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- Adopt your own word here!
qms commented on the word oniomania
Now some people browse for a swap
And others use Paypal to shop,
But oniomania
Infects certain crania
And online they never need stop.
June 24, 2018
bilby commented on the word epiblast
No -blast list? No blasted lists?
June 24, 2018
bilby commented on the word Xamax
A palindromic football team from Neuchatel, Switzerland. I presume they play something like a 1-3-3-3-1 formation.
June 24, 2018
qms commented on the word sapropel
Antiquity’s singers were apt to tell
Of ominous blooms of asphodel.
Persephone’s bower
Was full of this flower,
Bred of the netherworld’s sapropel.
June 23, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the word heliox
"Heliox generates less airway resistance than air and thereby requires less mechanical energy to ventilate the lungs. "Work of Breathing" (WOB) is reduced. It does this by two mechanisms:
1.increased tendency to laminar flow;
2.reduced resistance in turbulent flow."
-- From Wikipedia's heliox page: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heliox&oldid=835607282
June 22, 2018
qms commented on the word myrmecophagous
Big Bird, on a new diet slant,
Suggests that his pal eat an ant,
But Ol’ Snuffleupagus
Is not myrmecophagous.
He tries to comply but he can’t.
June 22, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the word epiblast
From The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia:
"In botany, a name applied by Richard to a second small cotyledon which is found in wheat and some other grasses.
In embryology, the outer or external blastodermic membrane or layer of cells, forming the ectoderm or epiderm: distinguished at first from hypoblast, then from both hypoblast and mesoblast. See cut under blastocæle."
June 21, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the user postnomer
I like your lists.
June 21, 2018
qms commented on the word cark
For pessimists life has gone dark
Lit only by danger’s faint spark.
Expressions of joy
Serve but to annoy
A sufferer shrouded in cark.
June 21, 2018
alexz commented on the word shiggrins
spotted as "just for shiggrins"
June 21, 2018
infinitypineapple commented on the word confrizzled
confused, but less frazzled than confuzzled, and more positive than confused
June 20, 2018
infinitypineapple commented on the word yapity
basically yep, like yerp, but excited and fun
June 20, 2018
infinitypineapple commented on the word yerp
yerp just means yep but is more fun
June 20, 2018
qms commented on the word estivate
When striving and troublesome quest abate
And days of diversion and rest await,
I’ll work to no goal
Nor pay labor’s toll,
For starting tomorrow I’ll estivate.
June 20, 2018
alexz commented on the word QT
twitterese for 'quote tweet'
June 20, 2018
qms commented on the word bittock
It pleases us all to play critic
And make our assessments acidic.
Oh, let us not hasten
To cavil and chasten
But walk with the other a bittock.
June 19, 2018
alexz commented on the word metamorph
Science fiction - a shape shifter. Goes back to at least 1979
June 19, 2018
alexz commented on the word šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn
New place name in Vancouver. The plaza by the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
June 19, 2018
qms commented on the word chiliagon
There’s many a line to be drawn
To finish my chiliagon.
With pencils and rules
And paper my tools
With patience I’ll see you anon.
June 18, 2018
alexz commented on the word battle royale
Computer gaming - refers to a game where huge teams play against each other.
ie, 50 vs 50, last team standing wins.
June 17, 2018
qms commented on the word ectype
Warhol had an ingenious plan
To paint a tomato soup can.
He knew to expect hype
And many an ectype.
Call Andy a shrewd businessman.
June 17, 2018
alexz commented on the word ☮
The symbol comes from the semaphores for N and D which stand for Nuclear Disarmament
June 17, 2018
alexz commented on the word smancy
schmancy
June 16, 2018
alexz commented on the word HIIT
High Intensity Interval Training
June 16, 2018
qms commented on the word foregleam
We plan, we prepare and we scheme
Constructing the future we dream,
But by nature’s kindness
We’re sheltered by blindness
And spared the despair of foregleam.
