to commit to or take decisive action. Derived from similar expressions in automotive contexts.
From definition-of.com:
American English idiom: Bringing a pending act to fruition. Usually connotates an act which will have serious consequences. Also used in reference to quickly increasing speed in a car by manipulating a manual transmission gear shift (the "hammer").
An answer on english.stackexchange.com:
possible that ... "drop the hammer" evolved from "put the hammer down," a trucking term. Robert Chapman & Barbara Kipfer, Dictionary of American Slang, third edition (1995) has this entry for hammer down:
hammer down, adv. phr. (truckers by 1960) Going full speed; with throttle to the floor; =wide open "...a herd of LA rednecks, all of 'em pie-eyed and hammer down"—Esquire
From an answer on Quora:
It's either hitting the gas very hard, or "dropping the clutch" at the beginning of a race.
If drop the hammer = drop the clutch, it means releasing the clutch very quickly to start ("launch") the car quickly from a dead stop
Archaic European name for the Indian state of Odisha and of various kingdoms and/or cities that existed the area. orixa is also an alternate spelling for the orisha spirits of West Africa.
see lemnian. In antiquity Lemnian earth (lemnia sphragis) was an astringent for snakebites and wounds. The soil was dug ceremonially once a year near Hephaestia on the island of Lemnos.
I remember several from San Francisco (mostly closed years ago, but a lot of them retain their signage): Alhambra, Alexandria, Paragon, Vogue, Acme, Palacade, Lumiere, Coronet, Regency, El Rey, Pagoda, Granada, Embassy. We also have a Roxie.
edit: found an internet list - there was also the Grand, the Amazon, the Tower, the Apollo, El Capitan, the Imperial...a Richelieu!
you can place these comments directly on the word page for each one! Then, whenever someone looks up that word in the future, they can scroll down and see your comment/definition, even if the word otherwise has no entry.
Example: see the comment I just posted at crumbledeed
slang, an imperative phrase. Advising the listener to slow down, calm down; to moderate excitement or agitation; consider consequences, look before you leap. Don't get in a tizzy or all het up.
this is a term of art in apparel and product design and is more an industry-specific hyponym of variant or version than it is particularly related to color theory. In usage it refers almost exclusively to consumer product designs, often shoes, but also, e.g., wetsuits or skeins of yarn.
For example, a particular model of shoe may be available in three styles, each identical in form and construction except as regards the colors used: one in red and orange, another in green and white, and the last in black and gray. Each is a colorway.
lemming made me think of sheep and the satirical sheeple. Also, square was once in common use in this vein. Also normie itself would be a good addition to this list.
i got thinking of this word again and went looking on Google Books. Found citations not entomological, but botanical. The Botanical Register, 1817, describes a gloxinia bloom (with a kind of poetry):
Style white, ascendent, an inch long, tubular, bearded at the base : stigma hiant, broadest crossways, frosted within.
another text, Principia Botanica: Or, Beginnings of Botany from 1960:
... in which the ovary remains hiant into the fruit stage ; and in early ontogeny many ovaries are hiant), and another genus already technically angiospermous by the ovary closing, and the style being already fully formed.
In US/UK English "Kurdo" is usually rendered as Kurdish.
For what it's worth, in about 5 minutes of Google Books/News searches and I can't find any examples of this usage of "gor." The only non-typo results in English in recent years are mostly references to Kenyan football club Gor Mahia.
I'd guess that it's an extremely relaxed pronunciation of "according", spelled phonetically to capture the pronunciation. Assuming you saw this in print somewhere.
a phrase used in English-speaking areas of South Asia referring highly euphemistically to various forms of female-directed sexual harrassment or assault
Obsolete, a wax- or lard-based pomade for the hair.
The name of this preparation, which is a compound of Greek and Latin, signifying “a friend to the hair,” was first introduced by Parisian perfumers; and a very good name it is, for Philocome is undoubtedly one of the best unguents for the hair that is made.
from The Art of Perfumery, and Method of Obtaining the Odors of Plants, G.W. Septimus Piesse, 1857
Assassinesslessnesses are a scourge on modern culture. Measures are called for to expand the pipeline to increased assassiness presence across literally every sector of our society. Contact your representative.
In ancient Egyptian art, the Set animal, or sha, is the totemic animal of the god Set...Unlike other totemic animals, the Set animal is not easily identifiable in the modern animal world. Today, there is a general agreement among Egyptologists that it was never a real creature and existed only in ancient Egyptian imagination. In recent years, there have been many attempts by zoologists to find the Set animal in nature.
Who was talking about Joy Harjo? Was it fbharjo? Today, Joy Harjo was appointed the US poet laureate by the Librarian of Congress and became the first Native American so appointed.
name of a chemical found in the skin of older people, and used in caregiving as shorthand for a distinctive "old people smell." Discussed in this article.
Some people refer to it as “old-people smell,” ... often mistakenly attributed to poor hygiene, but it is actually an inescapable component of body odor that only manifests in older individuals. The official (and more respectful) term for the smell is nonenal...
Found only in participants aged 40 and older, nonenal is a component of body odor that is produced when omega-7 unsaturated fatty acids on the skin are degraded through oxidation.
There’s even a word to describe words that are exactly the right word for what you want to say – “teleolexical”. Why wouldn’t we want to give every word a chance to be someone’s teleolexical word?
In ancient alchemy, a precious stone believed to cause the phoenix to renew its youth. Also referred to as the "slender stone." In the work of 13th-century minnesinger Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Lapis exilis is conflated with the Holy Grail.
A member of various Russian free-thinking Christian sects.
From Wikipedia:
A Molokan (Russian: молокан, IPA:məlɐˈkan or молоканин, "dairy-eater") is a member of various Spiritual Christian sects that evolved from Eastern Christianity in the East Slavic lands...The term Molokan is an exonym used by their Orthodox neighbors; they tend to identify themselves as Spiritual Christians (духовные христиане, dukhovnye khristiane).
1. The resistance of matter, as when a body at rest is set in motion, or a body in motion is brought to rest, or has its motion changed, either in direction or in velocity.
2. Inertness; inactivity.
Usage notes
Vis inertiae and inertia are not strictly synonymous. The former implies the resistance itself which is given, while the latter implies merely the property by which it is given.
phrasal verb, to effect agonized crying or sobbing with such "ugly" displays as facial grimaces or spasm, flush, hyperventilation, rhinorrhea, etc. Merriam Webster did a blog post about it.
theorized phase of matter occurring at extremely high temperature and density, composed of free quarks. Could have been extant shortly after the Big Bang
This word is still in high frequency usage in video gaming contexts, from my observation. Blogs and such, it does seem a little dated, recalling to mind things like Geocities and latter Usenet. I don't think it was much in common usage at all prior to 2000, though. It's not in the jargon file, which is telling.
A German post-Expressionist style of art circa 1920s.
Although "New Objectivity" has been the most common translation of "Neue Sachlichkeit", other translations have included "New Matter-of-factness", "New Resignation", "New Sobriety", and "New Dispassion". The art historian Dennis Crockett says there is no direct English translation, and breaks down the meaning in the original German:
Sachlichkeit should be understood by its root, Sache, meaning "thing", "fact", "subject", or "object." Sachlich could be best understood as "factual", "matter-of-fact", "impartial", "practical", or "precise"; Sachlichkeit is the noun form of the adjective/adverb and usually implies "matter-of-factness".
A type of shallow-hulled sailing coaster once used in the Adriatic as a cargo vessel. Typically about 20 meters long with a crew of 10-20. Also trabaccalo, trabacalo
I always understood this to refer to a person who stirs up trouble, and/or enjoys watching others argue and fight. I found this which says it is "a person who does not prevent bad behavior," per students at University of Leicester (UK)
transitive verb (slang): to murder, literally or figuratively. From "mercenary." To "get merked" is to be killed; to be beaten badly (in a game, sport, or exchange of insults); or to become highly intoxicated.
seems like the definition given ("positively influences the environment") would require the facility to produce something of value to the environment rather than simply doing no harm. I.e., solar distributed back into the grid, compost production, waste heat recovery, etc. etc. Simply having a zero-waste facility, laudable as it is, wouldn't fit the criteria given.
Heard this watching football (soccer and Irish football). An intentional or tactical foul, i.e., with little or no intent to gain the ball but instead for breaking opponents' rhythm, stopping an attack, intimidation or sometimes even sheer bloody-mindedness
shorthand in computer graphics for Phong shading. Phong shading is an implementation of the Phong reflection model, which is a local illumination model devised by computer scientist Bui Tuong Phong in the 1970s that can produce a certain degree of realism in three-dimensional object rendering by combining three elements—diffuse, specular and ambient lighting—for each considered point (usually a pixel) on a surface.
Phong is the math behind that particular jelly-like sheen that is, or was, common to many computer graphics renderings.
A written representation of various trombone stings used humorously in television and film to punctuate instances of misfortune, stupidity, or awful jokes.
slang, noun. An act or instance of owning oneself, usually as an unintended consequence of some act—"own" in the sense of defeating, subjugating, embarrassing or otherwise achieving dominance over another (cf. pwn).
Often, a self-own is when someone inadvertently insults themselves due to unawareness of the implications of their own statement(s).
The man on the Clapham omnibus is a hypothetical reasonable person, used by the courts in English law where it is necessary to decide whether a party has acted as a reasonable person would — for example, in a civil action for negligence. The man on the Clapham omnibus is a reasonably educated and intelligent but nondescript person, against whom the defendant's conduct can be measured.
the consensus on urbandictionary is that this word refers to food, but after a cursory read through of Google search results, I conclude that it means whatever you want it to mean.
Or a county cumberer would be more alliterative. But you could also say maybe a borough burden. Or a burg blag? Or a local lackadaisical. a district drain. a parish pain point.
Sorry. Suggesting any kind of simple wordplay to me is like waving a chew toy over your dog's head
"Focus stacking (also known as focal plane merging and z-stacking or focus blending) is a digital image processing technique which combines multiple images taken at different focus distances to give a resulting image with a greater depth of field (DOF) than any of the individual source images."
"A piezo stage can be defined as a mechanical device driven be a piezoelectric actuator, which provides one or more axis of motion. In the case of nanopositioning, a piezo stage makes use of flexure hinges where a moving platform is linked to a static base."
Interesting word. All the citations above are from the Mahabharata. Various heroic figures in the story are repeatedly referred to as "car-warrior". Appears to be a translation of the Sanskrit ati-ratha where ratha literally means a chariot.
Can't find an actual definition anywhere, but reading some passages, it looks like these characters are all chariot-mounted archers to whom are ascribed supernatural levels of martial prowess and general badassery. I think the chariots are flying in some cases. There are a lot of connotations I'm sure I'm missing.
a type of illustration particular to the Wall Street Journal; a pen and ink head-and-shoulders portrait in a style mimicking the woodcuts used in early journalism.
upset about how many times recently I've seen this word confused with pixilated. Otherwise reputable publishers in various media cannot seem to find proofreaders who know the difference.
Late one night at home i was writing down ideas for a thing about postcolonialism or something like that and fell asleep. i woke up in the wee hours and the last paragraph i'd written unmistakably narrated a dream sequence, in some version of my handwriting, shaky but legible. Something about the Minotaur and my brother and a cargo ship full of hay bales? don't remember. i couldn't remember any part of the actual experience, but it was observed on some level obviously. i think i still have the page somewhere. strange
I don't know if it was already done between 2010 and now, but I have made a list of most listed words. I think schadenfreude continues to be the most listed word on this site.
this is a shortened form of lying sack of shit, that i've heard younger folks use here and there in the last few years. "Don't listen to him, he's a lying sack," sort of thing.
this got some attention and so I was remiss in not mentioning that it's simply an anagram of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem which is itself an amazing bit of verbiage
oyez vendingmachine, I took off a few of your additions bc this list is actually supposed to be phrases that included the word “the.” But of the ones I took off, most are now installed on phraseologue and phraseologue---confabular-locutions, so your efforts are far from in vain!
"The term "folkbiology" refers to people's everyday understanding of the biological world—how they perceive, categorize, and reason about living kinds. The study of folkbiology not only sheds light on human nature, it may ultimately help us make the transition to a global economy without irreparably damaging the environment or destroying local cultures."
wait so would media blasting be an umbrella term that includes shotblasting, sandblasting and bead blasting?
I was just looking at a website that talks about this and they talk about blast media (as in, the media with which a surface is blasted) which is a super delightful phrase.
a man who adopts some part of the role of husband to a woman who is widowed, separated, or otherwise unable or unwilling to (re-)marry.
And Laura waited long, and wept a little, And thought of wearing weeds, as well she might; She almost lost all appetite for victual, And could not sleep with ease along at night; She deem'd the window-frames and shutters brittle Against a daring House-breaker or Sprite, And so She thought it prudent to connect her. With a Vice-husband, chiefly to protect her.
An anchialine pool or pond (pronounced "AN-key-ah-lin", from Greek ankhialos, "near the sea") is a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean.
Describing a spore in which the distal and proximal faces have dissimilar sculpturing and lacks tetrad mark. Example: Calobryum dentatum, Haplomitrium hookeri.
to treat a metal surface in order to clean or polish it, by continously impacting it with shot (round metallic, glass, or ceramic particles) impelled at high velocities by air pressure or other mechanism.
a while back I worked at a meat+fish counter at a supermarket. One day a man with a distinct accent I could nevertheless place no more specifically than maybe South Asian, came and requested a cut of halibut. Cuts, rather: he wanted it coarsely diced. What he actually asked was that it be cut into "cubics" and repeated this word several times to ensure I understood. I always wondered if it was usage particular to some variant flavor of english, rather than a one-off malapropism
the usual noun form of chastise would be chastisement, alternately the gerund chastising. Chastice is not a word in modern English. Unless you decide it is, say, a name for the hook attached to a rooster's feet in cockfighting.
A land of fufluns? One can dream. This is actually an archaic Etruscan/Latin name of an archaeologically significant region of Tuscany, today called Populonia.
"a small stone or fragment of ore made smooth by the action of water running over it." (1907 New American Encyclopedic Dictionary)
"Loose pieces of veinstuff lying about on the surface are known in Cornwall as shoad-stones; and shoading is the term given to the process of tracking them to the parent lode." (A Treatise on Ore and Stone Mining
per Wikipedia, the English tradition of specific collective nouns for different types of animal arose in the late Middle Ages and were originally referred to as "terms of venery".
Hi long time no see Wordniks!! Have you guys heard about this new dinosaur? Properly dreadnoughtus schrani, it's the “new” largest dino. I find the critter notable as much for the unwieldiness of its name as for its purported size.
A previously unknown mineral has been discovered in a remote location in Western Australia. The mineral, named putnisite, appears purple and translucent, and contains strontium, calcium, chromium, sulphur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, a very unusual combination. While dozens of new minerals are discovered each year, it is rare to find one that is unrelated to already-known substances.... It appears as tiny semi-cubic crystals and is often found within quartz. Putnisite is relatively soft, with a <a href="https://www.wordnik.com/words/Mohs%20scale" target=_blank">Mohs</a> hardness of 1.5 to 2 (out of 10), comparable to gypsum, and brittle. It's unclear yet if the mineral could have any commercial applications.
a humorous riff on the slang terms YOLO and swag (from Wiktionary: n.Style; fashionable appearance or manner), and the character Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit
I looked up the word fever-bright. Although it has been used in plenty of places, there is no listed definition. I would say that fever-bright means "eyes radiant through a fever from illness, or excitement; frenzied."
this kind of info is very welcome here! Normally you would place such a comment on the word's entry page. I'm copying your comment to the fever-bright entry, q.v.
wanted to check this out. some googling shows this word was probably coined by Cynic philosopher Crates, in reference to his marriage; both husband and wife were of the Cynic school. So it sounds like he was simply saying it was a "marriage of dogs", or of dog-like people, in other words, of Cynics. I don't think he was trying to connote retrocopulation. "Marriage" is a stronger translation of the Greek γάμος—gamos—than "coupling" (indeed, the IE root *gem(e)- is supposed to be "to marry")
Also, per earthmothercrafts.com's Bead Glossary, it "Refers to an iridescent coating or finish that is applied to only one part or one side of a bead."
same as panacea. from Greek πάγχρηστος, panchrestos, “useful for everything”. Found on Wikipedia, and on Google books (Encyclopaedia Londinensis (vol. 18), John Wilkes, 1821, inter alia)
Yliaster is the term coined by Paracelsus which refers to "Prime matter, consisting of body and soul". It is most likely a portmanteau of the Greek hyle (matter) and Latin astrum (star). To Paracelsus, the iliaster represented the two basic compounds of the cosmos, matter representing "below", and the stars representing "above". ... In this sense, the iliaster is the same as the prima materia. It is the formless base of all matter which is the raw material for the alchemical Great Work.
the slang term is definitely a misspelling/mispronunciation of the word wretched. With that rendering has developed a somewhat more specific usage, at least on twitter, as some kind of derogatory term for women. see the Urbandictionary entry.
