Yeah, the script is beautiful. If and when you slow down on the list, would you mind tagging the whole thing 'georgian,' for the record? You can use the 'add tags' link below the title of any of your own lists to tag all the words in a given list in one fell swoop.
“Each team fields five players at a time. Out of those five players, four are blockers and one is the jammer (point scorer). The four blockers from each team line up together and form a pack, while the two jammers line up 30 feet behind.�?
“The skater wearing the star on her helmet is the jammer. The skater wearing the stripe on her helmet is called the PIVOT. The pivot is the pack leader and defensive play caller, similar to football's middle linebacker position.�?
“The objectives of roller derby are relatively simple. Each team fields a single point scoring skater ("Jammer") whose object is to lap as many opposing skaters as they can.�?
“Stress may be most readily associated with the attosecond pace of postindustrial society, but the body’s stress response is one of our oldest possessions.�?
“And though perseverance can be an admirable trait and is essential for all success in life, when taken too far it becomes perseveration — uncontrollable repetition — or simple perversity.�?
“Returning to his home state of Pernambuco in northeast Brazil, Otto quickly became a part of the mangue bit movement, which fused home-grown rhythms like the maracatu, frevo and ciranda with the latest in imported computer and studio technology.�?
Before it became a bad word, “boondoggle�? was an innocent, humble craft. It was the Boy Scouts of America who claimed credit for coining the word, to refer to the plaited leather lanyards that they made and wore around their necks.
That all changed on April 3, 1935, at a hearing in New York City on how New Deal relief money was being spent. A Brooklyn crafts teacher reluctantly testified that he was paid to show the jobless how to make “boon doggles.�? The outcry was swift. “$3,187,000 Relief is Spent to Teach Jobless to Play,�? trumpeted a front-page headline the next day in The New York Times. “ ‘Boon Doggles’ Made.�?
“Carlo Marioni, 65, a New York bartender with more than 40 years’ experience who now works at Pietro’s, agreed: “Those years, for lunch, they used to drink three martinis. Then they’d come back before dinner for rusty nails, white spiders.�?
In response to some of VanishedOne's comments on Ruby on Rails, the new browse links on the homepage now also let you see words and phrases that start with punctuation.
This is a work on progress, as tends to be the case with things I start on the train ride home and deploy the same night.
From now I'll put this New Jersey Transit logo on quick-and-dirty train work: .
This is not a commentary on NJTransit, which generally does a fine job, and which Wordie owes much.
“The "nillies" seems to lack the correct ring, while the "double-o"s is bound to be the intellectual property of Ian Fleming's estate.
Reggie Kray might favour the 'noughties' The "noughties" could be the one to head the - admittedly sorry - list of contenders.
And yet the "noughties" still sounds like a word East End villains might use to describe imprisonable activities - or even worse a polite, middle-class code for the reproductive organs.�?
Yeah, that would be me. I just added a 'browse' section to the right column of the home page, which presents every word and phrase on Wordie listed in alphabetical order. Briefly borked things when I moved it into production.
All better now. Let me know if there's anything I can do to improve that 'browse' business. It's partly for the machines amongst us, but I found it a lot of fun to poke through.
“Dalton is the editor of “Mythtym,�? a new anthology of essays, fiction and artwork -- both serious and campy -- about werewolves, unicorns and what she calls “mirror horror.�? As she explains: “If you watch enough of those movies, they’re all exactly the same. These splattercore movies have their own tropes -- like how the best way to show blood is to cut someone up in the shower so you see it on the tiles. But then you realize that these clichés are based on archetypes. The mirror as a symbol seems most powerful in a time of fear, when people step back and look at themselves.�?
“For instance, a lot of the things that high-minded left-wingers hate about contemporary Washington — the legal corruption, if you will, associated with lobbying and influence peddling and corporate money — are a direct result of having built a big, expensive government that every would-be macher in the world feels they need to influence.�?
I think so. This was in Portland, Maine, in the mid-nineties. The cool racer guys were often as not from other shops; we were more like the scrappy punk rock (the staff) and family (the customers) shop. We were the only proper bike shop in town selling tricycles, I think. I moved, sadly, but they're still there: Back Bay Bicycle. Stop in if you're in Portland, they're super nice.
In my misbegotten youth I was a bicycle mechanic, and the cool racer types who hung around the shop where I worked would dismissively refer to non-cool-racer types as "Freds." Freds are the kind of cyclists who don't ride much, but are over-geared. They have little rear-view mirrors glued onto their helmets, and a spare tire and a pump and two water bottles and a little toolkit and an altimeter strapped or bolted onto different parts of their bike frame. Freds have kickstands and fenders and a rack and a bell. They have a little basket on their handlebars. They both tuck their pant legs into their socks and wear a reflective strap on each ankle to prevent getting chain grease on their trousers. And most of all, Freds are squirrely: they have trouble riding in a straight line, possibly because of all the appurtenances affixed to their bike and their person. So you don't want to ride too close to a Fred, because they're unpredictable and despite their harmless appearance, inadvertently dangerous.
“Was Manson's dress rehearsal for homicide, known as "creepy crawling", some kind of humorous terrorism that might have been fun? Breaking silently into middle-class "pigs'" homes with your friends while you are tripping on LSD and gathering around the sleeping residents in their beds, not to harm them but to watch them sleep (the way Warhol did in that movie) and "experiencing the fear"? It does sound like it could have been a mind-bending adventure. When the Mansonites went further and moved the furniture around before they left, just to fuck with the waking homeowners' perception of reality, was this beautiful or evil? Could the Manson Family's actions also be some kind of freakish "art"?�?
Just rescued this from the orphanage, so someone besides myself originally entered it. Can't find much on it anywhere, except for this blog post, which defines it as "the essence, nature, or distinctive peculiarity of a thing."
Fine word, somewhat mysterious. Anyone know any more about it?
Thanks much for the reports--I've been fiddling about again, if you hadn't guessed :-) It's for the best in the long run, but sorry for the recent collateral damage.
Profiles should be fixed (sorry for disappearing you skipvia), the duplicate derelict has been evicted, and the comment page profiles are properly possessive.
Treeseed, private notes were broken when you reported that, but they should be fixed now. If that's not the case for you would you mind emailing me, and letting me know what browser you're using?
Sionnach, I still have no idea what's causing your duplicates (I can't duplicate the bug). I may email you, if you don't mind, and ask for specifics to help me debug. I'm really sorry about that--I very much don't want a bug to drive away a favorite Wordie, but I can see how it would be maddening.
“She and the group of mothers she helps organize have become the only bulwark, it seems, against the irrepressible spread of paco, a highly addictive, smokable cocaine residue that has destroyed thousands of lives in Argentina and caused a cycle of drug-induced street violence never seen before in this country.�?
Oh bring it on—I love this line of attack. The longer the idiotocracy running the Republican party persists in this retrograde nonsense, the longer they'll stumble around in the wilderness losing elections. Morality aside, the demographics are just against them. America is a diverse place and getting more so, and tactics that intentionally alienate everyone but the ever-shrinking rump Republican base guarantee failure.
They'll figure this out eventually and try to start appealing to a wider audience. But if they get thrashed for a few more election cycles before that happens, I wouldn't mind. Palin in 2112!
Don't be vague like that, lg_nazi. Have the courage of your convictions. What, exactly, is Obama trying to sell? What groups is he disproportionately favoring?
The group that has most benefitted from his policies has certainly been the bankers he bailed out. So if you're talking about rich white people, I agree with you entirely.
Glenn Beck is a douche-cock. That said, there's a very popular web site dedicated to answering skipvia's very question. To me, it's embodied by the Volvo 240 station wagon.
“The ability to pick odd shapes masked in complex backgrounds — a “Where’s Waldo�? type of skill that some call anomaly detection — also predicted performance on some of the roadside bomb simulations.�?
Can't believe this hadn't been listed yet. It refers to the prime starting position in horse and car racing: at the front of the pack, on the inside. It's also the name of a great (for its time) arcade video game of the early 80s.
Anyone know of any good motor sports or automotive or racing lists?
“Frigor�? is one of the names given by 19th-century scientists to the realm of absolute zero, the bottom limit of cold. This is a place, the chemist and physicist James Dewar imagined, so cold that molecular motion ceases and the “death of matter�? ensues.
The New York Times, Less Than Zero, by Mary Roach, July 23, 2009
“McGinley and Colen met Snow when they were in art school (at Parsons and RISD, respectively) and Snow was 16 and living on 13th Street in Alphabet City and starting a graffiti crew called Irak (in graffiti slang, to “rak�? is to steal, which they did) with a guy named Ace Boon Kunle, “a big, black homosexual,�? as McGinley describes him, whose tag is Earsnot.�?
New York Magazine, Chasing Dash Snow, by Ariel Levy, January 7, 2007
“Being an astronomy buff used to be a lonely pursuit, just you and the telescope, staring up into the night sky. But in an age when anyone can make a planetary discovery through a $400 telescope then instantly share it with the world — hey, check out my cool Jupiter shots on Flickr! — amateur astronomers have capitalized on opportunities like the big thud on the Jovian gas giant to confirm that they are not alone.�?
“Fujifilm says its $280 FinePix F70EXR and $600 FinePix S200EXR use its advanced EXR sensor and multiframe technology to enable users to simulate the wide-aperture background blurs (or bokeh) of D.S.L.R. cameras.�?
“Have the 1990s vanished so quickly from memory? Has Hillary Clinton’s murder of Vince Foster, shooting him in the head with a lesbian bullet, been so completely forgotten?�?
Whiskey Fire, Regions of My Disease, by Marc Ambinder, July 22, 2009, as quoted in The New York Times, ‘Birther’ Boom, by Eric Etheridge, July 22, 2009
“The Baron clanked in on his pointy silver-capped cowboy boots and began poking around, asking questions about the Southern Mexican cuisine on the menu — What was the difference between a cemita and a torta? Do they ever cook with chumiles, a tiny, fragrant insect sometimes used in salsa? — while Ms. Mata got busy at the stove.�?
“The Japanese have a name for their problem: Galápagos syndrome.
Japan’s cellphones are like the endemic species that Darwin encountered on the Galápagos Islands — fantastically evolved and divergent from their mainland cousins — explains Takeshi Natsuno, who teaches at Tokyo’s Keio University.�?
“Lena was farmed out fairly frequently and had to endure occasional racist slurs, beatings for minor infractions and schoolgirl mockery: she was called “little yellow bastard�? because of her supposedly “white daddy.�? At age 16, to the disapproval of some family members, she became a chorine at the celebrated Cotton Club, where Ethel Waters singing “Stormy Weather�? had a lasting effect on her.�?
“Assassination is a word that still haunts the C.I.A. The most lurid of the volumes produced by the Senate committee headed by Frank Church of Idaho in the mid-1970s detailed the C.I.A.’s plots to kill foreign political figures, including Cuba’s Fidel Castro and the Congo’s Patrice Lumumba. Such intrigues were overseen by the agency’s so-called Health Alteration Committee, which once O.K.’d the dispatch of a monogrammed, poisoned handkerchief to a left-leaning Iraqi colonel.�?
Hi briwref! Thanks for all the collective nouns--I love "A darth of cheneys" :-)
The ones you added as comments to a shrink of violets, would you mind adding them to the list itself? It's growing to be quite a fantastic open list, your additions would be most welcome there.
“In the lexicon of Santeria, “aché�? is the term applied to the life force, or to vital energy and good vibes. That word turns up in Caridad De La Luz’s new Off Broadway production, “Boogie Rican Blvd., the Musical,�? but in a larger sense Ms. De La Luz herself seems to embody and be guided by those qualities, both onstage and off.�?
“In 1952, the first presidential year in which television outshined radio, Mr. Cronkite was chosen to lead the coverage of the Democratic and Republican national conventions. By Mr. Cronkite’s account, it was then that the term “anchor�? was first used — by Sig Mickelson, the first director of television news for CBS, who had likened the chief announcer’s job to an anchor that holds a boat in place. Paul Levitan, another CBS executive, and Don Hewitt, then a young producer, have also been credited with the phrase.�?
“Along with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley on NBC, Mr. Cronkite was among the first celebrity anchormen. In 1995, 14 years after he retired from the “CBS Evening News,�? a TV Guide poll ranked him No. 1 in seven of eight categories for measuring television journalists. (He professed incomprehension that Maria Shriver beat him out in the eighth category, attractiveness.) He was so widely known that in Sweden anchormen were once called Cronkiters.�?
“A highly contagious fungus that destroys tomato plants has quickly spread to nearly every state in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic, and the weather over the next week may determine whether the outbreak abates or whether tomato crops are ruined, according to federal and state agriculture officials.
The spores of the fungus, called late blight, are often present in the soil, and small outbreaks are not uncommon in August and September. But the cool, wet weather in June and the aggressively infectious nature of the pathogen have combined to produce what Martin A. Draper, a senior plant pathologist at the United States Department of Agriculture, described as an “explosive” rate of infection.”
Hi EscapeMN, thanks for the words and the definition. A bit of guidance, if you don't mind: if you add those two words (epiplexis and epiplectic) to the list by putting them in the 'add word' form and hitting 'add', they'll be put into Wordie in a way that lets you see who else has listed those words, and it will let other people add them to their lists. That also creates a unique page for the word, and lets you add comments and definitions to the word page itself.
Ga, Sionnach, I somehow missed your bug report a few weeks ago about all the duplicates. I'll look into that ASAP, which unfortunately probably means this coming weekend. Last thing in the world I want is to diminish Wordie's appeal to you :-)
I was dubious that the anus could be considered a gland, but apparently in hyenas and dogs there is indeed an anal gland. Which sometimes requires grooming. Yuck.
“The club is “a place to see and be seen,” as its Web site says — that is, unless you are a visiting president who after a day and a half of blinis, beluga and bilats (the diplo term for “bilateral meetings”) just wants to hang out with the clan.”
“Outside the hall where the Naz Foundation news conference was held, dozens of young men and women gathered to celebrate, along with a group of hijras, men who dress and act like women who classify themselves as belonging to neither gender.”
Doesn't mentos have some meaning in Greek, in addition to being a breath mint? But this just struck me as a nice bit of freely-associated doggerel. And I love the phrase "copy-off." And I love that the list it's on is called "Jejuju"--I have no idea what that means, either, and Gooble isn't helping.
“Unlike his father, a volatile and uneven performer, Mr. Khan maintained an austere demeanor onstage while coaxing passages of extraordinary intensity from his sarod, an instrument with 25 strings, 10 plucked with a piece of coconut shell while the remainder resonate sympathetically.”
U, can't believe I missed this list first time around. I have a love-hate (ok, mostly hate) relationship with the words on it, but I love the list itself. And I really appreciate you putting into words, in the description, the inchoate discomfort this kind of language makes me feel, and your recognition that these are all of a piece. They're not just words, they epitomize a syndrome. I can live with rancor and bad spelling, but the cutesy superiority complex part is nauseating.
I'm very catholic in my appreciation of condiments. To paraphrase Will Rogers, I never met one I didn't like. There's a greasy burger place in the building where I work. I'm on the 2nd floor, and the kitchen is almost directly below my desk--I'm trying to convince them to install a dumbwaiter. When you order a cheeseburger, they always ask "ketchup, mustard, or mayo," to which I always answer, yes.
ps -- Can any further discussion about this take place over on advertising, please? Barbecue is a very nice word and I'd rather not pollute it with talk of base commerce.
I would give my left pinkie for a really good pulled pork sandwich right now. With pickles.
Arcadia, are you sure whatever pop-up you saw wasn't triggered by some other page? I use Google Adsense for ads, and the only kind of ads I have configured are the 250x250 jobbies you see in the upper right. I don't think Google even offers popups, and if they did I'd probably drop them all together. Which would really hit me where it hurts, since I average around $2.50 a day from them.
From dictionary.com: "A heavy rapier of the 17th century, having a swept guard with two perforated plates. Also called a Walloon sword. Named after Gottfried Heinrich, Graf zu Pappenheim (1594–1632), German leader in the Thirty Years' War"
Howdy, quick-draw mcgraw. I must say, this is one of the more unique off-label uses of Wordie. It's vaguely spammish, but after asking the ouija board, I'm gonna say it's not exactly spam, since you're not linking to anything promotional.
But... are you really going to send this to prospective employers?
“If we need to basically depend on the endowment, let’s increase the take rate,” Mr. Greenberg said, referring to the percentage of the endowment drawn down by the college every year.
“Still, Erin Fitzgerald, director of social and environmental consulting for Dairy Management, says the industry wants to avert the possibility that customers will equate dairies with, say, coal plants. It has started a “cow of the future” program, looking for ways to reduce total industry emissions by 25 percent by the end of the next decade.”
Funemployment. Paycation. The Unemploymentality. Every generation has an argot to describe the confusing terrain of joblessness — the dole, deadbeat dads, UB40, and so on — and the lexicon of younger casualties in the most severe American economic downturn since World War II speaks volumes.
Here's how the blog Recessionwire defines “funemployment”: “A period of joblessness that you actually enjoy — maybe you get to lay out, sleep in, work out, read up. It helps to have savings, severance, or an unemployment check to help pay the bills. We're hearing this word used more and more, especially as people realize they may not be able to find a new job right away, so they might as well try to enjoy the time off.”
“The Alexander merited a place of honor on Esquire’s list of “the pansies,” the worst drinks of the Prohibition era. These included long-forgotten abominations like the Sweetheart, the Fluffy Ruffles, the Pom Pom and the Cream Fizz.”
The New York Times, Bar? What Bar?, by William Grimes, June 2, 2009
Mr. Bigsby, the sympathetic biographer, does give a strong taste of Miller’s critics. More than a few saw his work as programmatic. Mary McCarthy, for one, wrote that “Death of a Salesman” was “enfeebled” by Miller’s “insistence on universality.”
“But some sociologists pointed out that African-American boys and men have been hugging as part of their greeting for decades, using the word “dap” to describe a ritual involving handshakes, slaps on the shoulders and, more recently, a hug, also sometimes called the gangsta hug among urban youth.”
“The prevalence of boys’ nonromantic hugging (especially of other boys) is most striking to adults. Experts say that over the last generation, boys have become more comfortable expressing emotion, as embodied by the MTV show “Bromance,” which is now a widely used term for affection between straight male friends.”
Pro, I feel for you, and at the same time I'm envious. Having moved too many times, the very notion of being able to call anyone my people seems fantastic. It sounds like a gift you'll always have, wherever you live.
I spent 7 years in New York and know what an alienating place it can be, even if you love it. I hope you find some peace while you struggle with the tension between roots and opportunity.
The concept of ultrasmart computers — machines with “greater than human intelligence�? — was dubbed “The Singularity�? in a 1993 paper by the computer scientist and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge. He argued that the acceleration of technological progress had led to “the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.�?...
The science fiction author Ken MacLeod described the idea of the singularity as “the Rapture of the nerds.�?
Great Chomsky quote (something I don't think I've ever said before), also on the Wikipedia page sarra links to below:
"He asks why postmodernist intellectuals won't respond as "people in physics, math, biology, linguistics, and other fields are happy to do when someone asks them, seriously, what are the principles of their theories, on what evidence are they based, what do they explain that wasn't already obvious, etc? These are fair requests for anyone to make. If they can't be met, then I'd suggest recourse to Hume's advice in similar circumstances: to the flames.".
Alandriadenisewalker, I have no record of ever having received an email from the account you used to register for Wordie. If you have any questions or comments concerning Wordie that you'd rather send to me directly rather than through the site, please do, my contact info is on the about page.
Nice! From the link below: "A collection of award icons, banners, webrings and ads that clutter the bottom or top of a Web page. Like a race car covered in ads, they blur and become meaningless."
From an episode of Arrested Development: “Lucille always has trouble sleeping this time of year because she gets excited before Motherboy, a dinner dance aimed at promoting mother/son bonding.�?
“Grass-roots, antipirate militias are forming. Sheiks and government leaders are embarking on a campaign to excommunicate the pirates, telling them to get out of town and preaching at mosques for women not to marry these un-Islamic, thieving “burcad badeed,�? which in Somali translates as sea bandit.�?
“PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)�? spaces: temporary public parks.�?
“Gardnerella Vaginalis is an infection of the female genital tract by bacteria of the Gardnerella vaginalis strain, often in combination with various anaerobic bacteria. Also called bacterial vaginosis.�?
“One White House insider described Mr. LaHood as “a master of odd jobs,�? whose knowledge of Washington allows him to take on assignments as varied as lobbying lawmakers on the budget and helping political novices in the cabinet navigate Beltway social rituals (“cocktail situations,�? as Energy Secretary Steven Chu calls them).�?
Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean to get my kickers in a twist--I hate to be a hater.
There's nothing wrong with the word per se. It's just that there was a period in the nineties when it was in heavy rotation with a certain type of person, pseudo intellectual kids from the Northeast U.S. who went to a certain set of schools, read (or pretended to have read) a certain set of books, who dressed disturbingly alike, and who repeated certain words and phrases with a knowing glance, like they were occult signifiers to be shared only between initiates. "Heteronormative" was one of those words, and it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
“The basis of this resistance lay in the village, and its distinct form of community: the jati. These groups, numbering in the thousands, were governed by strict rules of endogamy and by taboos about purity, and arranged a social hierarchy: varna. The precise ideological sources of this system are obscure, but elements may be traced to one of the very late hymns of the Rig Veda, which describes the dismemberment of the cosmic giant Purusha, the primeval male whose sacrifice created the world: 'When they divided the Man, into how many parts did they apportion him? What do they call his mouth, his two arms and thighs and feet?/ His mouth became the Brahmin; his arms were made into the Warrior (kshatriya), his thighs the People (vaishiya), and from his feet the servants (shudra) were born.' The resulting intricate filigree of social interconnections and division -- a hierarchical order of peerless sophistication -- defies any simple account Perplexed Westerners came to describe it by the term 'caste', but a wide distance separates the deceptively well-defined doctrinal claims of the caste order and the actual operations of what is an essentially local, small-scale system.�?
“Many Paulistanos, as São Paulo residents are called, say the interminable stop-and-go traffic and the wide gap between haves and have-nots are recipes for assaults and carjackings, especially now that Brazil’s boom times have come to a halt.�?
I've heard too many pseudo-intellectual poseurs use this word to not dislike it--I buy the Valse hypothesis. All apologies to Rick Moody, but it has been ruined by semiotics majors from Brown, wearing clunky glasses and knit scarves and babbling about Derrida and reeking of smug.
So maybe it's not the word I dislike, but everyone I've ever met who has used it, up until now :-) Rolig, I very much appreciate your measured tone. You are Obama-like (Obamaesque? Obamian?) in your ability to speak dispassionately about topics that are sometimes combative or incendiary.
And knitandpurl, I agree it's useful to differentiate some of the trappings this word has acquired (pretention, smugness), from its original meaning, which certainly describes a real phenomenon.
“Ms. Lario’s latest criticism also comes in the context of speculation about a brewing power struggle between the children of Mr. Berlusconi’s first marriage, or “first bed,�? as the Italian phrase goes, and those of his second, with Ms. Lario, over his media and even political empire.�?
When I was in college in the late 80s and early 90s the term was LUG--Lesbian Until Graduation. I heard it from lesbian friends, talking about fears that they'd fall for someone who was only experimenting. I think it did say a lot about the people using it--it said they were scared of having their hearts broken. Like a lot of bitter words it was used to dispel or mask feelings of fear and vulnerability.
The norms in play, in my experience, were those of lesbians pissed off at breeders--a far nastier term in my book, though kind of funny in a perverse way.
“I’m going to turn over a new leaf, TROS, and make a conscious, conscientious effort to break myself of the bad habit of using the word “retard.�? But I don’t think the “retard jar�? is for me. Instead, I’m going to use a substitution for the word. From now on, instead of saying “retard�? or “that’s so retarded,�? I’m going to say “leotard�? and “that’s so leotarded.�? I won’t be mocking the mentally challenged, just the physically gifted. I will pick on the strong—and the limber—and not the weak.�?
“How many people does it take to change every light bulb in Grand Central Terminal?
Six, it turns out. And it’s a full-time job.
On Tuesday, those wiremen — their official title — unscrewed the last remaining incandescent bulbs in the building, replacing them with compact fluorescent bulbs and completing the greening of the lighting system at the bustling station.�?
“For the last two years, Bustelo has been a fixture at parties and giveaway suites from the Winter Music Conference to Sundance to the Oscars, and the company behind it has been sending truckloads of it to 50 Cent and Perez Hilton.
Whenever there is coolsploitation, however, there is potential trouble, and marketing experts say that Café Bustelo’s reboot will not be easy.�?
“The problem of refueling is so significant that fans of electric cars have a phrase for it: range anxiety, the nagging fear that you’ll run out of juice before you can find a charge spot and be stranded at the side of the road.�?
“In 2004, he coined the term “cosmetic neurology�? to describe the practice of using drugs developed for recognized medical conditions to strengthen ordinary cognition.�?
The New Yorker, Brain Gain, by Margaret Talbot, April 27, 2009
C_b, thanks for pointing that out, I dislike the disproportionate association of feminine and negative terms. Though anything associated with the privates has been pejoritized at some point or another.
I agree, the bread connotation is the best part. Revolting food connotations are great force multipliers. Like dick cheese.
Mike Skinner, aka "The Streets," who is awesome, mentions geezers in every third song. He uses the term in the yarbian sense, generally talking about un- or under-employed British guys in their 20s, whose major activities include smoking dope and playing Grand Theft Auto. From "Geezers Need Excitement:"
Best definition ever: “Twitter seems to be, first and foremost, an online haven where teenagers making drugs can telegraph secret code words to arrange gang fights and orgies. It also functions as a vehicle for teasing peers until they commit suicide.�?
Waddington helped to develop "kettling," where police enclose protesters in a confined space, a tactic that replaced the use of horses or crowd charges by lines of baton-wielding officers to disperse demonstrations.
The other WTO. Their mission is actually quite important: "World Toilet Organization (WTO) is a global non- profit organization committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide."
“The term "Quartodeciman" refers to the practice of celebrating Pascha or Easter beginning on Nisan 14 of the Hebrew calendar, "the LORD's passover" (Leviticus 23:5). According to the church historian Eusebius, the Quartodeciman Polycarp (bishop of Smyrna, by tradition a disciple of John the Evangelist) debated the question with Anicetus (bishop of Rome). The Roman province of Asia was Quartodeciman, while the Roman and Alexandrian churches continued the fast until the Sunday following, wishing to associate Easter with Sunday. Neither Polycarp nor Anicetus persuaded the other, but they did not consider the matter schismatic either, parting in peace and leaving the question unsettled.�?
“There, a friendly Irish waitress started peppering her with questions, most important of which was: Did Ms. Lavery play camogie, the female version of hurling?�?
“Let’s call the smallest possible number that doubles its value when its last digit is moved to the front, the “Dyson number�? for 2. The Dyson number for 3 would be one that tripled its value; the Dyson number for 4 would be one that quadrupled its value, and so on.�?
Right-O VO, so much so that you just gave it a new title. Nothing edifying here whatsoever. A list that makes you clamp your hands over your eyes, peer through the cracks between your fingers, and then wish you hadn't.
Yeah, I think all I did was blow up the font size in a few places. Trying to be consistent with words and lists, I think, though I can see how it could be distracting.
“The idea that experience leaves some trace in the brain goes back at least to Plato’s Theaetetus metaphor of a stamp on wax, and in 1904 the German scholar Richard Semon gave that ghostly trace a name: the engram.�?
Folks, I really, really appreciate it when bad actors are brought to my attention. It happens infrequently, given the volume of traffic here, and I have a small bag of tools for dealing with them. It hasn't, knock on wood, been much of an issue.
But my opinion is that we should refrain from rising to the bait on the site. Most trolls are just out for attention, so yelling at them leaves them emboldened, not chastened. Though of course everyone is free to say what they will, and do what they want (except for the trolls, who I will nuke). And if anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to chime in here or let me know directly. Thanks.
“Laicization — or removing a priest from the priesthood — was what Father Fitzgerald recommended for many abusive priests to bishops and Pope Paul VI.�?
From the 1940’s through the 1960’s, bishops and superiors of religious orders sent their problem priests to Father Fitzgerald to be healed. He founded the Servants of the Paraclete in 1947 (“paraclete�? means “Holy Spirit�?), and set up a retreat house in Jemez Springs, N.M.
“We are amazed,�? Father Fitzgerald wrote to a bishop in 1957, “to find how often a man who would be behind bars if he were not a priest is entrusted with the cura animarum,�? meaning, the care of souls.
Yeah yeah. But seriously, Wordie would sorta work over Twitter. It's the bastard offspring of Twitter and Wikipedia, sort of. Except that I think it predates Twitter. Their rate of growth has been slightly higher.
I hadn't announced that yet because it doesn't really... work :-) The query to get active lists is screwed up somehow. I'll work on it tonight though, should be fixed soon. The criteria are meant to be simple: open lists that have had words added to them in the past 24 hours, sorted by volume of words added in that timeframe.
“Some publishers insist that consumers will pay for quality, which is perhaps the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. If that were true then, when Sirius satellite radio launched in the US, instead of poaching Howard Stern to lure over paid listeners, they'd have hired Charlie Rose to read out Proust. Meanwhile, the idea that people will pay for quality news or investigative journalism is simply the stuff of journalism professors' wank fantasies.�?
“Admittedly, I’m late to the party: goat is the most widely consumed meat in the world, a staple of, among others, Mexican, Indian, Greek and southern Italian cuisines.”
I love this list. This is a lot to ask, but it would be cool to see the names of each letter on its respective page. Maybe I'll start chipping away at that.
Rolig, +1 on the show of support, your conversation and contributions are valued and enjoyed.
This is all in fun, right? Wordie is the house the pedantry built :-) If you can't argue/discuss/dissect the nuances of a word here, where can you?
Whatever the meaning of "samovar" (and it's allowed to have more than one, I think, and slightly different ones in different places; that's how words work), part of the 30 Rock joke is indeed that Toufer is himself a pedant. (*shoots joke in head by pedantically explaining it*)
But I think I have a solution to this all. Samovars used for anything other than tea should be called Son of Samovars.
Short for International Herald Tribune, an international, English-language newspaper published in Paris, and owned by The New York Times. The paper used to have its own web site, but as of March 29, 2009 iht.com redirects to the global edition of nytimes.com.
Last night I made some internal changes (upgraded to Rails 2.3.2), which I think are causing issues with login. Looking into it, thanks for the heads-up.
“This year the world’s first ever walking bus, which started in Hertfordshire in 1998, celebrates its tenth birthday!
Parent volunteers walk the children to school, with a ‘driver’ at the front and a ‘conductor’ at the back, collecting children from ‘bus stops’ along the route.�?
“One of Dyson’s daughters, the Internet vizier Esther Dyson, says her father raised her without a television so she would read more, and has always been ‘just as interested in talking to’ the latest graduate student to make the pilgrimage to Princeton ‘as he is the famous person at the next table.’�?
The New York Times, The Civil Heretic, by Nicholas Dawidoff, March 25, 2009
“Dyson agrees with the prevailing view that there are rapidly rising carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere caused by human activity. To the planet, he suggests, the rising carbon may well be a MacGuffin, a striking yet ultimately benign occurrence in what Dyson says is still ‘a relatively cool period in the earth’s history.’�?
The New York Times, The Civil Heretic, by Nicholas Dawidoff, March 25, 2009
“Big Bertha, as circus folk call Ringling, is under siege as never before. Kenneth Feld, the company’s 60-year-old producer, dismissed any idea that Ringling is no longer the Greatest Show on Earth.�?
In the past, I’ve tried pointing out to my parents that all money not spent by the Greatest Generation will only be spent by their heirs — and in not-so-great ways. Sometimes, after I’ve threatened to blow the inheritance on a box at the Metropolitan Opera or nightly meals at Le Bernardin, my parents will consent to a little extravagance for themselves, and my mother will remind my father of an old proverb: “There are no pockets in shrouds.�?
“Consumer psychologists call it hyperopia, the medical term for farsightedness and the opposite of myopia, nearsightedness, because it’s the result of people looking too far ahead. They’re so obsessed with preparing for the future that they can’t enjoy the present, and they end up looking back sadly on all their lost opportunities for fun.�?
“And in my household, in addition to my unrequited predilection for Drinks With Umbrellas, I recently learned that my husband hated the taste of beer in high school and so insisted on White Mountain, a “malternative�? beverage.�?
“I know, I know: You two physically disconnected after the births of your children (all too common), you engaged in some sleazy adulterate behavior, wocka wocka wocka. But that's all out in the open now, and you've decided to stay together because you're good parents, partners, and friends, and you've opened the relationship up to seek friends-with-benefits, as the straight people call 'em, or fuckbuddies, as we gay people like to call 'em.�?
“In President Barack Obama’s videotaped message to the Iranian people on Friday — which can be seen with Farsi subtitles on the Web site of Radio Farda, a broadcaster financed by the American government — he discusses the celebration of the Persian New Year, Norouz, which begins today. (Readers in Iran: Happy 1388!)�?
“Just over an hour after they had arrived, they were done: the yard was clean, the house cleared, the “after�? pictures taken. The men, members of a “trash out�? crew charged with hauling away what’s left in foreclosed houses, had removed any sign of a home life from this one in Murrieta Oaks.�?
“In a historic pairing of pop superstars who inspire the sort of hatred in A.V Club commenters most folks reserve for pedophiles, Nazis and Hilton sisters, 50 Cent of Vitamin Water and video game fame will be joining pop-punk punching bags Fall Out Boy for five magical dates on their current U.S Tour.
In a press release heralding this once-in-a-lifetime teaming of hip hop douchebag and rock douchetards 50 Cent is hilariously/erroneously described as “acclaimed�?.�?
Oh sionnach, thanks--I love this word too, and had forgotten about it. It's right up there with electrodoméstico in my pantheon of great Spanish words.
“McCain had blogged about body issues during the campaign — “I’ve been surprised by critical comments regarding my weight and body shape. It recently reached a ridiculous level when someone handed me a business card for a plastic surgeon and suggested I needed liposuction�? — so Ingraham’s jokes were, as the baseballers say, right in her wheelhouse.�?
The New York Times, Mean G.O.P. Girls, by Eric Etheridge, Marche 17, 2009
Admiral James Stockdale, describing how he survived seven years as a POW in Vietnam, in Jim Colins' book Good to Great, as quoted in The New York Times:
“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.�?
“A study of cheating among graduate students, published in 2006 in the journal Academy of Management Learning & Education, found that 56 percent of all M.B.A. students cheated regularly — more than in any other discipline.�?
Thanks for editing that comment, I appreciate it. I meant what I said--Wordie does have decent PageRank and links from it can contribute in some small way to a site's SEO, as you know. That's not what the site is about though, so I try to discourage it.
A twitter status update concerning one's pants, left by someone other than the account holder when a phone or laptop is left unattended and unlocked. First mentioned here, as far as I can tell, and trackable via http://pantsstatus.com.
“In most national jurisdictions, the status of a child as a legitimate or illegitimate heir could be changed – in either direction – under the civil law (as with the Princes in the Tower). Likewise under canon law, in most religious jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, a child's birth could be retroactively "legitimated" if the parents married – usually within a specified time, such as a year.�? --Wikipedia
Came across this word while speculating about the Palin saga.
“Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in greeting Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, presented him with a red plastic button emblazoned with the English word “reset�? and the Russian word “peregruzka.�?
The gift was a play on Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s call in Munich last month for the two countries to “press the reset button�? on their relationship.
“We worked hard to get the right Russian word,�? Mrs. Clinton said, handing the button to Mr. Lavrov. “Do you think we got it?�?
“You got it wrong,�? he replied, explaining that the Americans had come up with the Russian word for overcharged.�?
“This recession, which began in December 2007, has already lasted longer than the average postwar recession. If it turns out to be as bad as the most protracted of the postwar downturns, we will touch bottom next month.
But my strong suspicion is that we are now in something more like a Great Recession. It won’t produce as steep a fall in American output as the Depression did, but it may prove to be as prolonged.�?
The New York Times, Our Great Recession, by Niall Ferguson, February 28, 2009
“Emoji (絵文字 ?) is the Japanese term for the picture characters or emoticons used in Japanese wireless messages and webpages. Originally meaning pictograph, the word literally means e "picture" + moji "letter". The characters are used much like emoticons elsewhere, but a wider range is provided, and the icons are standardized and built into the handsets.�?
“This may be the most popular sport of Saudi youth, an obsessive, semilegal competition that dominates weekend nights here. It ranges from garden variety drag racing to “drifting,�? an extremely dangerous practice in which drivers deliberately spin out and skid sideways at high speeds, sometimes killing themselves and spectators.�?
“Some young people, asked why they risked their lives this way, said it was because of “tufush,�? a colloquial Arabic word for boredom whose meaning is said by some to derive from the gestures made by a drowning man.�?
Sorry RT. The Board voted on it last week, when we used the first installment of our bailout money (Wordie: shovel ready!) to fly the Gulfstream to Macau for a gambling junke... uh, I mean, strategic planning retreat. Sacrificial killings are now only available with Wordie PRO.
You automatically agreed to the new tos by clicking on random word. Thanks!
Terms of Service, the gobbledygooklegalese that everyone clicks through at lightening speed when installing software or signing up for a web site. No idea why, or if, these have any legal standing, considering nobody in the history of the universe has ever read one. Or maybe one guy has, once. I wrote a TOS for a previous web site, and in the middle of it added a clause requiring you to agree that the Modern Lovers were the best band ever. Over six thousand people agreed to that, and as far as I know only one person noticed it.
Good idea Pro. Didn't get to add Etsy tonight, ran out of time, but tomorrow I'll try to both do that, and add a preferences option to set who can see your also-ons,everyone or just registered users.
“In 1903, Leonardo Torres Quevedo presented the Telekino at the Paris Academy of Science, accompanied by a brief, and making an experimental demonstration. In the same time he obtained a patent in France, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States. The Telekino consisted of a robot that executed commands transmitted by electromagnetic waves. It constituted the world's first apparatus for radio control and was a pioneer in the field of remote control. In 1906, in the presence of the king and before a great crowd, Torres successfully demonstrated the invention in the port of Bilbao, guiding a boat from the shore. Later, he would try to apply the Telekino to projectiles and torpedoes, but had to abandon the project for lack of financing.�?
Hello mechnolatry, just answered your query over on features. See what you were talking about now. I think people were trying more to be informative than offensive, but I can see how it's borderline.
I think tagging things 'v' is just fine, since I haven't added anything to let you browse words by letter. Tags are pretty open ended.
Mech, sorry you feel your comments haven't been well received--maybe it was a misunderstanding? Wordie humor, such that it is, can be obscure, and somtimes tart (though also obvious, and sweet). I just looked at your comments and fwiw, they look cool to me. As I've said before, I like almost all comments, but have a particular fondness for quotes and definitions, like the ones you've added.
I love etsy, and will add it to the also-on list tonight. Thanks for the suggestion.
My daughter's first unequivocal word. There have been ambiguous maybe-words for a while. "Mama"... followed by a string of spittle-inflected vowels while she points at the fridge. But a few days ago she began began grabbing buttons, looking at you soulfully, and saying "button."
Verb meaning to acquire a company and destroy it through neglect, as Google did to dodgeball.com. Example: "Do you think Yahoo! is going to dodgeball jumpcut?"
“America's military is about to lock and load with new ammunition that's tough on enemies but easy on mother earth. It's known as the "Green Bullet", which is a new lead-free projectile that defense officials say is just as lethal as the standard 5.56mm without harming the environment.�?
“So far, more than 200 advertisements have run in more than 70 languages: in highbrow periodicals like The New York Review of Books and The Poetry Review in Britain; in general-interest publications like Parade and USA Today; in obscure foreign trade journals like China Copyright and Svensk Bokhandel; and in newspapers in places like Fiji, Greenland, the Falkland Islands, and the Micronesian island of Niue (the name is roughly translated as Behold the Coconut!), which has one newspaper.�?
“Not a few of the dwellers or toilers along Automobile Row have been predicting a popular future for auto polo, the game from the South and West which gave the public a number of thrills as a game and furnished food for thought for the motor enthusiast at Madison Square Garden in the week just ended. There had been rumors of the game from time to time, and people had heard that the four-wheeled "ponies" on which it was played provided as many sensational moments as teh four-legged ones of the horse polo match.�?
“Human beings evolved as cooperative breeders, says Dr. Hrdy, a reproductive strategy in which mothers are assisted by as-if mothers, or “allomothers,�? individuals of either sex who help care for and feed the young.�?
Pro, thanks much for drawing my attention back to Forvo--I finally added a link to them on each word. They contacted me last year, and it got lost in my inbox--their email arrived the same week as my daughter. A lot of things fell through the cracks that week :-)
We do. The copyeditors for the travel section sit right behind me.
This is a term of art in copyright law. It might have been a good idea to avoid jargon, or to at least mention that that's what this is. But it is a legit word, if fugly :-)
“In the United States, the copyright law provides a four-point definition of fair use, which takes into consideration the purpose (commercial vs. educational) and the substantiality of the excerpt.�?
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were gusts of 35 m.p.h.,�? he said, “We have to keep our eye out for blizzard conditions.�? The weather service defines a blizzard, not by the amount of snowfall — though they tend to be accompanied by significant snow — but by three consecutive hours of winds blowing at 35 m.p.h. and visibility of less than a mile.
“The Rocky Mountain News in Denver will cease publication on Friday.
E.W. Scripps, which owns newspaper, known locally as The Rocky, announced Thursday that it had failed to find a buyer for the daily. Scripps’s chief executive, Rich Boehne, said in a statement that The Rocky was “a victim of changing times in our industry and huge economic challenges.�? Scripps said the newspaper lost $16 million last year.�?
Ms. Bastianich agreed that using less water is O.K. “Yes, I think it’s doable to reduce the cooking water by one third,�? from 6 quarts per pound to 4. “But please ‘butta la pasta’ in boiling water.�?
“But now, with a public backlash against excessive pay and taxpayer lifelines extended to crippled companies, the idea of recouping compensation, known as “clawback,�? is gaining traction.�?
Tim O'Reilly just used this phrase at the TimesOpen conference to describe the cloud of data that's emitted by our devices: GPS data from our phones, search rank from links, etc.
“It was the New York Times that broke his heart,�? said Nancy Packer, a retired professor of English at Stanford, who knew Stegner well in the time he nurtured writers from Ken Kesey to Larry McMurtry here on the Farm, as the university is known.
“In postwar Japan, the economy wasn’t doing so great, so you couldn’t get everyday-use items like household cleaners,” says Lisa Katayama, author of “Urawaza,” a book named after the Japanese term for clever lifestyle tips and tricks. “So people looked for ways to do with what they had.”
“Sometimes, during the 30-minute briefings that Mr. Summers delivers in the Oval Office nearly every day, Mr. Obama addresses him as Professor, as in, ‘What do you think, Professor Summers?’ Sometimes, as he did in the Roosevelt Room one recent afternoon, Mr. Obama tweaks him and his fellow policy wonks, dubbing them ‘the propeller-heads.’�?
“The faintly depressing human tendency to seek out and spend time with those most similar to us is known in social science as "homophily", and it shapes our views, and our lives, in ways we're barely aware of.�?
“Video-game aficionados have been creating “machinima�? -- an ungainly term mixing “machine�? and “cinema�? and pronounced ma-SHEEN-i-ma -- since the late 90's. “Red vs. Blue�? is the first to break out of the underground, and now corporations like Volvo are hiring machinima artists to make short promotional films, while MTV, Spike TV and the Independent Film Channel are running comedy shorts and music videos produced inside games.�?
The New York Times, The Xbox Auteurs, by Clive Thompson, August 7, 2005
“For many ideas, Google’s first and most important audience is its employees, and it typically tries products internally before releasing them.
Google and other technology companies refer to this as “eating your own dog food.�? Through such “dog-fooding,�? Google learned that the early version of its calendar program was fine for parents tracking children’s soccer games, but not robust enough to meet a corporate user’s need to book rooms, reserve equipment and delegate scheduling.�?
“First, it’s a lesson in the power of raw repetition — the ‘mere exposure effect’ identified by psychology studies that suggests we like things more simply by seeing them more often.�?
I haven't posted to Errata in an embarrassingly long time, but not sure why the old posts aren't loading, will look into it. And someday I do plan to be a blogger again, I swear.
“If the battered but unbroken stimulus package Washington finally serves up does not turn the trick, perhaps the answer to the country’s economic woes could be something a lot simpler. Bring back burlesque!
In the nostalgia-steeped new musical ‘Minsky’s,’ which had its world premiere here Sunday night at the Ahmanson Theater, dancing in your scanties while the world trembles is presented as noble service that might help keep a wounded country on its feet.�?
“I’ve become increasingly concerned about the rising number of rich people who are being caught unawares by shifts in the sumptuary code. First, there were those auto executives who didn’t realize that it is no longer socially acceptable to use private jets for lobbying trips to Washington. Then there was John Thain, who was humiliated because it is no longer acceptable to spend $35,000 on a commode for a Merrill Lynch washroom.�?
The Panic of 1873 was caused by the "Great Epizootic," a world-wide epidemic of equine influenza that crippled commerce when horses became unable to haul people or goods. The horses recovered within a year; the economy took a decade. More info here and here.
“Among country and bluegrass musicians, Mr. Martin is regarded as a master of a difficult five-fingered playing style known as clawhammer or frailing, in which the instrument’s strings are pushed down by fingernails, rather than pulled up with picks.�?
“I’m talking, instead, about the administration’s plans for a banking system rescue — plans that are shaping up as a classic exercise in ‘lemon socialism’: taxpayers bear the cost if things go wrong, but stockholders and executives get the benefits if things go right.�?
“The president’s disgust at Wall Street looters was good. But we need more. We need disgorgement.
Disgorgement is when courts force wrongdoers to repay ill-gotten gains. And I’m ill at the gains gotten by scummy executives acting all Gordon Gekko while they’re getting bailed out by us.�?
“Mr. Day, a systems administrator who has been barbecuing since college, suggested doing something with a pile of sausage. ‘It’s a variation of what’s called a fattie in the barbecue community,’ Mr. Day said. ‘But we took it to the extreme.’�?
“This recipe is the Bacon Explosion, modestly called by its inventors ‘the BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes.’ The instructions for constructing this massive torpedo-shaped amalgamation of two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce first appeared last month on the Web site of a team of Kansas City competition barbecuers.�?
“‘Saddlebacking: the phenomenon of Christian teens engaging in unprotected anal sex in order to preserve their virginities.’ After attending the Purity Ball, Heather and Bill saddlebacked all night because she's saving herself for marriage.�?
“The ‘Citiboobs’ — as The New York Post, which broke the news, calls them — watched as the car chieftains got in trouble for flying their private jets to Washington to ask for bailouts, and the A.I.G. moguls got dragged before Congress for spending their bailout on California spa treatments. But the boobs still didn’t get the message.�?
“To get his budget and tax bills through the House, Reagan needed support from conservative Democrats, many of them from Texas, known as ‘Boll Weevils.’�?
Upgrading to WordiePRO also makes the site scratch and sniff. You can select your preferred scent: musty bookshop, printer's ink, or artificial strawberry.
Pro, you're totally right. In the near future I'll polish up some of the admin tools I've built for myself, and deputize some of you regulars. Like Andre the Giant, I'll have a posse!
The tools make it pretty easy to zap things. I'll tighten them up a little and try to hand out the shiny badges within a week or so. Maybe divided up by time zone :-)
“Indeed, Silicon Valley may be one of the few places where businesses are still aware of the ideas of Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist who wrote about business cycles during the first half of the last century. He said the lifeblood of capitalism was ‘creative destruction.’ Companies rising and falling would unleash innovation and in the end make the economy stronger.�?
“Email Bankruptcy is a term used to identify or explain a decision to close an e-mail account due to an overwhelming receipt of garbage messages, compared to legitimate messages, usually attributed to author Lawrence Lessig in 2004 but can also be attributed to Dr. Sherry Turkle in 2002.�?
