous.
-_- is not abstruse in my circles; it's a pretty standard pictorial representation of a headdesk or "oh, brother". let me also point out the phrase new word bandied around by bigots in the original comment.
it's sort of beneath any Wordie to consider it consistent with another Wordie's character to self-identify as a bigot...I hope.
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ethnomasochism
I ought to put it into quotation marks next time for the c_bs and roligs of the world, eh?
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word catamite
the etymology lends a bizarre significance to The Ganymede Club for gentlemen's personal gentlemen
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word the cunt stakes
hee
October 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ethnomasochism
do you--y'all--also object to fairly obvious sarcasm?
I make the bold suggestion that taking upon oneself the work of noting/policing (in a fairly low-key capacity, granted) offensive Wordie content can be an impediment to thorough reading comprehension.
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ethnomasochism
new word bandied around by bigots on Youtube (yeah, I know--great place to follow 'discussion') to describe those pussies who are letting their country get taken over by the Islamic Agenda -_-
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word gravlax
More Delicious Than They Sound
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word soused mouse
*favorited*
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word huskily evocative
re: cardamom ("Both Scandinavian and Middle Eastern at the same time")
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word netizen
never went anywhere, poor thing. there should be a place we dump Extreme Slang Failures
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word newspapery
hah!
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word wabble
and would Dweebles dwabble?
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word hoick
ah so--the NZ equivalent of hork
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word shog
'shog along, then--buncha hooligans'
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word two-fork chinese waiter crispy duck trick
one of her terms for deft carving, a talent she does not in the least possess ("I do it just by mauling")
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word creamy sludge
also velvety sludge (perh. a fictional music genre?)
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word syllabub
also sillibub
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word galangal
well, aren't you speedy with the bon-bon mots
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tangor
if they really wanna get the tourism going, they should plant some tangor in Bangor
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pistareen
hee hee
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word boyzillian
why would there be two 'l's
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word feague
in my world of sexy fantasy, this rhymes with 'ague'
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fabulous
very sad that this word can no longer be used to mean "of or relating to fables"
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tangor
not to be confused with Bangor, a Welsh city that boasts mention in 2 works of literature I've read, and who knows how many more (this being, as far as I know, the only noteworthy thing about it)
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word galangal
I always have trouble restraining the syllables when saying this one; my tongue wants to go galangalangalangalanga
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ayodhya
Rama's birthplace
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word rutaceous
like the rutabaga?
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word agrume
what is it?
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word buchu
cf. huchu, Korean for 'black pepper'. I wonder how many other -uchu words there are
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word everlastingness
"without her teeth she looked decrepit, but there was about her decrepitude a quality of everlastingness."
-Mr. Biswas on Mrs. Tulsi, from Naipaul's House for Mr. Biswas
This one really cracked me up
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the list words-with-four-consecutive-vowels
aa is a terrible romanization, too--the actual word has two consonants and two vowels
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word mr justice trousers
I like it!
October 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pug-zu
jeez...can you imagine the nasal dysfunction?!
October 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pug-zu
Pug/Shih-Tzu hybrid, apparently (as seen on craigslist)
October 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word kerékpár
whoa...it looks like an obscure Melanesian tonal language or something
October 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tabula rasa
I can no longer see this word without being reminded of Tambura Rasa, the excellent gypsy band from Vancity...even though the band name is gimicky and sort of lame
October 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fernickety
hmmm...finickety?
October 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word squid n peanuts
with a little mayo on the side, THE bar snack
October 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fernickety
either a coined phrase after persnickety, or a legitimate variant of the same
October 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word gallow-bird
cf. gallows tree; jailbird
October 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spermine
hah!
October 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word hamlin cuddly
Hamlin claims to be somehow affiliated with the dental industry 0.o
October 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the list looks-like-a-digraph-but-isn-t
in Hindi the 'kh' also stands--ostensibly--for the aspirated k, though one does hear it realized as the velar fricative quite often.
October 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word severed head offers few answers
I can't parse it in the sensible way!
October 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word mmorpg
could almost be pronounced as-is in Serbo-Croatian
October 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word thirty-twelve
cf. schfifty-five
October 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word merdivorous
will take earliest opportunity to call someone an absquatulent merdivore
October 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word home canning
home caning is a less pleasant alternative
October 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word rainin' men
Hallelujah!
October 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word concupiscence
the Concupiscene: a geological epoch the lusty magnitude of which is yet to be matched
October 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word intermammary sulcus
more commonly known as cleavage
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the list dewey-cheatham-and-howe
lists like this are great for displaying regional accent
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word dubious swedo-norwegian scientists
the Nobel Prize panel, they say
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word free-swimming stalkless crinoid
crinoids are scary enough WITH the stem 0.0
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ppeppero
though we already KNEW you're a poet
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word kkotgaru
lit. flower-powder, Korean for 'pollen'. this is notable as 'garu' is a common suffix in cuisine (e.g. flour as we know it is 'mil-garu' ie. 'wheat-powder'; pepper is 'huchu-garu' ie. 'pepper-powder')
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word rudin's law
there's a law for how my boyfriend cleans the house!
