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- Adopt your own word here!
qms commented on the word inotropic
If a heart has a feeble or slow tick
There's a tried and a true medico trick.
They virtually seize it
And rhythmically squeeze it
With drugs that are called inotropic.
February 26, 2017
alexz commented on the word sologamy
Where you marry yourself. Spotted in a Guardian article.
February 26, 2017
bilby commented on the word kamleika
I guess heart-on-sleeve people are familiar with the concept.
February 26, 2017
oroboros commented on the word kamleika
Aleutian waterproof pullover shirt made of dried animal intestines according to NPR's Says You!.
February 25, 2017
oroboros commented on the word Singapore
Sin + gap + ore and sing + a + pore.
February 25, 2017
oroboros commented on the word lummy
First rate and fabulous according to NPR's <i>Says You!</i>.
February 25, 2017
qms commented on the word headrace
The Word of the Day, if you will,
Is only the grist for the mill
The rhymes in their dread pace
Cascade down the headrace
So the rumble of verse is not still.
February 25, 2017
alexz commented on the word weenusk
Apparently, from the picture shown below, it's a Quebec marmot, circa the 1800's.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=J2NRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA221&dq=weenus
Arctomys empetra
February 26, 2017
bilby commented on the list words-that-sound-dirty-but-aren-t-2
Wild speculation disnae have ae guid record in etymology.
February 25, 2017
Imakeabunchoflists commented on the list words-that-sound-dirty-but-aren-t-2
Weenus is also intentionally dirty. It was probably coined to sound like penis/wiener, and has few non-humorous usages.
February 25, 2017
Imakeabunchoflists commented on the list words-that-sound-dirty-but-aren-t-2
cunning linguist is dirty. It means someone who performs cunnilingus, according to wiktionary. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cunning_linguist#English
February 25, 2017
bilby commented on the word pangopup
A baby pangolin, apparently.
February 24, 2017
bilby commented on the word confectio Damocritis
*eats fuflun*
February 24, 2017
bilby commented on the word undinal
Also, Ruzuzusaurus's comment reminds me that one of the great Australian comebacks of my school years was "look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls".
February 24, 2017
bilby commented on the word undinal
But don't get pissy at me about that.
February 24, 2017
bilby commented on the word undinal
Reminds me a bit of urinal.
February 24, 2017
qms commented on the word fool-hen
Rob Burns wrote some verse on a louse -
Apostrophized once a wee mouse.
Was I out of school when
We studied his fool-hen
Or has he not honored the grouse?
February 24, 2017
HunkyDork commented on the word cleed
I found "cleeds" in "The Rituals Of Dinner" by Margaret Visser. She writes:" Meat feeds, cloth cleeds, but manners makes the man," went a sixteenth-century jingle...
February 24, 2017
alexz commented on the word poking Murphy in the eye
to tempt Murphy's law.
February 23, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word confectio Damocritis
Is anyone going to eat that last fuflun?
February 23, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word undinal
Oh, fun! It doesn't surprise me that something might be missing from the Scrabble dictionaries. Traditionally, the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary pulled from just "five in-print collegiate dictionaries, namely The Random House College Dictionary (1968), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1969), Webster's New World Dictionary (1970), Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (1973) and Funk & Wagnalls (1973)" (quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Official_Scrabble_Players_Dictionary&oldid=698206686).
So I looked up undine on an online version of the OED (subscription only, sadly). At the bottom of the entry, it has a "Draft additions 1993" section which has information about undinal--it references the 1891 Century Dictionary definition--which brings us right back to the Century definition here on this Wordnik page.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to wander off to look up confectio Damocritis again.
February 23, 2017
stracey commented on the word undinal
A recent edition of the TV programme Countdown announced undinal as a valid English word, being an adjective derived from undine, a water spirit. But it does not appear in my Oxford English dictionary, nor any similar Latin dictionaries (except as unda - a wave), nor the SCrabble dictionary or any other according to Wordnik (this page). Etymology apparently stems from the 16th or 17th Century Latin coinage.