I'm not sure the above etymology is correct. I always thought it was a Japanglishportmanteau of the emo from emoticon and -ji (meaning “characters”) on the model of the etymologies of romaji and kanji, quod vide.
i've also seen this used in reference to the haters gonna hate meme, and also to connote enthusiasm to partake in some activity, as though in a mad dash towards it. it's technically an emoticon or emoji
I like cat as a name for a cat. If you have more than one, cat 1, cat 2... I hope that doesn't sound mean spirited—i'm very much a dog person but i like cats.
erinmckean / wordnik staff: can something be done about the glitchiness in lookups where an apostrophe is present in the word? Replace ' with ’ in all definitions and then also replace ' with ’ when search or word page urls are generated, similar to how the browser replaces space with %20? but actually no that's not server-side... hm (I hope it doesn't sound like i know what i'm talking about, b/c i don't). Anyway. It would be awesome if it were fixed.
I wonder if wekau is somehow linguistically and/or cladistically related? Also, the Wordnet definition is boffo: "flightless New Zealand rail of thievish disposition..."
if that's true, then you should know better than to spam-comment your links on sites like this—Google will ding you in results if it detects the pattern
A tutelary deity of Beijing, China. Depicted as a traditionally dressed anthropomorphic rabbit. Also transliterated Tu'er Ye and Tuer Ye; sometimes known as Gentleman Rabbit (in translation)
Blorenge or sometimes The Blorenge (/ˈblɒrɨndʒ/; Welsh: Blorens) is a prominent hill which overlooks the valley of the River Usk in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is situated in the southeastern corner of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The summit plateau reaches a height of 1,841 feet (561 m)
I've come to accept that—and as I type this it dawns on me that it may be a natural law on the order of every potential list is an existing list—that an open list may at any moment evolve unpredictably as an emergent behavior arising from adventitious contributions. And pretty much all my lists are open. So that's fine. I guess I should ask if ruzuzu wants to put pants back
welcome to Wordnik—hope my humorless, cack-handed attempt at a bit of friendly ribbing doesn't deter you from exploring all that this site has to offer.
hey ruzuzuzuzuzu, can I jettison the contents of the-whole-wordnik-catalog here? I'm kind of not feeling that list anymore and I want to give it the deep-six, but some of those items I think would go nicely here.
from the autophagy page on Wikipedia, I went to a link that said there is disagreement as to whether things like nailbiting amount to autocannibalism. Pathologically speaking, that is. If you want to be super literal, yes, eating skin would make you a cannibal while hair and nails would not (since it's not "flesh" in the normal sense).
I like thinking about both Magritte and Duchamp questioning, in different ways, the power and role of representation. this sentence is false, paradox or nonsense? It reminds me that language is not only fun, but highly mysterious in its interplay of both constructing and being constructed by consciousness—with literature, art, and the sense of smell among the emergent phenomena (arguably) arising from that interplay.
Also i like Miro but his work always makes me think of Klee. i don't know what that means
This reminds me of a character in a historical novel (Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson), a rogue whose pseudonym was "<em>L’Emmerdeur</em>,” which I think can be translated as “the enshittener”.
I feel like I've heard this word many times, more or less interchangeably with coastline, in phrasings like "along the coastway," but I can't find very much at all in the way of citations/definitions. I wonder if it's a regional thing.
…evil in the form of two rather appalling manifestations: a cannibal and an autophage. He notes that our attention is immediately captivated by one…while the other is largely overlooked. One possible explanation for this, he suggests, is that we have no place to put the notion of a person who consumes his or her own flesh; this is a form of being with the self that we cannot really conceive of.
discussion of this word on the English language Stackexchange site. Appears to be old Irish colloquial or dialectical variant of deluder, i.e., one who attempts to delude or obfuscate.
NPR didn't get it quite right. one of Sagan's catchphrases was "billions and billions"; I'm assuming they figured this would have to denote no less than 2¹² + 2¹², whereas strictly speaking, 1¹²+1 is technically "billions". Math pedantry aside, the Jargon File v5.0.1 has:
sagan: /say'gn/, n. (from Carl Sagan's TV series Cosmos; think “billions and billions”) A large quantity of anything. “There's a sagan different ways to tweak Emacs.”
I think I agree but am wondering what the exact nature of its mouthfeel is. My source seems to be indicating sʌˌdʒɪtəˈpoʊtənt, while I would think it would be ˌsædʒɪˈtɪpətənt—kind of like "Sagit" in Sagittarius + "ipotent" in omnipotent
not to be doctrinaire, given that in the entire English-speaking world, it's probably been spoken aloud only a smattering of times in the past hundred years. also, who the heck cares. I almost want to delete this comment now but I spent way too long piecing together those IPA symbols
Sagittipotent (suh-jit-uh-poht-nt) adj. 1656-1656, having great ability in archery Ex. The sagittipotent hunter found himself unable to kill the beautiful white stag.
—from <a href="http://deadwords.info/?p=881" target="_blank">the Dead Words</a>
so I decided that the more mundane yet unusual items needed their own list, while the "Whole Wordnik Catalog" is now solely a repository of the nonsensical, madeupical, farcical, and heretical; so that's how "Polychronic Liquidators" came into the picture. And by all means add any nonsense here that strikes your fancy.
found on urbandictionary.com. The definitions aren't too clear, but it sounds like it's a vehicle owner who performs their own repairs, or possibly any car mechanic who works independently at their home; as though in a yard, under a shade tree. Looking at the twitter content, either of those holds up.
retrotech has no official entry here but a while back i added some citations that make it sound to me like it'd lend itself pretty well to that idea, qms.
unrelated to theriac, but I just want to say that at first I was all "wait—therianthrope is so commonly used that it has a shortened form?" and then I looked at the content examples and I was all, "ohhh... furfans"
it's up to you. i seem to recall that the supposed double entendre in the lyric and song title was only ever speculative and was disavowed by the songwriters. yet it persists in the zeitgeist
1 to fill out a form containing blank lines indicating where data should be entered. 2. to resolve missing pieces of information necessary to complete a history or analysis of some event or occurrence.
3. interj. "you can figure out the rest", "you can infer the remaining information"
adj. describing something that is essentially unchanged from one instance to the next, with only names or other particular details changed. cf. cookie-cutter
hi madmouth! Some glaring omissions on my part and so thanks. i took the liberty of adjusting a couple of your additions to suit my orthographic cacoethes, hope that's ok. you're persona grata on my lists anytime
this definition doesn't go with the word. I've been tagging such instances glitch definition, but I can't with this one, I think because of the apostrophe
I went on a hunt for a pronunciation and was frustrated. However I did find that the Humr are an African tribe, one out of the grouping of Arabic-speaking nomadic cattle herding tribes known as the Baggara inhabiting the Sahel region. Humr means "the red ones."
a swindle in which a strap or belt is folded at its midpoint, then rolled up tightly; the mark is enjoined to bet that he can arrest the unrolling of the strap when both ends are pulled, by inserting a pencil in center of the roll.
Jeez, maybe I'm a whippersnapper or something; I can't understand why this (and fart) are tagged "offensive"? "Impolite" and "use carefully" I could agree with, but offensive?
as indicated above, the following definition is found under the Century Dictionary & Cyclopedia entry at sorrow:
n. The devil: used generally as an expletive in imprecation, often implying negation. Compare devil, n., 7. Sometimes the muckle sorrow. Also spelled sorra.
found on dict.org<blockquote>Golden sulphide of antimony, or Golden sulphuret of antimony (Chem.), the pentasulphide of antimony, a golden or orange yellow powder.</blockquote>
from the Webster's 1913 dictionary<blockquote>(old chemistry) stannic chloride; the chloride of tin, SnCl4, forming a colorless, mobile liquid which fumes in the air. Mixed with water it solidifies to the so-called butter of tin</blockquote>this could go on glypheme's "Magic Ingredients" list.
A camoufleur is a person who designed and implemented military camouflage in one of the world wars of the twentieth century. The term was originally a person serving in a First World War French military camouflage unit. In the Second World War, the British camouflage officers of the Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate, led by Geoffrey Barkas in the Western Desert, called themselves camoufleurs, and edited a humorous newsletter called <em>The Fortnightly Fluer</em>. Such men were often professional artists. The term is used by extension for all First and Second World War camouflage specialists. Some of these pioneered camouflage techniques.
*facepalm* ...camoufleur is obviously the correct form. I think that is why I had little success finding citations. Here is a google books search ngram showing that camoufleur is by far the more prevalent spelling; in fact the number of instances of camOfleur is below the threshold needed to appear in the graph.
This word is of Jamaican origin. In Jamaican patois it means ‘blood cloth,’ referring to a menstrual pad, and commonly is used as an expression of anger or annoyance, or a general derogatory epithet.
interesting note about the development of spitfire/shitfire on etymonline.com; apparently “shitfire” originally appeared meaning cannon; “spitfire” was a euphemization of same. The reference to a volatile personality (one who “spits fire”) came much later.
I like it. somewhat lessens the (subjective) vulgarity and specifically denigrates ability, intelligence and social standing where the other term is, depending on context, either a generalized and pointless epithet, or needlessly histrionic
will advise Corporate jargon for F*** Off. I am working on the Alabama case files right now, and will have them on your desk by 4pm, unless you call me into another meeting about the break room microwave again. Will Advise.
most people say to read Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist... first, as a kind of ramp-up. then Ulysses (& only then, finally Finnegan's Wake). I don't know, i only ever read the first one in that sequence.
The Emperor Nicholas was travelling upon this chausee, a few days previous to our journey, and when in the neighborhood of Moscow, he remarked that he met very few carriages or carts. The Yemshick, or driver, informed him that the officers ... had forbidden the common people to travel upon it... .
The Czar, His Court and People: Including a Tour in Norway and Sweden, Sir John Maxwell, 1848 (archive.org)
It is judicious to carry a quantity of rope in one's vehicle for use in case of accident. A Russian yemshick (driver) is quite skillful in repairing breakages if he can find enough rope for his purpose.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life Thomas Wallace Knox, 1871 (gutenberg.org)
popular personification of the fog, mist, and overcast endemic to San Francisco and environs. Derived from, and incarnated in, a Twitter account of the same name
agh i totally should have remembered that from art history...sometimes i think i feel my cultural literacy fleeing me. Or probably other minutiae more relevant to my current walk of life are usurping the neural pathways involved
hi ruzuzuzuzu so good to hear from you and i'm afraid my complete lack of a sense of humor is obturating my response. FYI "pipe" has a ribald slang meaning in French, but I'm sure you didn't mean that anyway have a lovely day and thanks for the comment :D
‘Like basilosaurus, pontogeneus was first recognized from “Dr.” Albert Koch's “Hydrarchos”, a 114-foot (35 m) skeleton he had assembled in 1845 from the fossilized remains of several different archaeocetes. Koch's “sea serpent” toured the US and Europe before being destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire on October 10, 1871.’
I remember a goofy song that might have been directly inspired by this, or vice versa. Literally about a panda named Yolanda escaping from the zoo; the chorus went something like "Yolanda / nothing rhymes with you except Rwanda / another day we'd name you Amanda / but Yolanda sounds more Eastern European / which is nice"
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: a name for a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures (i.e. Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian), meaning something to the effect of ‘those of royal blood’ or ‘princely offspring’. According to The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, the Anunnaki ‘are the Sumerian deities of the old primordial line; they are chthonic deities of fertility, associated eventually with the underworld, where they became judges. They take their name from the old sky god An (Anu).’
They don’t seem to be named specifically, and it sounds like there were purported to be some hundreds of them. So, to my mind, analogous to other cultures’ cohorts of demigods, angels, Titans, or what-have-you, but with a netherworld spin.
Sanskrit, Ānanda (आनन्द) – bliss, delight, peace. In Hinduism—well, there is a whole lot more involved in this concept and its nesting within the Hindu system of values than I can attempt to understand, let alone relate, at this time
more commonly rendered as unfuckwittable or unfuckwittible (from which the usual pronunciation may be gleaned) and definitely not coined on Wordnik; it was used in rap songs as early as 2001 (Too $hort, Talkin' Shit) and probably earlier.
From From Urbandictionary.com (can also be seen in the tweets at right): 1. managerial we word of the day: November 24, 2013 When a manager says ‘we’ and means ‘you’ Bossman: We need to fix this Wageslave: OK, should I set up a meeting for us? Bossman: No, just do it. That was the ‘managerial we’; I meant ‘you’
from urbandictionary.com: 1. sleep tattoos word of the day: November 14, 2013 N. The markings on the body from sleeping for an extended period of time, caused by blankets, clothing, or any other thing one would sleep on. Commonly found on the chest, face, and arms. person 1: I just had the best nap of my life Person 2: whats that all over your chest? Person 1: oh those are just some sleep tattoos from my blanket.
One of the rarest and most threatened mammals on earth has been caught on camera in Vietnam for the first time in 15 years, renewing hope for the recovery of the species, an international conservation group said Wednesday. The Saola, a long-horned ox, was photographed by a camera in a forest in central Vietnam in September... via NPR, November 13, 2013
today, a highlight of the usually jejune words-of-the-day posted by urbandictionary.com; meaning "grab a drink or smoke a cigarette". Interesting that gulyasrobi already had this on a list of Old Western Slang.
This is wonderful. I can give you a few more candidates from the comics: Bizarro Superman, Grendel, Ghost Rider, Venom(?), Typhoid Mary...and I'll stop there.
read this in an article last night, can't find definition. possibly a nonce word; definition to the effect of "a mountaineer whose home turf is the Alps; or broadly, a mountaineer"
What two-bit SEO marketers are trying to do when they post their clients' blurbs on Wordnik. Any site that utilizes user-generated content is liable to receive many of these not-so-wonderfully non sequitur ejaculations of advertising, the goal being not to win patronage from thee and me, but for Google to find such-and-such name in context on ever more and sundry websites and thus rank them "higher" in search results.
a vernacular interjection-type phrase. Posed as a question (sometimes as are we cool?) it means “do you understand,” or “do you have any disagreement or argument with me, or with (some issue)?” Often repeated back, in response, it confirms understanding, agreement, mutual accord. Spoken declaratively, it can signify that things are going well, conditions are favorable, or that the speaker is on good terms with another.
from Urbandictionary.com:
When in doubt as to whether or not someone is able to get over themselves and whatever disagreement they may have had in the past with another, the question is often posed. Hey, dude, we cool? Yeah, man. we cool.
