ramsler

ramsler commented on the word attack review

"Attack reviews are hard to police. It is difficult, if not impossible, to detect the difference between an authentic critical review and an author malevolently trying to bring down a colleague, or organized assaults by fans." - New York Times, January 20, 2013, Article: "Swarming a Book Online" by David Streitfeld,

Jan 24, 2013

ramsler commented on the word sock puppet

"The retailer (Amazon), like other sites that depend on customer reviews, has been faced with the problem of so-called sock puppets, those people secretly commissioned by an author to produce favorable notices." - New York Times, Article: "Swarming a Book Online" by David Streitfeld, January 20, 2013.

Jan 24, 2013

ramsler commented on the word wife beater

wife beater is a men's summer undergarment without sleeves covering the torso and held up by two shoulder strips of the one piece light fabric. Name derives from its stereotypical use as the sole upper body garment worn by men in ghetto or low income neighborhoods and movies portraying men as unemployed spouses who would be expected to beat their wives. May be related to movie roles played by Marlon Brando.

Jan 23, 2013

ramsler commented on the word sext

It’s a bit of a head-scratcher for adults, like me and my Facebook friends, who aren’t inclined to sext with one another. We’re more used to uploading photos of pets, food, babies and concerts, which aren’t nearly as provocative. - Brian X. Chen, NYTimes Reporter, 12/24/2012 re: Facebook's new "Poke" app.

Dec 25, 2012

ramsler commented on the word rubedo

From Tiffany 2012 Christmas Catalog, "Now, In addition to sterling silver, and 18 karat gold, Tiffany 1837 (TM) is available in Rubedo (TM) metal, a Tiffany creation with the rose luminiescence of a sunrise." and "Tiffany 1837 (TM) ultra wide cuff in Rubedo (TM) metal inscribed with Charles Lewis Tiffany's signature, $7,500."

Nov 8, 2012

ramsler commented on the user ramsler

"The grant supported the exploration of
challenges in the detailed encoding of names and personographic data using the TEI Guidelines,
with special attention to issues of identification, disambiguation, metaphoric reference, and other
issues arising from a wide-ranging collection of literary texts." - White Paper to the NEH Office of Digital Humanities, Jan. 2010. Women Writers Project, Brown University.

Feb 24, 2011

ramsler commented on the word Lucky Dragon

English translation of name of Japanese fishing boat (Daigo Fukuryū Maru) exposed to radioactive fallout from US nuclear test (Castle Bravo) on Bikini Atoll March 1, 1954. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Dragon

Nov 5, 2010

ramsler commented on the word African Queen

Ship and Movie (1951) starring Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart.

Nov 5, 2010

ramsler commented on the word algorithm

Citation: 'algorithm' used as a verb

“Google’s culture is very much based on the power of the algorithm, and it’s very difficult to algorithm social interaction,” Ms. Li said. [Comments attributed to "Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group, a technology research and advisory firm" in Oct. 17th, 2010 New York Times article, "Determined to Crack the Social Code" by Claire Cain Miller.

Oct 18, 2010

ramsler commented on the word photonography

I suspect the ability to collect electromagnetic
radiation using multiple collection mechanisms will challenge the very name 'photography' soon. Is it a 'photo' when what you're recording is radio-waves, X-rays, gamma rays; and then combining them. Maybe it should be 'photonography' (photon + graphy) - R. Amsler, Humanist Discusion List (www.digitalhumanities.org/humanist), Sept 4, 2010.

Sep 6, 2010

ramsler commented on the word represent

Katy Perry's song, "California Gurls" contains the line, "California Gurls, represent. Put your hands up." While not unheard of, this is an instance of the intransitive 'represent' (Merriam-Webster notes it as 'slang')

Jul 12, 2010

ramsler commented on the word walk score

"walkable community", it's a buzzword, but what it means is the higher your neighborhood's "walk score" --and there's a whole industry that does this--the better you can get around without your car, the more valuable the land is." - Bill Myers on Pat Lawson Muse's WNBC4 TV's "Reporters Notebook", Washington DC, Sunday, May 30, 2010.

May 31, 2010

ramsler commented on the word walk score

"walkable community", it's a buzzword, but what it means is the higher your neighborhood's "walk score" --and there's a whole industry that does this--the better you can get around without your car, the more valuable the land is." - Bill Myers on Pat Lawson Muse's WNBC4 TV's "Reporters Notebook", Washington DC, Sunday, May 30, 2010.

May 31, 2010

ramsler commented on the word it's

"It's made me proud to know and admire her for decades, and even prouder to nominate her to our Nation's highest court." - President Barack Obama on Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court - 11 May 2010 Note: one rarely sees it's used for 'it has'

May 12, 2010

ramsler commented on the list not-that-kind-of-mouse

Careful, no living things are allowed, esp. names for people.

May 3, 2010

ramsler commented on the word CFNM

Clothed Female, Nude Male. Porn genre featuring women with their clothes on (mostly) toying with nude men. Also applied to scenarios involving male strippers for women.

