sionnach has looked up 3226 words, created 265 lists, listed 21419 words, written 10772 comments, added 378 tags, and loved 34 words.
Comments by sionnach
Comments for sionnach
-
I see you've met Hervé le furet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXFCXr5gbSA
-
"During this battue they killed certain animals peculiar to the country, the very names of which were unknown to Paganel; among others the wombat and the bandicoot. The wombat is an herbivorous animal, which burrows in the ground like a badger. It is as large as a sheep, and the flesh is excellent.
The bandicoot is a species of marsupial animal which could outwit the European fox, and give him lessons in pillaging poultry yards. It was a repulsive-looking animal, a foot and a half long, but, as Paganel chanced to kill it, of course he thought it charming.
'An adorable creature,' he called it."
- Jules Verne, In Search of the Castaways, 1873. -
Dearest Noel Renard,
I've been very good this year. Will you please bring me peace on Earth, good will to men, and, you know, a pony?
Thank you ever so much,
ruzuzu -
Never mind, perhaps SoG - to whom my regards must be given! - is good at consoling the desolate (if you can understand him, he's Scottish you know). But it's high time you studied a language I'm interested in, in a city I'd like to go to. How about Bambara in Timbuktu? If that doesn't work we can always join the foreign legion.
-
Alas, I fear so near but yet so far. I have everything locked down already, it's partly a business trip and partly to attend a friend's wedding, and in between there was only a skerrick of opportunity to gallivant. I'm actually flying through Paris, but only for the sake of changing silver birds at CDG.
-
Yes, having dinner with Rolig in Ljubljana!
-
Have you lost weight?
http://colt-rane.com/wp-content/uploads/01_unterthiner_fred0.jpg">
-
I'm amused by the implicit proposition that (even in juxtaposition with Russia) Italy is not a country run by gangsters. They just wear a better cut of cloth! But I know what you mean. When I studied in Russia I always got very nervous when I saw police walking along the street towards me. At one stage, our school warned us not to go out unless absolutely necessary as there was a bit of anti-foreigner violence going on. After that I was counting the days until I was out of there, although I seriously doubted even your average vodka-sodden loutski would mistake me for a Georgian or a Pakistani.
If you like classic Italian effusiveness the further south you go the more you get of it. Sicily may be worth considering. I agree with the discounting of Rome, Naples, Turin, Milan, etc. Siena maybe not, it's only really inundated during the summer season between the Palio days and is otherwise a bit of a backwater. Lucca might have something. Padova. They're all lovely places. All roads lead to Venice, you can pick it off at your leisure, no particular reason to study there.
I only went to Bologna once and it struck me as being a bit grungy. Plus, Italy has some rough financial roads ahead and Bologna has a history of hardcore political activism. Being caught up in the middle of the Italian indignati might strike you as being either thrilling or terrifying.
I studied in Perugia, which I heartily recommend. It's a delightful city with both a conventional university and one dedicated to teaching foreigners, the Universita per Stranieri. Great location, plenty to do, lots of student life and all in all a supportive environment in which to learn Italian.
I'm plotting a business manufacturing tempeh; it's a furry flurry of industry down here at Bandicoot Beanerie! And I have a newly bought burrow with plenty of spare digs so you're welcome any time you decide to study abroad to learn proper English.
-
Why Bologna?
I'm not responding to the bait about the antipodean vegetable lamb of Tartary simply because you are still traumatised by echoes of your childhood bully, Paddy Malone. -
What are pademelons? (I'm afraid to look them up.)
-
Oh, very busy all round with the jelly shoes marketing initiative. And in the annoyingly real world, have not long ago moved across the continent to a new abode where the sky is low enough to touch and pademelons kindly trim (and fertilise) the lawn by night. It's not a bad place; I might have to do a list about same.
You are overdue an Exotic Language Adventure As Told In Alternately Quirky And Obscure Blog. What's next, foxbrother? -
I know you're probably busy this time of year--not that there's any particular reason you would be... I mean it's not like you're the Santa Fox or something. Ahem. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that every time I see the word droll, I think of you.
xoxo, ruzuzu -
Crapola! Thank you! I think there was a bit of interference in my head from Yiddish kvetch.
