polymorph

polymorph commented on the word adelphophagy

This behavior of intrauterine cannibalism in sharks was mentioned on the Sharkland documentary on PBS recently.

May 7, 2007

polymorph commented on the word nuées ardentes

incandescent cloud produced by a volcano.

Apr 29, 2007

polymorph commented on the word nyotaimori

AKA body sushi

Apr 18, 2007

polymorph commented on the word merino

This word always calls to mind a quote from one of my favorite pieces by John Muir:

"Give to Nature every cultured apple--codling, pippin, russet--and every sheep so laboriously compounded--muffled Southdowns, hairy Cotswolds, wrinkled Merinos--and she would throw the one to her caterpillars, the other to her wolves."

Apr 15, 2007

polymorph commented on the word thigh pie

This is best served with a giant pork sword.

Apr 15, 2007

polymorph commented on the word toxoplasmosis

This fascinating disease was recently blamed in the news for turning women into sex kittens and men into alley cats.

The article made light of the feline terms for human behavior because the parasite normally infects mice and cats. It appears to also alter the behavior of infected mice. It is theorized that it triggers the release of dopamine in the mouse's brain when a mouse encounters the odor of a cat. Infected mice then will seek out such locations (which healthy mice avoid), presumably because the parasite wants to be eaten in order to complete it's cycle- the dopamine is a neurochemical carrot that counteracts the mouse's instinctive avoidance of cats.

Apr 15, 2007

polymorph commented on the word strannik

Some additional insight into this Russian word is found in this document:

"In contemporary Russian, strana doesn’t mean “other’s country�?, simply “country�?.... Etymological dictionaries however indicate the shared root of strana and storona (part)... Hence also the strannik, the pilgrim, the one who travels, and that is strange, in the sense that he is literally out of (his normal) place. Something similar happens in Italian too, with the etymology of “strano�? and “straniero�?."

According to the wikipedia entry for Grigori Rasputin, the so-called mad monk was considered a strannik or "religious pilgrim".

ninjawords tries to resolve this as 'strange' which probably is related.

Apr 15, 2007

polymorph commented on the word scissoring

See also tribadism and clam jousting.

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word feminism

Bumper sticker politics:

Feminism is the radical notion
that women are people

P.S. I think I added scissoring last night :)

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word intelligent design

This phrase makes me LoL almost more than moral majority.

"Our neoconservatives are neither new nor conservative, but old as Babylon and evil as Hell."
- Edward Abbey

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word clamjousting

lmfao

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word lapus lazuli

doh!

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word longcat

Longcat is looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word wherefore

Not "where" but "why". See this explanation of what Juliet really meant when she lamented "Wherefore art thou Romeo".

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word mawkishness

This word appears in Pablo Neruda's Toward an Impure Poetry:

"Let no one forget them. Melancholy, old mawkishness impure and unflawed, fruits of a fabulous species lost to the memory, cast away in a frenzy's abandonment---moonlight, the swan in the gathering darkness, all hackneyed endearments: surely that is the poet's concern, essential and absolute."

Google found etymology here:

17c: from obsolete mawk a maggot, from Norse mathkr.

See also mawkish

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word diphallic

The wiki article has some more information, but it seems you're right - it's probably not a pretty or pleasant thing to have given it could also be accompanied by two assholes. The wiki article also mentions related terms diphallia and diphallus (I guess when referring to an instance of the condition?)

The wiki also mentions that this is considered an example of a supernumerary body part.

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word diphallic

I saw a picture of a diphallic man recently and commented that he could provide for many women's double penetration fantasies.

Apr 14, 2007

polymorph commented on the word hurdy-gurdy

I saw Nigel Eaton play a hurdy-gurdy at a Page and Plant show in the 90s. The hurdy-gurdy.com FAQ has more details about those performances and also a note on etymology.

Apr 13, 2007

polymorph commented on the word menocide

The musician Otep uses this word in a song of the same title. The chorus is "kill your masters" but the Latin for Master is 'Magister', so it's most likely a word she made up that would mean literally "men killer" (vs women killer) based on the context.

Apr 12, 2007

polymorph commented on the word ass pirate

A year ago a local movie theater had their signboard words re-arranged. At the time they were showing "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "An Inconvenient Truth", among others.

The vandals had rearranged the letters to spell out the following message:

AN INCONVENIENT ASS PIRATE WEARS A STRAP-ON

I also found that term on the NFL's list of naughty words that cannot be printed on official personalized jerseys.

I don't know what these guys will do if/when they go pro ;)

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the word simianity

Compare with humanity

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the word pisaster giganteus

The Planet Earth series recently featured an amazing time lapse of the Giant sea star hunting on the ocean bottom.

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the word drainbow

Term coined by US wilderness activists to describe members of the Rainbow Family who come to remote wilderness action camps and eat the groups food without making a contribution to the planned action(s).

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the word trustafarian

A (usually white) person who grows dreadlocks and assumes other characteristics of the rasta lifestyle, while still supported by their trust funds in a manner that could probably feed an entire village of real Jamaicans for a year. Often seen on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall getting back into their 4-Runners after panhandling for change.