NYT doesn't say anything, but Wikipedia says “Teleiophilia (from Greek teleios, ‘full grown’) is a term coined by sexologist Ray Blanchard to refer to the sexual interest in adults.�?
“A teleidoscope is a kind of kaleidoscope. Unlike other kaleidoscopes, teleidoscopes have a lens and an open view, so they can be used to form kaleidoscopic patterns from objects outside the instrument, rather than from items installed as part of it.�?
“Daniel Bergner, 48, the divorced father of two teenage children, is what sexologists would call a straight, vanilla teleiophile. He is attracted to adults, that is, prefers the opposite sex and doesn’t shop for lovemaking accessories — clothespins, clamps, carabiners, rubber gloves — at Home Depot.�?
“Meana, who serves with Chivers on the board of Archives of Sexual Behavior, entered the field of sexology in the late 1990s and began by working clinically and carrying out research on dyspareunia — women’s genital pain during intercourse.�?
The New York Times, What Do Women Want?, by Daniel Bergner, January 22, 2009
“In 1996, when she worked as an assistant to a sexologist at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, then called the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, she found herself the only woman on a floor of researchers investigating male sexual preferences and what are known as paraphilias — erotic desires that fall far outside the norm.�?
The New York Times, What Do Women Want?, by Daniel Bergner, January 22, 2009
“Monday was Russian Orthodox Epiphany, and roughly 30,000 Muscovites lined up to dunk themselves in icy rivers and ponds, city officials said. The annual ritual baptism, which is believed to wash away sins, is enjoying a boisterous revival after being banished to villages during the Soviet era.�?
“Using the technique that rhetoricians call anaphora, repeating a phrase at the opening of successive sentences, Obama said: ‘This is the price and the promise… This is the source of our confidence… This is the meaning of our liberty…’�?
“On the one hand, they said, the new president’s apparent enthusiasm for science, and the concomitant rise of ‘geek chic’ and ‘smart is the new cool’ memes, can only redound to the benefit of all scientists, particularly if the enthusiasm is followed by a bolus of new research funds.�?
That was a mistake on erich13's part, and s/he contacted me about it, but in my new incarnation as not very useful or responsive, I hadn't gotten to it yet. I'll try to today though.
“While there is some debate about the best inaugural address in history, it’s pretty clear that the worst was the one delivered by William Henry Harrison, who went thwacking through a tangled thicket of classical allusions for an hour and 45 minutes. (Harrison’s editor, Daniel Webster, claimed it could have been worse, and that he had killed off ‘seventeen Roman proconsuls, as dead as smelts.’)�?
Yesterday's crashed plane is going to go live at Dick Cheney's house:
“On Saturday, she said, investigators planned to extract the aircraft from the icy water with two large cranes, placing the plane on a barge for transit to a secure location.�?
“In emergencies, researchers have found, most people actually freeze until they're told what to do. Some people also engage in what's called situational altruism -- they help each other.
“‘Sometimes you misunderestimated me,’ Bush told the Washington press corps. This is not the first time our president has worried about misunderestimation, so it’s fair to regard this not as a slip of the tongue, but as something the president of the United States thinks is a word. The rhetoric is the one part of the administration we’re surely going to miss. We are about to enter a world in which our commander in chief speaks in full sentences, and I do not know what we’re going to do to divert ourselves on slow days.�?
“As national duty cut into N.F.L. rosters during World War II — more than 600 players were drafted at a time when teams seldom carried more than 28 — franchises scrambled for solutions. So in 1943, the Steelers and the Eagles became the Steagles, and in 1944, the Steelers and the Cardinals became Card-Pitt, all in the interest of keeping professional football alive during the war.�?
“Neuhaus spent the next days, months and years impressed by the overwhelming fact of death. This made him, he writes, a bit blubbery. ‘After some time, I could shuffle the few blocks to the church and say Mass. At the altar, I cried a lot and hoped the people didn’t notice. To think that I’m really here after all, I thought, at the altar, at the axis mundi, the center of life. And of death.’�?
“Mr. Shuttleworth looked to the stars. Paying an estimated $20 million to Russian officials, he secured a 10-day trip to space and the International Space Station on the Soyuz TM-34 in 2002 and became the first ‘Afronaut,’ as the press described him.�?
“And now a note to the infuriated fatsophere: I'm not saying that REAM's boyfriend is unattractive because he's heavier, or that heavy people aren't or can't be attractive, or that we all must forever maintain our ‘first-date weight’ over the multi-decade course of relationship/marriage/whatever.�?
The A.V. Club, Savage Love, by Dan Savage, January 7, 2009
“‘If the president calls, you have to accept,’ said Kevin Johnson, a former guard for the Phoenix Suns who was elected last year as mayor of Sacramento and has talked about sports and politics with Mr. Obama. What would he say if the president invited him to a game? ‘That would be his first mistake in office. I’d have to skunk him.’�?
“Like many New Calvinists, Driscoll advocates traditional gender roles, called ‘complementarianism’ in theological parlance. Men and women are ‘equal spiritually, and it’s a difference of functionality, not intrinsic worth,’ says Danielle Blazer, a 34-year-old Mars Hill member. Women may work outside the home, but they must submit to their husbands, and they are forbidden from taking on preaching roles in the church.�?
The New York Times, , by Molly Worthen, January 6, 2009
“The dish turned out fine, but I had unknowingly and luckily avoided producing a rotten egg stink. Brussels sprouts — and other vegetables of the Brassica family, including cabbage — release hydrogen sulfide as they cook, particularly when boiled for too long.�?
“Snyder is a 26-year-old from Raymore, Mo., with a black hat, a dignified air and a nose reconstructed a few years ago by a surgeon who used Snyder’s driver’s license as a guide. That procedure followed a head-to-head run-in with a bull — a brutally common collision known among riders as being jerked down or, more graphically, dashboarded.�?
“Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a fan to clear the air for their children, but experts now have identified a related threat to children’s health that isn’t as easy to get rid of: third-hand smoke.
That’s the term being used to describe the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting, that lingers long after second-hand smoke has cleared from a room. The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they’re crawling or playing on the floor.�?
“Standing at the bar, Mr. Bergougnoux poured absinthe into four glasses, then arranged them beneath an auto-verseur, a small glass samovar that dispensed ice water.�?
“We like our failed presidents to be Shakespearean, or at least large enough to inspire Oscar-worthy performances from magnificent tragedians like Frank Langella. So here, too, George W. Bush has let us down. Even the banality of evil is too grandiose a concept for 43. He is not a memorable villain so much as a sometimes affable second banana whom Josh Brolin and Will Ferrell can nail without breaking a sweat. He’s the reckless Yalie Tom Buchanan, not Gatsby. He is smaller than life.�?
“I don't think I've been as excited for a film première as I am for Watchmen since Star Wars: Episode I. Here's hoping things work out better this time. I'm definitely surprised at how much of a nerd boner I've been popping over the trailers for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek: The College Years, considering that's a franchise I haven't been enthusiastic about since at least Generations (again, here's hoping things work out better this time), but Chris Pine's smarm and those gratuitous tit shots aside, it seems like it could at least be a fascinating disaster.�?
“Residents who gathered outside the president-elect’s compound or at his appearances called, ‘Obama Ohana,’ meaning Obama family — that is, part of Hawaii’s family.�?
“The sciences of taphonomy — how bodies decompose and eventually become stone — and paleontology have allowed us to piece together many details of ancient ecosystems.�?
“And this is without the help of creatures like hyenas, which pulverize and eat the bones of all but the largest animals. (That’s why hyena scat is white: it’s the remains of powdered bone.)�?
“He is routinely cited as the foremost eater of the Gilded Age, a serial multicourse gorger (the word ‘trencherman’ always seems to come up) whose excesses were endearing rather than vulgar — or, at the very least, endearingly vulgar.�?
“He made it clear that the issue was not Mr. Burris’s qualifications, but Gov. Blagojevich’s standing as a desperate ward heeler who’s lost all credibility.�?
“The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine, stealth-capable military strike fighter, a multirole aircraft that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air superiority fighter missions.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The black YF-23 was nicknamed "Black Widow II", after the Northrop P-61 Black Widow of World War II and had a red hourglass marking resembling the underbelly marking of the black widow spider. The black widow marking was briefly seen under PAV-1 before being removed at the insistence of Northrop management. The gray colored YF-23 was nicknamed ‘Gray Ghost’�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. It is primarily an air superiority fighter, but has multiple capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles.�? More on Wikipedia.
“Twenty-five modified Kfir C.1s were leased to the US Navy and the US Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989, to act as adversary aircraft in dissimilar air combat training (DACT). These aircraft, designated F-21A Kfir, had narrow-span canard foreplanes and a single small rectangular strake on either side of the nose which considerably improved the aircraft's manoeuvrability, and handling at low speeds.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to attack both ground and aerial targets. Designed in the 1970s for service with the United States Navy and Marine Corps, the Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Northrop YF-17 (unofficially nicknamed "Cobra") was a prototype lightweight fighter aircraft designed for the United States Air Force's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) technology evaluation program.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Designed as a lightweight fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing aircraft. The F-14 was the United States Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor and tactical reconnaissance platform from 1974 to 2006.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger was a single-seat carrier-based United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Grumman F9F Panther was the manufacturer's first jet fighter and the U.S. Navy's second. The Panther was the most widely used U.S. Navy jet fighter of the Korean War.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar was an aircraft carrier-based fighter aircraft for the United States Navy. Based on the earlier Grumman F9F Panther, the Cougar replaced the Panther's straight wing with a more modern swept wing. The Navy considered the Cougar an updated version of the Panther, despite having a different official name, and thus Cougars started off from F9F-6 upwards.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Vought F7U Cutlass was a United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter and fighter-bomber of the early Cold War era. It was a highly unusual, semi-tailless design, allegedly based on aerodynamic data and plans captured from the Arado company at the end of World War II, though Vought designers denied any link to the German research at the time.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) was a single-engine aircraft carrier-based fighter aircraft built by Vought. It replaced the Vought F-7 Cutlass. The first F-8 prototype was ready for flight in February 1955, and was the last American fighter with guns as the primary weapon.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Convair F2Y Sea Dart was a unique American seaplane fighter aircraft that rode on twin hydro-skis for takeoff. It only flew as a prototype, and never entered production, but it is still the only seaplane to exceed the speed of sound.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The American Douglas F4D Skyray (later redesignated F-6 Skyray) was a carrier-based fighter built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Although it was in service for a relatively short time and never entered combat, it was notable for being the first carrier-launched aircraft to hold the world's absolute speed record and was the first United States Navy fighter capable of exceeding Mach 1 in level flight.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter and F-5E and F-5F Tiger II are part of a family of widely used light supersonic fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop in the United States, beginning in 1960s.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force. It was used extensively by all three of these services during the Vietnam War�? More on Wikipedia.
“The McDonnell F3H Demon was a United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter aircraft. The successor to the F2H Banshee, after initial problems, it served from 1956 until 1964.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The McDonnell F2H Banshee was a military carrier-based jet fighter aircraft, used by the United States Navy from 1948 to 1959 and by the Royal Canadian Navy from 1955 until 1962.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The North American FJ-2/-3/-4 Fury were a series of swept-wing carrier-capable fighters for the United States Navy and Marine Corps.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a stealth ground attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force. The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved Initial Operational Capability status in October 1983.�? More on Wikipedia.
“At a ceremony marking the F-111's USAF retirement, on 27 July 1996, it was officially named Aardvark, its long-standing unofficial nickname. Aardvark literally means "earth pig" in Dutch/Afrikaans, consequently, in Australia, the F-111 is often known by the affectionate nickname ‘Pig’.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The North American XF-108 Rapier was a proposed American design for a long-range, high-speed interceptor aircraft to defend the United States and Canada from supersonic Soviet bombers.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The North American F-107, nicknamed "Ultra Sabre", was North American Aviation's entry for a United States Air Force tactical fighter-bomber design competition of the 1950s. The F-107 incorporated many innovations and radical design features, and was based on the F-100 Super Sabre.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the United States Air Force from the 1960s through the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it has proven to be the last dedicated interceptor in USAF service to date.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, was a supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. The Mach 2 capable F-105 bore the brunt of strike bombing over North Vietnam during the early years of the Vietnam War.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was an American single-engined, high-performance, supersonic interceptor aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1958 until 1967.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Republic XF-103 Thunderwarrior was an American project to develop a high speed interceptor aircraft to destroy Soviet bombers. Despite a prolonged development, it never progressed past the mock-up stage.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an US interceptor aircraft built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet bomber fleets.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was a supersonic military fighter flown by the USAF and the RCAF. Initially designed as a long-range bomber escort (known as a penetration fighter) for the Strategic Air Command (SAC), the Voodoo served in a variety of other roles, including that of an all-weather interceptor aircraft with the Air Defense Command / Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) and fighter bomber and photo reconnaissance roles with the Tactical Air Command (TAC).�? More on Wikipedia.
“The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. As the first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was capable of supersonic speed in level flight, and made extensive use of titanium throughout the aircraft.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The North American Aviation F-86D Sabre (sometimes called the "Sabre Dog" or "Dog Sabre") was a transonic jet all-weather interceptor. Based on North American's F-86 Sabre day fighter, the F-86D had only 25 percent commonality with other Sabre variants, with a larger fuselage, larger afterburning engine, and a distinctive nose radome.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was the United States Air Force's first operational jet-powered all-weather interceptor aircraft. It was a development by Lockheed of the two seater T-33 Shooting Star trainer aircraft.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor was a mixed-propulsion interceptor using a jet engine for most flight, and a cluster of four small rocket engines for added thrust during climb and interception.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Douglas F3D Skyknight, (later F-10 Skyknight) was a United States twin-engine, midwing jet fighter aircraft manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company in El Segundo, California. The F3D was designed as a carrier-based all-weather aircraft.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an early American jet-powered all-weather interceptor. It has the distinction of being the first combat aircraft armed with nuclear weapons, (the Genie rocket) for air-to-air use.�? More on Wikipedia.
“The McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo was a long-range, twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed for the United States Air Force. Although it never entered service, its design was adapted for the subsequent F-101 Voodoo.�? More on Wikipedia.
"The Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk (previously designated the XA-43 and XP-87) was a prototype American all-weather jet fighter interceptor and the company's last aircraft project." More on Wikipedia.
"The American Boeing P-26, nicknamed the "Peashooter", was the first all-metal production fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane used by the United States Army Air Corps." More on Wikipedia.
Also a skateboarding move where you jump from a height, skateboard in hand, and simultaneously drop the skateboard under your feet and land on it. Here's an example.
“On ‘Good Morning America,’ de Nies, who grew up in Honolulu, tasted a traditional plate lunch that Obama is said to favor. She and Miller also recruited a local ukulele player to sing ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ (the Hawaiian translation for ‘Merry Christmas’) on camera.�?
Hi BB! I'm often skulking around, but don't pipe up as much as I'd like these days--busy. Plus, just because I built this doesn't mean I know much about words. I'm like the building super--changing light bulbs in the foyer, tipping my hat when you get off the elevator.
“Regarding mortgages, Mr. Paulson is in a tong war with Sheila C. Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, who wants to deploy a small fraction of the TARP money to refinance millions of mortgages. Her plan may not be perfect — whose is? — but she’s pushing in the right direction. But he, apparently, disagrees and has devoted no money to this purpose.�?
“Moderate in size, efficiently presented and somewhat stiffly titled “Worshiping Women: Ritual and Reality in Classical Athens,�? it is not at the Met or any other museum but at the Onassis Cultural Center in Midtown, a kunsthalle-style space, now almost a decade old, devoted to Hellenic culture.�?
“By the way, we’re approaching the one-month-to-go mark on the George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown calendar. The presidential quote of the week is: ‘Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods.’�?
“On a day when the newspapers were full of moving obituaries by beautiful people about the hotel rooms they had stayed in, the gourmet restaurants they loved (ironically one was called Kandahar), and the staff who served them, a small box on the top left-hand corner in the inner pages of a national newspaper (sponsored by a pizza company I think) said "Hungry, kya?" (Hungry eh?). It then, with the best of intentions I'm sure, informed its readers that on the international hunger index, India ranked below Sudan and Somalia.�?
I deleted chayce the other week, but there was a bug that allowed him to still comment. I just fixed that, I think--trying to do anything from a nuked or frozen account should now send you here.
“For us sober people there is a kind of drunkenfreude to watching others embarrass themselves, mangle their words and do things they will regret in the morning — if they even remember them in the morning.�?
The New York Times, Drunkenfreude, by Susan Cheever, December 15, 2008
hi folks, sorry again about the long delay, but full-list sorting should be working. Go to your long list, click 'view all', then click any of the sort arrows.
“By 1951, the brother-sister photographers Irving and Paula Klaw, who ran a mail-order business in cheesecake, were promoting the Bettie Page image with spike heels and whips, while Bunny Yeager’s pictures featured her in jungle shots, with and without leopards skins.�?
Congress is right now considering the creation of a "car czar" to oversee the Detroit bailout. For those interested I just started a Facebook group supporting Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, for the position:
“And to prepare for the role of Vito Corleone in ‘The Godfather,’ he ‘got himself invited to the home of a well-placed Mafioso in New Jersey,’ where at a dinner for some 40 people, he took mental notes on the ‘exaggerated politesse’ they showed to a stranger, the ‘manner in which powerful dons spoke in quiet voices; the way the men went out of their way to be gracious to their women, but also how they kept them in secondary roles.’�?
“Why is this important? The reason has to do with the ‘endowment effect,’ the innate tendency to value things you own more highly than everyone else does.�?
“I am a neuroeconomist, which means that I use brain-scanning technologies like magnetic resonance imaging to decode the decision-making systems of the human mind.�?
“The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call ‘muxes’ (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.�?
“That's not all in the way of teens being punished for ‘sexting,’ as it is now being called. Two teenage girls in Seattle were suspended from their cheerleading team after school officials discovered that they had taken nude cellphone photos of themselves that were circulated among students.�?
“Indeed, the problem used to be widespread in the Alps. The word ‘cretin’ is believed to come from a mountain dialect of French, apparently because iodine deficiency in the Alps produced so many cretins. The problem ended when food was brought in from elsewhere and salt was iodized.�?
“Skeptics like Mr. Doudoroff would probably blanch at a variation called the White Trash Russian. ‘You take a bottle of Yoo-hoo,’ Mr. Russell said, ‘drink half, then fill it with vodka and enjoy.’�?
“Tuesday’s filing said the now-deceased Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, who handled the case, intentionally violated a plea agreement with Mr. Polanski after having engaged in what it called ‘repeated unethical and unlawful ex parte communications’ with a deputy district attorney who was not involved in the prosecution, but was independently advising the judge.�?
I quite liked "White Noise"--I thought it was taking the piss out of postmodernism more than anything else.
But I really loved Underworld. Not right off the bat--took a hundred pages or so before I was in its thrall--but by the end I was floored. It's up there with American Pastoral as one of my favorite books about America.
“Children are taught from a young age that ‘hurricane’ is Taíno in origin, from the word ‘huracán,’ while no Latin pop music concert is complete without a shout out to Boricuas — those from Borinquen, the Taíno name for Puerto Rico, which means ‘land of the brave noble lord.’�?
Dude, kick it off, and we will be your minions. There's lots of good source material out there, like this and this. It'll be like our own little hurricane party.
“From the fossil record, you’d think that turtles burst upon the world with their shells intact. The oldest known species, a 210-million-year-old fossil from Germany, has a complete bottom shell, called a plastron, and a complete top shell, or carapace.�?
“As a young man Mr. Friedlaender had collected stamps in a serious way. In 1970 he began collecting rare books, specializing in incunabula — European books printed before 1501 — and medieval illuminated manuscripts.�?
“Legionnaires with aiguillettes, or braids, dangling from their starched uniforms pack bar stools next to scantily clad women from Brazilian cities like Macapá and Belém.�?
“As temperatures soar to 90 degrees in the shade of transplanted baobab trees, legionnaires patrol Kourou, a quiet town of 20,000, their shaved heads shielded from the sun under white pillbox-style hats known as képis blancs.�?
This position is sometimes cabinet-level, depending on the administration. It was not under George W. Bush, but it was under Clinton and will be again under Obama.
“He pioneered ‘glocal’ news — outsourcing Pasadena coverage to India at Pasadena Now, his daily online ‘newspaperless,’ as he likes to call it. Indians are writing about everything from the Pasadena Christmas tree-lighting ceremony to kitchen remodeling to city debates about eliminating plastic shopping bags.�?
“At the height of her pregnancy, Cathy and I embodied several facets of femininity. She could be seen as the fertile, glowing mother-to-be as well as the hemorrhoidal, flatulent, lumpen pregnant woman. I could be the erotic, perennially sensual nullipara, the childbirth virgin, and yet I was also the dried-up crone with a uterus full of twigs.�?
The New York Times, Her Body, My Baby, by Alex Kuczynski, November 28, 2008
“While blacks vote overwhelmingly Democratic, an analysis of three years of national data from Gallup polls reveals that their views on moral issues are virtually indistinguishable from those of Republicans. Let’s just call them Afropublicrats.�?
“This dress combines an Asian silhouette with a pheasant pattern printed on linen. ‘There were some lovely cigarette advertisements from the time, where you see the traditional cheongsam being Westernized,’ Ms. Martin said. ‘All those influences came together to make that dress.’�?
“If that headache plaguing you this morning led you first to a Web search and then to the conclusion that you must have a brain tumor, you may instead be suffering from cyberchondria.�?
“And yet as much as I want to resent these overeducated Achievatrons (not to mention the incursion of a French-style government dominated by highly trained Enarchs), I find myself tremendously impressed by the Obama transition.�?
“This truly will be an administration that looks like America, or at least that slice of America that got double 800s on their SATs. Even more than past administrations, this will be a valedictocracy — rule by those who graduate first in their high school classes. If a foreign enemy attacks the United States during the Harvard-Yale game any time over the next four years, we’re screwed.�?
“‘If the World’ opens with acoustic guitar lines suggesting a Middle Eastern oud but segues into wah-wah rhythm guitar and sustained strings fit for a blaxploitation soundtrack, while Mr. Rose unleashes something like a soul falsetto.�?
“The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index is at its 2002 lows. (A friend of mine versed in technical analysis tells me that is an indication we had a double top, which he says means we are in deep trouble. I’ll stick to the fundamentals.)�?
The New York Times, A Bull Vanishes, by Floyd Norris, November 20, 2008
“A costermonger was a street seller of fruit and vegetables. The term, which derived from the words costard (a type of large ribbed apple) and monger, i.e. "seller", came to be particularly associated with the "barrow boys" of London who would sell their produce from a wheelbarrow or wheeled market stall.�?
“Or we can throw caution to the wind, as John Galliano did on Monday night, when he arrived at a party wearing the traditional button-covered costume of a Pearly King (the neighborhood monarch who protected the local street vendors of Victorian London).�?
The New York Times, Merrily They Dress, by Eric Wilson, November 19, 2008
“Each state has a place of highest natural elevation, ranging from the piddling 345-foot Britton Hill in Florida to 20,320-foot Mount McKinley in Alaska. Some sites are known as ‘flip-flop’ highpoints because visitors can drive up in a car and hop out in sandals to pose by a marker; others require multi-day mountain climbs involving special gear and training. But all are important for the increasing number of ardent list keepers known as highpointers.�?
The sap of an Amazonian tree with truly amazing medicinal properties. I wouldn't believe the claims made for this, but for the fact that years ago I was in Amazonian Ecuador, and got fairly severe rope burns on both hands. A guy we were working with nicked a tree with his machete and told me to spread the sap on my wounds. It dried into an almost plastic-like protective coating, and my hands healed far faster than I expected, especially considering the heat and conditions we were in.
Hi Shadowkeir, welcome. Wordie links come in two colors: ones you have visited, which on most monitors/browsers present as purple, and yet-to-visit, which generally are a sort of royal blue.
“In introducing Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, Mr. Coleman asked that the audience give three cheers and a tiger. They were given with a will.�?
I think the Republicans are going to be in the wilderness for longer than you think, TYP. There is an ebb and a flow to politics, as to most things, but the GOP right now isn't ebbing or flowing; it appears frozen. They tacked too hard to the right for too long, but a large majority of the party seems to think that the answer to the drubbing they just got is to plow ahead on the same rightward course, rather than tack back to the center. You'd think party moderates would be getting their say about now, but it's not happening, and until it does, I think they'll suffer the same fate as the conservatives in Britain, who lost repeated election when they kept letting their hardline double down. They've been out of power 11 years and counting.
And this doesn't even take into account tectonic demographic shifts, almost all of which are in the Democrat's favor. You can't be a national majority party when you cater primarily to rural white Southerners.
“Mamihlapinatapai (sometimes spelled mamihlapinatapei) is a word from the Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego, listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘most succinct word’, and is considered one of the hardest words to translate. It describes ‘a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start.’
The word consists of the reflexive/passive prefix ma- (mam- before a vowel), the root ihlapi (pronounced iɬapi), which means to be at a loss as what to do next, the stative suffix -n, an achievement suffix -ata, and the dual suffix -apai, which in composition with the reflexive mam- has a reciprocal sense.�?
More than five in a row on the same word? Yes. But I write words and page numbers on my bookmarks when I read, and then dump them all into Wordie at once when I'm done. Or at least this is my plan; I have a bunch of scribbled on bookmarks lying around on deck. When it does though, I'll be in serious violation.
Note to self: Wordie bookmarks, lined for easy jotting down of words, would be nice.
Women live longer than men. It's really Joe the Biden (five years older than Hillary) who will be too old in '16. It wasn't too long ago we had 8 years of Reagan followed by 4 of Bush père. Hillary '16 for sure.
“To do so while protecting the items, they decided to seal the hinges of containers with tough epoxy that would resist shoplifting, or what retailers call ‘shrinkage.’�?
“You can't fard while driving in the District. No, it's not a typo, that's fard with a "d." It's a word derived from the French and means to apply make-up.�?
“Much of the power of ‘Billy Elliot’ as an honest tear-jerker lies in its ability to give equal weight to the sweet dreams of terpsichorean flight and the sourness of a dream-denying reality, with the two elements locked in a vital and unending dialogue.�?
“You Aren’t Misreading. Bear Stearns Is Worth $2 a Share. That means $236 million. Effectively zero. And with J.P. Morgan’s risk somewhat limited by the Fed, which is taking the extraordinary step of funding up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns’ less-liquid assets.
This is what they call on the Street ‘going donuts.’ But there is nothing sweet about the thousands of employees who have lost much of their life savings and most likely their jobs, too.�?
Nor to be confused with the text-processing language awk. Which was on my short list of kid's names back when I was trying to convince my wife that all our children should be named after Unix command-line utilities: little awk, his sister sed, etc. Didn't get very far with that one.
“The process of thickening a sauce, soup or stew. This includes all rouxs, starch and water mixtures (slurries), beurre marni and egg yolks with or without cream. Egg yolks must be tempered with hot liquid before adding to the liquid in order to prevent curdling.�?
That's from this glossary. I'd previously only been familiar with the weirdnet definitions.
“The word eupsychian (pronounced "you-sigh-key-un") was coined by Abe Maslow. It comes from eu meaning good (i.e. euphoria) and psyche meaning, basically, mind or soul. So eupsychian essentially means "having a good mind/soul" or "toward a good mind/soul." Eupsychia is where nice people live and work�?
“The Romans diluted acetified wine with water to make an everyday thirst quencher called posca, and vinegar has been touted as a cure-all in Asia and Europe for centuries. The practice was brought to the Colonies from England, where it was commonly referred to as shrub, a term confusingly used both for a nonalcoholic drink and for one mixed with rum. In the United States, shrub seems to have thrived particularly in the South, gaining enormous popularity with the temperance movement. Many Southerners still fondly remember a grandmother making up ‘raspberry vinegar’ in the summer.�?
The New York Times, Dropping Acid, by Toby Cecchini, November 11, 2008
“If chugging vinegar sounds curious to you as well, be apprised that this centuries-old practice has only recently been abandoned. The Romans diluted acetified wine with water to make an everyday thirst quencher called posca, and vinegar has been touted as a cure-all in Asia and Europe for centuries.�?
The New York Times, Dropping Acid, by Toby Cecchini, November 11, 2008
“One document from July reads: ‘Fact that this operation includes search for object or missing weapon part is to be treated as confidential NOFORN’, the last word meaning not to be disclosed to any foreign country.�?
“‘The obvious answer is adding sweetness,’ he said, but it matters what kind. He eschews white sugar, preferring local honey and Demerara, a raw sugar.�?
“There are images, too, from movies and books of the horrors of trench warfare, the colossal waste of human life in one catastrophic, peristaltic battle after another.�?
Oh, how sad. The first Makeba song I ever heard was "Mbube", her incredibly beautiful rendition (reclamation, maybe) of "Wimoweh"/"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", the Soloman Linda song covered by The Weavers and, as a #1 hit in the U.S., The Tokens. Miriam's version is on another plane.
I've been a ham-fisted censor a couple of times over the past few weeks, and frankly, it felt pretty good. Wordie is so totally not the place to argue Middle Eastern politics that I will consider locking this list if things get shrill. Just to let you know.
Krikey pleth, you're still in high school? You come across as older and wiser.
fwiw, I thoroughly enjoyed the later half of high school and was quite nervous about moving on. And from this vantage point (I'm 317 years old), I can barely rembember those days. I mean in no way to diminish your excitement, fear, or any of the good/terrifying stuff going on for you, but you have many many adventures to look forward to.
“The nation needs to build ‘an electronet,’ a unified national smart grid, with high-voltage, low-loss underground wires that deliver renewable energy from the places that produce it — like the sunny Arizona deserts or the windy Dakota plains — to the cities where the majority of it is used. Such a grid would require a $400 billion investment upfront, but would pay off in just over three years, he said, because the nation spends $120 billion annually on costs from power outages blamed on the existing grid.�?
“The trend received a boost a couple of years ago when Willie Nelson began powering his tour bus with biodiesel, which he called BioWillie, and later convinced other musicians to do the same.“
The New York Times, The Green RV , by Linda Baker, November 7, 2008
“I, home with the kids, was in bed, sleeping the drugged sleep of an alcohol-abstaining migraineuse after drinking half a glass of celebratory champagne.�?
The New York Times, Tears to Remember, by Judith Warner, November 6, 2008
To get a menu of special characters on a Mac, put the cursor where you want the character to appear, then select 'Edit -> Special Characters...' in the Finder. A window will pop up, in which you can select the character you want and click 'insert', and it'll appear.
“On a trip to western Mongolia in 2006, the couple bought a ger — a portable yurt — and a set of traditional furnishings and crafts, including a leather cheese churn and a basket used for gathering dried dung for fuel.�?
Some Canadians I used to know referred to all macaroni and cheese, regardless of maker, as "kraft food." Not sure if that was idiosyncratic to them, or some Canadian thing.
The popular vote was actually pretty strongly in Obama's favor compared to other recent presidential elections, c_b.
Not all the votes have been counted, but Obama has over 52% of those that have, a number that will probably increase. In 2004 Bush got 50.7%, and of course in 2000 he actually lost the popular vote, with 47.9% (to Gore's 48.4%). In '96 and '92 Clinton got 49.24% and 43%, respectively. All numbers from Wikipedia.
We did earlier--saw exit poll data maybe an hour before it was made public. At this point, though, it's all pretty automated. The programs my colleagues and I have been writing for months grab it, process it, and put it up on the site a few minutes after it's available.
Here's a phrase I think we'll be seeing a lot more of President Obama.
Basil just sent me a very polite email. My fuse is kinda short today. Appreciated his laying off, and apologizing.
I don't really need to learn anything about this person--you're an idiot if you think putting the same pasted message on a hundred profiles is anything other than abuse.
I just nuked that abusive Basil account--sorry for the gap in the historical record I just created. What's going on here? I'm like The Hammer these days :-)
“Barack Obama came up a big winner in the presidential race in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, N.H., where tradition of having the first Election Day ballots tallied lives on.�?
For the past month I've been part of a team working on an election results application for The New York Times. A preview of what the Times will be offering tomorrow night just went up on The Caucus, describing things like the presidential big board and the mobile dashboard. There are also data-rich pages for every state, and other goodies.
Alright you little turds--I created this website, and I'm sick of you fucking around on it. You've been asked politely, and you blew it. So I'm freezing your accounts.
If you create new accounts and try to come back, I'll find out where you're coming from (I have your email and the IP addresses, so that won't be hard), and after letting your school know who you are, ask them to block Wordie too.
Bonnie et al--people will always butt in. You don't seem to get it, but this entire site is open to the public; the whole point is that everyone can comment on everything. If you want to have a private conversation, this isn't the place.
“Instead, the Republican rump, the party that’s left after the election, will be the party that attends Sarah Palin’s rallies, where crowds chant ‘Vote McCain, not Hussein!’ It will be the party of Saxby Chambliss, the senator from Georgia, who, observing large-scale early voting by African-Americans, warns his supporters that ‘the other folks are voting.’ It will be the party that harbors menacing fantasies about Barack Obama’s Marxist — or was that Islamic? — roots.�?
“The potential double meaning rekindled speculation among Mr. Bush's critics that he communicates with his conservative Christian base with a dog-whistle of code words and symbols, deliberately incomprehensible to secular liberals.�?
“Among women ages 18 to 49, Bravo is the fastest growing of the top 20 entertainment cable networks, and its viewers are the most educated and upscale (about a quarter of them make more than $100,000 a year), a demographic that advertisers are desperate to try to reach. Berwick, the general manager, came up with a catchy name for this premium demographic: the affluencers.�?
The New York Times, The Affluencer, by Susan Dominus, October 30, 2008
“Many of the men, and it’s still almost all men, remember the days when they stood several deep around the specialists, nudging, pushing, staying put for several straight hours, shouting ‘Squad!’ for pages to hustle handwritten notes to clerks on the wings, jockeying at the banks of phones now hanging from hooks like relics.�?
Both are forms of defamation, but slander is spoken, and libel is either written or conveyed in a more durable media (defamation over radio or television is usually considered libel, not slander).
Hey, just because I hold the reins of power, doesn't mean I'm right :-)
I don't particularly enjoy drivel either (or rather, I want it to be *good* drivel). If it persists, I'll address it, or try to. But in smallish doses, I found it amusing. And really, how long can a site with no images hold a kid's attention?
Sorry guys--but thirteen-year-olds, or whatever they are, are allowed to post dumb stuff just like the rest of us, especially if they stay confined to their own phrases instead of dictionary words. I'm sure our comments are equally insufferable to them.
Though this does, once again, point out how useful it would be to be able to vote good comments up, to help separate the wheat from the chaff.
Hey, you guys don't have to go away--though people here would probably appreciate it if you confined semi-private conversations to your own phrases (like this one).
Who knows, if you stick around you might accidentally learn some new words. Like tatterdemalion.
Wow, this is a new one on me: I just got a justifiably upset email from the owner of http://www.simip.co.il/.
He says that someone, perhaps an unscrupulous competitor, has been posting spam comments in his company's name, trying to get his domain name blacklisted. I might have doubted him but for the fact that his site has no English language content at all, so he doesn't have much of an incentive to post heavy-handed spam on English-language sites like Wordie.
I'm going to delete the spurious 'simip' account, and we should probably put away our blackjacks and truncheons for now. Looks like the poor guy a victim, not a perp.
“...was the street that we would all aspire to — the other side of the tracks ... the Beersbridge Road had the railway line cut across it; and our side of it was one side of the tracks and Cyprus Avenue was the other... there was an Italian shop up in Ballyhackamore, that's where all the young ones used to go of a Sunday... we used to walk up to the Sky Beam for an ice cream or a cup of mushy peas and vinegar... We used to take a short cut up Cyprus Avenue, 'cause that's where all the expensive houses and all the good-looking totty came from... mostly upper-crusty totty... There's a couple of big girls' grammar schools up 'round that direction... That would have sunk in my head as much as his.�?
Roy Kane, childhood friend of Van Morrison, talking about the origin of the song Cypress Avenue. Quoted in Wikipedia.
“So using God like a hired gun to terrorize the town's people, the evangelical Christian mullahs are declaring that Obamageddon is at hand, using that very word and asking as the Religious Right/Republican Townhall magazine did in a September headline, ‘Could We Survive a Barack Presidency?’�?
Sorry about today's loss of brackets. In the process of upgrading some stuff and got a little ahead of myself. Hopefully I'll get a chance to fix it tonight.
Lampbane, thanks for reminding me of the redbirds, I liked those cars. They're doing good things in retirement, though: a lot of them have been reefed. Pictures here.
whichbe, great idea--there's now an 'add to iGoogle' link for all the feeds on the tools page. Pro, sorry you had to do it manually, but thanks for the impetus :-)
I'll add other links for other feed readers soon, and maybe do a little errata post on other ways to insinuate integrate Wordie feeds into other sites.
“In 1977, Bella Abzug, the former congresswoman and outspoken feminist, said, ‘Our struggle today is not to have a female Einstein get appointed as an assistant professor. It is for a woman schlemiel to get as quickly promoted as a male schlemiel.�?
The New York Times, No Ordinary Woman, by Judith Warner, October 26, 2008
“Another law enforcement official said that investigators with a search warrant seized a retractable baton — called an asp — and a radio antenna from Officer Cruz’s locker.�?
“Russia’s paramount leader, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, has sought to undermine new pro-Western governments that took power in the so-called color revolutions. Mr. Luzhkov is, in a sense, spearheading Mr. Putin’s counterrevolution.�?
“Trevor Butterworth, a senior fellow at the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, coined the term ‘premature pundits’ to refer to the young journalists now appearing on television. ‘The combination of ambition and naïveté allows them to say things that with slightly more age and wisdom you’d be embarrassed to say,’ he said.�?
“What is known, however, is that Ms. Palin has had long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly assertive and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as ‘spiritual warfare.’
Its adherents believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic areas and individuals, and that ‘spiritual warriors’ must ‘battle’ them to assert God’s control, using prayer and evangelism. The movement’s fixation on demons, its aggressiveness and its leaders’ claims to exalted spiritual authority have troubled even some Pentecostal Christians.�?
“It will leave no downtime as the crew operates on a ‘hot bunk’ system — because when one member goes to bed, it will still be warm from its previous occupant.�?
The New York Times, , by Joshua Robinson, October 22, 2008
According to Wikipedia, this is a West African tuned percussion instrument, kind of like a vibraphone. For a really delightful example of one being played, listen to the first mp3 in the left-hand column of this story.
“Paul Binder, the 66-year-old founder, artistic director and ringmaster of the Big Apple Circus, will be stepping away from the tanbark next year after three decades as boss man of the little top.�?
“Mr. Sorkin and his bedbugs are featured in the newly published ‘Dark Banquet,’ a jaunty, instructive and charmingly graphic look at nature’s born phlebotomists — creatures from wildly different twigs of the phylogenetic tree that all happen to share a fondness for blood.�?
The New York Times, A Taste for Blood, by Natalie Angier, October 20, 2008
“But--and here is what makes her so attractive to open-minded readers, and so infuriating to Movement Conservatives, who dismiss her as too blousy--she makes her point in a way that captures the humanity of its context. This isn't punditry, de haut en bas, but engagement with the reader, with the reader's milieu--with America.�?
“Also, Dr. Scheiner did not provide a standard measure of smoking risk. It is known as pack years — the number of packs smoked a day multiplied by the number of years a person has smoked. The pack-year number is used to help determine a patient’s risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease and other tobacco-related ailments.�?
“The asphalt battlefield known as a Skelly board has 13 numbers, one for each box where raw-knuckled players hunch over and flick wax-filled bottle tops as they vie for the title of Killer Diller. Generations of New Yorkers grew up playing this quintessential street game that required nothing more than bottle caps and chalk to draw the board.�?
“The discipline of those days was drummed into an entire generation of Northern Arapaho, and most tribal members never passed down the language. Of all the remaining fluent speakers, none are younger than 55.
That is what tribal leaders hope to change. About 22 children from pre-kindergarten through first grade started classes at the school — a rectangular one-story structure with a fresh coat of white paint and the words Hinono’ Eitiino’ Oowu’ (translation: Arapaho Language Lodge) written across its siding.�?
“Worm grunting, also known as worm fiddling or charming, involves driving a wooden stake into the ground and rubbing the top of it with a leaf spring or other flat piece of steel to make a grunting or snoring noise. Done in the right place under the right conditions, the result will be hundreds earthworms appearing on the surface of the ground. Worm grunting is practiced in parts of the southeast to obtain fish bait.�?
“Anyway, what I’m talking about is the spread between Libor — the London Interbank Offer Rate, which is the rate at which banks lend to each other — and the yields on Treasuries of the same maturity.�?
The New York Times, Listening to Libor, by Paul Krugman, November 23, 2007
“Royal Canadian Foods Corp. said it will open a new concept in Miami Beach on Sunday called The Royal Canadian Womlett House, based on its ‘Womlett’ creation, an omelet dome baked onto a waffle.�?
“Members raise the money for the plaques and install them in cooperation with localities. ‘We don’t get paid for this,’ said Ron Wells, 43, a carpenter and a Clamper ‘plaquero,’ the man with the mortar. ‘It’s just something you do in your heart.’�?
“Take the tiny mountain hamlet of Volcano, Calif. (pop. 101), the site of three plaques, including one devoted to the potent Gold Rush drink known as moose milk. (Mix bourbon, rum and heavy cream. Drink. Do not repeat.)�?
It's Bruce Springsteen's best album by a mile. Speaking of miles, drummer Buddy Miles is from Omaha. And Saddle Creek records is based there. What's not to like about Nebraska?
“Paul Daniel Marriott, a highway historian and consultant in Washington, said road designers began to take the car into account around 1900. Like Vanderbilt, these early car owners were mostly wealthy men; they were called ‘automobilists’ on the model of ‘bicyclists.’�?
“Cassinelli prided himself on earning big tips. ‘I could always upsell my tables’ liquor and desserts,’ he said, using the industry term for swaying diners to order more than they normally would, driving up the bill and hence the tip.�?
The New York Times, Why Tip?, by Paul Wachter, October 9, 2008
Not in America, where baristas server coffee, and bartenders serve booze. From Wikipedia:
In English jargon, the term "barista" refers to one who has acquired some level of expertise in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks. Within certain circles, its meaning is expanding to include what might be called a "coffee sommelier;" a professional who is highly skilled in coffee preparation, with a comprehensive understanding of coffee, coffee blends, espresso, quality, coffee varieties, roast degree, espresso equipment, maintenance, latte art, etc. Stephen Morrissey of Ireland is the current World Barista Champion.
The word barista (plural: baristi masculine or mixed sex or bariste feminine) is of Italian origin. In Italy, a barista is a "bartender," who typically works behind a counter, serving both hot (such as espresso) and cold alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
“Typically, waiters receive an hourly wage — as little as $2.13 in some states, though California law mandates at least $8 — plus tips, some of which they may pass on, or ‘tip out,’w to their support staff.�?
The New York Times, Why Tip?, by Paul Wachter, October 9, 2008
“Oceangoing ships are largely propelled by bunker fuel, which is one of the most cost-effective — it provides more energy per gallon than the distilled products used in other diesel and gasoline engines — and environmentally destructive fuels in use anywhere.�?
“Until recently, progress in artificial intelligence lagged so far behind computing technology that some in the field talked about an ‘A.I. winter,’ after commercial and government funding evaporated in the mid-1980's.�?
I lived in Maine for over a decade all told, and I never saw a moose, not once. And I spent a *lot* of time outdoors—frequently at Moosehead Lake. People were constantly telling me, "oh, you just missed this giant moose!" It was galling.
So now you too, eh Skipvia? Even WeirdNet is in on it. You can only fool me for so long about these "moose." Moose are apocryphal.
“The judge, Ricardo M. Urbina of Federal District Court, ordered that the 17 men be brought to his courtroom on Friday from the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where they have been held since 2002. He indicated that he would release the men, members of the restive Uighur Muslim minority in western China, into the care of supporters in the United States, initially in the Washington area.�?
Thanks c_b... they're clickable for me. Could you email me what kind of browser you're using? If you're using a popup blocker, that could be why the links aren't working, since I have them opening in a new window.
“As he dived in on the target in his A-4, his surface-to-air missile warning system sounded: A SAM had a lock on him. ‘I knew I should roll out and fly evasive maneuvers,’ McCain writes. ‘The A-4 is a small, fast’ aircraft that ‘can outmaneuver a tracking SAM.’
But McCain didn't ‘jink.’ Instead, he stayed on target and let fly his bombs — just as the SAM blew his wing off.�?
“John Dovidio, a psychologist at Yale University who has conducted this study over many years, noted that conscious prejudice as measured in surveys has declined over time. But unconscious discrimination — what psychologists call aversive racism — has stayed fairly constant.�?
“Id al-Fitr, which marks the end of a period of daytime fasting, prayers and abstention from vices during the holy month of Ramadan, is the much-anticipated reward for the pious. The holiday is usually a time for family gatherings and outings, with children receiving new clothes and gifts. But across the Arab world it is also an excuse for parties and fun, especially for young people.�?
“Listeners who hear the Minnewegian sounds of the characters from ‘Fargo’ when they listen to Ms. Palin are on to something: the Matanuska-Susitna Valley in Alaska, where she grew up, was settled by farmers from Minnesota during the Depression.�?
New York Daily News headline from October 3, 2008, referring to the fact that candidate Sarah Palin didn't embarrass herself as much as expected in the previous night's Vice Presidential debate against Joe Biden.
The New York Daily News headline from October 30th, 1975. The previous day Ford had said he would veto any bailout plan for New York City, which was near bankruptcy. More about this classic tabloid headline in this New York Times story.
Most lawmakers represent safe districts, giving them little incentive to tack to the center and work together. Indeed, many incumbents worry more about ‘being primaried,’ as they put it, drawing a primary challenge from within their own parties for being insufficiently orthodox.�?
c_b, I can't believe you just called yourself pedestrian because you enjoy the OED. This has to the the only place on the planet where anyone would ever say that :-)
Dictionaries! An older and very well-regarded copy editor of my acquaintance says that Webster's 2nd, aka W2 (though mollusque calls it the MW2), is the best dictionary ever created. It's beautifully written and opinionated without being overbearing. And it contains dord, one of the best accidental words ever.
“Ben Bernanke had spent his career studying financial crises. His first important work as an economist had been a study of the events that led to the Great Depression. Along with several economists, he came up with a phrase, “the financial accelerator,�? which described how deteriorating market conditions could speed until they became unmanageable.�?
“The credit crisis has played out in places most people can’t see. It’s banks refusing to lend to other banks — even though that is one of the most essential functions of the banking system. It’s a loss of confidence in seemingly healthy institutions like Morgan Stanley and Goldman — both of which reported profits even as the pressure was mounting. It is panicked hedge funds pulling out cash. It is frightened investors protecting themselves by buying credit-default swaps — a financial insurance policy against potential bankruptcy — at prices 30 times what they normally would pay.�?
“Money market funds serve a critical role in greasing the wheels of commerce. They use investors’ money to make short-term loans, known as commercial paper, to big corporations like General Motors, I.B.M. and Microsoft. Commercial paper is attractive to money market funds because it pays them a higher interest rate than, say, United States Treasury bills, but is still considered relatively safe.�?
“Connected to the phenomenon of silent communication is a concept called chumfo. Long learned about it from an African tribe, and it seems to mesh perfectly with his beliefs as an explanation for the exquisite sensory awareness wild animals possess. Chumfo is ‘not a sixth or extra sense,’ he writes, ‘but rather the unity or perfect coordination of the five senses at their highest point.’ Long believes humans once had this same level of acute alertness, but that our ‘unnatural civilization’ and over-dependence on speech have dulled our ancestral sense perceptions.�?
by Gussie Fauntleroy, from The Santa Fe New Mexican, posted on redOrbit on March 1, 2006
“Traditionally, the republican school, born of the French Revolution, was the breeding ground for citizens. The shift from these schools is another indication of the challenge facing the strict form of secularism known as ‘laïcité.�?
