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maharba commented on the word woyzug
The definition of the word is: to extreme measures; measures so extreme they're extremely more extreme than the definition of extreme.
August 16, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word swaddle
"The biggest limitation to this research may be the definition of swaddling itself. The authors of the study acknowledge one of the “several” limitations to their meta-analysis is the fact that none of the studies they reviewed clearly outlined what constitutes a swaddle. And besides that, as anyone who has tried to swaddle a baby can confirm, good swaddling takes practice. Many parents, for fear of too tightly wrapping their babies, end up swaddling too loosely, which is itself a suffocation hazard. (Some daycare centers in the United States don’t allow swaddling for this reason.)"
-- https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/05/is-swaddling-safe/482055/
August 16, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word sousveillance
"The term "sousveillance", coined by Steve Mann, stems from the contrasting French words sur, meaning "above", and sous, meaning "below", i.e. "surveillance" denotes the "eye-in-the-sky" watching from above, whereas "sousveillance" denotes bringing the camera or other means of observation down to human level, either physically (mounting cameras on people rather than on buildings), or hierarchically (ordinary people doing the watching, rather than higher authorities or architectures doing the watching)."
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sousveillance&oldid=788558213
August 16, 2017
mheere commented on the user mheere
walk
August 16, 2017
qms commented on the word avolation
When bound for the last destination
I hope to create no sensation,
Ask no trumpet blast
To hear at the last
But subtle and sweet avolation.
August 16, 2017
alexz commented on the list jumbo-shrimp
man child , pro-am, dwarf galaxy
August 15, 2017
qms commented on the word lucullanism
See Lucullan.
August 15, 2017
jodi commented on the word lucullanism
See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lucullan
August 15, 2017
jodi commented on the word iatrophobic
The fear of doctors.
See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/iatro-
iatro- "From Ancient Greek ἰᾱτρο- (iātro-), combining form of ἰατρός (iatrós, “doctor”)."
August 15, 2017
jodi commented on the word iatrophobe
Person who is afraid of doctors.
See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/iatro-
iatro- "From Ancient Greek ἰᾱτρο- (iātro-), combining form of ἰατρός (iatrós, “doctor”)."
August 15, 2017
jodi commented on the word choreas
See chorea
August 15, 2017
qms commented on the word cecils
So jealous are chefs of their story
They'll quibble at terms gustatory.
Your balls in a pot
Will still get as hot
And you'll claim it's all to your glory.
August 15, 2017
bilby commented on the word cecils
What perchance is this 'fry cooking vessel'?
With such terms my inner-grammarian doth wrestle
For every chef's simple job
Is preparing morsels for gob
And if not I'll be seeking redressal
August 15, 2017
bilby commented on the word cecil
See also cecils.
August 15, 2017
bilby commented on the list jumbo-shrimp
rigidly flexible
August 15, 2017
lawhoo97 commented on the word rigidly flexible
This is a term that I heard in the USAF. It meant that you were required to be ready to engage in a certain activity, but to also realize that the timing, process, or the activity itself may (likely) change at any moment. For example, an exercise would be scheduled to kick off at 0500, but there was a very good chance that the time of commencement would change or that the exercise itself would change. However, you'd better be ready to go at 0500 no matter what.
August 15, 2017
qms commented on the word cecils
In higher class fry cooking vessels
Each savory orb of meat nestles.
What mere cooks will call
The common meatball
A master chef turns into cecils.
August 15, 2017
qms commented on the word dabster
A diplomat viewing disaster
Might say that the artist's a dabster.
Though bungling's averred
The Janus-faced word
Is heard as the praise of a master.
August 14, 2017
biocon commented on the list a-breakage--break--cleavage-or-split
Thank you, ruzuzu.
August 14, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word porexia
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4787548/Women-obsessed-pore-size-porexia-flawless-skin-how.html
If you spend hours in front of the mirror each day poring over the little openings on the top of your skin and willing them to disappear before you take an Instagram selfie, you're not alone.
In fact, obsessing over our pores - from the size to the number of them - is the beauty industry's latest preoccupation.
This is so much the case that dermatologists have coined a word for this pore fixation - 'porexia'.