February 23, 2017
arvindprksh commented on the user arvindprksh
be good and do good.Talk is cheap, show me your code
February 23, 2017
qms commented on the word eddish
I take a great pleasure in knowing
That aftermath follows on mowing.
This naming of eddish
Has turned to my fetish
And foggage foretells the next sowing.
February 23, 2017
alexz commented on the word whomst
silly memes aside, this word actually appeared in print.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=dFMCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA63&dq="whomst";;;;;
https://books.google.ca/books?id=FERaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA246&dq="whomst";;;;
https://books.google.ca/books?id=QZ5BAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA184&dq="whomst";;;;
So, there you go memers, it's been word'd.
The 19th century also had what-d'ye-call'em
February 23, 2017
alexz commented on the word whomst'd
oh no.. a new meme.
February 23, 2017
S1119 commented on the user S1119
Brings
February 23, 2017
rf commented on the user rf
I googled the word/name Merchester, which I heard on a British TV mini-series.
I had never heard of a town or city with that name and was curious about its location.
All searches tried to re-direct me to Manchester.
Eventually, I found it on the Wordnik site.
All usage references were to a work by Brother Copas.
There were no comments about the word and it was no one's favorite.
Perhaps I felt bad for the word?
I entered this comment.
Also, it has occured to me that "Merchester" may be a dialetical representation of "Manchester."
It could also be just a fictional name.
It seems to me to have a rather North Country "feel" to it.
cheers,
rf
It has occured thet
February 22, 2017
j2aoyama commented on the list test--59
none
February 22, 2017
qms commented on the word crypsis
Like words that hide in ellipsis
Or planets obscured by eclipses,
Some peace-seeking prey
Have mastered a way
To thrive under threat using crypsis.
February 22, 2017
hugovk commented on the word cheese dream
It's a common belief in Britain that (certain types of) cheese before bed can give you weird dreams or nightmares.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120417-does-cheese-give-you-nightmares
February 22, 2017
bilby commented on the word attemptress
@VM We should get a few in. Make a...shrubbery!
February 22, 2017
bilby commented on the word cheese dream
Vegan cheese for dreams of cute rescue wombats, etc.
February 22, 2017
TankHughes commented on the word cheese dream
I would guess it's an allusion to Dicken's A Christmas Carol when Scrooge tries to explain Marley away:
"“You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”"
February 22, 2017
qms commented on the word cheese-dream
See comments at cheese dream.
February 21, 2017
qms commented on the word cheese dream
n. An especially vivid and/or bizarre dream.
n. An open-faced sandwich of grilled or broiled cheese on bread.
I came across this term in a Guardian interview with Lorraine Bracco:
It seems to be a British expression and may be founded in a study of British cheeses published by the British Cheese Board in 2005 claiming to have determined that eating cheese just before going to bed can affect your dreams. It further claimed that the type of cheese you ate controlled what sort of dream you had: Stilton for bizarre effects, cheddar for dreams of celebrities, etc.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4851485
I have seen it used as two words and as a hyphenated word. The definition I provide above is my best guess at the application of this term. Can anyone add more to this?
(For the sake of completeness I include the sandwich definition but I am in no way curious about that. It has a Wikipedia entry.)
February 21, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word attemptress
I'm always in the market for overhead projector bulbs, too.
February 21, 2017
qms commented on the word snotter
A sailor should be a good knotter
And know how to rig his lines tauter:
So master the riches
Of bowline and hitches
And humble but mem'rable snotter.
February 21, 2017
alexz commented on the word källkritik
"Due to what happened #lastnightinsweden the most valuable #wordoftheday is 'källkritik'. Meaning #factcheck"
https://twitter.com/swedense/status/833682059642228737
February 21, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word boogeler
http://www.standard.net/Police-Fire/2017/02/20/Layton-police-arrest-two-in-connection-to-boogeling-spree.html
Police said in a Facebook post that boogeling is the act of going out at night and looking for unlocked cars or garages to enter and steal from. Police also said that they knew what boogeling was, they just didn’t know it had a name.