June 16, 2018
scarequotes commented on the word foldering
https://twitter.com/MarshallCohen/status/1007667538786963456
Prosecutors said Manafort used a method called "foldering" to covertly talk to people. It's not that complicated: He made an email account and shared the password. He wrote messages but saved them as drafts, never sending actual emails. Other guys open the draft, read it, delete.
June 16, 2018
qms commented on the word rate
Its origin in Middle English raten etc. is thoroughly documented above.
June 15, 2018
jboyd commented on the word rate
"Origin unknown" (according to the OED) only for the verb in sense "to scold."
June 15, 2018
qms commented on the word squandermania
The cries made in old Pomerania
Are echoed in our Pennsylvania.
The party that’s out
Still gives a great shout
Of outrage at such squandermania.
June 15, 2018
alexz commented on the word wit
slang shortening of with
June 15, 2018
alexz commented on the word fittinta
fittin ta
June 15, 2018
alexz commented on the word ikr
I know, right?
Also IKR
June 14, 2018
alexz commented on the word Periodontology
Glitched definition
June 14, 2018
qms commented on the word thunderation
The goblin in triumph has stunned the nation;
Let’s pray that his tenure is one duration.
What words can convey
Our fear and dismay?
Oh dammit! And bother! And thunderation!
June 14, 2018
alexz commented on the word fawn-napping
Spotted in the news. Leave the baby deer alone.
June 14, 2018
qms commented on the word auspicate
Philosophers routinely postulate
And pundits are prone to prognosticate
But if you’d be blessed
A twitcher knows best,
Whose passion is always to auspicate.
June 13, 2018
qms commented on the word vilipend
To those who will beg to be friend
The goblin may well condescend.
A different matter
Are those who won’t flatter
And these he is pleased to vilipend.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word teleolexical
—Erin McKeanJune 12, 2018
ry commented on the word Antum
There is a definition under antum. The consort of the sky god Anu in ancient Babylonian myth.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word Taprobane
pronounced tap-ROB-a-nee. Name used by the ancient Greeks, from the time of Alexander, to refer to the island of Sri Lanka.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word Taprobana
see Taprobane
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word lapis exilis
In ancient alchemy, a precious stone believed to cause the phoenix to renew its youth. Also referred to as the "slender stone." In the work of 13th-century minnesinger Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Lapis exilis is conflated with the Holy Grail.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word Molokan
A member of various Russian free-thinking Christian sects.
From Wikipedia:
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word vis inertiae
from Wiktionary:
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word roister
never thought I would like a piece of verse with the word 'moister' in it, but the conceit has now proven false.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word hypoechogenic
in medicine, refers to body parts that are minimally echogenic, reflecting less sound waves in ultrasound scanning.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word atramentum
obsolete form of atrament. In ancient Rome, atramentum referred to various types of black coloring matter, such as writing ink or octopus ink.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word amarevole
In music, "with bitterness;" "poignantly." Used as a musical direction
June 11, 2018
ry commented on the word retrocausation
see retrocausality
June 11, 2018
bilby commented on the word soveniht
Middle English form of sennight, a week.
June 11, 2018
qms commented on the word dehort
Should friends be inclined to support
Or join in the trumpish cohort
Then make it your chore
To strongly deplore,
To reason, implore and dehort.
June 11, 2018
jodi commented on the word put a term to
end/put an end to (slang)
June 10, 2018
jodi commented on the word ampula
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampulla
June 10, 2018
jodi commented on the word ampula
See ampulla
June 10, 2018
jodi commented on the word put a ferret down the hole
Figurative example of flushing out:
"The second was when I asked to see the culture minister to tell him about a festival we were planning, Britain in Greece. I got no answer from his office, so I tried again. When I got no answer the third time I put a ferret down the hole to find out what was going on. My ferret reported that the minister, who was a distinguished musician but no politician, didn’t want to see me because he knew that if he did he would have to bang on about the marbles, but he wasn’t interested and didn’t want to. I left it at that."