Apr 30, 2010

ramsler commented on the word grow house

grow house is a residential home used to grow marijuana illegally. "Police were called by firefighters when they discovered dozens of marijuana plants inside an unoccupied home that caught fire. The home was being used as a "grow house".

Apr 22, 2010

ramsler commented on the word false friend

a false friend is a word in a foreign language you are attempting to learn which resembles the spelling of a word in a language you know, but means something completely different.

Apr 13, 2010

ramsler commented on the list englsh-placenames-that-are-words

The choice as to what constitutes a 'word' is tricky. For example, should inflected forms be included (e.g., Wells). I elected to exclude plurals, but included -ing forms (e.g., Reading). Cities/Towns that are the names of other Cities/Towns are excluded UNLESS they also have an ordinary language meaning (e.g., Laurel, Troy, etc.). Split words (Black Jack) were allowed, as were conjunctions of two words (Town and Country). 'Jupiter' was allowed, though strictly it's a place. Apparently, astronomical objects are not considered geographical locations (ge- meaning 'earth'). So, technically, a city/town named after a named feature on the moon or another planet would be OK as well.

Apr 11, 2010

ramsler commented on the word vajazzling

Jay Leno Show: March 30th, 2010, Guest: Joy Behar,
...
Leno: Jennifer Love Hewitt, What was she talking about?
Behar: She was talking about vajazzling...
Leno: Do people know what that is?
Behar: It's when... she describes it as when you decorate "The Lady", "The Little Lady" Pointing down
Audience: Cat-calls, whooo's
Leno: The private area.

Apr 1, 2010

ramsler commented on the word body scanner

"9 more U.S. airports to get body scanners. (headline, Washington Post article, March 6, 2010).

Mar 28, 2010

ramsler commented on the word female condom

"Free female condoms are new tool in city's battle against HIV/AIDS" "Officials said they are turning to female condoms to give women more power to protect themselves from HIV and sexually transmitted diseases when their partners refuse to use protection." (Washington Post, March 6, 2010).

Mar 28, 2010

ramsler commented on the word verfremdungseffekt

"For years I've dreamed of using Bertolt Brecht's million-dollar word ``verfremdungseffekt'' in a modest book review, and now I've found the perfect excuse. Anna Lawrence Pietroni puts verfremdungseffekt to extremely good use in her creepy, complex first novel (Ruby's Spoon). This ``distancing effect,'' as it is often translated, is introduced to jolt playgoers back into mundane reality when things onstage get a little too intense." (Carolyn See, Washintgon Post, March 26, 2010)

Mar 28, 2010

ramsler commented on the word bromance

"Learning to cope when the bromance is gone." Title of movie review of the film, "Greenberg". "If the past few years in cinema have celebrated the joys of bromance, it's only fitting that the next logical step would be the male breakup movie. (Washington Post, March 26, 2010).

Mar 28, 2010

ramsler commented on the word pharmacogenomics

It's going to be extremely interesting to see how (genetic testing) changes the landscape for personalized medicine. And particularly when it comes to pharmacogenomics, by which I mean picking the right drug for the right person at the right dose for the right time. -- Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. (Washington Post, March 24, 2010).

Mar 28, 2010

ramsler commented on the word rinderpest

Walter Plowright, 86, the British veterinarian who discovered a vaccine that has almost totally eliminated the cattle disease rinderpest, died Feb. 19 (2010) in London. {Washington Post, March 23, 2010)

Mar 28, 2010

ramsler commented on the word crushing on

Heard on the Red Carpet at the Grammy's Jan 31, 2010.

Hollywood slang? To have a crush on is referred to as "crushing on" someone.

Feb 2, 2010

ramsler commented on the word sweeps

Sweeps are televison jargon for the periodic intervals during a year when viewership of TV channels is exhustively measured to determine how many viewers are watching each station. Networks scehedule programs that they expect will attrach large audiences during these times. Sweeps are used to determine advertising prices, hence have significant impact on network revenues.

Jan 14, 2010

ramsler commented on the word man cave

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_cave

Jan 14, 2010

ramsler commented on the word doorbuster

the "doorbuster" was featured prominently in Holiday shopping ads for Winter 2009. Retailers, in an effort to attract customers, offered bargain prices (perhaps with limited quantities and no rain checks) for some items. These 'deals' have previously been referred to as 'bait and switch' or 'come-ons' but apparently retailers have tried to put a positive spin on the idea and now feel justified in advertising such limited quantity/limited time period sale items as long as they disclose the conditions of the sale item's availability.

Jan 14, 2010

ramsler commented on the word man cave

It is a room in a house of a married man that is entirely designed, decorated and furnished by the man of the house to his tastes and to which he can retreat when he wants to be free of feminine decisions as to how the home should look or what should be in it.

Jan 14, 2010

ramsler commented on the word Gort

From the famous sci-fi movie, "Day the Earth Stood Still".

Dec 8, 2009

ramsler commented on the word Shakey

Shakey was the nickname for SRI International's actual robot built in the 1980s. It was so-named because of the difficulty of taking images with its robotic eye (camera) due to shaking when it moved or came to a stop.