August 14, 2017
PeterHello commented on the word saccadomania
refers to uncontrolled eye movement; consists of rapid, involuntary, multivectorial (horizontal and vertical), unpredictable, conjugate fast eye movements without intersaccadic intervals. It is also referred to as opsoclonus or reflexive saccade. (Adapted from Wikipedia)
August 14, 2017
alexz commented on the word aluminum
Original spelling by Humphrey Davy, 1812 . https://books.google.ca/books?id=YjMwAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA201
August 14, 2017
DawidFolia commented on the user alexz
wow
August 13, 2017
erinmckean commented on the word perennials
"It was coined by US internet entrepreneur Gina Pell, 49, who explains, ‘Perennials are ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages who know what’s happening in the world, stay current with technology and have friends of all ages." Telegraph
August 13, 2017
qms commented on the word caynard
A fox pup must study and train hard
Or risk he's dismissed as a caynard.
The skulk's tough tuition
Achieves full fruition
In raising a wily red Reynard.
August 13, 2017
alexz commented on the word yoy
"year over year"
August 13, 2017
alexz commented on the word axin
slang - asking
August 13, 2017
Ernestopete commented on the word wropper
Wropper - a pinafore styled coverall worn by women engaged in farm work during the 19th & early 20th centuries in Britain & elsewhere.
August 13, 2017
alexz commented on the word tilted
from the examples on the right 'don't get "tilted," which means emotionally upset.'
spotted tilted in a video about the top Dota2 gamer versus a general Artificial Intelligence.
"At first it was easy to get titled..."
August 13, 2017
oroboros commented on the word goyle
A steep, narrow valley according to NPR's Says You!.Conan Doyle used the variant goyal.
August 12, 2017
oroboros commented on the word boculent
Fit for drinking according to NPR's Says You!.
August 12, 2017
jitendra93 commented on the list api-list
eater
August 12, 2017
qms commented on the word babblative
As talk for the troubled's a palliative
And Congress, a failing collaborative,
Inept to the hilt
Is Babel rebuilt,
It's frantic and futilely babblative.
August 12, 2017
pandasjw commented on the user pandasjw
FE worker
August 12, 2017
tbtabby commented on the word august
I just encountered this word in a crostic puzzle. It was the first time I'd ever seen it used as an adjective. Why didn't they just use "Eighth month" as the clue?
August 12, 2017
arlington commented on the user arlington
dweeberlips.
I just looked up this word. Here is how I used it in an email.
All the frustrations I dealt with today make me want to go sit in a corner and do dweeberlips.
August 11, 2017
ncsl commented on the word nyanchi
nyanchi = nyan + unchi -
“nyan” (the sound cats make in Japan,like the sound cats “meow” in English), and the “chi” from “unchi”.(unchi=Poo)
One of Japan’s most weird and iconic custom is "poo".
August 11, 2017
bilby commented on the word squaffles
*diplomatically passes around some squaffluns*
August 11, 2017
bilby commented on the word lipogram
Y'all might like Ella Minnow Pea: https://www.amazon.com/Ella-Minnow-Pea-Novel-Letters/dp/0385722435
August 11, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word pastry
From The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia:
"n. A place where pies, tarts, etc., are made.
"n. Viands made of paste, or of which paste constitutes a principal ingredient; particularly, the crust or cover of a pie, tart, or the like."
August 11, 2017
alexz commented on the word hummies
hummingbirds
also found - 1994 usage slang for homies
August 11, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word squaffles
I prefer fufluns.
August 11, 2017
bilby commented on the word restage
I've always found that getting up and heading for the exit is a pretty good way to speed this up.
August 11, 2017
bilby commented on the list next-immo-com
SPAM
August 11, 2017
bilby commented on the word carstage
Compare wankar, a driver who mistakenly thinks it is their right to drive at or above the speed limit regardless of circumstances.
August 11, 2017
alexz commented on the word squaffles
"Families who would once have eaten potato waffles are now experimenting with lower carb butternut “squaffles” (slices of butternut squash cut to resemble a waffle)." Guardian article - Why we fell for clean eating.
August 11, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word twistical
Another great one. Thanks, qms.
August 11, 2017
qms commented on the word twistical
Don't fall for the cynical listicle
Where news is typically mythical.
The "ten things you must"
Are hot air and dust,
Just click-bait that's wickedly twistical.
August 11, 2017
doughboy914 commented on the word carstage
Here is my definition of carstage: Carstage: n. To be held hostage by a driver you are following on a one-lane road because that driver is driving below the speed limit. (The word is a combination of car and hostage).
