I've had a sort of longing for Norway since seeing a few snapshots taken from someone's apartment window; it was an understated little town, but you could see the sea, and everything was so beautiful.
Oh yes. Perhaps "captial" (the original typo) should be the word for fault-finding capital letters. (Just did it again! I think my fingers have a thing for a-p-t.)
Characterized by spasmatic displays of ancient sculptural artistry in the embossing, chasing, and relief-work, etc. of ivory and metals. (Fr. toreutics, the aforementioned ancient art.)
Of those seeking newer and more efficient ways to act variously as freakishly productive and hopelessly frazzled wonderloons and worry their loved ones. Cf. manic-regressive.
Oho, yes. One compound ending in fracteur (looked lithofracteur up; the root is Latin fractor, 'breaker,' shared with fracture). It still makes no sense as a noun here: protecting breakage from damp? Protecting crack from damp? Splinter? The euphonic substitution of a diphthong for a simple vowel, owing to the influence of a following consonant? *dizzied*
"The Train-oyl runs into the Warehouse into a Vatt, whereout they fill it into Cardels or Vessels..A Cardel or Hogshead holds 64 Gallons." (1694Acc. Sev. Late Voy., 1711 ed.)
"The Dutch..took 57,590 whales, yielding 3,105,596 quardeelen of oil..A quardeel of oil contains..from 77 to 90 imperial standard gallons." (1857Polar Seas & Regions, ed. 20)
"Fracteur" is nowhere in the online OED — could it be related to fractable, "A term used, in the middle ages, for the crest table or coping running up and down the gables of a building?" It's the only thing that suggests shelter; everything else, predictably, relates only to fracture.
A perennialherbaceous plant of the genus Vriesia (family Bromeliaceæ), native to South or Central America and bearing rosettes of linear leaves and spikes of yellow, red, or white flowers. From the name of W. H. de Vriese (1806-62), Dutch botanist.
Apparently from Dutch poppekak, literally "doll's excrement," as in zo fijn als gemalen poppekak, "as fine as powdered doll's excrement" (showing excessive religious zeal, etc.).
Obs. A small vessel* resembling a pink — a small sailing vessel, usually having a narrow stern; specifically (a) a flat-bottomed boat with bulging sides, used for coasting and fishing; (b) a small warship in which the stern broadens out at the level of the upper deck to accommodate quarter guns, used esp. in the Danish navy. — in construction.
*Snow, as in, a small sailing-vessel resembling a brig, carrying a main and fore mast and a supplementary trysail mast close behind the mainmast; formerly employed as a warship.
A very large citrusfruit (also called shaddock), the fruit of Citrus maxima, which has a thick, loose rind and coarse, dry pulp, and is an ancestor of the grapefruit; Also: a grapefruit. Also: any of the trees producing these fruits.
Originally, in Middle English, Old French, Breton, Welsh, Cornish: elephant. The refashioning of oliphant after Lat. elephantum seems to have taken place earlier in England than in France, the French forms with el- being cited only from the 15th century.
S. Afr. n., A femaleemployer; also as a term of respect used by a subordinate to address a woman in authority. (Female equivalent of Dutch baas, from which we get boss.)
adj., Of a place: overgrown with nettles; Suggestive of nettles or their flavor, etc.; Of a person: irritable.
(Nettle + -y. Dutch netelig, 'tricky, ticklish, delicate,' could perhaps be a parallel formation, but is not recorded in the literal sense, and many etymologists connect it instead with Middle Dutch and Middle Low German nīten, 'to hit, push.')
S. Afr. colloq. Chiefly (as interrogative particle): "isn't that so?" Also, in recent use, for emphasis without interrogative implication. Comparable to "no?"
Also (obs.), an old Dutch and (in later use) South African dry measure of capacity, varying in amount but usually equivalent to about three bushels (approx. 109 litres).
Well, yes, but I can't imagine caring enough about a bag of grapes to carry them all the way (and, if you drove, it's downright silly to assume you'd bring them inside).
Used by John Ruskin — "As mere accidental stays and impediments acting not as wealth, but (for we ought to have a correspondent term) as 'illth' " — and later, such as in George Bernard Shaw's Fabian essays in Socialism, as the reverse of wealth in the sense of "well-being": ill-being.
The world; the earth as a middle region between heaven and hell; (also) the inhabitants or things of the world, esp. as opposed to those of heaven; worldly things as opposed to divine or spiritual things.
The right of the king or the lord of a port to purchase part of a merchant's merchandise at the same price the merchant paid for it. In modern use, understood as: a tax or toll levied on merchants.
Hence, also lovecopfree: exempt from paying lovecop.
Dung, excrement, filth; evil, wickedness, mischief; an evil thing, an evil deed; an evil person (from all over the place: Old Frisian qu�?d, excrement; West Frisian kwead, wicked; Middle Dutch quaet, evil; Middle Low German qu�?t, evil, filth..).
OED says: Adapted from med.L. hon�?rific�?bilitūdinit�?s , a grandiose extension of hon�?rific�?bilitūdo, 'honorableness,' from hon�?rific�?bilis, 'honorable.' The L. abl. pl. hon�?rific�?bilitūdinit�?tibus has been cited as a typical long word, as well as hon�?rific�?bilitūdinit�?te before it, by Dante (De Vulgari Eloquentia II).
OED says "Apparently so called on account of the shape of the spoon, although this is uncertain and disputed. Such spoons usually had a hooked stem with a front boss, and a relief image on the surface of the bowl appropriate to the occasion being celebrated."
For comparison, apostle spoon is listed — "old-fashioned silver spoons, the handles of which ended in figures of the Apostles; the usual present of sponsors at baptisms."
Strangely, an old term for "banana." There was "a very old European variety of apple having yellow fruit, borne on a small tree" called the same, but Dutch paradijsappel, French poume de paradis and Spanish mançana del paraíso all meant "banana."
v.i., Of a couple: to sit up together at night as a recognized part of courtship — couples would sit together by candlelight for a period of time determined by the length of a burning candle provided by the courted woman's family. An Afrikaner (originally Dutch) courtship custom practiced in the province of North-Holland in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, and current in South Africa well into the 20th.
Literally, "oil cake" — a small ball-shaped cake made of sweetened dough and traditionally fried in lard (similar to a doughnut), originating in Dutch cookery and introduced to America by Dutch settlers in New York.
A type of decorative silver ladle made to commemorate a wedding, christening, or funeral among people of Dutch origin living in the Hudson river area of the United States.
A courteous form of address to a married Dutch or Afrikaans woman; madam, mistress, milady. Also, a title given to a married Dutch or Afrikaans woman, esp. a teacher.
Also witblitz; home-brewed brandy, a strong and colourless raw spirit. (Irregular Afrikaans, fr. Dutch wit white + German blitz lightning — white lightning!)
Obs. A popular corruption or perversion of the Dutch Hoogmogendheiden, 'High Mightinesses,' title of States-General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. (Hence, any grandee or high and mighty person: used humorously or contemptuously of a person in power or who arrogates or affects authority, or a Dutchman of this sort.)
An obsolete game with a ball or bowl, prohibited in many successive statutes in the 15th-16th centuries. From 16th c. Dutch lexicographers and descriptions, it appears that the bowl used in the game had to be driven by a spade- or chisel-shaped implement, the klos-beytel, through a hoop or ring, as in croquet.
A name given by the Dutch settlers to a large Antelope (A. leucophæa) in South Africa for the effect produced by the animal's black hide showing through its ashy-grey hair. (From blaauw blue + bok buck, he-goat.) Also blue-buck.
As a polite or respectful form of address to a Dutchman or an Afrikaner: sir, mister (Mr). Also used as a title or sometimes substituted for the name of the man or the pronoun that would stand for this. (In Brit. use, often humorous or ironic.)
A Dutchman, an Afrikaner; esp. one who is a gentleman. Occas. collectively: the Dutch, the Afrikaners.
*Lupulin = Small shining grains of a yellowish colour found under the scales of the calyx of the hop; The bitter aromatic principle contained in the hop, also called lupulite.
The opeidoscope consists of a tube closed at one end by a taught membrane with a small mirror attached to its center, which vibrates in response to sound entering the tube at the open end, thereby causing a spot of light reflected by the mirror on to a screen to vibrate with varying amplitude and frequency according to the intensity and frequency of the sound.
A member of the sect founded by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (subsequently known as the Osho-Rajneesh movement, which combines elements of various religious traditions with Western philosophy and a countercultural critique of traditional morality.
Sunday Herald (Chicago), 1986 — "Informants have accused the Rajneeshees of spiking the salad bars of restaurants in The Dalles with salmonella-causing bacteria."
Oh, you! Not entirely — Probably < early Scandinavian (cf. Icelandic nirfill miser (17th c.), Norwegian regional nørle small conceited person, nurvil small thick-set person, Swedish regional nyrvil naughty boy, changeling), app. < the Scandinavian base of Norwegian regional nurv small thick-set person (of uncertain origin) + the Scandinavian base of Norwegian regional -le suffix.
I'm sure Ballyhooly is lovely! There are two "apparently"s in there. And the entry is marked as "DRAFT ENTRY June 2008," for whatever that's worth.
But yes, as recently as 2002 — "It was pandemonium. It was Donnybrook Fair. It was all ballyhooly let loose." (J. O'Neill, At Swim, Two Boys), and as early as 1837 — "By Jasus! he gave him Ballyhooly, the d—d insolent son of a sign-painter!" (Tait's Magazine)
Oh! In regard to your Belistful list: the be- prefix's entry I just ran across in the online OED has hundreds of words in — they let subscribers email non-subsribers with links to let them access an entry for three days; I immediately thought to ask the owner of that list if they'd like one to be-'s entry! (You can email me at <snipsnipsnip> if you'd rather not post yours here.)
A fishpond; or, a stone basin for draining water used in Mass, found chiefly in Roman Catholic churches (including some pre-Reformation churches now used for Protestant worship).
Obs. trans. v., To embody in bread. (In Eucharistic theory, impanation is a local presence or inclusion of the body of Christ in the bread after consecration.)
The OED says: "Apparently from Ballyhooly (Irish Baile �?tha hÚlla), the name of a village in County Cork, Ireland, apparently formerly notorious for faction fighting, although this may reflect a later rationalization of the word."
Mina; a monetary unit formerly used in Greece and the Middle East, equivalent to the weight of one mina in silver. (Fr. classical Latin mina, fr. ancient Greek mna.)
A new dictionary of the terms ancient and modern of the canting crew, a. 1700 — "a Doctor, Surgeon, or Apothecary, or any one that cures a Clap or the Pox."
Obs. n. or adj., A fossil or extant foraminiferan of the genus Nummulites (now sometimes included in the genus Camerina) or a related genus, having a calcareous skeleton typically in the form of a flat spiral resembling a disc, numerous in certain Tertiary strata; of or relating to nummulites; (of a deposit) containing nummulites; nummulitic.
I certainly didn't expect this to mean what it does! OED says it's from Portuguese pequeno, small — the word is evidently one of those diffused around the Atlantic coasts through the Portuguese-based pidgins associated with trade (and esp. the slave trade) in the 17th century.
A French poetic movement of the early twentieth century which emphasized the submersion of the poet in group consciousness and was characterized by simple diction, absence of rhyme, and strongly accented rhythms.
Ooh. It appears gangerh's guesstimation-faculties are twice as capacious as other participants'! (—Intimidating! Though I do still hope I'm around for the next one, no matter who it entails badly losing against! :>)
Also wallydrag, wallidrag, -draggle, -dragle, -tragle, warydraggel, -draggle, etc. (Cf. drag, draggle)
1808 J. Jamieson, An etymological dictionary of the Scottish language — n., A feeble, ill-grown person or animal; a worthless, slovenly person, esp. a woman.
"It appears primarily to signify the youngest of a family, who is often the feeblest. It is sometimes used to denote the youngest bird in a nest."
1826 J. Galt, Last of the Lairds — "It's just like a cuckoo dabbing a wallydraigle out o' the nest."
1873 W. Alexander, Johnny Gibb — "Yon bit pernicketty wallydraggle!"
Oh yes! I have a longstanding love for Cat Power particularly; What Would the Community Think is one of those rare albums I love straight through, but: her first through You Are Free all see a good amount of play around here, and pieces of the Covers record—her "Bathysphere" and "Red Apples" were my (glowing) introduction to Smog.
I wasn't expecting anyone would ask that. :) Hooray for.. "slowcorist"s? and their appreciators.
Phone-posting from the car to say that I am in fact gone now (see above)! Shine on, you crazy diamonds! (Christ that took forever to type; I`m getting used to a newfangled QWERTYboard.)
