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  1. tappen love

Definitions

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A substance found in the intestine of the bear during hibernation, probably feces modified by long retention.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A plug that forms in the anus of a bear during hibernation, possibly to prevent the entry of ants into the sleeping bear's rectum.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. An obstruction, or indigestible mass, found in the intestine of bears and other animals during hibernation.

Examples

  • “a substance called 'tappen' that clogs it and the intestines; this is formed of pine leaves and other material that the animal takes from ants 'nest and the trunks of trees in its search after honey.”

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 324, March 18, 1882

  • “Labels: Reverse Fad Productions, tappen, upside-down posted by John McGrath @ 10: 22 PM”

    uʍop ǝpısdn

  • “Labels: Reverse Fad Productions, tappen, upside-down posted by John McGrath @ 10: 22 PM 0 Comments”

    Archive 2008-07-01

  • “Old Bruin knew perfectly well that this matter, composed of pine leaves and other substances, was absolutely essential to him for the winter, for this is what makes the "_tappen_.”

    Rataplan, a rogue elephant; and other stories

  • “The bear seems to live on its fat, the tappen preventing its too rapid consumption; and if you run across them during this time -- even along in March just before they wake up -- they are about as fat as when they went in.”

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 324, March 18, 1882

  • “Then, tappen me on the shoulder, and lookin up and smilin, as he always did when he was pleased with an idee, Sir Samuel Slick would not sound bad, I guess, would it Sam?”

    The Clockmaker — or, the Sayings and Doings of Samuel Slick, of Slickville

  • “American girl, who is hardly suited to move in the circles in which his wife must live -- I do believe Mr. Bulstrode prefers me, just now, to any other female he may tappen to know; but his attachment, if it deserve the name, has not the heart in it, dear Corny, that I know is to be found in your's.”

    Satanstoe

  • “You are a fcuking tappen .... no im sorry that just doesn't work, you will have to just remain a c”

    Army Rumour Service

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rhymes (3)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. happen
  1. misshapen
  1. tappan

tags (4)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. bad ass
  1. gloriously bizarre
  1. poop
  1. woty08

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘tappen’.

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Comments

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  • deinonychus Good! I feel at home here. (Home is where my words are?)

    Netto is net (as opposed to gross) and snus is... snus. So they're saying that they sell cheap snus. I'd rather have some fufluns. Sep 26, 2012

  • ruzuzu Also, what are Nettosnus? Are they anything like fufluns? Sep 26, 2012

  • ruzuzu You're definitely one of us now. Sep 26, 2012

  • deinonychus Passing this yesterday, I realized that I needed to share this with... well, someone, and Wordnik might be the right place for it. I've always thought this sign was a bit disturbing, even before I knew the word tappen in English. ("Godis" means candy, and "tappen" means the gas station (in Swedish)).

    Image Hosted by ImageShack.us Sep 24, 2012

  • ruzuzu Apparently there's a place in the Hudson Valley called Tappen Hill. Sounds nice--wedding receptions, gala events, etc. May 14, 2012

  • sionnach Still one of my favorite sentences of all time:

    The tappen is not produced to stop small animals going up the bear's backside, but its presence helps to prevent it. Nov 8, 2008

  • reesetee Ah, I get it now, Shevek.

    The reference, not the tappen. Jul 22, 2008

  • chained_bear *boom*
    Signed,
    Bear who drove across the Tappan Zee Bridge twice in the last three days, without seeing a single tappen. Jul 21, 2008

  • shevek Unless I misunderstood, she was referring to a distinct usage. I.e. tappen in Modern English refers to bears, but in Middle English, it refers to kinky sex (‽). Jul 21, 2008

  • reesetee She, have you forgotten that you started all this madness? *ducks under fallen log* Jul 21, 2008

  • she Tappen is Middle English for bunghole-plug! Imagine. Jul 17, 2008

  • bilby *hits the deck*

    Bugger me. I preferred Big Bang when it was just a theory. Jul 16, 2008

  • chained_bear *boom* Jul 15, 2008

  • bilby I know. I'm bad. Marsupial, insectivore bad. Jul 12, 2008

  • mollusque Bilby, I warned you about yanking her chain seven months ago! Jul 12, 2008

  • bilby In this case it's an abumination. Jul 12, 2008

  • chained_bear Yanking my chain is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. Leather-ears.

    *boom* -- Look out! Jul 12, 2008

  • bilby For a few hours :-> Jul 12, 2008

  • bilby I'm sorry chained_bear. I've been yanking your chain. I'm sure it won't happen again. Jul 12, 2008

  • palooka Warning: Do not feed or tease the bear! Especially if it's trying to eject its tappen. Jul 12, 2008

  • bilby How many months is it till springtime?
    *boom* Jul 12, 2008

  • chained_bear What'd you say, leather-ears? Jul 12, 2008

  • bilby Don't blame me, blunderbutt. Jul 12, 2008

  • chained_bear *holding sign, looking accusingly at bilby* Jul 11, 2008

  • sionnach r_t: Probably because we are distracted by all the exploding maple trees in the forest. Jul 11, 2008

  • she Nowhere did we specify the bears were wearing teacup-hats!! Jul 11, 2008

  • chained_bear Hey! Who put this sign on my ass?! "Caution: Emits Showers of Sparks"?! Jul 11, 2008

  • reesetee And if it does burst out like a firework and go whooshing through the forest, why don't we see bears flying around in the springtime, arse over teacup? Jul 11, 2008

  • she Typing that sort of felt like I was being translated in gibberish against my will. Jul 11, 2008

