Valued by men for the scrotum-tightening property first revealed to the world by the author of Ulysses, who, incidentally described the colour of the sea as "snot-green". The Cornish artist Alfred Wallace was similarly irreverent. Visited one day in his house in St Ives by, I think, Ben Nicholson, Wallace said he was painting the sea. How? asked a puzzled Nicholson. Wallace simply pointed to the glass of sea water alongside his easel.
I love the sound of T - and I love the way in which it acts as a rich signifier: (AFTERNOON) TEA, (BUILDERS') TEA), (CHINA, INDIAN) TEA, (GOLF) TEE, TI AS OPPOSED TO VI (in Serbian, with corresponding differentiation in other Slavonic languages), criterion of suitability and other examples that I will allow you to discover for yourselves. Clashes between homophones can be seen in this light.
Something to be circumvented: a sticky situation or problem from which it is almost impossible to escape, which proves that it is entirely possible to end a definition of tar baby without using a preposition.
Richard Strauss wrote an opera about a female Ascian, unsurprsingly called "Die Frau ohne Schatten." An ascian artefact whose purpose is vitiated twice a year by its being on the equator is the gnomon of a sundial.
It's good to have an excuse to allow a few cricket terms an innings. A googly bowled (not thrown, please) by a left-handed bowler is known as a Chinaman while, geographically speaking, a ball pitched by the bowler so accurately that the batsman cannot easily move backwards or forwards to take it in the middle of the bat, instead hitting it with the bottom, is a Yorker; such a ball usually lands on the point along the crease where the bottom of the bat rests when the batsman takes guard, known as the block hole. It is entirely possible, since Brighton (the setting of Greene's Brighton Rock) has a cricket field where Sussex play, that Graham Greene was inspired to entitle his novel, The Third Man, by the fielding position of that name. Lately, with the wearing by some fielders of helmets with visors, the fielder in the position of silly mid-on has moved so close to the batsman that the position could more accurately be renamed suicidal mid-on. Hit for six, which relates to a stroke by which the batsman hits the ball clean over the boundary, scoring six runs, is a common expression derived from the game. Forward and backward (of the crease) are used to nuance the description of the fielding position point and do not imply an evaluation of the player's intelligence. Finally, the popping crease is a line which the rear foot of the bowler must not cross before he releases the ball. It does not go pop like the legendary pea pod, nor for that matter like the weasel. However, violation of the rule about not crossing the popping crease with his trailing foot will immediately provoke the umpire to announce the bowler's misdemeanour by the call: No ball!
I would like to quote two recent uses of humble/humbled. Appearing before a House of Commons committee lately, Rupert Murdoch said that this was the most humble day of his life. On April 10th, 2013, Sir Mark Thatcher said that his mother would have felt humbled by the Queen's attending her funeral, which was due to take place a few days later.
The Latin surdus gave rise to sordino in Italian and sourdine in French, both meaning mute, the device that modifies the sound produced by musical instruments, especially in jazz.
Bungaloider (not to my knowledge ever previously used) could be a convenient word for the builder of bungaloid homes, and perhaps also for a frequenter of wild girl-thronged parties, such as Italy's most famous cruise crooner/prime minister.
Woodwind instruments divide into four categories: those with a single reed (clarinets, saxophones), those with a double reed (oboes and bassoons), recorders and transverse flutes. Control of the double reed is highly demanding of the player's embouchure, and draws upon the contribution of the lips, teeth and jaw. Problems with the jaw are not unusual with oboe players.
Short passage or entrance found in Cornish towns, e.g., Penzance; to be distinguished from ope or 'ope, a deaspirated expression of expectation, and from ope, a clipped version of open.
He/she knows his/her tables - said of a child who can instantly and reliably give the answer to, usually, simple multiplication processes, eg, 9 x 6 = 54, or 7 x 8 = 56. The multiplication table needs to be learned by rote, usually by the aid of chanting.
I give another quotation from "Disturbed Ireland - Being the Letters Written During the Winter of 1880-81," in particular for the atmosphere generated by the words of Bernard Becker:
"From the papers the figure turned to a heap as of bank-notes, and there was in the air the chink of money. For the name of this grisly and terribly real spectre is _gombeen_; which, in the Irish tongue, signifies usury.
Seems equally applicable to a car that is so old that, despite the advantage of running on a smoothly surfaced pavement (not the case for early cyclists), it suffers so much from mechanical deterioration that it provides for its passengers the discomforts experienced by those pioneers.