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word clitic doubling
"mr youse neednt be so spry
concernin questions arty
each has his tastes but as for i
i likes a certain party
gimme the he-mans solid bliss
for youse ideas ill match youse
a pretty girl who naked is
is worth a million statues"
-e.e. cummings
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the list nabokov-vocabulary
Bokovulary has a ring of the fertility clinic
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word crystal jelly
It has three meanings I've found so far:
-the clear stuff at the bottom of bubble tea
-Aequorea victoria
-a variety of what the Texan legislature calls obscene device
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word star jelly
cf. crystal jelly
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word radgrid
immediately this jumped out to me to mean "a grid that is rad". seeing 'rad' as a legitimate adjective--despite oneself--marks one as a casualty of high school
October 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tt�?k
see here. the (superior, in my opinion) Korean equivalent of mochi, also known as 'ddeok' in that hateful vowel-flinging modern romanization
October 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ppeppero
the Korean Pocky, having one up on the latter due to its own holiday
October 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word livermush
I was just thinking, "I'd eat it if there was chili oil involved"
October 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word no homo
ack!
the world is too much with us
October 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the list the-fantastical-repertoire-of-captain-haddock
French counterpart here
October 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tadago pie
there should be a list wherein we compete to re-dub the tadago pie in the most gruesome/evocative way (e.g. Meaty Miscarriage)
October 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the list the-gods-must-be-crazy
how'd I miss this wonderful monster?
October 9, 2009
madmouth commented on the word meat ant the new weapon against cane toads!
'twas the inspiration :)
October 8, 2009
madmouth commented on the word meat ant the new weapon against cane toads!
see?
October 8, 2009
madmouth commented on the word manlio
I'm told it's a male Italian name, though not sure how common.
October 8, 2009
madmouth commented on the word carapace
Care Apache, the king of the hippies
October 7, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fika
according to them, it means "coffee and cake", that is, a whole branch of cuisine
October 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word u-shaped course of development
refers to a second-language learning process wherein skill level temporarily regresses, then goes forward again
October 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word grocery rustle
the sound of mother going through the bags and possibly pulling out a box of cookies
pets also respond to this sound
October 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pentimento
the final stage in the life cycle of a palimpsest?
October 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chout
not to be confused with Choate
October 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word musique concrète
yarb, this is the first time I've heard someone besides myself and friends use 'wanky' in this sense. is it Van city or astral affinity?
October 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ordo ab chao
really sounds like Esperanto
October 4, 2009
madmouth commented on the list i-murdered-i-you-say
grisly. though BC's batting pretty well--only 2 famous serial killers in the 20th century
October 2, 2009
madmouth commented on the user sionnach
thank you, sir. the final -m got the Google back in action, and it's a Dubliners coinage, from the looks of it.
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word boribbang
such a pity. though I did find that in Hong Kong, there was plenty of savoury bread, and also the sweet stuff wasn't so wretchedly bad (boribbang excepted; it's delicious)
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the user sionnach
you'd know, I warrant. I heard a word on a Dubliners track that sounds like 'falooran' or 'felorrin', meaning 'masculine virility' (re: old man a young woman has married out of necessity, "He's got no feloorin" so then she sleeps with this handsome young man). Google, however, is convinced it doesn't exist. you know what this word is?
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ecozone
includes the odd-sounding Palearctic and the ineffably funky Afrotropic
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word rotten public art
though I so often find this phrase redundant
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word stripping flesh
yer a smart cookie
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word epicaricacy
doesn't sound at all like its meaning. what IS the word for the quality of sounding like its meaning, anyway?
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word s�?n
禪, originally ध�?यान
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word jogye-jong
the largest Buddhist order in Korea and, perhaps not coincidentally, the one with the best-looking temples.
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word namu amitabul
the meditation chant. Amitabul is the Korean version of the Sanskrit Amitabha Buddha
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bosalim
a laywoman residing at a temple who manages the kitchen and grounds. the word seems to derive from bosal, the Korean term for bodhisattva.
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word �?�よ�?�よ
no later than yesterday was I wondering whether there are languages that articulate the chirping sound without a rhotic!
September 29, 2009
madmouth commented on the word peacock mantis shrimp
yeah...it's got three things on its thing and I'm pretty sure there should only be two things there
September 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word peacock mantis shrimp
a picture, not for the weak of browser
September 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word srljo
past verb, diminutive form of 'srao'--"shat". Balasevic sings, in an anti-Milosevic satire, kud si srljo, nisi gledo: "you weren't looking where you shat". then, he inverts the meaning--ti si srljo kud si gledo: "you shat as far as you could see"
I wonder if other languages have diminutive verbs.