Yes, that'd bound to be ridiculous! Though, in the case of non-actions, if it went that way, I guessed people would add universally _____d things rather than "hurr, baseballs :D"
Oh? ...Oh.—Oh! Ha!—An uninvited h! "Thruthfully" indeed! Of course. Hellothere.
Iii wonder where the word for 'words taking that stealthy turn to nonsense-soup as things get more and more sleepy and not-sleeping' went; it'd be useful.
' "Now one can breathe more easily," said the Knight, putting back his shaggy hair with both hands, and turning his gentle face and large mild eyes to Alice. She thought she had never seen such a strange-looking soldier in all her life. '
'Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. "They've a temper, some of them— particularly verbs, they're the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!"
"Would you tell me, please," said Alice "what that means?"
"Now you talk like a reasonable child," said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. "I meant by 'impenetrability' that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life."
"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
"When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."'
'So they walked on together though the wood, Alice with her arms clasped lovingly round the soft neck of the Fawn, till they came out into another open field, and here the Fawn gave a sudden bound into the air, and shook itself free from Alice's arms. "I'm a Fawn!" it cried out in a voice of delight, "and, dear me! you're a human child!" A sudden look of alarm came into its beautiful brown eyes, and in another moment it had darted away at full speed.'
'"Crawling at your feet," said the Gnat (Alice drew her feet back in some alarm), "you may observe a Bread-and-Butterfly. Its wings are thin slices of Bread-and-butter, its body is a crust, and its head is a lump of sugar."
"And what does it live on?"
"Weak tea with cream in it."
A new difficulty came into Alice's head. "Supposing it couldn't find any?" she suggested.
"Then it would die, of course."
"But that must happen very often," Alice remarked thoughtfully.
'"Look on the branch above your head," said the Gnat, "and there you'll find a snap-dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin burning in brandy."
"And what does it live on?"
"Frumenty and mince pie," the Gnat replied; "and it makes its nest in a Christmas box."'
' "Half way up that bush, you'll see a Rocking-horse-fly, if you look. It's made entirely of wood, and gets about by swinging itself from branch to branch."
"What does it live on?" Alice asked, with great curiosity.
Alice looked up at the Rocking-horse-fly with great interest, and made up her mind that it must have been just repainted, it looked so bright and sticky. '
"What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where you come from?" the Gnat inquired. ("I don't rejoice in insects at all," Alice explained, "because I'm rather afraid of them—")
'In another moment she felt the carriage rise straight up into the air, and in her fright she caught at the thing nearest to her hand, which happened to be the Goat's beard.
* * *
But the beard seemed to melt away as she touched it, and she found herself sitting quietly under a tree—while the Gnat (for that was the insect she had been talking to) was balancing itself on a twig just over her head, and fanning her with its wings.'
From the last bit of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
'Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make THEIR eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.'
'"They were learning to draw," the Dormouse went on, yawning and rubbing its eyes, for it was getting very sleepy; "and they drew all manner of things—everything that begins with an M—"
The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into a doze; but, on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up again with a little shriek, and went on: "—that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness— you know you say things are 'much of a muchness'—did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?"'
'The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.
"Cheshire Puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider.'
'As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her head, she tried to get her head down to them, and was delighted to find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: a large pigeon had flown into her face, and was beating her violently with its wings.
"I'm not a serpent!" said Alice indignantly. "Let me alone!"
"Serpent, I say again!" repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued tone, and added with a kind of sob, "I've tried every way, and nothing seems to suit them!"
"I haven't the least idea what you're talking about," said Alice.'
Lewis Carroll uses it often in dealing with Alice's growing and shrinking:
"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); "now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!"
'Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. "Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!" (Dinah was the cat.) "I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?" And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, "Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?" and sometimes, "Do bats eat cats?" for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it.'
In her Adventures in Wonderland, Alice mixes what would've been a clever use of this word up with 'antipathy,' falling down the rabbit-hole:
"I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) (...)
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) "—but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?"
I don't think we see this as a verb applied to sentient things often enough: "—but the Queen was no longer at her side—she had suddenly dwindled down to the size of a little doll, and was now on the table, merrily running round and round after her own shawl(...)"
Alice, near wakening in Through the Looking-Glass, in reaction to a newly doll-sized Red Queen:
At any other time, Alice would have felt surprised at this, but she was far too much excited to be surprised at anything now. "As for you," she repeated, catching hold of the little creature in the very act of jumping over a bottle which had just lighted upon the table, "I'll shake you into a kitten, that I will!"
Wordie's going all 500 Application Error on me when I add a word to a list (of mine, or anyone else's). Listing isn't unsuccessful; it just won't show anything but an error until the page is refreshed. Curious!
Alice, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "What else had you to learn?"
"Well, there was Mystery," the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers, "—Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling—the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: He taught us Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils."
"Well, outgrabing is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however, you'll hear it done, maybe—down in the wood yonder—and when you've once heard it you'll be quite content."
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, a rath is a sort of green pig: but mome I'm not certain about. I think it's short for 'from home'—meaning that they'd lost their way, you know."
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, slithy means 'lithe and slimy.' 'Lithe' is the same as 'active.' You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word."
"I see it now," Alice remarked thoughtfully: "and what are toves?"
"That's enough to begin with," Humpty Dumpty interrupted: "there are plenty of hard words there. Brillig means four o'clock in the afternoon—the time when you begin broiling things for dinner."
Intriguing, qroqqa! Poplollies and Bellibones: A Celebration of Lost Words, where I found welkin, states (This was simplified in the book's glossary to what I posted below): "From the Saxon words wealcan 'to roll,' and wolke 'a cloud.' It is also connected to the German word wolle 'wool,' used to describe the wooly quality of clouds. Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream,
The starry welkin cover thee anon
With drooping fog as black as Alcheron"
You may very well be right, but it's one author's (informed?) opinion. I don't find myself leaning in either direction in particular.
I didn't really foresee wanting this, but the ability to block certain words whose comments you'd rather not see on the front page when you're logged in would be dandy.
I have a ukulele! Please throw ukulele-heavy songs in my direction. (I have Tiny Tim, Beirut's Postcards from Italy etc., Josephine Foster's Little Life..)
Linking seventy-five pounds of raisins for context. Or lofty date-baskets! Or yes. You'll get the hang of it! (Be the raisins; do not simply have the raisins, grasshoppah.)
You forgot flow/wolf! (If your name is Eve, Bob, Hannah, Anna, Ava, Elle, Iggi, Lil, Otto, or Viv Wolf, I've noticed, it forms in reverse the lovely Flow Eve, Bob, Hannah, Anna, Ava, Elle, Iggi, Lil, Otto, or Viv, respectively.)
Going the Latin route, it would be fumus (smoke) + trahere (to draw, attract), but I don't know enough to properly piece them together (and fumitractor sounds silly).
Didn't see this comment earlier, but yes, I'm going back and deleting redundancies (I left them initially to fill the presumed want of on-page definitions).
Unless you've gotten all tricksy and changed your first and last name in the last week, we are most likely not siblings! But give my compliments to your sister on her word selection. (Is there a linguistic term for using an existing noun as a verb? Hm.)
Envious, covetous person. Originally referred to a species of hawk that feeds on mice and hovers greedily, almost motionless, in the air over its prey. (Chapman used the term to criticize Ben Johnson in the preface to his Iliad, saying, "There is a certain envious wind-sucker that hovers up and down, laboriously ingrossing sic all the air with his luxurious ambition.")
Affected by juxtaposed feelings of potent happiness and sadness at once; the phenomenon itself; an affected person; things having an anolagous effect (e.g., alcohol).
(Not to be confused with bittersweet, which implies a blending of less acute emotions that were often predictable)
Easter Monday in 1800s Lancashire, where it was custom on that day for men to lift up and kiss each woman they met. On Easter Tuesday, women could do likewise for the men. (The custom was stopped due to the disturbances it caused. For shame!)
A derogatory term for a knight who achieved more on the floor of a lady's boudoir than in battle; the Knights of the Carpet, so called to distinguish them from those who served in battle.
I started using this after noticing a definition of frail: "the weight of a frail (basket) full of fruit, esp. raisins or figs (between 50 and 75 pounds)."
All the implications of frail (mental, moral, or physical—'fragile, easily destroyed or broken, weak, insubstantial'; slightly offensive slang term for 'girl/woman'), fruit, and basket(case) can be rolled into this expression. Especially well-suited for women who've made themselves crazy (or physically weak) with dieting. Or thin, crazy women in general.
For variety, when you're feeling particularly spunky, the number can be anywhere from 50 to 75, and 'raisins' is interchanegable with 'figs,' 'dates,' 'fruit,' or any kind of fruit that might be dried and stored in a basket.
Sionnach, I'd like to say that I know exactly what film you were referring to, and if you weren't making any references, I said nothing and have no idea what any of you are talking about.
Come to think of it, our tappen is onomatopoeic—it is the sound they'd happen to make if you stood, say, at the base of the wrong mountain, and they all rained down on your uniquely unfortunate head.
Well, it's born of not wanting to make it harder for anyone else to enjoy the site, and if I'm adding words too quickly for anyone to possibly keep up (I like the sharing as much as the list-building), it doesn't really seem like the best way to go about things. But I'd certainly have no problem going to town if there were some way for the people it might bother to control the noise, if they like, and better digest things. (I'm also beginning to think it would be a nice idea to have a little c_b sitting on my shoulder during the day. "You can do it! Go on. They're just playa-hatin'.")
Oh, I do like pre-1940s schlock! And 1940s schlock (mostly Betty Grable musicals). She was just the product of deciding against using anything I might get tired of and going for the first word I half-wondered may not've been taken. I'm sure there are all sorts of nice little words wandering around with no claimants..
/Lazes about in a rockingchair (Shouldn't there be a verb 'to rock in a rockingchair'? I think so.), silently but for the crrrrrick,.. crrrvb,.. crrriick..
Thank you for all the warm welcomings and your general garrulousness! Got a new word-book today (Oh yes. Oh dear). It's good to be among fellowfeelers. Unfortunately, I'm again torn between resuming my previous nuts-goings or remaining slightly more reticent.
Frogapplause—how unusually fun to say!—my desks (..and shelves, tables, and occasionally my bed) are never big enough!
I feel you, sinnonach, on specific lists being more interesting; my intention was always to eventually pull things from this list into themed lists, but because there are so many words, any one of which could be valuable to someone, I wanted to throw them all out there now, rather than having it wait on organizing them all at my leisure (which always means it will take a very, very long time, as it's a perfect opportunity to luxuriate in fastidiousness—something I enjoy so much, just the thought has me cooing, almost). It makes a nice starting point, anyhow.
I always have to strain against personal feelings to spell this word correctly. Gauge looks like gouge sounds, and deep inside, I've always wished it were guage, which feels truer to sound and reminds me of things like suede.
I think it's really one of the most useful self-serving lists to make—I'm digging all the way back to gradeschool (There are words left to add! but I'm pacing myself).. As George Santayana (Google tells me) said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And now I have this handy reference going.
I had a thought, just now, on a way to possibly arm ourselves when navigating the front page—What if we had the (functional rather than social; I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks "friend"ing usually amounts to fluff) ability to mark "familiar users," that we could see, unsee, or isolate (as a group) when browsing? That is, marking as "familiar" the people you see most often (those repeatedly Wordiest, in particular, and anyone you'd like to keep track of) would let you: temporarily ignore new lists, words, and comments of theirs in recent activity (solving the issue of congestion caused by one person adding hundreds of words in one day! which I am guilty of, but would love to be able to do again without feeling guilty)—leaving only those of all the users not on that list, making it easier to spot things which you might have otherwise missed; or, temporarily view new lists, words, and comments only from "familiar" users (useful for chatching up after you've been browsing with those users filtered out, and a quicker way of getting up-to-date, if you've been away). The logical default would be set to showing everyone's recent activity, "familiar" and not, and those with no interest in using any filters wouldn't have to.
So yes, filtering. Is this doable—? And appealing? (Seems to me, especially as the site grows, that some sort of filtery feature would work in the interest of general Wordie-sanity.)
Of all the banshees to not yet exist, why'd the ban she banshees have to be all timely and decide to cross the threshold? I'm keeping my eyes peeled! (Do give a heads-up if you hear any wailing.)
The appellation matches the drapes, I'm afraid— Wait. I mean to say, she's a she (one of those), well and truly, through and through-ly. But, it isn't so bad, really! Just predictable.