“In a 45-minute-long interview, Mr. Sugule expounded on everything from what the pirates want — ‘just money’ — to why they were doing this — ‘to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters’ — to what they eat — rice, meat, bread, spaghetti, ‘you know, normal human-being food.’
He said that so far, in the eyes of the world, the pirates had been misunderstood. ‘We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits,’ he said. ‘We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.’�?
"Well, Senator McCain can stop worrying about his son not living up to his legacy – Jack’s gotten himself into trouble, or has gotten “fried�? as midshipmen call it, while at the Academy."
A rock and roll classic popularized by Fats Domino, who recorded it in 1956. The song was written in 1940 by Vincent Rose, and had been recorded by Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, and Gene Autry, among others before Domino released his version.
"Most of the young Masters already have their own personal nut free and clear. “Nut�? is the term for the amount of money you need salted away in weather-proof investments in order to generate enough interest to live comfortably in Greenwich on Round Hill Road, Pecksland Road or Field Point Road in a house built before the First World War in an enchanting European style, preferably made of stone featuring the odd turret, with a minimum of five acres around it and big enough to be called a manor. Every Master of the Universe knows the number."
The New York Times, Greenwich Time , by Tom Wolfe, September 27, 2008
"If all hell broke loose and Goldman's clients could not pay it a cent in compensation, the firm has sequestered its own Fort Knox, the so-called BONY box, more properly called the Global Core Excess Capital Account. The BONY box is named for the Bank of New York, where Goldman holds more than $50 billion in unencumbered government securities of the U.S., Germany, France and Japan--securities that could be instantly turned into hard cash."
Forbes.com, Goldman's Ready, by Robert Lenzner, June 19, 2007
"Mr. Blankfein, an inveterate worrier, beefed up his books in part by stashing more than $100 billion in cash and short-term, highly liquid securities in an account at the Bank of New York. The Bony Box, as Mr. Blankfein calls it, was created to make sure that Goldman could keep doing business even in the face of market eruptions."
"Mr. Paulson, in Congressional testimony last week, had also expressed support for provisions to limit the pay of executives whose firms seek assistance, including a ban on so-called golden parachute retirement plans."
"But with conservative Republicans denouncing the plan as an affront to free market capitalism and some liberal Democrats criticizing it as a giveaway to Wall Street, both parties were anxiously starting to court votes, particularly in the House, where angry Republicans nearly scotched a deal that had been in the works for days."
"The positioning was in keeping with what is now a quadrennial rite in which the campaigns go full bore to convince the news media, and ultimately the public, that their candidate won — or more than that, to argue that the debate spotlighted some sort of character or issue defect in their opponent."
"What seems most remarkable in this Woodward book is exactly what seemed remarkable in the previous Woodward books, each of which was presented as the insiders' inside story and each of which went on to become a number-one bestseller: these are books in which measurable cerebral activity is virtually absent."
"The D-Day Dodgers is a term for those Allied servicemen who fought in Italy during the Second World War, which also inspired a popular wartime soldier's song.
The term was publicized by British Member of Parliament Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, who used the expression in public after a disillusioned serviceman in Italy signed a letter to her as being from a 'D-Day Dodger.' Astor mistakenly thought the phrase was a nickname with positive connotations, as the term Desert Rats had been in 1942. In reality the reference was bitingly sarcastic, given the steady stream of allied service personnel who were being killed or wounded in combat on the Italian front. A 'Dodger is someone who avoids something; the soldiers in Italy felt that their sacrifices were being ignored after the invasion of Normandy, and a 'D-Day Dodger' was thus a reference to someone who was somehow avoiding 'real' combat by serving in Italy."
Hey everybody, thanks for all the great suggestions lately. I won't be able to work on Wordie at all at least until after the election, but wanted to let you know I'm listening, and will sort through everything here eventually.
Re: personal use of tags, I don't think that's a problem. They're meant to be idiosyncratic, not an ersatz taxonomy. If there are enough in the system, the personal tags and weird one-offs will get filtered out after the fact. Eventually I may add an option to the main tags page so that only tags that have been used a specifiable number of times are visible, which would remove a lot of the noise.
"The Great Schlep aims to have Jewish grandchildren visit their grandparents in Florida, educate them about Obama, and therefore swing the crucial Florida vote in his favor."
I'm all for jacking up Wordie, and while I've alway enjoyed the f-bomb, especially as young lad, I'm happy to help you keep the mystery alive, or whatever. So... bumped.
Mollusque, I love the way you discovered the words approaching 100.
"The government is clearly hoping to reap a major public relations coup, both internationally and domestically, with the flight of the Shenzhou V. If successful, the mission will make China the third nation to have sent an astronaut, or taikonaut here, into space."
"We stopped in the nearby McCain office in Thornton, and an organizer and several volunteers made dials. While they were diligently going about the tasks of voter contact, the scale is dramatically different. Moments after we saw three dialers in the McCain office, we counted 40 volunteers in the Obama office down the street."
"May marks the peak of New York City's 'floater season' -- the springtime surfacing of bodies in the city's rivers. Nearly a quarter of the bodies pulled from the city's rivers last year -- 11 of 47 -- were retrieved in May. Bodies tend to rise to the surface in the spring because warm water hastens decomposition, which produces internal gases; these in turn make bodies buoyant."
"'We will not be dilatory, we will not add extra amendments, we will not Christmas-tree this bill,' Mr. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said, a reference to the lawmakers’ occasional propensity to tack special-interest items onto legislation."
Also a super cheesy book by Ernest Callenbach. Written in 1975, and it shows: to be green it is also apparently necessary to smoke dope, and enjoy "free love."
"I don’t agree with those muttering darkly that the picture of Gov. Sarah Palin with a perky smile and shapely gams posing with a pleased Henry Kissinger, famous for calling power the ultimate aphrodisiac, is a sign of the apocalypse.
"In high-profile contests where one of the major party candidates is black, pre-election telephone polls have often been wrong, overstating the strength of the black candidate. In polling circles this is known as the 'Bradley effect' or the 'Wilder effect' or the 'Dinkins effect.' Will it also be known as the Obama effect?"
"A Rovian political strategy by definition means all slime, all the time. But the more crucial Rove game plan is to envelop the entire presidential race in a thick fog of truthiness."
I did, though the typo was in the original article. I cut and pasted, and didn't notice until you pointed it out. Guess I'll list both, rather than orphanize this one.
“Then, there is the pendulum turn, also known as the ‘Scandinavian flick’ (sic), in which the driver points the car in the wrong direction, then swings it back around to make the turn.�?
“A growing number of women in Britain have become fascinated with lifelike baby dolls known as Reborns. These dolls have beating hearts; they are dressed like real babies and even have their diapers changed, as their “moms�? take them on outings and cuddle with them.�?
“Then, there is the pendulum turn, also known as the ‘Scandanavian flick’(sic), in which the driver points the car in the wrong direction, then swings it back around to make the turn.�?
“‘That guy I used to know, he’s gone,’ Mr. Biden said of Mr. McCain at the campaign event in Maumee, shaking his head. ‘It literally saddens me,’ added Mr. Biden, who tends to used the word ‘literally’ about a dozen times per speech (literally).�?
"The creature, modelled by sculptor Matthew Sanderson, was inspired by medieval armour and gradually became more ominous: part-lizard, part-stag beetle, a Chronophage – time eater."
"In a country where the sexes are rigorously separated, where topics like sex and race are rarely discussed openly and where a strict code of public morality is enforced by religious police called hai’a, Ms. Winfrey provides many young Saudi women with new ways of thinking about the way local taboos affect their lives — as well as about a variety of issues including childhood sexual abuse and coping with marital strife — without striking them, or Saudi Arabia’s ruling authorities, as subversive."
Wordia.com, a video dictionary, just launched. Not much there right now; as far as I can tell, only two people have uploaded video, one of whom is the founder. He thinks dictionaries are quite dull.
Or it contains doubles. If I remember correctly, stpeter wrote a script to load all his words in one fell swoop. It took down the site, and maybe caused some mischief with the db. Though I bet it's double words, and the word count reflects unique words, while the list count reflects the total, including doubles.
That's up to you really. There's a comment box on every word and list, as you see, and you can use it for whatever you want. Probably the majority of comments are us chatting to each other, but the site was originally conceived as a collaborative dictionary-like thing, so you'll also see people providing good examples of usage for a word. For example on each word in my reading the newspaper list I've added a citation from the article in which it was discovered.
Hi tshap, welcome! The definitions come from an open-source project called WordNet. If they don't provide a definition, then Wordie doesn't show one. Whether a word has a definition or not, adding new definitions or citations in the comments is encouraged. One of these days I'll work on a system to float up good comments and citations.
There's no official help pages or faq, but you'll find some useful info on help, faq, and the errata page listing posts on new features.
"Vote caging is a little-known but pernicious technique. Political operatives mail letters to voters, targeting areas where the opposing party is strong. If a letter is returned as undeliverable, the voter’s name is put on a list to be challenged at the polls. The challengers try to persuade election officials not to let the person vote, or only to let them cast a provisional ballot. Some voters end up disenfranchised. No matter how the challenges turn out, they often create confusion and long lines, reducing turnout in the targeted precincts."
"Phenology is the science of natural occurrences, yearly events like the first snow, the first blooming of hepatica and the arrival of the first whippoorwill. Keeping diaries of such occurrences was a hobby of counts and lords in Europe, and there are records in Kyoto, Japan, of the flowering of cherry blossom trees dating back 900 years. Among the most notable American phenological records were those kept by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond."
The New York Times, Weather History , by Anthony DePalma, September 15, 2008
"The amount of power Dhanju was describing, Mandelstam knew from Kempton, was but a small fraction of an even larger resource along what’s known as the Mid-Atlantic Bight. This coastal region running from Massachusetts to North Carolina contained up to 330,000 megawatts of average electrical capacity. This was, in other words, an amount of guaranteed, bankable power that was larger, in terms of energy equivalence, than the entire mid-Atlantic coast’s total energy demand — not just for electricity but for heating, for gasoline, for diesel and for natural gas."
The New York Times, Wind-Power Politics, by Mark Svenvold, September 12, 2008
What we call the position in which our daughter sleeps. She lies on her back with her arms perpendicular to her body and fully extended, her head turned to one side and cocked slightly down, her face gentle, beatific. Her legs, though, are splayed like a frog's. She's the Jesus frog.
As usual, and per the definition on salmon.expert-answers.net, I'm disregarding the Times overzealous use of hyphens.
"Generally viewed as genial and reserved, Mr. Palin juggles his involvement in his wife’s administration with his two-week shifts as an oil production operator on the North Slope. In the summers, he also works as a commercial salmon fisherman, using a set-net on the shore of the Nushagak River near Bristol Bay."
"Today, the West is not the federal economic colony it once was. Nor is it the uncrowded rural paradise of lore. In fact, it has long been the most urbanized part of the country. This transformation has enticed a new brand of fortune-seeker, from the telecommuting migrants in mountain enclaves to the influx of people into metropolitan “boomburgs�? where they are employed in the same jobs as people in the rest of the country."
"Wing fences, also known as boundary layer fences and potential fences are fixed aerodynamic devices attached to aircraft wings. Not to be confused with wingtip fences, wing fences are flat metal plates fixed to the upper surfaces (and often wrapping around the leading edge) parallel to the airflow. They are often seen on swept-wing aircraft. They obstruct span-wise airflow along the wing, and prevent the entire wing from stalling at once. Wing fences are often used in addition to or instead of slats."
"Free-trade advocates also complain, saying that a private business has used the shelter of the federal sugar program, created in the Depression to nurture struggling farmers, to increase its corporate hammerlock."
“As Google defines it, landing page quality includes a series of attributes — loading speed, user friendliness, relevancy, originality and dozens of other characteristics — that it deems appropriately 'googly.'�?
"Many of the partygoers use their online nicknames exclusively, and some of the wildest events are dominated by teenagers who call themselves the “Pokemones,�? with their multiple piercings, angular and pressed hair, and devil-may-care attitude."
"Even sooner, by 1989 or thereabouts, bands of tech-savvy sexual explorers were finding each other on Usenet, an all-text, no-pictures corner of the net that predated the web. Among them was software developer Harry Ugol, who formulated the oft-quoted Ugol’s Law: 'To any question beginning with ‘Am I the only one who … ?’ the answer is no.'"
"In addition, the report alleges that eight royalty-program officials accepted gifts from energy companies whose value exceeded limits set by ethics rules — including golf, ski and paintball outings; meals and drinks; and tickets to a Toby Keith concert, a Houston Texans football game and a Colorado Rockies baseball game.
The investigation also concluded that several of the officials 'frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives.'"
"The original lyrics, “Tutti Frutti, good booty / If it don’t fit, don’t force it / You can grease it, make it easy", were replaced with “Tutti Frutti, all rooty! Tutti Frutti, all rooty!�? (All rooty was hipster slang for "all right".)"
Oh, and c_b, you planted an idea. Would it be convenient to have buttons to change the size of the text? There's a lot of text, and people's eyes are different...
Someday, too, I'll add paging to words and lists with lots of comments. Someday.
There might well be a use for private lists, and I'm open to discussion and will go with the consensus, but I'm with rolig. A lot of happy serendipity might be missed, just because people weren't expecting it.
One thing I do plan on doing is letting people turn off comments on lists. If someone has a strictly practical list, or wants to mock us while avoiding the wordie treatment, I think they should be able to. Profiles will remain commentable, so if someone makes a list you love and closes comments, you can there will still be an avenue to make the case.
Not sure when that'll happen, though, I'm short on Wordie time these days, sadly.
Oh, and I think maybe comments were once sortable, judging from the state the code is in. I forget. I'll add that (or add it back) in the next update, too.
Love the first WeirdNet definition. As if there is a single pissoir somewhere in Britian--Waterloo Station, probably--which has been affectionately dubbed "Loo."
"The loo experience has become as important to the people who design restaurants in New York as gleaming open kitchens were in the 80's. No building material is too obscure, no plumbing detail below notice. Not terribly long ago, a conversation pissoir was still a novelty. You had Phillipe Starck's men's room waterfall in the Royalton. You had Bar 89 in SoHo, where the glass doors shift from transparent to opaque -- as long as the user remembers to turn the lock."
"For Deborah, anything remotely short of butch-femme seems silly, icky, neutered. “One of my really good friends was like, ‘If I was going to be with a girl, I would want to be with a girl like you, Deb,’ �? she continues. “And I’m like, ‘You’re sweet, but a lot of the girls who are totally like me wouldn’t ever in a million years sleep with you.’ Ever. I don’t want to fuck myself. What kind of balance is that? And the whole b-o-i business, I’m like, what the fuck? What does that mean? In one respect I thought it meant a little bit butch of center, slightly more andro, with this whole tweezed-eyebrow business that makes me want to puke.�?"
"It is tempting to pronounce the syllable “bwah,�? as in “framboise,�? but actually you just say it “boy,�? the way, in a different lesbian era, you pronounced womyn “woman.�? Throwing a y in woman was a linguistic attempt, however goofy, to overthrow the patriarchy, to identify the female gender as something independent, self-sustaining, and reformed. Being a boi is not about that. Boihood has nothing to do with earth mothers or sisterhood or herbal tea, and everything to do with being young, hip, “sex positive,�? a little masculine, and ready to rock."
Stands for search engine optimization. The (sometimes dark) art of trying to game search engines.
Essentially, it means trying to raise your site's rank in Google for certain keywords. Wikipeda has a good discussion of techniques and issues involved.
Don't bother, I tried. He has comment moderation on, and opted not to accept my mildly obnoxious riposte.
He did email me and sort of kind of tried to make nice--he slightly edited the post, which left it a little less coherent but didn't change the tone. He also took the opportunity to brag about how many unique visitors he gets. Quite a few, if he's to be believed.
Not sure what they come for. The ads? Another triumph of SEO over content.
"When the results finally rolled in—1 in Indiana, 15 in North Carolina—Poblano had outperformed every established pollster. Clinton never recovered, but with the National Journal, the Guardian and the New York Post suddenly dissecting or demanding the secrets of his success, Poblano became an Internet sensation."
"'I’m wearing all these totally awful ’90s clothes. I look like crap. And I’m like, Why are you people in my life, anyway? I haven’t seen you in 10 years. I don’t know you anymore!' She began furiously detagging the pictures — removing her name, so they wouldn’t show up in a search anymore."
"Psychologists have long known that people can engage in 'parasocial' relationships with fictional characters, like those on TV shows or in books, or with remote celebrities we read about in magazines. Parasocial relationships can use up some of the emotional space in our Dunbar number, crowding out real-life people."
Oh, polenta can be wonderful. In its most basic form it's more or less just mush--delicious, but not much to it. Liven it up a little and it can be sublime.
"About a week after 9/11, notebook in hand, I went to a screening of 'Serendipity,' a romance set in a lambent New York, starring John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale and tertiary players from 'Sex and the City.'"
Depending on your view of meat, this page is quite funny and/or horrifying with image search turned on. I'm having a renewed flirtation with image search in general, since rediscovering it while poking around c_b's dinosaurology lists.
"Businesses are flocking to Twitter and other microsharing tools, but most have little or no clear idea of why they should be there, how these types of tools really work, what they could accomplish or how to do so."
"Dunbar noticed that ape groups tended to top out at 55 members. Since human brains were proportionally bigger, Dunbar figured that our maximum number of social connections would be similarly larger: about 150 on average. Sure enough, psychological studies have confirmed that human groupings naturally tail off at around 150 people: the “Dunbar number,�? as it is known."
“I thought that when I was protecting this country, we had the best,�? said Clemons, a former combat medic in Iraq who lost his right leg in an explosion. “We do things right, we do things the best way. And just to know that other countries can man up and support their Paralympic athletes, and we’re not, it’s disappointing.�?
"Professor Michael Delwiche, chairman of biological and cultural engineering at UC Davis, has experimented with wireless sensing systems that precisely apply water—sometimes mixed with chemical fertilizers in a process called fertigation—to tree crops like nectarines."
One irony is that if Obama had chosen a purely venal job after graduating from college--say, something to do with leveraged buyouts--nobody would be batting an eyelash. Also good to point out that he was organizing communities (I agree, it does have a wishy-washy sound to it) only up until 1988, after which he went to law school, became a professor, legislator, etc. The snarling comments about him make it sound as if he was doing this last year.
"Only four days into her reign as John McCain’s “soul mate,�? or “Trophy Vice,�? as some bloggers are calling her, on the ticket known as “Maverick Squared,�? Palin, the governor of Alaska, has already accrued two gates (Troopergate and Broken-watergate), a lawyer (for Troopergate), a future son-in-law named Levi (a high school ice hockey player, described by New York magazine as “sex on skates�?), and a National Enquirer headline about the “Teen Prego Crisis�? with 17-year-old daughter Bristol."
The New York Times, Life of Her Party, by Maureen Down, September 2, 2008
"Also in the security category: something called Incognito mode, in which no cookies, passwords or cache files are saved, and the browser’s History list records no trace of your activity. (See also: Safari, Internet Explorer 8.) Google cheerfully suggests that you can use Incognito mode “to plan surprises like gifts or birthdays,�? but they’re not fooling anyone; the bloggers call it “porn mode.�?
This morning I heard someone describe Joe Lieberman's speech at the GOP convention as "flat seltzer," which is hilarious and poetically succinct.
Found an earlier citation, too, in a similar spirit:
"Adapted by Howard Korder from his elliptical two-character play of the same name, ''Lip Service'' is a minimalist drama about two local TV personalities who are co-hosts of a dime-store version of ''Today.'' Gil Hutchinson, played by Paul Dooley, is a veteran with the demeanor of Walter Cronkite, but he has about as much pizazz as flat seltzer. His idea of a hot story is a teacher sickout."
My first impulse on greeting the flap-jawed pithnoggin in the wild is to delete hir, but I don't want to deny anyone the cathartic pleasure of defacing a spammer, and the equally piquant joy of watching our spitballs supplant the spammer's own pages in Gooble. But, as we learned with our last party crasher, they can take away our fun by deleting their own lists*.
Shall we vote? Death by deletion, or subject them to the dreaded Wordie treatment?
* though the deleted list in question was actually archived by one of us, and will rise again one day on Errata :-)
"Palin lawyered up in relation to the trooper-gate probe in Alaska -- a move that ensures far more serious attention to the story from the major news orgs."
"General Electric introduced its Sabbath mode in 2000, and said the special setting is featured on more than 150 of its wall ovens, ranges and other cooking appliances.
These modes either turn off certain lights, fans and alarms, or use a Jewish legal concept known as “gramma,�? or indirect action, to operate the appliance on holy days."
“We’re trying to combine making a modern Jewish state with age-old Jewish law,�? said Dan Marans, executive director of Zomet. That requires both a deep knowledge of Judaism’s legal code, or halacha, and a bit of ingenuity.
I dropped the hyphen, since I think the Times is hyphen-happy. Their continued use of "e-mail" drives me nuts.
"But this clearly stands as a challenge to the traditional image of a potential first family, and could well provide fodder for provocative conservations around kitchen tables or sly references in the late-night television comic-sphere."
"Zappers alter the electronic sales records in a cash register. To satisfy tax collectors, the tally of food orders, for example, must match the register’s final cash total. To hide the removal of cash from the till, a crooked business owner has to erase the record of food orders equal to the amount of cash taken; otherwise, the imbalance is obvious to any auditor."
“I was leaping off the rope, and Yukon Eric, who had a cauliflower ear, moved at the last second,�? Kowalski told The Chicago Tribune in 1989. “I thought I missed, but all of a sudden, something went rolling across the ring. It was his ear.�?
This is the first time I've seen this list, and I was about to mention LibraryThing before seeing the earlier comments. I did work at LT for a bit, and it's definitely the best book community by far, online or off. One of the (many) nonsensical aspects of Wordie was that it was going to one-down LT--LT specialized in books, why not specialize in their atomic parts. Maybe the next step is a site for Lettrists.
I love that Wordie is your one-stop-shop. It makes me want to cry, dontcry. But I won't :-)
"Dissimilar though their causes may have been, Orwell and Waugh were both anchored by “a hatred of moral relativism”; that, Lebedoff claims, is what set the two men apart from their contemporaries. Yet in stressing this similarity, the author elides a deeper difference."
The New York Times, Two of a Kind, by Jim Holt, August 29, 2008
Ok, the homepage has stopped exploding and international characters should once again be visible as such. Hopefully things are back to their usual state of only moderate bugginess. Thanks for your patience folks.
I got careless and decided to update a bunch of shit at once, including low-level server stuff like the version of the language everything is written in (Ruby). So everything going haywire is related to the update, but has nothing to do with the private notes thing. Hopefully I'll be able to work through it all tonight. No data was harmed, fwiw--not sure why unicode characters are displaying wrongly (though I have an idea), but they're still stored correctly in the db.
More later, sorry for the wonky homepage and other stuff.
Hi bilb. Yes, we have a cloud feature. Activate it by clicking 'cloud' under any list title :-) It is, as c_b notes, kind of broken, I think. I'll check it out this weekend.
Everybody: we now also have a 'private notes' feature. Leave notes on words just for yourself. It probably needs work (suggestions appreciated), and I probably broke various things while I was at it, since I also rashly upgraded a bunch of stuff on the server without really testing any of it. Let me know what's gone sideways, and I'll fix.
"Last year I was in the Provence region of France, and while I wrote about hiking across the Petit Luberon massif, I claimed that I’d cried off climbing the premier peak in the vicinity — the 1,914-meter (6,279.5 feet) Mont Ventoux — because to do so would be de trop."
The New York Times, Garment District, by Will Self, August 26, 2008
"I know this will sound odd to the American English speaker, but in Europe to animadvert “Hell is other people’s pants�? would leave one open to charges of filthy-mindedness, and possibly a visit from the authorities."
The New York Times, Garment District, by Will Self, August 26, 2008
Ha! Dang, all that phenomenal Wordie Treatment, down the drain.
I guess this underlines a point revealed a few days ago, which I had forgotten: comments on lists are vulnerable. They can be deleted by the list owner, or the entire list can be deleted, as I guess our friend radixand chose to do (why, radixand? why?).
Comments on words are, I think, more or less forever. Or at least their fate is controlled by the commenter.
“President Clinton and Senator Obama don’t have to text each other saying BFFs,�? said Paul Begala, a friend of the Clintons and former adviser to Mr. Clinton, using shorthand for “best friends forever.�? “They just have to fight McCain.�?
"I’ve been poking around a lot of architects’ web sites lately and I’m thoroughly surprised at how bad they are. It seems almost without fail that they are either blowing my browser window up full size, asking me to read light grey 9px text, overflowing with obfuscatory flashterbation, teasing me with custom designed scrollbars that don’t behave as you’d expect, or asking me to evaluate their work based on postage stamp sized photographs. It really feels like 1998."
"Having coined "O'Bama" for the Irish working-class values that Joe Biden brings to the Democratic ticket, Chris Matthews called his family in Pennsylvania -- where Scranton-born Biden is known as the state's "third senator" in some quarters -- to ask whether now they'd be voting for Obama."
The Huffington Post, But He's a Muslim!, by Marty Kaplan, August 25, 2008
"Both Senators Barack Obama (or is it O’Bama?) and John McCain have some Irish in them, each from his mother’s side."
The New York Times, True Irish, by Timothy Egan, March 12, 2008
I think the silver lining here is step 8. There are a number of regulars who barged into Wordie with elbows flying, then adjusted to the tone and are happily still here, thousands of words later. I've left a handful of comments I'm not very proud of (but have left standing, for the sake of historiocity).
"Rushdie and the pious pundits think otherwise because they don’t quite understand what censorship is. Or, rather, they conflate the colloquial sense of the word with the sense it has in philosophical and legal contexts. In the colloquial sense, censorship occurs whenever we don’t say or write something because we fear adverse consequences, or because we feel that what we would like to say is inappropriate in the circumstances, or because we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. (This is often called self-censorship. I call it civilized behavior.)...
But censorship is not the proper name; a better one would be judgment. We go through life adjusting our behavior to the protocols and imperatives of different situations, and often the adjustments involve deciding to refrain from saying something. It’s a calculation, a judgment call. It might be wise or unwise, prudent or overly cautious, but it has nothing to with freedom of expression."
The New York Times, Crying Censorship, by Stanley Fish, August 24, 2008
Reesetee, a comment of yours really disappeared? I'm supposed to be the only one able to delete comments other than their own, and I've never done it. If anyone has found a bug that lets someone mess with someone else's stuff, please let me know quickly (by email, not here!), and I'll plug that hole as quickly as possible.
I flip-flop on letting myself get baited by juvenilia. My gut says not to. I don't particularly enjoy it. But as Wal-Mart greeter, I feel like I should pipe in sometimes, especially if it's alienating the people who make this place so much fun.
Someday I'll write tools to give us more control over the comment stream, but aside from having no time these days, I'd like to do it in a way that's minimally intrusive. I'm still sorting out the possibilities (and always open to suggestions).
cb & sv, I wonder if the pattern you've described is repeated in other communities. There might be a thesis in there :-)
I think it makes a lot of sense to speak of national slurs--and people speak of religious prejudice, or intolerance, all the time. That's an interesting idea and something worth talking about, in my opinion--different kinds of bias.
I never buy the "only words" argument, and I think this is an odd forum in which to espouse it. People here place a high value on words and their power.
Taking a word that's offensive to women and saying it makes a slur directed at men more vicious is doubly offensive to women. It implies that the worst thing you can do to a man is say he's a woman.
I'm tired of the c-word being bandied about. Maybe you think you're being cute or daring, but really, it's boring. I know "cunt" has different tones in different parts of the world. I spent a long night drinking with some English guys, back when I used to do that, and realized we'd become friends when they started calling me one. But in general, to American ears, it sounds way harsh. Slam Americans as much as you want, I don't give a shit, but I'd just as soon not see all these "cunts" popping up around here.
As to the American part, perhaps the paucity of ethnic slurs for Americans has to do with the fact that American isn't an ethnicity. Or because a lot of people think "American" is slur enough.
Huh. I've never heard of Scotty and Fiddy--I thought I'd coined it. Their trip sounds like teh alsome.
Pro, I meant facial expression, not verbal :-) My daughter doesn't say anything, yet. Actually she talks a lot, but it's hard to know what she's saying, since sounds like a Wookiee.
"This happens some of the time but not all of the time in “Wunderkammer: A Century of Curiosities,�? the latest permanent-collection exhibition in the galleries of the Museum of Modern Art’s department of prints and illustrated books. It has been organized by Sarah Suzuki, one of the department’s assistant curators, and is inspired by the Renaissance wunderkammer, or cabinet of curiosities."
"Conversely, the truly possessed road food purist might push farther west to Buffalo, the hypocenter of the deep-fried, spicy chicken wing, or swing over to Rochester for a garbage plate (a heap of diner foods, varying by availability and whim) or a pale but spicy sausage called a white hot."
"There’s an ion collider in Long Island named Rhic that critics thought might create something called strangelets, which have similar earth-gobbling talents to black holes. One report estimated that the possibility of strangelets popping up was only 1 in 50 million — odds that Dennis Overbye noted in The Times were actually more favorable than some government-sponsored lotteries.
Still, we’ve had the collider in the New York metropolitan area for some time now with no ill effects and have turned our attention to more important projects, such as never finishing construction of the 9/11 memorial. If there are any strangelets, they have adapted and merged into the general population. Some of them are no doubt running for the State Legislature at this very moment."
"The research project, which is being led by Joshua R. Smith, an Intel researcher at a company laboratory in Seattle, builds on the work of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Marin Soljacic, who pioneered the idea of wirelessly transmitting power using resonant magnetic fields. The MIT group refers to the idea as WiTricity, a play on wireless and electricity."
"Four months later, the TIGR scientists were elated when they discovered the morph had a major genetic change in its genome, known as an indel, short for insertion or deletion of DNA."
Then an Army microbiologist from Fort Detrick made an unexpected discovery. Using an old-fashioned microbiological technique, he spread out some attack spores on a bed of nutrient and let each form its own colony. All the colonies looked identical except one, which, to his trained eye, seemed very slightly different. Different-looking colonies are called morphotypes or just “morphs.�?
"In statistics, overfitting is fitting a statistical model that has too many parameters. An absurd and false model may fit perfectly if the model has enough complexity by comparison to the amount of data available. Overfitting is generally recognized to be a violation of Occam's razor."
Ohio is an election battleground state with perennial problems at the polls. So what have election officials in some precincts of the state been doing to keep their voting machines safe from tampering?
Taking the machines home with them and stashing them in their garages in the days before a big election.
If it sounds like something pulled straight out of an episode of Saturday Night Live, or Borat for that matter, it’s not. The practice has become so widespread that it even has a nickname, “sleepovers.�?
At the time, unemployment and inflation remained low, and the economy, while weak, was still growing, despite rising oil prices and a softening housing market. And then there was the espouser of doom himself: Roubini was known to be a perpetual pessimist, what economists call a “permabear.�?
The New York Times, Dr. Doom, by Stephen Mihm, August 15, 2008
"Beyond that, Mr. Obama has played golf, taken walks on the beach with his daughters, eaten dinner at a few Honolulu restaurants with his wife and friends, and visited almost daily with his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, whom Mr. Obama calls “tutu,�? a Hawaiian term."
"Silent key refers to an amateur radio operator who is deceased. The term can be abbreviated 'SK', especially in morse code. The key in the term refers to a telegraph key, the instrument that all early amateur radio operators, as well as many contemporary amateur radio operators, have used to send Morse code."
"The failure of paid electronic newspapers should have been telling: the Internet is a wholly different environment. Instant, yes, but also consociational, open source, and freely available."
"During REM, the summed activity of the brain's neurons is quite similar to that during waking hours; for this reason, the phenomenon is often called paradoxical sleep. This means that there are no dominating brain waves during REM sleep."
Their sole purpose is to target the subset of weirdos who, when they walk by plain text on an otherwise blank screen, actually have to stop and read it :-)
"The ringing, squawking, flashing screens that pitch such a fit as you walk by actually have a name. They're called "attract mode," and their sole purpose is to make you stop and drop the first of many quarters into their slots."
"Fogg is director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, an independent research center that explores a discipline he invented, called "captology." Captology stands for Computers As Persuasive Technology, and it looks at how certain technologies intentionally persuade us to do their bidding."
"Now John McCain is pea-green with envy. That’s the only explanation for why a man who prides himself on honor, a man who vowed not to take the low road in the campaign, having been mugged by W. and Rove in South Carolina in 2000, is engaging in a festival of juvenilia."
"The new form of attack indicates that little progress has been made in defusing the threat of botnets, networks of infected computers that criminals use to send spam, steal passwords and do other forms of damage, according to computer security investigators."
So it looks like the Times now displays the date a story appears on the website up top, and a the date it's published in the print paper at the end of the online version. Check it out.
"The disaster took place after a huge serac broke and fell, sweeping away several climbers and stranding as many as a dozen mountaineers above a steep gully without ropes at a height of about 27,000 feet, not far from the summit."
The American Meteorological Society's glossary defines a serac as "A large block of ice, generally taller than broad, formed by the fracturing of ice. Most commonly found within an icefall, at the edge of an ice cliff, or at the margins of fast-moving ice."
Wikipedia: "An abugida (pronounced /ˌɑ�?bu�?ˈɡi�?də/, from Ge‘ez ’äbugida or Amharic ’abugida) is a segmental writing system which is based on consonants but in which vowel notation is obligatory. About half the writing systems in the world are abugidas, including the extensive Brahmic family of scripts used in South and Southeast Asia."
"At the International Symposium on Olfaction and Taste held in San Francisco late last month, Dr. Herz and other researchers discussed the many ways our sense of smell stands alone. Olfaction is an ancient sense, the key by which our earliest forebears learned to approach or slink off. Yet the right aroma can evoke such vivid, whole body sensations that we feel life’s permanent newness, the grounding of now."
That's the funniest fucking thing I've read in a long, long time. Possibly since I read it the first time, two years ago.
Thanks for the Savage Love quotes, c_b, he's fantastic. My guilty pleasure is reading advice columnists, and Dan is one of my favorites (two others are the Salon columnists past and present, Garrison Keillor, aka Mr. Blue, and Cary Tennis, respectively).
Excellent! C_b, resident pipsiculturalist. Though I don't know what it is either, next week I plan an ardent refutation in favor of post-pipsiculturalism.
What would be more fun--soliciting definitions, or keeping the mystery alive?
"Informal or ad hoc romanizations of Russian have been in use since the early days of electronic communications, starting from early e-mail and bulletin board systems. Their use faded with the advances in Russian internet that ensured standard support of Cyrillic alphabet, but resurfaced with proliferation of instant messaging, SMS and mobile phone messaging in Russia.
Due to its informal character, there was neither well-established standard nor common name. In the early days of email, the humorous term "Volapuk encoding" (Russian: кодировка "вол�?пюк" or "волапюк", kodirovka volapyuk) was sometimes used.
More recently the term "translit" emerged to indiscriminately refer to both programs that transliterate Cyrillic (and other non-Latin alphabets) into Latin, as well as the result of such transliteration."
"We who chronicled the birth of Volapück now mourn over its untimely decease. Some two years ago we watched by its cradle. It is now our task to weep by its bier. Volapück, it may be remembered, was to become the language of the whole commercial world. It is now numbered among the dead languages. The society bearing its name has ceased to exist. The rise and fall of the universal language of the nineteenth century can be told in a few words, if it be ever told at all, and the chief moral of the tale will be this: Don't doom any language which you may create by declaring it to be the language of commerce, for that fact alone will prevent a considerable section of the "educated" public from even attempting to learn it."
"Perhaps it is because feminists are still so busy cataloging past slights to Hillary that they have failed to mount a vivid defense of Michelle Obama, who has taken over from Hillary as the one conservatives like to paint as a harridan."
"...16 speakers made PowerPoint presentations. Each was allowed 20 slides that auto-advanced after 15 seconds — five minutes total — a modified version of a format pioneered in Japan called “Pecha Kucha,�? loosely translated as chitchat."
The $10,000-camp universe appears to be rife with what mental health professionals are now calling “affluenza,�? a social pathology that, they say, is rampant at a time when getting and spending — a lot — have become our nation’s most cherished activities, and when purchasing power has become, to an unprecedented extent, almost the sole source of many people’s status and identity.
The New York Times, Camp Codependence, by Judith Warner, July 31, 2008
Does free speech tend to move toward the truth or away from it? When does it evolve into a better collective understanding? When does it collapse into the Babel of trolling, the pointless and eristic game of talking the other guy into crying “uncle�??
“Lulz�? is how trolls keep score. A corruption of “LOL�? or “laugh out loud,�? “lulz�? means the joy of disrupting another’s emotional equilibrium. “Lulz is watching someone lose their mind at their computer 2,000 miles away while you chat with friends and laugh,�? said one ex-troll who, like many people I contacted, refused to disclose his legal identity.
The New York Times, The Trolls Among Us, by Mattathias Schwartz, August 3, 2008
"And he certainly would not have thought of a “journey�? as a simple weekend jaunt across town, or merely across the living room, in the form of a pseudo-respite known as a “staycation�? (formerly known as “staying home�?)."
"Target panic is akin to the “yips�? in baseball and golf, when accomplished athletes can no longer make a simple throw to first base or stroke an easy putt."
"There is an affliction so feared by elite archers that many in the sport refuse to even speak its name. Archery coaches who specialize in treating the problem are sworn not to reveal the identities of archers in its grip, even though they estimate that up to 90 percent of high-level competitors will fall victim at least once in their career.
Target panic, as the condition is known, causes crack shots to suddenly lose control of their bows, and their composure. Mysteriously, sufferers start releasing the bow the instant they see the target, sabotaging any chance of a gold-medal shot."
Funny you mention that sionnach, lately there's been a lot of talk about that here*. Current policy is that the dateline at the beginning of stories reflect the day on which it appears in the print paper. But as more and more stories are posted prior to print publication, this is becoming more and more absurd. My guess is that eventually online stories will display both their print and online publication dates, but I have no idea if that'll definitely happen, or when.
We do have a time machine, but it only goes backwards.
* I work at the Times. I don't speak for them in any way, and Wordie is a strictly personal... hobby, I guess. Though that doesn't seem the right word.
"No month names on what is called the Metonic calendar were previously known, the researchers noted. Such a calendar, as well as other knowledge displayed on the mechanism, illustrated the influence of Babylonian astronomy on the Greeks. The calendar was used by Babylonians from at least the early fifth century B.C."
From Wikipedia: "Fundoshi (褌) is the traditional Japanese underwear for adult males, made from a length of cotton."
"The French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld, who could create a fervor for fundoshis if she cared to, attended the recent couture shows in a nude Azzedine Alaïa dress, with matching Alaïa shoes."
"A paracosm is a society thought up by a child--an invented universe with a distinctive language, geography, and history. (The Brontës invented a couple of paracosms when they were children.)"
"Bumping into Mr. Ravioli", from Through the Children's Gate by Adam Gopnik, page 158.
WeirdNet, whither goest thou? For those who, like me, had to look this up, Wikipedia says a haka is "a traditional dance form of the M�?ori of New Zealand. It is a posture dance with shouted accompaniment, performed by a group."
"Significantly, California adopted regulations so that utility company profits are not tied to how much electricity they sell. This is called 'decoupling.' It also allowed utilities to take a share of any energy savings they help consumers and businesses achieve."
"On a morning last week, a crowd of believers filed past him carrying offerings, known as ex votos, many of them sold by hawkers on the winding road leading up to the church."
Wikipedia: "The word corniche typically refers to a road on the side of a cliff or mountain, with the ground rising on one side of the road and falling away on the other."
The basketball term, coined by Philadelphia 76ers statistician Harvey Pollack, for when a player attains double-digit totals (10 or more) in any three of these categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, or blocked shots.
"Michael Jordan, playing point guard for the 13th straight game, had his fifth consecutive triple-double and ninth of the season as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Nets, 106-95, today."
In basketball, the half a court a team is defending. Also refers to a team's guards.
"With the consummate distributor Jason Kidd in the backcourt with perhaps the world’s best player, Kobe Bryant, the lineup for Beijing will be appreciably better."
"Reviewers often combine these first two words. Like Chekhov’s gun. If there is a poignant in a review’s third paragraph, a compelling will most likely follow."
I had to look this one up. From Wikipedia: "Chekhov's gun is the literary technique whereby an element is introduced early in the story, but whose significance does not become clear until later on. For example, a character may find a mysterious object that eventually becomes crucial to the plot, but at the time of finding the object, does not seem to be important."
Comments by john
Show previous 200 comments...
john commented on the word timbales
A Cuban percussion instrument.
August 26, 2009
john commented on the word international drum month
Thanks for the heads-up. That only leaves me five weeks to obtain and learn to play the timbales.
August 26, 2009
john commented on the list words-from-georgia
Yeah, the script is beautiful. If and when you slow down on the list, would you mind tagging the whole thing 'georgian,' for the record? You can use the 'add tags' link below the title of any of your own lists to tag all the words in a given list in one fell swoop.
August 25, 2009
john commented on the word join, or die.
The first political cartoon published in an American newspaper. By Ben Franklin, no less.
August 24, 2009
john commented on the word blocker
“Each team fields five players at a time. Out of those five players, four are blockers and one is the jammer (point scorer). The four blockers from each team line up together and form a pack, while the two jammers line up 30 feet behind.�?
—Gotham Girls Roller Derby
August 23, 2009
john commented on the word pivot
“The skater wearing the star on her helmet is the jammer. The skater wearing the stripe on her helmet is called the PIVOT. The pivot is the pack leader and defensive play caller, similar to football's middle linebacker position.�?
—Gotham Girls Roller Derby
August 23, 2009
john commented on the word jammer
“The objectives of roller derby are relatively simple. Each team fields a single point scoring skater ("Jammer") whose object is to lap as many opposing skaters as they can.�?
—Gotham Girls Roller Derby
August 23, 2009
john commented on the word nuked lunch
I also enjoyed the sequel, Baked Lunch.
August 21, 2009
john commented on the word attosecond
“Stress may be most readily associated with the attosecond pace of postindustrial society, but the body’s stress response is one of our oldest possessions.�?
The New York Times, Brain Is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop, by Natalie Angier, August 17, 2009
August 21, 2009
john commented on the word perseveration
“And though perseverance can be an admirable trait and is essential for all success in life, when taken too far it becomes perseveration — uncontrollable repetition — or simple perversity.�?
The New York Times, Brain Is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop, by Natalie Angier, August 17, 2009
August 21, 2009
john commented on the word mangue bit
“Returning to his home state of Pernambuco in northeast Brazil, Otto quickly became a part of the mangue bit movement, which fused home-grown rhythms like the maracatu, frevo and ciranda with the latest in imported computer and studio technology.�?
The New York Times, Brazilian, but With a Different Beat, by Larry Rohter, August 19, 2009
August 21, 2009
john commented on the word pubic
Mildly amusing, sort of, that right now on the homepage this is listed just above yak-shaving.
August 20, 2009
john commented on the word yak-shaving
Just came across this term on Seth Godin's blog (who apparently discovered it on Joi Ito's Web), and I love it.
August 20, 2009
john commented on the word pauciloquent
From Wordnik: "Uttering few words; saying little."
August 18, 2009
john commented on the word boondoggle
Before it became a bad word, “boondoggle�? was an innocent, humble craft. It was the Boy Scouts of America who claimed credit for coining the word, to refer to the plaited leather lanyards that they made and wore around their necks.
That all changed on April 3, 1935, at a hearing in New York City on how New Deal relief money was being spent. A Brooklyn crafts teacher reluctantly testified that he was paid to show the jobless how to make “boon doggles.�? The outcry was swift. “$3,187,000 Relief is Spent to Teach Jobless to Play,�? trumpeted a front-page headline the next day in The New York Times. “ ‘Boon Doggles’ Made.�?
The New York Times, Boondoggle. One’s Name for Another’s Necessity., by Michael Cooper, August 17, 2009
August 18, 2009
john commented on the word watergate
Yes please!
August 18, 2009
john commented on the word tablescaping
As seen here.
August 17, 2009
john commented on the word poirot
In America, I think solicitors are people trying to sell you stuff.
Isn't Wordie mildly intoxicating? ;-)
August 17, 2009
john commented on the word shinbone
Also, connected to the knee bone.
August 15, 2009
john commented on the word neophile
“A neophile or neophiliac can be defined as a personality type characterized by a strong affinity for novelty.�? Wikipedia
August 14, 2009
john commented on the word white spider
“Carlo Marioni, 65, a New York bartender with more than 40 years’ experience who now works at Pietro’s, agreed: “Those years, for lunch, they used to drink three martinis. Then they’d come back before dinner for rusty nails, white spiders.�?
The New York Times, Sixties Accuracy in Every Sip, by Robert Simonson, August 11, 2009
August 13, 2009
john commented on the word bivvy sack
See also bivy.
August 12, 2009
john commented on the word plu
Also an acronym for People Like Us.
August 10, 2009
john commented on the word bubi
Hi ricovicino, thanks so much for that. I didn't think this could possible be real, but it is, and it made my evening.
Welcome to Wordie :-)
August 9, 2009
john commented on the word browse
In response to some of VanishedOne's comments on Ruby on Rails, the new browse links on the homepage now also let you see words and phrases that start with punctuation.
This is a work on progress, as tends to be the case with things I start on the train ride home and deploy the same night.
From now I'll put this New Jersey Transit logo on quick-and-dirty train work: .
This is not a commentary on NJTransit, which generally does a fine job, and which Wordie owes much.
August 9, 2009
john commented on the word topo gigio
It must be confusing you with a member of the illitterati .
Me it has dialed: I'm being presented an ad for "JCPenny in Manhattan."
JC Penny is in Manhattan? WTF?
August 9, 2009
john commented on the word illitterati
Idiot celebritties? I kinda like itt.
August 9, 2009
john commented on the word noughties
“The "nillies" seems to lack the correct ring, while the "double-o"s is bound to be the intellectual property of Ian Fleming's estate.
Reggie Kray might favour the 'noughties' The "noughties" could be the one to head the - admittedly sorry - list of contenders.
And yet the "noughties" still sounds like a word East End villains might use to describe imprisonable activities - or even worse a polite, middle-class code for the reproductive organs.�?
BBC News, The noughties: So where are we now?, January 1, 2000
August 9, 2009
john commented on the word topo gigio
Had to Gooble this one, but likewise, I loved it at first glance.
August 8, 2009
john commented on the word ruby on rails
Yeah, that would be me. I just added a 'browse' section to the right column of the home page, which presents every word and phrase on Wordie listed in alphabetical order. Briefly borked things when I moved it into production.
All better now. Let me know if there's anything I can do to improve that 'browse' business. It's partly for the machines amongst us, but I found it a lot of fun to poke through.
August 8, 2009
john commented on the word ruby on rails
A web development framework, using the Ruby language and based on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern.
August 8, 2009
john commented on the word splattercore
“Dalton is the editor of “Mythtym,�? a new anthology of essays, fiction and artwork -- both serious and campy -- about werewolves, unicorns and what she calls “mirror horror.�? As she explains: “If you watch enough of those movies, they’re all exactly the same. These splattercore movies have their own tropes -- like how the best way to show blood is to cut someone up in the shower so you see it on the tiles. But then you realize that these clichés are based on archetypes. The mirror as a symbol seems most powerful in a time of fear, when people step back and look at themselves.�?
The Los Angeles Times, Trinie Dalton's horrors and unicorns, by August Brown, January 29, 2009
August 7, 2009
john commented on the word phonophore
Oh man, I'm sorry, I saw that and thought it was a bug in my handling of unicode characters. Wasn't automagical, was manually intrusive :-(
From now on I'll refrain from second-guess copyedits in languages and notations I don't know.
August 7, 2009
john commented on the word twitter
Been down all morning, and Facebook is under attack too. I'm feeling kind of left out that Wordie wasn't targeted.