September 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word hock a loogy
also hork a loogie
September 28, 2009
madmouth commented on the word t.u.l.i.p.
it's the U part that really makes a jackass
September 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pentateuch
I always mix this one up with the pentatonic
September 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word seagull
the nastiest and most memorable seagull I ever came across was Fatty. we were at a bay, waiting for the ferry, tossing bits of fish&chips to the birds. Fatty comes by, manages to ward off the other gulls and eat their bits. when he got full, he kept shooing them off anyway, letting the food go uneaten out of sheer territorial spite. hmph!
September 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word piss fox
check!
September 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word thrice accursed yesterday
from Constance Barrett's translation of Crime and Punishment
September 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word rhaphidophoridae
anyway, the bats do alright
September 27, 2009
madmouth commented on the word rhaphidophoridae
a.k.a. cave cricket
September 26, 2009
madmouth commented on the word irish queer
see alcohol
September 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word lewd conduct
'lewd conduct with minor' is defined in Idaho as such. considering the number of juvenile sex offenders (legally speaking) in the Idaho registry (named here rather than the registry of another state because it has a handy-dandy 'juvenile' search function), the term starts to drive one mad with curiosity. what's the range of acts we're talking about here? if a teenager is spotted groping a teenager, will said teenager be registered? sex laws abound with mystery.
September 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word orgasm tofu
well, it is quite mysterious. perhaps the warm stuff has Slurm-like origins?
September 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word obscene device
sex toy, as described by the Texas Penal Code (and others, I imagine).
September 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word booty
cf. junk in the trunk, an inverse metaphor of the original booty
September 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word puissant
it's not esoteric, just awkward (which I suspect the teacher tried to find a high-falutin' synonym for and failed). I can't see a justified use of puissant in any paper after the 18th century.
September 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word orgasm tofu
no, no--this a technical term. it literally gives you orgasms.
September 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word parboiled
my mother's favourite, ie. the choice of one brought up in a region where rice is very rarely consumed :(
I don't know when the 'rice is hard to cook' myth began, but it is holding America by the ears.
September 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word glutinous rice
ubiquitous term on Korean packaging and cookbooks (the English version thereof, I mean). one of the many evils of the aspirational 50s American vocabulary that the early education system was weaned on.
September 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word dementor's kiss and tell
good one
September 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word orgasm tofu
the kind you just take home and eat, no cooking, just a little hot sauce (not just the silken stuff, either). in certain places, you can get it warm, straight out of the...whatever it's made in. the Korean soybean is something else. it gives tofu a deep, slightly nutty flavour; you can smell it on the cutting board.
the longer I live here, the more awake I am to the delights of the uncooked--fish, garlic, squid, tofu...
September 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chicken is boring
mackerel
legumes
Korean orgasm tofu
September 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word schwa
oh, but it does so much more!
in French it's used for putting the extra bit of cabaret passion on a chanson (e.g. Piaf's il me l'a dit, l'a jure POUR LA VIIIIUUUUHHH), which is pretty awesome. and let's not forget Yogi Bear's schwa-epenthesis! in Hindi, you can shove a schwa into lots of consonant clusters, making learners grateful they don't have to pronounce 'ndh' and the like. how could anyone hate such a useful vowel?
September 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word gwanŭm
the Korean counterpart to the Chinese Guan Yin, goddess of mercy and compassion. in Korea, this is a male deity, but the body shape and attire are totally unchanged. the only addition is an awful, thin little green moustache, which jars ludicrously with the soft curves and flowing robes of the Goddess of Mercy.
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word danch�?ng
the five-colour pattern used to decorate Korean temples (and other edifices, though no other type of building has such intricate and dizzying use of this pattern). see here
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word apsara
floating celestial female musician, numerously engraved on every temple bell and painted onto ceiling panels.
it`s said that the apsara derives from the gandharva and kinnara figures, subsequently feminized and beautified in the passage of Buddhism to Korea through China (the influence of seductive Daoist sky maidens with the long hair ribbons).
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sŭnim
Korean term for 'monk', regardless of gender. I still like to call the female ones nuns, though. There is a very clear gender division and tension between male and female monks in Korea, due to fairly sexist interpretations of the text and the influence of Korean society, historically misogynist.
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bhikshu
mentioned in the Diamond Sutra, a.k.a. bhikkhu. Sanskrit: a fully ordained male monk (fem. being bhikkhuni.
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word kumbum
I can't believe nobody's plonked it onto their naughty-sounding lists yet
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sandfood
Pholisma sonorae, no relation to Sand n Food
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pholisma
see sandfood
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sagamore
take me to your sagamore!