Comments by she
Show previous 200 comments...
she commented on the word favre's syndrome
My brother makes up for the man by pronouncing his name "Fahvfuhfv."
August 8, 2008
she commented on the word mangina
What's the term for a female pain in the chest, then?
August 8, 2008
she commented on the word telemegaphone
That's remarkable.
I've had a sort of longing for Norway since seeing a few snapshots taken from someone's apartment window; it was an understated little town, but you could see the sea, and everything was so beautiful.
August 8, 2008
she commented on the word Ȫ
Oh yes. Perhaps "captial" (the original typo) should be the word for fault-finding capital letters. (Just did it again! I think my fingers have a thing for a-p-t.)
How an owl? (—How now, brown owl?)
August 8, 2008
she commented on the word pangolin
It's insensitive remarks like these that propagate manis depression. :'(
If you accidentally mistook a pangolin for your mandolin, I imagine it would sound like one of those scrubby washboard things.
August 8, 2008
she commented on the word Ȫ
Well, if there has to be one symbol all others strangely default to, the fleur-de-lys is not too shabby.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word baguette's syndrome
Outbursts of delicious bread.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word Ȫ
Whoops! I— damn. The English language is obviously not yet large enough, as there are no extant captia- words I can pretend to've meant.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word bullet-proof bra
Science!
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word manis depression
Evidently, c_b is not manis-depressive and has instead cultivated a healthy fondness for that which she cannot be! (—being a bear)
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word bullet-proof bra
I am slightly more impressed by the Bionic Bra to Harness the Energy of Bouncing Breasts.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word toreutic syndrome
Characterized by spasmatic displays of ancient sculptural artistry in the embossing, chasing, and relief-work, etc. of ivory and metals. (Fr. toreutics, the aforementioned ancient art.)
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word manis depression
Abject despair at being or not being a pangolin.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word pranic depression
Despondency brought on by perceived inadequacies in one's meditative breathing technique. See prana.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word danic depression
Depression due to, relating to, or simply coinciding with the fact of being Danish.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word manic-progressive
Of those seeking newer and more efficient ways to act variously as freakishly productive and hopelessly frazzled wonderloons and worry their loved ones. Cf. manic-regressive.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word manic-digressive
Of those who, during manic episodes, have the tendency to— have I mentioned how much I look forward to Zubbles?
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word manic-caressive
Of a condition marked either by inappropriately enthusiastic episodes of cuddlesomeness or the desire to pet manic depressives.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word manic-transgressive
Of manic transgression, a condition marked by feelings of moral exemption leading to impulsive and exuberant wrongdoing.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word manic-impressive
I think this is the best guess for what those in the "mental illness would make me more interesting" camp hear when they read 'manic-depressive.'
August 7, 2008
she commented on the user sionnach
Yes, who is "who?"
Happy getaways, sionnach!
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word fracteur
Oho, yes. One compound ending in fracteur (looked lithofracteur up; the root is Latin fractor, 'breaker,' shared with fracture). It still makes no sense as a noun here: protecting breakage from damp? Protecting crack from damp? Splinter? The euphonic substitution of a diphthong for a simple vowel, owing to the influence of a following consonant? *dizzied*
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word conturbation
Physical or mental disturbance (to conturb from Latin conturb�?re, 'to disturb greatly, throw into confusion').
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word quardeel
Oho! Furthermore,
"The Train-oyl runs into the Warehouse into a Vatt, whereout they fill it into Cardels or Vessels..A Cardel or Hogshead holds 64 Gallons." (1694 Acc. Sev. Late Voy., 1711 ed.)
"The Dutch..took 57,590 whales, yielding 3,105,596 quardeelen of oil..A quardeel of oil contains..from 77 to 90 imperial standard gallons." (1857 Polar Seas & Regions, ed. 20)
—Hot damn.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word paradise apple
My poor, crowded head could only ever hold on to Alt+0169, the © symbol. :<
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word pastinaceous
For tod— this afternoon.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word fracteur
"Fracteur" is nowhere in the online OED — could it be related to fractable, "A term used, in the middle ages, for the crest table or coping running up and down the gables of a building?" It's the only thing that suggests shelter; everything else, predictably, relates only to fracture.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the list fly-me-to-the-moons
Hopefully the answer isn't 'S/2000 J 11,' or 'S/2003 J.. 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,' or '23' (the unnamed moons)!
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word pastinaceous
And isn't that function our heart and soul, really? I think I've reached Wordie fulfillment.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word ȫ
It's a Latin character, but I'm remiss as far as any usage examples.
August 7, 2008
she commented on the word vriesia
A perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Vriesia (family Bromeliaceæ), native to South or Central America and bearing rosettes of linear leaves and spikes of yellow, red, or white flowers. From the name of W. H. de Vriese (1806-62), Dutch botanist.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word purring iron
A fire poker. From purr in the sense of 'poke' (Dutch regional por, poker).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word poppycock
Apparently from Dutch poppekak, literally "doll's excrement," as in zo fijn als gemalen poppekak, "as fine as powdered doll's excrement" (showing excessive religious zeal, etc.).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word ploat
trans. v., To pluck; to strip of feathers, wool, etc. Frequently, figuratively: to rob or plunder, to fleece; also, to scold.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word pink-snow
Obs. A small vessel* resembling a pink — a small sailing vessel, usually having a narrow stern; specifically (a) a flat-bottomed boat with bulging sides, used for coasting and fishing; (b) a small warship in which the stern broadens out at the level of the upper deck to accommodate quarter guns, used esp. in the Danish navy. — in construction.
*Snow, as in, a small sailing-vessel resembling a brig, carrying a main and fore mast and a supplementary trysail mast close behind the mainmast; formerly employed as a warship.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word pinc-pinc
Any of several small South African warblers of the family Sylviidae; esp. the cloud cisticola, Cisticola textrix.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word pawn
Also (hist.), a gallery, colonnade, or covered walk; esp. one in a bazaar, market, exchange, etc., within which traders display their goods for sale.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word pampelmoes
A very large citrus fruit (also called shaddock), the fruit of Citrus maxima, which has a thick, loose rind and coarse, dry pulp, and is an ancestor of the grapefruit; Also: a grapefruit. Also: any of the trees producing these fruits.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word oliphaunt
OED says it's a Middle English variant spelling. :)
(That's a wonderful name! If you don't actually resemble an elephant.)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word oliphant
Originally, in Middle English, Old French, Breton, Welsh, Cornish: elephant. The refashioning of oliphant after Lat. elephantum seems to have taken place earlier in England than in France, the French forms with el- being cited only from the 15th century.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word nooi
S. Afr. n., A female employer; also as a term of respect used by a subordinate to address a woman in authority. (Female equivalent of Dutch baas, from which we get boss.)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word honorificabilitudinity
Or honorificabilitudinitifulness? *wince*
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word noker-tree
The common walnut tree, Juglans regia.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word nithe
Obs. n., Envy, malice, hatred; enmity, ill-will.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word nettly
adj., Of a place: overgrown with nettles; Suggestive of nettles or their flavor, etc.; Of a person: irritable.
(Nettle + -y. Dutch netelig, 'tricky, ticklish, delicate,' could perhaps be a parallel formation, but is not recorded in the literal sense, and many etymologists connect it instead with Middle Dutch and Middle Low German nīten, 'to hit, push.')
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word nê
S. Afr. colloq. Chiefly (as interrogative particle): "isn't that so?" Also, in recent use, for emphasis without interrogative implication. Comparable to "no?"
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word Ȫ
I'm sure this says something about each of us, psychologically.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word paradise apple
Having this monster list of Unicode characters bookmarked.
But I believe the quick way is ' ñ '
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word meese
Nooo, a titmouse (obs. Middle Dutch, cognate of mose).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word muntjac
(Eeeee)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mump
To cheat, to get the better of. Also with of, out of. Now Eng. regional (south-west.) (rare), though very common in the second half of the 17th cent.
Now slang and Eng. regional: To obtain by begging or scrounging; To beg, go about begging; to sponge upon.
Brit. slang, Of a police officer: to accept a small gift or bribe in return for services.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mull-madder
The lowest grade of madder, obtained by grinding the loose fibers and fragments detached from the root during threshing.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mud
Also (obs.), an old Dutch and (in later use) South African dry measure of capacity, varying in amount but usually equivalent to about three bushels (approx. 109 litres).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mousebird
After South African Dutch muisvogel, Afrikaans muisvoël.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the list dutchly-things
Oh. :)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mossbunker
The Atlantic menhaden (fish), Brevoortia tyrannus.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word paradise apple
Ah, the mañana banana — always so close, but it never arrives..
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word art department
Well, yes, but I can't imagine caring enough about a bag of grapes to carry them all the way (and, if you drove, it's downright silly to assume you'd bring them inside).
edit: Ha, dontcry!
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word slonk
Perhaps you could think of slunk as merely the past participle of slink?
And what, a hork successor? Never.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word art department
"Heavens, Auntie Mae could be dying! But, perhaps she would like a grape!"
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word brain corals
Despite how much sense it makes, I honestly wasn't aware this term existed.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word pastinaceous
Of the nature of or resembling parsnip. Ha!
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word pathopoeia
Rhetoric and (in later use) Music. The arousing of emotion in a hearer; a passage designed to arouse emotion or affect the emotions.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word versute
Cunning; crafty; wily (from Latin versūtus, from versĕre, vertĕre, to turn).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word versipellous
Having the faculty of changing the skin (from Latin versipell-is, fr. versĕre, vertĕre, to turn + pellis, skin).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word dulciloquent
adj., Speaking sweetly. From L. dulcis, sweet + loquens, pres. pple. of loqui, to speak.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word illusor
A deceiver, deluder (from late L. illūsor, illūs�?rem, agent-n. from illūd, illūsĕre, to illude). See illusory, illusion, etc.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word illth
Used by John Ruskin — "As mere accidental stays and impediments acting not as wealth, but (for we ought to have a correspondent term) as 'illth' " — and later, such as in George Bernard Shaw's Fabian essays in Socialism, as the reverse of wealth in the sense of "well-being": ill-being.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word illatebrate
Obs. intr. v., To hide in corners. Hence illatebration, 'a hiding in, or seeking of corners.'
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word illapse
Rare intr. v., To fall, glide, or slip in.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mirtle
Obs. intr. v., To crumble away; to fall to pieces.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word miltsiekte
Anthrax in livestock, which causes gross splenomegaly, esp. in cattle; milt-sickness.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word middenerd
The world; the earth as a middle region between heaven and hell; (also) the inhabitants or things of the world, esp. as opposed to those of heaven; worldly things as opposed to divine or spiritual things.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word melanagogue
From French mélanagogue, purge for melancholy; a medicine supposed to expel black bile.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word meisie
A girl, a young woman (esp. a white Afrikaans-speaker); a girlfriend or wife. Also as a form of address. From South African Dutch meisje.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mecop
Poppy (obs.)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mealie-meal
Maize meal or flour (fr. S.Afr. Dutch, Afrikaans mieliemeel).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mereswine
A dolphin; a porpoise (chiefly Sc. in later use).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word ӳ
Cyrillic little "u" with double acute accent appears flirtatious.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word Ӧӧ
You have surprised both the Cyrillic capital and small letter "o" with diaereses.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word ѿ
Cyrillic small letter 'ot' is a sneaky or self-satisfied kitty.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word ȫ
Little o with diaeresis and macron is shocked!
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word Ȫ
Capital-O with diaeresis and macron is aaangry.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word malefigie
Naut. slang. Obs. rare. A seabird whose presence is said to presage bad weather (sometimes identified with the storm petrel).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word makrelty
Brokerage.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word lovecop
The right of the king or the lord of a port to purchase part of a merchant's merchandise at the same price the merchant paid for it. In modern use, understood as: a tax or toll levied on merchants.
Hence, also lovecopfree: exempt from paying lovecop.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word lovage
Also the name of a group whose sole offering was the very entertaining Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word quede
Dung, excrement, filth; evil, wickedness, mischief; an evil thing, an evil deed; an evil person (from all over the place: Old Frisian qu�?d, excrement; West Frisian kwead, wicked; Middle Dutch quaet, evil; Middle Low German qu�?t, evil, filth..).
Also, The Quede: The Devil.
Related: quedely, adv., quedeship, quedehead, ns.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word quedeship
Evil, wickedness; a wicked deed (quede + -ship). Syn: quedehead.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word honorificabilitudinity
Honorableness.