August 7, 2009
john commented on the word undictionaried
See Erin McKean on redefining the dictionary. Or madeupical, for that matter.
August 6, 2009
john commented on the word macher
“For instance, a lot of the things that high-minded left-wingers hate about contemporary Washington — the legal corruption, if you will, associated with lobbying and influence peddling and corporate money — are a direct result of having built a big, expensive government that every would-be macher in the world feels they need to influence.�?
The New York Times, Are Liberals More Corrupt?, by Gail Collins and Ross Douthat, August 5, 2009
August 6, 2009
john commented on the word modcon
I had always thought this was real estate shorthand for "modern conveniences," as in "the kitchen has a trash compactor and all the other modcons."
But apparently it's also a semi-annual heavy body modification convention.
August 4, 2009
john commented on the word fred
I think so. This was in Portland, Maine, in the mid-nineties. The cool racer guys were often as not from other shops; we were more like the scrappy punk rock (the staff) and family (the customers) shop. We were the only proper bike shop in town selling tricycles, I think. I moved, sadly, but they're still there: Back Bay Bicycle. Stop in if you're in Portland, they're super nice.
August 4, 2009
john commented on the word squirrely
See comment on fred.
August 4, 2009
john commented on the word fred
In my misbegotten youth I was a bicycle mechanic, and the cool racer types who hung around the shop where I worked would dismissively refer to non-cool-racer types as "Freds." Freds are the kind of cyclists who don't ride much, but are over-geared. They have little rear-view mirrors glued onto their helmets, and a spare tire and a pump and two water bottles and a little toolkit and an altimeter strapped or bolted onto different parts of their bike frame. Freds have kickstands and fenders and a rack and a bell. They have a little basket on their handlebars. They both tuck their pant legs into their socks and wear a reflective strap on each ankle to prevent getting chain grease on their trousers. And most of all, Freds are squirrely: they have trouble riding in a straight line, possibly because of all the appurtenances affixed to their bike and their person. So you don't want to ride too close to a Fred, because they're unpredictable and despite their harmless appearance, inadvertently dangerous.
August 4, 2009
john commented on the word electret
Heaviside? What a delightful name.
August 4, 2009
john commented on the word creepy crawling
“Was Manson's dress rehearsal for homicide, known as "creepy crawling", some kind of humorous terrorism that might have been fun? Breaking silently into middle-class "pigs'" homes with your friends while you are tripping on LSD and gathering around the sleeping residents in their beds, not to harm them but to watch them sleep (the way Warhol did in that movie) and "experiencing the fear"? It does sound like it could have been a mind-bending adventure. When the Mansonites went further and moved the furniture around before they left, just to fuck with the waking homeowners' perception of reality, was this beautiful or evil? Could the Manson Family's actions also be some kind of freakish "art"?�?
The Huffington Post, Leslie Van Houten: A Friendship, Part 1 of 5, by John Waters, August 3, 2009
August 4, 2009
john commented on the word quidity
Just rescued this from the orphanage, so someone besides myself originally entered it. Can't find much on it anywhere, except for this blog post, which defines it as "the essence, nature, or distinctive peculiarity of a thing."
Fine word, somewhat mysterious. Anyone know any more about it?
August 2, 2009
john commented on the word quidity
http://megweaves.blogspot.com/2009/05/quidity.html
August 2, 2009
john commented on the word bugs
Thanks much for the reports--I've been fiddling about again, if you hadn't guessed :-) It's for the best in the long run, but sorry for the recent collateral damage.
Profiles should be fixed (sorry for disappearing you skipvia), the duplicate derelict has been evicted, and the comment page profiles are properly possessive.
Treeseed, private notes were broken when you reported that, but they should be fixed now. If that's not the case for you would you mind emailing me, and letting me know what browser you're using?
VanishedOne, your comments page is back.
Sionnach, I still have no idea what's causing your duplicates (I can't duplicate the bug). I may email you, if you don't mind, and ask for specifics to help me debug. I'm really sorry about that--I very much don't want a bug to drive away a favorite Wordie, but I can see how it would be maddening.
August 1, 2009
john commented on the word pirhanna
Tagging 25 seemingly random words 'std,' 'slut,' and a bunch of other nonsense is against the official Terms of Service.
If the random nonsense was even mildly amusing, it would be covered under the humor exemption. But this case failed to meet that standard.
August 1, 2009
john commented on the word pirhanna
Some kind of tag abuse going on, looking into it.
Update: all better now. Thanks c_b!
July 31, 2009
john commented on the word features
Hi bilb, that would be a large insect you've found--I'll fix by tonight (my tonight :-) at the latest.
I'll see if I can quickly add a 'toggle tags' option in your profile preference section, too.
July 31, 2009
john commented on the word paco
“She and the group of mothers she helps organize have become the only bulwark, it seems, against the irrepressible spread of paco, a highly addictive, smokable cocaine residue that has destroyed thousands of lives in Argentina and caused a cycle of drug-induced street violence never seen before in this country.�?
The New York Times, Cheap Cocaine Floods Argentina, Devouring Lives, by Alexei Barrionuevo, February 23, 2008
July 30, 2009
john commented on the user smrtrthnu
Hi smrtrthnme, thanks for the Latin list, I'm loving it. Any way you could add translations to some or all of those?
July 30, 2009
john commented on the word mancation
aka prison
July 30, 2009
john commented on the word white culture
Oh bring it on—I love this line of attack. The longer the idiotocracy running the Republican party persists in this retrograde nonsense, the longer they'll stumble around in the wilderness losing elections. Morality aside, the demographics are just against them. America is a diverse place and getting more so, and tactics that intentionally alienate everyone but the ever-shrinking rump Republican base guarantee failure.
They'll figure this out eventually and try to start appealing to a wider audience. But if they get thrashed for a few more election cycles before that happens, I wouldn't mind. Palin in 2112!
July 30, 2009
john commented on the word white culture
Don't be vague like that, lg_nazi. Have the courage of your convictions. What, exactly, is Obama trying to sell? What groups is he disproportionately favoring?
The group that has most benefitted from his policies has certainly been the bankers he bailed out. So if you're talking about rich white people, I agree with you entirely.
July 30, 2009
john commented on the word white culture
It's absolutely tremendous that the ad currently on this page says "Confucius Institute Teach you pure Chinese."
These clowns are maybe the best retort to racism I've ever seen.
July 30, 2009
john commented on the word douche-cock
UD spells this dochecock.
July 30, 2009
john commented on the word white culture
Glenn Beck is a douche-cock. That said, there's a very popular web site dedicated to answering skipvia's very question. To me, it's embodied by the Volvo 240 station wagon.
July 30, 2009
john commented on the word anomaly detection
“The ability to pick odd shapes masked in complex backgrounds — a “Where’s Waldo�? type of skill that some call anomaly detection — also predicted performance on some of the roadside bomb simulations.�?
The New York Times, In Battle, Hunches Prove to Be Valuable, by Benedict Carey, July 27, 2009
July 29, 2009
john commented on the word pole position
Can't believe this hadn't been listed yet. It refers to the prime starting position in horse and car racing: at the front of the pack, on the inside. It's also the name of a great (for its time) arcade video game of the early 80s.
Anyone know of any good motor sports or automotive or racing lists?
July 28, 2009
john commented on the word frigor
“Frigor�? is one of the names given by 19th-century scientists to the realm of absolute zero, the bottom limit of cold. This is a place, the chemist and physicist James Dewar imagined, so cold that molecular motion ceases and the “death of matter�? ensues.
The New York Times, Less Than Zero, by Mary Roach, July 23, 2009
July 28, 2009
john commented on the word derel
““Dash was like me, a polished derel�?—a polished derelict, says Kunle.�?
New York Magazine, Chasing Dash Snow, by Ariel Levy, January 7, 2007
July 27, 2009
john commented on the word rak
“McGinley and Colen met Snow when they were in art school (at Parsons and RISD, respectively) and Snow was 16 and living on 13th Street in Alphabet City and starting a graffiti crew called Irak (in graffiti slang, to “rak�? is to steal, which they did) with a guy named Ace Boon Kunle, “a big, black homosexual,�? as McGinley describes him, whose tag is Earsnot.�?
New York Magazine, Chasing Dash Snow, by Ariel Levy, January 7, 2007
July 27, 2009
john commented on the word dodrantal
From phrontistery.info: "of nine inches in length".
July 26, 2009
john commented on the word ad verecundiam
Thanks sionnach—it's so pleasing to discover a phrase to describe something you're aware of, but didn't previously have a label for.
Here's a good synopsis of it.
July 26, 2009
john commented on the word jovian
“Being an astronomy buff used to be a lonely pursuit, just you and the telescope, staring up into the night sky. But in an age when anyone can make a planetary discovery through a $400 telescope then instantly share it with the world — hey, check out my cool Jupiter shots on Flickr! — amateur astronomers have capitalized on opportunities like the big thud on the Jovian gas giant to confirm that they are not alone.�?
The New York Times, The Bruise Heard Round the World, by Alex Williams, July 24, 2009
July 26, 2009
john commented on the word bokeh
“Fujifilm says its $280 FinePix F70EXR and $600 FinePix S200EXR use its advanced EXR sensor and multiframe technology to enable users to simulate the wide-aperture background blurs (or bokeh) of D.S.L.R. cameras.�?
The New York Times, Fujifilm Adds EXR Sensor to Super-Zooms, by Rik Fairlie, July 22, 2009
July 24, 2009
john commented on the word lesbian bullet
“Have the 1990s vanished so quickly from memory? Has Hillary Clinton’s murder of Vince Foster, shooting him in the head with a lesbian bullet, been so completely forgotten?�?
Whiskey Fire, Regions of My Disease, by Marc Ambinder, July 22, 2009, as quoted in The New York Times, ‘Birther’ Boom, by Eric Etheridge, July 22, 2009
July 23, 2009
john commented on the word chumiles
“The Baron clanked in on his pointy silver-capped cowboy boots and began poking around, asking questions about the Southern Mexican cuisine on the menu — What was the difference between a cemita and a torta? Do they ever cook with chumiles, a tiny, fragrant insect sometimes used in salsa? — while Ms. Mata got busy at the stove.�?
The New York Times, A Bronx Star Without Pinstripes, by Melena Ryzik, July 21, 2009
July 23, 2009
john commented on the list guide-to-the-perplexed
Thanks brobbins, fantastic source for a list. Welcome to Wordie!
July 22, 2009
john commented on the word galápagos syndrome
“The Japanese have a name for their problem: Galápagos syndrome.
Japan’s cellphones are like the endemic species that Darwin encountered on the Galápagos Islands — fantastically evolved and divergent from their mainland cousins — explains Takeshi Natsuno, who teaches at Tokyo’s Keio University.�?
The New York Times, Why Japan’s Cellphones Haven’t Gone Global, by Hiroko Tabuchi, July 19, 2009
July 20, 2009
john commented on the word bint
From the Wiktionary: "(British, pejorative) (also Digger slang) Woman, girl."
July 20, 2009
john commented on the word chorine
“Lena was farmed out fairly frequently and had to endure occasional racist slurs, beatings for minor infractions and schoolgirl mockery: she was called “little yellow bastard�? because of her supposedly “white daddy.�? At age 16, to the disapproval of some family members, she became a chorine at the celebrated Cotton Club, where Ethel Waters singing “Stormy Weather�? had a lasting effect on her.�?
The New York Times, No Prisoner of Love, by John Simon, July 16, 2009
July 19, 2009
john commented on the word health alteration committee
“Assassination is a word that still haunts the C.I.A. The most lurid of the volumes produced by the Senate committee headed by Frank Church of Idaho in the mid-1970s detailed the C.I.A.’s plots to kill foreign political figures, including Cuba’s Fidel Castro and the Congo’s Patrice Lumumba. Such intrigues were overseen by the agency’s so-called Health Alteration Committee, which once O.K.’d the dispatch of a monogrammed, poisoned handkerchief to a left-leaning Iraqi colonel.�?
The New York Times, Government Hit Squads, Minus the Hits, by Scott Shane, July 18, 2009
July 19, 2009
john commented on the word hypersphere
Reminds me of Rounder Records.
July 19, 2009
john commented on the user briwref
Hi briwref! Thanks for all the collective nouns--I love "A darth of cheneys" :-)
The ones you added as comments to a shrink of violets, would you mind adding them to the list itself? It's growing to be quite a fantastic open list, your additions would be most welcome there.
July 19, 2009
john commented on the word aché
“In the lexicon of Santeria, “aché�? is the term applied to the life force, or to vital energy and good vibes. That word turns up in Caridad De La Luz’s new Off Broadway production, “Boogie Rican Blvd., the Musical,�? but in a larger sense Ms. De La Luz herself seems to embody and be guided by those qualities, both onstage and off.�?
The New York Times, A Wise(cracking) Latina Makes Her Way Onstage, by Larry Rohter, July 17, 2009
July 19, 2009
john commented on the word kibo
“NASA officials said it was a nuisance but not a safety issue, and they hoped to resolve the problem before the next spacewalk on Monday.
Indeed, Wolf and Kopra wasted no time 220 miles up prepping the Kibo lab -- Hope in Japanese -- and the new porch for their mechanical hookup.�?
The New York Times, Astronauts Embark on First Outing, Associated Press, July 18, 2009
July 19, 2009
john commented on the word anchor
“In 1952, the first presidential year in which television outshined radio, Mr. Cronkite was chosen to lead the coverage of the Democratic and Republican national conventions. By Mr. Cronkite’s account, it was then that the term “anchor�? was first used — by Sig Mickelson, the first director of television news for CBS, who had likened the chief announcer’s job to an anchor that holds a boat in place. Paul Levitan, another CBS executive, and Don Hewitt, then a young producer, have also been credited with the phrase.�?
The New York Times, Walter Cronkite, Voice of TV News, Dies, by Douglas Martin, July 17, 2009
July 18, 2009
john commented on the word cronkiter
“Along with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley on NBC, Mr. Cronkite was among the first celebrity anchormen. In 1995, 14 years after he retired from the “CBS Evening News,�? a TV Guide poll ranked him No. 1 in seven of eight categories for measuring television journalists. (He professed incomprehension that Maria Shriver beat him out in the eighth category, attractiveness.) He was so widely known that in Sweden anchormen were once called Cronkiters.�?
The New York Times, Walter Cronkite, Voice of TV News, Dies, by Douglas Martin, July 17, 2009
July 18, 2009
john commented on the word wanqueur
Although hamsteur is fantastic too. Also happily unsavory. I love this game. Well played!
July 18, 2009
john commented on the word wanqueur
FTW!
July 18, 2009
john commented on the word late blight
First the bananapocalypse, now this. This is awful:
“A highly contagious fungus that destroys tomato plants has quickly spread to nearly every state in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic, and the weather over the next week may determine whether the outbreak abates or whether tomato crops are ruined, according to federal and state agriculture officials.
The spores of the fungus, called late blight, are often present in the soil, and small outbreaks are not uncommon in August and September. But the cool, wet weather in June and the aggressively infectious nature of the pathogen have combined to produce what Martin A. Draper, a senior plant pathologist at the United States Department of Agriculture, described as an “explosive” rate of infection.”
The New York Times, Outbreak of Fungus Threatens Tomato Crop, by Julia Moskin, July 17, 2009
July 18, 2009
john commented on the list escapemn-s-list
Hi EscapeMN, thanks for the words and the definition. A bit of guidance, if you don't mind: if you add those two words (epiplexis and epiplectic) to the list by putting them in the 'add word' form and hitting 'add', they'll be put into Wordie in a way that lets you see who else has listed those words, and it will let other people add them to their lists. That also creates a unique page for the word, and lets you add comments and definitions to the word page itself.
Welcome to Wordie!
July 17, 2009
john commented on the user sionnach
Ga, Sionnach, I somehow missed your bug report a few weeks ago about all the duplicates. I'll look into that ASAP, which unfortunately probably means this coming weekend. Last thing in the world I want is to diminish Wordie's appeal to you :-)
July 16, 2009
john commented on the word marsupial
Fire away at Jerseyland. It's more like my penitentiary.
July 16, 2009
john commented on the list landscape
When I first saw the name of this list, I misread it as "Listscape."
July 16, 2009
john commented on the word long john silver
Hi TaniaS, staying alert, I took the liberty of removing your spam link. Thanks!
July 15, 2009
john commented on the list logicalbiscotti-s-omniglottery
Omniglottery, I love that. Are you perchance affiliated with the delightful Omniglot.com?
July 14, 2009
john commented on the word quelquefois
Dayum? Dayum! That took me a second, as I was pronouncing it "day-yum" in my head.
July 14, 2009
john commented on the word features
Oops. Fixed, thanks. Perfectly straight forward indeed :-)
July 14, 2009
john commented on the word euskara
See also Euskera.
July 14, 2009
john commented on the word euskera
I've also seen this spelled Euskara.
July 14, 2009
john commented on the word hyena butter
I was dubious that the anus could be considered a gland, but apparently in hyenas and dogs there is indeed an anal gland. Which sometimes requires grooming. Yuck.
July 13, 2009
john commented on the word features
Soup is done :-)
July 13, 2009
john commented on the list gypsy-rapist
Wow. I'm having a lot of trouble triangulating what your blog might be about. Pantophobia, I really hope :-)
July 12, 2009
john commented on the word bilat
“The club is “a place to see and be seen,” as its Web site says — that is, unless you are a visiting president who after a day and a half of blinis, beluga and bilats (the diplo term for “bilateral meetings”) just wants to hang out with the clan.”
The New York Times, Obama Dines In, to Some Russians’ Distaste, by Peter Baker, July 7, 2009
July 8, 2009
john commented on the word glame
See also gawesome: GAY + AWESOME
July 8, 2009
john commented on the word glame
Applies to shitty Google products. Written GLame and pronounced "Gee-Lame," a la GMail.
July 8, 2009
john commented on the word iquitarod
“My 14-year-old daughter just told me that someone on Twitter has come up with a new term for Palin's resignation: Iquitarod.”
The Huffington Post, The Iquitarod!: Sarah Palin's Latest Arctic Sport, by Geoffrey Dunn, July 6, 2009
July 7, 2009
john commented on the word chichevache
Best defense: don't be virtuous.
July 4, 2009
john commented on the word hijra
“Outside the hall where the Naz Foundation news conference was held, dozens of young men and women gathered to celebrate, along with a group of hijras, men who dress and act like women who classify themselves as belonging to neither gender.”
The New York Times, Indian Court Overturns Gay Sex Ban, by Heather Timmons and Hari Kumar, July 2, 2009
July 2, 2009
john commented on the word amusia
“Anne Barker, however, sits at the opposite extreme: she suffers from amusia, an inability to hear or respond to music.”
The New York Times, Our Brains on Music: The Science, by Mike Hale, June 29, 2009
July 1, 2009
john commented on the word euridice
Doesn't mentos have some meaning in Greek, in addition to being a breath mint? But this just struck me as a nice bit of freely-associated doggerel. And I love the phrase "copy-off." And I love that the list it's on is called "Jejuju"--I have no idea what that means, either, and Gooble isn't helping.
June 25, 2009
john commented on the word badarak
What the Armenian church calls the divine liturgy.
June 23, 2009
john commented on the word euridice
Best definition in months. Been a while since Wordie left me snickering uncontrollably.
June 23, 2009
john commented on the user john
:-)
June 22, 2009
john commented on the word sarod
“Unlike his father, a volatile and uneven performer, Mr. Khan maintained an austere demeanor onstage while coaxing passages of extraordinary intensity from his sarod, an instrument with 25 strings, 10 plucked with a piece of coconut shell while the remainder resonate sympathetically.”
The New York Times, Ali Akbar Khan, Sarod Virtuoso, Dies at 87, by William Grimes, June 19, 2009
June 20, 2009
john commented on the word ustad
“Mr. Khan, whose name is often preceded by the honorific Ustad, or master, was born in Shibpur, a small village in Bengal (now Bangladesh).”
The New York Times, Ali Akbar Khan, Sarod Virtuoso, Dies at 87, by William Grimes, June 19, 2009
June 20, 2009
john commented on the word preggo
Some kind of pasta sauce, isn't it?
June 19, 2009
john commented on the list kawaii-headdesk
U, can't believe I missed this list first time around. I have a love-hate (ok, mostly hate) relationship with the words on it, but I love the list itself. And I really appreciate you putting into words, in the description, the inchoate discomfort this kind of language makes me feel, and your recognition that these are all of a piece. They're not just words, they epitomize a syndrome. I can live with rancor and bad spelling, but the cutesy superiority complex part is nauseating.
June 18, 2009
john commented on the word ughten
So this is like gloaming, for the morning?
June 18, 2009
john commented on the word donkey basketball
Image search earns its keep here.
June 17, 2009
john commented on the word little man in boat
How about "little gland in a coat," which is both gender neutral, and avoids anthropomorphizication. Or maybe moat?
June 16, 2009
john commented on the word squeeze box
Slang for accordion
June 12, 2009
john commented on the word barbecue
Yep, pickles. Slaw works too.
I'm very catholic in my appreciation of condiments. To paraphrase Will Rogers, I never met one I didn't like. There's a greasy burger place in the building where I work. I'm on the 2nd floor, and the kitchen is almost directly below my desk--I'm trying to convince them to install a dumbwaiter. When you order a cheeseburger, they always ask "ketchup, mustard, or mayo," to which I always answer, yes.
June 11, 2009
john commented on the word barbecue
ps -- Can any further discussion about this take place over on advertising, please? Barbecue is a very nice word and I'd rather not pollute it with talk of base commerce.
I would give my left pinkie for a really good pulled pork sandwich right now. With pickles.
June 11, 2009
john commented on the word barbecue
Arcadia, are you sure whatever pop-up you saw wasn't triggered by some other page? I use Google Adsense for ads, and the only kind of ads I have configured are the 250x250 jobbies you see in the upper right. I don't think Google even offers popups, and if they did I'd probably drop them all together. Which would really hit me where it hurts, since I average around $2.50 a day from them.
June 11, 2009
john commented on the word pappenheimer
From dictionary.com: "A heavy rapier of the 17th century, having a swept guard with two perforated plates. Also called a Walloon sword. Named after Gottfried Heinrich, Graf zu Pappenheim (1594–1632), German leader in the Thirty Years' War"
June 11, 2009
john commented on the list bio
Howdy, quick-draw mcgraw. I must say, this is one of the more unique off-label uses of Wordie. It's vaguely spammish, but after asking the ouija board, I'm gonna say it's not exactly spam, since you're not linking to anything promotional.
But... are you really going to send this to prospective employers?
June 11, 2009
john commented on the word take rate
“If we need to basically depend on the endowment, let’s increase the take rate,” Mr. Greenberg said, referring to the percentage of the endowment drawn down by the college every year.
The New York Times, A Small College Struggles With Economics, by Jonathan D. Glater, June 9, 2009
June 10, 2009
john commented on the word gynecomastia
Boobs know this as manboobs.
June 10, 2009
john commented on the word ymca
It's Fun To Stay At The...
June 5, 2009
john commented on the word cow of the future
“Still, Erin Fitzgerald, director of social and environmental consulting for Dairy Management, says the industry wants to avert the possibility that customers will equate dairies with, say, coal plants. It has started a “cow of the future” program, looking for ways to reduce total industry emissions by 25 percent by the end of the next decade.”
The New York Times, Greening the Herds: A New Diet to Cap Gas, by Leslie Kaufman, June 4, 2009
June 5, 2009
john commented on the word funemployment
Funemployment. Paycation. The Unemploymentality. Every generation has an argot to describe the confusing terrain of joblessness — the dole, deadbeat dads, UB40, and so on — and the lexicon of younger casualties in the most severe American economic downturn since World War II speaks volumes.
Here's how the blog Recessionwire defines “funemployment”: “A period of joblessness that you actually enjoy — maybe you get to lay out, sleep in, work out, read up. It helps to have savings, severance, or an unemployment check to help pay the bills. We're hearing this word used more and more, especially as people realize they may not be able to find a new job right away, so they might as well try to enjoy the time off.”
SFWeekly.com, Funemployment: Jobless young San Franciscans are welcoming the worst recession of their lives with open arms. Too bad the party can't last forever., by Peter Jamison, June 2, 2010
June 4, 2009
john commented on the user john
Thanks VO, nuked that other bozo too.
June 4, 2009
john commented on the word pansy
“The Alexander merited a place of honor on Esquire’s list of “the pansies,” the worst drinks of the Prohibition era. These included long-forgotten abominations like the Sweetheart, the Fluffy Ruffles, the Pom Pom and the Cream Fizz.”
The New York Times, Bar? What Bar?, by William Grimes, June 2, 2009
June 4, 2009
john commented on the word enfeeble
Mr. Bigsby, the sympathetic biographer, does give a strong taste of Miller’s critics. More than a few saw his work as programmatic. Mary McCarthy, for one, wrote that “Death of a Salesman” was “enfeebled” by Miller’s “insistence on universality.”
The New York Times, Some Like It Hot, Some Like It Literary: A Playwright’s Life, With Marilyn, by Dwight Garner, June 2, 2009
June 3, 2009
john commented on the word widower
Not to mention childbirth.
May 29, 2009
john commented on the word stylophone
The name Apple originally wanted for the iPhone*, but were prevented from using because of the trademarks on this fantastic little instrument.
* lie
May 29, 2009
john commented on the word dap
“But some sociologists pointed out that African-American boys and men have been hugging as part of their greeting for decades, using the word “dap” to describe a ritual involving handshakes, slaps on the shoulders and, more recently, a hug, also sometimes called the gangsta hug among urban youth.”
The New York Times, For Teenagers, Hello Means ‘How About a Hug?’, by Sarah Kershaw, May 27, 2009
May 28, 2009
john commented on the word bromance
“The prevalence of boys’ nonromantic hugging (especially of other boys) is most striking to adults. Experts say that over the last generation, boys have become more comfortable expressing emotion, as embodied by the MTV show “Bromance,” which is now a widely used term for affection between straight male friends.”
The New York Times, For Teenagers, Hello Means ‘How About a Hug?’, by Sarah Kershaw, May 27, 2009
May 28, 2009
john commented on the word kalishnarumpet
I probably would have spelled it Kalashnirumpet, but this design from the Extra Action Marching Band is teh alsome.
May 28, 2009
john commented on the word praxis
Ironically inactive, I like that. Though I think my own inactivity is sincere.
May 27, 2009
john commented on the word orwell v huxley
Thanks bilb, that was great. The book he's riffing off of--Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death--is great too.
I'm kinda proud to think that Wordie is contributing to the problem.
May 27, 2009
john commented on the word dozenal
Maybe their web site is returning so many PHP errors because they tried to program it in base 12?
May 27, 2009
john commented on the word middie
Slang for midfielder in lacrosse; also spelled middy.
May 26, 2009
john commented on the word middy
Also slang for "midfielder" in lacrosse, though a more common spelling might be middie.
May 26, 2009
john commented on the word insomnia
Pro, I feel for you, and at the same time I'm envious. Having moved too many times, the very notion of being able to call anyone my people seems fantastic. It sounds like a gift you'll always have, wherever you live.
I spent 7 years in New York and know what an alienating place it can be, even if you love it. I hope you find some peace while you struggle with the tension between roots and opportunity.
May 25, 2009
john commented on the word jigaram
According to this blog, this is a Farsi term of endearment, the literal translation of which is "my liver."
May 25, 2009
john commented on the word rapture of the nerds
See citation on singularity.
May 25, 2009
john commented on the word singularity
The concept of ultrasmart computers — machines with “greater than human intelligence�? — was dubbed “The Singularity�? in a 1993 paper by the computer scientist and science fiction writer Vernor Vinge. He argued that the acceleration of technological progress had led to “the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.�?...
The science fiction author Ken MacLeod described the idea of the singularity as “the Rapture of the nerds.�?
The New York Times, The Coming Superbrain, by John Markoff, May 23, 2009
May 25, 2009
john commented on the word honq
According to qikipedia and straight dope, the English slur "honky" possibly derives from this Wolof word, which supposedly means red or pink.
May 24, 2009
john commented on the word postmodernism
Great Chomsky quote (something I don't think I've ever said before), also on the Wikipedia page sarra links to below:
"He asks why postmodernist intellectuals won't respond as "people in physics, math, biology, linguistics, and other fields are happy to do when someone asks them, seriously, what are the principles of their theories, on what evidence are they based, what do they explain that wasn't already obvious, etc? These are fair requests for anyone to make. If they can't be met, then I'd suggest recourse to Hume's advice in similar circumstances: to the flames.".
May 24, 2009
john commented on the word pomo
Short for postmodernism.
May 24, 2009
john commented on the user john
Alandriadenisewalker, I have no record of ever having received an email from the account you used to register for Wordie. If you have any questions or comments concerning Wordie that you'd rather send to me directly rather than through the site, please do, my contact info is on the about page.
May 24, 2009
john commented on the word radish
I lerve whichbe's definition. Great citation on destiny, too.
May 24, 2009
john commented on the list merovingians
Is Chrodobert a sort of medieval Dilbert? Kvetching about his dead-end job in the stables?
May 22, 2009
john commented on the word nascar effect
Nice! From the link below: "A collection of award icons, banners, webrings and ads that clutter the bottom or top of a Web page. Like a race car covered in ads, they blur and become meaningless."
May 22, 2009
john commented on the word turdus migratorius
Happens on roughly a quarterly basis.
May 21, 2009
john commented on the word aphasia
StefAnne: It wasn't posted by anyone. They gray definitions next to words come from WordNet.
May 19, 2009
john commented on the user john
Hi Guys. Um... can I offer anyone a beverage?
May 19, 2009
john commented on the word manpoo
What my eleven-year-old cousin calls shampoo marketed at men, products with scents like these.
May 11, 2009
john commented on the word motherboy
From an episode of Arrested Development: “Lucille always has trouble sleeping this time of year because she gets excited before Motherboy, a dinner dance aimed at promoting mother/son bonding.�?
May 11, 2009
john commented on the word whom
It tolls for yinz. Go stillerz!
May 10, 2009
john commented on the word burcad badeed
“Grass-roots, antipirate militias are forming. Sheiks and government leaders are embarking on a campaign to excommunicate the pirates, telling them to get out of town and preaching at mosques for women not to marry these un-Islamic, thieving “burcad badeed,�? which in Somali translates as sea bandit.�?
The New York Times, For Somali Pirates, Worst Enemy May Be on Shore, by Jeffrey Gettleman, May 8, 2009
May 9, 2009
john commented on the word donk
Image search--and this Wikipedia entry--show that it's a car moded with awesomely ginormous wheels. I would *love* to do this to my Prius.
May 9, 2009
john commented on the word park(ing) day
“PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)�? spaces: temporary public parks.�?
This one's for you, reesetee :-)
May 8, 2009
john commented on the word gardnerella
“Gardnerella Vaginalis is an infection of the female genital tract by bacteria of the Gardnerella vaginalis strain, often in combination with various anaerobic bacteria. Also called bacterial vaginosis.�?
healthcentral.com
May 7, 2009
john commented on the word wifebeater
American slang - a white sleeveless undershirt.
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word heteronormative
Unless I'm riding, in which case I tend to sport jodhpurs.
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word cocktail situations
“One White House insider described Mr. LaHood as “a master of odd jobs,�? whose knowledge of Washington allows him to take on assignments as varied as lobbying lawmakers on the budget and helping political novices in the cabinet navigate Beltway social rituals (“cocktail situations,�? as Energy Secretary Steven Chu calls them).�?
The New York Times, G.O.P. Résumé, Cabinet Post, Knack for Odd Jobs, by Mark Leibovich, May 4, 2009
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word ayuntamiento
From a comment by frangarnes on murcielago:
Spanish definition of ayuntamiento:
1. Acción y efecto de ayuntar o ayuntarse.
2. Corporación compuesta de un alcalde y varios concejales para la administración de los intereses de un municipio.
3. Casa consistorial.
4. Junta (reunión de personas para tratar algún asunto).
5. Coito.
(My 'macaronic') English translation of that:
1. Action or effect of 'ayuntar' or 'ayuntarse'.
2. Corporation composed of a mayor and several town councillors for the government of a town.
3. Town hall (or city hall).
4. Meeting, assembly.
5. Coitus.
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word heteronormative
Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean to get my kickers in a twist--I hate to be a hater.
There's nothing wrong with the word per se. It's just that there was a period in the nineties when it was in heavy rotation with a certain type of person, pseudo intellectual kids from the Northeast U.S. who went to a certain set of schools, read (or pretended to have read) a certain set of books, who dressed disturbingly alike, and who repeated certain words and phrases with a knowing glance, like they were occult signifiers to be shared only between initiates. "Heteronormative" was one of those words, and it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word funtoosh
“In which the viceroy, Wavell, understood that he was finished, washed-up, or in our own expressive word, funtoosh.�?
Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word jati
See citation on shudra.
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word shudra
“The basis of this resistance lay in the village, and its distinct form of community: the jati. These groups, numbering in the thousands, were governed by strict rules of endogamy and by taboos about purity, and arranged a social hierarchy: varna. The precise ideological sources of this system are obscure, but elements may be traced to one of the very late hymns of the Rig Veda, which describes the dismemberment of the cosmic giant Purusha, the primeval male whose sacrifice created the world: 'When they divided the Man, into how many parts did they apportion him? What do they call his mouth, his two arms and thighs and feet?/ His mouth became the Brahmin; his arms were made into the Warrior (kshatriya), his thighs the People (vaishiya), and from his feet the servants (shudra) were born.' The resulting intricate filigree of social interconnections and division -- a hierarchical order of peerless sophistication -- defies any simple account Perplexed Westerners came to describe it by the term 'caste', but a wide distance separates the deceptively well-defined doctrinal claims of the caste order and the actual operations of what is an essentially local, small-scale system.�?
From The Idea of India, by Sunil Khilnani, excerpted in a review in The New York Times, The Jewel Without the Crown, by Judith M. Brown, Feburuary 15, 1998
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word nano
A small 4-passenger car built by India's Tata Motors, primarily for the Indian market.
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word paulistano
“Many Paulistanos, as São Paulo residents are called, say the interminable stop-and-go traffic and the wide gap between haves and have-nots are recipes for assaults and carjackings, especially now that Brazil’s boom times have come to a halt.�?
The New York Times, Fearful Brazilians Keep Armored Car Sales Booming, by Alexei Barrionuevo, May 3, 2009
May 5, 2009
john commented on the word heteronormative
I've heard too many pseudo-intellectual poseurs use this word to not dislike it--I buy the Valse hypothesis. All apologies to Rick Moody, but it has been ruined by semiotics majors from Brown, wearing clunky glasses and knit scarves and babbling about Derrida and reeking of smug.
So maybe it's not the word I dislike, but everyone I've ever met who has used it, up until now :-) Rolig, I very much appreciate your measured tone. You are Obama-like (Obamaesque? Obamian?) in your ability to speak dispassionately about topics that are sometimes combative or incendiary.
And knitandpurl, I agree it's useful to differentiate some of the trappings this word has acquired (pretention, smugness), from its original meaning, which certainly describes a real phenomenon.
May 4, 2009
john commented on the word nehru
See also nehru jacket.
May 3, 2009
john commented on the word nehru jacket
Interestingly, this was listed over a year ago, but the word Nehru itself hadn't been. Until now.
May 3, 2009
john commented on the word first bed
“Ms. Lario’s latest criticism also comes in the context of speculation about a brewing power struggle between the children of Mr. Berlusconi’s first marriage, or “first bed,�? as the Italian phrase goes, and those of his second, with Ms. Lario, over his media and even political empire.�?
The New York Times, Premier’s Roving Eye Enrages Wife, but Not His Public, by Rachel Donadio, April 29, 2009
May 3, 2009
john commented on the word lug
Wow--a god! See also discussion on hasbian.
May 3, 2009
john commented on the word hasbian
When I was in college in the late 80s and early 90s the term was LUG--Lesbian Until Graduation. I heard it from lesbian friends, talking about fears that they'd fall for someone who was only experimenting. I think it did say a lot about the people using it--it said they were scared of having their hearts broken. Like a lot of bitter words it was used to dispel or mask feelings of fear and vulnerability.
The norms in play, in my experience, were those of lesbians pissed off at breeders--a far nastier term in my book, though kind of funny in a perverse way.
May 3, 2009
john commented on the word heteronormative
Nice job unpacking that, MM :-)
Seriously though, I agree. It's a loathsome word and my new least favorite.
May 2, 2009
john commented on the word leotard
“I’m going to turn over a new leaf, TROS, and make a conscious, conscientious effort to break myself of the bad habit of using the word “retard.�? But I don’t think the “retard jar�? is for me. Instead, I’m going to use a substitution for the word. From now on, instead of saying “retard�? or “that’s so retarded,�? I’m going to say “leotard�? and “that’s so leotarded.�? I won’t be mocking the mentally challenged, just the physically gifted. I will pick on the strong—and the limber—and not the weak.�?
Savage Love, by Dan Savage, April 29, 2009
May 1, 2009
john commented on the word wiremen
“How many people does it take to change every light bulb in Grand Central Terminal?
Six, it turns out. And it’s a full-time job.
On Tuesday, those wiremen — their official title — unscrewed the last remaining incandescent bulbs in the building, replacing them with compact fluorescent bulbs and completing the greening of the lighting system at the bustling station.�?
The New York Times, At Grand Central, a Fluorescent Twist to a Light-Bulb Joke, by A.G. Sulzberger, April 28, 2009
April 30, 2009
john commented on the word island dwarfing
“Island dwarfing is a recognized phenomenon in which larger species diminish in size over time in response to limited resources.�?
The New York Times, A Tiny Hominid With No Place on the Family Tree, by John Noble Wilford, April 27, 2009
April 29, 2009
john commented on the word banana slug
The official mascot of the UC Santa Cruz athletic teams. They have a fantastic domain name: goslugs.com.
April 28, 2009
john commented on the word coolsploitation
“For the last two years, Bustelo has been a fixture at parties and giveaway suites from the Winter Music Conference to Sundance to the Oscars, and the company behind it has been sending truckloads of it to 50 Cent and Perez Hilton.
Whenever there is coolsploitation, however, there is potential trouble, and marketing experts say that Café Bustelo’s reboot will not be easy.�?
The New York Times, Out of the Bodega and Onto the Scene, by Ben Sisario, April 24, 2009
April 26, 2009
john commented on the list symonds-s-list
Welcome, sy!
There are also some useful Wordie how-to link on the about page.
April 24, 2009
john commented on the list denizens
How about Tico?
April 24, 2009
john commented on the word tico
A native of Costa Rica. Costa Rica's well-regarded English-language weekly newspaper is called the
April 24, 2009
john commented on the word range anxiety
“The problem of refueling is so significant that fans of electric cars have a phrase for it: range anxiety, the nagging fear that you’ll run out of juice before you can find a charge spot and be stranded at the side of the road.�?
The New York Times, Batteries Not Included, by Clive Thompson, April 16, 2009
April 23, 2009
john commented on the word curated soundscape
What @harrisj calls a mix tape.
April 23, 2009
john commented on the word palenque
See palenquero.
April 23, 2009
john commented on the user madmouth
Thanks for the additions to and citations on Yiddishkeit, they're great. Much appreciated!
April 23, 2009
john commented on the word cattlesnake
Half cat, half rattlesnake.
April 23, 2009
john commented on the word shovelhead
Also a type of Harley Davidson motorcylce engine produced from the mid-sixties to the mid-eighties.
April 23, 2009
john commented on the word cosmetic neurology
“In 2004, he coined the term “cosmetic neurology�? to describe the practice of using drugs developed for recognized medical conditions to strengthen ordinary cognition.�?
The New Yorker, Brain Gain, by Margaret Talbot, April 27, 2009
April 22, 2009
john commented on the word douchebaguette
JamesFlynn is not the first to coin this term! Image search reveals all.
April 22, 2009
john commented on the word douchebaguette
C_b, thanks for pointing that out, I dislike the disproportionate association of feminine and negative terms. Though anything associated with the privates has been pejoritized at some point or another.
I agree, the bread connotation is the best part. Revolting food connotations are great force multipliers. Like dick cheese.
April 21, 2009
john commented on the word douchebaguette
The product may be used primarily by women, but let's face it, most douchebags are guys, so this kind of makes sense.
If you want an explicitly male variant, there's always douche-cock.
April 21, 2009
john commented on the word nebelwerfer
A WWII German rocket artillery launcher.
April 18, 2009
john commented on the word nebelwurfer
Also spelled nebelwerfer.
April 18, 2009
john commented on the word bugs
Think I just fixed the list description links thing, c_b. Sorry for the long wait on that folks, slipped past my (rusty, WWII-era) radar earlier.
April 17, 2009
john commented on the word exuberjoyment
I love this word, just love it.
April 16, 2009
john commented on the word geezer
Mike Skinner, aka "The Streets," who is awesome, mentions geezers in every third song. He uses the term in the yarbian sense, generally talking about un- or under-employed British guys in their 20s, whose major activities include smoking dope and playing Grand Theft Auto. From "Geezers Need Excitement:"
Geezers need excitement.
If their lives don't provide them this,
they incite violence.
Common sense, simple common sense
April 16, 2009
john commented on the word twitter
Best definition ever: “Twitter seems to be, first and foremost, an online haven where teenagers making drugs can telegraph secret code words to arrange gang fights and orgies. It also functions as a vehicle for teasing peers until they commit suicide.�?
McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Truly Groundbreaking Marketing Research: Understanding Twitter, by Dan Kennedy, March 31, 2009
April 16, 2009
john commented on the word mobsourcing
Letting things be decided by the stupidity of a crowd. The ugly side of crowdsourcing.
April 16, 2009
john commented on the word kettling
See also kettle.
April 16, 2009
john commented on the word kettle
“A kettle is a term that birdwatchers use to describe a group of birds wheeling and circling in the air.”
- Wikipedia
April 16, 2009
john commented on the word kettling
Waddington helped to develop "kettling," where police enclose protesters in a confined space, a tactic that replaced the use of horses or crowd charges by lines of baton-wielding officers to disperse demonstrations.
The New York Times, Technology Advances Put Police Behavior In Focus, April 15, 2009
April 16, 2009
john commented on the word minnesota
Updated motto: "10,000 Lakes and One Senator"
April 15, 2009
john commented on the word tatpurusha
"tatpurusha is a term coined by Indian grammarians more than 2,000 years ago for a class of compounds bahuvrihi dvandva karmadharaya"
- Maitani
April 15, 2009
john commented on the word american restroom association
All of America's restrooms decided to band together.
April 13, 2009
john commented on the word world toilet organization
The other WTO. Their mission is actually quite important: "World Toilet Organization (WTO) is a global non- profit organization committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide."
April 13, 2009
john commented on the word crastinate
What you do prior to upgrading to Wordie PRO.
April 13, 2009
john commented on the word quartodeciman
“The term "Quartodeciman" refers to the practice of celebrating Pascha or Easter beginning on Nisan 14 of the Hebrew calendar, "the LORD's passover" (Leviticus 23:5). According to the church historian Eusebius, the Quartodeciman Polycarp (bishop of Smyrna, by tradition a disciple of John the Evangelist) debated the question with Anicetus (bishop of Rome). The Roman province of Asia was Quartodeciman, while the Roman and Alexandrian churches continued the fast until the Sunday following, wishing to associate Easter with Sunday. Neither Polycarp nor Anicetus persuaded the other, but they did not consider the matter schismatic either, parting in peace and leaving the question unsettled.�?
Wikipedia, Easter
April 13, 2009
john commented on the word camogie
“There, a friendly Irish waitress started peppering her with questions, most important of which was: Did Ms. Lavery play camogie, the female version of hurling?�?
The New York Times, The Fading of the Green, by Sophia Hollander, April 10, 2009
April 13, 2009
john commented on the word futurity
He's being ugly, but I find it a compelling poem. Full text is here.
April 12, 2009
john commented on the word arte rupestre
I like this game.
April 8, 2009
john commented on the word calèche
from wiktionary: “A type of carriage with low wheels, especially pulled by horses.�?
April 7, 2009
john commented on the word dyson number
“Let’s call the smallest possible number that doubles its value when its last digit is moved to the front, the “Dyson number�? for 2. The Dyson number for 3 would be one that tripled its value; the Dyson number for 4 would be one that quadrupled its value, and so on.�?
The New York Times, Freeman Dyson’s 4th-Grade Math Puzzle, by John Tierney, April 6, 2009
April 7, 2009
john commented on the word shabbes goy
Hired, or just asked—I've done favors like this for observant neighbors.
April 7, 2009
john commented on the word eppes
Also spelled eppis, I think. Means 'something' in Yiddish.
April 7, 2009
john commented on the list morbid-curiosity-words-you-should-be-very-hesitant-to-use-image-search-on
Right-O VO, so much so that you just gave it a new title. Nothing edifying here whatsoever. A list that makes you clamp your hands over your eyes, peer through the cracks between your fingers, and then wish you hadn't.
April 7, 2009
john commented on the word megillah
Also a famous gorilla.
April 7, 2009
john commented on the word features
Yeah, I think all I did was blow up the font size in a few places. Trying to be consistent with words and lists, I think, though I can see how it could be distracting.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word schlemazel
According to The Free Dictionary: “An extremely unlucky or inept person; a habitual failure.�?
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word engram
“The idea that experience leaves some trace in the brain goes back at least to Plato’s Theaetetus metaphor of a stamp on wax, and in 1904 the German scholar Richard Semon gave that ghostly trace a name: the engram.�?
The New York Times, rain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory, by Benedict Carey, April 5, 2009
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word schtupp
Vulgar Yiddish term for sex, on par with "screw."
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word schvartze
Yiddish term for a black person, sometimes derogative.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word schmutter
Rubbish.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word schmaltz
Literally means melted chicken fat.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word shrek
Yiddish for monster.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word pish
Yiddish for piss.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word nudje
To annoy, or a person who does so.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word schmeer
What you put on a bagel.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word shvitz
Yiddish, to sweat.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word noodnik
Yiddish insult, means an annoying pain in the ass.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word chazzer
Yiddish for pig.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word shiksha
More often spelled Shiksa.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word tuccus
Yiddish for ass. Also spelled tuchas.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word boychik
Term of endearment for a young man.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word nachas
Yiddish for joy and pride in one's children.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word mishuggenah
Also spelled mishugenah. Really weird that neither is currently listed anywhere.
Ah, I see--the preferred spelling here seems to be meshuggener.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word evolution
That might belong on devolution.
April 6, 2009
john commented on the word trolls
Folks, I really, really appreciate it when bad actors are brought to my attention. It happens infrequently, given the volume of traffic here, and I have a small bag of tools for dealing with them. It hasn't, knock on wood, been much of an issue.
But my opinion is that we should refrain from rising to the bait on the site. Most trolls are just out for attention, so yelling at them leaves them emboldened, not chastened. Though of course everyone is free to say what they will, and do what they want (except for the trolls, who I will nuke). And if anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to chime in here or let me know directly. Thanks.
Wow. The ads on this page are awesome.
April 5, 2009
john commented on the word cephalomancy
“Divination by study of the shape of the skull or head, esp. of a donkey or goat.�? Many citations here.
April 4, 2009
john commented on the word capnomancy
“Divination by the study of smoke rising from a fire.�? Many citations here.
April 4, 2009
john commented on the word guano
I think dingy was a freudian typo. The U.S.S. Guano is a sad, sad vessel. She's inflatable. She looks and handles like a large hot dog.
April 4, 2009
john commented on the word facebook
Wordie's not real life?
*eyes open wide, confused blinking*
April 3, 2009
john commented on the word guano
This is the name of my dingy--the U.S.S. Guano.
April 3, 2009
john commented on the word laicization
“Laicization — or removing a priest from the priesthood — was what Father Fitzgerald recommended for many abusive priests to bishops and Pope Paul VI.�?