August 10, 2017
doughboy914 commented on the word restage
Here's my definition for restage: Restage: n. To be held hostage by a waiter or waitress who disappears before bringing, or otherwise takes a very long time to bring, you your check. (The word is a combination of restaurant and hostage).
August 10, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word bicinia
"In music of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras, a bicinium (pl. bicinia) was a composition for only two parts, especially one for the purpose of teaching counterpoint or singing."
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bicinium&oldid=782797821
August 10, 2017
alexz commented on the word hyper-power
for when the term super-power isn't good enough
August 10, 2017
bilby commented on the word concharge
Except that in English word construction con as a word-initial morpheme typically carries the meaning 'with', hence most people are not going to be able to readily decipher your word.
August 10, 2017
Be commented on the word concharge
This is my word.
It combines "control" with " in charge ".
The definition is: Used as a strong description of leadership in situations, usually as a strong admonition or as an assertion of supreme authority .
From the youngest in the family to a controlling oldest brother: " You are not in concharge of me!" (Strong admonition)
From the mother of said siblings: "I am in concharge." (Supreme authority)
August 10, 2017
bilby commented on the word curculio
I just found billbeetles in the GNU definition so, *ahem*, of course they are cute.
August 10, 2017
qms commented on the word autotheist
On tv at most he was B-list
(Absent a C- or a D- list)
But still self-assessed
As clearly the best.
The goblin's a true autotheist.
August 10, 2017
wwolfeld commented on the word diffusant
Diffusant means "A substance that diffuses through something." https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/diffusant.
Or "A substance which diffuses through another." https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/diffusant
August 10, 2017
adra2202 commented on the user adra2202
add your two cent
August 10, 2017
qms commented on the word scenography
Thank you kindly, ruzuzu. The challenge with such words is to rrsist the obvious "-ography" rhymes but after years of this I am running out of dodges.
August 10, 2017
alexz commented on the word GISHWHES
Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen
August 10, 2017
alexz commented on the word nutation
"let your backbone slide"
August 10, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word curculio
Is it weird that I think those weevils are kinda cute?
August 9, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word nutation
Compare counternutation.
August 9, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word counternutation
"Nutation and counternutation refer to movement of the sacrum defined by the rotation of the promontory downwards and anteriorly, as with lumbar extension (nutation); or upwards and posteriorly, as with lumbar flexion (counternutation)."
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anatomical_terms_of_motion&oldid=778251662
August 9, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word et in arcadia ego
Arcades ambo.
August 9, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word scenography
Nice one, qms!
August 9, 2017
vivektiwari commented on the user vivektiwari
none
August 9, 2017
qms commented on the word scenography
Potemkin knew ways to delude.
His town was struck down and renewed
Repeatedly, doggedly,
A feat of sceneography,
The man was a talented dude.
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word et in arcadia ego
I (death) too am present in Arcadia
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word pulsebeat
The pulse of the heart felt though the skin.
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word terra damnata
Condemned or damned earth or ground
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word bit ring
The bit ring is the ring on the side of a horse's bit, particularly on a snaffle bit. It is used as a point of attachment for the cheekpieces of the bridle and for the reins.
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word prichel
A goad, from Middle-English.
August 9, 2017
alexz commented on the word cantcha
can'tcha
can't you
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word carvern
I take it to mean something carved or carved-like.
"A carvern face"
August 9, 2017
alexz commented on the word can'tcha
can't you
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word sally gate
Define sally gate: a minor gate or passage (as in the wall of a fort) used to avoid opening major gates.
August 9, 2017
alexz commented on the word won'tcha
spotted in 1949 song 'Louisiana Girls' in a Baker's plays book
https://books.google.ca/books?id=5DaCyLyjGn8C&pg=PA63
spotted in 1915 Cosmopolitan
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word blasarius
"Young Blasarius yonder, he said."
by Knoxvillage1982 flag this content
Blasarius is an archaic legal term for an incendiary, a person guilty of arson.
The Judge may be refering to the kid's participation in burning down the hotel in Nacogdoches.
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word tapadero
A tapadero, sometimes referred to as a "hooded stirrup," is leather cover over the front of a stirrup on a saddle that closes each stirrup from the front.
August 9, 2017
Gammerstang commented on the word tlaco
A small copper coin used in 19th century Mexico worth 1/8 of a real.