I thought this might be a typo where knuckleduster was intended, but urbandictionary.com has a couple definitions which relate to working on cars under circumstances causing the technician's hands (including knuckles) receive cuts and scrapes. Looks like it may refer to the one performing the work, or to the vehicle itself.
also a fictitious substance used to "freeze" the character Han Solo in a state of suspended animation, in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back; see the flickr content.
the reason for there being no definitions found on this page is because the word is capitalized. Wordnik is case sensitive and most entries are found under the lowercase form, e.g. iota (excepting of course proper nouns and such).
"Making a mistake at work is seldom a good thing....Unless you work in Uppsala University, Sweden, where accidentally leaving equipment running over the weekend led to the creation of the most absorbent material known to man.
"A powdered form of magnesium carbonate, upsalite's structure is so porous and pitted that it has a surface area of 800 square metres per gram....Upsalite is also riddled with pores narrower than 10 nanometres. This means it is incredibly water absorbent, even at relatively low humidity, and keeps water locked up tight."
walirlan, what is the problem here? It's not English. Whether it qualifies as English loanword from Japanese, or just a transliteration into the Latin alphabet of a Japanese historical term, there is nothing objectively wrong with the word.
This is an interestingly unique colloquialism. A deliberate spoonerism of the term ass-backwards; in being so, it both further evokes the explicit definition and partially euphemizes.
I feel like this word has been increasing in general usage, at least in the US.
much like the Telegraph columnist, what I find most tiresome is criticism of this word's alleged misuse. It's such a low-hanging fruit, so easy to spot. But come on it happens all the time—let's also ticket everyone for not making complete stops at stop signs!
A "new" form of carbon stronger and stiffer than any known material. Also known as linear acetylenic carbon, carbyne is an indefinitely long chain of carbon atoms that are joined together by sequential double bonds or alternating single and triple bonds (a polyyne). Detected reportedly in asteroids, and synthesized only in vanishingly minute amounts in a lab. Only a single molecule thick, meaning that, for a given mass of carbyne, the surface area thereof is relatively immense.
"The researchers found that carbyne is massively strong (6.0–7.5×107N∙m/kg, vs. 4.7–5.5×107 N∙m/ kg for graphene), very high tensile stiffness (it’s almost impossible to stretch), fairly chemically stable, and yet surprisingly flexible."
A small (~2 lb.) mammal, Bassaricyon neblina. Member of the raccoon family, native to Colombia and Ecuador, recently classified by scientists at the Smithsonian Institution. Named probably in relation to the olingo. Super cute.
Thanks for listening! I've just discovered that you seem to have fixed the thing where very large lists wouldn't load—for instance, outcasts loads in ~300ms! I'm ecstatic!
line breaks in my comments have absconded. por ejemplo, I left a comment on scowlful where I excerpted a poem and separated the lines with hard returns; now it seems to appear as one solid text block.
Turned this up in Google Books:<blockquote>The musket gripp'd ; the brow firm set ; a scowlful smile of joy; And shoulder square by shoulder, as of old at Fontenoy : — Up ! where the battery-flash the heaven with battle-thunder stuns, Where the swarthy cannoneers of France yet prime and point their guns, Then on them with that levell'd steel, one charge . . . Too late ! ... the breath Of war's red throat across the field has borne a waft of death.</blockquote>“The Death of Sir John Moore”, 1809, from The Visions of England by Francis Turner Palgrave.
can't find a real definition for this, but here is an excerpt of an exchange on Yahoo! Answers—not the most reliable linguistic resource, I know—that nevertheless jibes with what I've heard:
What does "rassa frassa" mean? It was in an email from a co-worker. Is this Klingon? Or what? Thanks.
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Madame M
It's supposed to be the sound of low-level, angry grumbling -- as mentioned above, Yosemite Sam says it when he's angry at Bugs Bunny. "Rassa-frassa-frick-frackin rabbit."
I can't find an etymology, but if you put it into a search engine, you'll get all sorts of complainers who are using it in their blogs to express discontent (-:.
Other Answers (1)
Ulquiorra
It's what Yosemite Sam says on "Bugs Bunny" when he wants to swear, except I've always thought he said "Rassum Frassum"
"rassa frassa" has ~15K exact results on Google where "rassum frassum" has ~21K.
Literally, to be holding a bet on a horse in a race. To have a stake in something, to have a vested interest. Most often used in negative constructions. The above phrase has approx 500,000 hits on Google, whereas have no horse in the race and have no horse in this race have 3.5 and 1.5 million hits, respectively.
A sleeper agent is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but rather to act as a potential asset if activated. Sleeper agents are popular plot devices in fiction...
"A long or big con is a scam that unfolds over several days or weeks and involves a team of swindlers, as well as props, sets, extras, costumes, and scripted lines. It aims to rob the victim of thousands of dollars, often by getting him or her to empty out banking accounts and borrow from family members."
from Amy Reading, The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, A Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con, Chapter One: Confidence via this Wikipedia article
An 1838 illustration of a Turkish coffee house with patrons smoking from long-stemmed chibouk pipes, as featured in Travels in the western Caucasus by Edmund Spencer.
A chibouk (French: chibouque; from the Turkish: çıbuk, çubuk (English: "stick"); also romanized čopoq, ciunoux or tchibouque)1 is a very long-stemmed Turkish tobacco pipe, often featuring a clay bowl ornamented with precious stones. The stem of the chibouk generally ranges between 4 and 5 ft. (1.2 and 1.5 m), much longer than even Western churchwarden pipes. While primarily known as a Turkish pipe, the chibouk was once popular in Iran, as well.
you must realize that in English there are many possible additions to words in the standard lexicon; nearly any word can take suffixes or prefixes altering its meaning, intenseness, part of speech, &c. &c. The number of possible permutations is nearly unlimited. Therefore most dictionaries and reference works do not contain entries for many words which are, strictly speaking, allowable in standard English; words which do not usually, but may conceivably, have additions like -ish, -ment, -ness, -ly, -liest and so forth. For a reference work (or website) to omit such entries is not a failing. It is your responsibility as an informed reader or student to deduce any definitions that may be missing in such cases from the combined definitions of the base word and the combining form/suffix/prefix/whatever (or seek out a more comprehensive reference, such as the OED or another unabridged dictionary). Please do feel free to add comments here offering any such deductions, under the word's entry as you have been doing, but comments in a continuous stream expressing surprise that this or that bizarre term is "missing," may become wearisome to others who are viewing them all over the Community page.
Also it helps if you ensure you are spelling the word correctly.
Don't be. Dictionaries and reference works often omit entries for all possible inflections and combinations of works like offbeat plus such suffixes as -ness, -ment &c. Having entries for the suffixes themselves is sufficient; the minimally apperceptive reader can break down any word not having its own entry into its component parts, look each up, and devise the definition for themselves. Otherwise the dictionary would be overflowing with entries for possibly less useful words like confutableness, or whatever.
A kind of gas mask used in coal mines. In Miracle at Springhill, Leonard Lerner, 1960, the name is said to have originated in Nova Scotia and to be "derived from that of a German scientist, Alexander Bernhard Draeger, who invented a type of special equipment for breathing in a mine choked with gas." See comments at draegerman.
"In the technical jargon of Maritime coal-mining operations, a draegerman is a specially trained rescue worker. A draeger was a gas mask that permitted descent into tunnels where poisonous seepage had occurred." Casselman's Canadian Words Bill Casselman, 1995.
"To those who are unfamiliar with coal mining, it should be explained that a draegerman is a particularly skillful and robust young miner who has been specially trained in rescue work." The Atlantic Monthly #158, 1936.
per balkaar.com (?!) "An obsolete Shetland word for a witch or sorceress"
Also turned up in a Google Books search, in A Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, Volume 1 by John Jamieson, 1825: "...this designation is given to a pretended sybil or prophetess..."
Found in works of Sir Walter Scott via same search.
"one who presents the teeth," a person who smiles falsely or forcedly. A neologism probably coined by novelist Florence King in a column in The National Review.
a physical sensation, similar to frisson, caused by stimuli varying from person to person; having one's hair cut close with clippers about the nape of the neck is a common example. Not recognized by science but widely discussed on the internet (123). Usually called ASMR.
yeh, It's not in any reliable reference site, I think it's a case of spurious info propagating thru the interwebs...but who am I to stop that process. Who knows, before too long it may be the official name.
But I think it came from this document, or one like it. It shows up as inymph in google. but if you open the link and find the sentence, it just says "nymph".
used as an imperative, the speaker is demanding action on a particular item within the interlocutor's purview. The implication is the speaker desires that they be all over it like a cheap suit or perhaps like white on rice.
having to do with either the mythological centaur Chiron, or the astronomical centaur (see 2nd definition in Wiktionary entry under centaur) designated 2060-Chiron.
Heimaey (-is), literally Home Island, is an Icelandic island. At a size of 13.4 km² (5.2 sq. miles), it is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, and the largest and most populated Icelandic island outside the main island of Iceland. Heimaey lies approximately 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) off the south coast of Iceland. It is the only populated island of the Vestmannaeyjar islands, with a population of approximately 4,500.
well thank you for 1) the kind words 2) listening to my didactic rambling 3) giving me a nice list to add words to. I'm off to check out the rest of your lists, then...
Comments by ry
Show previous 200 comments...
ry commented on the word choropleth
see choropleth map
November 8, 2019
ry commented on the word drop the hammer
to commit to or take decisive action. Derived from similar expressions in automotive contexts.
From definition-of.com:
An answer on english.stackexchange.com:
From an answer on Quora:
cf. lower the boom, hit the gas, give it the gun, pull out all the stops
November 8, 2019
ry commented on the word Orixa
Archaic European name for the Indian state of Odisha and of various kingdoms and/or cities that existed the area. orixa is also an alternate spelling for the orisha spirits of West Africa.
November 1, 2019
ry commented on the word ebullate
to boil due to pressure differentials. See ebullism. Not to be confused with ebulliate/ebullient.
November 1, 2019
ry commented on the word lemnian earth
see comment at Lemnian earth
November 1, 2019
ry commented on the word Lemnian earth
see lemnian. In antiquity Lemnian earth (lemnia sphragis) was an astringent for snakebites and wounds. The soil was dug ceremonially once a year near Hephaestia on the island of Lemnos.
November 1, 2019
ry commented on the word shoad-stone
see also shode
November 1, 2019
ry commented on the list is-this-a-dagger-i-see-before-me
sundang, tanto
October 31, 2019
ry commented on the list retro-names-for-movie-houses-BJX43YqsEME9
I remember several from San Francisco (mostly closed years ago, but a lot of them retain their signage): Alhambra, Alexandria, Paragon, Vogue, Acme, Palacade, Lumiere, Coronet, Regency, El Rey, Pagoda, Granada, Embassy. We also have a Roxie.
October 31, 2019
ry commented on the user katiemagaw
you can place these comments directly on the word page for each one! Then, whenever someone looks up that word in the future, they can scroll down and see your comment/definition, even if the word otherwise has no entry.
Example: see the comment I just posted at crumbledeed
October 30, 2019
ry commented on the word crumbledeed
crumbledeed - breaking your word, such as a deed for property.
ex. you owe someone money and you haven't paid them back, so the police come up to you and say "You're committing a crumbledeed."
(see comments at user katiemagaw)
October 30, 2019
ry commented on the user wtolaser
I actually kinda want to know more about what a znes lens is.
October 30, 2019
ry commented on the word all het up
see het up
October 30, 2019
ry commented on the word slow your roll
slang, an imperative phrase. Advising the listener to slow down, calm down; to moderate excitement or agitation; consider consequences, look before you leap. Don't get in a tizzy or all het up.
October 30, 2019
ry commented on the user onglish
slow your roll there buddy
October 30, 2019
ry commented on the user ispimpinpimpin
Happily, this is a website and not an app so it shouldn't consume much in the way of device resources.
However, it quite definitely is full of complete nonsense.
October 25, 2019
ry commented on the word masculism
HAHAHA
haahaha
ha
hahaha
cool
October 22, 2019
ry commented on the list ya-got-moxy-kid-08EoYDiN60_Q
do backbone, spine, and nerve fit? What about stones, balls, cojones? And why does this concept involve so many and various body parts?
October 15, 2019
ry commented on the word colorway
this is a term of art in apparel and product design and is more an industry-specific hyponym of variant or version than it is particularly related to color theory. In usage it refers almost exclusively to consumer product designs, often shoes, but also, e.g., wetsuits or skeins of yarn.
October 15, 2019
ry commented on the user twodogs
is this satire?
October 10, 2019
ry commented on the word epiploon
The Century definition reads like poetry
October 9, 2019
ry commented on the user garry123456
ok
October 9, 2019
ry commented on the list interrogative-animals-G78xbJ5pP_Nz
I made interrogative-fictional-entities-Q6tTZP39vlra to resolve the wendigo issue and the Whos down in Whoville.
September 24, 2019
ry commented on the word whincow
whydah bird?
September 19, 2019
ry commented on the list poetic-substances
cf. pet-rocks-and-carbon-footprints
September 19, 2019
ry commented on the list pieces
cf unwanted-matter
September 19, 2019
ry commented on the list winds-of-the-world
khamaseen
August 27, 2019
ry commented on the word boujie
cf. bougie, bourgie
August 26, 2019
ry commented on the list normie-normos
lemming made me think of sheep and the satirical sheeple. Also, square was once in common use in this vein. Also normie itself would be a good addition to this list.
August 22, 2019
ry commented on the word tadago-pie
first thought: aren't aborted and miscarried mutually exclusive?
second thought: what the hell?
August 17, 2019
ry commented on the word Cthulu
isn't it usually spelled Cthulhu?
August 9, 2019
ry commented on the word teanner
A blend of tea and dinner, when you have a late tea with some food that usually take at dinner. Similar to brunch but in the afternoon evening.
Suggested by manolito
August 9, 2019
ry commented on the user manolito
well, it does now. See teanner.
August 9, 2019
ry commented on the word hiant
i got thinking of this word again and went looking on Google Books. Found citations not entomological, but botanical. The Botanical Register, 1817, describes a gloxinia bloom (with a kind of poetry):
another text, Principia Botanica: Or, Beginnings of Botany from 1960:
August 9, 2019
ry commented on the word gor
In US/UK English "Kurdo" is usually rendered as Kurdish.
For what it's worth, in about 5 minutes of Google Books/News searches and I can't find any examples of this usage of "gor." The only non-typo results in English in recent years are mostly references to Kenyan football club Gor Mahia.
I'd guess that it's an extremely relaxed pronunciation of "according", spelled phonetically to capture the pronunciation. Assuming you saw this in print somewhere.
August 2, 2019
ry commented on the user spadefish
Thanks for commenting! The entry for this word is included here: ctenoid—note that Wordnik is case-sensitive.
August 2, 2019
ry commented on the word eve-teasing
a phrase used in English-speaking areas of South Asia referring highly euphemistically to various forms of female-directed sexual harrassment or assault
July 30, 2019
ry commented on the word obfusque
cf. obfusc, obfuscate
July 30, 2019
ry commented on the word dehort
cf. exhort
July 29, 2019
ry commented on the word ahoight
Obs.; reference for this is Edward Lloyd's Encyclopaedic Dictionary, 1895
etymology it gives is from Anglo-Saxon a, on, + heahdhu, height.
July 29, 2019
ry commented on the word legend
cf. qms
July 27, 2019
ry commented on the word Philocome
Obsolete, a wax- or lard-based pomade for the hair.
from The Art of Perfumery, and Method of Obtaining the Odors of Plants, G.W. Septimus Piesse, 1857
July 26, 2019
ry commented on the word Agustine, a gust in
it is like listening for falling dew is my new favorite phrase of the week.
July 26, 2019
ry commented on the word metroidvania
defined at Metroidvania
July 25, 2019
ry commented on the word magicaer
Also, apparently, sorcerperson
July 24, 2019
ry commented on the word sorcerperson
see comments at magicaer
July 24, 2019
ry commented on the word assassinesslessnesses
Assassinesslessnesses are a scourge on modern culture. Measures are called for to expand the pipeline to increased assassiness presence across literally every sector of our society. Contact your representative.
