There is a video game coming out sometime this year (2008) that will enable parkour moves in a first person perspective. Called "Mirrors Edge", it looks to be very cool.
I have a large collection of computer games that I play regularly, (the PC variety not the shiny expensive console variety) but there has always been a certain aspect of "gaming" that has bothered me.
Dictionary.com describes a game as 1."An amusement or pastime". or 2. "A competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators".
In computer games it is an accepted practice that when you get "stuck" you can cheat your way out of your situation if you know the proper arcane commands. Game developers build cheat codes into the game to give it's players the ability to "play God", for example, and take no damage, such as from a hail of bullets that would otherwise call up the "you have died" screen.
If I define a PC game as in the second definition above (because they do have rules and involve skill) and take away the elements of skill and chance by cheating, am I still playing a "game"? What do you call a game that is not a game?
This is the word I love to hate. It has gone from meaning a female dog to a vulgar reference to a angry woman to a mainstream reference for an upwardly-moble woman. Lately I heard it used as a non-gender reference for someone who does general tasks ("He is the office bitch.") Altho I personally wouldn't use it, "Bitch" is a truly amazing example of the organic ability of language to change in context over time.
This words only purpose is to give orange a word to rhyme with.
Use it as a placeholder word in a poem! It can mean anything you like.
It can even have multiple meanings, which makes limericks a snap.
Laudanum is opium and was once used as a pain reliever before people realized it was addictive. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was taking this when he went into a reverie and wrote "Kubla Kahn", one of the great poems of the late 17th century.
I am a long-time bike nut. Recumbent bikes put your feet in a forward position as you lie semi-prone on it. Uses some different muccles than an upright bike. They are best for flat roads and fast downhills, but climb like dogs.
Ahhh Superheros! Few genres are better suited to studying archetypes. Take Bruce Wayne... This guy has issues up the wazoo. He fights crime, but only as a panacea to escape the pain of his parent's death. The best deconstruction of the superhero mythos I've read (aside from "Watchmen") is Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns". This graphic novel has Bruce going head to head with his old nemesis Clark Kent; still regarded as the classic hero despite attempts to "flaw" his character in recent years.
All archetypes have their roots in antiquity, but for the *most part* the anti-hero is a product of post-modernism. The anti-hero struggles with personal demons, wanting to do right but cannot rise above his faults. Holden Caulfield, Travis Bickle, Batman, Han Solo and many Clint Eastwood characters are modern anti-heros.
Happy 30th birthday STAR WARS! I left the theatre feeling that my fundamental outlook towards movies had changed... Gone was the squeaky-clean future of Star Trek. SW opened my mind to new and exciting vistas of the imagination!
How has the paradigm shifted for you?
I’m not sure I would call feminist semiotics “frightening revisionism�?. It is one of many well-established theories on language as a cultural phenomenon. I highly suggest a great book that explains semiotics in an easy to read format. It was written by one of my former profs. “The Signs of Our Time�?, by Jack Solomon (Harper and Row). It was written in the 80’s and his examples seem a bit dated now, but the principles are easily applied to modern situations. Have a great Memorial weekend!
The only feminists that want superiority over men are the Amazon archetypes you see in books, movies and TV. (I hate to bad-mouth comic books, but...)
Semioticans are scientists who follow established standards within the scientific community. Some of them are involved with research from a feminist perspective. They are scientists, that's all.
I am making observations and drawing conclusions on the use of language as it pertains to cultural, social and political influence. What's the point of "shunning" one language mode over another?
Sounds like you had a bad experience with a feminist... or perhaps your religious upbringing colors your perspective? In any case, I enjoy discussing language with you!
Uselessness... your use of "radical" to preface the word "feminist" has got my attention. Many acute language scholars (for example)would identify themselves as feminist but not "radical". They don't even have to be female (I'm not).
There are plenty of examples in the lexicon to indicate that language is biased towards the male. If that observation makes me sexist, so be it, but isn't that redundant?
A fundamental change in approach or assumptions. Acceptance by a majority of a changed belief, attitude, or way of doing things.