Clooney and the Marbles
Oliver Miles
13 February 2014
https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2014/02/13/oliver-miles/clooney-and-the-marbles/
June 10, 2018
jodi commented on the word put a ferret down the hole
Literal example, from hunting:
THE WAR YEARS by Derek and Alan Wheeler, Bromton Regis, UK
http://bromptonregis.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/1939-The-War-Years-Edited.pdf
"With dogs, a load of green string nets and two ferrets in a sack, we’d go to a rabbit warren which we knew, from the rabbit dung, was occupied. Then we’d put nets over all the rabbit holes we could see or get at, put a ferret down the hole and wait. It would not be long before a rabbit came bounding out of a hole, often one we had not netted, in thick brambles. Then the animal would either run down another hole, often netted, or across the field, zigzagging, with the dogs in hot pursuit."
Similar, more detail: http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/7492920.The_merits_of_ferrets/
1st November 2004
The merits of ferrets
Worcester News
June 10, 2018
jodi commented on the word put a ferret down the hole
To flush out.
June 10, 2018
jodi commented on the word cow-kick
"Cow-kicking is when a horse (or cow!) kicks out to the side with a hind leg. It got its name from cows that kicked when being milked."
https://www.horsekeeping.com/ask-cherry/20080503-cowkicking.htm
June 10, 2018
qms commented on the word ephemeron
The mayfly begins life at dawn,
By sundown the wee beast is gone,
And all it desires
Before it expires
Is love with a friendly ephemeron.
June 10, 2018
qms commented on the word roister
It would be shellfish of me to want more praise.
June 10, 2018
dogmeet commented on the word mrjyn
Stats
‘mrjyn’ has been looked up 1688 times, has been favorited 1 time, is on no lists yet, has no comments yet, and is not a valid Scrabble word
June 10, 2018
bilby commented on the word roister
Sublime qms!
June 10, 2018
qms commented on the word roister
When high tide arrives they get moister,
Then quahogs and cherrystones roister,
But twice-daily frolics
Of mud-dwelling mollusks
Are spurned by the dignified oyster.
June 9, 2018
binbash commented on the user binbash
thannks
June 9, 2018
madmouth commented on the word cunctatory
I dig this change in meter. Makes one pause to Think
June 9, 2018
madmouth commented on the word floxinoxinihilipilification
As One Does
June 9, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the word Euler's identity
See citation (with a bit about Gauss) on pons asinorum.
June 8, 2018
bilby commented on the word floxinoxinihilipilification
Maybe he was thinking of floxi, noxi and curtaintail.
June 8, 2018
bilby commented on the word Limerick
Wot, no limericks?
June 8, 2018
qms commented on the word bullyrag
Oh, why must her tongue unduly wag
And flail like a scourge to cruelly nag?
Her chosen life path
Is unbridled wrath
To hector and chide and bullyrag.
June 8, 2018
azhar_mz commented on the user azhar_mz
indisputable
June 8, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the word Diophantus of Alexandria
"While reading Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac's edition of Diophantus' Arithmetica, Pierre de Fermat concluded that a certain equation considered by Diophantus had no solutions, and noted in the margin without elaboration that he had found "a truly marvelous proof of this proposition," now referred to as Fermat's Last Theorem. This led to tremendous advances in number theory, and the study of Diophantine equations ("Diophantine geometry") and of Diophantine approximations remain important areas of mathematical research."
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diophantus&oldid=842662729
June 7, 2018
qms commented on the word cunctative
Also see comments at cunctatory.
June 7, 2018
qms commented on the word cunctatory
Old Aesop once in drunken glory
Concocted a famed but bunkum story
Of rabbit and turtle.
A tale ever fertile
That comforts today the cunctatory.
Also see comments at cunctative.
June 7, 2018
bilby commented on the word floxinoxinihilipilification
Oh help, it's been adopted too.
June 7, 2018
bilby commented on the word spruit
Very good, and bonus points for use of rivulet.
June 7, 2018
alexz commented on the word putchist
That would make sense.