The New York Times, Early Alarm for Church on Abusers in the Clergy, by Laurie Goodstein, April 2, 2009
April 3, 2009
john commented on the word paraclete
From the 1940’s through the 1960’s, bishops and superiors of religious orders sent their problem priests to Father Fitzgerald to be healed. He founded the Servants of the Paraclete in 1947 (“paraclete�? means “Holy Spirit�?), and set up a retreat house in Jemez Springs, N.M.
The New York Times, Early Alarm for Church on Abusers in the Clergy, by Laurie Goodstein, April 2, 2009
April 3, 2009
john commented on the word cura animarum
“We are amazed,�? Father Fitzgerald wrote to a bishop in 1957, “to find how often a man who would be behind bars if he were not a priest is entrusted with the cura animarum,�? meaning, the care of souls.
The New York Times, Early Alarm for Church on Abusers in the Clergy, by Laurie Goodstein, April 2, 2009
April 3, 2009
john commented on the word facebook
facebook burning?
April 3, 2009
john commented on the word curmudgeon
Curmudgeon day just isn't what it used to be.
April 3, 2009
john commented on the word april fool
There's a good one on guardian, too. And this, which was *not* done by the NYTimes
April 2, 2009
john commented on the word albatross that laid the golden egg
When something goes so well that you get stuck doing it all the time, and what had been a great success becomes a total drag.
April 2, 2009
john commented on the word guardian
Yeah yeah. But seriously, Wordie would sorta work over Twitter. It's the bastard offspring of Twitter and Wikipedia, sort of. Except that I think it predates Twitter. Their rate of growth has been slightly higher.
April 2, 2009
john commented on the word guardian
Apparently the Guardian is soon going to stop print publication and move to a twitter-only format.
That might actually be feasible for Wordie...
April 2, 2009
john commented on the word features
I hadn't announced that yet because it doesn't really... work :-) The query to get active lists is screwed up somehow. I'll work on it tonight though, should be fixed soon. The criteria are meant to be simple: open lists that have had words added to them in the past 24 hours, sorted by volume of words added in that timeframe.
April 1, 2009
john commented on the word wank
“Some publishers insist that consumers will pay for quality, which is perhaps the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. If that were true then, when Sirius satellite radio launched in the US, instead of poaching Howard Stern to lure over paid listeners, they'd have hired Charlie Rose to read out Proust. Meanwhile, the idea that people will pay for quality news or investigative journalism is simply the stuff of journalism professors' wank fantasies.�?
The Guardian, Viva la app app revolution!, by Paul Carr, March 25, 2009
April 1, 2009
john commented on the word newordizen
Patented, trademarked, copyrighted, and copylefted by bear in chains. Use it, you owe the bear a nickel.
April 1, 2009
john commented on the word goat
“Admittedly, I’m late to the party: goat is the most widely consumed meat in the world, a staple of, among others, Mexican, Indian, Greek and southern Italian cuisines.”
The New York Times, How I Learned to Love Goat, by Henry Alford, March 31, 2009
April 1, 2009
john commented on the word peis
I love WeirdNet's take on this as a plural proper noun.
March 31, 2009
john commented on the list deprefixed-words
Great list tts. Welcome to Wordie!
March 31, 2009
john commented on the word Բ
The second letter in the Armenian alphabet, according to French Wikipedia.
March 31, 2009
john commented on the word ấ
Represents one of the five tones of â, the third letter of the Vietnamese alphabet.
March 31, 2009
john commented on the word ệ
Represents one of the tones of ê, the ninth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet.
March 31, 2009
john commented on the word Φ
The Greek letter Phi. Used as a symbol for the golden ratio, among other things.
March 31, 2009
john commented on the list letters
I love this list. This is a lot to ask, but it would be cool to see the names of each letter on its respective page. Maybe I'll start chipping away at that.
March 31, 2009
john commented on the word features
Yes, and done. Though I think it would be better still if Forvo let you add words from /word/(whatever). Like Wordie :-)
March 31, 2009
john commented on the word son of sam
aka David Berkowitz.
March 31, 2009
john commented on the word samovar
Rolig, +1 on the show of support, your conversation and contributions are valued and enjoyed.
This is all in fun, right? Wordie is the house the pedantry built :-) If you can't argue/discuss/dissect the nuances of a word here, where can you?
Whatever the meaning of "samovar" (and it's allowed to have more than one, I think, and slightly different ones in different places; that's how words work), part of the 30 Rock joke is indeed that Toufer is himself a pedant. (*shoots joke in head by pedantically explaining it*)
But I think I have a solution to this all. Samovars used for anything other than tea should be called Son of Samovars.
March 31, 2009
john commented on the word bugs
Login bug should be fixed now--once you log back in, you should stay in.
March 30, 2009
john commented on the word queequeg
Herman, no?
March 30, 2009
john commented on the word samovar
I like to think of the self-service soda fountains at Burger King as samovars.
March 30, 2009
john commented on the word iht
Short for International Herald Tribune, an international, English-language newspaper published in Paris, and owned by The New York Times. The paper used to have its own web site, but as of March 29, 2009 iht.com redirects to the global edition of nytimes.com.
March 30, 2009
john commented on the word bugs
Last night I made some internal changes (upgraded to Rails 2.3.2), which I think are causing issues with login. Looking into it, thanks for the heads-up.
March 30, 2009
john commented on the word samovar
Toufer: *Complaining to Liz* Surely our massive conglomerate parent company could spring for a samovar of coffee.
Frank: Yeah, or, like, a big coffee dispenser!
Toufer: *Condescendingly* That's what a samovar is.
Frank: Are there other black nerds, or is it just you and Urkel?
*Toofer just stares at Frank*
30 Rock, via imdb.com
March 30, 2009
john commented on the word walking bus
“This year the world’s first ever walking bus, which started in Hertfordshire in 1998, celebrates its tenth birthday!
Parent volunteers walk the children to school, with a ‘driver’ at the front and a ‘conductor’ at the back, collecting children from ‘bus stops’ along the route.�?
from hertsdirect.org, via @jonhansen.
March 28, 2009
john commented on the word serendipitous findability
Reminds me of Peter Morville's term—also the title of one of his books—Ambient Findability.
March 28, 2009
john commented on the word mash-up
See also mashup.
March 27, 2009
john commented on the list words-that-are-also-movies
Thanks LB! Just opened up this list, if anyone else wants to play.
March 27, 2009
john commented on the word goll-ee
Hi bilby! What? Oh sure, I'll have a bite.
*nibbles edge of toadstool, tumbles into alternate wordieverse*
March 26, 2009
john commented on the word neko
Also Neko Case, indie-rock chanteuse and New Pornographer.
For years I thought her name was pronounced "neck-oh," until I saw her in concert and realized it's said "knee-co," same as Nico.
March 26, 2009
john commented on the word vizier
“One of Dyson’s daughters, the Internet vizier Esther Dyson, says her father raised her without a television so she would read more, and has always been ‘just as interested in talking to’ the latest graduate student to make the pilgrimage to Princeton ‘as he is the famous person at the next table.’�?
The New York Times, The Civil Heretic, by Nicholas Dawidoff, March 25, 2009
March 26, 2009
john commented on the word macguffin
“Dyson agrees with the prevailing view that there are rapidly rising carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere caused by human activity. To the planet, he suggests, the rising carbon may well be a MacGuffin, a striking yet ultimately benign occurrence in what Dyson says is still ‘a relatively cool period in the earth’s history.’�?
The New York Times, The Civil Heretic, by Nicholas Dawidoff, March 25, 2009
March 26, 2009
john commented on the word blipper
Wordie PRO accounts get 17 characters.
March 26, 2009
john commented on the word suspire
A living, breathing—well, breathing at least—vampire.
March 25, 2009
john commented on the word inspire
Also, a hip vampire.
March 25, 2009
john commented on the word fuseful
Twitter is fascinating, Biz Stone sounds like a cool guy, but this word is fawful.
March 25, 2009
john commented on the word kkk
A repugnant hate group. Likes ferris wheels.
March 25, 2009
john commented on the word big bertha
“Big Bertha, as circus folk call Ringling, is under siege as never before. Kenneth Feld, the company’s 60-year-old producer, dismissed any idea that Ringling is no longer the Greatest Show on Earth.�?
The New York Times, Circus Flies O’er Troubles With Greatest of Ease, by Glenn Collins, March 23, 2009
March 25, 2009
john commented on the word there are no pockets in shrouds
In the past, I’ve tried pointing out to my parents that all money not spent by the Greatest Generation will only be spent by their heirs — and in not-so-great ways. Sometimes, after I’ve threatened to blow the inheritance on a box at the Metropolitan Opera or nightly meals at Le Bernardin, my parents will consent to a little extravagance for themselves, and my mother will remind my father of an old proverb: “There are no pockets in shrouds.�?
The New York Times, Oversaving, a Burden for Our Times, by John Tierney, March 23, 2009
March 24, 2009
john commented on the word hyperopia
“Consumer psychologists call it hyperopia, the medical term for farsightedness and the opposite of myopia, nearsightedness, because it’s the result of people looking too far ahead. They’re so obsessed with preparing for the future that they can’t enjoy the present, and they end up looking back sadly on all their lost opportunities for fun.�?
The New York Times, Oversaving, a Burden for Our Times, by John Tierney, March 23, 2009
March 24, 2009
john commented on the word malternative
“And in my household, in addition to my unrequited predilection for Drinks With Umbrellas, I recently learned that my husband hated the taste of beer in high school and so insisted on White Mountain, a “malternative�? beverage.�?
The New York Times, Your Signature Cocktail, by Anna Fricke, March 22, 2009
March 24, 2009
john commented on the word amitié amoureuse
See also friends with benefits.
March 23, 2009
john commented on the word friends with benefits
“I know, I know: You two physically disconnected after the births of your children (all too common), you engaged in some sleazy adulterate behavior, wocka wocka wocka. But that's all out in the open now, and you've decided to stay together because you're good parents, partners, and friends, and you've opened the relationship up to seek friends-with-benefits, as the straight people call 'em, or fuckbuddies, as we gay people like to call 'em.�?
Savage Love, September 3, 2008
March 23, 2009
john commented on the user mechanolatry
Better late than never, but I finally added etsy as an 'also-on' option. Sorry for the long delay :-)
March 23, 2009
john commented on the word norouz
“In President Barack Obama’s videotaped message to the Iranian people on Friday — which can be seen with Farsi subtitles on the Web site of Radio Farda, a broadcaster financed by the American government — he discusses the celebration of the Persian New Year, Norouz, which begins today. (Readers in Iran: Happy 1388!)�?
The New York Times, Obama, Peres and Colbert on the Persian New Year, by Robert Mackey, March 20, 2009
March 20, 2009
john commented on the word fantasound
The sound process used to record Fantasia. Has nothing to do with soda.
March 20, 2009
john commented on the word fantasia
Recorded in fantasound.
March 20, 2009
john commented on the word barococo
I thought I had just coined this, but apparently I didn't. Oh well.
March 20, 2009
john commented on the word trash out
“Just over an hour after they had arrived, they were done: the yard was clean, the house cleared, the “after�? pictures taken. The men, members of a “trash out�? crew charged with hauling away what’s left in foreclosed houses, had removed any sign of a home life from this one in Murrieta Oaks.�?
The New York Times, Foreclosure Trash-Out: Ill Fortune and Its Leavings, by Steven Kurutz, March 18, 2009
March 19, 2009
john commented on the word douchetard
“In a historic pairing of pop superstars who inspire the sort of hatred in A.V Club commenters most folks reserve for pedophiles, Nazis and Hilton sisters, 50 Cent of Vitamin Water and video game fame will be joining pop-punk punching bags Fall Out Boy for five magical dates on their current U.S Tour.
In a press release heralding this once-in-a-lifetime teaming of hip hop douchebag and rock douchetards 50 Cent is hilariously/erroneously described as “acclaimed�?.�?
A.V.Club, 50 Cent to join Fall Out Boy on tour. World rejoices, by Nathan Rabin, March 17, 2009
March 19, 2009
john commented on the word cacahuete
Spanish for peanut.
March 19, 2009
john commented on the word tiovivo
Oh sionnach, thanks--I love this word too, and had forgotten about it. It's right up there with electrodoméstico in my pantheon of great Spanish words.
It means "carousel."
March 18, 2009
john commented on the word wheelhouse
“McCain had blogged about body issues during the campaign — “I’ve been surprised by critical comments regarding my weight and body shape. It recently reached a ridiculous level when someone handed me a business card for a plastic surgeon and suggested I needed liposuction�? — so Ingraham’s jokes were, as the baseballers say, right in her wheelhouse.�?
The New York Times, Mean G.O.P. Girls, by Eric Etheridge, Marche 17, 2009
March 18, 2009
john commented on the list ford-to-city
Oops, sorry LB. It is now.
March 18, 2009
john commented on the word altogether
“Mr. Hepenstrick, 54, is an architect who loves to hike in the altogether.�?
The New York Times, In Thin Air of the Alps, Swiss Secrecy Is Vanishing, by John Tagliabue, March 16, 2009
March 18, 2009
john commented on the word stockdale paradox
Admiral James Stockdale, describing how he survived seven years as a POW in Vietnam, in Jim Colins' book Good to Great, as quoted in The New York Times:
“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.�?
March 18, 2009
john commented on the list the-raven-by-edgar-allan-poe
Full text of the final version of the poem here.
March 18, 2009
john commented on the word phalacrocoracidae
The bird family including cormorants and shags.
March 17, 2009
john commented on the word mcgangbang
A McChicken Sandwich inside a Double Cheeseburger. The best mashup ever.
March 16, 2009
john commented on the list leev2s-list
Designer? *looks over shoulder*
March 16, 2009
john commented on the word iocaine powder
Clearly the inspiration behind this.
March 16, 2009
john commented on the word cheat
“A study of cheating among graduate students, published in 2006 in the journal Academy of Management Learning & Education, found that 56 percent of all M.B.A. students cheated regularly — more than in any other discipline.�?
The New York Times, Is It Time to Retrain B-Schools?, by Kelley Holland, March 14, 2009
March 15, 2009
john commented on the word vinegaroon
See also vinegarroon.
March 14, 2009
john commented on the user brettfagan
Thanks for editing that comment, I appreciate it. I meant what I said--Wordie does have decent PageRank and links from it can contribute in some small way to a site's SEO, as you know. That's not what the site is about though, so I try to discourage it.
March 13, 2009
john commented on the word privacy policy
In a nutshell: Google is spying on you. Right now. Details here.
March 13, 2009
john commented on the word colon blow
As seen here.
March 13, 2009
john commented on the word pants status
A twitter status update concerning one's pants, left by someone other than the account holder when a phone or laptop is left unattended and unlocked. First mentioned here, as far as I can tell, and trackable via http://pantsstatus.com.
March 12, 2009
john commented on the word muffin ii
A canine friend?
March 12, 2009
john commented on the word legitimated
“In most national jurisdictions, the status of a child as a legitimate or illegitimate heir could be changed – in either direction – under the civil law (as with the Princes in the Tower). Likewise under canon law, in most religious jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, a child's birth could be retroactively "legitimated" if the parents married – usually within a specified time, such as a year.�? --Wikipedia
Came across this word while speculating about the Palin saga.
March 12, 2009
john commented on the word polysyndeton
qroqqa, the beginning of your first sentence ("I was cruising for Julie Myerson, as one does...") is somehow brilliant.
March 12, 2009
john commented on the word nixie
Also the name of one of the tubes, Jake tells me.
March 12, 2009
john commented on the word progress trap
This page has been cleaned up, so I'm removing my little joke from earlier. Leaving this placard though, so bilby's comment above isn't orphaned.
March 12, 2009
john commented on the list words-of-the-times
Awesome, thank you :-)
March 11, 2009
john commented on the word peregruzka
“Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in greeting Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, presented him with a red plastic button emblazoned with the English word “reset�? and the Russian word “peregruzka.�?
The gift was a play on Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s call in Munich last month for the two countries to “press the reset button�? on their relationship.
“We worked hard to get the right Russian word,�? Mrs. Clinton said, handing the button to Mr. Lavrov. “Do you think we got it?�?
“You got it wrong,�? he replied, explaining that the Americans had come up with the Russian word for overcharged.�?
The New York Times, Lost in Translation: A U.S. Gift to Russia, by Mark Landler, March 6, 2009
March 11, 2009
john commented on the word great depression
See also Great Recession.
March 9, 2009
john commented on the word great recession
“This recession, which began in December 2007, has already lasted longer than the average postwar recession. If it turns out to be as bad as the most protracted of the postwar downturns, we will touch bottom next month.
But my strong suspicion is that we are now in something more like a Great Recession. It won’t produce as steep a fall in American output as the Depression did, but it may prove to be as prolonged.�?
The New York Times, Our Great Recession, by Niall Ferguson, February 28, 2009
March 9, 2009
john commented on the word emoji
“Emoji (絵文字 ?) is the Japanese term for the picture characters or emoticons used in Japanese wireless messages and webpages. Originally meaning pictograph, the word literally means e "picture" + moji "letter". The characters are used much like emoticons elsewhere, but a wider range is provided, and the icons are standardized and built into the handsets.�?
Wikipedia
March 9, 2009
john commented on the word drifting
“This may be the most popular sport of Saudi youth, an obsessive, semilegal competition that dominates weekend nights here. It ranges from garden variety drag racing to “drifting,�? an extremely dangerous practice in which drivers deliberately spin out and skid sideways at high speeds, sometimes killing themselves and spectators.�?
The New York Times, Saudi Racers Roar All Night, Fueled by Boredom, by Robert F. Worth, March 7, 2009
March 8, 2009
john commented on the word tufush
“Some young people, asked why they risked their lives this way, said it was because of “tufush,�? a colloquial Arabic word for boredom whose meaning is said by some to derive from the gestures made by a drowning man.�?
The New York Times, Saudi Racers Roar All Night, Fueled by Boredom, by Robert F. Worth, March 7, 2009
March 8, 2009
john commented on the word pataca
We blew a shitload of these during our evening plenary sessions in Macau during that, you know, strategic planning retreat.
March 7, 2009
john commented on the word sawbuck
Noirish slang for a $10 bill. Good discussion of it on Language Hat.
March 7, 2009
john commented on the word press here for a random word
Sorry RT. The Board voted on it last week, when we used the first installment of our bailout money (Wordie: shovel ready!) to fly the Gulfstream to Macau for a gambling junke... uh, I mean, strategic planning retreat. Sacrificial killings are now only available with Wordie PRO.
You automatically agreed to the new tos by clicking on random word. Thanks!
March 7, 2009
john commented on the word tos
Terms of Service, the gobbledygook legalese that everyone clicks through at lightening speed when installing software or signing up for a web site. No idea why, or if, these have any legal standing, considering nobody in the history of the universe has ever read one. Or maybe one guy has, once. I wrote a TOS for a previous web site, and in the middle of it added a clause requiring you to agree that the Modern Lovers were the best band ever. Over six thousand people agreed to that, and as far as I know only one person noticed it.
March 7, 2009
john commented on the word press here for a random word
Yes, it's section IV, part 9, subclause 3b of the addendum to the indices of the TOS: be nice, and no sacrificial killings.
March 7, 2009
john commented on the word features
Good idea Pro. Didn't get to add Etsy tonight, ran out of time, but tomorrow I'll try to both do that, and add a preferences option to set who can see your also-ons,everyone or just registered users.
March 6, 2009
john commented on the word telekino
“In 1903, Leonardo Torres Quevedo presented the Telekino at the Paris Academy of Science, accompanied by a brief, and making an experimental demonstration. In the same time he obtained a patent in France, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States. The Telekino consisted of a robot that executed commands transmitted by electromagnetic waves. It constituted the world's first apparatus for radio control and was a pioneer in the field of remote control. In 1906, in the presence of the king and before a great crowd, Torres successfully demonstrated the invention in the port of Bilbao, guiding a boat from the shore. Later, he would try to apply the Telekino to projectiles and torpedoes, but had to abandon the project for lack of financing.�?
Wikipedia
March 6, 2009
john commented on the user mechanolatry
Hello mechnolatry, just answered your query over on features. See what you were talking about now. I think people were trying more to be informative than offensive, but I can see how it's borderline.
I think tagging things 'v' is just fine, since I haven't added anything to let you browse words by letter. Tags are pretty open ended.
March 6, 2009
john commented on the word features
Mech, sorry you feel your comments haven't been well received--maybe it was a misunderstanding? Wordie humor, such that it is, can be obscure, and somtimes tart (though also obvious, and sweet). I just looked at your comments and fwiw, they look cool to me. As I've said before, I like almost all comments, but have a particular fondness for quotes and definitions, like the ones you've added.
I love etsy, and will add it to the also-on list tonight. Thanks for the suggestion.
March 6, 2009
john commented on the word button
My daughter's first unequivocal word. There have been ambiguous maybe-words for a while. "Mama"... followed by a string of spittle-inflected vowels while she points at the fridge. But a few days ago she began began grabbing buttons, looking at you soulfully, and saying "button."
March 6, 2009
john commented on the word dodgeball
Verb meaning to acquire a company and destroy it through neglect, as Google did to dodgeball.com. Example: "Do you think Yahoo! is going to dodgeball jumpcut?"
March 5, 2009
john commented on the word green bullets
“America's military is about to lock and load with new ammunition that's tough on enemies but easy on mother earth. It's known as the "Green Bullet", which is a new lead-free projectile that defense officials say is just as lethal as the standard 5.56mm without harming the environment.�?
FirearmsID.com, U.S. Military “Green Bullet�?, by Don Mikko, Fall 1999
March 5, 2009
john commented on the list 30-rockisms
Love this list. 30 Rock is literature! Or opera buffa, or something. It's brilliant.
March 5, 2009
john commented on the word niue
“So far, more than 200 advertisements have run in more than 70 languages: in highbrow periodicals like The New York Review of Books and The Poetry Review in Britain; in general-interest publications like Parade and USA Today; in obscure foreign trade journals like China Copyright and Svensk Bokhandel; and in newspapers in places like Fiji, Greenland, the Falkland Islands, and the Micronesian island of Niue (the name is roughly translated as Behold the Coconut!), which has one newspaper.�?
The New York Times, A Google Search of a Distinctly Retro Kind, by Noam Cohen, March 3, 2009
March 4, 2009
john commented on the word auto polo
“Not a few of the dwellers or toilers along Automobile Row have been predicting a popular future for auto polo, the game from the South and West which gave the public a number of thrills as a game and furnished food for thought for the motor enthusiast at Madison Square Garden in the week just ended. There had been rumors of the game from time to time, and people had heard that the four-wheeled "ponies" on which it was played provided as many sensational moments as teh four-legged ones of the horse polo match.�?
The New York Times, ENGINE FLEXIBILITY MARKED NEW GAME; Wonder of Auto Polo Was Ability of Motors to Stand the Strain and Upsets., December 8 , 1912
March 4, 2009
john commented on the word allomother
“Human beings evolved as cooperative breeders, says Dr. Hrdy, a reproductive strategy in which mothers are assisted by as-if mothers, or “allomothers,�? individuals of either sex who help care for and feed the young.�?
The New York Times, In a Helpless Baby, the Roots of Our Social Glue, by Natalie Angier, March 2, 2009
March 4, 2009
john commented on the list trevorbutterworths-list
Check out the weaving of words from this list into an excellent Jabberwocky rip-off.
March 3, 2009
john commented on the word bananapocalypse
from @emckean's wotd: "the possible extinction of bananas, due to infection of the current Cavendish monoculture by Panama Disease."
March 3, 2009
john commented on the user Prolagus
Pro, thanks much for drawing my attention back to Forvo--I finally added a link to them on each word. They contacted me last year, and it got lost in my inbox--their email arrived the same week as my daughter. A lot of things fell through the cracks that week :-)
March 3, 2009
john commented on the word substantiality
We do. The copyeditors for the travel section sit right behind me.
This is a term of art in copyright law. It might have been a good idea to avoid jargon, or to at least mention that that's what this is. But it is a legit word, if fugly :-)
March 3, 2009
john commented on the word substantiality
“In the United States, the copyright law provides a four-point definition of fair use, which takes into consideration the purpose (commercial vs. educational) and the substantiality of the excerpt.�?
The New York Times, Copyright Holders Challenge Sites That Excerpt, by Brian Stelter, March 1, 2009
March 3, 2009
john commented on the word good grief
I don't mean to be flip or diminish anyone's grief, but this always reminds me of Charlie Brown:
March 2, 2009
john commented on the word blizzard
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there were gusts of 35 m.p.h.,�? he said, “We have to keep our eye out for blizzard conditions.�? The weather service defines a blizzard, not by the amount of snowfall — though they tend to be accompanied by significant snow — but by three consecutive hours of winds blowing at 35 m.p.h. and visibility of less than a mile.
The New York Times, A Foot of Snow Is Predicted for New York City, by Emily S. Rueb, March 1, 2009
March 2, 2009
john commented on the word the rocky
“The Rocky Mountain News in Denver will cease publication on Friday.
E.W. Scripps, which owns newspaper, known locally as The Rocky, announced Thursday that it had failed to find a buyer for the daily. Scripps’s chief executive, Rich Boehne, said in a statement that The Rocky was “a victim of changing times in our industry and huge economic challenges.�? Scripps said the newspaper lost $16 million last year.�?
The New York Times, Rocky Mountain News Is Shutting Down, DealBook, February 26, 2009
February 27, 2009
john commented on the word butta la pasta
Ms. Bastianich agreed that using less water is O.K. “Yes, I think it’s doable to reduce the cooking water by one third,�? from 6 quarts per pound to 4. “But please ‘butta la pasta’ in boiling water.�?
The New York Times, How Much Water Does Pasta Really Need?, by Harold McGee, February 25, 2009
February 26, 2009
john commented on the word comp
It's also short for complimentary, and sometimes used as a verb in that form.
February 25, 2009
john commented on the word green man
This might also refer to the Chia Obama.
February 23, 2009
john commented on the word clawback
“But now, with a public backlash against excessive pay and taxpayer lifelines extended to crippled companies, the idea of recouping compensation, known as “clawback,�? is gaining traction.�?
The New York Times, After Losses, a Move to Reclaim Executives’ Pay, by Gretchen Morgenson, February 21, 2009
February 22, 2009
john commented on the word aperçus
“President Obama disdains sound bites, and he does not have Bill Clinton’s talent for reducing the abstruse to aperçus.”
The New York Times, Dark Dark Dark, by Maureen Dowd, February 21, 2009
February 22, 2009
john commented on the word notworking
For Wordie PRO! 2.0, the boss button will actually turn off your boss.
February 21, 2009
john commented on the word brinking
Short for "binge drinking," according to UD.
February 21, 2009
john commented on the word notworking
I just know. That's why we have the boss button.
February 21, 2009
john commented on the word notworking
What you're doing right now.
February 21, 2009
john commented on the word information exhaust
Tim O'Reilly just used this phrase at the TimesOpen conference to describe the cloud of data that's emitted by our devices: GPS data from our phones, search rank from links, etc.
February 21, 2009
john commented on the word dear john
Wow, nobody's listing John Deere. Doesn't someone have a list of brands?
February 20, 2009
john commented on the word the farm
“It was the New York Times that broke his heart,�? said Nancy Packer, a retired professor of English at Stanford, who knew Stegner well in the time he nurtured writers from Ken Kesey to Larry McMurtry here on the Farm, as the university is known.
The New York Times, Stegner’s Complaint, by Timothy Egan, February 18, 2009
February 20, 2009
john commented on the word urawaza
“In postwar Japan, the economy wasn’t doing so great, so you couldn’t get everyday-use items like household cleaners,” says Lisa Katayama, author of “Urawaza,” a book named after the Japanese term for clever lifestyle tips and tricks. “So people looked for ways to do with what they had.”
The New York Times, Low-Tech Fixes for High-Tech Problems, by Paul Boutin, February 18, 2009
February 20, 2009
john commented on the word propeller heads
“Sometimes, during the 30-minute briefings that Mr. Summers delivers in the Oval Office nearly every day, Mr. Obama addresses him as Professor, as in, ‘What do you think, Professor Summers?’ Sometimes, as he did in the Roosevelt Room one recent afternoon, Mr. Obama tweaks him and his fellow policy wonks, dubbing them ‘the propeller-heads.’�?
The New York Times, In a World Not Wholly Cooperative, Obama’s Top Economist Makes Do , by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, February 16, 2009
February 19, 2009
john commented on the word homophily
“The faintly depressing human tendency to seek out and spend time with those most similar to us is known in social science as "homophily", and it shapes our views, and our lives, in ways we're barely aware of.�?
The Guardian, This column will change your life, by Oliver Burkeman, January 31, 2009
February 18, 2009
john commented on the word wabi sabi
See also wabi-sabi.
February 18, 2009
john commented on the word machinima
“Video-game aficionados have been creating “machinima�? -- an ungainly term mixing “machine�? and “cinema�? and pronounced ma-SHEEN-i-ma -- since the late 90's. “Red vs. Blue�? is the first to break out of the underground, and now corporations like Volvo are hiring machinima artists to make short promotional films, while MTV, Spike TV and the Independent Film Channel are running comedy shorts and music videos produced inside games.�?
The New York Times, The Xbox Auteurs, by Clive Thompson, August 7, 2005
February 18, 2009
john commented on the word dog-fooding
“For many ideas, Google’s first and most important audience is its employees, and it typically tries products internally before releasing them.
Google and other technology companies refer to this as “eating your own dog food.�? Through such “dog-fooding,�? Google learned that the early version of its calendar program was fine for parents tracking children’s soccer games, but not robust enough to meet a corporate user’s need to book rooms, reserve equipment and delegate scheduling.�?
The New York Times, How Google Decides to Pull the Plug, by Vindu Goel, February 14, 2009
February 16, 2009
john commented on the list the-incredible-shrinking-list
Just deleted Helga's spam comment. Not sure why I didn't nuke the account, but yeah, I might have just deleted hir offending comments.
February 15, 2009
john commented on the word mere exposure effect
“First, it’s a lesson in the power of raw repetition — the ‘mere exposure effect’ identified by psychology studies that suggests we like things more simply by seeing them more often.�?
The New York Times, A Successful Failure, by Rob Walker, February 12, 2009
February 15, 2009
john commented on the word cursebird
I fucking love this.
February 15, 2009
john commented on the word larithmics
I used to love this band.
February 12, 2009
john commented on the user john
I haven't posted to Errata in an embarrassingly long time, but not sure why the old posts aren't loading, will look into it. And someday I do plan to be a blogger again, I swear.
February 11, 2009
john commented on the word scanties
“If the battered but unbroken stimulus package Washington finally serves up does not turn the trick, perhaps the answer to the country’s economic woes could be something a lot simpler. Bring back burlesque!
In the nostalgia-steeped new musical ‘Minsky’s,’ which had its world premiere here Sunday night at the Ahmanson Theater, dancing in your scanties while the world trembles is presented as noble service that might help keep a wounded country on its feet.�?
The New York Times, What’s the Cure for Those Depression Blues? Hoofing in Your Scanties, by Charles Isherwood, February 9, 2009
February 10, 2009
john commented on the word smoker
“More than two dozen amateur bouts, called smokers, were scheduled this evening for American Indian boxers.�?
The New York Times, Punching Back Against Despair on the High Plains, by Jeré Longman, February 8, 2009
February 9, 2009
john commented on the word sumptuary
“I’ve become increasingly concerned about the rising number of rich people who are being caught unawares by shifts in the sumptuary code. First, there were those auto executives who didn’t realize that it is no longer socially acceptable to use private jets for lobbying trips to Washington. Then there was John Thain, who was humiliated because it is no longer acceptable to spend $35,000 on a commode for a Merrill Lynch washroom.�?
The New York Times, Ward Three Morality, by David Brooks, February 2, 2009
February 4, 2009
john commented on the word roller derby
A friend of mine, Lesley E. Visserate, claims that roller derby has made her "a better, more strategic driver."
February 4, 2009
john commented on the word epizootic
The Panic of 1873 was caused by the "Great Epizootic," a world-wide epidemic of equine influenza that crippled commerce when horses became unable to haul people or goods. The horses recovered within a year; the economy took a decade. More info here and here.
February 3, 2009
john commented on the word frailing
See citation on clawhammer.
February 3, 2009
john commented on the word clawhammer
“Among country and bluegrass musicians, Mr. Martin is regarded as a master of a difficult five-fingered playing style known as clawhammer or frailing, in which the instrument’s strings are pushed down by fingernails, rather than pulled up with picks.�?
The New York Times, Jokes and Films Are Fun, but He Loves His Banjo, by Dave Itzkoff, February 1, 2009
February 3, 2009
john commented on the word lemon socialism
“I’m talking, instead, about the administration’s plans for a banking system rescue — plans that are shaping up as a classic exercise in ‘lemon socialism’: taxpayers bear the cost if things go wrong, but stockholders and executives get the benefits if things go right.�?
The New York Times, Bailouts for Bunglers , by Paul Krugman, February 1, 2009
February 2, 2009
john commented on the word ladybird
Ladybird Johnson's given name? Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson.
February 2, 2009
john commented on the word disgorgement
“The president’s disgust at Wall Street looters was good. But we need more. We need disgorgement.
Disgorgement is when courts force wrongdoers to repay ill-gotten gains. And I’m ill at the gains gotten by scummy executives acting all Gordon Gekko while they’re getting bailed out by us.�?
The New York Times, Disgorge, Wall Street Fat Cats, by Maureen Dowd, January 31, 2009
February 2, 2009
john commented on the word agnotology
Erin McKean's WOTD, January 30, 2009, from her Twitter feed:
"the study of culturally constructed ignorance." Robert Proctor, from WIRED Feb 09
January 31, 2009
john commented on the word fattie
“Mr. Day, a systems administrator who has been barbecuing since college, suggested doing something with a pile of sausage. ‘It’s a variation of what’s called a fattie in the barbecue community,’ Mr. Day said. ‘But we took it to the extreme.’�?
The New York Times, Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog., by Damon Darlin, January 27, 2009
January 29, 2009
john commented on the word bacon explosion
“This recipe is the Bacon Explosion, modestly called by its inventors ‘the BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes.’ The instructions for constructing this massive torpedo-shaped amalgamation of two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce first appeared last month on the Web site of a team of Kansas City competition barbecuers.�?
The New York Times, Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog., by Damon Darlin, January 27, 2009
January 29, 2009
john commented on the word continental army
a million bricks?
January 29, 2009
john commented on the word saddlebacking
“‘Saddlebacking: the phenomenon of Christian teens engaging in unprotected anal sex in order to preserve their virginities.’ After attending the Purity Ball, Heather and Bill saddlebacked all night because she's saving herself for marriage.�?
Savage Love, January 28, 2009
January 29, 2009
john commented on the word citiboobs
“The ‘Citiboobs’ — as The New York Post, which broke the news, calls them — watched as the car chieftains got in trouble for flying their private jets to Washington to ask for bailouts, and the A.I.G. moguls got dragged before Congress for spending their bailout on California spa treatments. But the boobs still didn’t get the message.�?
The New York Times, Wall Street’s Socialist Jet-Setters, by Maureen Down, January 27, 2009
January 29, 2009
john commented on the word boll weevil
“To get his budget and tax bills through the House, Reagan needed support from conservative Democrats, many of them from Texas, known as ‘Boll Weevils.’�?
The New York Times, Obama’s Reagan Transformation?, by Lou Cannon, January 27, 2009
January 28, 2009
john commented on the word 4711
Upgrading to WordiePRO also makes the site scratch and sniff. You can select your preferred scent: musty bookshop, printer's ink, or artificial strawberry.
January 28, 2009
john commented on the word updike
Great writer, sad day. The Centaur is one of my favorite books ever.
January 28, 2009
john commented on the word features
Pro, you're totally right. In the near future I'll polish up some of the admin tools I've built for myself, and deputize some of you regulars. Like Andre the Giant, I'll have a posse!
The tools make it pretty easy to zap things. I'll tighten them up a little and try to hand out the shiny badges within a week or so. Maybe divided up by time zone :-)
January 27, 2009
john commented on the word one-lunger
I've heard this term used in Maine, where I've also heard actual one-lungers in use. They have a distinct staccato sound.
January 27, 2009
john commented on the word creative destruction
“Indeed, Silicon Valley may be one of the few places where businesses are still aware of the ideas of Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist who wrote about business cycles during the first half of the last century. He said the lifeblood of capitalism was ‘creative destruction.’ Companies rising and falling would unleash innovation and in the end make the economy stronger.�?
The New York Times, $200 Laptops Break a Business Model , by Brad Stone and Ashlee Vance, January 25, 2009
January 26, 2009
john commented on the word kata
“A kata is an exercise in karate where you repeat a form many, many times, making little improvements in each.�?
Code Kata
January 26, 2009
john commented on the word concupiscient
Maybe concupiscient means "knowledge of concupiscence?"
*pokes sionnach with a stick*
January 26, 2009
john commented on the word email bankruptcy
“Email Bankruptcy is a term used to identify or explain a decision to close an e-mail account due to an overwhelming receipt of garbage messages, compared to legitimate messages, usually attributed to author Lawrence Lessig in 2004 but can also be attributed to Dr. Sherry Turkle in 2002.�?
Wikipedia
January 25, 2009
john commented on the word teleiophile
NYT doesn't say anything, but Wikipedia says “Teleiophilia (from Greek teleios, ‘full grown’) is a term coined by sexologist Ray Blanchard to refer to the sexual interest in adults.�?
January 25, 2009
john commented on the word teleidoscope
“A teleidoscope is a kind of kaleidoscope. Unlike other kaleidoscopes, teleidoscopes have a lens and an open view, so they can be used to form kaleidoscopic patterns from objects outside the instrument, rather than from items installed as part of it.�?
- Wikipedia
January 25, 2009
john commented on the word teleiophile
“Daniel Bergner, 48, the divorced father of two teenage children, is what sexologists would call a straight, vanilla teleiophile. He is attracted to adults, that is, prefers the opposite sex and doesn’t shop for lovemaking accessories — clothespins, clamps, carabiners, rubber gloves — at Home Depot.�?
The New York Times, Surveying the Outer Reaches of Lust, by Charles McGrath, January 23, 2009
January 25, 2009
john commented on the word dyspareunia
“Meana, who serves with Chivers on the board of Archives of Sexual Behavior, entered the field of sexology in the late 1990s and began by working clinically and carrying out research on dyspareunia — women’s genital pain during intercourse.�?
The New York Times, What Do Women Want?, by Daniel Bergner, January 22, 2009
January 24, 2009
john commented on the word paraphilia
“In 1996, when she worked as an assistant to a sexologist at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, then called the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, she found herself the only woman on a floor of researchers investigating male sexual preferences and what are known as paraphilias — erotic desires that fall far outside the norm.�?
The New York Times, What Do Women Want?, by Daniel Bergner, January 22, 2009
January 24, 2009
john commented on the word boomshakalaka
You can watch Sly and the Family Stone singing it, or a variant, in I Want to Take You Higher, at around :46.
January 23, 2009
john commented on the word shitogram
Could this be related to the bristol stool scale?
January 23, 2009
john commented on the word lingonberry
Also known as the Ikea berry.
January 22, 2009
john commented on the word epiphany
“Monday was Russian Orthodox Epiphany, and roughly 30,000 Muscovites lined up to dunk themselves in icy rivers and ponds, city officials said. The annual ritual baptism, which is believed to wash away sins, is enjoying a boisterous revival after being banished to villages during the Soviet era.�?
The New York Times, Russians Strengthen Their Faith and a Tradition With an Icy Water Plunge , by Ellen Barry, January 20, 2009
January 22, 2009
john commented on the word anaphora
“Using the technique that rhetoricians call anaphora, repeating a phrase at the opening of successive sentences, Obama said: ‘This is the price and the promise… This is the source of our confidence… This is the meaning of our liberty…’�?
The New York Times, ‘The Speech’: The Experts’ Critique, by The Editors, January 20, 2009
January 21, 2009
john commented on the word bolus
“On the one hand, they said, the new president’s apparent enthusiasm for science, and the concomitant rise of ‘geek chic’ and ‘smart is the new cool’ memes, can only redound to the benefit of all scientists, particularly if the enthusiasm is followed by a bolus of new research funds.�?
The New York Times, In ‘Geek Chic’ and Obama, New Hope for Lifting Women in Science , by Natalie Angier, January 19, 2009
January 21, 2009
john commented on the word hapa
“He is the first president who was a hapa, as they are called in Hawaii, with parents of different races.�?
The Washington Post, Restless Searcher on an Improbable Path, by David Maraniss, January 18, 2009
January 20, 2009
john commented on the user john
That was a mistake on erich13's part, and s/he contacted me about it, but in my new incarnation as not very useful or responsive, I hadn't gotten to it yet. I'll try to today though.
January 20, 2009
john commented on the user hernesheir
Don's stop, hernesheir, Wordie feeds off your OCD! I'm really enjoying the deluge of cheese.
January 19, 2009
john commented on the word clinker
“The United States spends more energy to produce a ton of cement clinker than Canada, Mexico and even China.�?
The New York Times, Energy Inefficient , January 18, 2009
January 19, 2009
john commented on the word my aircraft
“But as soon as the plane encountered the birds and the engines quit nearly simultaneously, Captain Sullenberger, 58, took over.
‘My aircraft,’ he announced to his first officer, using the standard phrasing and protocol drilled into airline crews.
‘Your aircraft,’ Mr. Skiles responded.�?
The New York Times, 1549 to Tower: ‘We’re Gonna End Up in the Hudson’ , by Matthew L. Wald and Al Baker, January 17, 2009
January 18, 2009
john commented on the word smelt
“While there is some debate about the best inaugural address in history, it’s pretty clear that the worst was the one delivered by William Henry Harrison, who went thwacking through a tangled thicket of classical allusions for an hour and 45 minutes. (Harrison’s editor, Daniel Webster, claimed it could have been worse, and that he had killed off ‘seventeen Roman proconsuls, as dead as smelts.’)�?
The New York Times, Imagining the Inaugural, by Gail Collins, January 16, 2009
January 17, 2009
john commented on the word secure location
Yesterday's crashed plane is going to go live at Dick Cheney's house:
“On Saturday, she said, investigators planned to extract the aircraft from the icy water with two large cranes, placing the plane on a barge for transit to a secure location.�?
The New York Times, River Is Searched for Clues to Crash, by Matthew L. Wald and Liz Robbins, January 16, 2009
January 17, 2009
john commented on the word situational altruism
“In emergencies, researchers have found, most people actually freeze until they're told what to do. Some people also engage in what's called situational altruism -- they help each other.
The Huffington Post, The Three Myths About Plane Crashes, by Ben Sherwood, January 15, 2009
January 17, 2009
john commented on the word misunderestimate
“‘Sometimes you misunderestimated me,’ Bush told the Washington press corps. This is not the first time our president has worried about misunderestimation, so it’s fair to regard this not as a slip of the tongue, but as something the president of the United States thinks is a word. The rhetoric is the one part of the administration we’re surely going to miss. We are about to enter a world in which our commander in chief speaks in full sentences, and I do not know what we’re going to do to divert ourselves on slow days.�?
The New York Times, He’s Leaving. Really. , by Gail Collins, January 14, 2009
January 16, 2009
john commented on the word steagles
“As national duty cut into N.F.L. rosters during World War II — more than 600 players were drafted at a time when teams seldom carried more than 28 — franchises scrambled for solutions. So in 1943, the Steelers and the Eagles became the Steagles, and in 1944, the Steelers and the Cardinals became Card-Pitt, all in the interest of keeping professional football alive during the war.�?
The New York Times, Steelers Shared Resources With 2 Teams During World War II, by Joshua Robinson, January 14, 2009
January 16, 2009
john commented on the word stupid o'clock
Sometimes stupid o'clock is the same as one million o'clock.
January 16, 2009
john commented on the word one million o'clock
When it's really, really late.
January 16, 2009
john commented on the word jell-o clown
As seen in your nightmares, and also on boingboing.
January 16, 2009
john commented on the word axis mundi
“Neuhaus spent the next days, months and years impressed by the overwhelming fact of death. This made him, he writes, a bit blubbery. ‘After some time, I could shuffle the few blocks to the church and say Mass. At the altar, I cried a lot and hoped the people didn’t notice. To think that I’m really here after all, I thought, at the altar, at the axis mundi, the center of life. And of death.’�?
The New York Times, In Defense of Death , by David Brooks, January 12, 2009
January 13, 2009
john commented on the list misunderstood-lyrics
Just finally opened this list up...
January 13, 2009
john commented on the word boffin
“Many thanks go out to Evan Sandhaus and the other boffins at R&D for making this resource publicly available to researchers.�?
The New York Times, Fatten Up Your Corpus, by Jacob Harris, January 12, 2009
January 13, 2009
john commented on the word chippies
See also chippy.
January 12, 2009
john commented on the word afronaut
“Mr. Shuttleworth looked to the stars. Paying an estimated $20 million to Russian officials, he secured a 10-day trip to space and the International Space Station on the Soyuz TM-34 in 2002 and became the first ‘Afronaut,’ as the press described him.�?
The New York Times, A Software Populist Who Doesn’t Do Windows, by Ashlee Vance, January 10, 2009
January 11, 2009
john commented on the word wrenboy
Also, a fan of The Wrens.
January 11, 2009
john commented on the word seroconversion
“Seroconversion is the development of detectable specific antibodies to microorganisms in the blood serum as a result of infection or immunization.�?
Wikipedia
“A close gay friend recently seroconverted after months of barebacking and meth use.�?
The A.V. Club, Savage Love, by Dan Savage, January 7, 2009
January 11, 2009
john commented on the word fatsophere
“And now a note to the infuriated fatsophere: I'm not saying that REAM's boyfriend is unattractive because he's heavier, or that heavy people aren't or can't be attractive, or that we all must forever maintain our ‘first-date weight’ over the multi-decade course of relationship/marriage/whatever.�?
The A.V. Club, Savage Love, by Dan Savage, January 7, 2009
January 11, 2009
john commented on the word skunk
“‘If the president calls, you have to accept,’ said Kevin Johnson, a former guard for the Phoenix Suns who was elected last year as mayor of Sacramento and has talked about sports and politics with Mr. Obama. What would he say if the president invited him to a game? ‘That would be his first mistake in office. I’d have to skunk him.’�?
The New York Times, Rule No. 1: Do Not Call Him ‘Ball Hog in Chief’, by Jeff Zeleny, January 9, 2009
January 11, 2009
john commented on the word festoon
“McDonald’s hasn’t silenced nutritional critics; some of its salads come festooned with fried chicken.�?
The New York Times, At McDonald’s, the Happiest Meal Is Hot Profits, by Andrew Martin, January 10, 2009
January 11, 2009
john commented on the word complementarianism
“Like many New Calvinists, Driscoll advocates traditional gender roles, called ‘complementarianism’ in theological parlance. Men and women are ‘equal spiritually, and it’s a difference of functionality, not intrinsic worth,’ says Danielle Blazer, a 34-year-old Mars Hill member. Women may work outside the home, but they must submit to their husbands, and they are forbidden from taking on preaching roles in the church.�?
The New York Times, , by Molly Worthen, January 6, 2009
January 11, 2009
john commented on the word pronk
See also pronking.
January 11, 2009
john commented on the user john
Poor sad Errata, feeling all neglected. I'll get back on the horse this weekend.
January 9, 2009
john commented on the word brassica
“The dish turned out fine, but I had unknowingly and luckily avoided producing a rotten egg stink. Brussels sprouts — and other vegetables of the Brassica family, including cabbage — release hydrogen sulfide as they cook, particularly when boiled for too long.�?
The New York Times, At the Stove, a Dash of Science, a Pinch of Folklore, by Kenneth Chang, January 5, 2009
January 8, 2009
john commented on the word difi
Headline shorthand for Dianne Feinstein:
“DiFi delivers one-two punch on Dems�?
Politico.com, , by Manu Raju, January 6, 2009
January 8, 2009
john commented on the word psammophile
“Occasionally offerings come from the community of psammophiles (formally, plants that live in sand) — people who collect sand for fun.�?