July 24, 2019
ry commented on the list cool-boi-words-if5tLuKSAZO
Aw, I wanted to see some examples of cool boi words
July 24, 2019
ry commented on the list alternatives-to-awesome-KmZyu4YtstL
I may need to write this out on a card and put it in my wallet for easy reference
July 24, 2019
ry commented on the word Set animal
see comment at sha
July 24, 2019
ry commented on the word sha
From a wikipedia article:
July 23, 2019
ry commented on the word thos
interesting; some conceptual commonality with sha aka Set animal
July 23, 2019
ry commented on the word raff
see also riffraff, scaff-raff, raffish
July 21, 2019
ry commented on the word well-wisher
cf. ill-wisher
July 21, 2019
ry commented on the word ill-wisher
cf. well-wisher
July 21, 2019
ry commented on the word welfare
cf. wofare
July 21, 2019
ry commented on the word wofare
cf. welfare
July 21, 2019
ry commented on the word paracope
Per the Century, this is pronounced /pəˈɹækəpi/ i.e., rhymes more or less with catastrophe
July 18, 2019
ry commented on the word automatic butt puller
The Frontmatec butt puller offers a much better control of yield by producing shoulder butts with uniform fat cover.
The advantages of the Automatic Butt Puller are:
· Higher productivity–up to 1,500 butts per hour
· Consistent product quality
· Designed for easy sanitation and maintenance
· Capacity to process left/right products with one machine
· Safe use for operator
https://www.frontmatec.com/en/pork-solutions/deboning-trimming/automatic-deboning-trimming/automatic-butt-puller
July 8, 2019
ry commented on the word poet laureate
Who was talking about Joy Harjo? Was it fbharjo? Today, Joy Harjo was appointed the US poet laureate by the Librarian of Congress and became the first Native American so appointed.
https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-19-066/
June 20, 2019
ry commented on the word magicaer
see also mage
June 7, 2019
ry commented on the word nonenal
name of a chemical found in the skin of older people, and used in caregiving as shorthand for a distinctive "old people smell." Discussed in this article.
April 20, 2019
ry commented on the word iono
eye-dialect spelling of a very relaxed pronunciation of "I don't know." Used as a text-speak abbreviation of same.
April 10, 2019
ry commented on the word sangschaw
*slaps knee* boy howdy ain't that a plum
April 9, 2019
ry commented on the word mfn
to wit, an abbreviation of motherfucking
April 9, 2019
ry commented on the word sangschaw
I want this to be the WOTD so qms will make a limerick with it and hopefully rhyme it with chainsaw.
April 9, 2019
ry commented on the list fantasy-setting
this sounds like a steampunk fantasy setting! Maybe this can help?
March 18, 2019
ry commented on the list is-this-a-dagger-i-see-before-me
chib
December 28, 2018
ry commented on the word tapetolucent
see comment at tapetolucence
December 24, 2018
ry commented on the word framistat
a nonsense word similar to doohickey or thingamajig
December 24, 2018
ry commented on the word engarland
also this one
November 15, 2018
ry commented on the word readd
where is that list of words that look like misspellings but aren't?
November 15, 2018
ry commented on the word dunderfunk
a triple rhyme wotd limerick. what a time to be alive.
September 14, 2018
ry commented on the word semihiant
cf. hiant
August 3, 2018
ry commented on the word teleolexical
—Erin McKeanJune 12, 2018
ry commented on the word Antum
There is a definition under antum. The consort of the sky god Anu in ancient Babylonian myth.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word Taprobane
pronounced tap-ROB-a-nee. Name used by the ancient Greeks, from the time of Alexander, to refer to the island of Sri Lanka.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word Taprobana
see Taprobane
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word lapis exilis
In ancient alchemy, a precious stone believed to cause the phoenix to renew its youth. Also referred to as the "slender stone." In the work of 13th-century minnesinger Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Lapis exilis is conflated with the Holy Grail.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word Molokan
A member of various Russian free-thinking Christian sects.
From Wikipedia:
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word vis inertiae
from Wiktionary:
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word roister
never thought I would like a piece of verse with the word 'moister' in it, but the conceit has now proven false.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word hypoechogenic
in medicine, refers to body parts that are minimally echogenic, reflecting less sound waves in ultrasound scanning.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word atramentum
obsolete form of atrament. In ancient Rome, atramentum referred to various types of black coloring matter, such as writing ink or octopus ink.
June 12, 2018
ry commented on the word amarevole
In music, "with bitterness;" "poignantly." Used as a musical direction
June 11, 2018
ry commented on the word retrocausation
see retrocausality
June 11, 2018
ry commented on the word glitch definition
PSA: I have been using this to tag "words" whose definitions that belong to other words entirely. Anyone else is of course welcome to do the same.
There are also alexz's glitched-definitions and TankHughes' this-definition-is-wrong lists.
Eyebeam is amusing.
June 4, 2018
ry commented on the list i-fold
vingt-et-un
June 2, 2018
ry commented on the word Sadalmelik
sa‘d al-malik "Luck of the king". An equatorial star, Alpha Aquarii, a yellow supergiant.
March 7, 2018
ry commented on the word Zaurak
Arabic, "the Boat". Traditional name of Gamma Eridani, a southern star, a red giant.
March 7, 2018
ry commented on the list just-one-thing
tie one on, one of the boys, got it in one, one day (or one fine day?) one-two punch, one thing after another, with one hand tied behind one's back
March 1, 2018
ry commented on the word ugly cry
phrasal verb, to effect agonized crying or sobbing with such "ugly" displays as facial grimaces or spasm, flush, hyperventilation, rhinorrhea, etc. Merriam Webster did a blog post about it.
January 19, 2018
ry commented on the list fictional-beasties
andrias
November 22, 2017
ry commented on the list steampunk
hard to believe it's been almost 5 years since the week that this list took over my life
November 21, 2017
ry commented on the user Jewelnik
see squiff
November 21, 2017
ry commented on the word pappy-mashy
obsolete slang corruption of papier-mâché
seen here
November 20, 2017
ry commented on the list kickassery
cf. Words that make me want to drink single malt scotch whiskey
May 6, 2017
ry commented on the word quagma
theorized phase of matter occurring at extremely high temperature and density, composed of free quarks. Could have been extant shortly after the Big Bang
January 31, 2017
ry commented on the list thwartmanteau
similar to cloud-mine
November 29, 2016
ry commented on the word banhammer
This word is still in high frequency usage in video gaming contexts, from my observation. Blogs and such, it does seem a little dated, recalling to mind things like Geocities and latter Usenet. I don't think it was much in common usage at all prior to 2000, though. It's not in the jargon file, which is telling.
November 24, 2016
ry commented on the word Sachlichkeit
see comment at Neue Sachlichkeit
November 23, 2016
ry commented on the word Neue Sachlichkeit
A German post-Expressionist style of art circa 1920s.
Although "New Objectivity" has been the most common translation of "Neue Sachlichkeit", other translations have included "New Matter-of-factness", "New Resignation", "New Sobriety", and "New Dispassion". The art historian Dennis Crockett says there is no direct English translation, and breaks down the meaning in the original German:
Sachlichkeit should be understood by its root, Sache, meaning "thing", "fact", "subject", or "object." Sachlich could be best understood as "factual", "matter-of-fact", "impartial", "practical", or "precise"; Sachlichkeit is the noun form of the adjective/adverb and usually implies "matter-of-factness".
November 23, 2016
ry commented on the word lightmans
archaic British cant slang, referring to daylight/daytime. cf. darkmans
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word kakistocratic
of, like, or in the manner of a kakistocracy
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word Aspinwall
obsolete American name for the city of Colón, Panama
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word kappa
I saw this word used in online conversations with video gamers. Fascinating article about how the word is used as a sort of emoticon indicating sarcasm or mild provocation:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-a-former-twitch-employee-has-one-of-the-most-reproduced-faces-ever/
The most interesting part of is how this usage derives, tortuously, from the Japanese folkloric kappa.
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word Palilicum
archaic name for the star Aldebaran
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word trabaccalo
see comments at trabaccolo
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word trabacalo
see comments at trabaccolo
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word trabaccolo
A type of shallow-hulled sailing coaster once used in the Adriatic as a cargo vessel. Typically about 20 meters long with a crew of 10-20. Also trabaccalo, trabacalo
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word peu de chose
French, "a few things." A trifle or trifling matter.
c'est peu de chose: essentially, "it's nothing; don't worry about it."
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word shithawk
I always understood this to refer to a person who stirs up trouble, and/or enjoys watching others argue and fight.
I found this which says it is "a person who does not prevent bad behavior," per students at University of Leicester (UK)
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word zedification
Can be used to refer to a somewhat vague linguistic process. See comment at zedify
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word zedify
from urbandictionary:
to shorten a normal word with the letter Z at the end. usually used in text messages or in chat rooms/instant messaging programs on the net.
2moz instead of tomorrow; soz instead of Sorry
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word Chewbacca Defense
perhaps a useful phrase for political discourse circa 2016...
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word merked
see comment under merk
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word merk
transitive verb (slang): to murder, literally or figuratively. From "mercenary." To "get merked" is to be killed; to be beaten badly (in a game, sport, or exchange of insults); or to become highly intoxicated.
November 22, 2016
ry commented on the word envirofactory
seems like the definition given ("positively influences the environment") would require the facility to produce something of value to the environment rather than simply doing no harm. I.e., solar distributed back into the grid, compost production, waste heat recovery, etc. etc. Simply having a zero-waste facility, laudable as it is, wouldn't fit the criteria given.
October 19, 2016
ry commented on the word cynical foul
Heard this watching football (soccer and Irish football). An intentional or tactical foul, i.e., with little or no intent to gain the ball but instead for breaking opponents' rhythm, stopping an attack, intimidation or sometimes even sheer bloody-mindedness
October 19, 2016
ry commented on the word phong
shorthand in computer graphics for Phong shading. Phong shading is an implementation of the Phong reflection model, which is a local illumination model devised by computer scientist Bui Tuong Phong in the 1970s that can produce a certain degree of realism in three-dimensional object rendering by combining three elements—diffuse, specular and ambient lighting—for each considered point (usually a pixel) on a surface.
Phong is the math behind that particular jelly-like sheen that is, or was, common to many computer graphics renderings.
October 18, 2016
ry commented on the word womp womp
A written representation of various trombone stings used humorously in television and film to punctuate instances of misfortune, stupidity, or awful jokes.
One example
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKdcjJoXeEY
cf. rimshot
October 12, 2016
ry commented on the list words-that-can-be-typed-entirely-with-the-left-hand
womp womp
October 12, 2016
ry commented on the word self-own
slang, noun. An act or instance of owning oneself, usually as an unintended consequence of some act—"own" in the sense of defeating, subjugating, embarrassing or otherwise achieving dominance over another (cf. pwn).
Often, a self-own is when someone inadvertently insults themselves due to unawareness of the implications of their own statement(s).
Not related to the political concept of self-ownership
October 12, 2016
ry commented on the word stuffie
cf. plushie.
Also a style of word-listing from back in the day: stuffie-the-castle-keep; stuffie-who-s-keeping-score; stuffie-monging; stuffie-picking-up-the-pieces
September 30, 2016
ry commented on the list phraseologue-one-two-punch
similar/related lists: collection-o-collocations, collocative-phrases, great-race-horse-names3, phrases--cool, junk-drawer--2
also used: Google ngrams (https://books.google.com/ngrams) and the COCA (http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/)
additionally some of these came from gulyasrobi's programmatically generated lists.
September 30, 2016
ry commented on the user hiteshkalwani1112
https://twitter.com/iamdevloper
September 29, 2016
ry commented on the word zyxnoid
seems like a kind of mountweazel, in a way
September 26, 2016
ry commented on the word dramady
this is usually spelled dramedy
September 26, 2016
ry commented on the word sabretasche
I've always seen this spelt sabretache
September 26, 2016
ry commented on the word aliquote
see aliquot
April 25, 2016
ry commented on the word renaissance-fair jazz
https://twitter.com/innesmck/status/714548822693789696
March 28, 2016
ry commented on the word hot second
Slang, a very short time.
March 23, 2016
ry commented on the word hot minute
slang. A very long time. Not to be confused with a hot second, which is a very short time.
March 23, 2016
ry commented on the word aspie
many persons diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome consider this an acceptable and even affectionate epithet. Some however do not.
http://life-with-aspergers.blogspot.com/p/disclaimers-and-definitions.html
February 22, 2016
ry commented on the word aspy
more commonly rendered as aspie
February 22, 2016
ry commented on the word kerflooey
I haven't heard that. kablooey is common. I say splooey. Or "it asploded"
January 20, 2016
ry commented on the word easy listening satanic
from a deleted wikipedia article.
http://gawker.com/the-10-best-articles-wikipedia-deleted-this-week-1749445064
December 24, 2015
ry commented on the word the man on the Clapham omnibus
from Wikipedia:
The man on the Clapham omnibus is a hypothetical reasonable person, used by the courts in English law where it is necessary to decide whether a party has acted as a reasonable person would — for example, in a civil action for negligence. The man on the Clapham omnibus is a reasonably educated and intelligent but nondescript person, against whom the defendant's conduct can be measured.
November 19, 2015
ry commented on the word paenula
see pænula
November 13, 2015
ry commented on the word reverse-spelunkering
shouldn't this be reverse spelunking?
November 13, 2015
ry commented on the word stickerbomb
to put stickers on walls in public places as a form of street art, vandalism, or both
November 12, 2015
ry commented on the list hats-off
chullo
November 12, 2015
ry commented on the word grindage
the consensus on urbandictionary is that this word refers to food, but after a cursory read through of Google search results, I conclude that it means whatever you want it to mean.
November 12, 2015
ry commented on the word Yaeyama
see comment at yaeyaema
November 12, 2015
ry commented on the word wordstrife
this should go on those "words about words" type lists maintained by some wordniks
November 12, 2015
ry commented on the word keraunophilia
a great fondness or paraphilia for thunder, lightning, and/or thunderstorms
November 11, 2015
ry commented on the word Fedexodus
It doesn't have anything to do with FedEx?
November 11, 2015
ry commented on the word sardonic
that must be one of the top ten etymologies I have ever read.
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the user ry
Hi everyone, by the way. How are you all?
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word cumberer
Or a county cumberer would be more alliterative. But you could also say maybe a borough burden. Or a burg blag? Or a local lackadaisical. a district drain. a parish pain point.
Sorry. Suggesting any kind of simple wordplay to me is like waving a chew toy over your dog's head
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word Tarascon
a commune in the south of France, population ~13,500. Legendary stomping ground of the tarasque in the 1st century CE.
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word -gasm
this is used to form any number of hyperbolic nonce words referring to a "climactic" level of enthusiasm for something.
see also eargasm, nerdgasm, joygasm
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word superfino
a sizing grade of arborio rice used in making risotto. The largest-grained varieties of arborio rice are termed superfino.
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word cumberer
weird, this word appears on Wiktionary but the Wiktionary entry does not appear here.
Noun
cumberer (plural cumberers)
Someone or something that cumbers
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word scheedam
archaic alternate spelling of schiedam, referring to gin.
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word z-stack
the "stack" of photographic images of the same subject, captured at different focal depths, used in focus stacking, a.k.a. z-stacking.
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word z-stacking
see focus stacking
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word focus stacking
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_stacking
"Focus stacking (also known as focal plane merging and z-stacking or focus blending) is a digital image processing technique which combines multiple images taken at different focus distances to give a resulting image with a greater depth of field (DOF) than any of the individual source images."