-
Bilby:
Have you tried looking it up under "Quatsch"? It's a perfectly common word, quite legit, meaning -- as you surmised -- "Rubbish!"
Here is a link: flubdub and taradiddle -
I was watching a German language movie last night in which the following scene took place. I'll render most of it in English as I'm only interested in one word.
(Family is sitting at table. Son, a football tragic, is sulking because his favourite team lost.)
Mother: Why aren't you eating?
Daughter: Rot-Weiss Essen lost 1-0.
Mother: So what, they always lose.
Son: Kvatsch! (runs out of room)
So what is this kvatsch? From the context it would mean something like 'nonsense' but I can't find it in dictionaries that I regularly use online. Are you familiar with it? Coulld I be regional dialect? The family in the movie had the name Lubanski and were Catholic so I've ruled out a Yiddish borrowing. -
Thank you for your kind words.
-
Thanks. Yes. I have already revised and activated many of the links that were faulty. I will continue to do so.
-
In the "About me" section of my profile, I have provided information about the accessibility of the citations that I have made in Comments section of various pages (screens) on words.
-
You are my love, dear. I wish to spend every moment of my existence in your company.
-
Merci, 'zuzu!
Reynard is back on U.S. soil. Enjoying a day in YOUR NATION'S CAPITAL before heading back to San Francisco for WAGNER WEEK. (Eine ganze Woche vollgestopft mit Wotan, Walkueren, und anderem wagnerischen Ungeziefer) -
Well, to be more precise: J'aime les cartes postales. J'adore le renard santa.
-
J'adore! Merci, Reynard.
-
Go to bed, foxy!
-
Very cool! Thanks, Teresa.
-
Inspired by your wonderful list change one letter! -
Whipping Cats Special 100th Post, now with video!
cancerous moth
Don't miss the final 20 seconds of the 3-minute video, as the soul of Siegfried, decked out in his best ABBA outfit, crawls up the Venetian blinds like a cancerous moth ! No wonder the producer was roundly booed when he appeared on stage at the end. -
You've changed your "About me" description. I like it. :-)
-
The comment feature on my Whipping Cats blog should now be fixed, so that there should no longer be any difficulty in posting comments. Please let me know (e.g. by sending me a message here, or by e-mail) if you encounter problems.
Even anonymous marsupials should be able to comment. -
Thanks, Bill B. I'm hoping to come back here in the autumn because, indeed, there is something about Paris that lifts my foxy spirits. Plus, I love learning French, which is a step above Thpanish in difficulty. But I intend to subdue it and bend it to my will. Because until that is done I can't move on to Italian.
I would post this on your profile, but you are invisible to us all here in the material world. Do marsupials ever leave the DUMPP (down-under marsupial protection program)? -
You seem in good form, foxy. We should organise to despatch you to Paris every year.
-
-
It's another one of Foxy's infamous grammar rants , this time about the hideosity of prepositional verbs in general, with special attention given to the ludicrosity of Russian verbs of motion, and the mondo bizarro of the infamous bog of Irish prepositional pronouns.
-
Way after "Midnight in Paris" and Foxy isn't even remotely sleepy. Damn you, August Strindberg, with your disturbing plays!
-
Fleiſʒiger Foxy -
After my umpteenth attempt in a month to comment on your blog using my openID account, which works everyweb else, I just give up. I hope you will forgive me. I even reported the bug to the Wordpress guys (my openID is Wordpress) but they have no idea why that happens.
Signé,
Le pika sarde -
Pas piqué des hannetons
Merci, Bill B ! -
-
Do you know/have this amazing book?
-
-
It's bloody terrifying.
-
That is a little unnerving.
-
Yes, it was. But I moved it elsewhere, so maybe it's visible now?
-
I think the image is protected (was it in an email?)
-
I am keeping my eyes on you all:
-
Congrats on the 10,000!
-
Congratulations!
-
Macroticonniculation for the win.
Multiplicity of peeves is the province of the peef-witted, methinks.