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word booby-trapped empanadas
this gave me deja-vu for a second, but then I realized I was just remembering a similar concept from this review: "He holds the film like a can of beer in a paper bag -- the cool sip of salvation on a blistering day -- until it is revealed as a Molotov cocktail." (review of Do the Right Thing)
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word nadia
Nadia Wadia, you'll go fardia
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word the rock
:0
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word wapping
this could've stayed innocuous if the internet hadn't happened
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word shoreditch
does "boozer" not refer to a person in Aussie vocabulary? it does in North America, and the image is considerably more delicious thereby
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the list intriguing-places
we got 'armorica' twice
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tooting
it's a place :D
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the list from-the-algonquin-et-al
Q: what do Dorothy Parker, Margaret Atwood and L.M. Montgomery have in common (besides a vagina)?
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the list from-the-algonquin-et-al
the one that really threw me is 'geoduck'
September 23, 2009
madmouth commented on the word mesclun
I find the term young lettuces surprisingly sensuous
September 22, 2009
madmouth commented on the word brant
but not this year
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word humpty dance
excerpt:
"...
My name is Humpty, pronounced with a Umpty.
Yo ladies, oh how I like to hump thee.
..."
thus marking the greatest usage of archaic pronouns ever
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word faggot
Mark Tietjens to brother Chris:
"'I'd not like to sleep with that wife of yours. She's too athletic. It'd be like sleeping with a bundle of faggots. I suppose though you're a pair of turtle doves...'"
Ford Maddox Ford, Parade's End, p.219
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word braicon
no, is good. also, points for alternate pronunciation & meaning
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word nom de porn
courtesy of Perfect Stars forum
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word terrapin
Kuniyoshi's take
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word aerosolized pig brains
source, courtesy of chained_bear via kuru (not as cute as it sounds)
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word donald trump and beyonce's rump
they don't call it shaking your moneymaker for nothing
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word dog farms
apparently most of those are in Jeju D:
we're going to write some letters to the mayor about this, as they're technically illegal
dog consumption has the worst effect on animal-human relations that I've seen here. horses and cows, for example, are treated well and people are fond of them. however, The Edible Dog (known as 'shit dog'), as if to force the natural affection people have towards dogs out of their system, is maltreated and reviled, and specifically put into a different conceptual category from The Pet Dog (and different spatial category, ie. it's continually chained).
this, combined the fact that dogs are incredibly difficult to keep caged up (I doubt whether a farmowner is even able to sleep on premises), howling and barking ceaselessly, I mean ceaselessly, makes it a totally inadvisable meat.
to make this relevant to language--I've noticed that in the vocabularies of my students, "dog" and "puppy" are different animals, the latter being the official designation of the Pet Dog (largely lapdogs and fluffballs from foreign).
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word like beyonce isn't white!
maybe I'm overanalyzing
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word the theoretical chin of her boobs
the larger quote being "like a soul patch on the theoretical chin of her boobs" (source)
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word muumuu
the original word has 4 syllables, whereas the English borrowing has 2. this looks odd to my eyes because I'm so used to seeing English borrowings in Korean attain extra syllables (e.g. stand has 3 in the K version; 'ice cream' has 5)
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word like beyonce isn't white!
somewhat connected to Imma let you finish. Kanye establishes confusing race dichotomy by implying Beyonce--the palest you can get short of Jelly Roll Morton--was robbed of the award because of blackness. it's not that B's internalized racism isn't proof of the injustice of the media, but she's bad evidence for a case like this, given that her stardom and pallor have increased exponentially over the last 10 years (also see Jessica Alba). in short, Beyonce is exactly pale (and consequently, beloved) enough to win awards among any number of white competitors--and has.
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word summer farewell
also farewell summer
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word scurvy-grass
a.k.a. spoonwort
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word croomia
could be the heroine of a forgotten 19th-century novel, like Gryphoemia
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word hairysheath lovegrass
ho ho ho!
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word naked ladies
it's remarkable that any flowers at all came up in the image search, especially given the profusion of naked ladies for every other search word 0.0
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word juba's bush
and so much depends on which Juba we're talking about (man or woman, that is)
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the list ponderable-plant-names
also, this is the best list in recent memory! hours of delight
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the list •-de-rerum-natura
*favorited*
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spleenwort
apparently a cockamamie sort of cure, believed "useful for ailments of the spleen, due to the spleen-shaped sori on the backs of the fronds" according to Wiki
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word nostrils inside of nostrils!
check it OUT
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word hoonoomaun
presumably after Hanuman?
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word exploding stove pixies!
I'm going to look for the CANNOT EXPLODE guarantee on the package of the next cleaning product I buy. seems like half that shit can and will explode as soon as you shake it!
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word it's hard to sex people on the internet!
I mean literally--it's hard to identify their sex
the lost meaning of this verb pops up sometimes, making things suddenly clearer. Fergie's "the boys, they wanna sex me" really spoke to my confusion about her(?) sex (and species, for that matter)
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word beware of chickin!
and all foods for which the word has been borrowed when there is already a word there.
for example, in Korean there is 'dak'-"chicken", and 'chickin', the former being just dandy and the latter THE junkest of stomach-caving, sauce-drowned, non-food junk. the message is clear: chickin ≠ chicken.