OED says: Adapted from med.L. hon�?rific�?bilitūdinit�?s , a grandiose extension of hon�?rific�?bilitūdo, 'honorableness,' from hon�?rific�?bilis, 'honorable.' The L. abl. pl. hon�?rific�?bilitūdinit�?tibus has been cited as a typical long word, as well as hon�?rific�?bilitūdinit�?te before it, by Dante (De Vulgari Eloquentia II).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word commeline
A genus of endogenous plants, typical of the family Commelinaceæ.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word blood-strange
An undeservedly obsolete name of the Mousetail herb (Myosurus minimus).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word dutch clover
White trefoil.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word slonk
Rare v.t., To swallow greedily.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word monkey spoon
OED says "Apparently so called on account of the shape of the spoon, although this is uncertain and disputed. Such spoons usually had a hooked stem with a front boss, and a relief image on the surface of the bowl appropriate to the occasion being celebrated."
For comparison, apostle spoon is listed — "old-fashioned silver spoons, the handles of which ended in figures of the Apostles; the usual present of sponsors at baptisms."
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word paradise apple
Strangely, an old term for "banana." There was "a very old European variety of apple having yellow fruit, borne on a small tree" called the same, but Dutch paradijsappel, French poume de paradis and Spanish mançana del paraíso all meant "banana."
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word opsit
v.i., Of a couple: to sit up together at night as a recognized part of courtship — couples would sit together by candlelight for a period of time determined by the length of a burning candle provided by the courted woman's family. An Afrikaner (originally Dutch) courtship custom practiced in the province of North-Holland in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, and current in South Africa well into the 20th.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word olykoek
Literally, "oil cake" — a small ball-shaped cake made of sweetened dough and traditionally fried in lard (similar to a doughnut), originating in Dutch cookery and introduced to America by Dutch settlers in New York.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word monkey spoon
A type of decorative silver ladle made to commemorate a wedding, christening, or funeral among people of Dutch origin living in the Hudson river area of the United States.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mezereon
(formerly also Dutch mezereon)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mevrouw
A courteous form of address to a married Dutch or Afrikaans woman; madam, mistress, milady. Also, a title given to a married Dutch or Afrikaans woman, esp. a teacher.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word witblits
Also witblitz; home-brewed brandy, a strong and colourless raw spirit. (Irregular Afrikaans, fr. Dutch wit white + German blitz lightning — white lightning!)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word liskin
Obs. n. A Dutch maidservant (cf. French lisette, a French maidservant, both from dim. forms of the name Elisabeth).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word leaguer
A military camp, esp. one engaged in a siege; an investing force (adapt. fr. Dutch leger camp).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word korfball
A co-ed ball game of Dutch origin (see Wikipedia).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word hogen mogen
Obs. A popular corruption or perversion of the Dutch Hoogmogendheiden, 'High Mightinesses,' title of States-General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. (Hence, any grandee or high and mighty person: used humorously or contemptuously of a person in power or who arrogates or affects authority, or a Dutchman of this sort.)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word frokin
Obs. A little woman or child (fr. obs. Dutch vrouwken, dim. of vrouw: see frow).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word free burgher
A free citizen. Also (S. Afr.): a Dutch-speaking colonist freed from Dutch East India Company controls.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word dorp
A (Dutch) village; in South Africa, a small town. (Cf. thorp.)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word dodkin
An early name for the doit, a small Dutch coin. Hence, any coin of very small value.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word closh
An obsolete game with a ball or bowl, prohibited in many successive statutes in the 15th-16th centuries. From 16th c. Dutch lexicographers and descriptions, it appears that the bowl used in the game had to be driven by a spade- or chisel-shaped implement, the klos-beytel, through a hoop or ring, as in croquet.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word clinquant
(From French clinquant clinking, tinkling, pr. pple. of obs. v. clinquer, adopted from Dutch klinken to clink, ring.)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word quardeel
A hogshead containing, in the 17th c., 64 gallons, used in the Dutch whaling trade. Also cardel, kardel.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word butter-box
Contemptuous designation for a Dutchman (also butter-bag, butter-mouth); also, in nautical slang, a Dutch ship.
These make very little sense to me.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word blauwbok
A name given by the Dutch settlers to a large Antelope (A. leucophæa) in South Africa for the effect produced by the animal's black hide showing through its ashy-grey hair. (From blaauw blue + bok buck, he-goat.) Also blue-buck.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word dutch bargain
One concluded as the parties drink together (also wet bargain).
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mynheer
As a polite or respectful form of address to a Dutchman or an Afrikaner: sir, mister (Mr). Also used as a title or sometimes substituted for the name of the man or the pronoun that would stand for this. (In Brit. use, often humorous or ironic.)
A Dutchman, an Afrikaner; esp. one who is a gentleman. Occas. collectively: the Dutch, the Afrikaners.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mynheerify
v.i., to study Dutch (fr. mynheer).
R. Southey, Letter to Lieut. Southey, Sept. 12, 1804 — "I am learning Dutch, and wish you were here... to mynheerify with me."
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word myospasm
Med. n., Muscle spasm or cramp; an instance of this.
(Myo- is used in forming compound terms relating to muscles or muscular tissue.)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word labretifery
The only word in the English language ending in -tifery.
For shame.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word tikkudoggie
tikkudoggie: returns zero Google results!
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word lurkydish
The herb Pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium). (Cheshire dial.)
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word lupuline
adj., Resembling a bunch of hops.
*Lupulin = Small shining grains of a yellowish colour found under the scales of the calyx of the hop; The bitter aromatic principle contained in the hop, also called lupulite.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word mousey
Ha! If only this were what was meant by saying "mousey girls" and "mousey brown hair."
August 6, 2008
she commented on the list belistful
Beautiful!
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word zarigüeya
Random word has been kind tonight.
August 6, 2008
she commented on the word kitty-needy
The sandpiper.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word frixory
Obs. n. Frying pan.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word tickety-boo
Colloq., 'in order; correct; satisfactory.'
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word rantantingly
adv. Extravagantly; cf. ran-tan, 'a loud banging noise; a riot.'
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word zoofulvin
I'd rather not think about how it's extracted!
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word caribou
I but lament
this human form,
where I was born;
I now repent —
Cariboooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou,
cariboooo-oooooooooooooooooooooooooo-ooooou
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word oorhodeine
Obs. rare n. A reddish pigment occurring in the shells of birds' eggs.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word oometry
Obs. rare n. The measurement of birds' eggs. Also oömetry.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word oocyan
Rare n. A blue pigment occurring in the shells of birds' eggs.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word ooxanthine
Obs. n. A rare a yellow pigment occurring in the shells of birds' eggs.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word oont
Anglo-Indian & Austral. colloq. n. Camel.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word ookinete
Biol. n. A zygote capable of autonomous movement, esp. as a stage in the life cycle of some parasitic protozoa.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word opeidoscope
The opeidoscope consists of a tube closed at one end by a taught membrane with a small mirror attached to its center, which vibrates in response to sound entering the tube at the open end, thereby causing a spot of light reflected by the mirror on to a screen to vibrate with varying amplitude and frequency according to the intensity and frequency of the sound.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word oozooid
Zool. n. In some tunicates: the zooid arising from the fertilized egg, which reproduces asexually by budding.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word ooplasm
Biol. The cytoplasm of an egg. Also: each of the regions of the cytoplasm of an egg which develop into distinct structures in the body.
Mycol. In an oomycete, esp. one of the order Peronosporales: the central portion of the oogonial cytoplasm, which becomes the oosphere.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word oolith
Geol. n. Any of the small, rounded granules of which oolite is composed.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word billbergia
Bilby, you seem to have neat-looking relatives.
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word siliquiferous
Bot. adj., pod-bearing
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word zooscopy
Adj.: zooscopic. :)
August 4, 2008
she commented on the word zoofulvin
A yellow pigment found in touraco plumage.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word zoonerythrin
A red pigment found in sponges and the plumage of touracos, large African birds.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word weequashing
The spearing of eels or fish from a canoe by torchlight.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word weggebobble
Ulysses, p. 163 (Joyce) — "Coming from the vegetarian. Only weggebobbles and fruit."
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word weirdward
Approaching the supernatural.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word whisterclister
Another whistersnefet! Also whister-clister.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word fire alarm
dontcry, please never turn off your finger-faucets.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word wanwordy
Scottish? Obs. adj., Worthless (wan + wordy worthy)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word muisvoël
Afrikaans muis mouse + vogel bird. Mousebird.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tinkershere
British name for the common guillemot; also for the black guillemot.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word squarepusher
Slang n., a respectable girl; a boyfriend.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word shamsheer
Scimitar (possibly fr. Persian shamshīr).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word rajneeshee
A member of the sect founded by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (subsequently known as the Osho-Rajneesh movement, which combines elements of various religious traditions with Western philosophy and a countercultural critique of traditional morality.
Sunday Herald (Chicago), 1986 — "Informants have accused the Rajneeshees of spiking the salad bars of restaurants in The Dalles with salmonella-causing bacteria."
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word pullishee
Pulley (Scottish, obs.)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word potashery
A factory where potash is made.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word octopusher
One who plays octopush.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word mordisheen
Syn: cholera.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word mishellene
A person who dislikes or is opposed to Greece or the Greeks.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word fetisheer
A charmer, sorcerer, ‘medicine-man’; a priest.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word co-feoffee
One who is enfeoffed with another or others; a joint feoffee.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word feoffee
The person to whom a freehold estate in land is conveyed by a feoffment. Even better: two or more feoffees are then co-feoffees!
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word cacoëpy
Bad or erroneous pronunciation; opposed to orthoepy. Fr. Greek for 'faulty language.'
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nepte
Catmint (fr. its genus, Nepeta).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nephsystem
Meteorol. n., A large-scale array of clouds associated with a weather system.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the list cinnamony-sea-anemones-co
I guess when you do, they're more like d's and b's. (And what's the cure for the common cold? Zs? Hurr.)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nirvil
Oh, you! Not entirely — Probably < early Scandinavian (cf. Icelandic nirfill miser (17th c.), Norwegian regional nørle small conceited person, nurvil small thick-set person, Swedish regional nyrvil naughty boy, changeling), app. < the Scandinavian base of Norwegian regional nurv small thick-set person (of uncertain origin) + the Scandinavian base of Norwegian regional -le suffix.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word ballyhooly
I'm sure Ballyhooly is lovely! There are two "apparently"s in there. And the entry is marked as "DRAFT ENTRY June 2008," for whatever that's worth.
But yes, as recently as 2002 — "It was pandemonium. It was Donnybrook Fair. It was all ballyhooly let loose." (J. O'Neill, At Swim, Two Boys), and as early as 1837 — "By Jasus! he gave him Ballyhooly, the d—d insolent son of a sign-painter!" (Tait's Magazine)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tessaraphthong
ouei!
Fun fact: The only four-vowel words in the OED are ieie, a tree, and ooaa, a bird (and the International Atomic Energy Agency, if you count acronyms).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the user whichbe
Oh! In regard to your Belistful list: the be- prefix's entry I just ran across in the online OED has hundreds of words in — they let subscribers email non-subsribers with links to let them access an entry for three days; I immediately thought to ask the owner of that list if they'd like one to be-'s entry! (You can email me at <snipsnipsnip> if you'd rather not post yours here.)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word pisculent
Fishful; that may be fished (fr. classical Latin pisculentus abounding in fish).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word piscose
Of a taste: fishy.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word piscinity
The quality or condition of being a fish; fishiness.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word piscina
A fishpond; or, a stone basin for draining water used in Mass, found chiefly in Roman Catholic churches (including some pre-Reformation churches now used for Protestant worship).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word piscifauna
The fishes of a particular habitat or region collectively.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word piscicle
A small fish.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word piscage
Payment for fishing rights.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the list fishful-thinking
Oh yes, thank you!
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word impane
Obs. trans. v., To embody in bread. (In Eucharistic theory, impanation is a local presence or inclusion of the body of Christ in the bread after consecration.)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nirvil
A dwarfish person.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tessaraphthong
A group of four vowels.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word octophthalmous
Octonocular; having eight eyes.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word ballyhoo of blazes
Ballyhoo; hell (nautical slang).
R. Kipling, Captain Courageous (1897) — "Oh, ef it had bin even the Fish C'mmission boat instid o' this bally-hoo o'blazes."
F. C. Bowen, Sea slang: a dictionary of the old-timers' expressions and epithets (1929) — "The last word of contempt for a slovenly ship."
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word ballyhooly
Hell (you know, Hades, Sheol.. the netherworld).
The OED says: "Apparently from Ballyhooly (Irish Baile �?tha hÚlla), the name of a village in County Cork, Ireland, apparently formerly notorious for faction fighting, although this may reflect a later rationalization of the word."
Related is the wonderful "ballyhoo of blazes."
