[Blind Sapper]

Word of the week: Limerance: n, any scientific attempt at a study into the nature of romantic love.

Jo: So how's your limerance going?

Betty: Well enough.

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Quote: Avoid fruits and nuts. You are what you eat.
Jim Davis

[Blind Sapper]

Word of the Week: 8/15/12 : Adoxography: n, a skilled writing on an unimportant subject

Vance: Dude, my paper on mold spores' breeding habits got me an A+!

Lance: Sounds like a real adoxography.

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Etymology of an idiom: "Warms the cockles of my heart." - something that induces a feeling of happiness or affection.

From worldwidewords.org:
"We do know that the expression turns up first in the middle of the seventeenth century, and that the earliest form of the idiom was rejoice the cockles of one’s heart.Cockles are a type of bivalve mollusc, once a staple part of the diet for many British people (you may recall that Sweet Molly Malone once wheeled her wheelbarrow through Dublin’s fair city, crying “cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh!”). They are frequently heart-shaped (their formal zoological genus was at one time Cardium, of the heart), with ribbed shells.

It may be that the shape and spiral ribbing of the ventricles of the heart reminded surgeons of the two valves of the cockle. But I can’t find an example of the word cockle being applied to the heart outside this expression, which makes me suspicious of this explanation. It may be that the shape of the cockleshell, suggesting the heart as it so obviously does, gave rise to cockles of the heart as an expansion."

For the rest of the article: http://www.worldwide.../qa/qa-coc2.htm




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Quote:

"Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."
Winston Churchill

This post has been edited by Blind Sapper: 16 August 2012 - 03:07 PM

[Blind Sapper]

Word of the week: 8/29/12: recumbentibusA knockout blow, either verbal or physical
Captain Falcon: "Falcon Paaaaawnch!!!"Lord Alfred Hummingsworth: "Recumbentibuuuuus!!!"
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Etymology of an idiom: "egg somebody on" ; to encourage or prod another person into an action
A That form of the idiom is interesting. I hadn’t previously come across it as an impersonal construction; it’s more usually as to egg somebody on, meaning to encourage or incite a person to take some action that’s often often inappropriate, dangerous or illegal. Here’s an example of your version:

“People are emotional, agitated, so they are easy to influence. It doesn’t take much to egg things on,” he said.

Oakland Tribune, 10 Jul. 2010.

And here’s one in the form that appears more often:

Party-loving Mike hit the dance floor with other stripping pals at a boozy 40th birthday bash for one of his Sports Direct chain workers. Other guests egged them on with shouts of “More” and ”Get ’em off”

The Sun (London), 5 Sep. 2011. Several photographs were attached, but I’ll spare you those.

Despite its spelling, it has nothing to do with actual ova. Those involved are not being persuaded into their actions through fear of being pelted with eggs or of being left with egg on their faces, nor are eggs employed in any other way. The source is quite different and its spelling is accidental, the result of orthographical convergence.

Above taken from worldwide words.com

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

Virago
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Bronze of a young female warrior inLombard costume. Francesco Porzio,Monumento alla difesa di Casale, 1897For other uses, see Virago (disambiguation).Virago is a term used to describe a woman who demonstrates exemplary and heroic qualities. The word comes from the Latin word vir, meaning virile 'man,' to which the suffix -ago is added, a suffix that effectively re-genders the word to be female. Historically, the concept for the word virago reaches back into antiquity where Hellenistic philosophy asserted that elite and exceptionally heroic men were 'virtus.' Women and non-elite or unheroic men (slaves, servants, craftsmen, merchants) were in a lesser category, and believed to be less excellent (see Roman morality: Mos maiorum). A woman, however, if exceptional enough could earn the title Virago. In doing so, she surpassed the expectations for what was believed possible for her gender, and embodied masculine-like aggression ^[1] and/or excellence. Virago, then, was a title of respect and admiration. In Christianity, a female nun or holy woman who had become equal in divinity to male monks through practiced celibacy, exemplary religious practice and devotion, and intact virginity, was considered to have surpassed the limitations of her femaleness and was called 'Virago.' ^{[2] [3]}
The word Virago has almost always had an association with gender transgression. A Virago, no matter how excellent, was still technically a biological woman. There are recorded instances of Virago women (Joan of Arc is a famous example) fighting battles, wearing men's clothing, or receiving the haircut of a male monk, called a tonsure. ^[4] This could cause social anxiety. For this reason, the word Virago could also be used disparagingly, to infer that a Virago was not excellent or heroic, but was instead violating cultural norms. Thus virago joined pejoratives such as termagant^[5]. and shrew to demean women who acted aggressively or like men.
Today, in standard dictionaries, Virago is defined as both a woman who has unexcellent male characteristics, such as being noisy or domineering, as well as a woman of "great stature, strength, and courage." ^[6]. The word Virago continues to be associated with the naming of a woman who has risen above cultural and gender stereotypes (see also sexism) to embody heroism at its best. For example, the British Royal Navy christened at least four warships Virago.
The word also refers to a masculine aggressive woman. Also, the Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a virago as : a loud overbearing woman. Synonyms from Merriam-Webster include dragon lady, fury, harpy, harridan, termagant, shrew, vixen.^[7]The American Heritage Dictionary defines virago as a woman regarded as noisy, scolding, or domineering. Dictionary.com refers to a virago as loud-voiced, ill-tempered, scolding woman; shrew.^[8]

My latest irregular contribution to this awesome thread.
I also like all the other words that describe a splenetic, vindicative, self-righteous, capricious female person, highlighted in blue, in particular this one following.