Scrambled egg - British slang for the gold decoration (resembling oak leaves) on the peaks of the caps of senior naval officers. Corresponding police, army and air force ranks have similar decoration in other colours.
Andrew Marvell's ingenious use of the word needs to be seen in its context fully to be appreciated: "Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound/My echoing song; then worms shall try/That long preserv'd virginity/And your quaint honour turn to dust/And into ashes all my lust/The grave's a fine and private place/But none I think do there embrace".
Longfellow alluded to the brough in The Wreck of the Hesperus: Last night the moon had a golden ring and tonight no moon we see. That line constitutes the whole raison d'être of the poem.
The original word, from the Moravian region of the Czech Republic, is written lomčovák. Under the influence of the labial m the initial t sound of č (which has the sound tsh) mutates to p; although the word gets reproduced in English without diacritics, and with e replacing o, as lomcevak, slight alterations of the vowels lead to the pronunciation lumpshavak, as suggested by oroboros.
Choragus and Coryphæus, according to OED, are two posts in the Department of Music at Oxford carrying "modest stipends". They appear to be sinecures. Choregus is an alternative; the spelling varies according to the Greek dialect from which the word is transcribed.
What ho! a generalized, but often approbative or jocular, exclamation, the meaning of which depends on the context. The two tweets already posted shed no light, HO might mean house officer.
In reply to ruzuzu: I think some folks have a tendency to duplicate a preposition for verbal padding: I took it off of the shelf; she took the washing in off of the line (an extreme example, but not impossible, which just means "she took in the washing").
In reply to pterodactyl: "When" shall I pick you up is less specific than "(at) what time"; the answer "this afternoon" is more general than "at 3 pm" Therefore the wording of the question is determined by how specific I wish the answer to be.
Fumeral is an architectural term for a smoke outlet from, usually, the roof of a building. The information about etymology on this page seems to refer to funeral. The fumeral on the Vatican emits either white or black smoke, according to the intended message about the choice of a new Pope.
The comment about congrument reminded me of an architect who attended a funeral service at a crematorium he himself had not designed and remarked, as the smoke from the furnace rose into the sky, and to the mystification of bystanders, "I wish that had been my fumeral".
michaelt42 commented on the word malebolgian
Sounds a bit different to the Rift Valley.
May 21, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word thalassotherapy
Valued by men for the scrotum-tightening property first revealed to the world by the author of Ulysses, who, incidentally described the colour of the sea as "snot-green". The Cornish artist Alfred Wallace was similarly irreverent. Visited one day in his house in St Ives by, I think, Ben Nicholson, Wallace said he was painting the sea. How? asked a puzzled Nicholson. Wallace simply pointed to the glass of sea water alongside his easel.
May 14, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word bombilate
"The entire building was bombilating like a cicada."
Matt Cantor; Some Cures for Noisy Neighbors; The Berkeley Daily Planet (California); Oct 9, 2008.
Actually, cicadas stridulate.
May 12, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word signifier
I love the sound of T - and I love the way in which it acts as a rich signifier: (AFTERNOON) TEA, (BUILDERS') TEA), (CHINA, INDIAN) TEA, (GOLF) TEE, TI AS OPPOSED TO VI (in Serbian, with corresponding differentiation in other Slavonic languages), criterion of suitability and other examples that I will allow you to discover for yourselves. Clashes between homophones can be seen in this light.
May 8, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word tar baby
Something to be circumvented: a sticky situation or problem from which it is almost impossible to escape, which proves that it is entirely possible to end a definition of tar baby without using a preposition.
May 8, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word ascian
Richard Strauss wrote an opera about a female Ascian, unsurprsingly called "Die Frau ohne Schatten." An ascian artefact whose purpose is vitiated twice a year by its being on the equator is the gnomon of a sundial.
May 7, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word cutting-tool
I wonder in which section of the workshop you might find one?
May 1, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word googly
It's good to have an excuse to allow a few cricket terms an innings. A googly bowled (not thrown, please) by a left-handed bowler is known as a Chinaman while, geographically speaking, a ball pitched by the bowler so accurately that the batsman cannot easily move backwards or forwards to take it in the middle of the bat, instead hitting it with the bottom, is a Yorker; such a ball usually lands on the point along the crease where the bottom of the bat rests when the batsman takes guard, known as the block hole. It is entirely possible, since Brighton (the setting of Greene's Brighton Rock) has a cricket field where Sussex play, that Graham Greene was inspired to entitle his novel, The Third Man, by the fielding position of that name. Lately, with the wearing by some fielders of helmets with visors, the fielder in the position of silly mid-on has moved so close to the batsman that the position could more accurately be renamed suicidal mid-on. Hit for six, which relates to a stroke by which the batsman hits the ball clean over the boundary, scoring six runs, is a common expression derived from the game. Forward and backward (of the crease) are used to nuance the description of the fielding position point and do not imply an evaluation of the player's intelligence. Finally, the popping crease is a line which the rear foot of the bowler must not cross before he releases the ball. It does not go pop like the legendary pea pod, nor for that matter like the weasel. However, violation of the rule about not crossing the popping crease with his trailing foot will immediately provoke the umpire to announce the bowler's misdemeanour by the call: No ball!