The New York Times, So Much to Learn About the Oceans From Sand, by Cornelia Dean, January 5, 2009
January 8, 2009
john commented on the word insectarium
“Opened just half a year ago, the Insectarium is the largest museum in the nation devoted solely to insects and their arthropod relations.�?
The New York Times, A Large-Size Focus on Life Lived Small, by Natalie Angier, January 5, 2009
January 7, 2009
john commented on the word buckle bunnies
“Rodeo groupies are called buckle bunnies for the saucer-size silver buckles that cowboys earn for winning rodeo events.�?
The New York Times, Bull Riders Wait All Day for a Few Seconds of Fury, by John Branch, January 4, 2009
January 6, 2009
john commented on the word dashboarded
“Snyder is a 26-year-old from Raymore, Mo., with a black hat, a dignified air and a nose reconstructed a few years ago by a surgeon who used Snyder’s driver’s license as a guide. That procedure followed a head-to-head run-in with a bull — a brutally common collision known among riders as being jerked down or, more graphically, dashboarded.�?
The New York Times, Bull Riders Wait All Day for a Few Seconds of Fury, by John Branch, January 4, 2009
January 6, 2009
john commented on the word third-hand smoke
“Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a fan to clear the air for their children, but experts now have identified a related threat to children’s health that isn’t as easy to get rid of: third-hand smoke.
That’s the term being used to describe the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting, that lingers long after second-hand smoke has cleared from a room. The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they’re crawling or playing on the floor.�?
The New York Times, A New Cigarette Hazard: ‘Third-Hand Smoke’, by Roni Caryn Rabin, January 2, 2009
January 6, 2009
john commented on the word geta
Traditional Japanese footware.
“Clearly, understanding a visionary whose work shaped Japan’s literary culture requires more than walking a few steps in her geta.�?
The New York Times, Kyoto Celebrates a 1,000-Year Love Affair , by Michelle Green, , 2009
January 5, 2009
john commented on the word auto verseur
“Standing at the bar, Mr. Bergougnoux poured absinthe into four glasses, then arranged them beneath an auto-verseur, a small glass samovar that dispensed ice water.�?
The New York Times, Care for an Absinthe? Ptooey! , by Eric Konigsberg, January 2, 2009
January 5, 2009
john commented on the word smaller than life
“We like our failed presidents to be Shakespearean, or at least large enough to inspire Oscar-worthy performances from magnificent tragedians like Frank Langella. So here, too, George W. Bush has let us down. Even the banality of evil is too grandiose a concept for 43. He is not a memorable villain so much as a sometimes affable second banana whom Josh Brolin and Will Ferrell can nail without breaking a sweat. He’s the reckless Yalie Tom Buchanan, not Gatsby. He is smaller than life.�?
The New York Times, A President Forgotten but Not Gone, by Frank Rich, January 3, 2009
January 5, 2009
john commented on the word nerd boner
“I don't think I've been as excited for a film première as I am for Watchmen since Star Wars: Episode I. Here's hoping things work out better this time. I'm definitely surprised at how much of a nerd boner I've been popping over the trailers for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek: The College Years, considering that's a franchise I haven't been enthusiastic about since at least Generations (again, here's hoping things work out better this time), but Chris Pine's smarm and those gratuitous tit shots aside, it seems like it could at least be a fascinating disaster.�?
A.V. Club, AVQ&A: Anticipated entertainments, by The A.V. Club staff (quote from Sean O'Neal), January 2, 2009
January 4, 2009
john commented on the list vocabis4snobss-list
I like this list.
Question though. If vocab is 4 snobs, and presuming you don't want to be a snob, how do you avoid it? Silence?
January 3, 2009
john commented on the word ohana
“Residents who gathered outside the president-elect’s compound or at his appearances called, ‘Obama Ohana,’ meaning Obama family — that is, part of Hawaii’s family.�?
The New York Times, ‘Hail to Chief’ Ambience for President in Waiting, by Jackie Calmes, January 1, 2009
January 3, 2009
john commented on the word taphonomy
“The sciences of taphonomy — how bodies decompose and eventually become stone — and paleontology have allowed us to piece together many details of ancient ecosystems.�?
The New York Times, Reflections on an Oyster, by Olivia Judson, December 30, 2008
January 1, 2009
john commented on the word scat
“And this is without the help of creatures like hyenas, which pulverize and eat the bones of all but the largest animals. (That’s why hyena scat is white: it’s the remains of powdered bone.)�?
The New York Times, Reflections on an Oyster, by Olivia Judson, December 30, 2008
January 1, 2009
john commented on the word trencherman
“He is routinely cited as the foremost eater of the Gilded Age, a serial multicourse gorger (the word ‘trencherman’ always seems to come up) whose excesses were endearing rather than vulgar — or, at the very least, endearingly vulgar.�?
The New York Times, Whether True or False, a Real Stretch, by David Kamp, December 30, 2008
January 1, 2009
john commented on the word heeler
“He made it clear that the issue was not Mr. Burris’s qualifications, but Gov. Blagojevich’s standing as a desperate ward heeler who’s lost all credibility.�?
The New York Times, The Latest From Illinois, December 30, 2008
January 1, 2009
john commented on the word tacit blue
The Northrop YF-117D, a technology demonstrator.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word lightning ii
“The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine, stealth-capable military strike fighter, a multirole aircraft that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air superiority fighter missions.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word gray ghost
See Black Widow II.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word black widow ii
“The black YF-23 was nicknamed "Black Widow II", after the Northrop P-61 Black Widow of World War II and had a red hourglass marking resembling the underbelly marking of the black widow spider. The black widow marking was briefly seen under PAV-1 before being removed at the insistence of Northrop management. The gray colored YF-23 was nicknamed ‘Gray Ghost’�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word raptor
“The Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor is a fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. It is primarily an air superiority fighter, but has multiple capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare, and signals intelligence roles.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word kfir
“Twenty-five modified Kfir C.1s were leased to the US Navy and the US Marine Corps from 1985 to 1989, to act as adversary aircraft in dissimilar air combat training (DACT). These aircraft, designated F-21A Kfir, had narrow-span canard foreplanes and a single small rectangular strake on either side of the nose which considerably improved the aircraft's manoeuvrability, and handling at low speeds.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word tigershark
“The F-20 Tigershark (initially F-5G) was a privately financed light fighter, designed and built by Northrop.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word hornet
“The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to attack both ground and aerial targets. Designed in the 1970s for service with the United States Navy and Marine Corps, the Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word cobra
“The Northrop YF-17 (unofficially nicknamed "Cobra") was a prototype lightweight fighter aircraft designed for the United States Air Force's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) technology evaluation program.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word fighting falcon
“The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Designed as a lightweight fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word tomcat
“The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing aircraft. The F-14 was the United States Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor and tactical reconnaissance platform from 1974 to 2006.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word tiger
“The Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger was a single-seat carrier-based United States Navy fighter aircraft in operation during the 1950s and 1960s.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word panther
“The Grumman F9F Panther was the manufacturer's first jet fighter and the U.S. Navy's second. The Panther was the most widely used U.S. Navy jet fighter of the Korean War.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word cougar
“The Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar was an aircraft carrier-based fighter aircraft for the United States Navy. Based on the earlier Grumman F9F Panther, the Cougar replaced the Panther's straight wing with a more modern swept wing. The Navy considered the Cougar an updated version of the Panther, despite having a different official name, and thus Cougars started off from F9F-6 upwards.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word cutlass
“The Vought F7U Cutlass was a United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter and fighter-bomber of the early Cold War era. It was a highly unusual, semi-tailless design, allegedly based on aerodynamic data and plans captured from the Arado company at the end of World War II, though Vought designers denied any link to the German research at the time.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word crusader
“The F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) was a single-engine aircraft carrier-based fighter aircraft built by Vought. It replaced the Vought F-7 Cutlass. The first F-8 prototype was ready for flight in February 1955, and was the last American fighter with guns as the primary weapon.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word sea dart
“The Convair F2Y Sea Dart was a unique American seaplane fighter aircraft that rode on twin hydro-skis for takeoff. It only flew as a prototype, and never entered production, but it is still the only seaplane to exceed the speed of sound.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word skyray
“The American Douglas F4D Skyray (later redesignated F-6 Skyray) was a carrier-based fighter built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Although it was in service for a relatively short time and never entered combat, it was notable for being the first carrier-launched aircraft to hold the world's absolute speed record and was the first United States Navy fighter capable of exceeding Mach 1 in level flight.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word tiger ii
See Freedom Fighter.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word freedom fighter
“The F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter and F-5E and F-5F Tiger II are part of a family of widely used light supersonic fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop in the United States, beginning in 1960s.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word phantom ii
“The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the U.S. Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. Proving highly adaptable, it became a major part of the air wings of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Air Force. It was used extensively by all three of these services during the Vietnam War�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word demon
“The McDonnell F3H Demon was a United States Navy carrier-based jet fighter aircraft. The successor to the F2H Banshee, after initial problems, it served from 1956 until 1964.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word banshee
“The McDonnell F2H Banshee was a military carrier-based jet fighter aircraft, used by the United States Navy from 1948 to 1959 and by the Royal Canadian Navy from 1955 until 1962.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word fury
“The North American FJ-2/-3/-4 Fury were a series of swept-wing carrier-capable fighters for the United States Navy and Marine Corps.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word nighthawk
“The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a stealth ground attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force. The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved Initial Operational Capability status in October 1983.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word aardvark
“At a ceremony marking the F-111's USAF retirement, on 27 July 1996, it was officially named Aardvark, its long-standing unofficial nickname. Aardvark literally means "earth pig" in Dutch/Afrikaans, consequently, in Australia, the F-111 is often known by the affectionate nickname ‘Pig’.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word spectre
“The Phantom II was briefly given the designation F-110A and the name 'Spectre' by the USAF, but neither title was used.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word rapier
“The North American XF-108 Rapier was a proposed American design for a long-range, high-speed interceptor aircraft to defend the United States and Canada from supersonic Soviet bombers.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word ultra sabre
“The North American F-107, nicknamed "Ultra Sabre", was North American Aviation's entry for a United States Air Force tactical fighter-bomber design competition of the 1950s. The F-107 incorporated many innovations and radical design features, and was based on the F-100 Super Sabre.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word delta dart
“The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the United States Air Force from the 1960s through the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it has proven to be the last dedicated interceptor in USAF service to date.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word thunderchief
“The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, was a supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. The Mach 2 capable F-105 bore the brunt of strike bombing over North Vietnam during the early years of the Vietnam War.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word starfighter
“The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was an American single-engined, high-performance, supersonic interceptor aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1958 until 1967.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word thunderwarrior
“The Republic XF-103 Thunderwarrior was an American project to develop a high speed interceptor aircraft to destroy Soviet bombers. Despite a prolonged development, it never progressed past the mock-up stage.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word delta dagger
“The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an US interceptor aircraft built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet bomber fleets.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word voodoo
“The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was a supersonic military fighter flown by the USAF and the RCAF. Initially designed as a long-range bomber escort (known as a penetration fighter) for the Strategic Air Command (SAC), the Voodoo served in a variety of other roles, including that of an all-weather interceptor aircraft with the Air Defense Command / Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) and fighter bomber and photo reconnaissance roles with the Tactical Air Command (TAC).�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word super sabre
“The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. As the first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was capable of supersonic speed in level flight, and made extensive use of titanium throughout the aircraft.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word thunderstreak
“The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American-built swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word sabre dog
“The North American Aviation F-86D Sabre (sometimes called the "Sabre Dog" or "Dog Sabre") was a transonic jet all-weather interceptor. Based on North American's F-86 Sabre day fighter, the F-86D had only 25 percent commonality with other Sabre variants, with a larger fuselage, larger afterburning engine, and a distinctive nose radome.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word starfire
“The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was the United States Air Force's first operational jet-powered all-weather interceptor aircraft. It was a development by Lockheed of the two seater T-33 Shooting Star trainer aircraft.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word thunderceptor
“The Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor was a mixed-propulsion interceptor using a jet engine for most flight, and a cluster of four small rocket engines for added thrust during climb and interception.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word skyknight
“The Douglas F3D Skyknight, (later F-10 Skyknight) was a United States twin-engine, midwing jet fighter aircraft manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company in El Segundo, California. The F3D was designed as a carrier-based all-weather aircraft.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word scorpion
“The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an early American jet-powered all-weather interceptor. It has the distinction of being the first combat aircraft armed with nuclear weapons, (the Genie rocket) for air-to-air use.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word voodoo
“The McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo was a long-range, twin-engine jet fighter aircraft designed for the United States Air Force. Although it never entered service, its design was adapted for the subsequent F-101 Voodoo.�? More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word blackhawk
"The Curtiss-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk (previously designated the XA-43 and XP-87) was a prototype American all-weather jet fighter interceptor and the company's last aircraft project." More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word sabre
The North American F-86. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word goblin
The McDonnell XF-85. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word twin mustang
The North American F-82. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word shooting star
The Lockheed P/F-80, the first operational jet fighter used by the U.S. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word flying ram
The Northrop XP-79, and experimental flying-wing design. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word eagle
The name of both the General Motors P-75, and the McDonnell Douglas F-15.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word tornado
The Vultee XP-68. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word bat
The McDonnell XP-67. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word vanguard
The Vultee P-66. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word kingcobra
The Bell P-63. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word black widow
The Northrop P-61, a night fighter and the first U.S. military aircraft designed to use radar. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word airacomet
The Bell P-59, the first U.S. fighter jet. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word chain lightning
The Lockheed XP-58. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word black bullet
The Northrop XP-56. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word ascender
The Curtiss-Wright XP-55, an experimental fighter with a pusher design. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word swoose goose
The Vultee XP-54. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word mustang
The North American Aviation P-51, a classic World War II fighter. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word skyrocket
The Grumman F5F. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word thunderbolt
The Republic P-47, a classic fighter of World War II. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word rocket
The Republic P-44. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word lancer
The Republic P-43. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word warhawk
The Curtiss P-40. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word airacobra
The Bell P-39. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word lightning
The P-38, a classic fighter of the World War II era built by Lockheed. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word peashooter
"The American Boeing P-26, nicknamed the "Peashooter", was the first all-metal production fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane used by the United States Army Air Corps." More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word viper
A prototype biplane fighter of the early 1920s. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word hawk
The name of the Curtiss P-1, an open-cockpit biplane of the early '20s. More on Wikipedia.
December 30, 2008
john commented on the word acid drop
Also a skateboarding move where you jump from a height, skateboard in hand, and simultaneously drop the skateboard under your feet and land on it. Here's an example.
December 29, 2008
john commented on the word mele kalikimaka
“On ‘Good Morning America,’ de Nies, who grew up in Honolulu, tasted a traditional plate lunch that Obama is said to favor. She and Miller also recruited a local ukulele player to sing ‘Mele Kalikimaka’ (the Hawaiian translation for ‘Merry Christmas’) on camera.�?
The Washington Post, Life's Not Necessarily A Beach for Press Corps, by Philip Rucker, December 26, 2008
December 27, 2008
john commented on the word expressions for merry christmas in various languages
You know, this would make a great list...
December 26, 2008
john commented on the list supralist
Hm... are you wishing for a 'lists of lists' feature?
December 24, 2008
john commented on the word nasaaq
Ha! My hat is a sort of faux-Prussian thing, to go along with the epaulets and gold braid on my doorman's uniform.
C_b, perhaps Nasaaq is the off-brand version of Flonase™?
December 23, 2008
john commented on the word nasaaq
Hi BB! I'm often skulking around, but don't pipe up as much as I'd like these days--busy. Plus, just because I built this doesn't mean I know much about words. I'm like the building super--changing light bulbs in the foyer, tipping my hat when you get off the elevator.
December 23, 2008
john commented on the word nasaaq
The NASAAQ has plunged this year.
December 22, 2008
john commented on the word tong war
According to Wikipedia, a Tong is a kind of nineteenth century secret society formed by Chinese-American immigrants.
December 22, 2008
john commented on the word tong war
“Regarding mortgages, Mr. Paulson is in a tong war with Sheila C. Bair, chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, who wants to deploy a small fraction of the TARP money to refinance millions of mortgages. Her plan may not be perfect — whose is? — but she’s pushing in the right direction. But he, apparently, disagrees and has devoted no money to this purpose.�?
The New York Times, Missing the Target With $700 Billion, by Alan S. Blinder, December 20, 2008
December 22, 2008
john commented on the word kunsthalle
“Moderate in size, efficiently presented and somewhat stiffly titled “Worshiping Women: Ritual and Reality in Classical Athens,�? it is not at the Met or any other museum but at the Onassis Cultural Center in Midtown, a kunsthalle-style space, now almost a decade old, devoted to Hellenic culture.�?
The New York Times, The Glory That Was Greece From a Female Perspective, by Holland Carter, December 18, 2008
December 20, 2008
john commented on the list wordie-challenge
Sweet.
fwiw, I've been tagging challenges as 'challenge' (oddly enough).
December 20, 2008
john commented on the word hemispheric
“By the way, we’re approaching the one-month-to-go mark on the George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown calendar. The presidential quote of the week is: ‘Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods.’�?
The New York Times, Send In the Celebrities, by Gail Collins, December 17, 2008
December 19, 2008
john commented on the word kya
“On a day when the newspapers were full of moving obituaries by beautiful people about the hotel rooms they had stayed in, the gourmet restaurants they loved (ironically one was called Kandahar), and the staff who served them, a small box on the top left-hand corner in the inner pages of a national newspaper (sponsored by a pizza company I think) said "Hungry, kya?" (Hungry eh?). It then, with the best of intentions I'm sure, informed its readers that on the international hunger index, India ranked below Sudan and Somalia.�?
Guardian.co.uk, The monster in the mirror, by Arundhati Roy, 13 December, 2008
December 17, 2008
john commented on the word mouthful
I deleted chayce the other week, but there was a bug that allowed him to still comment. I just fixed that, I think--trying to do anything from a nuked or frozen account should now send you here.
December 17, 2008
john commented on the word drunkenfreude
“For us sober people there is a kind of drunkenfreude to watching others embarrass themselves, mangle their words and do things they will regret in the morning — if they even remember them in the morning.�?
The New York Times, Drunkenfreude, by Susan Cheever, December 15, 2008
December 17, 2008
john commented on the word bugs
hi folks, sorry again about the long delay, but full-list sorting should be working. Go to your long list, click 'view all', then click any of the sort arrows.
December 16, 2008
john commented on the word cheesecake
“By 1951, the brother-sister photographers Irving and Paula Klaw, who ran a mail-order business in cheesecake, were promoting the Bettie Page image with spike heels and whips, while Bunny Yeager’s pictures featured her in jungle shots, with and without leopards skins.�?
The New York Times, Bettie Page, Queen of Pinups, Dies at 85, by Robert D. McFadden, December 11, 2008
December 13, 2008
john commented on the word i + i = i
Somehow reminds me to Bob Marley, too.
December 13, 2008
john commented on the word bugs
Sionnach, sorry about the long delay, I'll look into that and post when there's a fix.
December 11, 2008
john commented on the word scanda
They sell insurance, right?
December 11, 2008
john commented on the word car czar
Congress is right now considering the creation of a "car czar" to oversee the Detroit bailout. For those interested I just started a Facebook group supporting Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, for the position:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38836413586.
December 10, 2008
john commented on the word ghosts
7 minutes, at most.
December 9, 2008
john commented on the word politesse
“And to prepare for the role of Vito Corleone in ‘The Godfather,’ he ‘got himself invited to the home of a well-placed Mafioso in New Jersey,’ where at a dinner for some 40 people, he took mental notes on the ‘exaggerated politesse’ they showed to a stranger, the ‘manner in which powerful dons spoke in quiet voices; the way the men went out of their way to be gracious to their women, but also how they kept them in secondary roles.’�?
The New York Times, The Lion of the Screen, and What Made Him Roar, by Michiko Kakutani, December 8, 2008
December 9, 2008
john commented on the word neuropolicy
“Gregory Berns, M.D., Ph.D., directs the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University.�?
The New York Times, In Hard Times, Fear Can Impair Decision-Making, by Gregory Berns, December 6, 2008
December 8, 2008
john commented on the word endowment effect
“Why is this important? The reason has to do with the ‘endowment effect,’ the innate tendency to value things you own more highly than everyone else does.�?
The New York Times, In Hard Times, Fear Can Impair Decision-Making, by Gregory Berns, December 6, 2008
December 8, 2008
john commented on the word neuroeconomist
“I am a neuroeconomist, which means that I use brain-scanning technologies like magnetic resonance imaging to decode the decision-making systems of the human mind.�?
The New York Times, In Hard Times, Fear Can Impair Decision-Making, by Gregory Berns, December 6, 2008
December 8, 2008
john commented on the word muxe
“The local Zapotec people have made room for a third category, which they call ‘muxes’ (pronounced MOO-shays) — men who consider themselves women and live in a socially sanctioned netherworld between the two genders.�?
The New York Times, A Lifestyle Distinct: The Muxe of Mexico, by Marc Lacey, December 6, 2008
December 7, 2008
john commented on the word sexting
“That's not all in the way of teens being punished for ‘sexting,’ as it is now being called. Two teenage girls in Seattle were suspended from their cheerleading team after school officials discovered that they had taken nude cellphone photos of themselves that were circulated among students.�?
Salon.com, OMG, teens R "sexting", by Tracy Clark-Flory, November 25, 2008
December 6, 2008
john commented on the word hoptoad
Train slang for when a train goes off the rails, I just learned from the developers of hoptoad.
December 6, 2008
john commented on the word bubbles
Also the name of my favorite character from Trailer Park Boys.
December 4, 2008
john commented on the word cretin
“Indeed, the problem used to be widespread in the Alps. The word ‘cretin’ is believed to come from a mountain dialect of French, apparently because iodine deficiency in the Alps produced so many cretins. The problem ended when food was brought in from elsewhere and salt was iodized.�?
The New York Times, Raising the World’s I.Q. , by Nicholas D. Kristof, December 4, 2008
December 4, 2008
john commented on the list a-testicle-by-any-other-name
How about toodles.
December 4, 2008
john commented on the word toodles
Apparently a euphemism for testicles, according to this old woman with a machine gun.
December 4, 2008
john commented on the word white trash russian
“Skeptics like Mr. Doudoroff would probably blanch at a variation called the White Trash Russian. ‘You take a bottle of Yoo-hoo,’ Mr. Russell said, ‘drink half, then fill it with vodka and enjoy.’�?
The New York Times, White Russians Arise, This Time at a Bowling Alley, by Steven Kurutz, December 2, 2008
December 4, 2008
john commented on the word caucasian
What the Dude calls white russians.
December 4, 2008
john commented on the word weta
If you suffer from Acarophobia or other insect fears, *do not* click image search.
December 4, 2008
john commented on the word bugs
Lists should be deletable again. Sorry for the long delay on that.
December 3, 2008
john commented on the word ex parte
“Tuesday’s filing said the now-deceased Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, who handled the case, intentionally violated a plea agreement with Mr. Polanski after having engaged in what it called ‘repeated unethical and unlawful ex parte communications’ with a deputy district attorney who was not involved in the prosecution, but was independently advising the judge.�?
The New York Times, Polanski Asks Court to Dismiss Child-Sex Charge, by Michael Cieply, December 2, 2008
December 3, 2008
john commented on the word white noise
I quite liked "White Noise"--I thought it was taking the piss out of postmodernism more than anything else.
But I really loved Underworld. Not right off the bat--took a hundred pages or so before I was in its thrall--but by the end I was floored. It's up there with American Pastoral as one of my favorite books about America.
December 3, 2008
john commented on the word pthalo
Hot game franchise from Pthicrosoft.
December 3, 2008
john commented on the word boricua
“Children are taught from a young age that ‘hurricane’ is Taíno in origin, from the word ‘huracán,’ while no Latin pop music concert is complete without a shout out to Boricuas — those from Borinquen, the Taíno name for Puerto Rico, which means ‘land of the brave noble lord.’�?
The New York Times, Tradition Counts More Than Beauty at a Pageant, by Damien Cave, December 1, 2008
December 3, 2008
john commented on the word jai hind
“Then she signed off. ‘Jai Hind,’ she said, or ‘long live India.’
Mr. Zende quietly replied, ‘Jai Hind.’�?
The New York Times, For Heroes of Mumbai, Terror Was a Call to Action, by Somini Sengupta, December 1, 2008
December 2, 2008
john commented on the word hazel
A witch who first appeared in a 1954 bugs bunny episode, and a retired hurricane name from 1954.
December 2, 2008
john commented on the word carol
My mother's name, and a hurricane name retired in 1954.
December 2, 2008
john commented on the word hurricane party
A party, during a hurricane. Not always a
December 2, 2008
john commented on the word hurricanes
Dude, kick it off, and we will be your minions. There's lots of good source material out there, like this and this. It'll be like our own little hurricane party.
December 2, 2008
john commented on the word plastron
“From the fossil record, you’d think that turtles burst upon the world with their shells intact. The oldest known species, a 210-million-year-old fossil from Germany, has a complete bottom shell, called a plastron, and a complete top shell, or carapace.�?
The New York Times, Turtles on the Half Shell: New Fossils Show an Evolutionary Step, by Henry Fountain, December 1, 2008
December 2, 2008
john commented on the word incunabula
“As a young man Mr. Friedlaender had collected stamps in a serious way. In 1970 he began collecting rare books, specializing in incunabula — European books printed before 1501 — and medieval illuminated manuscripts.�?
The New York Times, H. N. Friedlaender, Bibliophile, Dies at 95, by William Grimes, November 30, 2008
December 2, 2008
john commented on the word features
bilby, I'm 90% sure that new user lists do default to 'just me', but I'll verify.
Pro, great suggestion, will add an open list icon or something like that soon.
December 1, 2008
john commented on the word aiguillettes
“Legionnaires with aiguillettes, or braids, dangling from their starched uniforms pack bar stools next to scantily clad women from Brazilian cities like Macapá and Belém.�?
The New York Times, Training Legionnaires to Fight (and Eat Rodents), by Simon Romero, November 30, 2008
December 1, 2008
john commented on the word képis blancs
“As temperatures soar to 90 degrees in the shade of transplanted baobab trees, legionnaires patrol Kourou, a quiet town of 20,000, their shaved heads shielded from the sun under white pillbox-style hats known as képis blancs.�?
The New York Times, Training Legionnaires to Fight (and Eat Rodents), by Simon Romero, November 30, 2008
December 1, 2008
john commented on the word secretary of war
A cabinet position from 1789 until 1947, when, along with the Secretary of the Navy, it was replaced by the Secretary of Defense.
December 1, 2008
john commented on the word secretary of the navy
Like the Secretary of War, a cabinet position from 1798 until 1947, when it was replaced by the Secretary of Defense.
December 1, 2008
john commented on the word ambassador to the united nations
This position is sometimes cabinet-level, depending on the administration. It was not under George W. Bush, but it was under Clinton and will be again under Obama.
December 1, 2008
john commented on the word glocal
“He pioneered ‘glocal’ news — outsourcing Pasadena coverage to India at Pasadena Now, his daily online ‘newspaperless,’ as he likes to call it. Indians are writing about everything from the Pasadena Christmas tree-lighting ceremony to kitchen remodeling to city debates about eliminating plastic shopping bags.�?
The New York Times, A Penny for My Thoughts?, by Maureen Dowd, November 29, 2008
December 1, 2008
john commented on the word nullipara
“At the height of her pregnancy, Cathy and I embodied several facets of femininity. She could be seen as the fertile, glowing mother-to-be as well as the hemorrhoidal, flatulent, lumpen pregnant woman. I could be the erotic, perennially sensual nullipara, the childbirth virgin, and yet I was also the dried-up crone with a uterus full of twigs.�?
The New York Times, Her Body, My Baby, by Alex Kuczynski, November 28, 2008
December 1, 2008
john commented on the word gummies
“I decided to call all of us Gummies — grown-up mommies — with the implication that some of us were so old we could have dentures.�?
The New York Times, Her Body, My Baby, by Alex Kuczynski, November 28, 2008
December 1, 2008
john commented on the word afropublicrat
“While blacks vote overwhelmingly Democratic, an analysis of three years of national data from Gallup polls reveals that their views on moral issues are virtually indistinguishable from those of Republicans. Let’s just call them Afropublicrats.�?
The New York Times, Gay Marriage and a Moral Minority , by Charles M. Blow, November 29, 2008
November 30, 2008
john commented on the word ПОР�?О ПО К�?ТЕГОРИЯМ
Rolig and Pro, thanks very much for the translation, and early warning. Turbos is no more.
November 27, 2008
john commented on the word cheongsam
“This dress combines an Asian silhouette with a pheasant pattern printed on linen. ‘There were some lovely cigarette advertisements from the time, where you see the traditional cheongsam being Westernized,’ Ms. Martin said. ‘All those influences came together to make that dress.’�?
The New York Times, The Look of ‘Australia’, by Eric Wilson, October 31, 2008
November 27, 2008
john commented on the word woman
Even if the word has been used that way, that's a dumb definition and it inspires a new tag.
November 27, 2008
john commented on the word entropy
What does it mean for energy to become untranslated?
This word always reminds me of Thomas Pynchon.
November 27, 2008
john commented on the word harrier
See also hash house harriers.
November 26, 2008
john commented on the word hash house harriers
An international organization of running clubs, dedicated to running and beer.
November 26, 2008
john commented on the word harrier
Also the name of a famous V/STOL fighter jet.
November 26, 2008
john commented on the word cyberchondria
“If that headache plaguing you this morning led you first to a Web search and then to the conclusion that you must have a brain tumor, you may instead be suffering from cyberchondria.�?
The New York Times, Microsoft Examines Causes of ‘Cyberchondria’ , by John Markoff, November 24, 2008
November 26, 2008
john commented on the word achievatron
“And yet as much as I want to resent these overeducated Achievatrons (not to mention the incursion of a French-style government dominated by highly trained Enarchs), I find myself tremendously impressed by the Obama transition.�?
The New York Times, The Insider’s Crusade, by David Brooks, November 21, 2008
November 22, 2008
john commented on the word valedictocracy
“This truly will be an administration that looks like America, or at least that slice of America that got double 800s on their SATs. Even more than past administrations, this will be a valedictocracy — rule by those who graduate first in their high school classes. If a foreign enemy attacks the United States during the Harvard-Yale game any time over the next four years, we’re screwed.�?
The New York Times, The Insider’s Crusade, by David Brooks, November 21, 2008
November 22, 2008
john commented on the word oud
“‘If the World’ opens with acoustic guitar lines suggesting a Middle Eastern oud but segues into wah-wah rhythm guitar and sustained strings fit for a blaxploitation soundtrack, while Mr. Rose unleashes something like a soul falsetto.�?
The New York Times, How Axl Rose Spent All That Time , by Jon Pareles, November 20, 2008
November 21, 2008
john commented on the word no courant
I think this word is no courant. Which would make it autological.
November 21, 2008
john commented on the word double top
“The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index is at its 2002 lows. (A friend of mine versed in technical analysis tells me that is an indication we had a double top, which he says means we are in deep trouble. I’ll stick to the fundamentals.)�?
The New York Times, A Bull Vanishes, by Floyd Norris, November 20, 2008
November 21, 2008
john commented on the word costermonger
“A costermonger was a street seller of fruit and vegetables. The term, which derived from the words costard (a type of large ribbed apple) and monger, i.e. "seller", came to be particularly associated with the "barrow boys" of London who would sell their produce from a wheelbarrow or wheeled market stall.�?
—Wikipedia
November 20, 2008
john commented on the word pearly king
“Or we can throw caution to the wind, as John Galliano did on Monday night, when he arrived at a party wearing the traditional button-covered costume of a Pearly King (the neighborhood monarch who protected the local street vendors of Victorian London).�?
The New York Times, Merrily They Dress, by Eric Wilson, November 19, 2008
November 20, 2008
john commented on the list minced-oaths
holy carp
November 20, 2008
john commented on the word no courant
Totally indifferent to recent trends. The opposite of au courant.
November 19, 2008
john commented on the word au courant
See also no courant.
November 19, 2008
john commented on the word highpointer
“Each state has a place of highest natural elevation, ranging from the piddling 345-foot Britton Hill in Florida to 20,320-foot Mount McKinley in Alaska. Some sites are known as ‘flip-flop’ highpoints because visitors can drive up in a car and hop out in sandals to pose by a marker; others require multi-day mountain climbs involving special gear and training. But all are important for the increasing number of ardent list keepers known as highpointers.�?
The New York Times, All Peaks, No Valleys , by Jane Margolies, November 16, 2008
November 19, 2008
john commented on the word dragon's blood
See also sangre de drago.
November 19, 2008
john commented on the word sangre de drago
The sap of an Amazonian tree with truly amazing medicinal properties. I wouldn't believe the claims made for this, but for the fact that years ago I was in Amazonian Ecuador, and got fairly severe rope burns on both hands. A guy we were working with nicked a tree with his machete and told me to spread the sap on my wounds. It dried into an almost plastic-like protective coating, and my hands healed far faster than I expected, especially considering the heat and conditions we were in.
November 19, 2008
john commented on the list s-word-variations
I am strangely ambivalent about it myself.
November 18, 2008
john commented on the word serp
SEO-speak for Search Engine Results Page.
November 18, 2008
john commented on the list shadowkeirs-list
Hi Shadowkeir, welcome. Wordie links come in two colors: ones you have visited, which on most monitors/browsers present as purple, and yet-to-visit, which generally are a sort of royal blue.
November 18, 2008
john commented on the word three cheers and a tiger
“In introducing Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, Mr. Coleman asked that the audience give three cheers and a tiger. They were given with a will.�?
The New York Times, Republicans Stirred in Mass Meetings, September 15, 1900
November 17, 2008
john commented on the word secretary of state
I think the Republicans are going to be in the wilderness for longer than you think, TYP. There is an ebb and a flow to politics, as to most things, but the GOP right now isn't ebbing or flowing; it appears frozen. They tacked too hard to the right for too long, but a large majority of the party seems to think that the answer to the drubbing they just got is to plow ahead on the same rightward course, rather than tack back to the center. You'd think party moderates would be getting their say about now, but it's not happening, and until it does, I think they'll suffer the same fate as the conservatives in Britain, who lost repeated election when they kept letting their hardline double down. They've been out of power 11 years and counting.
And this doesn't even take into account tectonic demographic shifts, almost all of which are in the Democrat's favor. You can't be a national majority party when you cater primarily to rural white Southerners.
November 16, 2008
john commented on the word mamihlapinatapei
“Mamihlapinatapai (sometimes spelled mamihlapinatapei) is a word from the Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego, listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘most succinct word’, and is considered one of the hardest words to translate. It describes ‘a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start.’
The word consists of the reflexive/passive prefix ma- (mam- before a vowel), the root ihlapi (pronounced iɬapi), which means to be at a loss as what to do next, the stative suffix -n, an achievement suffix -ata, and the dual suffix -apai, which in composition with the reflexive mam- has a reciprocal sense.�?
—Wikipedia
November 16, 2008
john commented on the word five comments rule
More than five in a row on the same word? Yes. But I write words and page numbers on my bookmarks when I read, and then dump them all into Wordie at once when I'm done. Or at least this is my plan; I have a bunch of scribbled on bookmarks lying around on deck. When it does though, I'll be in serious violation.
Note to self: Wordie bookmarks, lined for easy jotting down of words, would be nice.
November 16, 2008
john commented on the word sausage
See also makkara.
November 16, 2008
john commented on the word secretary of state
Women live longer than men. It's really Joe the Biden (five years older than Hillary) who will be too old in '16. It wasn't too long ago we had 8 years of Reagan followed by 4 of Bush père. Hillary '16 for sure.
kewpid: nice.
November 16, 2008
john commented on the list words-of-the-times
Thanks pro, added :-)
November 16, 2008
john commented on the word shrinkage
“To do so while protecting the items, they decided to seal the hinges of containers with tough epoxy that would resist shoplifting, or what retailers call ‘shrinkage.’�?
The New York Times, Latest Marvel: Packages That Open Without a Saw, by Brad Stone and Matt Richtel, November 14, 2008
November 15, 2008
john commented on the word farding
“You can't fard while driving in the District. No, it's not a typo, that's fard with a "d." It's a word derived from the French and means to apply make-up.�?
wtopnews.com, Farding While Driving; More Dangerous than Cell Phones?, January 16, 2006
November 15, 2008
john commented on the word terpsichorean
“Much of the power of ‘Billy Elliot’ as an honest tear-jerker lies in its ability to give equal weight to the sweet dreams of terpsichorean flight and the sourness of a dream-denying reality, with the two elements locked in a vital and unending dialogue.�?
The New York Times, In Hard Times, Born to Pirouette, by Ben Brantley, November 14, 2008
November 14, 2008
john commented on the word going donuts
“You Aren’t Misreading. Bear Stearns Is Worth $2 a Share. That means $236 million. Effectively zero. And with J.P. Morgan’s risk somewhat limited by the Fed, which is taking the extraordinary step of funding up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns’ less-liquid assets.
This is what they call on the Street ‘going donuts.’ But there is nothing sweet about the thousands of employees who have lost much of their life savings and most likely their jobs, too.�?
You Aren’t Misreading. Bear Stearns Is Worth $2 a Share, by Dennis K. Berman, March 16, 2008
November 14, 2008
john commented on the word pseudopotential theory
I'm full of pseudopotential.
November 14, 2008
john commented on the word nanobama
I saw this last week in MIT Tech Review and thought it was awesome. Tiny little Obama's, to celebrate our imminent subjugation by the grey goo.
November 14, 2008
john commented on the word auk
Nor to be confused with the text-processing language awk. Which was on my short list of kid's names back when I was trying to convince my wife that all our children should be named after Unix command-line utilities: little awk, his sister sed, etc. Didn't get very far with that one.
November 14, 2008
john commented on the word liaison
“The process of thickening a sauce, soup or stew. This includes all rouxs, starch and water mixtures (slurries), beurre marni and egg yolks with or without cream. Egg yolks must be tempered with hot liquid before adding to the liquid in order to prevent curdling.�?
That's from this glossary. I'd previously only been familiar with the weirdnet definitions.
November 13, 2008
john commented on the word eupsychian
“The word eupsychian (pronounced "you-sigh-key-un") was coined by Abe Maslow. It comes from eu meaning good (i.e. euphoria) and psyche meaning, basically, mind or soul. So eupsychian essentially means "having a good mind/soul" or "toward a good mind/soul." Eupsychia is where nice people live and work�?
- From maslow.org, which I stumbed on after looking into this dude, who I think might be an agent of these guys. See also eupsychia and orthoaggridant.
November 13, 2008
john commented on the word shrub
“The Romans diluted acetified wine with water to make an everyday thirst quencher called posca, and vinegar has been touted as a cure-all in Asia and Europe for centuries. The practice was brought to the Colonies from England, where it was commonly referred to as shrub, a term confusingly used both for a nonalcoholic drink and for one mixed with rum. In the United States, shrub seems to have thrived particularly in the South, gaining enormous popularity with the temperance movement. Many Southerners still fondly remember a grandmother making up ‘raspberry vinegar’ in the summer.�?
The New York Times, Dropping Acid, by Toby Cecchini, November 11, 2008
November 13, 2008
john commented on the word posca
“If chugging vinegar sounds curious to you as well, be apprised that this centuries-old practice has only recently been abandoned. The Romans diluted acetified wine with water to make an everyday thirst quencher called posca, and vinegar has been touted as a cure-all in Asia and Europe for centuries.�?
The New York Times, Dropping Acid, by Toby Cecchini, November 11, 2008
November 13, 2008
john commented on the word noforn
“One document from July reads: ‘Fact that this operation includes search for object or missing weapon part is to be treated as confidential NOFORN’, the last word meaning not to be disclosed to any foreign country.�?
The New York Times, Has Anyone Seen a Stray H-Bomb?, by Carla Baranauckas, November 11, 2008
November 12, 2008
john commented on the word demerara
“‘The obvious answer is adding sweetness,’ he said, but it matters what kind. He eschews white sugar, preferring local honey and Demerara, a raw sugar.�?
The New York Times, The Zing Starts Here, by David Leite, November 11, 2008
November 12, 2008
john commented on the word peristaltic
“There are images, too, from movies and books of the horrors of trench warfare, the colossal waste of human life in one catastrophic, peristaltic battle after another.�?
The New York Times, Echo of a Distant War, Editorial, November 10, 2008
November 12, 2008
john commented on the word click
Oh, how sad. The first Makeba song I ever heard was "Mbube", her incredibly beautiful rendition (reclamation, maybe) of "Wimoweh"/"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", the Soloman Linda song covered by The Weavers and, as a #1 hit in the U.S., The Tokens. Miriam's version is on another plane.
November 11, 2008
john commented on the list countries-the-united-states-has-bombed-invaded
I've been a ham-fisted censor a couple of times over the past few weeks, and frankly, it felt pretty good. Wordie is so totally not the place to argue Middle Eastern politics that I will consider locking this list if things get shrill. Just to let you know.
November 10, 2008
john commented on the list the-end-is-nigh
Krikey pleth, you're still in high school? You come across as older and wiser.
fwiw, I thoroughly enjoyed the later half of high school and was quite nervous about moving on. And from this vantage point (I'm 317 years old), I can barely rembember those days. I mean in no way to diminish your excitement, fear, or any of the good/terrifying stuff going on for you, but you have many many adventures to look forward to.
November 9, 2008
john commented on the word electronet
“The nation needs to build ‘an electronet,’ a unified national smart grid, with high-voltage, low-loss underground wires that deliver renewable energy from the places that produce it — like the sunny Arizona deserts or the windy Dakota plains — to the cities where the majority of it is used. Such a grid would require a $400 billion investment upfront, but would pay off in just over three years, he said, because the nation spends $120 billion annually on costs from power outages blamed on the existing grid.�?
The New York Times, Al Gore on the Purpose-Driven Web, by Claire Cain Miller, November 7, 2008
November 9, 2008
john commented on the word gleek
According to Wikipedia and Double-Tongued, it also means squirting saliva directly from the salivary glands.
And it's the name of a blue space monkey sidekick from the old Super Friends.
Used by Shakespeare, too, in Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
November 8, 2008
john commented on the word biowillie
“The trend received a boost a couple of years ago when Willie Nelson began powering his tour bus with biodiesel, which he called BioWillie, and later convinced other musicians to do the same.“
The New York Times, The Green RV , by Linda Baker, November 7, 2008
November 8, 2008
john commented on the word migraineuse
“I, home with the kids, was in bed, sleeping the drugged sleep of an alcohol-abstaining migraineuse after drinking half a glass of celebratory champagne.�?
The New York Times, Tears to Remember, by Judith Warner, November 6, 2008
November 8, 2008
john commented on the word square root
Copy and paste this: √
To get a menu of special characters on a Mac, put the cursor where you want the character to appear, then select 'Edit -> Special Characters...' in the Finder. A window will pop up, in which you can select the character you want and click 'insert', and it'll appear.
November 8, 2008
john commented on the word saint-louis-du-ha! ha!
I love that Québec has a Commission de toponymie.
November 7, 2008
john commented on the word ger
“On a trip to western Mongolia in 2006, the couple bought a ger — a portable yurt — and a set of traditional furnishings and crafts, including a leather cheese churn and a basket used for gathering dried dung for fuel.�?
The New York Times, Our Place Just Above the Road, by Lisa A. Phillips, November 6, 2008
November 7, 2008
john commented on the word kraft
Some Canadians I used to know referred to all macaroni and cheese, regardless of maker, as "kraft food." Not sure if that was idiosyncratic to them, or some Canadian thing.
November 7, 2008
john commented on the word big board
“Sir, you can't let him in here. He'll... He'll see everything! He'll see the Big Board!�?
General Buck Turgidson, Dr. Strangelove
November 5, 2008
john commented on the word yes we can!
The popular vote was actually pretty strongly in Obama's favor compared to other recent presidential elections, c_b.
Not all the votes have been counted, but Obama has over 52% of those that have, a number that will probably increase. In 2004 Bush got 50.7%, and of course in 2000 he actually lost the popular vote, with 47.9% (to Gore's 48.4%). In '96 and '92 Clinton got 49.24% and 43%, respectively. All numbers from Wikipedia.
November 5, 2008
john commented on the word 2008 election
Thanks! The site was deluged with traffic, and everything held up well, so we're psyched. Heading out to the last train now, and a long sleep.
November 5, 2008
john commented on the word 2008 election
We did earlier--saw exit poll data maybe an hour before it was made public. At this point, though, it's all pretty automated. The programs my colleagues and I have been writing for months grab it, process it, and put it up on the site a few minutes after it's available.
Here's a phrase I think we'll be seeing a lot more of President Obama.
November 5, 2008
john commented on the word 2008 election
Trivet: the results data comes from the AP, they send us raw data and we grind through it. Exit poll data comes from a different organization.
November 5, 2008
john commented on the word sound lantern
Basil just sent me a very polite email. My fuse is kinda short today. Appreciated his laying off, and apologizing.
I don't really need to learn anything about this person--you're an idiot if you think putting the same pasted message on a hundred profiles is anything other than abuse.
November 5, 2008
john commented on the word abuse
I just nuked that abusive Basil account--sorry for the gap in the historical record I just created. What's going on here? I'm like The Hammer these days :-)
November 5, 2008
john commented on the word dixville notch
“Barack Obama came up a big winner in the presidential race in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, N.H., where tradition of having the first Election Day ballots tallied lives on.�?
The New York Times, Obama Wins Midnight Vote in New Hampshire, November 4, 2008
November 4, 2008
john commented on the word 2008 election
For the past month I've been part of a team working on an election results application for The New York Times. A preview of what the Times will be offering tomorrow night just went up on The Caucus, describing things like the presidential big board and the mobile dashboard. There are also data-rich pages for every state, and other goodies.
I'd love it you folks wanted to check this stuff out, it should be a good place to keep tabs on lots of data tomorrow.
November 4, 2008
john commented on the word features
Pro, there isn't, though it's a good idea to add that someplace.
November 4, 2008
john commented on the word english reasearch paper
Alright you little turds--I created this website, and I'm sick of you fucking around on it. You've been asked politely, and you blew it. So I'm freezing your accounts.
If you create new accounts and try to come back, I'll find out where you're coming from (I have your email and the IP addresses, so that won't be hard), and after letting your school know who you are, ask them to block Wordie too.
November 4, 2008
john commented on the word english reasearch paper
Bonnie et al--people will always butt in. You don't seem to get it, but this entire site is open to the public; the whole point is that everyone can comment on everything. If you want to have a private conversation, this isn't the place.
November 4, 2008
john commented on the word republican rump
“Instead, the Republican rump, the party that’s left after the election, will be the party that attends Sarah Palin’s rallies, where crowds chant ‘Vote McCain, not Hussein!’ It will be the party of Saxby Chambliss, the senator from Georgia, who, observing large-scale early voting by African-Americans, warns his supporters that ‘the other folks are voting.’ It will be the party that harbors menacing fantasies about Barack Obama’s Marxist — or was that Islamic? — roots.�?
The New York Times, The Republican Rump , by Paul Krugman, November 3, 2008
November 4, 2008
john commented on the word when the revolution comes
I'll join the counter-revolution.
November 4, 2008
john commented on the word secretary of defense
My call: Obama wins, picks McCain as his Secretary of Defense. You heard it here first.
Can't believe this hadn't been listed yet. I feel a list coming on...
November 4, 2008
john commented on the word dog whistle
“The potential double meaning rekindled speculation among Mr. Bush's critics that he communicates with his conservative Christian base with a dog-whistle of code words and symbols, deliberately incomprehensible to secular liberals.�?
The New York Times, Speaking in the Tongue of Evangelicals, by David D. Kirkpatrick, October 17, 2004
November 3, 2008
john commented on the word affluencer
“Among women ages 18 to 49, Bravo is the fastest growing of the top 20 entertainment cable networks, and its viewers are the most educated and upscale (about a quarter of them make more than $100,000 a year), a demographic that advertisers are desperate to try to reach. Berwick, the general manager, came up with a catchy name for this premium demographic: the affluencers.�?