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word cumshaw
heh. I'll try my luck with wanky young Vancouver waiters
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word dog farms
Alex supposes dog farmers die by 60, from drink, due to the psychological strain
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fresh fodder
how quirky
September 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the list not-quite-as-awful-as-they-sound
*ahem* cumshaw
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word quean
"...
I'll be reveng'd you saucy Quean
(Replys the disapointed Dean)
I'll so describe your dressing room
The very Irish shall not come.
..."
-Lady Montague, The Reasons that Induced Dr S to Write a Poem Call'd the Lady's Dressing Room
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chunky pandey
no
that's the Chunky mystique, I guess
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chunky pandey
a comedy actor in Bollywood.
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word salmon louse
you know big burly eastern Europeans shun articles. noun should be naked!
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word vaginosis
not to be confused with vagignosis--the omniscient powers of the female generative organs
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word zabaleen
sad to say, Slackman lives up to his name by failure to explicitly connect what's happening to the trash now with the racist government policy that played into the swine cull. there's a more interesting story underneath this mild denunciation of the government's poor bureaucracy.
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word dog farms
the most harrowing interruption to pastoral beauty. as it turns out, they've got to shove them quite deep in the idyllic countryside because the howling that comes from the cages can be heard for miles :(
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word juba ii
the second, that is. a king.
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spurge
ah! "So called from the plant's purgative properties" (see OE)
this word fascinates me @-@
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word akoko
Hawaiian term for the spurges. tremendous improvement, I think. (source)
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the list animal-identity-crisis
one wishes the hog plum (see here) could be counted a 'creature'
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word salmon louse
d'oh!
but maybe it's cousin of your Slavic accent, eh? eh?
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word candlenut
also candleberry
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word blue-eyed mary
cf. black-eyed Susan
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word balaban
also a guy
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the list ponderable-plant-names
I found Jamaican navel spurge at the neat sea-bean website you linked to.
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word serial mom
source. dubious coffee table book aside, what a sordid term (or else there's a joke I'm not getting)
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word salmon louse
so named because it prays on salmon (also called sea louse)
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word diablos rojos
what Mexican fishermen call the Humboldt squid, because of the red-white colour changes the squid exhibit when struggling with the nets (at up to 2m in length, one can imagine the force)
September 20, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fliff!
it's gotta be in triplicate (see here)
September 19, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pheasant
is anyone else disillusioned with the flavour of pheasant? one imagines a feast of kings, 'fat swan roasted whole' and the like...but it's sort of turkeyish
September 19, 2009
madmouth commented on the word daduk
anything like baduk?
September 19, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fliff
money that is thrown around in an extravagant fashion (copyright Brad Neely). it's more an exclamation than a noun, really
September 19, 2009
madmouth commented on the word dhal
I always wondered whether this spelling wasn't an overcompensation. as far as I know, the Hindi is 'dal' with no aspiration on the 'd'
September 19, 2009
madmouth commented on the word damozel
cf. mamzel
September 19, 2009
madmouth commented on the word parvenu
Wharton! oh goody!
September 19, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ahorse
look, Ma! I'm ahorse!
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the list fun-menu-items
I humbly submit golden stomach, one from the steaming offal-pot
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word scotch egg
I'm trying to imagine what the process of the encasement looks like. do you slap thin slices of salami all around? do you fork out the gooey stuffing from a raw sausage and paste it on?
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word heat activated urinal billboard
makes me glad to be a woman.
I wonder if HAUB generates a spray of surprise
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bad taxidermy
the kind with visible mouth stitches, an ambiguous space around the circumference of the eye, the wrong angle for the limbs--the stuff of nightmares.
so, the guy's in there with his horror animals, but I didn't think anyone would actually BUY any of them. then I came across a misguided dentist's office with a really dead-looking turtle in the window :(
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word madmoutha foetida
one had better shut one's mouth after eating lots of daal?
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word slender scratchdaisy
uncomfortable flashback to Ginsberg's "Pull my daisy"
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word hogpeanut
next pet I have is going to be named this
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word asafoetida
a.k.a. devil's dung
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sewervine
foetida is a brilliant suffix to anything
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chillax
there are places on this earth untainted by the dread chillax?! you learn something new every day
hint: a simple portmanteau. unpack and enjoy?
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the list via-i-poplollies-bellibones-i
how did I live so long without seeing this list?
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spookrijder
one fears the traffic situation in a land where this warrants its own term
September 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sand n food
besides describing two things that are found in Jeju, the name of a restaurant. this is one of many examples of the deplorable abbreviation "sandwich" has received in Korean ad culture.
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word thwarterous
and if you put an Emeril accent on it, rhymes with Tartarus. how many words can claim that privilege?