  • she Tappens happen. (Tappen happens?) Jul 11, 2008

  • mollusque Happen to make? Jul 11, 2008

  • mollusque Prolagus: the great divinator of the lexisphere. Jul 11, 2008

  • bilby You know, all this was prophesied by the great sage Prolagus on the day we, er, enhanced brookdale_chick's list. See dingleberry delightful ejection. Jul 11, 2008

  • she Come to think of it, our tappen is onomatopoeic—it is the sound they'd happen to make if you stood, say, at the base of the wrong mountain, and they all rained down on your uniquely unfortunate head. Jul 11, 2008

  • chained_bear Bilby: I wouldn't stand behind me to find out. Jul 11, 2008

  • Prolagus And now tappen's on top! Er... it sounded better in my head. Jul 11, 2008

  • bilby I'm wondering about the 'passing of the tappen'. Does it disintegrate slowly? Or burst out like a firework and go whooshing through the forest? Jul 11, 2008

  • palooka Wasn't Tappen or Tappan a line of appliances? I don't think I'll purchase one now. Jul 11, 2008

  • she I have new empathy for bears! Thanks, posting a word on the internet.

    Also, it's amazing how many people Google can find proudly proclaiming his or her last name to be Tappen. Jul 11, 2008

  • chained_bear *not looking forward to spring* Jul 11, 2008

  • dontcry Is it just me, or does the tappen, as a word, sound a lot like another word we all know that, um, controls, um, stuff from coming out..?

    Oh, and *hork* Jul 11, 2008

  • palooka A tappen sounds like a beautifully ingenious adaptation that makes it possible for bears to hibernate peacefully without awakening every few hours to go out & take a dump.
    Let's celebrate the beauty & ingenuity of nature, the wonder that these tappens are! Let's thank mother nature for her gift to bears everywhere, a solid, functional tappen.
    Jul 11, 2008

  • chained_bear *staring* Jul 11, 2008

  • bilby "They make it difficult for the animal to defecate during hibernation, but are often passed with great pain in the spring time."
    - Wikipedia. Jul 11, 2008

  • reesetee *staring* Jul 10, 2008

  • chained_bear How do you think I feel about this?! I just found out very publicly and specifically what has been up my butt all winter! Don't you think I might want to hork?! *not happy*

    Edit: Just remembered I know someone with this surname. Puzzled because first name is "Sunny." Jul 10, 2008

  • reesetee With good reason, I'd say. :-) Jul 10, 2008

  • plethora You're doing a lot of that lately, dc. Jul 10, 2008

  • dontcry *horking* Jul 10, 2008

  • chained_bear Thanks bilby, I was thinking along those same lines.... Gah! Jul 10, 2008

  • asativum Specific excrement it is. Couldn't get much more specific without naming it. (Or maybe rating it? But I can't bring myself to post the link; Google it if you must.) Jul 10, 2008

  • bilby Well, the experts said 'prevents faecal material leaking out of the bear's body'. Which doesn't sound like excrement at all, except for the fact that the tappen itself must eventually be passed. Given that they also noted that 'the tappen forms inside the body', and eventually ends up on the outside, I'd be willing - no, thrilled - to consider it as excrement. And highly specific. Jul 10, 2008

  • shevek Contemplating your first tappen, I suppose you'd have to consider: to retch or to dretch? Jul 10, 2008

  • reesetee You'll get no debate from me, healthy or otherwise. I try to stay out of other people's excrement. Jul 10, 2008

  • chained_bear *really skeeved out that people are thinking about her rectum*

    On another note... would this belong, do you think, on the Specific Excrement list? I'm putting it there anyway, but anticipating a healthy debate. Jul 10, 2008

  • john Hey c'mon. Tappen happens. Jul 10, 2008

  • bilby We could all chip in and buy her a clyster. Jul 10, 2008

  • chained_bear AAAAGH!! Jul 10, 2008

  • bilby If I get invited for cocktails and tapenades and chained_bear's place, I'm not going. Jul 10, 2008

  • chained_bear Stop talking about my tailpipe! Jul 9, 2008

  • reesetee Good grief. Now we've gone and mortified chained_bear's tailpipe. Jul 9, 2008

  • bilby On the internet, no-one knows what you have up your backside. Jul 9, 2008

  • chained_bear AAAAAAGH!!! AAAAAAAGH!!! Jul 9, 2008

  • she chained_bear, I'm sure it's voluntary!

    allexperts.com clarifies: "The tappen forms inside the body and plugs the anus during hibernation. A bear does not place moss up its backside, nor does it place a rock there, which was one of my earlier questions. The tappen prevents faecal material leaking out of the bear's body and soiling its home during hibernation. Apart from hygiene, the smell of faeces could attract enemies during a vulnerable period for the bear. The tappen is not produced to stop small animals going up the bear's backside, but its presence helps to prevent it. Whether ants would naturally want to go up a bear's backside is another question!" Jul 9, 2008

  • reesetee *adds to list of Things I Didn't Need to Know* Jul 8, 2008

  • asativum I think I'll take the George, thanks. Jul 8, 2008

  • john I always wondered what the Tappan Zee Bridge was named after. Jul 8, 2008

  • bilby Isn't there another word for this? Jul 8, 2008

  • chained_bear ... Excuse me?! ... Jul 8, 2008

  • she The plug by which the rectum of a bear is closed during hibernation, composed of pine leaves and things scratched out from ants' nests. Jul 7, 2008

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‘tappen’ has been looked up 2930 times, loved by 1 person, added to 23 lists, commented on 70 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.