Layton Police Sergeant Clint Brobowski told Fox 13 that the “boogelers” entered the homes through unlocked doors and even through unsecured doggy doors.
February 21, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word boogeling
http://www.standard.net/Police-Fire/2017/02/20/Layton-police-arrest-two-in-connection-to-boogeling-spree.html
Police said in a Facebook post that boogeling is the act of going out at night and looking for unlocked cars or garages to enter and steal from. Police also said that they knew what boogeling was, they just didn’t know it had a name.
Layton Police Sergeant Clint Brobowski told Fox 13 that the “boogelers” entered the homes through unlocked doors and even through unsecured doggy doors.
February 21, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word blorange
http://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/news/a24241/blorange-hair-color-trend/
Enter the perfect winter pastel: Blorange, which is—you guessed it—blonde + orange. Created by the empress of crazy AF hair colors, Bleach London's Alex Brownsell, her test subject was none other than Georgia May Jagger who has become her dye-job guinea pig of sorts.
February 21, 2017
TankHughes commented on the word InCoWriMo
Short for International Correspondence Writing Month: http://incowrimo.org/
Every February
February 21, 2017
vendingmachine commented on the word attemptress
@bilby. You won me over when you mentioned the dwarf poinsettia leaves.
February 21, 2017
bilby commented on the word cinebulle
Not a delectable cinnamon roll from a yet-to-be-discovered eastern European country?
*disappointed*
February 21, 2017
bilby commented on the word attemptress
I can conceive of using it before the fact.
"Ruzuzu is planning to go one better than Evel Knievel's failed Skycycle jump over Snake Canyon. The attemptress is building her own vehicle out of old epidiascope parts, a rocket sled and dwarf poinsettia leaves."
February 21, 2017
alexz commented on the word cinebulle
spotted this term near heligimbal - wikipedia lists it as a balloon used for filming.
February 20, 2017
alexz commented on the word electropol
spotted in a Fermilab video
February 20, 2017
alexz commented on the word heligimbal
the (usually ball shaped) motion stabilized camera mount on a helicopter or aircraft.
spotted term in a video about nature videography.
February 20, 2017
alexz commented on the word CINO
Conservative In Name Only
Similar acronym RINO
February 20, 2017
qms commented on the word antiphlogistic
My tea, made of herbs and holistic,
Has a health-giving characteristic:
It soothes and it tames
Intestines in flames
Because it is antiphlogistic.
February 20, 2017
knitandpurl commented on the word dreich
"It was a bitter cold Sunday, wet and misty, dismal, dreich, everything as dripping and grey as only Inverness in November can be; we stood at the Memorial by the river in our uniforms with the Provost and his wife and some people from the council and the British Legion, and we each stepped forward in turn below the names carved on it to do this thing, the weight of which, the meaning and resonance of which, I didn't really understand, thought I'd thought I knew all about war and the wars, until I got home after it and my parents, with a kindness that was quiet and serious, sat me down in the warm back room, made me a mug of hot chocolate then sat there with me in a silence, not a companionable silence, more mindful than that."
"Good voice" by Ali Smith, p 35 of Public Library and Other Stories
February 20, 2017
zechsea commented on the word attemptress
She must have failed. I would imagine the name is given only after the fact. Those who succeed would be known as something other than attemptress.
February 19, 2017
qms commented on the word locomote
The egg can be coy and just float;
Her suitor though must locomote.
An ambitious sperm
Must earnestly squirm
If ever he'll be a zygote.
February 19, 2017
qms commented on the word squareabout
No doubt a precursor to the zigzagabout, which will bring traffic to a complete stop.
February 19, 2017
alexz commented on the word squareabout
.is a squared off roundabout. The sharper turns supposedly slow down cars more.
February 19, 2017
hugovk commented on the list terms-that-are-examples-of-the-term
Do CamelCase and snake_case etc. count?