Congratulations on the 10 grand! -
Thanks, db: I think "burrowing" is a correct, but unimaginative, translation of rataconniculation, as it fails to capture the animal connotations of the latter,having to do with rats, puppies & bunnies. "Cannicula" is, according to Webster's, a common misspelling of "Canicula", another name for Sirius, the dog-star, and related to the Latin word for puppies; "Karnickel" is also a German word for "bunny", which is derived from the word "cunicula", which I think means "rabbit" in Latin.
By the way, though I don't necessarily agree with you on the particular instance, I greatly admire the passion of your lexicological rant over on gasometer. As somebody else mentioned, everyone is entitled to a few particular pet peeves (see discussion under data, for instance), and what is Wordnik for, if not to allow one to vent one's frustrations about one's word-related peeves? -
Thank you for your comment on robidilardic and fanfreluches. Do you know anything about rataconniculation?
-
I'm with bilby. I miss those faketymologies.
sionnach commented on the word dolbear's law
(# of chirps of the snowy tree cricket per 15 seconds) + 40 = Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.
Amos Dolbear, 1897, "The Cricket as a Thermometer"
Nov 25, 2012
sionnach commented on the user bilby
Around these here parts, they call me Noel Renard.
Nov 24, 2012
sionnach commented on the user bilby
So, seriously, how was Trieste?
And I am crestfallen at the thought that I might not get a copy of that poetry 'zine. That I was promised. I'm only claiming what is rightfully mine. I suspect you are just holding out for some kind of quid pro quo. Which, fair enough, just say the word and I will be happy to send some kind of Parisian bauble or trinket winging your way.
But I'm damned if I'm gonna post my street address here on Wordnik, and you have the vice of being nowhere else contactable, to my knowledge.
It's an impasse.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Nov 22, 2012
sionnach commented on the word lime-twigged
I never did get my copy of that poetry rag where my delightful opus "Marmalade Cat Humiliation" is alleged to have appeared.
What do you have to say about that, leather-ears? Did even a pang of regret enter your wizened marsupial soul as you jetted past Paris, on the way to a more cachet-laden dinner engagement with rolig, huh?
Not that I am bitter. No, not me.
Nov 21, 2012
sionnach commented on the word lime-twigged
And if you ask me anyone who tweets (God, how I hate being forced to use vile word) "Lured to lurid hues, lucid discontinuities churn out strips of woody putty coalesced to upheavals of eggnog organza: lime-twigged snowclones" is either trying too hard, or a reasonably clever machine.
Nov 20, 2012
sionnach commented on the word lime-twigged
Just ask Papageno!
Nov 20, 2012
sionnach commented on the word crowning
Trying to remember the story of "The Beet Queen", and how she may have been crowned.
Nov 19, 2012
sionnach commented on the list sionnach-s-words
Aw shucks! Thank you.
Nov 18, 2012
sionnach commented on the word maxim gorky on jazz
An idiotic little hammer knocks drily: one, two, three, ten, twenty knocks. Then, like a clod of mud thrown into crystal-clear water, there is wild screaming, hissing, rattling, wailing, moaning, cackling. Bestial cries are heard: neighing horses, the squeal of a brass pig, crying jackasses, amorous quacks of a monstrous toad…this excruciating medley of brutal sounds is subordinated to a barely perceptible rhythm. Listening to this screaming music for a minute or two, one conjures up an orchestra of madmen, sexual maniacs, led by a man-stallion beating time with an enormous phallus.
Nov 18, 2012
sionnach commented on the word sottisier
Here is a link to an entertaining one: http://phrontistery.info/sottisier.html
Nov 13, 2012
sionnach commented on the list weaponized-animals
This is indeed an awesome list. I feel a host of regrettable jokes bubbling up, like "Don't bring a jack-knife fish to a pistol shrimp fight".
But I wonder if maybe the club-foot whiting might not feel out of place on this list?
Nov 13, 2012
sionnach commented on the word cygnet-royal
And then the queen swoops in and eats it, as is her royal prerogative.
Nov 11, 2012
sionnach commented on the user foijsoijsdoif
Please go fuck yourself, you vile spambot!