The New York Times, The Affluencer, by Susan Dominus, October 30, 2008
November 3, 2008
john commented on the word squad
“Many of the men, and it’s still almost all men, remember the days when they stood several deep around the specialists, nudging, pushing, staying put for several straight hours, shouting ‘Squad!’ for pages to hustle handwritten notes to clerks on the wings, jockeying at the banks of phones now hanging from hooks like relics.�?
The New York Times, Financial Foot Soldiers, Feeling the Weight of the World , by Dan Barry, November 2, 2008
November 3, 2008
john commented on the word erratica
“The McCain campaign specializes in erratica, while the Obama campaign continues to avoid any dramatica.�?
The New York Times, Who’s the Question Mark? , by Maureen Dowd, November 1, 2008
November 3, 2008
john commented on the word Å
Which is otherwise known as, John has character encoding issues. My bad, I'll look at it.
November 2, 2008
john commented on the word features
Yep, the list-name-as-URL is new. Makes them more readable, and more searchable. Let me know if there are any issues.
The old links still work: http://wordie.org/lists/14193 and http://wordie.org/lists/words-of-the-times go to the same place.
November 2, 2008
john commented on the word i feel your pain
As spoken to ACT UP member Bob Rafsky by presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.
October 31, 2008
john commented on the word slander vs libel
Both are forms of defamation, but slander is spoken, and libel is either written or conveyed in a more durable media (defamation over radio or television is usually considered libel, not slander).
Personally I prefer calumny :-)
October 31, 2008
john commented on the word simip
Hey, just because I hold the reins of power, doesn't mean I'm right :-)
I don't particularly enjoy drivel either (or rather, I want it to be *good* drivel). If it persists, I'll address it, or try to. But in smallish doses, I found it amusing. And really, how long can a site with no images hold a kid's attention?
October 31, 2008
john commented on the word simip
Sorry guys--but thirteen-year-olds, or whatever they are, are allowed to post dumb stuff just like the rest of us, especially if they stay confined to their own phrases instead of dictionary words. I'm sure our comments are equally insufferable to them.
Though this does, once again, point out how useful it would be to be able to vote good comments up, to help separate the wheat from the chaff.
October 31, 2008
john commented on the word english research
Hey, you guys don't have to go away--though people here would probably appreciate it if you confined semi-private conversations to your own phrases (like this one).
Who knows, if you stick around you might accidentally learn some new words. Like tatterdemalion.
October 31, 2008
john commented on the word simip
Wow, this is a new one on me: I just got a justifiably upset email from the owner of http://www.simip.co.il/.
He says that someone, perhaps an unscrupulous competitor, has been posting spam comments in his company's name, trying to get his domain name blacklisted. I might have doubted him but for the fact that his site has no English language content at all, so he doesn't have much of an incentive to post heavy-handed spam on English-language sites like Wordie.
I'm going to delete the spurious 'simip' account, and we should probably put away our blackjacks and truncheons for now. Looks like the poor guy a victim, not a perp.
October 31, 2008
john commented on the word corpse vs cadaver
Great idea frogapplause, and it inspired a new open list: Word-offs.
October 31, 2008
john commented on the list colbert-report-neologisms
Thanks c_b, good call, done.
October 31, 2008
john commented on the list colbert-report-neologisms
Thanks much whichbe. I've been derelict with this list, so I just opened it up so you or anyone else can contribute.
October 31, 2008
john commented on the word mushy peas and vinegar
“...was the street that we would all aspire to — the other side of the tracks ... the Beersbridge Road had the railway line cut across it; and our side of it was one side of the tracks and Cyprus Avenue was the other... there was an Italian shop up in Ballyhackamore, that's where all the young ones used to go of a Sunday... we used to walk up to the Sky Beam for an ice cream or a cup of mushy peas and vinegar... We used to take a short cut up Cyprus Avenue, 'cause that's where all the expensive houses and all the good-looking totty came from... mostly upper-crusty totty... There's a couple of big girls' grammar schools up 'round that direction... That would have sunk in my head as much as his.�?
Roy Kane, childhood friend of Van Morrison, talking about the origin of the song Cypress Avenue. Quoted in Wikipedia.
October 30, 2008
john commented on the word obamageddon
“So using God like a hired gun to terrorize the town's people, the evangelical Christian mullahs are declaring that Obamageddon is at hand, using that very word and asking as the Religious Right/Republican Townhall magazine did in a September headline, ‘Could We Survive a Barack Presidency?’�?
The Huffington Post, Evangelical Leaders Using God Like a Hired Gun, by Christine Wicker, October 28, 2008
October 29, 2008
john commented on the word bugs
Sorry about today's loss of brackets. In the process of upgrading some stuff and got a little ahead of myself. Hopefully I'll get a chance to fix it tonight.
October 29, 2008
john commented on the word redbird
Lampbane, thanks for reminding me of the redbirds, I liked those cars. They're doing good things in retirement, though: a lot of them have been reefed. Pictures here.
October 28, 2008
john commented on the word features
whichbe, great idea--there's now an 'add to iGoogle' link for all the feeds on the tools page. Pro, sorry you had to do it manually, but thanks for the impetus :-)
I'll add other links for other feed readers soon, and maybe do a little errata post on other ways to insinuate integrate Wordie feeds into other sites.
October 28, 2008
john commented on the word begorrah
Irish euphemism for "by God".
October 27, 2008
john commented on the word schlemiel
“In 1977, Bella Abzug, the former congresswoman and outspoken feminist, said, ‘Our struggle today is not to have a female Einstein get appointed as an assistant professor. It is for a woman schlemiel to get as quickly promoted as a male schlemiel.�?
The New York Times, No Ordinary Woman, by Judith Warner, October 26, 2008
October 26, 2008
john commented on the word asp
“Another law enforcement official said that investigators with a search warrant seized a retractable baton — called an asp — and a radio antenna from Officer Cruz’s locker.�?
The New York Times, Police Accuser Still in Hospital; Sharpton Visits, by Al Baker, Kareem Fahim and William K. Rashbaum, October 25, 2008
October 26, 2008
john commented on the word color revolutions
“Russia’s paramount leader, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, has sought to undermine new pro-Western governments that took power in the so-called color revolutions. Mr. Luzhkov is, in a sense, spearheading Mr. Putin’s counterrevolution.�?
The New York Times, Mayor of Moscow Exports Russia’s New Nationalism, by Clifford J. Levy, October 25, 2008
October 26, 2008
john commented on the word premature pundits
“Trevor Butterworth, a senior fellow at the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, coined the term ‘premature pundits’ to refer to the young journalists now appearing on television. ‘The combination of ambition and naïveté allows them to say things that with slightly more age and wisdom you’d be embarrassed to say,’ he said.�?
The New York Times, At Pundit School, Learning to Smile and Interrupt, by Ashley Parker, October 24, 2008
October 26, 2008
john commented on the word spiritual warfare
“What is known, however, is that Ms. Palin has had long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly assertive and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as ‘spiritual warfare.’
Its adherents believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic areas and individuals, and that ‘spiritual warriors’ must ‘battle’ them to assert God’s control, using prayer and evangelism. The movement’s fixation on demons, its aggressiveness and its leaders’ claims to exalted spiritual authority have troubled even some Pentecostal Christians.�?
The New York Times, YouTube Videos Draw Attention to Palin’s Faith, by Laurie Goodstein, October 24, 2008
October 25, 2008
john commented on the word deracinate
“St. Kilda, deracinated and depopulated, was finally evacuated in the early 1930s.�?
The New York Times, Inching Along the Edge of the World, by Will Self, October 23, 2008
October 25, 2008
john commented on the list smurf-in-other-languages
Holy canoli frogapplause, this is my new favorite list.
For anyone else who wants to contribute, there is, of course, an absurdly completist list on Wikipedia.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word los pitufos
"The Smurfs" in Spanish.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the list animales-en-espaaol-animals-in-spanish
I think mona should have been mono :-)
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word mono
Spanish for monkey.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word león
Spanish for lion.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word jirafa
Spanish for giraffe.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word hipopótamo
Spanish for hippopotamus.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word gato
Spanish for Cat.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word elefante
Spanish for Elephant.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word alce
Elk in Spanish.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word cerdo
Pig in Spanish.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word cabra
Goat in Spanish.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word caballo
Horse in Spanish.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word burro
Donkey in Spanish.
October 24, 2008
john commented on the list animales-en-espaaol-animals-in-spanish
This is a sad little menagerie. Can anyone help out our Spanish-speaking brethren and sisteren?
October 24, 2008
john commented on the word brogue
Better known as wingtips in the U.S.
October 23, 2008
john commented on the word chilblain
“Manhattan rarely sees conditions like that or, for that matter, weather that calls for a coat of oil-finished cloth to ward off chilblains.�?
The New York Times, The Fashion Report of 1920 , by Guy Trebay, October 22, 2008
October 23, 2008
john commented on the word reef
The act of reducing the surface area of a sail, usually to protect both the sail and the boat from high winds.
October 23, 2008
john commented on the word homosexico
As seen on FakeSarahPalin.
October 23, 2008
john commented on the word de haut en bas
c_b, I agree about Noonan: great writer with whom I frequently disagree. Varadarajan's piece is worth reading in full.
I presume he meant blouse-y, like her critics dismiss her as too sensitive or feminine (or not enough of an asshole) to be a serious pundit.
October 23, 2008
john commented on the word hot bunk
“It will leave no downtime as the crew operates on a ‘hot bunk’ system — because when one member goes to bed, it will still be warm from its previous occupant.�?
The New York Times, , by Joshua Robinson, October 22, 2008
October 22, 2008
john commented on the word balafon
According to Wikipedia, this is a West African tuned percussion instrument, kind of like a vibraphone. For a really delightful example of one being played, listen to the first mp3 in the left-hand column of this story.
October 22, 2008
john commented on the word gamala taki
“Mr. Berger emphasized a rhythmic training exercise called gamala taki to connect jazz to other musical languages around the world.�?
The New York Times, A Ferment of World Jazz Yields a Trove of Tapes, by Ben Ratliff, October 21, 2008
October 22, 2008
john commented on the word tanbark
“Paul Binder, the 66-year-old founder, artistic director and ringmaster of the Big Apple Circus, will be stepping away from the tanbark next year after three decades as boss man of the little top.�?
The New York Times, Goodbye Greasepaint: Veteran Showman Exits the Tent, by Glenn Collins, October 21, 2008
October 22, 2008
john commented on the word terror bird
See phororhacos.
October 22, 2008
john commented on the word dal
Also a delicious South Asian dish prepared from split beans. Also spelled dhal.
October 21, 2008
john commented on the word phlebotomist
“Mr. Sorkin and his bedbugs are featured in the newly published ‘Dark Banquet,’ a jaunty, instructive and charmingly graphic look at nature’s born phlebotomists — creatures from wildly different twigs of the phylogenetic tree that all happen to share a fondness for blood.�?
The New York Times, A Taste for Blood, by Natalie Angier, October 20, 2008
October 21, 2008
john commented on the word de haut en bas
“But--and here is what makes her so attractive to open-minded readers, and so infuriating to Movement Conservatives, who dismiss her as too blousy--she makes her point in a way that captures the humanity of its context. This isn't punditry, de haut en bas, but engagement with the reader, with the reader's milieu--with America.�?
Forbes.com, In Praise Of Peggy Noonan, by Tunku Varadarajan, October 20, 2008
October 21, 2008
john commented on the word bug boy
For a moment, I thought this was me :-)
October 20, 2008
john commented on the word mallemaroking
frindley and friends, I'll soon truncate the length of words in the right hand column, should hopefully prevent the need for vigilante justice.
October 20, 2008
john commented on the word pack years
“Also, Dr. Scheiner did not provide a standard measure of smoking risk. It is known as pack years — the number of packs smoked a day multiplied by the number of years a person has smoked. The pack-year number is used to help determine a patient’s risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease and other tobacco-related ailments.�?
The New York Times, Many Holes in Disclosure of Nominees’ Health, by Lawrence K. Altman, M.D., October 19, 2008
October 20, 2008
john commented on the word egg cuber
I was hoping this was something that would give you three times the number of eggs you started with. But it's almost as good.
Cubic eggs probably make a lot of sense on ships. So your hard boiled eggs don't roll off the table in heavy seas.
October 20, 2008
john commented on the word killer diller
See citation on skelly.
October 20, 2008
john commented on the word skelly
“The asphalt battlefield known as a Skelly board has 13 numbers, one for each box where raw-knuckled players hunch over and flick wax-filled bottle tops as they vie for the title of Killer Diller. Generations of New Yorkers grew up playing this quintessential street game that required nothing more than bottle caps and chalk to draw the board.�?
The New York Times, Street Game Gets a Patent: Indoor Skelly, by David Gonzalez, January 1, 2008
October 20, 2008
john commented on the word ombrology
For students of ombrology, this site answers the most important question.
October 19, 2008
john commented on the word spife
An eating utensil combining a spoon and a knife. Otherwise known as the knoon.
October 19, 2008
john commented on the word nebraska
And you know who was born in Omaha? Fred Astaire.
Fred Frickin' Astaire, ladies and gentlemen.
October 19, 2008
john commented on the word hinono’ eitiino’ oowu’
“The discipline of those days was drummed into an entire generation of Northern Arapaho, and most tribal members never passed down the language. Of all the remaining fluent speakers, none are younger than 55.
That is what tribal leaders hope to change. About 22 children from pre-kindergarten through first grade started classes at the school — a rectangular one-story structure with a fresh coat of white paint and the words Hinono’ Eitiino’ Oowu’ (translation: Arapaho Language Lodge) written across its siding.�?
The New York Times, Its Native Tongue Facing Extinction, Arapaho Tribe Teaches the Young, by Dan Frosch, October 16, 2008
October 18, 2008
john commented on the word femicide
“‘I have spent the past 10 years of my life in the rape mines of the world,�? she said. “But I have never seen anything like this.
She calls it ‘femicide,’ a systematic campaign to destroy women.�?
The New York Times, Rape Victims’ Words Help Jolt Congo Into Change, by Jeffrey Gettleman, October 17, 2008
October 18, 2008
john commented on the word worm grunting
“Worm grunting, also known as worm fiddling or charming, involves driving a wooden stake into the ground and rubbing the top of it with a leaf spring or other flat piece of steel to make a grunting or snoring noise. Done in the right place under the right conditions, the result will be hundreds earthworms appearing on the surface of the ground. Worm grunting is practiced in parts of the southeast to obtain fish bait.�?
The New York Times, Worm Grunting: A Mystery Solved, by Henry Fountain, October 17, 2008
October 18, 2008
john commented on the word frit
“The pattern on top of the treads is a baked-on finish, known as a frit, that keeps the surface from being slippery when wet.�?
The New York Times, Come and Meet Those Stepping Feet, by David W. Dunlap, October 16, 2008
October 17, 2008
john commented on the word chapeau
In French, too. The English equivalent would be "hats off to you!"
October 17, 2008
john commented on the word chapeau-bras
A foldable bicorne.
October 17, 2008
john commented on the word poodle-faker
So the poodle part seems cleared up. Why 'faker'?
October 16, 2008
john commented on the word libor
“Anyway, what I’m talking about is the spread between Libor — the London Interbank Offer Rate, which is the rate at which banks lend to each other — and the yields on Treasuries of the same maturity.�?
The New York Times, Listening to Libor, by Paul Krugman, November 23, 2007
October 16, 2008
john commented on the word three deckah
The ones I'm familiar with have a back porch—the decks—on every floor
October 15, 2008
john commented on the word womlett
“Royal Canadian Foods Corp. said it will open a new concept in Miami Beach on Sunday called The Royal Canadian Womlett House, based on its ‘Womlett’ creation, an omelet dome baked onto a waffle.�?
Nation's Restaurant News, Royal Canadian to unveil Womlett House concept, October 27, 1997
October 15, 2008
john commented on the word if
Careful whichbe! Go To Statement Considered Harmful.
October 14, 2008
john commented on the word plaquero
“Members raise the money for the plaques and install them in cooperation with localities. ‘We don’t get paid for this,’ said Ron Wells, 43, a carpenter and a Clamper ‘plaquero,’ the man with the mortar. ‘It’s just something you do in your heart.’�?
The New York Times, Promoting Offbeat History Between the Drinks, by Jesse McKinley, October 13, 2008
October 14, 2008
john commented on the word moose milk
“Take the tiny mountain hamlet of Volcano, Calif. (pop. 101), the site of three plaques, including one devoted to the potent Gold Rush drink known as moose milk. (Mix bourbon, rum and heavy cream. Drink. Do not repeat.)�?
The New York Times, Promoting Offbeat History Between the Drinks, by Jesse McKinley, October 13, 2008
October 14, 2008
john commented on the word shis
My proposal for a gender-non-specific version of his/hers.
October 14, 2008
john commented on the word nebraska
It's Bruce Springsteen's best album by a mile. Speaking of miles, drummer Buddy Miles is from Omaha. And Saddle Creek records is based there. What's not to like about Nebraska?
October 13, 2008
john commented on the word automobilist
“Paul Daniel Marriott, a highway historian and consultant in Washington, said road designers began to take the car into account around 1900. Like Vanderbilt, these early car owners were mostly wealthy men; they were called ‘automobilists’ on the model of ‘bicyclists.’�?
The New York Times, A 100-Year-Old Dream: A Road Just for Cars, by Phil Patton, October 9, 2008
October 12, 2008
john commented on the word upsell
“Cassinelli prided himself on earning big tips. ‘I could always upsell my tables’ liquor and desserts,’ he said, using the industry term for swaying diners to order more than they normally would, driving up the bill and hence the tip.�?
The New York Times, Why Tip?, by Paul Wachter, October 9, 2008
October 12, 2008
john commented on the word barista
Not in America, where baristas server coffee, and bartenders serve booze. From Wikipedia:
In English jargon, the term "barista" refers to one who has acquired some level of expertise in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks. Within certain circles, its meaning is expanding to include what might be called a "coffee sommelier;" a professional who is highly skilled in coffee preparation, with a comprehensive understanding of coffee, coffee blends, espresso, quality, coffee varieties, roast degree, espresso equipment, maintenance, latte art, etc. Stephen Morrissey of Ireland is the current World Barista Champion.
The word barista (plural: baristi masculine or mixed sex or bariste feminine) is of Italian origin. In Italy, a barista is a "bartender," who typically works behind a counter, serving both hot (such as espresso) and cold alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
October 12, 2008
john commented on the word tip out
“Typically, waiters receive an hourly wage — as little as $2.13 in some states, though California law mandates at least $8 — plus tips, some of which they may pass on, or ‘tip out,’w to their support staff.�?
The New York Times, Why Tip?, by Paul Wachter, October 9, 2008
October 12, 2008
john commented on the word vails
“By the 17th century, it was expected that overnight guests to private homes would provide sums of money, known as vails, to the host’s servants.�?
The New York Times, Why Tip?, by Paul Wachter, October 9, 2008
October 12, 2008
john commented on the word uxorial
dmbrthnu, that was annoying, and not just because it broke the front page. nobody wants to scroll through your gibberish.
October 11, 2008
john commented on the word bunker fuel
“Oceangoing ships are largely propelled by bunker fuel, which is one of the most cost-effective — it provides more energy per gallon than the distilled products used in other diesel and gasoline engines — and environmentally destructive fuels in use anywhere.�?
The New York Times, Maritime Organization Seeks to Cut Air Pollution From Oceangoing Ships, by Felicity Barringer, October 9, 2008
October 10, 2008
john commented on the word ai winter
“Until recently, progress in artificial intelligence lagged so far behind computing technology that some in the field talked about an ‘A.I. winter,’ after commercial and government funding evaporated in the mid-1980's.�?
The New York Times, Behind Artificial Intelligence, a Squadron of Bright Real People, by John Markoff, October 14, 2005
October 10, 2008
john commented on the word ted spread
“Stock prices are, however, the least of our worries. The money markets are frozen; the TED spread is 4.14%.�?
The New York Times, Dow 9,000!, by Paul Krugman, October 9, 2008
Wikipedia has a good explanation of TED spread.
October 10, 2008
john commented on the word moose
I lived in Maine for over a decade all told, and I never saw a moose, not once. And I spent a *lot* of time outdoors—frequently at Moosehead Lake. People were constantly telling me, "oh, you just missed this giant moose!" It was galling.
So now you too, eh Skipvia? Even WeirdNet is in on it. You can only fool me for so long about these "moose." Moose are apocryphal.
October 9, 2008
john commented on the word twiddlepoop
See also nincompoop.
October 9, 2008
john commented on the word uighur
“The judge, Ricardo M. Urbina of Federal District Court, ordered that the 17 men be brought to his courtroom on Friday from the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where they have been held since 2002. He indicated that he would release the men, members of the restive Uighur Muslim minority in western China, into the care of supporters in the United States, initially in the Washington area.�?
The New York Times, In Blow to Bush, Judge Orders 17 Guantánamo Detainees Freed, by William Glaberson, October 7, 2008
October 8, 2008
john commented on the list brazilian-politicians
Thanks c_b... they're clickable for me. Could you email me what kind of browser you're using? If you're using a popup blocker, that could be why the links aren't working, since I have them opening in a new window.
October 7, 2008
john commented on the word pro-life
“A Senate candidate has legally changed his name to Pro-Life and will appear on the ballot that way this year, state election officials say.�?
CBS News, Aspiring Pol Changes Name To Pro-Life, March 18, 2008
October 7, 2008
john commented on the word jink
“As he dived in on the target in his A-4, his surface-to-air missile warning system sounded: A SAM had a lock on him. ‘I knew I should roll out and fly evasive maneuvers,’ McCain writes. ‘The A-4 is a small, fast’ aircraft that ‘can outmaneuver a tracking SAM.’
But McCain didn't ‘jink.’ Instead, he stayed on target and let fly his bombs — just as the SAM blew his wing off.�?
Rolling Stone, Make-Believe Maverick, by Tim Dickinson, October 6, 2008
October 7, 2008
john commented on the list we-all-know-i-dont-use-this-right
electricblue, you are using Wordie exactly perfectly.
October 6, 2008
john commented on the word aversive racism
“John Dovidio, a psychologist at Yale University who has conducted this study over many years, noted that conscious prejudice as measured in surveys has declined over time. But unconscious discrimination — what psychologists call aversive racism — has stayed fairly constant.�?
The New York Times, Racism Without Racists, by Nicholas D. Kristof, October 4, 2008
October 6, 2008
john commented on the word id al-fitr
“Id al-Fitr, which marks the end of a period of daytime fasting, prayers and abstention from vices during the holy month of Ramadan, is the much-anticipated reward for the pious. The holiday is usually a time for family gatherings and outings, with children receiving new clothes and gifts. But across the Arab world it is also an excuse for parties and fun, especially for young people.�?
The New York Times, Defying a Spate of Bombings, Baghdad Has a Party, by Sam Dagher, October 3, 2008
October 5, 2008
john commented on the word minnewegian
“Listeners who hear the Minnewegian sounds of the characters from ‘Fargo’ when they listen to Ms. Palin are on to something: the Matanuska-Susitna Valley in Alaska, where she grew up, was settled by farmers from Minnesota during the Depression.�?
The New York Times, Everything You Heard Is Wrong, by Steven Pinker, October 3, 2008
October 5, 2008
john commented on the word wacko jacko backo
New York Post headline on a Michael Jackson comeback.
October 5, 2008
john commented on the word small earthquake in chile, not many dead
Supposedly the winning entry in a 1920 contest to publish the most boring headline possible in the Times of London.
October 5, 2008
john commented on the word headless body in topless bar
New York Post headline, April 15, 1983.
October 5, 2008
john commented on the word no baked alaska
New York Daily News headline from October 3, 2008, referring to the fact that candidate Sarah Palin didn't embarrass herself as much as expected in the previous night's Vice Presidential debate against Joe Biden.
October 5, 2008
john commented on the word ford to city: drop dead
The New York Daily News headline from October 30th, 1975. The previous day Ford had said he would veto any bailout plan for New York City, which was near bankruptcy. More about this classic tabloid headline in this New York Times story.
October 5, 2008
john commented on the word primaried
Most lawmakers represent safe districts, giving them little incentive to tack to the center and work together. Indeed, many incumbents worry more about ‘being primaried,’ as they put it, drawing a primary challenge from within their own parties for being insufficiently orthodox.�?
The New York Times, Tom Davis Gives Up, by Peter Baker, October 3, 2008
October 5, 2008
john commented on the user pterodactyl
c_b, I can't believe you just called yourself pedestrian because you enjoy the OED. This has to the the only place on the planet where anyone would ever say that :-)
October 4, 2008
john commented on the user pterodactyl
Dictionaries! An older and very well-regarded copy editor of my acquaintance says that Webster's 2nd, aka W2 (though mollusque calls it the MW2), is the best dictionary ever created. It's beautifully written and opinionated without being overbearing. And it contains dord, one of the best accidental words ever.
October 4, 2008
john commented on the word haze gray
The color of USN surface ships (as opposed to submarines, which are dark gray or black):
“Tain’t ‘gun-metal gray’. Any sailor, even an old submariner who will be there when Growler comes back in a coupla weeks, knows it’s HAZE-gray.�?
The New York Times, comments on The Return of the Intrepid, by Patrick McGeehan, October 2, 2008
October 3, 2008
john commented on the word financial accelerator
“Ben Bernanke had spent his career studying financial crises. His first important work as an economist had been a study of the events that led to the Great Depression. Along with several economists, he came up with a phrase, “the financial accelerator,�? which described how deteriorating market conditions could speed until they became unmanageable.�?
The New York Times, 36 Hours of Alarm and Action as Crisis Spiraled, by Joe Nocera, October 1, 2008
October 2, 2008
john commented on the word credit default swap
“The credit crisis has played out in places most people can’t see. It’s banks refusing to lend to other banks — even though that is one of the most essential functions of the banking system. It’s a loss of confidence in seemingly healthy institutions like Morgan Stanley and Goldman — both of which reported profits even as the pressure was mounting. It is panicked hedge funds pulling out cash. It is frightened investors protecting themselves by buying credit-default swaps — a financial insurance policy against potential bankruptcy — at prices 30 times what they normally would pay.�?
The New York Times, 36 Hours of Alarm and Action as Crisis Spiraled, by Joe Nocera, October 1, 2008
October 2, 2008
john commented on the word commercial paper
“Money market funds serve a critical role in greasing the wheels of commerce. They use investors’ money to make short-term loans, known as commercial paper, to big corporations like General Motors, I.B.M. and Microsoft. Commercial paper is attractive to money market funds because it pays them a higher interest rate than, say, United States Treasury bills, but is still considered relatively safe.�?
The New York Times, 36 Hours of Alarm and Action as Crisis Spiraled, by Joe Nocera, October 1, 2008
October 2, 2008
john commented on the word chumfo
“Connected to the phenomenon of silent communication is a concept called chumfo. Long learned about it from an African tribe, and it seems to mesh perfectly with his beliefs as an explanation for the exquisite sensory awareness wild animals possess. Chumfo is ‘not a sixth or extra sense,’ he writes, ‘but rather the unity or perfect coordination of the five senses at their highest point.’ Long believes humans once had this same level of acute alertness, but that our ‘unnatural civilization’ and over-dependence on speech have dulled our ancestral sense perceptions.�?
by Gussie Fauntleroy, from The Santa Fe New Mexican, posted on redOrbit on March 1, 2006
October 2, 2008
john commented on the word hombre
A card game
October 2, 2008
john commented on the list chrono-synclastic-infundibulum
Is this at all related to chrono-displacement disorder?
October 1, 2008
john commented on the word chrono-displacement disorder
The name of the genetic disorder in Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife that causes the protagonist to involuntarily time travel.
October 1, 2008
john commented on the word laïcité
“Traditionally, the republican school, born of the French Revolution, was the breeding ground for citizens. The shift from these schools is another indication of the challenge facing the strict form of secularism known as ‘laïcité.�?
The New York Times, French Muslims Find Haven in Catholic Schools, by Katrin Bennhold, September 29, 2008
October 1, 2008
john commented on the word leviathan of forensics
The full story.
October 1, 2008
john commented on the list •-wordie-pro
Just remember, the "pro" here stands for "Prologus." :-)
September 30, 2008
john commented on the word pirate
“In a 45-minute-long interview, Mr. Sugule expounded on everything from what the pirates want — ‘just money’ — to why they were doing this — ‘to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters’ — to what they eat — rice, meat, bread, spaghetti, ‘you know, normal human-being food.’
He said that so far, in the eyes of the world, the pirates had been misunderstood. ‘We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits,’ he said. ‘We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.’�?
The New York Times, Somali Pirates Tell All: They’re in It for the Money, by Jeffrey Gettleman, September 30, 2008
September 30, 2008
john commented on the word jean dimmock
Jean Dimmock, for the win, rockets past 'fuck' on the most commented-on.
*bilby takes a bow*
Who established relative randomness? The Randomness Committee? The Politburo of Oblique?
September 30, 2008
john commented on the word leviathan
See also leviathan of forensics.
September 30, 2008
john commented on the word leviathan of forensics
What Joe Biden's spokesman called Sarah Palin.
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word fried
"Well, Senator McCain can stop worrying about his son not living up to his legacy – Jack’s gotten himself into trouble, or has gotten “fried�? as midshipmen call it, while at the Academy."
GoMids.com, An Interview with Jack McCain, by David Ausiello, February 13, 2008
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word mean mr. mustard
From the medley on the second side of the Beatles Abbey Road.
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word a taste of honey
Song off The Beatles album Please Please Me.
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word three peaches
From Neutral Milk Hotel's On Avery Island.
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word the king of carrot flowers
From the phatasmagorically wonderful Neutral Milk Hotel album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word strange fruit
Rather black humor. Definitely not a song about food.
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word blueberry hill
A rock and roll classic popularized by Fats Domino, who recorded it in 1956. The song was written in 1940 by Vincent Rose, and had been recorded by Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, and Gene Autry, among others before Domino released his version.
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word nut
"Most of the young Masters already have their own personal nut free and clear. “Nut�? is the term for the amount of money you need salted away in weather-proof investments in order to generate enough interest to live comfortably in Greenwich on Round Hill Road, Pecksland Road or Field Point Road in a house built before the First World War in an enchanting European style, preferably made of stone featuring the odd turret, with a minimum of five acres around it and big enough to be called a manor. Every Master of the Universe knows the number."
The New York Times, Greenwich Time , by Tom Wolfe, September 27, 2008
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word bony box
"If all hell broke loose and Goldman's clients could not pay it a cent in compensation, the firm has sequestered its own Fort Knox, the so-called BONY box, more properly called the Global Core Excess Capital Account. The BONY box is named for the Bank of New York, where Goldman holds more than $50 billion in unencumbered government securities of the U.S., Germany, France and Japan--securities that could be instantly turned into hard cash."
Forbes.com, Goldman's Ready, by Robert Lenzner, June 19, 2007
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word bony box
"Mr. Blankfein, an inveterate worrier, beefed up his books in part by stashing more than $100 billion in cash and short-term, highly liquid securities in an account at the Bank of New York. The Bony Box, as Mr. Blankfein calls it, was created to make sure that Goldman could keep doing business even in the face of market eruptions."
The New York Times, Wall Street, R.I.P.: The End of an Era, Even at Goldman, by Julie Creswell and Ben White, September 27, 2008
September 29, 2008
john commented on the word golden parachute
"Mr. Paulson, in Congressional testimony last week, had also expressed support for provisions to limit the pay of executives whose firms seek assistance, including a ban on so-called golden parachute retirement plans."
The New York Times, Consensus on Rescue Plan Is Said to Be Near, by David M. Herszenhorn and Carl Hulse, September 27, 2008
September 28, 2008
john commented on the word scotch
"But with conservative Republicans denouncing the plan as an affront to free market capitalism and some liberal Democrats criticizing it as a giveaway to Wall Street, both parties were anxiously starting to court votes, particularly in the House, where angry Republicans nearly scotched a deal that had been in the works for days."
The New York Times, Consensus on Rescue Plan Is Said to Be Near, by David M. Herszenhorn and Carl Hulse, September 27, 2008
September 28, 2008
john commented on the word quadrennial
"The positioning was in keeping with what is now a quadrennial rite in which the campaigns go full bore to convince the news media, and ultimately the public, that their candidate won — or more than that, to argue that the debate spotlighted some sort of character or issue defect in their opponent."
The New York Times, The Next Day, a New Debate on Who Won, by Jim Rutenberg, September 27, 2008
September 28, 2008
john commented on the word cerebral
"What seems most remarkable in this Woodward book is exactly what seemed remarkable in the previous Woodward books, each of which was presented as the insiders' inside story and each of which went on to become a number-one bestseller: these are books in which measurable cerebral activity is virtually absent."
Political Fictions, by Joan Didion, pg. 176
September 28, 2008
john commented on the word steak
But as Mr. Newman told Playboy magazine, in an often-repeated quotation about marital fidelity, “I have steak at home; why go out for hamburger?�?
The New York Times, Paul Newman, a Magnetic Titan of Hollywood, Is Dead at 83, by Aljean Harmetz, September 27, 2008
September 28, 2008
john commented on the word d-day dodger
"The D-Day Dodgers is a term for those Allied servicemen who fought in Italy during the Second World War, which also inspired a popular wartime soldier's song.
The term was publicized by British Member of Parliament Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, who used the expression in public after a disillusioned serviceman in Italy signed a letter to her as being from a 'D-Day Dodger.' Astor mistakenly thought the phrase was a nickname with positive connotations, as the term Desert Rats had been in 1942. In reality the reference was bitingly sarcastic, given the steady stream of allied service personnel who were being killed or wounded in combat on the Italian front. A 'Dodger is someone who avoids something; the soldiers in Italy felt that their sacrifices were being ignored after the invasion of Normandy, and a 'D-Day Dodger' was thus a reference to someone who was somehow avoiding 'real' combat by serving in Italy."
Wikipedia
September 27, 2008
john commented on the word features
Hey everybody, thanks for all the great suggestions lately. I won't be able to work on Wordie at all at least until after the election, but wanted to let you know I'm listening, and will sort through everything here eventually.
Re: personal use of tags, I don't think that's a problem. They're meant to be idiosyncratic, not an ersatz taxonomy. If there are enough in the system, the personal tags and weird one-offs will get filtered out after the fact. Eventually I may add an option to the main tags page so that only tags that have been used a specifiable number of times are visible, which would remove a lot of the noise.
September 27, 2008
john commented on the word schlep
"The Great Schlep aims to have Jewish grandchildren visit their grandparents in Florida, educate them about Obama, and therefore swing the crucial Florida vote in his favor."
September 26, 2008
john commented on the list please-add-these-words
I'm all for jacking up Wordie, and while I've alway enjoyed the f-bomb, especially as young lad, I'm happy to help you keep the mystery alive, or whatever. So... bumped.
Mollusque, I love the way you discovered the words approaching 100.
September 26, 2008
john commented on the word taikonaut
"The government is clearly hoping to reap a major public relations coup, both internationally and domestically, with the flight of the Shenzhou V. If successful, the mission will make China the third nation to have sent an astronaut, or taikonaut here, into space."
The New York Times, China to Launch Manned Spacecraft Next Week, by Jim Yardley, October 10, 2003
September 26, 2008
john commented on the word make dials
"We stopped in the nearby McCain office in Thornton, and an organizer and several volunteers made dials. While they were diligently going about the tasks of voter contact, the scale is dramatically different. Moments after we saw three dialers in the McCain office, we counted 40 volunteers in the Obama office down the street."
FiveThirtyEight, On the Road: Denver, Colorado, by Nate Silver, September 25, 2008
September 26, 2008
john commented on the word floater season
"May marks the peak of New York City's 'floater season' -- the springtime surfacing of bodies in the city's rivers. Nearly a quarter of the bodies pulled from the city's rivers last year -- 11 of 47 -- were retrieved in May. Bodies tend to rise to the surface in the spring because warm water hastens decomposition, which produces internal gases; these in turn make bodies buoyant."
The Atlantic Monthly, The May Almanac, May 1998
September 25, 2008
john commented on the word christmas tree
"'We will not be dilatory, we will not add extra amendments, we will not Christmas-tree this bill,' Mr. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said, a reference to the lawmakers’ occasional propensity to tack special-interest items onto legislation."
The New York Times, Paulson Said to Give Way on C.E.O. Pay; Bush to Speak, by David Stout, September 24, 2008
September 25, 2008
john commented on the word ecotopia
Also a super cheesy book by Ernest Callenbach. Written in 1975, and it shows: to be green it is also apparently necessary to smoke dope, and enjoy "free love."
September 24, 2008
john commented on the word apocalipstick
"I don’t agree with those muttering darkly that the picture of Gov. Sarah Palin with a perky smile and shapely gams posing with a pleased Henry Kissinger, famous for calling power the ultimate aphrodisiac, is a sign of the apocalypse.
It isn’t even a sign of the apocalipstick."
The New York Times, Park Avenue Diplomacy, by Maureen Dowd, September 23, 2008
September 24, 2008
john commented on the word yo la tengo
One of my favorite bands ever. Ok fine, my favorite band ever, times ten, plus infinity.
I used to not really like their name, until I read the story of where it came from, which is hilarious.
September 24, 2008
john commented on the word sugarcube
Fantastic song by Yo La Tengo, on the fantastic album I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One.
September 24, 2008
john commented on the list wort-to-the-wise
Great list. You might be able to mine some stuff from the beer tag.
Likewise, you might want to tag this list, too...
September 23, 2008
john commented on the word cooking with gas
A colleague just used this phrase to describe the effect of an improvement to something we're building: "now we're cooking with gas!"
Such a great phrase. This and this suggest it dates to when gas stoves replaced wood, though they offer no evidence or citations.
September 23, 2008
john commented on the word bradley effect
"In high-profile contests where one of the major party candidates is black, pre-election telephone polls have often been wrong, overstating the strength of the black candidate. In polling circles this is known as the 'Bradley effect' or the 'Wilder effect' or the 'Dinkins effect.' Will it also be known as the Obama effect?"
The New York Times, Will There Be an ‘Obama Effect?’ , by Janet Elder, May 16, 2007
September 22, 2008
john commented on the word rovian
"A Rovian political strategy by definition means all slime, all the time. But the more crucial Rove game plan is to envelop the entire presidential race in a thick fog of truthiness."
The New York Times, Truthiness Stages a Comeback, by Frank Rich, September 20, 2008
September 21, 2008
john commented on the word scandanavian flick
I did, though the typo was in the original article. I cut and pasted, and didn't notice until you pointed it out. Guess I'll list both, rather than orphanize this one.
September 21, 2008
john commented on the word scandinavian flick
“Then, there is the pendulum turn, also known as the ‘Scandinavian flick’ (sic), in which the driver points the car in the wrong direction, then swings it back around to make the turn.�?
The New York Times, In an Off-Road Rally, the Cars Really Did Fly By, by Christopher Jensen, September 18, 2008
September 21, 2008
john commented on the word reborns
“A growing number of women in Britain have become fascinated with lifelike baby dolls known as Reborns. These dolls have beating hearts; they are dressed like real babies and even have their diapers changed, as their “moms�? take them on outings and cuddle with them.�?
The New York Times, Cops, Belles, Murderers and Moms, by Bill Carter, September 21, 2008
September 21, 2008
john commented on the word pendulum turn
See citation on scandanavian flick.
September 21, 2008
john commented on the word scandanavian flick
“Then, there is the pendulum turn, also known as the ‘Scandanavian flick’(sic), in which the driver points the car in the wrong direction, then swings it back around to make the turn.�?
The New York Times, In an Off-Road Rally, the Cars Really Did Fly By, by Christopher Jensen, September 18, 2008
September 21, 2008
john commented on the word literally
“‘That guy I used to know, he’s gone,’ Mr. Biden said of Mr. McCain at the campaign event in Maumee, shaking his head. ‘It literally saddens me,’ added Mr. Biden, who tends to used the word ‘literally’ about a dozen times per speech (literally).�?
The New York Times, Meanwhile, the Other No. 2 Keeps On Punching, by Mark Leibovich, September 19, 2008
September 20, 2008
john commented on the word chronophage
"The creature, modelled by sculptor Matthew Sanderson, was inspired by medieval armour and gradually became more ominous: part-lizard, part-stag beetle, a Chronophage – time eater."
The Guardian, Beware the time-eater: Cambridge University's monstrous new clock, by Maev Kennedy, September 18, 2008
September 20, 2008
john commented on the word hai'a
"In a country where the sexes are rigorously separated, where topics like sex and race are rarely discussed openly and where a strict code of public morality is enforced by religious police called hai’a, Ms. Winfrey provides many young Saudi women with new ways of thinking about the way local taboos affect their lives — as well as about a variety of issues including childhood sexual abuse and coping with marital strife — without striking them, or Saudi Arabia’s ruling authorities, as subversive."
The New York Times, Saudi Women Find Unlikely Role Model: Oprah, by Katherine Zoepf, September 18, 2008
September 19, 2008
john commented on the word mokusatsu
There is a link, but thanks for providing the definition on this page, which is encouraged and appreciated.
September 18, 2008
john commented on the word wordia
Wordia.com, a video dictionary, just launched. Not much there right now; as far as I can tell, only two people have uploaded video, one of whom is the founder. He thinks dictionaries are quite dull.
September 18, 2008
john commented on the user skipvia
Hi Skipvia. Alaska is much in the news these days. I was wondering, as our resident northern light, do you have any inside dope for us?
September 18, 2008
john commented on the list stpeter-s-words
Or it contains doubles. If I remember correctly, stpeter wrote a script to load all his words in one fell swoop. It took down the site, and maybe caused some mischief with the db. Though I bet it's double words, and the word count reflects unique words, while the list count reflects the total, including doubles.
September 17, 2008
john commented on the word nicely disrespectful
How Prolagus, on faq, says we should treat each other, when we're not being respectful :-)
September 17, 2008
john commented on the list ancient-greek-costume-box
I love this list! And it'll be super-useful, next time I dress up as an ancient Greek woman.
September 17, 2008
john commented on the word features
That's up to you really. There's a comment box on every word and list, as you see, and you can use it for whatever you want. Probably the majority of comments are us chatting to each other, but the site was originally conceived as a collaborative dictionary-like thing, so you'll also see people providing good examples of usage for a word. For example on each word in my reading the newspaper list I've added a citation from the article in which it was discovered.
September 17, 2008
john commented on the user tshap
Hi tsap, welcome! Just responded to you question over on features.
September 17, 2008
john commented on the word features
Hi tshap, welcome! The definitions come from an open-source project called WordNet. If they don't provide a definition, then Wordie doesn't show one. Whether a word has a definition or not, adding new definitions or citations in the comments is encouraged. One of these days I'll work on a system to float up good comments and citations.
There's no official help pages or faq, but you'll find some useful info on help, faq, and the errata page listing posts on new features.
September 17, 2008
john commented on the word 0000
The rocket everyone is chasing after in Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow.
September 17, 2008
john commented on the word caging
"Vote caging is a little-known but pernicious technique. Political operatives mail letters to voters, targeting areas where the opposing party is strong. If a letter is returned as undeliverable, the voter’s name is put on a list to be challenged at the polls. The challengers try to persuade election officials not to let the person vote, or only to let them cast a provisional ballot. Some voters end up disenfranchised. No matter how the challenges turn out, they often create confusion and long lines, reducing turnout in the targeted precincts."
The New York Times, A Clean, Fair Fight , March 5 , 2008
September 17, 2008
john commented on the word phenology
"Phenology is the science of natural occurrences, yearly events like the first snow, the first blooming of hepatica and the arrival of the first whippoorwill. Keeping diaries of such occurrences was a hobby of counts and lords in Europe, and there are records in Kyoto, Japan, of the flowering of cherry blossom trees dating back 900 years. Among the most notable American phenological records were those kept by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond."
The New York Times, Weather History , by Anthony DePalma, September 15, 2008
September 16, 2008
john commented on the word where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines...
September 15, 2008
john commented on the word jailbreak
The term for hacking an iPhone so that it can run unauthorized software.
September 15, 2008
john commented on the word mid-atlantic bight
"The amount of power Dhanju was describing, Mandelstam knew from Kempton, was but a small fraction of an even larger resource along what’s known as the Mid-Atlantic Bight. This coastal region running from Massachusetts to North Carolina contained up to 330,000 megawatts of average electrical capacity. This was, in other words, an amount of guaranteed, bankable power that was larger, in terms of energy equivalence, than the entire mid-Atlantic coast’s total energy demand — not just for electricity but for heating, for gasoline, for diesel and for natural gas."
The New York Times, Wind-Power Politics, by Mark Svenvold, September 12, 2008
September 15, 2008
john commented on the word jesus frog
What we call the position in which our daughter sleeps. She lies on her back with her arms perpendicular to her body and fully extended, her head turned to one side and cocked slightly down, her face gentle, beatific. Her legs, though, are splayed like a frog's. She's the Jesus frog.
September 15, 2008
john commented on the word set net
As usual, and per the definition on salmon.expert-answers.net, I'm disregarding the Times overzealous use of hyphens.
"Generally viewed as genial and reserved, Mr. Palin juggles his involvement in his wife’s administration with his two-week shifts as an oil production operator on the North Slope. In the summers, he also works as a commercial salmon fisherman, using a set-net on the shore of the Nushagak River near Bristol Bay."
The New York Times, Active Role for Palin’s Husband in Alaska Government, by William Yardley, September 13, 2008
September 15, 2008
john commented on the word boomburg
"Today, the West is not the federal economic colony it once was. Nor is it the uncrowded rural paradise of lore. In fact, it has long been the most urbanized part of the country. This transformation has enticed a new brand of fortune-seeker, from the telecommuting migrants in mountain enclaves to the influx of people into metropolitan “boomburgs�? where they are employed in the same jobs as people in the rest of the country."
The New York Times, A Western State of Mind, by Katherine Roberts, September 13, 2008
September 14, 2008
john commented on the word wing fence
"Wing fences, also known as boundary layer fences and potential fences are fixed aerodynamic devices attached to aircraft wings. Not to be confused with wingtip fences, wing fences are flat metal plates fixed to the upper surfaces (and often wrapping around the leading edge) parallel to the airflow. They are often seen on swept-wing aircraft. They obstruct span-wise airflow along the wing, and prevent the entire wing from stalling at once. Wing fences are often used in addition to or instead of slats."
Wikipedia, September 13, 2008
September 14, 2008
john commented on the word hammerlock
"Free-trade advocates also complain, saying that a private business has used the shelter of the federal sugar program, created in the Depression to nurture struggling farmers, to increase its corporate hammerlock."
The New York Times, Helping the Everglades, or Big Sugar?, by Mary Williams Walsh, September 13, 2008
September 14, 2008
john commented on the word googly
“As Google defines it, landing page quality includes a series of attributes — loading speed, user friendliness, relevancy, originality and dozens of other characteristics — that it deems appropriately 'googly.'�?
The New York Times, Stuck in Google’s Doghouse, by Joe Nocera, September 12, 2008
September 13, 2008
john commented on the word pokemon
"Many of the partygoers use their online nicknames exclusively, and some of the wildest events are dominated by teenagers who call themselves the “Pokemones,�? with their multiple piercings, angular and pressed hair, and devil-may-care attitude."
The New York Times, In Tangle of Young Lips, a Sex Rebellion in Chile, by Alexei Barrionuevo, September 12, 2008
September 13, 2008
john commented on the word poncear
"Parties in Chile encourage teenagers to “poncear,�? or make out with as many people as they can."
The New York Times, In Tangle of Young Lips, a Sex Rebellion in Chile, by Alexei Barrionuevo, September 12, 2008
September 13, 2008
john commented on the word ugol's law
"Even sooner, by 1989 or thereabouts, bands of tech-savvy sexual explorers were finding each other on Usenet, an all-text, no-pictures corner of the net that predated the web. Among them was software developer Harry Ugol, who formulated the oft-quoted Ugol’s Law: 'To any question beginning with ‘Am I the only one who … ?’ the answer is no.'"