And lowercase and UPPERCASE?
February 18, 2017
qms commented on the word diapason
If pretty miss mammoth should happen upon
A masculine hunk of a mastodon
Like trumpets his bellows,
Her sighing like cellos,
Will swell a primeval diapason.
February 18, 2017
shanvrolijk commented on the word hajj
I ventured from the hotel and joined the hajj of blue-jeaned yokels that paraded slowly and patriotically past the empire's historic landmark. ~ Paul Beatty, The Sellout
February 18, 2017
alexz commented on the word ayce
:all you can eat:
February 18, 2017
alexz commented on the word dbg
techy speak - short for debug
February 18, 2017
Tryanite commented on the word mawworm
An example of mawworm:
“He would be the very Mawworm of bachelors who pretended not to expect it.”
Excerpt From: George Eliot. “Middlemarch.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/dOSzx.l
February 18, 2017
TankHughes commented on the word shitgibbon compound
Shitgibbon was used in a presidential insult tweet: "Hey @realDonaldTrump I oppose civil asset forfeiture too! Why don't you try to destroy my career you fascist, loofa-faced, shit-gibbon!"
shitgibbon is an example of a shitgibbon compound.
http://allthingslinguistic.com/post/157210818652/the-orgin-and-constraints-of-shitgibbon
February 18, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the list the-measure-of-man
kishon
February 17, 2017
douglasripley commented on the word double amphibrach
double amphibrach a stanza form using amphibrachic dimeter, - ' - | - ' - ; it consists of eight lines, with the shortened 4th and 8th lines rhymed, and one line (usually the sixth) consisting of a single word. It is a variation of the double dactyl form.
Example: this rendering of "Humpty Dumpty":
As Humpty was sitting
upon a partition,
he misplaced his balance
and suffered a fall.
A sodden, unsightly
reorganization
of yolk and albumen
appeared by the wall.
Though all the king's horses
were called to the rescue,
he couldn't be saved from
the blistering sun.
In spite of their dazzling
equestrianism
and expert attendance,
poor Humpty was done.
Does this have a moral?
Perhaps that in life as
in politics sitting
on fences is fine,
but slipping a bit is
anticipatory
of suddenly facing
a fatal decline.
Several pieces in *The Bard & Scheherazade Keep Company* by Jan D. Hodge, are written in this form, including "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Hamlet."
February 17, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word gen real
http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2017/02/14/move-over-millennials-here-comes-gen-real
So-called 'gen real' (that’s generation Z to the unacquainted) currently constitutes 35% of the world’s population and will soon make up four in every 10 consumers in the world’s largest markets.
February 17, 2017
qms commented on the word phreatophyte
Thank you, ruzuzu.
February 17, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the list stained-glass-words
Lovely! You might find a few yoink-worthy things over on the-glassworks list.
February 17, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word phreatophyte
Ah, qms. Another delight. Thank you.
February 17, 2017
qms commented on the word phreatophyte
The dilettante's blossom is bright
But withers in weather and light.
The deep-rooted scholar,
Though paler and smaller,
Persists like a phreatophyte.
February 17, 2017
alexz commented on the word pro-sumer
prosumer
February 17, 2017
alexz commented on the word orgs
Short for organizations
February 16, 2017
qms commented on the word ex-vivo
That's going to be one big test tube!
February 16, 2017
alexz commented on the word psy-ops
From the examples listed: psychological operations
February 16, 2017
alexz commented on the word de-extincting
Spotted in article about bringing back mammoths, or mammophants
February 16, 2017
alexz commented on the word ex-vivo
Mammoth cloning article in the guardian: '“We hope to do the entire procedure ex-vivo (outside a living body),” he said. “It would be unreasonable to put female reproduction at risk in an endangered species.”'
February 16, 2017
alexz commented on the word mammophant
A mammoth elephant hybrid.
February 16, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the list three-sheets-to-the-wind--1
Oh, sheet. It is a truth universally acknowledged that every potential list is an existing list.