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the word freegan

Free + Vegan - could be one who will eat vegan food IF it is free, or one who is Vegan but prefers finding free food (I ran across the term amongst some hippies in college and never really got clarification on this point). See also opportunivore, trustafarian and drainbow.

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the word opportunivore

See also freegan (If's it's free I can be Vegan)

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the word orbo

A supposed clean, free-energy source under development by the Irish company Steorn.

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the list words-japanese-people-cannot-pronounce

I can only imagine being asked by my employer if I did my civic duty on "erection day".

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the word stroke

I had a great uncle who, after suffering a stroke, could no longer remember certain words. Notable among them was the word "stroke". He would write it all over on notepads and in the margins of newspapers to help him remember it. Sometimes he would still have to ask his wife "What did I have again?".

I think he also had a problem with the word chicken

Apr 11, 2007

polymorph commented on the word sebkhet

Interesting. This wordie page is #1 in a regular google search for sebkhet, and also indexed in the top results are non-existent pages at both dictionary.com and urbandictionary.com. I wonder if by google indexing the links here they added those two pages that don't exist as well...?

It appears that sebkhet is a place in the Sahara known more fully as Sebkhet Oumm ed Droûs Guebli.

My girlfriend commented when she saw the word on the screen that it sounded Egyptian, and I agreed.

Apr 10, 2007

polymorph commented on the word mycophile

M-W is the only listed dictionary that defines this word, which means literally "Mushroom lover".

Apr 10, 2007

polymorph commented on the word rawr

Like this

Apr 10, 2007

polymorph commented on the word pwn

this says it all

Apr 10, 2007

polymorph commented on the word irc

The LoL goes here

Apr 10, 2007

polymorph commented on the word chatroom

The LoL goes here!

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the user polymorph

Is there a more narcissistic act than leaving a comment for yourself? I suppose if I had a dissociative identity disorder there might be a reasonable need for one personality to leave a message for another, but a sticky note just seems like it would be more practical.

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word failboat

This is a failboat.

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word cilantro

Cilantro was left in the Pharoah's tombs to prevent indigestion in the afterlife.

There's also a humorous discussion about cilantro over at veganporn.com.

People have enough hatred of cilantro that a domain was spawned to fight it: ihatecilantro.com

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word utopia

Well, utopia is literally "nowhere". I think it's interesting that social perfection is forever linguistically impossible (as it likely is in reality, so I think I favor this word).

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word molasses

If you've never heard of the Boston molasses disaster check out this wiki article.

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word metrosexual

My personal favorite definition for metrosexual can be found over at uncyclopedia.org

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word e-penis

See the Urban Dictionary entry, specifically usage #3:

Online "social status" on an internet forum. Usually based on stats such as post count, or amount of time one has been a member.

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word e-penis

With the addition of this word, my e-penis is now exactly 155 words long.

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word diastole

Mentioned with its cousin systole in the Robinson Jeffers' poem The Great Explosion:

And no doubt it will burst again; diastole and systole: the
        whole universe beats like a heart.

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word uncompahgre

Uncompahgre is a corruption of the Ute phrase "hot springs":

unca - hot
pah - water
gre - spring

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word sinapu

Sinapu is the Ute word for wolf and also the name of a colorado-based wolf recovery organization.

Apr 9, 2007

polymorph commented on the word interweb

I like internets better myself

Apr 8, 2007

polymorph commented on the word mitochondrial eve

Our mitochondria have their own DNA and RNA which reproduce on their own. At conception the nuclear DNA of each parent is combined, but the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is exclusively contributed by the mother. This means that researchers can trace back lineage by mtDNA, and that all living humans share a common ancestor known as mitochondrial eve (but see wikipedia for more information about what that really means).

I wonder if there is a communication mechanism the mitochondria have that we aren't aware of (sub-audible? olfactory? chemical? perhaps the "chemistry of love" is combination of physical attraction AND mtDNA compatibilty), which could occasionally account for other things ranging from Jung's collective unconscious to ESP?

It seems that we are human-bacteria hybrids and even if it is not the mitochondria, there may be other biological explanations for paranormal phenomena

For an excellent read see Lewis Thomas Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher

Apr 8, 2007

polymorph commented on the word fulgarite

None of the dictionary links will work for this word. See this article: Lightning Fossils for some interesting and darkly humorous history.

Apr 8, 2007

polymorph commented on the word polymorph perverse

According to Freud, all humans are born polymorph perverse which this site defines as:

infantile interest in obtaining gratification from such activities as viewing, touching, exhibiting

Characterized by or displaying sexual tendencies that have no specific direction, as in an infant or young child, but that may evolve into acts that are regarded as perversions in adults.

Etymologically this phrase literally means "many forms turn through" and gives me a visual image of autofellatio

Apr 8, 2007

polymorph commented on the user polymorph

Is there a more narcissistic act than leaving a comment for yourself? I suppose if I had a dissociative identity disorder there might be a reasonable need for one personality to leave a message for another, but a sticky note just seems like it would be more practical.

Apr 9, 2007