Oct 29, 2012
sionnach commented on the word curly quotes
These are not quite the same as what the French call « guillemets », are they?
But they might be the same as what the Germans call Gänsefüßchen, (little goosefeet, that is the little feet of geese, not the feet of little geese).
I just found out from Wikipedia (regarding guillemet) that
The word is a diminutive of the French name Guillaume (the equivalent of which in English is William), after the French printer and punchcutter Guillaume Le Bé (1525–98). Some languages derive their word for guillemets analogously; for example, the Irish term is Liamóg, from Liam 'William' and a diminutive suffix.
Liamóg is better translated as "young William" but is in any case adorable.
Oct 28, 2012
sionnach commented on the word curly quotes
Doctor Who.
Oct 28, 2012
sionnach commented on the word kinfluence
What about "pinfluence", the act of using hypnosis to get someone to divulge their ATM code; "dinfluence", the act of persuasion though the use of very loud noises; "zinfluence", the act of steering someone towards choosing the Zinfandel from the wine list, "thinfluence", the act of persuading someone to lose a few pounds before summer rolls around, perhaps I'd better stop now ...
"ginfluence", the act of bending someone to one's well by plying them with juniper juice
Oct 18, 2012
sionnach commented on the word stroobly
as in "stroobly Peter", I imagine.
Oct 18, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Gunter's chain
As a consolation, perhaps you would like a link to a recent portrait of the Santa Fox: Santa Fox 2010 official portrait
Oct 12, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Gunter's chain
Sadly, this year SantaFox is working under a major constraint; because of the Scheveningen agreement, he is being forced to work with French elves, who refuse to work more than 35 hours a week, and who strike* at the slightest provocation (e.g. the recent, perfectly innocuous change in the hot cocoa and marshmallow supplier). Given these limitations, December 2013 seems like a more realistic goal.
*: SantaFox also hears dark rumors of a planned work stoppage to coincide with the end of the Mayan calendar.
Oct 11, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Gunter's chain
Nobody is tweeting about Gunter's chain -- how can this be?
Here's a fun craft project for the children, if they start now, they should be able to complete that chain in time for father's day. Just remember, when it gets to the muriatic acid part, some adult supervision might be advisable:
Make your own Gunter's chain in fewer than 1,000 easy steps
Oct 11, 2012
sionnach commented on the word nook-shotten
I am surprised, nay shocked, that the immortal phrase of excoriation "nook-shotten Norwegians" has not yet made it onto this page. Better late than never.
Here is the link: maunderings of nook-shotten Norwegians
The phrase is taken from the shriek of execration that constituted the press reaction to the premiere of Ibsen's "Ghosts" in London.
See also the English press reaction to Ibsen's "Ghosts"
Oct 11, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Dam troll
Why, of course, 'zuzu. Noblesse oblige. But it appears that our Dam troll may have moved into a temporary tree dwelling erected by the gummint.
Oct 10, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Great Fiasco
Given how apt a description this phrase is for so many phenomena, it's astonishing that its page is not more densely studded with examples and illustrations.
Oct 7, 2012
sionnach commented on the word pyjama catshark
as seen here
Oct 6, 2012
sionnach commented on the word teleology
Yes, indeed, CSP has much to answer for. And who is due the credit or blame for the puzzling visual?
Oct 6, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Dam troll
Sorry, 'zuzu. I totally disagree.
Oct 4, 2012
sionnach commented on the word brand values disconnect
I'm sure Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) would be open to considering fresh branding opportunities, what with him no longer being president of the IMF and not having managed to be elected president of France. And with today's news that the gang rape charges against him have been dropped, so that only the pimping charges remain, the potential for a brand values disconnect is consequently greatly reduced.
Oct 3, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Dam troll
Once upon a time, there was a spectabundal Dam troll who lived a generally happy life, except for his recurrent bouts of logolepsy and occasional flareups of his gallbladder, attributable to his fondness for certain Products like fromage and Norfin tuna steaks. But, in general, he lived happily under his Nasturtium-strewn Dam, admiring the totally rad, weyant, jelly shoes and jelly bracelet he had extracted as a toll from a passing, bedraggled, rather slutty-looking water nymph.