June 6, 2018
qms commented on the word spruit
What praise has this rivulet due it
That dies if the dew not renew it?
But readers are fickle
And even this trickle
Gains charm if you call it a spruit.
June 6, 2018
rebeca commented on the word Mitty
After the title character in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a short story by James Thurber, later made into a movie (1947) of the same name, with a remake released in 2013.
June 6, 2018
qms commented on the word putchist
Misspelling of putschist?
June 6, 2018
alexz commented on the word putchist
no idea what this word means.
spotted in the news.
June 6, 2018
alexz commented on the word hexa-core
having 6 cpu cores
June 6, 2018
fbharjo commented on the word can
can dew??
June 6, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the word can
Cogito ergo can.
June 5, 2018
bilby commented on the word Schwellenangst
I think the implication is that people who are afraid to enter a place, ie. cross a threshold, are afraid of trying something new. Hence they are difficult customers to entice.
June 5, 2018
fbharjo commented on the word can
can is heavy light. can is uncanny,canny hope.
June 5, 2018
vendingmachine commented on the word Schwellenangst
Fear of crossing a threshold to embark on something new.
What's with the potential customer in the definition from Wiki?
June 5, 2018
qms commented on the word vacillant
Be patient with Malcolm the malcontent.
It’s not that he’s always recalcitrant,
But suffers from bouts
Of worries and doubts
That make him reluctant and vacillant.
June 5, 2018
ry commented on the word glitch definition
PSA: I have been using this to tag "words" whose definitions that belong to other words entirely. Anyone else is of course welcome to do the same.
There are also alexz's glitched-definitions and TankHughes' this-definition-is-wrong lists.
Eyebeam is amusing.
June 4, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
Aw, shucks. Thanks vm. I love this site and everyone here--and I'm glad you're on the remarkable list, too.
June 4, 2018
vendingmachine commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
ru: the day you started contributing to wordnik was--and continues to be!-- pure awesomeness. I love the way you think. You should be on a remarkable list yourself: a list of remarkable people! ♥♥♥♥
June 4, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the word Euler
"Euler's work touched upon so many fields that he is often the earliest written reference on a given matter. In an effort to avoid naming everything after Euler, some discoveries and theorems are attributed to the first person to have proved them after Euler."
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_things_named_after_Leonhard_Euler&oldid=844040346
June 4, 2018
ruzuzu commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
I've been having fun with the "List of things named after Leonhard Euler" page.
June 4, 2018
erinmckean commented on the word aphilopony
An aversion to work: "He suggests that we make use rather of indifferent Greek terms like "philopony" (love of effort) and its opposite "aphilopony" (distaste for effort.)" The Nation's Health, Volume 9
June 4, 2018
qms commented on the word geoponic
The stirring in regions chthonic
And warming of earth are synchronic
As seeds grow and flourish
To comfort and nourish,
Encouraged by skills geoponic.
June 4, 2018
bilby commented on the word to guild the lily
May I suggest this should be gild.
June 4, 2018
MaryW commented on the word cockpit parent
Christine Hassler, Cockpit Parents: How They're Flying 20-Somethings into the Ground, Huffpost Blog (March 18, 2011)June 3, 2018
MaryW commented on the word cockpit parenting
Christine Hassler, Cockpit Parents: How They're Flying 20-Somethings into the Ground, Huffpost Blog (March 18, 2011)June 3, 2018
MaryW commented on the word sexbot
John Danaher, "Should We Be Thinking About Robot Sex?", in John Danaher & Neil McArthur, eds., Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2017), pp. 4-5Danaher and other contributors to the book seem to use sex robot interchangeably with sexbot.
June 3, 2018
MaryW commented on the word sex robot
John Danaher, "Should We Be Thinking About Robot Sex?", in John Danaher & Neil McArthur, eds., Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2017), pp. 4-5Danaher and other contributors to the book seem to use sex robot interchangeably with sexbot.
June 3, 2018