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word mnam
Mina; a monetary unit formerly used in Greece and the Middle East, equivalent to the weight of one mina in silver. (Fr. classical Latin mina, fr. ancient Greek mna.)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word mamallian
Whoops! Yes, this is not a word at all.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word monomino
A square, esp. considered as a structural unit or as occupying a position in a rectangular grid (mono- + the -omnio in domino; cf. pentomino, polyomino, tetromino, and tromino).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word mononomian
Obs. adj., Recognizing or based upon one law (fr. antinomian).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word mononymy
The use of mononyms, technical names consisting of one word only.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word mudminnow
Any of several carnivorous freshwater fishes of the genus Umbra, able to survive low oxygen concentrations and very low temperatures.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word munnion
Any of the (usually vertical) bars dividing the lights in a window, esp. in Gothic architecture; mullion.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nigmenog
A fool; an idiot; "a very silly fellow." Colloq., now archaic (cf. niddicock, nidgit, nidiot, and later ning-nong).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nim-gimmer
A new dictionary of the terms ancient and modern of the canting crew, a. 1700 — "a Doctor, Surgeon, or Apothecary, or any one that cures a Clap or the Pox."
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nim-nosed
Swift to pick up a scent (nonce word; cf. nimble).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nominance
Obs. rare A name; designation.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nummiamorous
Nope, a nonce word. :)
adj., fond of or loving money: 1650, Nathaniel Ward, Discolliminium — "I could demonstrate it to be... versipellous, centireligious, nummiamorous"
As it happens, nummamorous is nowhere in the OED!
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nummularian
Obs. rare A money-changer (cf. nummulary).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nummuline
Obs. n. or adj., A fossil or extant foraminiferan of the genus Nummulites (now sometimes included in the genus Camerina) or a related genus, having a calcareous skeleton typically in the form of a flat spiral resembling a disc, numerous in certain Tertiary strata; of or relating to nummulites; (of a deposit) containing nummulites; nummulitic.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word nummus
A Roman coin of the standard denomination (roughly analogous to the Greek stater); a monetary unit based on this.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word omen-animal
An animal whose behavior or body parts are used as a way of divining future events.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word onomamancy
Divination from a name or names, esp. the letters of a personal name; onomancy.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word peneomnipotent
Semi-omnipotent (pene- nearly, almost, all but + omnipotent).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word penny-commons
Obs. n., A meal supplied from a college buttery or kitchen, costing a penny.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word pinkaninny
Obs. rare An alteration of pinkany after piccaninny; sweetheart. Used in the work of Thomas D'Urfey (1676, 1721).
"Dear Pinkaninny,
If half a Guiny,
To love will win ye,
I lay it here down."
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word pinkany
A small, narrow, blinking, or peering eye; (affectionately) a dear little eye; darling, sweetheart, pet (cf. pigsney). Rare after 17th century.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word piccaninny
I certainly didn't expect this to mean what it does! OED says it's from Portuguese pequeno, small — the word is evidently one of those diffused around the Atlantic coasts through the Portuguese-based pidgins associated with trade (and esp. the slave trade) in the 17th century.
At least we still have pinkaninny, piccalilli, and piccadilly. :(
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word picrammonium
Obs. n., one derivate of picric acid.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word platinammonium
Obs. n., a hypothetical ion consisting of an amide of tetravalent platinum, now known to be an ammine group occurring in platinum complexes
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word portmanmoot
Hist. n., The assembly of the portmen of a borough or town; a court or common council of citizens (cf. portmoot).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word semi-penniform
Somewhat resembling a feather.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word seminant
Obs. n., a sower of seed; applied allusively to a seminary priest (cf. seedman)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tenmanland
A local name in East Anglia, in 12th and 13th c., for an aggregate of ten holdings, containing 120 acres; a carucate.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tiemannite
A mineral.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tinnient
Obs. adj., ringing; resonant (adapt. of L. tinnient-em, pr. pple. of tinnīre to ring, tinkle)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word trim-tram man
Obs. One who uses a trim-tram—a shrimp-net having a triangular wooden frame resting on the ground in front of the beam—in shrimping.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word tunning mell
Obs. In tunning or storing liquor, a mell (mallet) used to knock in the bung of a tun (cask).
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word unanemned
Obs. adj., unnamed; indescribable (OE. ánemnan to declare)
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word unanimism
A French poetic movement of the early twentieth century which emphasized the submersion of the poet in group consciousness and was characterized by simple diction, absence of rhyme, and strongly accented rhythms.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word yminne
Obs. v., to mention (y- + min, an obs. trans. v., 'to remind')
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word monomoy
Or Monomoy surfboat — a type of surfboat used as a lifeboat by the U.S. Coastguard; named after Monomoy Point, a peninsula in Massachusetts.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the word aeschynomenous
Obs. adj., sensitive (said of plants; fr. Gr. for 'ashamed, bashful' + -ous). Also æschynomenous.
August 3, 2008
she commented on the list identify-the-wordie-2
Ooh. It appears gangerh's guesstimation-faculties are twice as capacious as other participants'! (—Intimidating! Though I do still hope I'm around for the next one, no matter who it entails badly losing against! :>)
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word pudú
World's teensiest deer!
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word wallydraigle
Now with 90% more OED™!
Also wallydrag, wallidrag, -draggle, -dragle, -tragle, warydraggel, -draggle, etc. (Cf. drag, draggle)
1808 J. Jamieson, An etymological dictionary of the Scottish language — n., A feeble, ill-grown person or animal; a worthless, slovenly person, esp. a woman.
"It appears primarily to signify the youngest of a family, who is often the feeblest. It is sometimes used to denote the youngest bird in a nest."
1826 J. Galt, Last of the Lairds — "It's just like a cuckoo dabbing a wallydraigle out o' the nest."
1873 W. Alexander, Johnny Gibb — "Yon bit pernicketty wallydraggle!"
August 2, 2008
she commented on the user whichbe
Oh yes! I have a longstanding love for Cat Power particularly; What Would the Community Think is one of those rare albums I love straight through, but: her first through You Are Free all see a good amount of play around here, and pieces of the Covers record—her "Bathysphere" and "Red Apples" were my (glowing) introduction to Smog.
I wasn't expecting anyone would ask that. :) Hooray for.. "slowcorist"s? and their appreciators.
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word waggle dance
Of honey bees and waggle-dancing
Translated from German schwänzeltanz in 1923.
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word wacken porphyry
Geol., fr. wacke (sandstone-like rock) + porphyry (any igneous rock embedded with crystals).
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-z
Z is for ZILLAH who drank too much gin
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-y
Y is for YORICK whose head was knocked in
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-x
X is for XERXES devoured by mice
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-w
W is for WINNIE embedded in ice
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-v
V is for VICTOR squashed under a train
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-u
U is for UNA who slipped down a drain
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-t
T is for TITUS who flew into bits
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-s
S is for SUSAN who perished of fits
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-r
R is for RHODA consumed by a fire
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-q
Q is for QUENTIN who sank in a mire
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-p
P is for PRUE trampled flat in a brawl
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-o
O is for OLIVE run through with an awl
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-n
N is for NEVILLE who died of ennui
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-m
M is for MAUD who was swept out to sea
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-l
L is for LEO who swallowed some tacks
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-k
K is for KATE who was struck with an axe
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-j
J is for JAMES who took lye by mistake
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-i
I is for IDA who drowned in a lake
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-h
H is for HECTOR done in by a thug
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-g
G is for GEORGE smothered under a rug
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-f
F is for FANNY sucked dry by a leech
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-e
E is for ERNEST who choked on a peach
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-d
D is for DESMOND thrown out of a sleigh
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-c
C is for CLARA who wasted away
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-b
B is for BASIL assaulted by bears
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
Naughty bears!
August 2, 2008
she commented on the list miscellany-pt-a
A is for AMY who fell down the stairs
- Edward Gorey, The Gashlycrumb Tinies
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word xiphiplastron
Each of the fourth or hindmost pair of lateral plates in the plastron of a turtle. (Also xiphoplastron; plural xiphiplastra)
August 2, 2008
she commented on the word pulviscle
Obs. n., A fine powder; a speck of dust (fr. classical Latin pulvisculus dust, powder).
August 1, 2008
she commented on the word meh
For the record, this is my least favorite word, but I feel it's been laughing at me from its perch in my profile (you will not prevail!).
August 1, 2008
she commented on the word coitus-à-la-vache-qui-rit
SHE!! *She* is really Satan!! *deep breath*
I beg your pardon! :o
August 1, 2008
she commented on the user she
Home! Finally! *inhales living-spaces*
Nine hours in a car and I haven't slept, but can't..! Also fandangled my way into a month of OED online. These are not unrelated.
So much catching-up to do! Oh help.
August 1, 2008
she commented on the user she
Oh oh: to answer your question, bilby, I liken my mind to a kind of overintricate cuckoo clock?
July 21, 2008
she commented on the user she
Phone-posting from the car to say that I am in fact gone now (see above)! Shine on, you crazy diamonds! (Christ that took forever to type; I`m getting used to a newfangled QWERTYboard.)
July 21, 2008
she commented on the list stuffie-love
Yes, that'd bound to be ridiculous! Though, in the case of non-actions, if it went that way, I guessed people would add universally _____d things rather than "hurr, baseballs :D"
July 19, 2008
she commented on the list stuffie-love
That's what I thought. :> (Taking a peek at the masterlist, most of them seemed to do the former instead, so I wanted to check.)
July 19, 2008
she commented on the list stuffie-love
I've never stuffied before—do you mean this to be for loved things, or the rest of words/phrases that "love" is a part of?
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word data mist
I can't put my finger on why, but this term is just so lovely.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word flehmen
I clicked on this word because it looked familiar; am now frightened, wondering what I must have been reading!
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word undecillion
Also quite silly!
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word dweomer
And similarly, dweomercraeft is witchcraft.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the list too-numerous-to-mention
In the way of undecillion, the ascending scale of big, silly -illions:
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (duodecillion, 39 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (tredecillion, 42 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (quattuordecillion, 45 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (quindecillion, 48 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (sexdecillion, 51 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (septendecillion, 54 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (octodecillion, 57 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (novemdecillion, 60 zeros)
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (vigintillion, 63 zeros)
...and a centillion, with 303 zeros.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word sixty googols and nine
Obscene!
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word surprise butt sex
That looks like a walrus-tree smoking an enormous tree-pipe!
I've mentally smushed buttsex into one word—surprise buttsex is a particularly quick thing; we've no luxury of pausing for spaces!
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word undecillion
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000: a big, silly number.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the list lions-and-i-tigers-i-andawell-just-lions-truthfully
Oh? ...Oh.—Oh! Ha!—An uninvited h! "Thruthfully" indeed! Of course. Hellothere.
Iii wonder where the word for 'words taking that stealthy turn to nonsense-soup as things get more and more sleepy and not-sleeping' went; it'd be useful.
July 19, 2008
she commented on the word mooncurser
One who imports or exports without paying duties; smuggler.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word knismolagnia
Sexual gratification from the act of tickling (Wikipedia: Tickling fetishism).
I've no idea how anyone manages.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word knismogenic
Causing a tickling sensation.
Origin: G. Knismos, 'tickling,' + -gen, 'production' (Online Medical Dictionary)
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word phoenicopter
Flamingo.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word vaginella depressa
I am in awe.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word perspiry
"No—I love that handkerchief and I'm not going to get it all perspiry."
(Franny and Zooey)
July 18, 2008
she commented on the user mercy
Ooh, does this make me a cryptid?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word comic book
Would "graphic novel" solve this?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word cumbrian facial pack
I read "cumbrian facial tick" on the first pass. This is much less perplexing!
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word ascii snail
Well! That was.. endearing.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word mild
' "Now one can breathe more easily," said the Knight, putting back his shaggy hair with both hands, and turning his gentle face and large mild eyes to Alice. She thought she had never seen such a strange-looking soldier in all her life. '
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word suety
' "What impertinence!" said the Pudding. "I wonder how you'd like it, if I were to cut a slice out of you, you creature!"
It spoke in a thick, suety sort of voice, and Alice hadn't a word to say in reply: she could only sit and look at it and gasp.
"Make a remark," said the Red Queen: "it's ridiculous to leave all the conversation to the pudding!" '
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word phantomwise
At the end of Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There:
A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July—
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear—
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream—
Lingering in the golden gleam—
Life, what is it but a dream?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word impenetrability
'Alice was too much puzzled to say anything, so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. "They've a temper, some of them— particularly verbs, they're the proudest—adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs—however, I can manage the whole lot of them! Impenetrability! That's what I say!"