Dec 8, 2009

ramsler commented on the word choo choo train

Child talk name for a steam locomotive based on the sound it makes.

Nov 19, 2009

ramsler commented on the word brain freeze

Sensation experienced in upper head after ingesting a sufficiently large quantity of very cold food, esp. ice cream, or chilled beverage.

Nov 19, 2009

ramsler commented on the word partage

"Dr. Cuno advocates the revival of partage, the traditional system in which archeologists digging in foreign countries would give some of their discoveries to the host country and take others home." - New York Times, 11/16/2009

Nov 18, 2009

ramsler commented on the word conciliation conference

"Under the rules adopted by Philadelphia’s primary civil court, no owner-occupied house may be foreclosed on and sold by the sheriff’s office before a “conciliation conference,” a face-to-face meeting between the homeowner and the lender aimed at striking a workable compromise." - New York Times, 11/18/2009

Nov 18, 2009

ramsler commented on the word thud factor

"... things stick around, have a prominent "thud factor" (the sound that the book makes when hitting the dean's desk)" - Humanist mailing list, 11/18/2009

Nov 18, 2009

ramsler commented on the word phone book

"Many people who want to read electronic books are discovering that they can do so on the smartphones that are already in their pockets — bringing a whole new meaning to “phone book.” - New York Times, 11/19/2009

Nov 18, 2009

ramsler commented on the word grandma size

"For long reading sessions, she said, the iPhone is “a small screen, and my eyes would start to hurt, even though I crank the text up to grandma or great-grandma size.” - New York Times, 11/18/2009

Nov 18, 2009

ramsler commented on the word econophysics

"Mr. Farmer, a professor at the interdisciplinary Sante Fe Institute, is doing research on models of markets, institutions and their complex interactions, applying a hybrid discipline called econophysics." NYTimes 9/12/09 in "Wall Street's Math Wizards Forgot a few Variables"

Sep 14, 2009

ramsler commented on the word adrenalized

adjective from noun adrenaline, expressing a state of excited activity as though being influenced by a rush of adrenaline. syn: excited. Quote: Shakira at the MTV VMA's on the red carpet 9/13/09 when asked how she feels about her new album and performing for her fans, "I'm adrenalized!" Etymology Note: Merriam-Webster's 11th edition (W11) gives it a 1973 origin year.

Sep 13, 2009

ramsler commented on the word Dutch disease

The "Dutch disease" is a reference to an economic problem caused by the exploitation of rich natural resources not leading to national prosperity, as happened to the Dutch when off-shore drilling didn't result in national wealth, but was exploited to make the developers rich.

Aug 18, 2009

ramsler commented on the word jamai vu

The opposite of deja vu. A medical condition associated with seizures in which a person momentarily experiences a complete loss of memory for how to perform some task with which they are very familiar, i.e., feels as though they are experiencing the task's performance for the very first time.

Aug 9, 2009

ramsler commented on the word horrorscope

a dire future as predicted by a fortune teller or daily horoscope. Possibly a misspelling of horoscope originally.

Aug 4, 2009

ramsler commented on the word kleenix professor

kleenix professor - disparaging term for an academic appointment by a university that doesn't intend to retain or offer advancement to a faculty member. Akin to the use of a kleenix, in which you blow your nose in it and throw it away afterwards.

Aug 4, 2009

ramsler commented on the word psychadelic

a misspelling or alternate spelling of psychedelic (1960s pop culture term). Twitter cites suggest its use as a descriptive of a style of rock music.

Aug 4, 2009

ramsler commented on the word temporary insanity

a moment when one's actions are out of character and represent a break with norms of behavior for that person. Used as a defense for violent acts (temporary insanity plea) of criminal nature committed by otherwise law-abiding people and for which they may not be fully consciously aware or able to control their actions, thus justifying their treatment for a medical consition or acquittal instead of being held responsible for their actions.

Aug 4, 2009

ramsler commented on the word hairpin turn

haitpin turn is a section of a roadway whose path resembles that of a hairpin, doubling back on itself. Hairpin turns are commonly associated with mountain roads in which the highway has to double back on itself in order to have sufficient space to continue ascending/descending the sheer slope of the mountainside. Needless to say, hairpin turns are very dangerous and if unexpectedly encountered at high speed a likely place for an accident.

Aug 4, 2009

ramsler commented on the word bump key

a bump key is a key for a tiumbler lock with its ridges filed in such a way that when inserted in any tumbler lock and hit or "bumped" it will unlock that lock. As such is is a burglary tool used to open locks for which a person does not have an actual key.

Aug 4, 2009

ramsler commented on the user ramsler

"The grant supported the exploration of
challenges in the detailed encoding of names and personographic data using the TEI Guidelines,
with special attention to issues of identification, disambiguation, metaphoric reference, and other
issues arising from a wide-ranging collection of literary texts." - White Paper to the NEH Office of Digital Humanities, Jan. 2010. Women Writers Project, Brown University.

Feb 24, 2011