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word zedification
In French, this refers to the technique of "focus stacking" in digital image processing
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word piezostage
alternate rendering of piezo stage
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word piezo stage
"A piezo stage can be defined as a mechanical device driven be a piezoelectric actuator, which provides one or more axis of motion. In the case of nanopositioning, a piezo stage makes use of flexure hinges where a moving platform is linked to a static base."
whatever that means
November 10, 2015
ry commented on the word Blankshire
doesn't someone have a list of purely nominal locations?
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word strom
it keeps the malt in the vat.
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word détenus
oh hmm I've been tagging such words under glitch definition for a while now. i will continue to do so, no reason we can't have a list *and* a tag
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word car-warrior
Interesting word. All the citations above are from the Mahabharata. Various heroic figures in the story are repeatedly referred to as "car-warrior". Appears to be a translation of the Sanskrit ati-ratha where ratha literally means a chariot.
Can't find an actual definition anywhere, but reading some passages, it looks like these characters are all chariot-mounted archers to whom are ascribed supernatural levels of martial prowess and general badassery. I think the chariots are flying in some cases. There are a lot of connotations I'm sure I'm missing.
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word Kalebhut
I can't figure out what language this is from, but as shown in the citation, it meant "black devil" in a central Indian dialect as of 1919.
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word picklement
pickle (as in to be in a pickle–see Wiktionary definition #4) + predicament
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word Asterius
Alternate name for any of the Greek mythological figures called Asterion. Also a lesser known Greek Arian theologian of ancient Anatolia.
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word Asterion
Distinct from the anatomical asterion, this is the name of several Greek mythological figures, including two kings of Crete, a minotaur, and a river god.
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word chatoiement
don't know why I had this on my list of stuff to look up, but for the record, it's French, a noun meaning shimmer or shimmering
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word détenus
glitch definition. This is a French word meaning "detainees" or "inmates".
Lovely archival flickr content here.
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word vitivert
archaic alternate spelling of vetiver
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word tin mordant
from Webster's Revised Unabridged 1913: (Dyeing) stannous chloride, used as a mordant in dyeing and calico printing.
could go on lists of dyes/pigments.
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word nar
this is great. I wonder if it is derived from gnarly?
November 9, 2015
ry commented on the word culaccino
supposedly this is an italian word referring to the ring of liquid or condensation left on a surface by a beverage in a glass.
(http://www.omgfacts.com/theworld/16419/20-Words-That-Mean-Nothing-In-English-But-Mean-So-Much-In-Other-Languages)
November 3, 2015
ry commented on the word you may wait here in the sitting room or you can sit here in the waiting room
I'm great in the living room, but I'll live in the great room.
October 16, 2015
ry commented on the word hedcut
a type of illustration particular to the Wall Street Journal; a pen and ink head-and-shoulders portrait in a style mimicking the woodcuts used in early journalism.
October 16, 2015
ry commented on the word fanacle
a small temple or shrine
October 8, 2015
ry commented on the word pixelated
upset about how many times recently I've seen this word confused with pixilated. Otherwise reputable publishers in various media cannot seem to find proofreaders who know the difference.
October 6, 2015
ry commented on the word lumberjill
I nominate this for WOTD
October 6, 2015
ry commented on the list at-the-very-front
blue-sky thinking?
October 6, 2015
ry commented on the word mooseknuckle
also defined under moose knuckle
October 6, 2015
ry commented on the list a-particular-set
I want to read this book
October 6, 2015
ry commented on the word shot and killed
Late one night at home i was writing down ideas for a thing about postcolonialism or something like that and fell asleep. i woke up in the wee hours and the last paragraph i'd written unmistakably narrated a dream sequence, in some version of my handwriting, shaky but legible. Something about the Minotaur and my brother and a cargo ship full of hay bales? don't remember. i couldn't remember any part of the actual experience, but it was observed on some level obviously. i think i still have the page somewhere. strange
September 25, 2015
ry commented on the word schadenfreude
I don't know if it was already done between 2010 and now, but I have made a list of most listed words. I think schadenfreude continues to be the most listed word on this site.
September 25, 2015
ry commented on the word monomath
this reminds me of The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. from a few years back.
September 18, 2015
ry commented on the word burglarious
this was my first favorite word. I remember being pretty small, reading it somewhere, looking it up and becoming very enthused
September 1, 2015
ry commented on the list go-phrases
go to the mat, go for the gold, go big, go big or go home, go hard in the paint
August 29, 2015
ry commented on the word doodlesack
I got this from "Random Word" a couple weeks ago and had the same thought.
August 28, 2015
ry commented on the word epitrochasm
as in rhetoric(?)
August 24, 2015
ry commented on the list femmesque
grrrl/riot grrrl
August 20, 2015
ry commented on the word spunktrumpet
I think there may have been an upswing in usage starting with this:
http://metro.co.uk/2015/05/20/spunk-trumpet-and-10-other-rude-places-jokers-have-added-to-google-maps-5207192/
August 18, 2015
ry commented on the word spunktrumpet
I'm sure this is simply the newest variation on the theme of words like cum dumpster, douchecanoe, turd burglar, fucknugget etc.
(sorry for the profanity, I'm a fan of creative swearing)
August 18, 2015
ry commented on the word dogecoin
a half-serious alternative to bitcoin
http://coinmarketcap.com/
August 14, 2015
ry commented on the list three-toed-portmanteaus
I had that book.
July 24, 2015
ry commented on the word lying sack
this is a shortened form of lying sack of shit, that i've heard younger folks use here and there in the last few years. "Don't listen to him, he's a lying sack," sort of thing.
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the list the-verbing-nouns
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the word unsanitary
like "that sounds too unsanitary," or "an unsanitary choice of words"? I've definitely not seen or heard such usage.
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the word Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem
The rock/jazz/funk band of long standing on The Muppet Show and in related film properties.
Also a bar on Valencia Street in San Francisco, CA.
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the word Thirty-Machete Cheddar Element
this got some attention and so I was remiss in not mentioning that it's simply an anagram of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem which is itself an amazing bit of verbiage
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the word do a u-ie
to perform a u-ie, or U-turn
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the list phraseologue---x-the-y
oyez vendingmachine, I took off a few of your additions bc this list is actually supposed to be phrases that included the word “the.” But of the ones I took off, most are now installed on phraseologue and phraseologue---confabular-locutions, so your efforts are far from in vain!
But, I can't take off phrases that have apostrophes. if you see this can you take off beat one's brains out, blow one's top, break someone's heart, catch one's eye, and any others like that?
not sure what to make of anasmkaa’s suggestion...
July 21, 2015
ry commented on the user ruzuzu
so myriad led to banzai via tags and I added that...therefore banzai, ruzuzuzuzuzu
July 20, 2015
ry commented on the user ry
Sort of an opportunity here
any suggestions for what word I should list next?
July 20, 2015
ry commented on the word folkbiology
see comment at folk biology
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word folk biology
How people naturally classify and reason about the organic world, distinct from scientific biology.
"Humans everywhere classify animals and plants into obvious species-like groups...."
Folk biology (Wikipedia)
"The term "folkbiology" refers to people's everyday understanding of the biological world—how they perceive, categorize, and reason about living kinds. The study of folkbiology not only sheds light on human nature, it may ultimately help us make the transition to a global economy without irreparably damaging the environment or destroying local cultures."
Folkbiology (MIT Press)
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word credobaptism
adult baptism (to oversimplify quite a bit), as opposed to pedobaptism
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word uriposia
the drinking of urine.
(from urine + Greek posis, drinking)
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word uriposiac
see uriposia
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word shotblast
wait so would media blasting be an umbrella term that includes shotblasting, sandblasting and bead blasting?
I was just looking at a website that talks about this and they talk about blast media (as in, the media with which a surface is blasted) which is a super delightful phrase.
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word full fathom five
five full fathoms (~30 feet) under water, i.e, drowned, probably.
an English catchphrase, originally from The Tempest
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word vice-husband
a man who adopts some part of the role of husband to a woman who is widowed, separated, or otherwise unable or unwilling to (re-)marry.
Byron, BeppoJuly 7, 2015
ry commented on the word joglaressa
Archaic, a female troubadour or jongleur. Feminine of Old Provençal joglar.
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word anchialine
An anchialine pool or pond (pronounced "AN-key-ah-lin", from Greek ankhialos, "near the sea") is a landlocked body of water with a subterranean connection to the ocean.
Anchialine pool
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word cryptopolar
Describing a spore in which the distal and proximal faces have dissimilar sculpturing and lacks tetrad mark. Example: Calobryum dentatum, Haplomitrium hookeri.
Glossary of Pollen and Spore Terminology
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word shotblast
to treat a metal surface in order to clean or polish it, by continously impacting it with shot (round metallic, glass, or ceramic particles) impelled at high velocities by air pressure or other mechanism.
cf. sandblast
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word shotblasting
see shotblast
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word etourderie
thoughtlessness, blundering, absent-mindedness, or an instance thereof; a careless mistake
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the word hundo
one hundred. Usually in reference to US currency, i.e., a hundred dollars or a US$100 bill.
July 7, 2015
ry commented on the list phraseologue---x-the-y
markusloke — these are great...some of them I can't believe I missed.
June 24, 2015
ry commented on the word world suck
this noun usage of suck is also seen in the military catchphrase embrace the suck.
May 26, 2015
ry commented on the word cubics
a while back I worked at a meat+fish counter at a supermarket. One day a man with a distinct accent I could nevertheless place no more specifically than maybe South Asian, came and requested a cut of halibut. Cuts, rather: he wanted it coarsely diced. What he actually asked was that it be cut into "cubics" and repeated this word several times to ensure I understood. I always wondered if it was usage particular to some variant flavor of english, rather than a one-off malapropism
April 30, 2015
ry commented on the word take
see above in the Wiktionary entries:
"intransitive v. To have the intended effect; operate or work: The skin graft took."
March 3, 2015
ry commented on the word hell-bent for leather
see hell-for-leather
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the word mitraille
see also mitrailleuse
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the word noncat
i would like to nominate this for WOTD as an excellent example of the kind of spectacularly deadpan output lexicography often produces
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the list words-we-dont-really-need
*disapproves of the premise of this list while heartened at there being only one word on it*
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the word thirded
cf. me three
March 2, 2015
ry commented on the word rotative evitator
the elusive "palindrome-anagram poem" (cf. loons snool).
February 11, 2015
ry commented on the word chastice
the usual noun form of chastise would be chastisement, alternately the gerund chastising. Chastice is not a word in modern English. Unless you decide it is, say, a name for the hook attached to a rooster's feet in cockfighting.
February 4, 2015
ry commented on the word obvuto
http://copernicusnow.blogspot.com/2006/01/makin-up-words.html
February 2, 2015
ry commented on the list leximation--words-i-imagined
leximation!
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word orgiophant
one who oversees or presides over orgies. OED, I think
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word Fufluna
A land of fufluns? One can dream. This is actually an archaic Etruscan/Latin name of an archaeologically significant region of Tuscany, today called Populonia.
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word Tyrrhenia
Ancient name of Etruria
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word concinnitous
displaying or having concinnity
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word fastcraft
high-speed watercraft, often of hydrofoil, hovercraft, or catamaran design
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word porcupig
LOL
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word shoad-stone
"a small stone or fragment of ore made smooth by the action of water running over it." (1907 New American Encyclopedic Dictionary)
"Loose pieces of veinstuff lying about on the surface are known in Cornwall as shoad-stones; and shoading is the term given to the process of tracking them to the parent lode." (A Treatise on Ore and Stone Mining
Clement le Neve Foster, 1905)
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word metagrabolized
is this a legit alternate spelling of metagrobolized?
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word metagrobolized
cf. blutterbunged, addlepated
January 29, 2015
ry commented on the word slimskin
amazing!
for reference, see sea elephant
November 5, 2014
ry commented on the user ry
hi everyone!
November 4, 2014
ry commented on the list is-this-a-dagger-i-see-before-me
main-gauche
September 21, 2014
ry commented on the word vast majority
hmm, similar to the popular (but strictly speaking, mis-) conception of the meaning of lion's share
September 21, 2014
ry commented on the word terms of venery
collective nouns specific to groups of animals. see comment at term of venery.
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the word term of venery
per Wikipedia, the English tradition of specific collective nouns for different types of animal arose in the late Middle Ages and were originally referred to as "terms of venery".
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the word terror
yo, I was just looking at Wikipedia re: collective nouns and found out a fun old name for collective nouns specific to animals: term of venery
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the user michelledevilliersart
check out hairy eyeball
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the list words-that-shouldn-t-be-used-on-a-first-date
imagine a first date where all these words were used, though.
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the list strangely-exigent-phrases
bilby, erin, belated thanks.
September 12, 2014
ry commented on the word finna
reliable reddit. this is more like a cool 2004 word. not surprised it's in Wiktionary.
September 5, 2014
ry commented on the word dreadnoughtus
Hi long time no see Wordniks!!
Have you guys heard about this new dinosaur? Properly dreadnoughtus schrani, it's the “new” largest dino. I find the critter notable as much for the unwieldiness of its name as for its purported size.
September 5, 2014
ry commented on the word drop the mic and walk away
June 16, 2014
ry commented on the word infra-dignitatem
infra dig is actually far more common
June 16, 2014
ry commented on the word Uvid
great, thanks
June 16, 2014
ry commented on the word roll down a hill
June 16, 2014
ry commented on the word cast a wide net
to cover a large area and use a number of resources in searching for something; or to set a low threshold for selection or acceptance
May 13, 2014
ry commented on the list mapeupical-hipster-words
adorbs? (blech)
May 12, 2014
ry commented on the word putnisite
recently described unusual purple mineral. from Australia, natch.
http://www.popsci.com/article/science/unique-mineral-discovered-australia
May 12, 2014
ry commented on the word Yolo Swaggins
a humorous riff on the slang terms YOLO and swag (from Wiktionary: n. Style; fashionable appearance or manner), and the character Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the word rumbo
I enjoyed this limerick very much.
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the word fever-bright
mamagoose26 commented on the user mamagoose26
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the user mamagoose26
this kind of info is very welcome here! Normally you would place such a comment on the word's entry page. I'm copying your comment to the fever-bright entry, q.v.
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the word eat dirt
to fall on one's face, or to die.
May 8, 2014
ry commented on the word ayo
Not sure about that etymology, at least in regards to the vernacular salutation usage. I believe it's a contraction of "hey, yo"
May 2, 2014
ry commented on the word POWER! LIGHTNING STRIKES! SMITING!
ruzuzu's new favorite list
May 2, 2014
ry commented on the word cynogamy
wanted to check this out. some googling shows this word was probably coined by Cynic philosopher Crates, in reference to his marriage; both husband and wife were of the Cynic school. So it sounds like he was simply saying it was a "marriage of dogs", or of dog-like people, in other words, of Cynics. I don't think he was trying to connote retrocopulation. "Marriage" is a stronger translation of the Greek γάμος—gamos—than "coupling" (indeed, the IE root *gem(e)- is supposed to be "to marry")
May 2, 2014
ry commented on the word birth mother
does this really qualify as a retronym? I can't imagine there having been a time in human history when foster or adoptive parents weren't a thing.
May 2, 2014
ry commented on the word hindsighting
leveraging punch-out optionality would reduce synergy and damage my personal brand though.
April 25, 2014
ry commented on the word stdafx
glitch definition. this definition belongs under recombinant DNA, I believe
April 25, 2014
ry commented on the word vitrail
From Logolepsy:
Also, per earthmothercrafts.com's Bead Glossary, it "Refers to an iridescent coating or finish that is applied to only one part or one side of a bead."April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word lechuga
Spanish for lettuce
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word padeye
see pad-eye
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word ulicon
obsolete/alternate spelling of ulikon/eulachon
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word panchrest
same as panacea. from Greek πάγχρηστος, panchrestos, “useful for everything”. Found on Wikipedia, and on Google books (Encyclopaedia Londinensis (vol. 18), John Wilkes, 1821, inter alia)
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word yliaster
alchemical term. According to Wikipedia,
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word iliaster
see yliaster
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word ratchet
the slang term is definitely a misspelling/mispronunciation of the word wretched. With that rendering has developed a somewhat more specific usage, at least on twitter, as some kind of derogatory term for women. see the Urbandictionary entry.