Ok so it's 2 words... but this is one of those examples that bring to mind the old song... "but this is tell 'ya brother, you can't have one without the other".
Uselessness, I appreciate your comments. As far as judging patriarchal language use as good or bad, I am an impartial student of language. I feel it’s umm… useless to make value judgments on language conventions that were being established before we went bipedal. Sorry if I gave you that impression!
I am leaning toward the belief that no language is truly gender-neutral. An infant learns the “language�? of the mother first and then the dominant father’s language.
According to what I have been reading and studying on this subject, semioticans posit that a “mother tongue�? would consist non-symbolic and a-logical soothing sounds and touches such as hums, croons, and caresses. A “mother word�? might consist of a combination of sounds and touches. Patriarchal language classifies and concerns itself with order and recording events. Matriarchal language is based on feeling and does not classify or record. These non-words are passed on to the nursing infant but are lost as the child grows and absorbs the dominant patriarchal language.
Of course, attempts to gloss such a female-centric language is problematic; you can’t classify a language that wasn’t meant to be ordered. Doing so would bring it under control of the patriarchal language. This is similar to American Sign Language, a purely visual language, which looses it’s meaning when you try to gloss it, (record it by writing it down).
You say you wonder if such a language would be practical. Regardless of whether a mother tongue is a true language or not, it is absolutely essential to the cognitive (including language) development of the infant. Research shows that babies deprived of this important sensory input suffer severe delays in developing cognitive growth (ex.Deaf children of hearing parents). In other words, without the mother tongue hard-wiring our brains at infancy, there ain’t no language. And we all wouldn’t be wasting time trying to impress each other by creating new words here on wordie.
samoritan commented on the word Stonk
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sto3.htm
Apr 29, 2010
samoritan commented on the word frak
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/02/tv.what.the.frak.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Sep 2, 2008
samoritan commented on the word fab
...also shorthand for "fabricate"
Apr 23, 2008
samoritan commented on the word dudgeons and dragons
There's always a spell available to keep your sword in one piece if you have a good wizard in your party.
Apr 18, 2008
samoritan commented on the word squidney poitier
Guess what's coming to dinner?
Mar 16, 2008
samoritan commented on the word squidney poitier
Guess who's coming to dinner?
Mar 16, 2008
samoritan commented on the word krakenstein
A kraken is a giant squid.
Mar 16, 2008
samoritan commented on the word squidware
Squindows, for example...
Mar 15, 2008
samoritan commented on the word squid quid
I was in a social club (?) in high school called the Squid Squad. This was our official currency.
Mar 14, 2008
samoritan commented on the word game
There is also "Ender's Game", a much-lauded science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card.
Mar 6, 2008
samoritan commented on the word parkour
There is a video game coming out sometime this year (2008) that will enable parkour moves in a first person perspective. Called "Mirrors Edge", it looks to be very cool.
Mar 4, 2008
samoritan commented on the list public-list-a-horse-is-a-horse
Asprasil was a racehorse in a Wonderful World of Disney special I recall.
Feb 1, 2008
samoritan commented on the word game
I have a large collection of computer games that I play regularly, (the PC variety not the shiny expensive console variety) but there has always been a certain aspect of "gaming" that has bothered me.
Dictionary.com describes a game as 1."An amusement or pastime". or 2. "A competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators".
In computer games it is an accepted practice that when you get "stuck" you can cheat your way out of your situation if you know the proper arcane commands. Game developers build cheat codes into the game to give it's players the ability to "play God", for example, and take no damage, such as from a hail of bullets that would otherwise call up the "you have died" screen.
If I define a PC game as in the second definition above (because they do have rules and involve skill) and take away the elements of skill and chance by cheating, am I still playing a "game"? What do you call a game that is not a game?
Jan 5, 2008
samoritan commented on the word merry christmas
Season's Greetings to all!
Dec 23, 2007
samoritan commented on the word bends
Bend it like Beckham...
Dec 20, 2007
samoritan commented on the word bitch
This is the word I love to hate. It has gone from meaning a female dog to a vulgar reference to a angry woman to a mainstream reference for an upwardly-moble woman. Lately I heard it used as a non-gender reference for someone who does general tasks ("He is the office bitch.") Altho I personally wouldn't use it, "Bitch" is a truly amazing example of the organic ability of language to change in context over time.