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spoon worm
institutionalized Bobbittry
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word hrast
SBC: 'oak'
the 'r' is devoiced due to its proximity to the 'h', making a lovely whispering word out of this
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fice
is anyone else imagining a half-crazed Englishman hissing about his 'nervous belligerent little mongrel dog'? what a turn of phrase!
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word yong-ggot
lit. dragon flower, the Korean name for the lotus
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word the stripper myth
copyright Chris Rock, namely "ain't no strippers in college", citing "how come I never got a smart lap dance?" as evidence.
I think it's a pretty succinct case.
we'd also do well to debunk the fugu myth.
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word regrettable fugu incident
hee hee
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the list i-murdered-i-you-say
yeah--'undone' works for me.
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word mixen-burgh
some connections
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spurge nettle
see finger-rot
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word threebirds
Plant Identity Crisis
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word salt cod
one would do well to pass the cold greasy brains (which I'm going to steal, thank you kindly). word is, brains are inhabited by bacteria that don't die in the cooking process (though 18 hours--who knows?)
myself, I never had an eye I didn't like.
Prolagus, hernesheir's anecdote ought to be placed within the annals
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word spoon worm
let me indulge your yuck a few steps more--these stay alive after being sliced, moving ever so slowly off the chopsticks.
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word you blunted artichoke
echoes of Capt Haddock
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word euphony
"At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply
..."
-Wallace Stevens
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word devoicing
English speakers devoice word-final obstruents all the time. Just listen carefully the next time someone says 'kid' or 'cab'
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pirates
American 'r' is problematic for almost everyone (being unique or at any rate extremely rare in world phonology). It's just that, say, French and German speakers replace it with their 'r', which sounds to our ears more r-like than, say, the Japanese 'r'.
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word morue fraîche
ha!
cuisine is where people are at their most hypocritical and narrow, or their most open-minded
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word salt cod
cf. bacalhau (in whose paradigm there exists the well-braised eyeball on toast)
September 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bro grabs
copyright Brad Neely
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word churva
also Hurva
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pharisee
cf. Perushim
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word red-winged blackbird
it's hard not to love a tiny thing yelling like it's king of the world
that's why we keep the cat
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word cimbalom
the Gypsy Devils made it down here; Oz isn't such a far-fetched possibility (this is their fat man, considerably subdued for the photo)
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word lingnan school
it's a real pity that only such small details from Li are available online; the larger stuff is really arresting--especially bird portraits. Lingnan painters seem to be in love with birds.
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word cimbalom
have you ever seen a fat, mad gypsy magician work the cimbalom a hundred miles an hour?
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sarod
most recently shredded by long-haired playboy Anupam Shobhakar.
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that old-fashioned virtuososo are the ones who give a real freakout, Dio be damned.
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word bull fiddle
double bass, a.k.a. doghouse bass
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word eat me
linking up to the audacity of dope, an excerpt from this article:
"So, if Gov. Mitt Romney ever wins the White House and gives a speech to a joint session of Congress, and an unknown Democratic congresswoman shouts 'Eat me!' from the back row, the only acceptable Republican response is: 'God bless America and our beautiful First Amendment.'"
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word refined
"...
they speak whatever's on their mind
they do whatever's in their pants
the boys i mean are not refined
they shake the mountains when they dance"
e.e. cummings
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word red-winged blackbird
though tiny, these territorial punks proclaim their right at top volume given the slightest opportunity.
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word carp
there are such multitudes of carp in Hong Kong's various ponds and gardens that they teach one the unique pleasure of watching the serene yet vivid piscine ballet.
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word lingnan school
a 20th century school of Chinese nature painting that plays with Western techniques and concepts in order to view archetypal subjects with a different eye.
some details from paintings by Li Fuhong, a fairly recent Lingnan master here, here and here.
some pieces by older master Gao Jianfu here, Ju Chao here and Chen Shu Ren here
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word great art
I can't believe it wasn't listed!
Besides the fabulous classical landscape paintings at the museum of art, I caught two really eye-opening exhibits from the Lingnan School
September 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word tamilok
it's one of my goals in life to become hardcore enough to eat that sort of thing with relish.
ETA: it's a clam. can do!
September 15, 2009
madmouth commented on the word pissoirée
a golden shower party, pardon the image
September 15, 2009
madmouth commented on the word cumber
how it minces! there should be a "Mincing words" list
September 15, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ass-muffin
what my friend called the gluteal endowment of figure skaters
September 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word socionics
sounds like an eerie cousin of dianetics
September 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word burnt toast and a slab of old cheddar
I'm with the bear on this one. tried the combo with a lightly sweetened herbal and it's fabulous
September 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word hangover soup
yes!