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word emoji
I'm not sure the above etymology is correct. I always thought it was a Japanglish portmanteau of the emo from emoticon and -ji (meaning “characters”) on the model of the etymologies of romaji and kanji, quod vide.
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
i've also seen this used in reference to the haters gonna hate meme, and also to connote enthusiasm to partake in some activity, as though in a mad dash towards it. it's technically an emoticon or emoji
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the word listicale
see also listicle(?)
April 24, 2014
ry commented on the list not-quite-as-awful-as-they-sound
organ grinder?
April 23, 2014
ry commented on the word hindsight
see comments at hindsighting
April 23, 2014
ry commented on the word hindsighting
onsite today with new client; heard hindsight repeatedly verbed; blech
April 23, 2014
ry commented on the word fiscal shrike
see butcherbird
April 17, 2014
ry commented on the word butcherbird
fiscal shrike?!
April 17, 2014
ry commented on the word hornwood
wth, this is great. Trying to figure out what wood refers to in this context, and if it's the same as in wood-wroth
April 17, 2014
ry commented on the list words-i-made-up--1
I have a list like this one! — should be a word. Yours seem more plausible though. I might take a couple of them
April 17, 2014
ry commented on the list how-to-name-a-cat
I like cat as a name for a cat. If you have more than one, cat 1, cat 2...
I hope that doesn't sound mean spirited—i'm very much a dog person but i like cats.
April 16, 2014
ry commented on the word renied
past tense of reny
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word witches' broom
erinmckean / wordnik staff: can something be done about the glitchiness in lookups where an apostrophe is present in the word? Replace ' with ’ in all definitions and then also replace ' with ’ when search or word page urls are generated, similar to how the browser replaces space with %20? but actually no that's not server-side... hm (I hope it doesn't sound like i know what i'm talking about, b/c i don't). Anyway. It would be awesome if it were fixed.
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word weka
I wonder if wekau is somehow linguistically and/or cladistically related? Also, the Wordnet definition is boffo: "flightless New Zealand rail of thievish disposition..."
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word venomous
I like that a lot.
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word manic pixie dream girl
that article uses the phrase strip club terrorist act, which made my morning.
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the word eyeware
saw this in an optometrist’s advert. Typo, malapropism, or insufferably gimmicky marketing-speak?
April 15, 2014
ry commented on the list my-future-wedding-party
I want to add acrobat, theremin, Segway, and t-shirt gun but I don't know if this list is open open or just sort of open.
April 13, 2014
ry commented on the word loons snool
palindrome poetry(!?)
April 11, 2014
ry commented on the list hiding-places
check out loculus
April 10, 2014
ry commented on the word veronica
wow nice one, qms
April 10, 2014
ry commented on the list yourfriendinitaly
spam spam
April 10, 2014
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
rimshot
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
Does anyone know of a single word that means "member of the opposite sex"?
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the word crescentic dune
another name for barchan dune
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the user feeney147
if that's true, then you should know better than to spam-comment your links on sites like this—Google will ding you in results if it detects the pattern
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the user xeliumtech
spam spam spam
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the user salesh2010
Hi sales! welcome
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the word satanicus aquus
see jenny haniver
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the word adeptitude
<blockquote>roylej commented on the user roylej
I'd like to add the word 'adeptitude'.
It's a noun meaning 'the ability to become proficient' or 'an innate skill or proficiency'
It's been in use for a while. See examples here.
April 9, 2014
ry commented on the list hiding-places
hidey-hole?
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the word Tangiers’ angriest ingrates
Tangiers’ angriest ingrates astringe granites, reasting rangiest ganister gantries.
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the list vogon-poetry
see also vogon-anagram-poetry
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the list anagram-poetry
this list has gone from great to staggeringly awesome
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the word irideal
same as iridaceous
April 8, 2014
ry commented on the word feedback
I still want a block under "Related Words" that lists other word entries where commenters have linked back to the entry page you're on.
April 7, 2014
ry commented on the word friendster
this is the funniest glitch definition i have found
April 7, 2014
ry commented on the list gelignite-jack-blows-the-cellar
Canadian penny
April 7, 2014
ry commented on the word Gentleman Rabbit
see Tu Er Ye
April 4, 2014
ry commented on the word Tu Er Ye
A tutelary deity of Beijing, China. Depicted as a traditionally dressed anthropomorphic rabbit. Also transliterated Tu'er Ye and Tuer Ye; sometimes known as Gentleman Rabbit (in translation)
April 4, 2014
ry commented on the word bilby got chub tattles
(see anagram-poetry)
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the word bilby got chub tattles
it makes me think of an incomplete, particularly bizarre tabloid headline
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the list the-best-tweets-of-yugoyouth
in re: potate as verb, I guess no official definition as such, but there is potator and compotator
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the word flea
just want to say that I believe the limerick below was originally penned by Ogden Nash
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the word subtler bluster
I liked this one
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the list antlers
tine, tres-tine?
April 3, 2014
ry commented on the word Blorenge
ce n’est pas une montagne
April 2, 2014
ry commented on the word Blorenge
Blorenge or sometimes The Blorenge (/ˈblɒrɨndʒ/; Welsh: Blorens) is a prominent hill which overlooks the valley of the River Usk in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. It is situated in the southeastern corner of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The summit plateau reaches a height of 1,841 feet (561 m)
April 2, 2014
ry commented on the word sporange
A little late to the game, but how about Blorenge? I know, I know, kind of a stretch but I mean what else is there?
April 2, 2014
ry commented on the list agentive-clothing
not correcting you bilby, but this is how it played out in my headApril 2, 2014
ry commented on the list agentive-clothing
I've come to accept that—and as I type this it dawns on me that it may be a natural law on the order of every potential list is an existing list—that an open list may at any moment evolve unpredictably as an emergent behavior arising from adventitious contributions. And pretty much all my lists are open. So that's fine. I guess I should ask if ruzuzu wants to put pants back
April 1, 2014
ry commented on the list agentive-clothing
I imagine that's a different sense of "agency," i.e., supernatural agency (malevolent)
umm...pants? as in pantaloons? as in St. Pantaleon?
April 1, 2014
ry commented on the word sacrosancta
this definition goes not with sacrosancta but with biotic or the suffix -biotic
April 1, 2014
ry commented on the word taramosalata
yummmm
April 1, 2014
ry commented on the word clodhopper
cf. shitkicker
March 31, 2014
ry commented on the word cloudwords
ok SEO link-building (or whatever it is you were trying to do) =/= spam strictly speaking, but that's a copout. "Not my intention," indeed
March 31, 2014
ry commented on the word pseudorable
something to do, perhaps, with the uncanny valley?
March 31, 2014
ry commented on the word DaJuane
the above definition belongs under kümmel. Not sure what a DaJuane is.
March 28, 2014
ry commented on the word okra fondlers
that is amazing.
March 28, 2014
ry commented on the list specific-excrement
album graecum
March 27, 2014
ry commented on the list name-bank
spellbound. wishing for more.
March 27, 2014
ry commented on the list more-fun-than-a-barrel-of-pickels
pickled okra
March 27, 2014
ry commented on the user AION
welcome to Wordnik—hope my humorless, cack-handed attempt at a bit of friendly ribbing doesn't deter you from exploring all that this site has to offer.
March 27, 2014
ry commented on the word pickled okra
yummmm
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the word thaumazein
transliteration of an ancient Greek word, used by Socrates, meaning wonder
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the list things-i-never-find-at-rummage-sales-or-second-hand-stores
hey ruzuzuzuzuzu, can I jettison the contents of the-whole-wordnik-catalog here? I'm kind of not feeling that list anymore and I want to give it the deep-six, but some of those items I think would go nicely here.
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the list a-snotty-list
how about bulb syringe and nasal aspirator, apparatuses for removal of snot without employing, um, oral suction?
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the user AION
#megalomania
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the word pudeur
per google,
March 26, 2014
ry commented on the word autophage
from the autophagy page on Wikipedia, I went to a link that said there is disagreement as to whether things like nailbiting amount to autocannibalism. Pathologically speaking, that is. If you want to be super literal, yes, eating skin would make you a cannibal while hair and nails would not (since it's not "flesh" in the normal sense).
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the list lies--1
I like thinking about both Magritte and Duchamp questioning, in different ways, the power and role of representation. this sentence is false, paradox or nonsense? It reminds me that language is not only fun, but highly mysterious in its interplay of both constructing and being constructed by consciousness—with literature, art, and the sense of smell among the emergent phenomena (arguably) arising from that interplay.
Also i like Miro but his work always makes me think of Klee. i don't know what that means
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word immerde
the comments on bemute led me to conskite, beray, bescumber and finally immerd which appears to be the more common form of this word
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word immerde
This reminds me of a character in a historical novel (Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson), a rogue whose pseudonym was "<em>L’Emmerdeur</em>,” which I think can be translated as “the enshittener”.
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word lygeraste
did NPR specify the spelling? If this is a back-forming from lygerastia, wouldn't we normally spell it lygerast, in parallel with pederast?
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word coastway
I feel like I've heard this word many times, more or less interchangeably with coastline, in phrasings like "along the coastway," but I can't find very much at all in the way of citations/definitions. I wonder if it's a regional thing.
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word fourragère
—Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-FiveMarch 25, 2014
ry commented on the word fourragière
yes, that must be it. Thanks!!
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word culero
Latin American Spanish, equivalent to asshole
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word culera
see culero
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word autophage
an organism that engages in autophagy.
—Territories of Evil, ed. Nancy Billias, 2008March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word autosarcophagy
see autophagy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14849189
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word delutherer
discussion of this word on the English language Stackexchange site. Appears to be old Irish colloquial or dialectical variant of deluder, i.e., one who attempts to delude or obfuscate.
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word polychronicon
found on wordinfo.info:
see also Examples at PolychroniconMarch 25, 2014
ry commented on the word fourragière
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the word Shell fabric only. Solid colorways (non-wool): 1 test per fabrication Heathers: test all colorways Wool: test all colorways Report: (A): fiber content by weight as whole
ruzuzu, thx I wasn't sure if anyone was gonna get that—it was tenuous
Erin, thanks a mill (as in a million, not 1/1000 of a thanks)
March 25, 2014
ry commented on the list polychronic-liquidators--cyf
these people will probably try to sell the vomit.
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word Shell fabric only. Solid colorways (non-wool): 1 test per fabrication Heathers: test all colorways Wool: test all colorways Report: (A): fiber content by weight as whole
it's a sore spot, i'd rather not talk about it
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word Shell fabric only. Solid colorways (non-wool): 1 test per fabrication Heathers: test all colorways Wool: test all colorways Report: (A): fiber content by weight as whole
Can someone from the site help me remove this from my list inaugural-list? I accidentally pasted it in there and now I can't get rid of it.
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word sagan
NPR didn't get it quite right. one of Sagan's catchphrases was "billions and billions"; I'm assuming they figured this would have to denote no less than 2¹² + 2¹², whereas strictly speaking, 1¹²+1 is technically "billions". Math pedantry aside, the Jargon File v5.0.1 has:
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word sagittipotent
I think I agree but am wondering what the exact nature of its mouthfeel is. My source seems to be indicating sʌˌdʒɪtəˈpoʊtənt, while I would think it would be ˌsædʒɪˈtɪpətənt—kind of like "Sagit" in Sagittarius + "ipotent" in omnipotent
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word frounce
*France*
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word sagittipotent
—from <a href="http://deadwords.info/?p=881" target="_blank">the Dead Words</a>March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word cardinal-trilost
see trilost
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word wtf
to peruse the wtf tagging section is to go a-wandering in a ward of gibbering bedlamites
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word lip-sex
see comments at undisableable
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the word hemicorporectomy
*shudder*
March 24, 2014
ry commented on the list polychronic-liquidators--cyf
if anti-SPAM comes into contact with SPAM, do they mutually annihilate?
March 22, 2014
ry commented on the list the-whole-wordnik-catalog
so I decided that the more mundane yet unusual items needed their own list, while the "Whole Wordnik Catalog" is now solely a repository of the nonsensical, madeupical, farcical, and heretical; so that's how "Polychronic Liquidators" came into the picture. And by all means add any nonsense here that strikes your fancy.
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the list polychronic-liquidators--cyf
bilby, don't tag this SPAM. These people are on the up-and-up, despite appearances.
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word frankincese
tamale?
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word shade tree mechanic
found on urbandictionary.com. The definitions aren't too clear, but it sounds like it's a vehicle owner who performs their own repairs, or possibly any car mechanic who works independently at their home; as though in a yard, under a shade tree. Looking at the twitter content, either of those holds up.
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word nixie
retrotech has no official entry here but a while back i added some citations that make it sound to me like it'd lend itself pretty well to that idea, qms.
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word fuck you tube
mind screw you too
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word cosmocrator
see kosmokrator
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word kosmokrator
ancient appellation for a ruler, human or supernatural, of the world or of the cosmos. Also spelled cosmocrator
March 21, 2014
ry commented on the word dactylographic monkey theorem
another name for the infinite monkey theorem
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word therian
unrelated to theriac, but I just want to say that at first I was all "wait—therianthrope is so commonly used that it has a shortened form?" and then I looked at the content examples and I was all, "ohhh... furfans"
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word drunkship
collective noun for cobblers. A drunkship of cobblers.
(from oxforddictionaries.com)
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the list it-has-a-name
latruncular, survenue
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word shivoo
nice! possibly related to / derived from shivaree?
Also, happy anniversary! (your last comment was a year and a day ago)
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word cyclopean concrete
an installation of concrete into the matrix of which largish (>100lb) blocks of stone have been imbedded
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the list phraseologue---x-the-y
it's up to you. i seem to recall that the supposed double entendre in the lyric and song title was only ever speculative and was disavowed by the songwriters. yet it persists in the zeitgeist
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word fill in the blanks
1 to fill out a form containing blank lines indicating where data should be entered.
2. to resolve missing pieces of information necessary to complete a history or analysis of some event or occurrence.
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word fill-in-the-blank
adj. describing something that is essentially unchanged from one instance to the next, with only names or other particular details changed. cf. cookie-cutter
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word delirium loquaces
this is the best translation I could come up with for "chattering delirium"
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the list strangely-exigent-phrases
thanks yarb! i'm glad you're entertained
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the list phraseologue---x-the-y
hi madmouth! Some glaring omissions on my part and so thanks. i took the liberty of adjusting a couple of your additions to suit my orthographic cacoethes, hope that's ok. you're persona grata on my lists anytime
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the user santoshlmn
indeed it is
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word Drysdale's
this definition doesn't go with the word. I've been tagging such instances glitch definition, but I can't with this one, I think because of the apostrophe
March 20, 2014
ry commented on the word Humr
I went on a hunt for a pronunciation and was frustrated. However I did find that the Humr are an African tribe, one out of the grouping of Arabic-speaking nomadic cattle herding tribes known as the Baggara inhabiting the Sahel region. Humr means "the red ones."
see also Umm Nyolokh.
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the word moss piglet
see tardigrade, water bear
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the word trick-o'-the-loop
older Irish colloq., see strap game
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the word strap game
a swindle in which a strap or belt is folded at its midpoint, then rolled up tightly; the mark is enjoined to bet that he can arrest the unrolling of the strap when both ends are pulled, by inserting a pencil in center of the roll.
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the word feijoada
yum
March 19, 2014
ry commented on the list duplication-and-copying
you could always make your own list...
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word farting
Jeez, maybe I'm a whippersnapper or something; I can't understand why this (and fart) are tagged "offensive"? "Impolite" and "use carefully" I could agree with, but offensive?