I made it to worksheet before I realized the sheet list I'd just created already exists here!
February 16, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the list dye-box
My new favorite list! Thank you.
February 16, 2017
qms commented on the word jurat
A true but a somewhat obscure fact
Is wombats make cubes out of pure scat.
This isn't a trick;
They do shit a brick.
I'll swear it and sign with a jurat.
See also comments at scat.
February 16, 2017
alexz commented on the word yank-shake
An overly aggressive handshake where someone's whole arm is pulled, spotted in the news. aka yankshake
February 16, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word Byronesque
Cf. Byronic.
February 15, 2017
qms commented on the word onychoschizia
Also known as onychoschisis or lamellar dystrophy.
See also onychorrhexis.
February 15, 2017
qms commented on the word onychoschizia
onychoschizia n. The term onychoschizia includes splitting, brittle, soft or thin nails. (fingernails and toenails)
http://www.aocd.org/?page=BrittleSplittingNail
February 15, 2017
qms commented on the word isostasy
With nukes that fly across the sea
We strive to balance bellicosity.
The nations assume
Their mutual doom,
So peace is preserved by isostasy.
February 15, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word as you wish
As you wish both, too!
February 15, 2017
bilby commented on the word as you wish
As you wish too alexz.
February 14, 2017
alexz commented on the word as you wish
SPOILER ALERT: in the movie The Princess Bride, "as you wish" means "I love you"
February 14, 2017
alexz commented on the word infotainment
Spotted in a linux presentation: "Auto industry is way behind smartphones. 36mos to produce infotainment system."
February 14, 2017
alexz commented on the word speechcon
Amazon's word for an interjection, so their talking gizmo can say Bazinga with emphasis. Speech emoticon?
February 14, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word glassbowl
Rhyming synonym for "asshole" in a public forum.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the H?! No, any manager who isn’t a complete and utter glassbowl is not going to start feeling that FMLA is being abused if the employee who has properly requested it actually uses it.
February 14, 2017
shanvrolijk commented on the word aught
As blogging went mainstream in the aughts, a small circle of feminist bloggers—mostly straight, thirtyish or younger, American, and living on the coasts—was elevated along with it to the status of regular columnists.
https://www.candybank.com/public/50AF55E3-0D89-0AB8-816C-57B32B97D1D8
February 14, 2017
qms commented on the word domiciliation
When love's first mad exhilaration
Gives way to a plan for affiliation
Wise lovers adjust
And temper their lust
To tend to their domiciliation.
February 14, 2017
alexz commented on the word PDX
sometimes refers to Portland Oregon. Letters come from the airport code. Not everyone refers to their city by airport code.
February 14, 2017
bilby commented on the word SCROTUS
The version I saw was So-Called Ruler...
February 14, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word SCROTUS
First use? Elayne Boosler on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElayneBoosler/status/797658318411960324
1/20/17, when our classy POTUS & FLOTUS are replaced by SCROTUS and HOTUS. #nevertrump
February 14, 2017
scarequotes commented on the word SCROTUS
From Dec 15 2016, "Supremely Corruptible Ruler of the United States"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-jane-campbell/its-the-little-things-fro_b_13642952.html
I have been reminded of Roger Boisjoly recently as I see our current President-Elect crossing some ethical lines that others have not crossed in the past and I worry that we are taking baby steps in a very dangerous direction. I fear that instead of choosing the next President of the United States (POTUS), the electoral college is about to vote for a man who could become known as SCROTUS - Supremely Corruptible Ruler of the United States.
February 14, 2017
bilby commented on the list japanese-approach
Bottoms up!
February 14, 2017
knitandpurl commented on the word crubeen
"You can tell me at supper. Aunt Oona's having the whole family over for Irish stew and crubeens."
Crosstalk by Connie Willis, p 27
February 14, 2017
alexz commented on the word side-eye
explained in emoji: 👀 😒
February 13, 2017