"watch out, bro--I've got some hangover soup on the way"
September 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word burqini
while burqini is far the catchier option, hajibni would be more accurate.
also, WHA?!
also, you could totally sell this in Korea (maybe with an additional face-mask)
September 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word caseus
the great-grandfather of cheese
September 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word raptors and islets
a ferry ride through the tiny archipelago off Sai Kung, the western fishing town, shows the archetypal, ideally beautiful Chinese landscape: mists dividing each island into a distinct groove of faded dream blue. but the sky is flecked not with the graceful silhouettes of long-legged birds, but thick, jagged black outlines of swooping raptors.
(if you'll excuse my purpleness)
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word lamenty
a re-reading of the awful and ubiquitous Vita LEMON TEA. there's no excuse for Lamenty in a land where real lemons are so cheap.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word colonial whiteness
there are sections of Hong Kong still inhabited largely by aristocratic (or rich) Westerners--cozy, dozy, expensive beachside outskirts.
it was my first experience with vestigial colonialism, and the air was thick with it. the mere restaurant names felt (coming out of the clatter of Hong Kong streets) appalling and surreal--"Fish&Chips"; "Burger Shack"; "Steaks--Curries--Asian Dishes".
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word the travails of interspecies love
a female Golden Pheasant decided to ditch her mate and make eyes at the distinctly mauvais sujet Lady Amherst's Pheasant next door, leading to altercations between her male and the aforesaid every five minutes, no less the violent for the wire netting between them.
a small slice of the problems of breeding in captivity.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fancy pigeons
the public aviaries in HK feature many different species of exotic pigeon, including the handsome white one with blue eye-bands, and the big slow one with what looks like a miniature peacock's tail on its head.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word a nap with allah
Jamia Mosque in Kowloon Park intro shot--a sign: SLEEPING IN THE PRAYER HALL STRICTLY PROHIBITED
Cut to inside prayer hall, wide angle: half a dozen guys snoring away on the floor
ha!
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the user bilby
I assure you I was thinking of Wordie (and -ites) during my international romp
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word squatting laws
apparently it is a finable offense to squat while waiting for the metro in Hong Kong (and god knows where else).
it's a sick, sad world.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word peri
how interesting--a technical term for 'fallen angel'
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the list prayerware--2
stylish Christian shirt line belongs to the Oddery
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word hangover soup
a.k.a. 'he jang guk', 'blood pudding soup'. the steaming, spicy, organ-laden lifeblood of early-morning taxi drivers.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word yakshaving
such a glorious word merits a thick Chairman accent--yaks-haffink
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word utter delphic failure
in conclusion, Jeju should never host an international event again.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word lemurs
frankly, they should've shaved some for the sake of visual interest.
what's a Christmas word?
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word neutered thai
see bie for bilby's thai-related punnery
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word baleful deities
the Daoist temple experience is so different from anything I've seen yet. a dim, brassy, cluttered, incredibly potent space; oodles of gods in every niche staring grotesquely from behind the flames and incense smoke, not caring a whit that it's a full 37 degrees in there, with little room to breathe besides.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word neutered thai
it's awfully hard to get a green curry that'll punch or even pinch you in the face in HK. all the ones we tried were more like coconut soup :(
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fearless tanning
a year in Korea conditioned me so extensively to the sight of fully armoured sun protection that in HK, I was gaping at people--in the summer sun--bare-headed--no sleeves--shirtless--brown! more the wonder, wearing swimwear on the beach
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sweat moustache
AND beard!
summer in Hong Kong is so fearsome that it was refreshing to get into an ocean with 28 degree water! Seoul felt positively brisk afterwards.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word steaming offal-pots
a lot of noodle-houses have all their offal braising together in the front window on a big fat barrel-like object, getting browner and more sizzling as the day goes on. I believe the contiguous method promotes a richer flavour; certainly the best tendon I've ever had was in just such a place.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word lemurs
there were about 5 cages of ringed lemurs variously dispersed through Hong Kong's zoological park. perhaps they were on sale this summer.
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sex - very cheap
thus ran the signs on the tiny stalls, but within, mere implements.
I guess that's correct technically, but I felt cheated.
side note: why were they in front of the temple?
September 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ralph
hee!
August 25, 2009
madmouth commented on the word vagina
the ugliness is really the ugliness of what modern English pronunciation does to the simple sound system of Latin. say it in a Spanish accent--instantly prettier
there's no shame, bilbers; WeirdNet is on your side. your uncle probably had some kind of tube lined with epithelial cells, right?
August 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word ralph
better even than 'fanny' as a common word. there's an obscene pleasure in piling such a meaning onto an innocent name.
"watch out, man! I'm gonna ralph"
August 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word soft-boiled lady huevos
the ones inside a shirt
August 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word schtroumpf
is this French attempting a German accent?
August 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word smoper
I don't know about the Korean-language TV show, but "Smoper"--the restaurant chain--proudly bears a Smurf as its mascot (photo pending).
August 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 心
heart
August 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the list people-commonly-known-by-their-first-names
whoa. is he strictly an American phenomenon, then?