Dec 18, 2007
samoritan commented on the list words-that-remind-me-of-monty-python
You need Killer Bunny ("look at the bones, mate!")
Dec 17, 2007
samoritan commented on the word pit pony
My mind can't imagine anything sadder than a pit pony. Wikipedia has some info on them, evidently they were well taken care of.
Now I find myself thinking of pit bulls...
Dec 15, 2007
samoritan commented on the word fester
Fester Bestertester! I remember him! (said Uncle Fester)
Dec 14, 2007
samoritan commented on the word duress
Why thank you!
Dec 14, 2007
samoritan commented on the word duress
The word "duress"
Seems to suggest
"Ur dress".
And "under duress",
"Under ur dress";
More or less.
Dec 6, 2007
samoritan commented on the word unobtanium
Yes.. and don't forget swankonite!
Jun 12, 2007
samoritan commented on the word skorange
This words only purpose is to give orange a word to rhyme with.
Use it as a placeholder word in a poem! It can mean anything you like.
It can even have multiple meanings, which makes limericks a snap.
Jun 12, 2007
samoritan commented on the word laudanum
...Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona
For some California grass.
Get back, get back.
Get back to where you once belonged...
Jun 12, 2007
samoritan commented on the word farce
Not for her!
Jun 11, 2007
samoritan commented on the word unobtanium
Bicyclists use this term to describe material used in a bike frame or component that is way light and too expensive.
Jun 11, 2007
samoritan commented on the word laudanum
Laudanum is opium and was once used as a pain reliever before people realized it was addictive. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was taking this when he went into a reverie and wrote "Kubla Kahn", one of the great poems of the late 17th century.
Jun 11, 2007
samoritan commented on the word farce
The farce thickens... She's back in jail and quoted as saying, "I feel like I'm in a cage!"
Jun 11, 2007
samoritan commented on the word farce
Paris Hilton is out of jail! Justice for pretty people!
Jun 7, 2007
samoritan commented on the word paradigm shift
40 years ago "Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" re-invented the rock album- or so we are being told in the news lately.
Jun 5, 2007
samoritan commented on the word recumbent
I am a long-time bike nut. Recumbent bikes put your feet in a forward position as you lie semi-prone on it. Uses some different muccles than an upright bike. They are best for flat roads and fast downhills, but climb like dogs.
Jun 1, 2007
samoritan commented on the word clusterfuck
I've seen this word used as a synonym for the war in Iraq.
Jun 1, 2007
samoritan commented on the word concupisent
adjective vigorously passionate syn: lustful
May 31, 2007
samoritan commented on the word archetype
Ahhh Superheros! Few genres are better suited to studying archetypes. Take Bruce Wayne... This guy has issues up the wazoo. He fights crime, but only as a panacea to escape the pain of his parent's death. The best deconstruction of the superhero mythos I've read (aside from "Watchmen") is Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns". This graphic novel has Bruce going head to head with his old nemesis Clark Kent; still regarded as the classic hero despite attempts to "flaw" his character in recent years.
May 31, 2007
samoritan commented on the list tess-of-the-d-urbervilles
Thomas Hardy had such a wonderful way with language! Thanks for this list!
May 31, 2007
samoritan commented on the list the-awakening
An excellent novel, and one that captured the feelings of many woman at the time. Revolutionary to the point of being banned!
May 31, 2007
samoritan commented on the word archetype
All archetypes have their roots in antiquity, but for the *most part* the anti-hero is a product of post-modernism. The anti-hero struggles with personal demons, wanting to do right but cannot rise above his faults. Holden Caulfield, Travis Bickle, Batman, Han Solo and many Clint Eastwood characters are modern anti-heros.
May 31, 2007
samoritan commented on the list the-feminist-outcry
I have seen most of these words in general usage for a long time. A very good thing!
May 29, 2007
samoritan commented on the word catassing
Online games are a bane for some people...
May 29, 2007
samoritan commented on the word archetype
The anti-hero is an interesting modern day archetype.