May 1, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word humble
I would like to quote two recent uses of humble/humbled. Appearing before a House of Commons committee lately, Rupert Murdoch said that this was the most humble day of his life. On April 10th, 2013, Sir Mark Thatcher said that his mother would have felt humbled by the Queen's attending her funeral, which was due to take place a few days later.
Apr 10, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word surd
The number expressing the golden section is a surd, as commented on by jaime_d.
Mar 14, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word surd
The Latin surdus gave rise to sordino in Italian and sourdine in French, both meaning mute, the device that modifies the sound produced by musical instruments, especially in jazz.
Mar 14, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word balmaiden
Better to say "employed in the metal mining industries " of Cornwall; balmaidens did not work underground.
Mar 5, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word uaoie
Bungaloider (not to my knowledge ever previously used) could be a convenient word for the builder of bungaloid homes, and perhaps also for a frequenter of wild girl-thronged parties, such as Italy's most famous cruise crooner/prime minister.
Feb 27, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word droog
The Russian word phonetically transcribed as droog is written thus in Cyrillic characters: друг. This is an amendment of billifer's comment.
Feb 25, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the user evabernice
Customers will be able to see all the Tyres. Therefore not only spam, but comprehensive spam.
Feb 15, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word embouchure
Woodwind instruments divide into four categories: those with a single reed (clarinets, saxophones), those with a double reed (oboes and bassoons), recorders and transverse flutes. Control of the double reed is highly demanding of the player's embouchure, and draws upon the contribution of the lips, teeth and jaw. Problems with the jaw are not unusual with oboe players.
Feb 15, 2013
michaelt42 commented on the word graminivorous
Not to be confused with granivorous, which means feeding on seeds.
Aug 3, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word granivorous
Ecology © 1991 Ecological Society of America
Abstract:
In order to quantify the response of birds to experimental manipulations of seed availability and densities of granivorous rodents and ants, we counted granivorous birds and measured diurnal and nocturnal seed removal on 24 plots during winter months in the Chihuahuan Desert. Removal of single, widely spaced millet seeds provided a reliable measure of bird and rodent foraging activity. Avian foraging activity increased in response to supplemental seeds, but decreased in response to long-term removal of all rodents and all ants. Although birds potentially compete for seeds with rodents and ants, these results suggest that, in the long term, indirect facilitation dominates the interactions among all three taxa. The positive effect of the other granivores on birds may be mediated through changes in habitat structure (e.g., reduction in the density of annual plants). The increase of avian foraging in response to seed addition and the high spatial and temporal variance in the patterns of seed removal by birds indicate that in desert habitats granivorous birds use their mobility to find and exploit high concentrations of seeds. Thus, birds may reduce the spatial variation in seed abundance and reduce the densities of seed available to other granivores. The foraging behavior of birds and rodents revealed by these experiments clarifies the response of granivores to experimental manipulations reported earlier, such as the lack of biomass compensation by rodents in response to seed addition.
Aug 3, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word demirep
Demimondaine a tad less hot..
Jul 18, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word demimondaine
Similar in meaning to demirep , but sexually more adventurous, perhaps.
Jul 18, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word shitstorm
The German Scheissensturm exists but just doesn't get used. Warum?
Jun 9, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word gozunder
Like GHibbs I too need a goznutunder.
Jun 5, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word cockernonie
In other words, a hair extension or implant, fortunately not toxic.
Jun 5, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word grexit
The Telegraph, a UK newspaper, has been writing about a possible Greek exit from the euro, which it calls a Grexit.
Jun 3, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word scatty
Nice if you would share the context of scatty with us, ShanShen!
Jun 3, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word curious
"All things counter, original, spare, strange" (Gerard Manley Hopkins: Pied Beauty) presents us with four perfectly selected synonyms of curious.
Jun 3, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word curious
I recall a line from Walt Whitman's poem "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" (1859), set to music by Frederick Delius in "Sea Drift" --
... And every day I, a curious boy, never too close, never disturbing them, Cautiously peering, absorbing, translating.