"Would you tell me, please," said Alice "what that means?"
"Now you talk like a reasonable child," said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. "I meant by 'impenetrability' that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life."
"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone.
"When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word turk
In Through the Looking-Glass: 'Humpty Dumpty was sitting with his legs crossed, like a Turk, on the top of a high wall—'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word fawn
'So they walked on together though the wood, Alice with her arms clasped lovingly round the soft neck of the Fawn, till they came out into another open field, and here the Fawn gave a sudden bound into the air, and shook itself free from Alice's arms. "I'm a Fawn!" it cried out in a voice of delight, "and, dear me! you're a human child!" A sudden look of alarm came into its beautiful brown eyes, and in another moment it had darted away at full speed.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word bread-and-butterfly
'"Crawling at your feet," said the Gnat (Alice drew her feet back in some alarm), "you may observe a Bread-and-Butterfly. Its wings are thin slices of Bread-and-butter, its body is a crust, and its head is a lump of sugar."
"And what does it live on?"
"Weak tea with cream in it."
A new difficulty came into Alice's head. "Supposing it couldn't find any?" she suggested.
"Then it would die, of course."
"But that must happen very often," Alice remarked thoughtfully.
"It always happens," said the Gnat.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word snap-dragon-fly
'"Look on the branch above your head," said the Gnat, "and there you'll find a snap-dragon-fly. Its body is made of plum-pudding, its wings of holly-leaves, and its head is a raisin burning in brandy."
"And what does it live on?"
"Frumenty and mince pie," the Gnat replied; "and it makes its nest in a Christmas box."'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word rocking-horse-fly
' "Half way up that bush, you'll see a Rocking-horse-fly, if you look. It's made entirely of wood, and gets about by swinging itself from branch to branch."
"What does it live on?" Alice asked, with great curiosity.
"Sap and sawdust," said the Gnat. (...)
Alice looked up at the Rocking-horse-fly with great interest, and made up her mind that it must have been just repainted, it looked so bright and sticky. '
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word rejoice
An amusing piece of Through the Looking-Glass:
"What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where you come from?" the Gnat inquired. ("I don't rejoice in insects at all," Alice explained, "because I'm rather afraid of them—")
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word goat's beard
'In another moment she felt the carriage rise straight up into the air, and in her fright she caught at the thing nearest to her hand, which happened to be the Goat's beard.
* * *
But the beard seemed to melt away as she touched it, and she found herself sitting quietly under a tree—while the Gnat (for that was the insect she had been talking to) was balancing itself on a twig just over her head, and fanning her with its wings.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word child-life
From the last bit of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
'Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make THEIR eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word stretching
The Mock Turtle's "Sketching."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word seaography
The Mock Turtle's "Geography."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word fainting in coils
"Painting in Oils" in Mock Turtle-speak.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word muchness
'"They were learning to draw," the Dormouse went on, yawning and rubbing its eyes, for it was getting very sleepy; "and they drew all manner of things—everything that begins with an M—"
"Why with an M?" said Alice.
"Why not?" said the March Hare.
Alice was silent.
The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into a doze; but, on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up again with a little shriek, and went on: "—that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness— you know you say things are 'much of a muchness'—did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?"'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word cheshire puss
'The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.
"Cheshire Puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word serpent
'As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her head, she tried to get her head down to them, and was delighted to find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: a large pigeon had flown into her face, and was beating her violently with its wings.
"Serpent!" screamed the Pigeon.
"I'm not a serpent!" said Alice indignantly. "Let me alone!"
"Serpent, I say again!" repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued tone, and added with a kind of sob, "I've tried every way, and nothing seems to suit them!"
"I haven't the least idea what you're talking about," said Alice.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word telescope
Lewis Carroll uses it often in dealing with Alice's growing and shrinking:
"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); "now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word dinah
'Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. "Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!" (Dinah was the cat.) "I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?" And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, "Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?" and sometimes, "Do bats eat cats?" for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it.'
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word antipode
In her Adventures in Wonderland, Alice mixes what would've been a clever use of this word up with 'antipathy,' falling down the rabbit-hole:
"I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) (...)
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word antipathy
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) "—but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?"
The word Alice was looking for was antipode.
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word dwindled
I don't think we see this as a verb applied to sentient things often enough: "—but the Queen was no longer at her side—she had suddenly dwindled down to the size of a little doll, and was now on the table, merrily running round and round after her own shawl(...)"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word kitten
Alice, near wakening in Through the Looking-Glass, in reaction to a newly doll-sized Red Queen:
At any other time, Alice would have felt surprised at this, but she was far too much excited to be surprised at anything now. "As for you," she repeated, catching hold of the little creature in the very act of jumping over a bottle which had just lighted upon the table, "I'll shake you into a kitten, that I will!"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the list i-alice-s-adventures-in-wonderland-i-and-i-through-the-looking-glass-and-what-alice-found-there-i
I searched beforehand and found nothing, to my amazement! (Just returned from an appointment; many citations to go. :>)
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word acersecomic
Is that like the mythical penisbone?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word bugs
Wordie's going all 500 Application Error on me when I add a word to a list (of mine, or anyone else's). Listing isn't unsuccessful; it just won't show anything but an error until the page is refreshed. Curious!
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word drawling
Alice, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "What else had you to learn?"
"Well, there was Mystery," the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers, "—Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seaography: then Drawling—the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, that used to come once a week: He taught us Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word uglification
In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
"I never heard of Uglification," Alice ventured to say. "What is it?"
The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. "What! Never heard of uglifying!" it exclaimed. "You know what to beautify is, I suppose?"
"Yes," said Alice doubtfully: "it means—to—make—anything—prettier."
"Well, then," the Gryphon went on, "if you don't know what to uglify is, you are a simpleton."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word reeling and writhing
The Mock Turtle, on the Gryphon's and his schooling:
"Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with," the Mock Turtle replied; "and then the different branches of Arithmetic— Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word esquire
"And how funny it'll seem, sending presents to one's own feet! And how odd the directions will look!
ALICE's RIGHT FOOT, ESQ.
HEARTH-RUG,
NEAR THE FENDER,
(WITH ALICE's LOVE).
"- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word outgrabe
Humpty Dumpty, in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, outgrabing is something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle: however, you'll hear it done, maybe—down in the wood yonder—and when you've once heard it you'll be quite content."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word mome
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, a rath is a sort of green pig: but mome I'm not certain about. I think it's short for 'from home'—meaning that they'd lost their way, you know."
"And what does outgrabe mean?"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word raths
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"And then mome raths?» said Alice. "I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble."
«Well, a rath is a sort of green pig: but mome(...)"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word borogoves
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"...And a borogove is a thin, shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round—something like a live mop."
"And then mome raths?"...
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word mimsy
Humpty Dumpty, in Through the Looking-Glass:
"...Well, then, mimsy is 'flimsy and miserable' (there's another portmanteau for you). And a borogove is..." borogoves'>See borogoves
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word wabe
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"And the wabe is the grass-plot round a sun-dial, I suppose?" said Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity.
"Of course it is. It's called wabe, you know, because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it—"
"And a long way beyond it on each side," Alice added.
"Exactly so. Well then, mimsy is..."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word gimble
Humpty Dumpty, in Through the Looking-Glass:
"To gyre is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To gimble is to make holes like a gimlet."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word gyre
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"And what's the gyre and to gimble?"
"To gyre is to go round and round like a gyroscope. To gimble is to make holes like a gimlet."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word toves
A conversation with Alice in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, toves are something like badgers—they're something like lizards—and they're something like corkscrews."
"They must be very curious looking creatures."
"They are that," said Humpty Dumpty: "also they make their nests under sun-dials—also they live on cheese."
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word slithy
A conversation with Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking-Glass:
"Well, slithy means 'lithe and slimy.' 'Lithe' is the same as 'active.' You see it's like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word."
"I see it now," Alice remarked thoughtfully: "and what are toves?"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the word brillig
"You seem very clever at explaining words, Sir," said Alice. "Would you kindly tell me the meaning of the poem called Jabberwocky?"
"Let's hear it," said Humpty Dumpty. "I can explain all the poems that were ever invented—and a good many that haven't been invented just yet."
This sounded very hopeful, so Alice repeated the first verse.
"That's enough to begin with," Humpty Dumpty interrupted: "there are plenty of hard words there. Brillig means four o'clock in the afternoon—the time when you begin broiling things for dinner."
"That'll do very well," said Alice: and slithy?"
July 18, 2008
she commented on the list fishful-thinking
Jellyfish-doughnuts?
July 18, 2008
she commented on the list 91-classified-93
There's a wealth of them on Wikipedia:
List of military operations by codename
List of Rainbow Codes
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word welkin
Intriguing, qroqqa! Poplollies and Bellibones: A Celebration of Lost Words, where I found welkin, states (This was simplified in the book's glossary to what I posted below): "From the Saxon words wealcan 'to roll,' and wolke 'a cloud.' It is also connected to the German word wolle 'wool,' used to describe the wooly quality of clouds. Shakespeare wrote in A Midsummer Night's Dream,
The starry welkin cover thee anon
With drooping fog as black as Alcheron"
You may very well be right, but it's one author's (informed?) opinion. I don't find myself leaning in either direction in particular.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word acersecomic
I imagine this is both a noun and an adjective. (I've been through months-long acersecomic spells—my hair is presently nearing my tailbone.)
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word yonic
Yonic symbols have to rely on detail more than silhouette, I think. Georgia O'Keefe's work and orchids come to mind.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Tappen is Middle English for bunghole-plug! Imagine.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyodigitalophagist
But, but fish don't have fingers!
Unless they're fishfingers in the way chicken makes chickenfingers.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word colonel dirtyfishydishcloth
"Rain and snow, our engines have been receiving your eager call
There's Colonel Dirtyfishydishcloth; he'll distract her good
Don't worry so"
-Tori Amos, Space Dog
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word neither fish nor fowl
Having no specific character or conviction; neither one nor the other.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word pisciform
Fish-shaped.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyophagy
The practice of eating or subsisting on fish.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyophagist
One who practices ichthyophagy.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word expiscatory
See expiscate.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word expiscate
To fish out.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word fish ladder
Series of ascending pools providing a passage for salmon to swim upstream past a dam.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word fishloaf
Flaked fish baked in a loaf with bread crumbs and various seasonings.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyotomist
One skilled in ichthyotomy.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyohemotoxism
Poisoning caused by the ingestion of fish whose blood contains an ichthyohemotoxin (cf. ichthyosarcotoxism).
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyosarcotoxism
Poisoning caused by the ingestion of fish whose flesh contains an ichthyosarcotoxin (cf. ichthyohemotoxism).
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyohemotoxin
Poison found in the blood of poisonous fishes; causes ichthyohemotoxism.
July 17, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyic
Piscine
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyotomy
The anatomy or dissection of fishes.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyolitic
Resembling ichthyolites (fossilized fish).
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyocoprolite
Fossilized dung of fish.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyofauna
A region's indigenous fish.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyotoxism
Poisoning from fish (also ichthyoacanthotoxism, ichthyosarcotoxism, ichthyohemotoxism).
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyoacanthotoxism
Ichthyotoxism resulting from a wound inflicted by a venomous fish.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyomania
Passion for fish!
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ichthyomancy
Divination by the heads or the entrails of fishes.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word fish doctor
Hilarious inexplicable name for an Arctic eelpout.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word vergüenza ajena
"Other's shame," also called Spanish shame — embarrassment felt on someone else's behalf.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word galère
A coterie of undesirable people.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word fishnet stockings
..I'm not entirely sure that's worksafe!
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word stythe
See chokedamp, blackdamp, afterdamp
July 16, 2008
she commented on the list not-quite-as-awful-as-they-sound
I'd add pandanus!
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word derworth
adj., precious, "dearworth" (obsolete; from Piers Plowman, a 14th century poem by William Langland)
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word schnockered
Variant of snockered.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word fencibles
Reference.com
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word ostentanious
Er, ostentatiously instantaneous? Quality arguable.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word pants rabbit
I hope WWI-era lice were not as big as rabbits. :/
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word wreckless
Who's got the crack? ('s reckless)
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word abortifacient
Oh dear. This word has rather mischievous potential!
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word shipper
Plethora, I'd go with tiresome.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word features
I didn't really foresee wanting this, but the ability to block certain words whose comments you'd rather not see on the front page when you're logged in would be dandy.
July 16, 2008
she commented on the word suave serpens
Just when you think you're safe from Harry Potter-related arguments..!