May 29, 2007
samoritan commented on the word paradigm shift
Happy 30th birthday STAR WARS! I left the theatre feeling that my fundamental outlook towards movies had changed... Gone was the squeaky-clean future of Star Trek. SW opened my mind to new and exciting vistas of the imagination!
How has the paradigm shifted for you?
May 29, 2007
samoritan commented on the word falwellian
Pertaining to a dystopian society in which all thought and expression are controlled by a fundamentalist Christian sect.
May 29, 2007
samoritan commented on the word falwellian
Pertaining to a dystopian society in which all thought and expression are controlled by a fundamentalist Christian sect.
May 29, 2007
samoritan commented on the word guys
I’m not sure I would call feminist semiotics “frightening revisionism�?. It is one of many well-established theories on language as a cultural phenomenon. I highly suggest a great book that explains semiotics in an easy to read format. It was written by one of my former profs. “The Signs of Our Time�?, by Jack Solomon (Harper and Row). It was written in the 80’s and his examples seem a bit dated now, but the principles are easily applied to modern situations. Have a great Memorial weekend!
May 24, 2007
samoritan commented on the word guys
The only feminists that want superiority over men are the Amazon archetypes you see in books, movies and TV. (I hate to bad-mouth comic books, but...)
Semioticans are scientists who follow established standards within the scientific community. Some of them are involved with research from a feminist perspective. They are scientists, that's all.
I am making observations and drawing conclusions on the use of language as it pertains to cultural, social and political influence. What's the point of "shunning" one language mode over another?
Sounds like you had a bad experience with a feminist... or perhaps your religious upbringing colors your perspective? In any case, I enjoy discussing language with you!
May 24, 2007
samoritan commented on the word guys
Uselessness... your use of "radical" to preface the word "feminist" has got my attention. Many acute language scholars (for example)would identify themselves as feminist but not "radical". They don't even have to be female (I'm not).
There are plenty of examples in the lexicon to indicate that language is biased towards the male. If that observation makes me sexist, so be it, but isn't that redundant?
May 24, 2007
samoritan commented on the word paradigm shift
A fundamental change in approach or assumptions. Acceptance by a majority of a changed belief, attitude, or way of doing things.
Ok so it's 2 words... but this is one of those examples that bring to mind the old song... "but this is tell 'ya brother, you can't have one without the other".
May 24, 2007
samoritan commented on the word guys
Uselessness, I appreciate your comments. As far as judging patriarchal language use as good or bad, I am an impartial student of language. I feel it’s umm… useless to make value judgments on language conventions that were being established before we went bipedal. Sorry if I gave you that impression!
I am leaning toward the belief that no language is truly gender-neutral. An infant learns the “language�? of the mother first and then the dominant father’s language.
According to what I have been reading and studying on this subject, semioticans posit that a “mother tongue�? would consist non-symbolic and a-logical soothing sounds and touches such as hums, croons, and caresses. A “mother word�? might consist of a combination of sounds and touches. Patriarchal language classifies and concerns itself with order and recording events. Matriarchal language is based on feeling and does not classify or record. These non-words are passed on to the nursing infant but are lost as the child grows and absorbs the dominant patriarchal language.
Of course, attempts to gloss such a female-centric language is problematic; you can’t classify a language that wasn’t meant to be ordered. Doing so would bring it under control of the patriarchal language. This is similar to American Sign Language, a purely visual language, which looses it’s meaning when you try to gloss it, (record it by writing it down).
You say you wonder if such a language would be practical. Regardless of whether a mother tongue is a true language or not, it is absolutely essential to the cognitive (including language) development of the infant. Research shows that babies deprived of this important sensory input suffer severe delays in developing cognitive growth (ex.Deaf children of hearing parents). In other words, without the mother tongue hard-wiring our brains at infancy, there ain’t no language. And we all wouldn’t be wasting time trying to impress each other by creating new words here on wordie.
May 24, 2007
samoritan commented on the word pellucid
This word has to be on my short list of all-time faves.
May 23, 2007
samoritan commented on the word powerfuller
No, the word is "powerfuller" ;)
May 23, 2007