(them - a pair of nesting sea birds)
Jun 3, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word ope
Examples citing P ope Benedict are exemplary.
Jun 2, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word ope
Short passage or entrance found in Cornish towns, e.g., Penzance; to be distinguished from ope or 'ope, a deaspirated expression of expectation, and from ope, a clipped version of open.
Jun 2, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word table
He/she knows his/her tables - said of a child who can instantly and reliably give the answer to, usually, simple multiplication processes, eg, 9 x 6 = 54, or 7 x 8 = 56. The multiplication table needs to be learned by rote, usually by the aid of chanting.
May 21, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word gombeen
I give another quotation from "Disturbed Ireland - Being the Letters Written During the Winter of 1880-81," in particular for the atmosphere generated by the words of Bernard Becker:
"From the papers the figure turned to a heap as of bank-notes, and there was in the air the chink of money. For the name of this grisly and terribly real spectre is _gombeen_; which, in the Irish tongue, signifies usury.
May 21, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word bone-shaker
Seems equally applicable to a car that is so old that, despite the advantage of running on a smoothly surfaced pavement (not the case for early cyclists), it suffers so much from mechanical deterioration that it provides for its passengers the discomforts experienced by those pioneers.
May 9, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word scrambled
Scrambled egg - British slang for the gold decoration (resembling oak leaves) on the peaks of the caps of senior naval officers. Corresponding police, army and air force ranks have similar decoration in other colours.
May 4, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the user 1125801144
Re 'stripe' : I could well have written that Anchorage were thrashed.
Apr 27, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word quaint
Andrew Marvell's ingenious use of the word needs to be seen in its context fully to be appreciated: "Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound/My echoing song; then worms shall try/That long preserv'd virginity/And your quaint honour turn to dust/And into ashes all my lust/The grave's a fine and private place/But none I think do there embrace".
Apr 16, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word radiate
In broadcasting radio or television programmes are radiated.
Apr 16, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word brough
I suppose that one use of brough is to reduce the character count of a tweet.
Apr 16, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word brough
Longfellow alluded to the brough in The Wreck of the Hesperus: Last night the moon had a golden ring and tonight no moon we see. That line constitutes the whole raison d'être of the poem.
Apr 16, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word trivaginate
Female kangaroos are endowed with three vaginae, ie, they are trivaginate, and they also possess an additional uterus.
Apr 16, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word kangaroo
Female kangaroos are trivaginate and possess two uteri.
Apr 16, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word funeral
ruzuzu, thanks very much.
Apr 15, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word lomcevak
The original word, from the Moravian region of the Czech Republic, is written lomčovák. Under the influence of the labial m the initial t sound of č (which has the sound tsh) mutates to p; although the word gets reproduced in English without diacritics, and with e replacing o, as lomcevak, slight alterations of the vowels lead to the pronunciation lumpshavak, as suggested by oroboros.
Apr 15, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word choragus
Choragus and Coryphæus, according to OED, are two posts in the Department of Music at Oxford carrying "modest stipends". They appear to be sinecures. Choregus is an alternative; the spelling varies according to the Greek dialect from which the word is transcribed.
Apr 15, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word what ho
What ho! a generalized, but often approbative or jocular, exclamation, the meaning of which depends on the context. The two tweets already posted shed no light, HO might mean house officer.
Apr 15, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word whart ho
Probably an error for what ho.
Apr 15, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word what time
In reply to ruzuzu: I think some folks have a tendency to duplicate a preposition for verbal padding: I took it off of the shelf; she took the washing in off of the line (an extreme example, but not impossible, which just means "she took in the washing").
Apr 15, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word what time
In reply to pterodactyl: "When" shall I pick you up is less specific than "(at) what time"; the answer "this afternoon" is more general than "at 3 pm" Therefore the wording of the question is determined by how specific I wish the answer to be.
Apr 15, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word fumeral
Fumeral is an architectural term for a smoke outlet from, usually, the roof of a building. The information about etymology on this page seems to refer to funeral. The fumeral on the Vatican emits either white or black smoke, according to the intended message about the choice of a new Pope.
Apr 15, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word funeral
The comment about congrument reminded me of an architect who attended a funeral service at a crematorium he himself had not designed and remarked, as the smoke from the furnace rose into the sky, and to the mystification of bystanders, "I wish that had been my fumeral".
Apr 15, 2012
michaelt42 commented on the word ccvcccvcc
ccvcccvcc could be interpreted as the number sequence 205300195.
Apr 15, 2012