:<
July 16, 2008
she commented on the user mercy
Word on the street is you're looking to get some aptronym.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word blisters
Can't; they're all bandaged. *whistles*
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word hottentottententententoonstelling
Exposition of Hottentot tents. (Playful Dutch word; Hottentotten + tenten + tentoonstelling.)
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word a wide grin three inches too low
A slit throat.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word blisters
Result of too much listing.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word she in bolshevik
Also in all these.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word djibouti
That's a shame. :( I hope you got some bouti.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word fun in fundamentalist
No one does this.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word it's time for bed
Well-spotted! I'd missed.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word ukulele
I have a ukulele! Please throw ukulele-heavy songs in my direction. (I have Tiny Tim, Beirut's Postcards from Italy etc., Josephine Foster's Little Life..)
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word abilify
Ha, yes! Immediate woe at the commercials—'People are going to start using this word!'
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word my mind
Waaay out in the water, I saw it swimming.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word bijou
Also French, 'jewel'
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word djibouti
Djibouti so fine.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word stumblet
Aw. Like one of Sthumbleina's?
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word death will be their acquisition
"Trapped in purgatory—a lifeless object, alive
awaiting reprisal, and death..
I said, she said..
death will be their acquisition"
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word too bad the burial was premature
"Hello, Mr. Zebra, can I have your sweater?
'Cause it's cold, cold, cold
In my hole, hole, hole
Ratatouille Strychnine, sometimes she's a friend of mine
With a gigantic whirlpool that will blow your mind
Hello, Mr. Zebra
Ran into some confusion with a Mrs. Crocodile
Furry mussels marching on; she thinks she's Kaiser Wilhelm
Or a civilised syllabub, to blow your mind
Figure it out; she's a good-time fella
She got a little fund to fight for Moneypenny's rights
Figure it out; she's a good-time fella
'Too bad the burial was premature,' she said,
And smilied"
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word you can move it up and down and when i'm sleeping run some wire through that rose and wind the swan
"And long ago, she said, 'I must be leaving,
Ah, but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down, and when I'm sleeping
Run some wire through that rose and wind the swan'"
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word she knew what my books did not
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word i know what it's like to be dead
"She said, 'I know what it's like to be dead
I know what it is to be said'
and she's making me feel like I've never been born"
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word i killed a man, t. i've got to stay hidden in this abbey
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word seventy-five pounds of raisins
That's the spirit!
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word laughter in manslaughter
Ha, sorry! Fresh out of murderous humor (please check back at opening tomorrow).
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word shipper
I think they dwell in internet-enabled lighthouses.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word laughter in manslaughter
Yes, it's terrible and I don't agree. But, thoroughgoings! etc.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word dogslice
One who is both homedog and homeslice.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word flesh air
The sweet smell of friendly flesh!
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word i've gone 75 lbs of raisins!
Linking seventy-five pounds of raisins for context. Or lofty date-baskets! Or yes. You'll get the hang of it! (Be the raisins; do not simply have the raisins, grasshoppah.)
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word shipper
Augh yes. Do we really need to be reminded of this word? Or any of those in fanfiction? (Yes, I'll shush.)
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word i'iwi
It kind of looks like two highly non-objectionable emoticons all smooshed together; is decidedly adorable! I'll take three.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the user she
Oh yes please! And several extras.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word taximeter cabriolet
Taximeter cabriolet = taxicab.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word the game
Damns.
July 15, 2008
she commented on the word shlemazl
Unlucky person who suffers from overall haplessness. (Yiddish)
Differs from the also-unlucky, but clumsy shlemiel—"A shlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup; a shlemazl is the person the soup lands on."
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word meester
Master.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word medeleven
Condolence.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word loofbos
Deciduous forest.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word leesteken
Punctuation mark.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word heksenketel
Witch's cauldron.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word edelgesteente
Precious stone.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word bevelhebber
Commander.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word beschermer
Protector, guardian.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word hartaanval
Heart attack.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word fumifugist
And I would like to volunteer bilby.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the list dyslexic-s-dread
You forgot flow/wolf! (If your name is Eve, Bob, Hannah, Anna, Ava, Elle, Iggi, Lil, Otto, or Viv Wolf, I've noticed, it forms in reverse the lovely Flow Eve, Bob, Hannah, Anna, Ava, Elle, Iggi, Lil, Otto, or Viv, respectively.)
sionnach, that was beautiful.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the list pretty-dots-all-in-a-row
Could you catch one and mail him to me, acoustics? For research purposes.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word it's all right. take anything you want from me, anything
"It's all right, she says, it's all right
Take anything you want from me
Anything, anything"
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word please stay a while, with ice cream floats and dreams
"Cindy smiles in overcoats
She says, please stay a while, with ice cream floats and dreams
and I will fill your heart with boats and bells and beams and candy-appled everythings"
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word one plus one is two, but henry said that it was three, so it was. here i am
"Ran into the henchman that severed Anne Boleyn
He did it right quickly, a merciful man
She said, .."
July 14, 2008
she commented on the user mollusque
Happy 10,000th! (Sheesh, you're old.)
July 14, 2008
she commented on the list behr-paint-colors
Oooh I love that you did this.
July 14, 2008
she commented on the word ludibrious
(obsolete) adj., sportive; ridiculous; wanton. Shares origin of Latin ludere, 'to play' with ludicrous.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word nittiness
adj., full of small air bubbles (as wine)
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word salebrosity
No, no, I—they represented the same pronunciation, the same sounds, but were spelled out all nonstandardlike. Nothing to miss.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word deturpate
v., to defile; disfigure; make ugly or foul
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word delassation
(fatigue)
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word ban she banshee
Credited to the illustrious and slightly frightening bilby!
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word rhyparographer
Why, it happens to be a painter of sordid subjects.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the list she-she-she
!
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word fisheye
I'm right in the middle. :3
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word fumifugist
Going the Latin route, it would be fumus (smoke) + trahere (to draw, attract), but I don't know enough to properly piece them together (and fumitractor sounds silly).
But, off my noggintop—fumibait?
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word salebrosity
In the interest of looking slightly less foolish, I'd like to stress that these were the book's madeupical pronunciations rather than my own!
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word rhyparographer
Didn't see this comment earlier, but yes, I'm going back and deleting redundancies (I left them initially to fill the presumed want of on-page definitions).
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word cleistogamous
Has dizzying potential for figurative use.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word acceptance that you can't possibly list all words
:<
July 13, 2008
she commented on the user bilby
Oh hello! I'm glad you were glad I was around when I wasn't quite. It's 9:36pm here.
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word verbification
How nice and simple (and a teensy bit embarrassing)!
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word prickmedainty
(Not to be confused with prickmedaintily)
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word gravida
primigravida: a woman in her first pregnancy (gravida I),
secundigravida: a woman in her second (gravida II),
tertigravida: a woman in her third (gravida III)
July 13, 2008
she commented on the word disgustipated
No mysteries here! Likely a play on Disney-born twitterpated (Bambi).
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word numinous
It took a second to realize this word was not numnums.
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word auburn-brown
I guess auburn-brown just can't hang with crazy-cool-sexy-hot-cute-smart-beautiful.
July 12, 2008
she commented on the user mollusque
Unless you've gotten all tricksy and changed your first and last name in the last week, we are most likely not siblings! But give my compliments to your sister on her word selection. (Is there a linguistic term for using an existing noun as a verb? Hm.)
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word bombycinous
Pale yellow, like a silkworm; silken (from Latin bombycinus).
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word jenticulate
According to the book, jenticulate is the verb form of jentation/jenticulation (which makes sense, as jentacular seems to be the adjective).
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word astrobleme
Beautiful etymological underpinnings: Greek ástron + blêma, "starwound"
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word phonendoscope
An instrument for amplifying small sounds of the human body. From Greek words meaning 'voice' and 'within.'
July 12, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
Ooh, you wordies and your labyrinthine reference-makings
July 12, 2008
she commented on the user she
Hey now, the tag started as 'cutest goddamned words in the universe' but it felt funny on the individual wordpages. And yes, it is!
July 12, 2008
she commented on the word umbilici
Bees?
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word knosp
Someone needs a nacket.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word cockshut
Wow. "I'm sure finding it hard to wait for cocklight!" (another: twitterlight)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word elcrooked
I'd be very tempted to turn that into lol, if not for the strong aversion!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word eyebite
Certainly!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mulligrubs
E'er they be grumbly, and e'er they be mumbly..
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wind-sucker
Hmn, it seems unlikely that going down the path of windfucking would really get you anywhere..
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word ribble
Ha! Oh dear, resurfaced childhood jingles! Every one is like opening a window to the most useless and impervious room in my mind.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Nowhere did we specify the bears were wearing teacup-hats!!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word yeresyeve
Gift given upon the new year.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word yuky
(pronounced yooky) Itchy.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wood
See also woodness.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word woodness
Madness; insanity. From Old English wood, 'out of one's mind.'
In 1374, Chaucer wrote in Troilus, "They call love a woodness or folly."
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wink-a-peeps
Eeeyeballsapeepsyes; eyes.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wind-sucker
Envious, covetous person. Originally referred to a species of hawk that feeds on mice and hovers greedily, almost motionless, in the air over its prey. (Chapman used the term to criticize Ben Johnson in the preface to his Iliad, saying, "There is a certain envious wind-sucker that hovers up and down, laboriously ingrossing sic all the air with his luxurious ambition.")
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wheeple
I envision a sign, somewhere: 'Home for People who Wheeple'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wolke
Saxon 'cloud'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word welkin
"Sky with wooly clouds" from Saxon wealcan 'to roll,' wolke 'cloud,' and German wolle 'wool.'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wang-tooth
A molar (from Old English wang, 'to the side')
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wallydraigle
A worthless, slovenly woman.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word walking mort
Highly insulting term used against old, unmarried whores who often posed as widows. "Walking death."
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word verme
A legendary Ganges fish capable of seizing and destroying elephants. (The very picture of piscine badassery.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word velvethead
A term of contempt for a softheaded person (from the velvet that covers the horns of young deer).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word upsy
In the style/manner of. (The example given: upsy-English, 'English-style.')
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tisty-tosty
A nosegay of flowers. See tuzzy-muzzy.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tutmouthed
Having protruding lips or a projecting lower jaw.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tushes
Tusks.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tirliry-puffkin
A light-headed, flighty woman. (Similar: featherhead, velvethead)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word whifling
A wholly insignificant person.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tenterbelly
Distended belly; a glutton
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word squint-a-pipes
Slang for a squinting person.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word sloomy
Lazy, dull, sleepy~
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word shittle
Unstable, inconstant (from Old English sceotan, 'to run hastily')
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word ribble
A wrinkle, furrow.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word quop
To throb, palpitate.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word prick-song
A song in which the notes were written (pricked) down, as opposed to a plain-song, which was not recorded; also harmony (each prick was a note).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word prickmedainty
A dandy; a person of either sex who is finicky about their dress. From one meaning of prick, 'to pin up' (thus, to dress up elaborately).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word pissabed
Also dandelions, so named for the diuretic effect (who knew?).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word pingle
To eat with very little appetite.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word orlings
Teeth of a comb.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word open-tide
Early spring, when the flowerbuds open.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word ongle
Ornamental claw
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word teenful
adj., causing annoyance and vexation; from teen, 'annoyance and vexation.'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word okselle
Armpit! (also oxter)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word oddwoman
A female umpire or arbitrator.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word nesh
Fresh, delicate, soft (Applied to fruit, vegetables, and foliage—though there's no need to count people out)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mulligrubs
Perhaps it was in tribute to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness? (see melancholy, mubblefubbles, blue devils)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mubblefubbles
(See also blue devils, mulligrubs)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word merry-go-down
Affected by juxtaposed feelings of potent happiness and sadness at once; the phenomenon itself; an affected person; things having an anolagous effect (e.g., alcohol).