August 9, 2017
alexz commented on the word aintcha
ain'tcha
August 9, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word sologamist
http://www.etiquettehell.com/?p=5120
In the new trend called “sologamy,” women are committing themselves to themselves with their own wedding ceremony. These women, such as self-styled “sologamist” Erika Anderson, throw on a white gown, invite their close friends and family and marry themselves in a legally nonbinding way.
August 9, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word sologamy
http://www.etiquettehell.com/?p=5120
In the new trend called “sologamy,” women are committing themselves to themselves with their own wedding ceremony. These women, such as self-styled “sologamist” Erika Anderson, throw on a white gown, invite their close friends and family and marry themselves in a legally nonbinding way.
August 9, 2017
MaryW commented on the word fire borrowing
In Our View: Put Out 'Fire Borrowing', The Columbian, June 19, 2017Western Governors Urge Congress: Make End to 'Fire Borrowing' Top Priority, Western Governors' Association, Nov. 15, 2016August 8, 2017
MaryW commented on the word go through
Go Throughs to Get Through: Low Income Young Adults and Mental Health, CLASP (June 5, 2017)
August 8, 2017
bilby commented on the word firedim
Apparently some kind of stone.
"To the north were the mines themselves: dangerous, undershored scratch drifts that went down fifty feet or so and then spread like fingers clutching for gold and silver and copper and the occasional nest of firedims. From the outside they were just holes punched into the bare and rocky earth, holes like staring eyes, each with its own pile of till and scrapings beside the adit." From Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
August 8, 2017
bilby commented on the user Tigerrel
SPAM
August 8, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word interoception
"Few neuroscientists still believe in an immaterial soul. Yet many follow Descartes in claiming that conscious experience involves awareness of a ‘thinking thing’: the self. There is an emerging consensus that such self-awareness is actually a form of bodily awareness, produced (at least in part) by interoception, our ability to monitor and detect autonomic and visceral processes. For example, the feeling of an elevated heart rate can provide information to the embodied organism that it is in a dangerous or difficult situation."
-- https://aeon.co/essays/psychedelics-work-by-violating-our-models-of-self-and-the-world
August 8, 2017
qms commented on the word adit
They say the great pyramid had it,
Though sheathing of marble once clad it:
The way to the tomb
(And curses of doom)
Began with a well-hidden adit.
August 8, 2017
alexz commented on the word sequester carbon
'“sequester carbon” is ruled out and replaced by “build soil organic matter”.' - Guardian article climate change
August 7, 2017
alexz commented on the word reduce greenhouse gases
'with the term “reduce greenhouse gases” blacklisted in favor of “build soil organic matter, increase nutrient use efficiency”. ' - Guardian article on banned terms. climate change
August 7, 2017
alexz commented on the word climate change adaption
'Instead of “climate change adaption”, staff are asked to use “resilience to weather extremes”' Guardian article climate change
August 7, 2017
alexz commented on the word climate change
Term now banned by the USDA https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/07/usda-climate-change-language-censorship-emails
'“Climate change” is in the “avoid” category, to be replaced by “weather extremes”. '
August 7, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word tork
See comments on torks, torque, etc.
August 7, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word torque
There were a couple of examples over on torked.
August 7, 2017
TankHughes commented on the user Giovy
enough already! :)
August 7, 2017
qms commented on the word epigone
He copied the language and tone
The goblin prefers on the phone,
But, lacking the bite
Of soul-searing spite,
The Mooch proved a pale epigone.
August 7, 2017
qms commented on the word torque
torque, v. to offend, to arouse anger.
Ex.: Police say that between four counties, Jack McPeak stole flags from fire departments, schools, cemeteries, “and the one that really torques me off,” said Keith County Sheriff Jeff Stevens, “the American Legion.”
https://www.facebook.com/NPTelegraph/posts/1350267468330821
Google "really torques me" to find many such examples. Kitit, in comments at tork, reports that this expression was common when he was a teenager in the 1960s. I am about the same age as Kitit and I do not recall hearing this expression while growing up in New England. It may be a regionalism.
August 7, 2017
bilby commented on the word torks
I'd say it's relatively common for words to go out of fashion, especially words that are primarily in use in spoken language rather than written. Why is a difficult question and generally not one that linguists address.
August 7, 2017