The New York Times, How to Think About Sex? A Freakonomics Quorum, by Stephen J. Dubner, September 12, 2008
September 13, 2008
john commented on the word freeball
Also known as rocking it cowboy style.
September 12, 2008
john commented on the word lumbar puncture
Is this the same thing as a spinal tap?
September 12, 2008
john commented on the word republican
Easy, whichbe: the little baby Jesus.
September 12, 2008
john commented on the word dawn patrol
What you're on when your kid springs to life at some unholy hour of the morning.
September 12, 2008
john commented on the word paintball
"In addition, the report alleges that eight royalty-program officials accepted gifts from energy companies whose value exceeded limits set by ethics rules — including golf, ski and paintball outings; meals and drinks; and tickets to a Toby Keith concert, a Houston Texans football game and a Colorado Rockies baseball game.
The investigation also concluded that several of the officials 'frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives.'"
The New York Times, Wide-Ranging Ethics Scandal Emerges at Interior Dept. , by Charlie Savage, September 10, 2008
September 11, 2008
john commented on the word all rooty
"The original lyrics, “Tutti Frutti, good booty / If it don’t fit, don’t force it / You can grease it, make it easy", were replaced with “Tutti Frutti, all rooty! Tutti Frutti, all rooty!�? (All rooty was hipster slang for "all right".)"
Wikipedia
September 10, 2008
john commented on the word capo di tutti capo
mollusque, were you thinking of capo di tutti frutti?
September 10, 2008
john commented on the word git
She, to be honest I wasn't that into the name myself at first. But strangely, word.com wasn't available :-)
But like any name, at first the name defines the thing, then if you're lucky the thing takes over and defines the name. So now I lerve it.
September 10, 2008
john commented on the word features
Oh, and c_b, you planted an idea. Would it be convenient to have buttons to change the size of the text? There's a lot of text, and people's eyes are different...
Someday, too, I'll add paging to words and lists with lots of comments. Someday.
September 10, 2008
john commented on the word features
There might well be a use for private lists, and I'm open to discussion and will go with the consensus, but I'm with rolig. A lot of happy serendipity might be missed, just because people weren't expecting it.
One thing I do plan on doing is letting people turn off comments on lists. If someone has a strictly practical list, or wants to mock us while avoiding the wordie treatment, I think they should be able to. Profiles will remain commentable, so if someone makes a list you love and closes comments, you can there will still be an avenue to make the case.
Not sure when that'll happen, though, I'm short on Wordie time these days, sadly.
Oh, and I think maybe comments were once sortable, judging from the state the code is in. I forget. I'll add that (or add it back) in the next update, too.
September 10, 2008
john commented on the word loo
Love the first WeirdNet definition. As if there is a single pissoir somewhere in Britian--Waterloo Station, probably--which has been affectionately dubbed "Loo."
September 9, 2008
john commented on the word pissoir
"The loo experience has become as important to the people who design restaurants in New York as gleaming open kitchens were in the 80's. No building material is too obscure, no plumbing detail below notice. Not terribly long ago, a conversation pissoir was still a novelty. You had Phillipe Starck's men's room waterfall in the Royalton. You had Bar 89 in SoHo, where the glass doors shift from transparent to opaque -- as long as the user remembers to turn the lock."
The New York Times, Behind the 'M' And the 'W,' A New Style, by Rick Marin, August 2, 2000
September 9, 2008
john commented on the list when-you-gotta-go-you-gotta-go
I love this list, delightfully low-brow. How about pissoir?
September 9, 2008
john commented on the word andro
"For Deborah, anything remotely short of butch-femme seems silly, icky, neutered. “One of my really good friends was like, ‘If I was going to be with a girl, I would want to be with a girl like you, Deb,’ �? she continues. “And I’m like, ‘You’re sweet, but a lot of the girls who are totally like me wouldn’t ever in a million years sleep with you.’ Ever. I don’t want to fuck myself. What kind of balance is that? And the whole b-o-i business, I’m like, what the fuck? What does that mean? In one respect I thought it meant a little bit butch of center, slightly more andro, with this whole tweezed-eyebrow business that makes me want to puke.�?"
New York Magazine, Where the Bois Are, by Ariel Levy, January 5, 2004
September 9, 2008
john commented on the word boi
"It is tempting to pronounce the syllable “bwah,�? as in “framboise,�? but actually you just say it “boy,�? the way, in a different lesbian era, you pronounced womyn “woman.�? Throwing a y in woman was a linguistic attempt, however goofy, to overthrow the patriarchy, to identify the female gender as something independent, self-sustaining, and reformed. Being a boi is not about that. Boihood has nothing to do with earth mothers or sisterhood or herbal tea, and everything to do with being young, hip, “sex positive,�? a little masculine, and ready to rock."
New York Magazine, Where the Bois Are, by Ariel Levy, January 5, 2004
September 9, 2008
john commented on the list valley-of-the-dolls
Roald Dahl?
September 9, 2008
john commented on the word seo
Stands for search engine optimization. The (sometimes dark) art of trying to game search engines.
Essentially, it means trying to raise your site's rank in Google for certain keywords. Wikipeda has a good discussion of techniques and issues involved.
September 9, 2008
john commented on the word git
Don't bother, I tried. He has comment moderation on, and opted not to accept my mildly obnoxious riposte.
He did email me and sort of kind of tried to make nice--he slightly edited the post, which left it a little less coherent but didn't change the tone. He also took the opportunity to brag about how many unique visitors he gets. Quite a few, if he's to be believed.
Not sure what they come for. The ads? Another triumph of SEO over content.
September 9, 2008
john commented on the word git
plethorie?
September 9, 2008
john commented on the word poblano
"When the results finally rolled in—1 in Indiana, 15 in North Carolina—Poblano had outperformed every established pollster. Clinton never recovered, but with the National Journal, the Guardian and the New York Post suddenly dissecting or demanding the secrets of his success, Poblano became an Internet sensation."
The New York Times, Making His Pitches, by Andrew Romano, June 16, 2008
September 9, 2008
john commented on the word git
Also the name of a well-regarded distributed source code management tool.
September 8, 2008
john commented on the word detag
"'I’m wearing all these totally awful ’90s clothes. I look like crap. And I’m like, Why are you people in my life, anyway? I haven’t seen you in 10 years. I don’t know you anymore!' She began furiously detagging the pictures — removing her name, so they wouldn’t show up in a search anymore."
The New York Times, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, by Clive Thompson, September 5, 2008
September 8, 2008
john commented on the word parasocial
"Psychologists have long known that people can engage in 'parasocial' relationships with fictional characters, like those on TV shows or in books, or with remote celebrities we read about in magazines. Parasocial relationships can use up some of the emotional space in our Dunbar number, crowding out real-life people."
The New York Times, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, by Clive Thompson, September 5, 2008
September 8, 2008
john commented on the word polenta
Oh, polenta can be wonderful. In its most basic form it's more or less just mush--delicious, but not much to it. Liven it up a little and it can be sublime.
September 8, 2008
john commented on the word lambent
"About a week after 9/11, notebook in hand, I went to a screening of 'Serendipity,' a romance set in a lambent New York, starring John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale and tertiary players from 'Sex and the City.'"
The New York Times, Reflections on That Dreadful Tuesday, by Ed Park, September 6, 2008
September 8, 2008
john commented on the word meat
Are veggies the cents to the meat's dollar?
Depending on your view of meat, this page is quite funny and/or horrifying with image search turned on. I'm having a renewed flirtation with image search in general, since rediscovering it while poking around c_b's dinosaurology lists.
September 7, 2008
john commented on the word ambient awareness
Yeah, I'd say... wait, can you hold a sec? Just got a text.
September 7, 2008
john commented on the word microsharing
"Businesses are flocking to Twitter and other microsharing tools, but most have little or no clear idea of why they should be there, how these types of tools really work, what they could accomplish or how to do so."
Pistachio Consulting
September 6, 2008
john commented on the word dunbar number
"Dunbar noticed that ape groups tended to top out at 55 members. Since human brains were proportionally bigger, Dunbar figured that our maximum number of social connections would be similarly larger: about 150 on average. Sure enough, psychological studies have confirmed that human groupings naturally tail off at around 150 people: the “Dunbar number,�? as it is known."
The New York Times, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, by Clive Thompson, September 5, 2008
September 6, 2008
john commented on the word ambient awareness
Social scientists have a name for this sort of incessant online contact. They call it “ambient awareness.�?
The New York Times, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, by Clive Thompson, September 5, 2008
September 6, 2008
john commented on the user lampbane
Hell yeah. We have the best damn marketing copy in... the... WORLD!
*stiffens jaw, raises eyes slightly, gazes contemplatively into middle distance*
September 6, 2008
john commented on the word man up
“I thought that when I was protecting this country, we had the best,�? said Clemons, a former combat medic in Iraq who lost his right leg in an explosion. “We do things right, we do things the best way. And just to know that other countries can man up and support their Paralympic athletes, and we’re not, it’s disappointing.�?
The New York Times, U.S. Paralympians Add Equality to Their Goals, by Alan Schwarz, September 5, 2008
September 6, 2008
john commented on the word fertigation
"Professor Michael Delwiche, chairman of biological and cultural engineering at UC Davis, has experimented with wireless sensing systems that precisely apply water—sometimes mixed with chemical fertilizers in a process called fertigation—to tree crops like nectarines."
The San Francisco Chronicle, Wireless system can detect water level in soil, by Tom Abate, September 1, 2008. As quoted in Double-Tongued Dictionary.
September 6, 2008
john commented on the user lampbane
Lampbane, your citations on the American Gladiator word pages have absolutely made my evening. They make me feel almost... patriotic, I think.
September 6, 2008
john commented on the word emolument
Oops, thanks, fixed now.
September 6, 2008
john commented on the word emolument
“How can the king live in luxury while his people suffer?�? asked Siphiwe Hlophe, a human rights activist. “How much money does he need, anyway?�?
That question was as confounding as it was impertinent. In the government’s latest budget, about $30 million was set aside for “royal emoluments.�?
The New York Times, In Destitute Kingdom, Ruler Lives Like a King, by Barry Bearak, September 5, 2008
September 6, 2008
john commented on the list american-gladiators
Fantastic list. And you quoted Inigo Montoya! Huge bonus points.
September 6, 2008
john commented on the word community organizer
One irony is that if Obama had chosen a purely venal job after graduating from college--say, something to do with leveraged buyouts--nobody would be batting an eyelash. Also good to point out that he was organizing communities (I agree, it does have a wishy-washy sound to it) only up until 1988, after which he went to law school, became a professor, legislator, etc. The snarling comments about him make it sound as if he was doing this last year.
Gooble has caught on to us-- check out the ads.
September 6, 2008
john commented on the word features
Good idea pro, done.
September 5, 2008
john commented on the word lower-upper-middle class
The class to which George Orwell, tongue in cheek, said he belonged.
September 5, 2008
john commented on the word has tiny weak forelimbs
Our spawn, to quote c_b, has tiny weak forelimbs. Could she be a reesetee?
September 5, 2008
john commented on the list poetrie-the-book-of-my-enemy-has-been-remaindered
Thanks for this reesetee, it's delightful.
September 4, 2008
john commented on the word trophy vice
"Only four days into her reign as John McCain’s “soul mate,�? or “Trophy Vice,�? as some bloggers are calling her, on the ticket known as “Maverick Squared,�? Palin, the governor of Alaska, has already accrued two gates (Troopergate and Broken-watergate), a lawyer (for Troopergate), a future son-in-law named Levi (a high school ice hockey player, described by New York magazine as “sex on skates�?), and a National Enquirer headline about the “Teen Prego Crisis�? with 17-year-old daughter Bristol."
The New York Times, Life of Her Party, by Maureen Down, September 2, 2008
September 4, 2008
john commented on the word tarp your load
A friend said he saw this scrawled on a condom machine in Canada. Apparently a widespread practice at truck stops.
September 4, 2008
john commented on the word chrome
Hey, I was wondering about that, thanks for testing, Lampbane!
September 4, 2008
john commented on the word porn mode
"Also in the security category: something called Incognito mode, in which no cookies, passwords or cache files are saved, and the browser’s History list records no trace of your activity. (See also: Safari, Internet Explorer 8.) Google cheerfully suggests that you can use Incognito mode “to plan surprises like gifts or birthdays,�? but they’re not fooling anyone; the bloggers call it “porn mode.�?
The New York Times, Serious Potential in Google’s Browser, by David Pogue, September 2, 2008
September 4, 2008
john commented on the list http-www-orbitmerchantsolutions-com
Um... right. Me too.
*blushes*
September 3, 2008
john commented on the word flat seltzer
This morning I heard someone describe Joe Lieberman's speech at the GOP convention as "flat seltzer," which is hilarious and poetically succinct.
Found an earlier citation, too, in a similar spirit:
"Adapted by Howard Korder from his elliptical two-character play of the same name, ''Lip Service'' is a minimalist drama about two local TV personalities who are co-hosts of a dime-store version of ''Today.'' Gil Hutchinson, played by Paul Dooley, is a veteran with the demeanor of Walter Cronkite, but he has about as much pizazz as flat seltzer. His idea of a hot story is a teacher sickout."
The New York Times, A Playwright Takes on Television, by Neal Gabler, October 16, 1988
September 3, 2008
john commented on the list http-www-orbitmerchantsolutions-com
Oh, right: you can't delete other people's comments on your profile, only on lists.
Who built this thing? It's inconsistent, and confusing!
September 3, 2008
john commented on the list http-www-orbitmerchantsolutions-com
My first impulse on greeting the flap-jawed pithnoggin in the wild is to delete hir, but I don't want to deny anyone the cathartic pleasure of defacing a spammer, and the equally piquant joy of watching our spitballs supplant the spammer's own pages in Gooble. But, as we learned with our last party crasher, they can take away our fun by deleting their own lists*.
Shall we vote? Death by deletion, or subject them to the dreaded Wordie treatment?
* though the deleted list in question was actually archived by one of us, and will rise again one day on Errata :-)
September 3, 2008
john commented on the word lawyered up
"Palin lawyered up in relation to the trooper-gate probe in Alaska -- a move that ensures far more serious attention to the story from the major news orgs."
Talking Points Memo, The Palin Meltdown in Slo-Mo, by Greg Sargent, September 1, 2008
September 3, 2008
john commented on the word bugs
Yeah, it's an ampersand thing. I'll fix tonight.
September 3, 2008
john commented on the word cauliflower ear
Also see citation on cauliflower.
September 3, 2008
john commented on the word gramma
"General Electric introduced its Sabbath mode in 2000, and said the special setting is featured on more than 150 of its wall ovens, ranges and other cooking appliances.
These modes either turn off certain lights, fans and alarms, or use a Jewish legal concept known as “gramma,�? or indirect action, to operate the appliance on holy days."
The New York Times, Entrepreneurs Find Ways to Make Technology Work With Jewish Sabbath, by Dan Levin, September 1, 2008
September 2, 2008
john commented on the word halacha
“We’re trying to combine making a modern Jewish state with age-old Jewish law,�? said Dan Marans, executive director of Zomet. That requires both a deep knowledge of Judaism’s legal code, or halacha, and a bit of ingenuity.
The New York Times, Entrepreneurs Find Ways to Make Technology Work With Jewish Sabbath, by Dan Levin, September 1, 2008
September 2, 2008
john commented on the word comicsphere
I dropped the hyphen, since I think the Times is hyphen-happy. Their continued use of "e-mail" drives me nuts.
"But this clearly stands as a challenge to the traditional image of a potential first family, and could well provide fodder for provocative conservations around kitchen tables or sly references in the late-night television comic-sphere."
The New York Times, In Political Realm, ‘Family Problem’ Emerges as Test and Distraction , by Adam Nagourney, September 1, 2008
September 2, 2008
john commented on the word zapper
"Zappers alter the electronic sales records in a cash register. To satisfy tax collectors, the tally of food orders, for example, must match the register’s final cash total. To hide the removal of cash from the till, a crooked business owner has to erase the record of food orders equal to the amount of cash taken; otherwise, the imbalance is obvious to any auditor."
The New York Times, With Software, Till Tampering Is Hard to Find, by Roy Furchgott, August 29, 2008
September 1, 2008
john commented on the word cauliflower
“I was leaping off the rope, and Yukon Eric, who had a cauliflower ear, moved at the last second,�? Kowalski told The Chicago Tribune in 1989. “I thought I missed, but all of a sudden, something went rolling across the ring. It was his ear.�?
The New York Times, Killer Kowalski, Wrestler, Dies at 81, by Richard Goldstein, August 31, 2008
September 1, 2008
john commented on the list my-library
This is the first time I've seen this list, and I was about to mention LibraryThing before seeing the earlier comments. I did work at LT for a bit, and it's definitely the best book community by far, online or off. One of the (many) nonsensical aspects of Wordie was that it was going to one-down LT--LT specialized in books, why not specialize in their atomic parts. Maybe the next step is a site for Lettrists.
I love that Wordie is your one-stop-shop. It makes me want to cry, dontcry. But I won't :-)
September 1, 2008
john commented on the word elide
"Dissimilar though their causes may have been, Orwell and Waugh were both anchored by “a hatred of moral relativism”; that, Lebedoff claims, is what set the two men apart from their contemporaries. Yet in stressing this similarity, the author elides a deeper difference."
The New York Times, Two of a Kind, by Jim Holt, August 29, 2008
August 31, 2008
john commented on the word bugs
Ok, the homepage has stopped exploding and international characters should once again be visible as such. Hopefully things are back to their usual state of only moderate bugginess. Thanks for your patience folks.
August 31, 2008
john commented on the word bugs
I got careless and decided to update a bunch of shit at once, including low-level server stuff like the version of the language everything is written in (Ruby). So everything going haywire is related to the update, but has nothing to do with the private notes thing. Hopefully I'll be able to work through it all tonight. No data was harmed, fwiw--not sure why unicode characters are displaying wrongly (though I have an idea), but they're still stored correctly in the db.
More later, sorry for the wonky homepage and other stuff.
August 31, 2008
john commented on the word features
Hi bilb. Yes, we have a cloud feature. Activate it by clicking 'cloud' under any list title :-) It is, as c_b notes, kind of broken, I think. I'll check it out this weekend.
Everybody: we now also have a 'private notes' feature. Leave notes on words just for yourself. It probably needs work (suggestions appreciated), and I probably broke various things while I was at it, since I also rashly upgraded a bunch of stuff on the server without really testing any of it. Let me know what's gone sideways, and I'll fix.
August 30, 2008
john commented on the word cinerama
A fantastic band, formed by David Gedge, of The Wedding Present.
August 29, 2008
john commented on the word rumoured
Thanks qroqqa, that's super interesting. So much so that I called it out in Errata post. Hope you don't mind.
August 29, 2008
john commented on the list roy-g-biv
How about Rainbow Gathering?
August 29, 2008
john commented on the word de trop
"Last year I was in the Provence region of France, and while I wrote about hiking across the Petit Luberon massif, I claimed that I’d cried off climbing the premier peak in the vicinity — the 1,914-meter (6,279.5 feet) Mont Ventoux — because to do so would be de trop."
The New York Times, Garment District, by Will Self, August 26, 2008
August 28, 2008
john commented on the word animadvert
"I know this will sound odd to the American English speaker, but in Europe to animadvert “Hell is other people’s pants�? would leave one open to charges of filthy-mindedness, and possibly a visit from the authorities."
The New York Times, Garment District, by Will Self, August 26, 2008
August 28, 2008
john commented on the user radixand
Ha! Dang, all that phenomenal Wordie Treatment, down the drain.
I guess this underlines a point revealed a few days ago, which I had forgotten: comments on lists are vulnerable. They can be deleted by the list owner, or the entire list can be deleted, as I guess our friend radixand chose to do (why, radixand? why?).
Comments on words are, I think, more or less forever. Or at least their fate is controlled by the commenter.
August 27, 2008
john commented on the list liberal-fascism
I'd love to know what he describes as "yeasty."
August 27, 2008
john commented on the word bff
“President Clinton and Senator Obama don’t have to text each other saying BFFs,�? said Paul Begala, a friend of the Clintons and former adviser to Mr. Clinton, using shorthand for “best friends forever.�? “They just have to fight McCain.�?
The New York Times, Clinton to Urge a Party United Behind Obama, by Patrick Healy, August 26, 2008
August 27, 2008
john commented on the word flashterbation
"I’ve been poking around a lot of architects’ web sites lately and I’m thoroughly surprised at how bad they are. It seems almost without fail that they are either blowing my browser window up full size, asking me to read light grey 9px text, overflowing with obfuscatory flashterbation, teasing me with custom designed scrollbars that don’t behave as you’d expect, or asking me to evaluate their work based on postage stamp sized photographs. It really feels like 1998."
Signal vs. Noise, Architects: 1998 called and it wants its web sites back, by Jason, August 26, 2008
August 27, 2008
john commented on the word o'bama
"Having coined "O'Bama" for the Irish working-class values that Joe Biden brings to the Democratic ticket, Chris Matthews called his family in Pennsylvania -- where Scranton-born Biden is known as the state's "third senator" in some quarters -- to ask whether now they'd be voting for Obama."
The Huffington Post, But He's a Muslim!, by Marty Kaplan, August 25, 2008
"Both Senators Barack Obama (or is it O’Bama?) and John McCain have some Irish in them, each from his mother’s side."
The New York Times, True Irish, by Timothy Egan, March 12, 2008
August 26, 2008
john commented on the word the pattern
I think the silver lining here is step 8. There are a number of regulars who barged into Wordie with elbows flying, then adjusted to the tone and are happily still here, thousands of words later. I've left a handful of comments I'm not very proud of (but have left standing, for the sake of historiocity).
So, the upside is, we learn.
August 26, 2008
john commented on the word chuck norris
Chuck Norris doesn't have issues. He has subscriptions.
August 26, 2008
john commented on the word piscina
Means "swimming pool" in Spanish.
August 26, 2008
john commented on the list cities-i-am-sick-of-seeing-destroyed-in-disaster-movies
Nice list. Didn't Godzilla destroy Tokyo over, and over, and over?
August 26, 2008
john commented on the word self-censorship
"Rushdie and the pious pundits think otherwise because they don’t quite understand what censorship is. Or, rather, they conflate the colloquial sense of the word with the sense it has in philosophical and legal contexts. In the colloquial sense, censorship occurs whenever we don’t say or write something because we fear adverse consequences, or because we feel that what we would like to say is inappropriate in the circumstances, or because we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. (This is often called self-censorship. I call it civilized behavior.)...
But censorship is not the proper name; a better one would be judgment. We go through life adjusting our behavior to the protocols and imperatives of different situations, and often the adjustments involve deciding to refrain from saying something. It’s a calculation, a judgment call. It might be wise or unwise, prudent or overly cautious, but it has nothing to with freedom of expression."
The New York Times, Crying Censorship, by Stanley Fish, August 24, 2008
August 25, 2008
john commented on the user chained_bear
Reesetee, a comment of yours really disappeared? I'm supposed to be the only one able to delete comments other than their own, and I've never done it. If anyone has found a bug that lets someone mess with someone else's stuff, please let me know quickly (by email, not here!), and I'll plug that hole as quickly as possible.
August 25, 2008
john commented on the word dactylogram
A fingerprint. "From Greek daktylos (finger or toe) + gramma (something written)."
AWAD
August 25, 2008
john commented on the user chained_bear
I flip-flop on letting myself get baited by juvenilia. My gut says not to. I don't particularly enjoy it. But as Wal-Mart greeter, I feel like I should pipe in sometimes, especially if it's alienating the people who make this place so much fun.
Someday I'll write tools to give us more control over the comment stream, but aside from having no time these days, I'd like to do it in a way that's minimally intrusive. I'm still sorting out the possibilities (and always open to suggestions).
cb & sv, I wonder if the pattern you've described is repeated in other communities. There might be a thesis in there :-)
Guinea pigs? Delicious!
August 25, 2008
john commented on the word future
Why the Lucky Stiff says: Everyone is Here, in the Future.
August 25, 2008
john commented on the word haircut
"In November 2005, the house sold for $126,000. The bank, which took it back last spring, is asking $59,000. The Seattle man offers $40,000.
The mayor says the lender is not desperate enough to take that big a haircut. “Not going to happen,�? she says."
The New York Times, In the Central Valley, the Ruins of the Housing Bust, by David Streitfeld, August 23, 2008
August 24, 2008
john commented on the word bolt
Also the surname of Usain Bolt, the best, and best-named, sprinter in the world.
August 24, 2008
john commented on the word pussify
I like the idea of turning pussy on its head, making it a compliment and a metaphor for strength.
"By the time Joe finished SEAL training, he was a real pussy. The guy could bench 240!"
August 24, 2008
john commented on the word americunt
I think it makes a lot of sense to speak of national slurs--and people speak of religious prejudice, or intolerance, all the time. That's an interesting idea and something worth talking about, in my opinion--different kinds of bias.
I never buy the "only words" argument, and I think this is an odd forum in which to espouse it. People here place a high value on words and their power.
August 24, 2008
john commented on the word spit shine a turd
My brother-in-law just came out with this one. And I quote: "Gentrifying Detroit would be like trying to spit shine a turd."
August 24, 2008
john commented on the word americunt
Taking a word that's offensive to women and saying it makes a slur directed at men more vicious is doubly offensive to women. It implies that the worst thing you can do to a man is say he's a woman.
I'm tired of the c-word being bandied about. Maybe you think you're being cute or daring, but really, it's boring. I know "cunt" has different tones in different parts of the world. I spent a long night drinking with some English guys, back when I used to do that, and realized we'd become friends when they started calling me one. But in general, to American ears, it sounds way harsh. Slam Americans as much as you want, I don't give a shit, but I'd just as soon not see all these "cunts" popping up around here.
As to the American part, perhaps the paucity of ethnic slurs for Americans has to do with the fact that American isn't an ethnicity. Or because a lot of people think "American" is slur enough.
August 24, 2008
john commented on the word frown of approval
Huh. I've never heard of Scotty and Fiddy--I thought I'd coined it. Their trip sounds like teh alsome.
Pro, I meant facial expression, not verbal :-) My daughter doesn't say anything, yet. Actually she talks a lot, but it's hard to know what she's saying, since sounds like a Wookiee.
She deploys the FoA on occasion, though.
August 24, 2008
john commented on the word frown of approval
A certain kind of scowl, which indicates high praise and happiness. Apparently my daughter has inherited this expression from me.
August 24, 2008
john commented on the word wunderkammer
"This happens some of the time but not all of the time in “Wunderkammer: A Century of Curiosities,�? the latest permanent-collection exhibition in the galleries of the Museum of Modern Art’s department of prints and illustrated books. It has been organized by Sarah Suzuki, one of the department’s assistant curators, and is inspired by the Renaissance wunderkammer, or cabinet of curiosities."
The New York Times, Dusting Off a Museum’s Curio Cabinet, by Roberta Smith, August 21, 2008
August 23, 2008
john commented on the word garbage plate
"Conversely, the truly possessed road food purist might push farther west to Buffalo, the hypocenter of the deep-fried, spicy chicken wing, or swing over to Rochester for a garbage plate (a heap of diner foods, varying by availability and whim) or a pale but spicy sausage called a white hot."
The New York Times, Finger (Lakes) Food, by Kim Severson, August 22, 2008
August 23, 2008
john commented on the word strangelet
"There’s an ion collider in Long Island named Rhic that critics thought might create something called strangelets, which have similar earth-gobbling talents to black holes. One report estimated that the possibility of strangelets popping up was only 1 in 50 million — odds that Dennis Overbye noted in The Times were actually more favorable than some government-sponsored lotteries.
Still, we’ve had the collider in the New York metropolitan area for some time now with no ill effects and have turned our attention to more important projects, such as never finishing construction of the 9/11 memorial. If there are any strangelets, they have adapted and merged into the general population. Some of them are no doubt running for the State Legislature at this very moment."
The New York Times, Digging Ourselves a Black Hole, by Gail Collins, August 23, 2008
August 23, 2008
john commented on the word mick
Mmm, potatoes. What's an Irish 7 course meal? A six pack and a potato. Amen.
August 21, 2008
john commented on the word witricity
"The research project, which is being led by Joshua R. Smith, an Intel researcher at a company laboratory in Seattle, builds on the work of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Marin Soljacic, who pioneered the idea of wirelessly transmitting power using resonant magnetic fields. The MIT group refers to the idea as WiTricity, a play on wireless and electricity."
The New York Times, Intel Moves to Free Gadgets of Their Recharging Cords, by John Markoff, August 20, 2008
August 21, 2008
john commented on the word indel
"Four months later, the TIGR scientists were elated when they discovered the morph had a major genetic change in its genome, known as an indel, short for insertion or deletion of DNA."
The New York Times, A Trained Eye Finally Solved the Anthrax Puzzle, by Nicholas Wade, August 20, 2008
August 21, 2008
john commented on the word morphotype
See citation on morph.
August 21, 2008
john commented on the word morph
Then an Army microbiologist from Fort Detrick made an unexpected discovery. Using an old-fashioned microbiological technique, he spread out some attack spores on a bed of nutrient and let each form its own colony. All the colonies looked identical except one, which, to his trained eye, seemed very slightly different. Different-looking colonies are called morphotypes or just “morphs.�?
The New York Times, A Trained Eye Finally Solved the Anthrax Puzzle, by Nicholas Wade, August 20, 2008
August 21, 2008
john commented on the word failure meal in a sadness bowl
Is that a sad little man with many chins?
August 21, 2008
john commented on the word 42
Not dead yet. Logos, quit being a douchebag or I'll delete your account.
August 21, 2008
john commented on the word overfitting
"In statistics, overfitting is fitting a statistical model that has too many parameters. An absurd and false model may fit perfectly if the model has enough complexity by comparison to the amount of data available. Overfitting is generally recognized to be a violation of Occam's razor."
Wikipedia
August 20, 2008
john commented on the word prick
Skipvia, thank you, that made my night (and Errata).
August 20, 2008
john commented on the word sleepover
Ohio is an election battleground state with perennial problems at the polls. So what have election officials in some precincts of the state been doing to keep their voting machines safe from tampering?
Taking the machines home with them and stashing them in their garages in the days before a big election.
If it sounds like something pulled straight out of an episode of Saturday Night Live, or Borat for that matter, it’s not. The practice has become so widespread that it even has a nickname, “sleepovers.�?
The New York Times, Mom, Can My Voting Machine Spend the Night?, by Anahad O'Connor, August 19, 2008
August 20, 2008
john commented on the word taciturntablism
I lerve this one. As spun by begrudging DJs.
August 19, 2008
john commented on the word permabear
At the time, unemployment and inflation remained low, and the economy, while weak, was still growing, despite rising oil prices and a softening housing market. And then there was the espouser of doom himself: Roubini was known to be a perpetual pessimist, what economists call a “permabear.�?
The New York Times, Dr. Doom, by Stephen Mihm, August 15, 2008
August 18, 2008
john commented on the word tutu
"Beyond that, Mr. Obama has played golf, taken walks on the beach with his daughters, eaten dinner at a few Honolulu restaurants with his wife and friends, and visited almost daily with his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, whom Mr. Obama calls “tutu,�? a Hawaiian term."
The New York Times, McCain Displays Credentials as Obama Relaxes, by Michael Falcone, August 14, 2008
August 15, 2008
john commented on the word fourth wall
"Norman Fell would occasionally break the fourth wall by staring at the audience with a smile realising something funny happened."
Wikipedia
August 15, 2008
john commented on the word silent key
"Silent key refers to an amateur radio operator who is deceased. The term can be abbreviated 'SK', especially in morse code. The key in the term refers to a telegraph key, the instrument that all early amateur radio operators, as well as many contemporary amateur radio operators, have used to send Morse code."
Wikipedia
August 15, 2008
john commented on the word pretexting
Also, psychic SMS.
August 15, 2008
john commented on the word consociational
"The failure of paid electronic newspapers should have been telling: the Internet is a wholly different environment. Instant, yes, but also consociational, open source, and freely available."
The Huffington Post, The Newspaper Is Dead, Long Live The Newspaper, by Mike Doyle, August 14, 2008
August 15, 2008
john commented on the word sandwichero
One who makes sandwiches, often employed at a sandwicheria. Also a contraction of "sandwich hero."
August 14, 2008
john commented on the word sandwicheria
Staffed, I imagine, by sandwicheros?
August 14, 2008
john commented on the word nugacity
from AWAD:
noun: Triviality; futility.
From Latin nugax (trifling), from nugari (to trifle).
"For many, the Beachcomber column has been an oasis of nugacity in an otherwise worthy landscape."
Beachcomber; The Daily Express (London, UK); Jan 9, 2006.
August 13, 2008
john commented on the word bugs
Oops, sorry TYP, the page was cached and wasn't being updated correctly. You're in there now :-)
The tagging behavior you're describing is definitely not how it should work. I'll look into it, though it may be a while before I can get to it.
August 10, 2008
john commented on the word paradoxical sleep
"During REM, the summed activity of the brain's neurons is quite similar to that during waking hours; for this reason, the phenomenon is often called paradoxical sleep. This means that there are no dominating brain waves during REM sleep."
Wikipedia
August 8, 2008
john commented on the word attract mode
Their sole purpose is to target the subset of weirdos who, when they walk by plain text on an otherwise blank screen, actually have to stop and read it :-)
August 8, 2008
john commented on the word attract mode
"The ringing, squawking, flashing screens that pitch such a fit as you walk by actually have a name. They're called "attract mode," and their sole purpose is to make you stop and drop the first of many quarters into their slots."
Salon's Machinist, Why is Facebook so addictive?, by Denise Caruso, August 7, 2008
August 8, 2008
john commented on the word captology
"Fogg is director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, an independent research center that explores a discipline he invented, called "captology." Captology stands for Computers As Persuasive Technology, and it looks at how certain technologies intentionally persuade us to do their bidding."
Salon's Machinist, Why is Facebook so addictive?, by Denise Caruso, August 7, 2008
August 8, 2008
john commented on the user Prolagus
I heartily approve. Give it a good home and lots of love.
August 6, 2008
john commented on the word super deformed
Also a song by Matthew Sweet. Video.
August 6, 2008
john commented on the word juvenilia
"Now John McCain is pea-green with envy. That’s the only explanation for why a man who prides himself on honor, a man who vowed not to take the low road in the campaign, having been mugged by W. and Rove in South Carolina in 2000, is engaging in a festival of juvenilia."
The New York Times, McCain’s Green-Eyed Monster, by Maureen Dowd, August 5, 2008
August 6, 2008
john commented on the word botnet
"The new form of attack indicates that little progress has been made in defusing the threat of botnets, networks of infected computers that criminals use to send spam, steal passwords and do other forms of damage, according to computer security investigators."
The New York Times, Russian Gang Hijacking PCs in Vast Scheme, by John Markoff, August 5, 2008
August 6, 2008
john commented on the word metonic calendar
So it looks like the Times now displays the date a story appears on the website up top, and a the date it's published in the print paper at the end of the online version. Check it out.
August 6, 2008
john commented on the word [pastiche]
HA! I get off teh interwebs for one hour, and you go and break it. Careful with the tubes!
I have no memory of writing that weird error message. I must have been asleep.
August 6, 2008
john commented on the word serac
"The disaster took place after a huge serac broke and fell, sweeping away several climbers and stranding as many as a dozen mountaineers above a steep gully without ropes at a height of about 27,000 feet, not far from the summit."
The New York Times, Rescuers Wait to Reach K2 Survivor, by Salman Masood and Tom Rachman, August 6, 2008
The American Meteorological Society's glossary defines a serac as "A large block of ice, generally taller than broad, formed by the fracturing of ice. Most commonly found within an icefall, at the edge of an ice cliff, or at the margins of fast-moving ice."
August 5, 2008
john commented on the word spalling
"The spontaneous chipping, fragmentation, or separation of a surface or surface coating."
Corrosion Clinic
August 5, 2008
john commented on the word panvocalic
Just read the first comment on this word for the first time. Mollusque, that warms my heart--it's the best Wordie discovery story ever.
August 5, 2008
john commented on the word abugida
Wikipedia: "An abugida (pronounced /ˌɑ�?bu�?ˈɡi�?də/, from Ge‘ez ’äbugida or Amharic ’abugida) is a segmental writing system which is based on consonants but in which vowel notation is obligatory. About half the writing systems in the world are abugidas, including the extensive Brahmic family of scripts used in South and Southeast Asia."
August 5, 2008
john commented on the word olfaction
"At the International Symposium on Olfaction and Taste held in San Francisco late last month, Dr. Herz and other researchers discussed the many ways our sense of smell stands alone. Olfaction is an ancient sense, the key by which our earliest forebears learned to approach or slink off. Yet the right aroma can evoke such vivid, whole body sensations that we feel life’s permanent newness, the grounding of now."
The New York Times, The Nose, an Emotional Time Machine, by Natalie Angier, August 5, 2008
August 5, 2008
john commented on the word labial
That's the funniest fucking thing I've read in a long, long time. Possibly since I read it the first time, two years ago.
Thanks for the Savage Love quotes, c_b, he's fantastic. My guilty pleasure is reading advice columnists, and Dan is one of my favorites (two others are the Salon columnists past and present, Garrison Keillor, aka Mr. Blue, and Cary Tennis, respectively).
August 5, 2008
john commented on the word pipsiculture
Excellent! C_b, resident pipsiculturalist. Though I don't know what it is either, next week I plan an ardent refutation in favor of post-pipsiculturalism.
What would be more fun--soliciting definitions, or keeping the mystery alive?
August 5, 2008
john commented on the word translit
See citation on volapuk.
August 4, 2008
john commented on the word volapuk
"Informal or ad hoc romanizations of Russian have been in use since the early days of electronic communications, starting from early e-mail and bulletin board systems. Their use faded with the advances in Russian internet that ensured standard support of Cyrillic alphabet, but resurfaced with proliferation of instant messaging, SMS and mobile phone messaging in Russia.
Due to its informal character, there was neither well-established standard nor common name. In the early days of email, the humorous term "Volapuk encoding" (Russian: кодировка "вол�?пюк" or "волапюк", kodirovka volapyuk) was sometimes used.
More recently the term "translit" emerged to indiscriminately refer to both programs that transliterate Cyrillic (and other non-Latin alphabets) into Latin, as well as the result of such transliteration."
- Wikipedia
See also volapück.
August 4, 2008
john commented on the word volapück
"We who chronicled the birth of Volapück now mourn over its untimely decease. Some two years ago we watched by its cradle. It is now our task to weep by its bier. Volapück, it may be remembered, was to become the language of the whole commercial world. It is now numbered among the dead languages. The society bearing its name has ceased to exist. The rise and fall of the universal language of the nineteenth century can be told in a few words, if it be ever told at all, and the chief moral of the tale will be this: Don't doom any language which you may create by declaring it to be the language of commerce, for that fact alone will prevent a considerable section of the "educated" public from even attempting to learn it."
The New York Times, Mourning For a Language, From the Pall Mall Gazette, October 3, 1886
See also volapuk.
August 4, 2008
john commented on the word harridan
"Perhaps it is because feminists are still so busy cataloging past slights to Hillary that they have failed to mount a vivid defense of Michelle Obama, who has taken over from Hillary as the one conservatives like to paint as a harridan."
The New York Times, Mr. Darcy Comes Courting, by Maureen Down, August 3, 2008
August 3, 2008
john commented on the word pecha kucha
"...16 speakers made PowerPoint presentations. Each was allowed 20 slides that auto-advanced after 15 seconds — five minutes total — a modified version of a format pioneered in Japan called “Pecha Kucha,�? loosely translated as chitchat."
The New York Times, Night Life Reprogrammed, by Allen Salkin, August 3, 2008
August 3, 2008
john commented on the word affluenza
The $10,000-camp universe appears to be rife with what mental health professionals are now calling “affluenza,�? a social pathology that, they say, is rampant at a time when getting and spending — a lot — have become our nation’s most cherished activities, and when purchasing power has become, to an unprecedented extent, almost the sole source of many people’s status and identity.
The New York Times, Camp Codependence, by Judith Warner, July 31, 2008
August 1, 2008
john commented on the word eristic
Does free speech tend to move toward the truth or away from it? When does it evolve into a better collective understanding? When does it collapse into the Babel of trolling, the pointless and eristic game of talking the other guy into crying “uncle�??
The New York Times, The Trolls Among Us, by Mattathias Schwartz, August 3, 2008
August 1, 2008
john commented on the word malefactor
"Anonymous malefactors made death threats and hurled a brick through the kitchen window."
The New York Times, The Trolls Among Us, by Mattathias Schwartz, August 3, 2008
August 1, 2008
john commented on the word lulz
“Lulz�? is how trolls keep score. A corruption of “LOL�? or “laugh out loud,�? “lulz�? means the joy of disrupting another’s emotional equilibrium. “Lulz is watching someone lose their mind at their computer 2,000 miles away while you chat with friends and laugh,�? said one ex-troll who, like many people I contacted, refused to disclose his legal identity.
The New York Times, The Trolls Among Us, by Mattathias Schwartz, August 3, 2008
August 1, 2008
john commented on the word staycation
"And he certainly would not have thought of a “journey�? as a simple weekend jaunt across town, or merely across the living room, in the form of a pseudo-respite known as a “staycation�? (formerly known as “staying home�?)."
The New York Times, Pfffffffffft! There Goes the Vacation, by Alex Williams, July 20, 2008
August 1, 2008
john commented on the word yips
"Target panic is akin to the “yips�? in baseball and golf, when accomplished athletes can no longer make a simple throw to first base or stroke an easy putt."
The New York Times, The Secret Curse of Expert Archers, by Katie Thomas, August 1, 2008
August 1, 2008
john commented on the word target panic
"There is an affliction so feared by elite archers that many in the sport refuse to even speak its name. Archery coaches who specialize in treating the problem are sworn not to reveal the identities of archers in its grip, even though they estimate that up to 90 percent of high-level competitors will fall victim at least once in their career.
Target panic, as the condition is known, causes crack shots to suddenly lose control of their bows, and their composure. Mysteriously, sufferers start releasing the bow the instant they see the target, sabotaging any chance of a gold-medal shot."
The New York Times, The Secret Curse of Expert Archers, by Katie Thomas, August 1, 2008
August 1, 2008
john commented on the word glass jaw
A boxer's susceptibility to being knocked out. See citation on tomato ear.
July 31, 2008
john commented on the word tomato ear
"Overnight, the tomato ear became the glass jaw of the mixed martial arts set."
The New York Times, M.M.A.’s Macho Badge of Honor: Deformed Ears, by Michael Brick, July 31, 2008
July 31, 2008
john commented on the word metonic calendar
Funny you mention that sionnach, lately there's been a lot of talk about that here*. Current policy is that the dateline at the beginning of stories reflect the day on which it appears in the print paper. But as more and more stories are posted prior to print publication, this is becoming more and more absurd. My guess is that eventually online stories will display both their print and online publication dates, but I have no idea if that'll definitely happen, or when.
We do have a time machine, but it only goes backwards.
* I work at the Times. I don't speak for them in any way, and Wordie is a strictly personal... hobby, I guess. Though that doesn't seem the right word.
July 31, 2008
john commented on the word metonic calendar
"No month names on what is called the Metonic calendar were previously known, the researchers noted. Such a calendar, as well as other knowledge displayed on the mechanism, illustrated the influence of Babylonian astronomy on the Greeks. The calendar was used by Babylonians from at least the early fifth century B.C."
The New York Times, Workings of Ancient ‘Computer’ Deciphered, by John Noble Wilford, July 31, 2008
July 31, 2008
john commented on the word chafe
No worries Skip, it was just a typo. A missing >, I think.
July 31, 2008
john commented on the word nipple
I have nipples too. Does that make me a woman with a penis?
I can live with that, as long as kad doesn't mind.
edit: c_b and I were writing at the same time, but I'm with her. It's too dumb to devote too much energy to, but this is lame on multiple levels.
One thought though. Sakhalinskii, how old are you? To the degree that there is a female equivalent, the nipple ain't it.
July 31, 2008
john commented on the word chafe
Skip, hope you don't mind, I deborked it.
July 31, 2008
john commented on the word fundoshi
From Wikipedia: "Fundoshi (褌) is the traditional Japanese underwear for adult males, made from a length of cotton."
"The French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld, who could create a fervor for fundoshis if she cared to, attended the recent couture shows in a nude Azzedine Alaïa dress, with matching Alaïa shoes."
The New York Times, Accessorize With a Fig Leaf, by Karin Nelson, July 27, 2008
July 30, 2008
john commented on the word paracosm
"A paracosm is a society thought up by a child--an invented universe with a distinctive language, geography, and history. (The Brontës invented a couple of paracosms when they were children.)"
"Bumping into Mr. Ravioli", from Through the Children's Gate by Adam Gopnik, page 158.
July 30, 2008
john commented on the word horkworthy
Hey dontcry... want me to save you some typing, and just build a *hork* into the template? ;-)
July 30, 2008
john commented on the word nair
When I was a kid in Rochester, NY, on Halloween the older kids would run around with this stuff, hunting younger kids.
At least that was the word on the playground. Might have been a (sub)urban legend, as I never actually saw anyone rendered bald.
July 30, 2008
john commented on the word haka
WeirdNet, whither goest thou? For those who, like me, had to look this up, Wikipedia says a haka is "a traditional dance form of the M�?ori of New Zealand. It is a posture dance with shouted accompaniment, performed by a group."
July 29, 2008
john commented on the word features
Bestiary, great idea, I've wanted to do something along those lines for a while. Can't promise a delivery date but it's on the list.
July 29, 2008
john commented on the word decoupling
"Significantly, California adopted regulations so that utility company profits are not tied to how much electricity they sell. This is called 'decoupling.' It also allowed utilities to take a share of any energy savings they help consumers and businesses achieve."
Salon, Why we never need to build another polluting power plant, by Joseph Romm, July 28, 2008
July 29, 2008
john commented on the word ex voto
"On a morning last week, a crowd of believers filed past him carrying offerings, known as ex votos, many of them sold by hawkers on the winding road leading up to the church."
The New York Times, Revered by the Castros and Their Opponents, by Marc Lacey, July 28, 2008
July 29, 2008
john commented on the word corniche
Wikipedia: "The word corniche typically refers to a road on the side of a cliff or mountain, with the ground rising on one side of the road and falling away on the other."
July 28, 2008
john commented on the word triple-double
The basketball term, coined by Philadelphia 76ers statistician Harvey Pollack, for when a player attains double-digit totals (10 or more) in any three of these categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, or blocked shots.
"Michael Jordan, playing point guard for the 13th straight game, had his fifth consecutive triple-double and ninth of the season as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Nets, 106-95, today."
The New York Times, Triple-Double for Jordan, April 3, 1989
July 28, 2008
john commented on the word backcourt
In basketball, the half a court a team is defending. Also refers to a team's guards.
"With the consummate distributor Jason Kidd in the backcourt with perhaps the world’s best player, Kobe Bryant, the lineup for Beijing will be appreciably better."
The New York Times, After Sitting in 2004 Games, Ready to Stand and Deliver, by Pete Thamel, July 28, 2008
July 28, 2008
john commented on the word limn
"Of course, these seven words aren’t the only ones overworked by book reviewers. After all, I haven’t even mentioned limn."
The New York Times, Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing, by Bob Harris, March 25, 2008
July 28, 2008
john commented on the word chekhov's gun
"Reviewers often combine these first two words. Like Chekhov’s gun. If there is a poignant in a review’s third paragraph, a compelling will most likely follow."
The New York Times, Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing, by Bob Harris, March 25, 2008
I had to look this one up. From Wikipedia: "Chekhov's gun is the literary technique whereby an element is introduced early in the story, but whose significance does not become clear until later on. For example, a character may find a mysterious object that eventually becomes crucial to the plot, but at the time of finding the object, does not seem to be important."
July 28, 2008
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