(Not to be confused with bittersweet, which implies a blending of less acute emotions that were often predictable)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word merry-gall
A sore produced by chafing (of what and where remains ambiguous)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word melpomenish
Tragic. (See Melpomene, Greek muse of tragedy.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word lulibub
Early form of lollipop.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word lifting monday
Easter Monday in 1800s Lancashire, where it was custom on that day for men to lift up and kiss each woman they met. On Easter Tuesday, women could do likewise for the men. (The custom was stopped due to the disturbances it caused. For shame!)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word knosp
An architectural ornament in the form of a bud or knob.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word kissing-comfits
Sweets that make the breath pleasant.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tidliwink
A tavern (also kidliwink); possibly the birthplace of the game tidliwinks.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word kidliwink
A tavern, beer-shop. Also tidliwink.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word kexy
adj., dry, juiceless (Not very sexy.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word kerchief-of-pleasance
An embroidered cloth presented by a lady to her knight, who was bound by the code of honor to put it on his helmet to wear for her sake.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word iqueme
Pleasing, agreeable.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word hum
Also a term for pleasantly strong liquor; a mixture of ale or beer, and spirits.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word hufty-tufty
A braggart or conceited boor (also huff-muff, huff-snuff, huff-nose).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word hadivist
An expression meaning "had I known," used to express regret at making a mistake or missing an opportunity.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word greedigut
A glutton.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word flesh-spades
Fingernails
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word firefanged
Scorched (through overcooking or exposure to flame), producing a singed taste or smell.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word fellowfeel
To sympathize; to feel the same.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word featherhead
Silly, featherheaded person.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word fearbabe
A thing designed to scare babies.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word fardry
The act of painting the face white.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word fairhead
Ahem— n., beauty (adj. fairheaded).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word eyebite
To bewitch with the eye; or, to ward off the evil eye by spitting over your shoulder.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word elcrooked
L-shaped!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word dweomercraeft
(accent on o) Juggling; the magic arts (witchcraft).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word downsteepy
Steeply descending; precipitous.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word devilshine
Demonic power or skill.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word dentiscalp
A toothpick. From Latin dens, 'tooth' and scalpere, 'to scratch.'
..This word makes me very uncomfortable.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word crush-room
A room or hall in a theatre in which the audience could stroll and mingle between acts; lobby.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word coverslut
An apron (to conceal slovenly underclothes), or an architectural decoration to cover ugliness or deformity.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word cosh
Also, a hut, or small cottage.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word carpet-knight
A derogatory term for a knight who achieved more on the floor of a lady's boudoir than in battle; the Knights of the Carpet, so called to distinguish them from those who served in battle.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word belepharon
Greek, 'eyelid'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word calliblephary
(accent on bleph) A coloring for eyelids. From Greek kallos, 'beauty' and belepharon, 'eyelid.'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word bubble-bow
A lady's tweezerbox or pocketbook. Perhaps originally a misspelling of bauble-buoy, 'a container for baubles.'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word spousebreak
An unfaithful marriage partner (see bedswerver).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word beek
To bask in the presence of the sun or a fire
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word bawdreaming
Bawdy misbehavior.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word assything
(accent on syth, pronounced sithe) Something given as compensation for an offense; reparations.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word afterling
An inferior.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word adam's ale
The only drink available to Adam and Eve: water! Can be extended to disparage watery alcoholic beverages.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word acclumsid
Numbed, paralyzed, clumsy. From Old English clumsen 'to be stiff, numb'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tipsycakes
Cakes saturated in wine or liquor, stuck with almonds, and served with custard.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word whistersnefet
A blow to the ear.
One Tyler Durden in a certain film might've said, "Ow! Christ. Why a whistersnefet, man?"
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list lispers-nemeses
I'd thay ith's a litht worthy of Thylvethter J. Puthycat himthelf.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word onomatopoeia
Personally, onomatopoeia became very easy to spell once I imagined it as
O no, 'mato! Poe-i-a
(has a hellomoto sort of ring to it; 'mato as in tomato, Poe as in Edgar Allen-)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the user chained_bear
All right, c_b, there's no use pretending your onomatopoeia isn't tappen anymore.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word seventy-five pounds of raisins
As in, "I've gone 75 lbs of raisins!"
I started using this after noticing a definition of frail: "the weight of a frail (basket) full of fruit, esp. raisins or figs (between 50 and 75 pounds)."
All the implications of frail (mental, moral, or physical—'fragile, easily destroyed or broken, weak, insubstantial'; slightly offensive slang term for 'girl/woman'), fruit, and basket(case) can be rolled into this expression. Especially well-suited for women who've made themselves crazy (or physically weak) with dieting. Or thin, crazy women in general.
For variety, when you're feeling particularly spunky, the number can be anywhere from 50 to 75, and 'raisins' is interchanegable with 'figs,' 'dates,' 'fruit,' or any kind of fruit that might be dried and stored in a basket.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list lispers-nemeses
Ooh, oh! felicific/infelicific, lasciviousness (or lasciviousnesses, for cruelty's sake), disputatiousness, disperses/dispersers, spinthariscopes, essences, pseudosciences, setaceous, subsidiaries
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word eelpout
Also the perfect word for making something like this face.
edit: bilby! Funny meeting youuu here.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list pretty-dots-all-in-a-row
I haven't yet, but I think I bumped into a Norwegian.
If my parents were Netherlanders, my name probably would have been Katelijne. *eelpout*
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mjau
Norwegian meow.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word umbilici
Bellybuttons!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word nihilities
Nothingnessnes, nonexistences (what?).
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word bijzin
Dutch (grammar), 'subordinate clause'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list pretty-dots-all-in-a-row
Apologies for the flood of Dutch (although this illustrates perfectly why I love the language).
edit: How I wish I could answer 'yes!' It's been on my to-do list for a few years.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word wij
Dutch, 'we'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word zij
Dutch, 'she/they'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word jij
Dutch, 'you'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mijzelf
Dutch, 'myself'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word jijzelf
Dutch, 'yourself'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word mijn
Dutch, 'my'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tholeiitic
adj., tholeiite-related
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word supahman dat ho
Fun fact: the 'chorus' of this song and eeny meeny miny moe have the same melody.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word clamor
It never ends!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the user she
Naturally, I'm crushed.
edit: Oh, Mercy!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word shaken baby syndrome
Sionnach, I'd like to say that I know exactly what film you were referring to, and if you weren't making any references, I said nothing and have no idea what any of you are talking about.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Typing that sort of felt like I was being translated in gibberish against my will.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Tappens happen. (Tappen happens?)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list fabulous-usernames
I'm quite taken with knitandpurl.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
Come to think of it, our tappen is onomatopoeic—it is the sound they'd happen to make if you stood, say, at the base of the wrong mountain, and they all rained down on your uniquely unfortunate head.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list end-in-kin
Oo, oo: kipskin, scarfskin (nifty term for 'epidermis!'), mutchkin, redskin (offensive, but I've never heard it used derisively. also the name of our local NFL? team), pekin (breed of duck), nankin, calkin, punkin?, capeskin, devikin ('little devil'), takin (boat), unakin? ('unrelated'), boomkin, spillikin, pannikin..
More -skins: swanskin, moleskin, foxskin, sharkskin, wineskin, cowskin, deerskin, doeskin, goatskin, lambskin, woolskin
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word hork
Or trichobezoar. 'Horking the trichobezoars again!'
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word tappen
I have new empathy for bears! Thanks, posting a word on the internet.
Also, it's amazing how many people Google can find proudly proclaiming his or her last name to be Tappen.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word shellfish
I'm allergic to shellfish. :<
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word she
Mmn, schlocklist sounds like it has some relation to chocolate. (Dontcry, eerie that you'd say that now!)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word shellfish
The word to use if you'd like to call someone selfish as cutely as possible.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word paperblanks
As in, "It's advisable to buy more than one Paperblanks book at a time; you can write in the other while the one you've salivated all over is drying."
Also, possibly a good term for the result of fruitless writing.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word features
Well, it's born of not wanting to make it harder for anyone else to enjoy the site, and if I'm adding words too quickly for anyone to possibly keep up (I like the sharing as much as the list-building), it doesn't really seem like the best way to go about things. But I'd certainly have no problem going to town if there were some way for the people it might bother to control the noise, if they like, and better digest things. (I'm also beginning to think it would be a nice idea to have a little c_b sitting on my shoulder during the day. "You can do it! Go on. They're just playa-hatin'.")
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
I didn't see your comment in that way at all. :) Seems to me that people have just been expounding on the topic, not arguing.
(Ha! Well, the italics were emphasizing typo-correction.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word she
Oh, I do like pre-1940s schlock! And 1940s schlock (mostly Betty Grable musicals). She was just the product of deciding against using anything I might get tired of and going for the first word I half-wondered may not've been taken. I'm sure there are all sorts of nice little words wandering around with no claimants..
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word the porch
/Lazes about in a rockingchair (Shouldn't there be a verb 'to rock in a rockingchair'? I think so.), silently but for the crrrrrick,.. crrrvb,.. crrriick..
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
Thank you for all the warm welcomings and your general garrulousness! Got a new word-book today (Oh yes. Oh dear). It's good to be among fellowfeelers. Unfortunately, I'm again torn between resuming my previous nuts-goings or remaining slightly more reticent.
Frogapplause—how unusually fun to say!—my desks (..and shelves, tables, and occasionally my bed) are never big enough!
I feel you, sinnonach, on specific lists being more interesting; my intention was always to eventually pull things from this list into themed lists, but because there are so many words, any one of which could be valuable to someone, I wanted to throw them all out there now, rather than having it wait on organizing them all at my leisure (which always means it will take a very, very long time, as it's a perfect opportunity to luxuriate in fastidiousness—something I enjoy so much, just the thought has me cooing, almost). It makes a nice starting point, anyhow.
Ooh, also: you (general you) may be interested in the features suggestion I posted.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
'It's not she's list that's the issue. It's citations/new words ripping down the front page faster than a drowsy bear can unplug its fart flugelhorn.'
Hi. I've just choked on my tea.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word publicly
Damn you, -ally reflex!
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word embarrassment
Yes. Embarrassment sounds like someone saying 'embarassment' with a piratey accent.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word gauge
I always have to strain against personal feelings to spell this word correctly. Gauge looks like gouge sounds, and deep inside, I've always wished it were guage, which feels truer to sound and reminds me of things like suede.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the list words-i-assumed-i-had-not-been-misspelling-until-greeted-somewhere-by-the-fact-of-my-wrongness
Why thank you, miss.
I think it's really one of the most useful self-serving lists to make—I'm digging all the way back to gradeschool (There are words left to add! but I'm pacing myself).. As George Santayana (Google tells me) said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And now I have this handy reference going.
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word features
I had a thought, just now, on a way to possibly arm ourselves when navigating the front page—What if we had the (functional rather than social; I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks "friend"ing usually amounts to fluff) ability to mark "familiar users," that we could see, unsee, or isolate (as a group) when browsing? That is, marking as "familiar" the people you see most often (those repeatedly Wordiest, in particular, and anyone you'd like to keep track of) would let you: temporarily ignore new lists, words, and comments of theirs in recent activity (solving the issue of congestion caused by one person adding hundreds of words in one day! which I am guilty of, but would love to be able to do again without feeling guilty)—leaving only those of all the users not on that list, making it easier to spot things which you might have otherwise missed; or, temporarily view new lists, words, and comments only from "familiar" users (useful for chatching up after you've been browsing with those users filtered out, and a quicker way of getting up-to-date, if you've been away). The logical default would be set to showing everyone's recent activity, "familiar" and not, and those with no interest in using any filters wouldn't have to.
So yes, filtering. Is this doable—? And appealing? (Seems to me, especially as the site grows, that some sort of filtery feature would work in the interest of general Wordie-sanity.)
July 11, 2008
she commented on the word syphilis
"Grandgore" just sounds so proud to be syphilis. :D
July 10, 2008
she commented on the word ophthalmoblennorhea
..Oh, ewww.
July 10, 2008
she commented on the list via-i-weird-and-wonderful-words-i
Oh hufsh Prolagus. Proalgaelollyagus etc. when she hasn't slept. Mints for everyone! And algae is very soft, bilby; you should like it.
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user chained_bear
My sincerest apologies for bringing up tappens (and others' enjoyment in discussing tappens). Tappen. Tappa-tappa tappen..
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tappen, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tappen, at my chamber door-- Only this, and nothing more."
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user yarb
There's something very cheery about that long line of Biff!s to the right. Selfsame list, but
Biff!
Biff!
Biff!
Biff!
Biff!
..
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user bilby
How sweet of you to find the name of my bane. :<
Of all the banshees to not yet exist, why'd the ban she banshees have to be all timely and decide to cross the threshold? I'm keeping my eyes peeled! (Do give a heads-up if you hear any wailing.)
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user whichbe
Oho, please help yourself to my heapings (hopefully, those whichbe-pleasing)!
July 10, 2008
she commented on the word he
Nullibiquitous is He (Is there a character minimum for usernames here? I wonder if He's even Possible.)
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user Prolagus
The appellation matches the drapes, I'm afraid— Wait. I mean to say, she's a she (one of those), well and truly, through and through-ly. But, it isn't so bad, really! Just predictable.
July 10, 2008
she commented on the user she
You are a userbase possessed! I think I like this place.
..Yes, it took me this long to view my profile.
July 10, 2008
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