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the list the-measure-of-man
curba, degree-day, dichas
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word sorra
as indicated above, the following definition is found under the Century Dictionary & Cyclopedia entry at sorrow:
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word lion-dragon
could go on your lists of heraldic terminology
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the list remarkable-wikipedia-categories
madmouth anticipated this list: list of mustard diseases
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word paralian
made me think of amphiscian
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word amphiscian
doesn't make sense that amphiscii is the plural of this word, because shouldn't then the singular be amphiscios (or amphiscius)?
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word golden sulphuret of antimony
found on dict.org<blockquote>Golden sulphide of antimony, or Golden sulphuret of antimony (Chem.), the pentasulphide of antimony, a golden or orange yellow powder.</blockquote>
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word fuming liquor of Libavius
March 18, 2014
ry commented on the word camoufleur
from Wikipedia:
See also comments under camofleurMarch 17, 2014
ry commented on the word camofleur
*facepalm* ...camoufleur is obviously the correct form. I think that is why I had little success finding citations.
Here is a google books search ngram showing that camoufleur is by far the more prevalent spelling; in fact the number of instances of camOfleur is below the threshold needed to appear in the graph.
March 17, 2014
ry commented on the word black-fox
see black fox
March 17, 2014
ry commented on the list cloud-mine
this is slide-spitting!
March 17, 2014
ry commented on the list retro-encabulator-tech-specs
this is amazing. thank you for finding this.
March 17, 2014
ry commented on the word rassclat
see comments at bumbaclot
March 14, 2014
ry commented on the word bumbaclot
This word is of Jamaican origin. In Jamaican patois it means ‘blood cloth,’ referring to a menstrual pad, and commonly is used as an expression of anger or annoyance, or a general derogatory epithet.
March 14, 2014
ry commented on the word hesperian
defined at Hesperian
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word Yeats's
another glitch. Wordnik seems to have some trouble with straight apostrophes in urls...
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word ludophone
coined here, I think: ludophones
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word hell-for-leather
fun variant: hell-bent for leather, which shows up on Wiktionary (but not reflected on its own word page here)
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the list drinkytime-or-that-most-happy-of-hours
I was looking for this list, and i found it
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the user bilby
didn't you have a list called "Drinky-time, or the most happy of hours" or some such? Maybe it was someone else...
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word camofleur
a military engineer specializing in the camouflage of structures
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the list femmesque
intrigante
March 12, 2014
ry commented on the word shivered
this could go on hernesheir's list of heraldry terms
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word shitfire
see note under spitfire
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word spitfire
interesting note about the development of spitfire/shitfire on etymonline.com; apparently “shitfire” originally appeared meaning cannon; “spitfire” was a euphemization of same. The reference to a volatile personality (one who “spits fire”) came much later.
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word shit-fire
see shitfire
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word Glasswipes
I like it. somewhat lessens the (subjective) vulgarity and specifically denigrates ability, intelligence and social standing where the other term is, depending on context, either a generalized and pointless epithet, or needlessly histrionic
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word will advise
— urbandictionary.com Word of the Day, 2014-03-11cf. please advise.
March 11, 2014
ry commented on the word farraginaceous
— Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms, Frederic Sturges Allen, 1920derived, I assume, from farrago.
March 10, 2014
ry commented on the word af
internet abbreviation of as fuck; as in, "cold af," "sexy af"
March 10, 2014
ry commented on the list flotilla
https://www.wordnik.com/lists/a-list-of-his-majesty-s-i-ships-i-and-vessels-in-the-i-royal-navy-i-1748
March 10, 2014
ry commented on the word scalder
ok, that's enough, I have to copycat hernesheir's never on Craigslist concept with my own list
March 9, 2014
ry commented on the list everyones-a-critic
most people say to read Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist... first, as a kind of ramp-up. then Ulysses (& only then, finally Finnegan's Wake). I don't know, i only ever read the first one in that sequence.
March 7, 2014
ry commented on the list personifications
I've now ransacked it! Thanks much ruzuzu.
I hate to add the capitalized words when they are already listed as lowercase forms but i have to go as the cacoethes moves me
March 7, 2014
ry commented on the word rap-full
could go on a list of sailing or nautical words
March 7, 2014
ry commented on the list k-man-pilkers
i empathize. i have a notebook like that. know it hasn't been thrown out but i haven't been able to find it for a couple years
March 7, 2014
ry commented on the word kill-devil
old term for rum
March 6, 2014
ry commented on the list k-man-pilkers
I'm reading these in his voice in my head, and giggling like a schoolgirl
March 6, 2014
ry commented on the word yemshick
The Czar, His Court and People: Including a Tour in Norway and Sweden, Sir John Maxwell, 1848 (archive.org)
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life Thomas Wallace Knox, 1871 (gutenberg.org)
March 6, 2014
ry commented on the word Karl the Fog
popular personification of the fog, mist, and overcast endemic to San Francisco and environs. Derived from, and incarnated in, a Twitter account of the same name
March 5, 2014
ry commented on the word light-ball
this is another one that could go on the great Never For Sale On Craigslist list.
March 5, 2014
ry commented on the list lies--1
agh i totally should have remembered that from art history...sometimes i think i feel my cultural literacy fleeing me. Or probably other minutiae more relevant to my current walk of life are usurping the neural pathways involved
thanks
March 5, 2014
ry commented on the list lies--1
hi ruzuzuzuzu so good to hear from you and i'm afraid my complete lack of a sense of humor is obturating my response. FYI "pipe" has a ribald slang meaning in French, but I'm sure you didn't mean that
anyway have a lovely day and thanks for the comment :D
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word hydrarchos
‘Like basilosaurus, pontogeneus was first recognized from “Dr.” Albert Koch's “Hydrarchos”, a 114-foot (35 m) skeleton he had assembled in 1845 from the fossilized remains of several different archaeocetes. Koch's “sea serpent” toured the US and Europe before being destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire on October 10, 1871.’
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word switchel
This sounds yummy
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the list suitable-names-for-female-pandas
I remember a goofy song that might have been directly inspired by this, or vice versa. Literally about a panda named Yolanda escaping from the zoo; the chorus went something like "Yolanda / nothing rhymes with you except Rwanda / another day we'd name you Amanda / but Yolanda sounds more Eastern European / which is nice"
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word vinegar-faced
I can't find a definition for this anywhere. But the imagery seems obvious: a puckered, pinched expression of fussy, Puritanical disapproval
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the list never-on-craigslist
thieves' vinegar?
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the list gobsmacking-words
This is great! Think I will tarry awhile here. Can I suggest: fnord, sbirro, and maybe drad
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word polish wal-mart
why has this been looked up 56 times
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word Annunaki
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: a name for a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures (i.e. Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian), meaning something to the effect of ‘those of royal blood’ or ‘princely offspring’. According to The Oxford Companion to World Mythology, the Anunnaki ‘are the Sumerian deities of the old primordial line; they are chthonic deities of fertility, associated eventually with the underworld, where they became judges. They take their name from the old sky god An (Anu).’
They don’t seem to be named specifically, and it sounds like there were purported to be some hundreds of them. So, to my mind, analogous to other cultures’ cohorts of demigods, angels, Titans, or what-have-you, but with a netherworld spin.
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word ananda
Sanskrit, Ānanda (आनन्द) – bliss, delight, peace. In Hinduism—well, there is a whole lot more involved in this concept and its nesting within the Hindu system of values than I can attempt to understand, let alone relate, at this time
March 4, 2014
ry commented on the word stop-action
alternate form of stop-motion
February 28, 2014
ry commented on the word zemi
Anyone working on a list of folk beliefs or mythological figures?
February 27, 2014
ry commented on the word Lucullan
i did mean to say earlier that rhyming Cuchulain with Lucullan was/is a stroke of genius warranting a slow clap if not three cheers.
February 27, 2014
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
Lucullan, Wagnerian, Byronic, Lynchian, Malthusian, Junoesque, Victorian, Dantean, Orwellian: can these legitimately be called eponyms? If not, is there a name for them other than "proper adjective"? I feel like there might be.
February 27, 2014
ry commented on the word lucullan
The entry is under Lucullan.
February 27, 2014
ry commented on the list thats-so-raven
if you add Odin, consider adding Huginn and Muninn, Grip, Kutkh, and possibly other raven figures of various cultures
January 21, 2014
ry commented on the word unfuckwittable
see comments at unfuckwithable
January 8, 2014
ry commented on the word unfuckwithable
more commonly rendered as unfuckwittable or unfuckwittible (from which the usual pronunciation may be gleaned) and definitely not coined on Wordnik; it was used in rap songs as early as 2001 (Too $hort, Talkin' Shit) and probably earlier.
January 8, 2014
ry commented on the word Dreizack
German, "trident"; saw this used (here) to refer specifically to the trident of Neptune/Poseidon
January 7, 2014
ry commented on the list it-s-wet-and-it-s-land-wetlands
lovéd
December 7, 2013
ry commented on the word Hiddlestoner
A fan of actor Tom Hiddleston.
December 7, 2013
ry commented on the word managerial we
From From Urbandictionary.com (can also be seen in the tweets at right):
1. managerial we
word of the day: November 24, 2013
When a manager says ‘we’ and means ‘you’
Bossman: We need to fix this
Wageslave: OK, should I set up a meeting for us?
Bossman: No, just do it. That was the ‘managerial we’; I meant ‘you’
November 26, 2013
ry commented on the word sleep tattoo
from urbandictionary.com:
1. sleep tattoos
word of the day: November 14, 2013
N. The markings on the body from sleeping for an extended period of time, caused by blankets, clothing, or any other thing one would sleep on. Commonly found on the chest, face, and arms.
person 1: I just had the best nap of my life
Person 2: whats that all over your chest?
Person 1: oh those are just some sleep tattoos from my blanket.
November 15, 2013
ry commented on the word thanatoptic
of or relating to thanatopsis
November 13, 2013
ry commented on the word extant
yeah, but it's spelled existent. and they don't mean precisely the same thing.
November 13, 2013
ry commented on the word saola
One of the rarest and most threatened mammals on earth has been caught on camera in Vietnam for the first time in 15 years, renewing hope for the recovery of the species, an international conservation group said Wednesday.
The Saola, a long-horned ox, was photographed by a camera in a forest in central Vietnam in September...
via NPR, November 13, 2013
November 13, 2013
ry commented on the list eccentric-girls-names
also names-for-female-strippers-pursuing-their-graduate-degrees
November 12, 2013
ry commented on the word krokodil
A Russian street name for the opioid desomorphine
November 12, 2013
ry commented on the word bankster
this word annoys me, I don't know why. maybe because I've seen it used one too many times by people who are more or less financially illiterate.
November 11, 2013
ry commented on the word wagabone
an eye-dialect variant of 'vagabond', based on an archaic lower-class English accent, seen in Dickens and elsewhere
November 11, 2013
ry commented on the word bend an elbow
today, a highlight of the usually jejune words-of-the-day posted by urbandictionary.com; meaning "grab a drink or smoke a cigarette".
Interesting that gulyasrobi already had this on a list of Old Western Slang.
November 11, 2013
ry commented on the list my-worse-half
This is wonderful. I can give you a few more candidates from the comics: Bizarro Superman, Grendel, Ghost Rider, Venom(?), Typhoid Mary...and I'll stop there.
November 6, 2013
ry commented on the word percontation point
Also known as irony mark or, sometimes, snark.
Can be approximated in some unicode fonts using the Arabic question mark, ؟
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word alpineer
read this in an article last night, can't find definition. possibly a nonce word; definition to the effect of "a mountaineer whose home turf is the Alps; or broadly, a mountaineer"
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word on the eve of
just before (an event).
See examples above.
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word take that, evildoer!
something fun to say when you accidentally bump, bludgeon or otherwise injure another.
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word foilsman
a person who uses a fencing foil; a fencer.
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word Mexclamation point
it's much more useful than "inverted exclamation point" or "signo de apertura de admiración"
November 5, 2013
ry commented on the word effractor
for your lists of criminals and scoundrels
October 24, 2013
ry commented on the word Racecar
a fan of the Yo, Is This Racist? blog and podcast
October 24, 2013
ry commented on the word link-building
What two-bit SEO marketers are trying to do when they post their clients' blurbs on Wordnik. Any site that utilizes user-generated content is liable to receive many of these not-so-wonderfully non sequitur ejaculations of advertising, the goal being not to win patronage from thee and me, but for Google to find such-and-such name in context on ever more and sundry websites and thus rank them "higher" in search results.
October 23, 2013
ry commented on the list erudite-neologisms
what language is this?
October 11, 2013
ry commented on the word we cool
a vernacular interjection-type phrase.
Posed as a question (sometimes as are we cool?) it means “do you understand,” or “do you have any disagreement or argument with me, or with (some issue)?” Often repeated back, in response, it confirms understanding, agreement, mutual accord. Spoken declaratively, it can signify that things are going well, conditions are favorable, or that the speaker is on good terms with another.
from Urbandictionary.com:
October 11, 2013
ry commented on the word NoCal
I think I've seen LoCal once or twice but SoCal is the construction usually used to describe that portion of the state.
October 2, 2013
ry commented on the user buckley0213
Does she do so in rhyme, to the accompaniment of sick beats?
September 26, 2013
ry commented on the word Realtor
I've heard it sometimes also pronouncedly pronounced "reel-a-tor"
September 22, 2013
ry commented on the word sueballs
Wordnik blog turned up this delight:
http://theweek.com/article/index/249725/kill-the-apostrophe
September 20, 2013
ry commented on the word papelard
oh ok, that's fine then. I was trying to make a reference to a recent tweet-recycling kerfuffle.
September 17, 2013
ry commented on the word SLOTH LOVE CHUNKS
This is a mangled Goonies reference(?)
September 17, 2013
ry commented on the word papelard
recycling words of the day, eh?
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the word undefined
undefined
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the word advermorial
I disagree that this should be banned; it seems a powerfully cynical, eviscerating satire-in-miniature of the practice it describes.
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the word burn with a low blue flame
1. quietly but intensely enraged.
2. very drunk; may refer to hair-trigger irritability or a metaphorical saturation with alcohol to the point of flammability.
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the user Cindyliamsan
sham poison ripoff whoops don't hippies lax violent gross boogers
September 15, 2013
ry commented on the user goldentraingletourspackages
They stole my wallet and left me for dead in an alley
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the user indiachardhamyatra
rude, shoddy, botch, simpletons, crap, difficult, ripoff
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the user palaceonwheelsindia
disaster confusing immoral degraded spam chintzy fake vituperative hacker ripoff cheesy discourteous duplicitous vapid truculence incompetent expensive spendy horrible negative perverted loser
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the word yiss
I think this maybe should go on the lolcats list.
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the word ewwy
adj.: that makes one say "eww"
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the word knucklebuster
I thought this might be a typo where knuckleduster was intended, but urbandictionary.com has a couple definitions which relate to working on cars under circumstances causing the technician's hands (including knuckles) receive cuts and scrapes. Looks like it may refer to the one performing the work, or to the vehicle itself.
September 5, 2013
ry commented on the word intelligencer
I was thinking about verbing and newspapers (bilby's citation below, as well as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer). Could intelligence be a verb?
September 3, 2013
ry commented on the word carbonite
also a fictitious substance used to "freeze" the character Han Solo in a state of suspended animation, in the 1980 film Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back; see the flickr content.
September 3, 2013
ry commented on the word slanket
a morally and aesthetically repugnant thing sort of similar to the Snuggie.
August 27, 2013
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
makes me think of animism, but that's not really it. Maybe resistentialism? :D
Or something that begins with "auto-"...
Unfortunately, wildcard search seems to be out of service here at the mo.