August 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word vagina
on a separate note, why is this word on so many hate lists?
August 24, 2009
madmouth commented on the word issur danielovitch
later Kirk Douglas. Actually, this is more glamorous than "Kirk Douglas"; I'm listing it for the shock of the discrepancy.
August 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word margarita carmen cansino
later Rita Hayworth
August 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word marion robert morrison
later John Wayne
August 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word frances ethel gumm
later Judy Garland
August 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word archibald alec leach
later Cary Grant
August 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word myra ellen amos
later Tori
August 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word betty joan perske
later Lauren Bacall
August 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the list the-gashlycrumb-tines
not to mention that deadly fork
August 21, 2009
madmouth commented on the word my two favourite things are commitment and changing myself
copyright Futurama
August 17, 2009
madmouth commented on the word shoreditch
what's intriguing is whether it could possibly be as dreary as it sounds
August 16, 2009
madmouth commented on the word striped-pants cookie pusher
I love it
August 15, 2009
madmouth commented on the word he'll love your frozen feet
at first I read "he'll love your frozen feast"; quite another image
August 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word chamillion
Chamillionnaire's ever so witty reply to allegations he had been ripping off some other rapper's video concept:
"That's why they call me Chamillionnaire. You know, like chamillion."
August 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the list slam-fodder
happy is the soul grown up never having heard of such a thing is all I can say
August 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word final napoleonic flourish
re: circlet of bay leaves around a platter of pork slices
August 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word colloidal
stacked suffixes of the same grammatical category make madmouth's blood boil
August 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word breadbasket
well, WeirdNet corroborates your ravings, so there goes another lascivious metaphor
August 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word momonga
I bet there's some larger mammal that loves tearing this guys up for lunch, like chimps and bush babies.
August 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word breadbasket
in the breadbasket, eh? this is one for the penis lists
also, gruesome news
August 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word momonga
ACK, I choke on the cute
August 14, 2009
madmouth commented on the word oxyrhynchus
paging X lists
August 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word philoxenia
cf. xenophilia
August 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word panini
the plural form being identical in Italian and Croatian, the singular is bastardized to 'panin' (which entered Croatian vocab--I warrant, due to the proximity of the countries--earlier, hence means what it does in the Italian--'roll').
August 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word toilet buddies
if he did his business right, I think I wouldn't mind my kid going around calling himself PANTSU MAN
August 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word toilet buddies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wtm7RfUv24
Toilet-training with Shimajiro. All you need is a superhero!
August 13, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sawfly
your plum pudding sawfly nice, Marilla
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word baldmot
you're up on this stuff!
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fix sick is turtle river
intended: a turtle liver can heal the sick (after a folk tale)
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sea is in the ball
intended: "The ball fell into the sea"
but this way it's so much fuller with zen nothingness
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word baldmot
open to guesses
hint: an important character in an extremely popular contemporary series of novels
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 임
could be a very deflating experience
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word burnt honey
*kicking self*
hindsight is 20/20
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word kimset
it's really funny because 'set' means 3 in Korean. ho ho HO
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 현
hjɔn, grandpa 한's Bajoran cousin.
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 좌
tɕwa, definitely of the funkier variety, with the common transliteration Jwa (Swahili-esque, one might say)
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 임
im. depending on the font, distressed or bulging with enthusiasm.
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word �?
hoŋ. Sounds and looks rotund and bouncy; moreover, I know a family of rotund, bouncy Hongs.
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 문
mun, often transliterated as Moon, which is interesting as the default Korean accent does not make "moon" sound like 문.
I've been fighting with these little mysteries for a long time.
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 윤
jun, a lascivious angel or tot upright on a toboggan
August 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word backdoor man
I imagine it's used like that in many other Anglophone communities; an obvious metaphor in these times
I'm listening to the Duke these days, and the great Ethel Waters:
"ever since time began
a front-door woman's had a backdoor man"
August 11, 2009
madmouth commented on the word fold severally
I was being creative :P
it is multiply
August 11, 2009
madmouth commented on the word a turning
is it a verb or a noun?
August 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word sino-xenic
Chinese characters incorporated into a non-Chinese language (e.g. Korean, Vietnamese), with new pronunciations and arrangements.
August 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word flushyouhussy
a perfectly sensible phrase that sounds ambiguously obscene all smushed together (in, say, a URL)
August 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 미국
only in the home of the brave! they've got those other robots licked
August 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word �?�몸
poor King Sejong is turning in his grave
August 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word male enhancement
you're turning my crank alright!
August 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word male enhancement
the new umbrella term for all that "Give her MORE with pen1s enlargement!!!" spam
August 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word 미국
Korean. 'mi-guk', lit. "beauty-land", meaning "America".
August 10, 2009
madmouth commented on the word �?�몸
look, ma--no hands!
August 10, 2009
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