Oct 3, 2012
sionnach commented on the word rapid plant movement
Somehow, this reminds me of my list of thigmo-words.
Oct 2, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Hervé le furet
Hervé the ferret, the French equivalent of the Geiko gekko; dapper Hervé
Oct 1, 2012
sionnach commented on the word jelly shoes
No, she's back today! I blame yarb. Which, come to think of it, is more or less my default position in life. Swaddling monster that he is.
Oct 1, 2012
sionnach commented on the user bilby
I am, as they say around these here parts, *desolated*. But I understand that rolig is undoubtedly an infinitely more charming dinner companion than my miserable self. Given my druthers, I'd be dining nightly in Ljubljana and Trieste myself, instead of ...
Well, no, actually. No, I wouldn't....
But, de toute façon, safe travels, o leather-eared one. You do know that the big Swiss chocolate cartels have outlawed chocolate bilbies within Swiss borders, right?
Oct 1, 2012
sionnach commented on the word bizarre spheniscidine confectionery dispenser videorama
Ah. Such good times.
Is overcome by waves of nostalgia for the good old confectionery pooping dispenser diorama days.
Sob!
Oct 1, 2012
sionnach commented on the list penguins--1
What about penguins
Oct 1, 2012
sionnach commented on the word early
You say that. But why should we believe you?
Sep 30, 2012
sionnach commented on the word jelly shoes
Hey, what happened to the creepy visual? Now yarb will stop clicking, jelly shoes will stop trending, and civilization (as we know it) will come to an end. I blame the Mayans.
Sep 30, 2012
sionnach commented on the word early
I don't just lie to children about dinosaurs. I'm an equal-opportunity fabulist. I lie to everyone about everything. Or do I ? Mwahahahahaha!!!!
But why does this page have no mention of Biddy Early , the wise woman of County Clare.
Sep 30, 2012
sionnach commented on the user bilby
When will you be coming to Europe? You could have dinner with sionnach in Parigi. I will be having dinner with Son of Groucho week after next -- why not you? I am also trying to convince Prolagus to make the trip north from his Sardine fortress.
Sep 29, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Retrotechnical
Like steampunk?
Sep 28, 2012
sionnach commented on the user bilby
Wassup, bilbykins? Are you coming to Europe, mebbe?
Sep 26, 2012
sionnach commented on the word tit juice conjunctivitis
Or, as seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fJSxibj-tc
Sep 26, 2012
sionnach commented on the word Romnesia
Hi bilbykins! Comment ça va?
Sep 26, 2012
sionnach commented on the word jelly shoes
I've been away for a while. But it's a relief to see that jelly shoes is still trending.
Sep 26, 2012
sionnach commented on the user reelintenses
spam spam spam spammity spam spam spam
Jun 7, 2012
sionnach commented on the word cow magnet
We had this bull once at home, called Ferdinand. Man, he was a real cow magnet!!
Jun 7, 2012
sionnach commented on the word chenomorphae
What? Ducks belong to tribes now? (Insert joke about inadvisability of ducks taking presents of duvets from visiting flocks of geese ..... a joke so lame it quacks me right up ...)
Jun 6, 2012
sionnach commented on the word cow magnet
http://cleantechnica.com/2011/11/21/google-earth-lands-in-magnetic-cow-controversy/
Jun 6, 2012
sionnach commented on the word cow magnet
Most interesting. Is this the explanation for the google earth finding that cows point north?
http://news.cnet.com/google-earth-shows-cows-point-north/
Jun 6, 2012
sionnach commented on the word copremesis
Fecal vomiting or antiperistalsis is a kind of emesis in which fecal matter is expelled from the intestines into the stomach, by spasmodic contractions of the gastric muscles, and then subsequently forcefully expelled from the stomach up into the esophagus and out through the mouth and sometimes nasal passages. Alternative medical terms for fecal vomiting are copremesis and stercoraceous vomiting. It was also referred to as miserere in medieval times.
Miserere indeed!!
Jun 6, 2012
sionnach commented on the word pantanoso
These pants are seamless.
Jun 3, 2012