August 27, 2013
ry commented on the word moonman
colloquial name for the statuette given in bestowing of an MTV Video Music Award. Can be seen in the flickr stream below
August 26, 2013
ry commented on the word Iota
the reason for there being no definitions found on this page is because the word is capitalized. Wordnik is case sensitive and most entries are found under the lowercase form, e.g. iota (excepting of course proper nouns and such).
August 25, 2013
ry commented on the word mountweazel
so is this synonymous with nihilartikel?
August 21, 2013
ry commented on the word upsalite
"Making a mistake at work is seldom a good thing....Unless you work in Uppsala University, Sweden, where accidentally leaving equipment running over the weekend led to the creation of the most absorbent material known to man.
August 19, 2013
ry commented on the list oakland-creatures
There is at least one species of procyonid over there, and it's not the olinguito :D
Not sure if you moved to the Bay Area or just within it, but if the former, welcome!
August 19, 2013
ry commented on the word bakufu
walirlan, what is the problem here? It's not English. Whether it qualifies as English loanword from Japanese, or just a transliteration into the Latin alphabet of a Japanese historical term, there is nothing objectively wrong with the word.
August 19, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
the <img> tag doesn't seem to be working in comments. Either that or I'm doing something wrong. See the comment I just put on olinguito.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word olinguito
united in adoration of this ecstatic conjunction of zoology, English, and cuteness.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word bass-ackwards
This is an interestingly unique colloquialism. A deliberate spoonerism of the term ass-backwards; in being so, it both further evokes the explicit definition and partially euphemizes.
I feel like this word has been increasing in general usage, at least in the US.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word spoonerize
To make a spoonerism of (a phrase or pair of words).
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word bass ackwards
see bass-ackwards.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word literally
much like the Telegraph columnist, what I find most tiresome is criticism of this word's alleged misuse. It's such a low-hanging fruit, so easy to spot. But come on it happens all the time—let's also ticket everyone for not making complete stops at stop signs!
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word carbyne
A "new" form of carbon stronger and stiffer than any known material. Also known as linear acetylenic carbon, carbyne is an indefinitely long chain of carbon atoms that are joined together by sequential double bonds or alternating single and triple bonds (a polyyne). Detected reportedly in asteroids, and synthesized only in vanishingly minute amounts in a lab. Only a single molecule thick, meaning that, for a given mass of carbyne, the surface area thereof is relatively immense.
August 16, 2013
ry commented on the word olinguito
A small (~2 lb.) mammal, Bassaricyon neblina. Member of the raccoon family, native to Colombia and Ecuador, recently classified by scientists at the Smithsonian Institution. Named probably in relation to the olingo. Super cute.
Smithsonian article
August 15, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
Thanks for listening! I've just discovered that you seem to have fixed the thing where very large lists wouldn't load—for instance, outcasts loads in ~300ms! I'm ecstatic!
August 3, 2013
ry commented on the user testette
magnelephant
August 2, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
line breaks in my comments have absconded. por ejemplo, I left a comment on scowlful where I excerpted a poem and separated the lines with hard returns; now it seems to appear as one solid text block.
August 2, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
Wait, I can't edit my comments? I don't like it!
August 2, 2013
ry commented on the word feedback
you guys changed some stuff. I like it!
August 2, 2013
ry commented on the word little monster
a fan of Lady Gaga
July 31, 2013
ry commented on the word Blockhead
name for fans of New Kids on the Block musical group
July 31, 2013
ry commented on the word Cheesehead
a fan of the Green Bay Packers, an American football team.
July 31, 2013
ry commented on the word scowlful
Turned this up in Google Books:<blockquote>The musket gripp'd ; the brow firm set ; a scowlful smile of joy;
And shoulder square by shoulder, as of old at Fontenoy : —
Up ! where the battery-flash the heaven with battle-thunder stuns,
Where the swarthy cannoneers of France yet prime and point their guns,
Then on them with that levell'd steel, one charge . . . Too late ! ... the breath
Of war's red throat across the field has borne a waft of death.</blockquote>“The Death of Sir John Moore”, 1809, from The Visions of England by Francis Turner Palgrave.
July 31, 2013
ry commented on the word rackin frackin
see comments at rassum frassum
July 29, 2013
ry commented on the word sponsee
just saw this in a corpseak-laden document about an internal mentoring program.
I have deep misgivings about the word, engendering a crisis my usually laissez-faire attitude towards English usage may not survive
July 29, 2013
ry commented on the word rassum frassum
can't find a real definition for this, but here is an excerpt of an exchange on Yahoo! Answers—not the most reliable linguistic resource, I know—that nevertheless jibes with what I've heard:
What does "rassa frassa" mean? It was in an email from a co-worker. Is this Klingon? Or what? Thanks.
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
Madame M
It's supposed to be the sound of low-level, angry grumbling -- as mentioned above, Yosemite Sam says it when he's angry at Bugs Bunny. "Rassa-frassa-frick-frackin rabbit."
I can't find an etymology, but if you put it into a search engine, you'll get all sorts of complainers who are using it in their blogs to express discontent (-:.
Other Answers (1)
Ulquiorra
It's what Yosemite Sam says on "Bugs Bunny" when he wants to swear, except I've always thought he said "Rassum Frassum"
"rassa frassa" has ~15K exact results on Google where "rassum frassum" has ~21K.
July 29, 2013
ry commented on the word slangwanger
see slangwhanger
July 27, 2013
ry commented on the word have a horse in the race
Literally, to be holding a bet on a horse in a race. To have a stake in something, to have a vested interest. Most often used in negative constructions. The above phrase has approx 500,000 hits on Google, whereas have no horse in the race and have no horse in this race have 3.5 and 1.5 million hits, respectively.
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word sleeper agent
from Wikipedia
A sleeper agent is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but rather to act as a potential asset if activated. Sleeper agents are popular plot devices in fiction...
cf. sleeper cell
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word long con
"A long or big con is a scam that unfolds over several days or weeks and involves a team of swindlers, as well as props, sets, extras, costumes, and scripted lines. It aims to rob the victim of thousands of dollars, often by getting him or her to empty out banking accounts and borrow from family members."
from Amy Reading, The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, A Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con, Chapter One: Confidence via this Wikipedia article
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word R-ball
designer/typesetter/typographer jargon for the registered trademark symbol, ®.
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word steeplebush
is that supposed to be now, or does ow have a particular definition there? Obsolete spelling of oh?
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word penitentiary
tail stretcher?!
July 23, 2013
ry commented on the word chibouc
see chibouk
July 22, 2013
ry commented on the word chibouk
chibouk (chibouc)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Wordnik has the word "chibouc", undefined.
An 1838 illustration of a Turkish coffee house with patrons smoking from long-stemmed chibouk pipes, as featured in Travels in the western Caucasus by Edmund Spencer.
A chibouk (French: chibouque; from the Turkish: çıbuk, çubuk (English: "stick"); also romanized čopoq, ciunoux or tchibouque)1 is a very long-stemmed Turkish tobacco pipe, often featuring a clay bowl ornamented with precious stones. The stem of the chibouk generally ranges between 4 and 5 ft. (1.2 and 1.5 m), much longer than even Western churchwarden pipes. While primarily known as a Turkish pipe, the chibouk was once popular in Iran, as well.
(seen in story by Edgar Allen Poe)
(comment copied from CarlosG's list)
July 22, 2013
ry commented on the user walirlan
you must realize that in English there are many possible additions to words in the standard lexicon; nearly any word can take suffixes or prefixes altering its meaning, intenseness, part of speech, &c. &c. The number of possible permutations is nearly unlimited. Therefore most dictionaries and reference works do not contain entries for many words which are, strictly speaking, allowable in standard English; words which do not usually, but may conceivably, have additions like -ish, -ment, -ness, -ly, -liest and so forth. For a reference work (or website) to omit such entries is not a failing. It is your responsibility as an informed reader or student to deduce any definitions that may be missing in such cases from the combined definitions of the base word and the combining form/suffix/prefix/whatever (or seek out a more comprehensive reference, such as the OED or another unabridged dictionary). Please do feel free to add comments here offering any such deductions, under the word's entry as you have been doing, but comments in a continuous stream expressing surprise that this or that bizarre term is "missing," may become wearisome to others who are viewing them all over the Community page.
Also it helps if you ensure you are spelling the word correctly.
July 21, 2013
ry commented on the word Incongruity
see incongruity
July 21, 2013
ry commented on the word offbeatness
Don't be. Dictionaries and reference works often omit entries for all possible inflections and combinations of works like offbeat plus such suffixes as -ness, -ment &c. Having entries for the suffixes themselves is sufficient; the minimally apperceptive reader can break down any word not having its own entry into its component parts, look each up, and devise the definition for themselves. Otherwise the dictionary would be overflowing with entries for possibly less useful words like confutableness, or whatever.
July 20, 2013
ry commented on the list facelift-baltimore
spam
July 20, 2013
ry commented on the list double-dactyls--1
you will enjoy this list!
July 20, 2013
ry commented on the user william100
sounds a little bit like the English word grandstanding.
July 18, 2013
ry commented on the word stomatodeum
stomodeum
July 16, 2013
ry commented on the word draeger
A kind of gas mask used in coal mines. In Miracle at Springhill, Leonard Lerner, 1960, the name is said to have originated in Nova Scotia and to be "derived from that of a German scientist, Alexander Bernhard Draeger, who invented a type of special equipment for breathing in a mine choked with gas." See comments at draegerman.
July 16, 2013
ry commented on the word draegerman
"In the technical jargon of Maritime coal-mining operations, a draegerman is a specially trained rescue worker. A draeger was a gas mask that permitted descent into tunnels where poisonous seepage had occurred." Casselman's Canadian Words Bill Casselman, 1995.
"To those who are unfamiliar with coal mining, it should be explained that a draegerman is a particularly skillful and robust young miner who has been specially trained in rescue work." The Atlantic Monthly #158, 1936.
July 16, 2013
ry commented on the word galdragon
per balkaar.com (?!) "An obsolete Shetland word for a witch or sorceress"
Also turned up in a Google Books search, in A Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, Volume 1 by John Jamieson, 1825: "...this designation is given to a pretended sybil or prophetess..."
Found in works of Sir Walter Scott via same search.
July 16, 2013
ry commented on the word STOP
how poignant.
July 15, 2013
ry commented on the word boke
see also boak.
July 15, 2013
ry commented on the list contemporary-character-classes
thanks for the additions, ruzuzu and bilby
July 12, 2013
ry commented on the list environment--4
Where did you find all these? hippocratic face! Thank you.
July 11, 2013
ry commented on the word mongol
how so?
July 11, 2013
ry commented on the user iampolo
what the heck
July 8, 2013
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
alexz I also originally posited a single word, like litotes, pleonasm, &c. But now that I've been down the rabbit hole and spent far too much time looking at lists of rhetorical figures and such, I'm no longer sure there exists a single word that describes it.
Perhaps it's time for some pseudo-Greek coinage!
July 8, 2013
ry commented on the word down the rabbit hole
see rabbit hole
July 8, 2013
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
telofy's rhetorical figure is still a mystery to me. Something like cherry picking a straw man, but with the opposite intent.
July 6, 2013
ry commented on the list mythic-america
Oh this is great.
the phrase how the west was won might go here, although it might be superfluous with manifest destiny and march to the sea. I'm also thinking of the phrase the old, weird America but it's more about folk music than any historical event(s), so maybe not
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the word inkhorn
Some neurological sequela is forcing me to specify that Inkhorn Leghorn would be Foghorn Leghorn's city cousin.
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the word monsterful
amazing, wonderful (from http://obsoleteword.blogspot.com/)
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the list time-travel
chronic hysteresis loop
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the list lost-for-word
hi sequin! You were close—semantic satiation is the phrase; also I think jamais vu can encompass it.
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the word identity does not exist
Got this error message from a database today, evoking an existential crisis
July 3, 2013
ry commented on the list rosenfield-titles-of-attribute
chancellor of charm, earl of erudition?
July 2, 2013
ry commented on the word fames artium magistra
"hunger is the teacher of skills"; cf. necessity is the mother of invention
July 2, 2013
ry commented on the word better than a sharp stick in the eye
see better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick
July 1, 2013
ry commented on the word hoplophile
wow this is just the word I needed a couple of days ago when I commented on tack-driver. In fact, I'm gonna edit that comment
July 1, 2013
ry commented on the word eccedentiast
"one who presents the teeth," a person who smiles falsely or forcedly. A neologism probably coined by novelist Florence King in a column in The National Review.
June 29, 2013
ry commented on the word ASMR
See autonomous sensory meridian response; note the citations above all refer to "Age Specific Mortality Rates".
June 28, 2013
ry commented on the word autonomous sensory meridian response
a physical sensation, similar to frisson, caused by stimuli varying from person to person; having one's hair cut close with clippers about the nape of the neck is a common example. Not recognized by science but widely discussed on the internet (1 2 3). Usually called ASMR.
June 28, 2013
ry commented on the word tack-driver
seems to be a go-to metaphor amongst hoplophiles.
June 28, 2013
ry commented on the list is-this-a-dagger-i-see-before-me
balarao, adargue, caniple, bidogyn, baslard, semispata, cultellus, acinaces, skean, custil, misericordia, kuttar, panade, couteau, anlace, sax
June 25, 2013
ry commented on the word inymph
yeh, It's not in any reliable reference site, I think it's a case of spurious info propagating thru the interwebs...but who am I to stop that process. Who knows, before too long it may be the official name.
But I think it came from this document, or one like it. It shows up as inymph in google. but if you open the link and find the sentence, it just says "nymph".
June 25, 2013
ry commented on the word inymph
I think this might be an OCR error, not a real word, judging by the Google hits :(
June 25, 2013
ry commented on the word get on the stick
to force oneself to act.
used as an imperative, the speaker is demanding action on a particular item within the interlocutor's purview. The implication is the speaker desires that they be all over it like a cheap suit or perhaps like white on rice.
June 24, 2013
ry commented on the word wekau
a funny animal with a silly name and it's not listed anywhere!
June 24, 2013
ry commented on the word chaotropic
ooh shiny
June 24, 2013
ry commented on the word Vandemonian
see vandemonian
June 24, 2013
ry commented on the word Chironian
having to do with either the mythological centaur Chiron, or the astronomical centaur (see 2nd definition in Wiktionary entry under centaur) designated 2060-Chiron.
June 23, 2013
ry commented on the word Heimaey
from Wikipedia:
Heimaey (-is), literally Home Island, is an Icelandic island. At a size of 13.4 km² (5.2 sq. miles), it is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, and the largest and most populated Icelandic island outside the main island of Iceland. Heimaey lies approximately 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) off the south coast of Iceland. It is the only populated island of the Vestmannaeyjar islands, with a population of approximately 4,500.
June 23, 2013
ry commented on the word apollolyra
This is defined under, and is linked to from, psalm-melodicon. A couple more for the musical instrument listers!
June 21, 2013
ry commented on the list fight-scene-words
alexz: have you perchance perused the Arsenal for Civil Defunse list? I think you might like it.
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the user calypso27
well thank you for 1) the kind words 2) listening to my didactic rambling 3) giving me a nice list to add words to. I'm off to check out the rest of your lists, then...
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the word rounceval
possible derivation of runcible?
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the word coozie
see koozie.
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the list the-hotlist
this is the kind of insight for which I rely on you.
I like "PwnCloudr". I think I'd be glad to get in at the ground floor at PwnCloudr, and be blithely paid in stock options
June 20, 2013
ry commented on the word raprich
seems not unlike rapprochement(?)
June 19, 2013
ry commented on the list fight-scene-words
See also these lists:
Violence
Words that hurt
June 18, 2013
ry commented on the word lexologica
possibly a variation on lethologica?
June 18, 2013
ry commented on the user niktool
we're talking about words!
June 18, 2013
ry commented on the word psithurysm
see psithurism
June 18, 2013
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