Termagant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In medieval Europe, Termagant was the name given to an imaginary god held in Christendom to be worshipped by Muslims, represented in the mystery plays as a violent overbearing personage.^[1]
The word is also used in English to mean a violent, overbearing, turbulent, brawling, quarrelsome woman; a virago, shrew, vixen.^[1] In the past the word could be applied to any person or thing personified, not just a woman.

think of how you can use termagant-below a humble suggestion.
"you are a splenetic termagant."

This post has been edited by Miss Savage: 30 August 2012 - 12:22 PM

[Use Of Weapons]

Blind Sapper, on 15 August 2012 - 08:36 PM, said:

Quote:

"Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."
Winston Churchill

The quote actually ends at "sober," Churchill being far too gentlemanly to utter the remainder. He left it as an exercise for the listener to work out herself

[Solidsnape]

I just thought I'd post this quite and dispense with the words and sayings, just because I love this saying so much.
I'm sure you'll approve UoW.

"In all the human societies we have ever reviewed, in every age and in every state, there has seldom if ever been a shortage of eager young males prepared to kill and die to preserve the security, comfort and prejudices of their elders, and what you call heroism is just an expression of this fact; there is never a scarcity of idiots." (Use of Weapons) -Iain M Banks.

[Blind Sapper]

Word of the Week: staid: sedate, proper, and serious.
Bill: dude, word of the week has been kind of boring the last few weeks.
Ted: yeah, the guy who does it has been way too staid lately. loosen, up, dude!

[RaZjInSaR]

These are great.. but for 'work of the week' there sure are a lot of words

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

I just found my new best word ever (until I come across the next one):

macaronic:
denoting language, especially burlesque verse, containing words or inflections from one language introduced into the context of another, first known use 1638 (Oxford dictionary/wiki)

Macaronic refers to text spoken or written using a mixture of languages, sometimes including bilingual puns, particularly when the languages are used in the same context (as opposed to different segments of a text being in different languages). The term is also sometimes used to denote hybrid words, which are in effect internally macaronic. A rough equivalent in spoken language is code-switching, a term in linguistics referring to using more than one language or dialect in conversation.^[1]

Macaronic Latin specifically is a jumbled jargon made up of vernacular words given Latin endings, or for Latin words mixed with the vernacular in a pastiche (compare dog Latin).

The word macaronic comes from the New Latin macaronicus, from Italian dialect maccarone ("dumpling, macaroni", regarded as coarse peasant fare). The term macaronic has derogatory overtones, and it is usually reserved for works where the mixing of languages has a humorous or satirical intent. It is a matter of debate whether the term can be applied to mixed-language literature of a more serious nature and purpose (Wiki).

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

RaZjInSaR, on 11 September 2012 - 12:09 AM, said:

These are great.. but for 'work of the week' there sure are a lot of words

And you'd be quite right...if 'work of the week' had been the thread title.

[worry]

Mortichnia: literally means "death march" and it refers to the last trail left by a dying creature, which are occasionally even found in trace fossils. Learned this in one of my favorite blogs, Quigley's Cabinet. More here, including some discussion of a specific mortichnia of an ancient horseshoe crab: http://quigleyscabin...rtichnia_8.html

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

@ Worrywort!

In reply to your rep-quote follows not an exhaustive but somewhat long list of macaroni language examples, sadly none penned by me (wiki).
A number of English political poems in the 14th century alternated (Middle) English and Latin lines, as for example in MS Digby 196:

The taxe hath tened [ruined] vs alle,
Probat hoc mors tot validorum
The Kyng þerof had small
ffuit in manibus cupidorum.
yt had ful hard hansell,
dans causam fine dolorum;
vengeaunce nedes most fall,
propter peccata malorum
(etc)




Macaronic verse is especially common in cultures with widespread bilingualism or language contact, such as Ireland before the middle of the nineteenth century. Macaronic traditional songs, such as Siúil A Rúin are quite common in Ireland. In Scotland, macaronic songs became popular for a period among Highland immigrants to Glasgow, using English and Scottish Gaelic as a device to express the alien nature of the anglophone environment. An example:^[6]

When I came down to Glasgow first,
a-mach air Tìr nan Gall.
I was like a man adrift,
air iomrall 's doll air chall.

The term "macaronic" itself was popular as it bears a superficial resemblance to a common Gaelic surname form: Mac a' ... meaning son of the ....


Unintentional macaronic language
Main article: Homophonic translationOccasionally language is unintentionally macaronic. A Greek-French example, well-known among French schoolchildren, is attributed to Xénophon by Alfred de Vigny in Pluton ciel que Janus Proserpine:^[7][8][9]

Ouk élabon polin, alla gar elpis éphè kaka.This means

They did not take the city, as they hadn't a hope [of taking it].but if read in French sounds like:

Où qu'est la bonne Pauline? A la gare. Elle pisse et fait caca.meaning

Where is the maid Pauline? At the station. She's pissing and pooing.
Prose
Macaronic text is still used by modern Italian authors, e.g. by Carlo Emilio Gadda. Other examples are provided by the character Salvatore in Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, and the peasant hero of his Baudolino. Dario Fo' s Mistero Buffo ("Comic Mystery Play") features grammelotsketches using language with macaronic elements.
The novel The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt^[11] includes portions of Japanese, Classical Greek and Inuktitut, although the reader is not expected to understand the passages that are not in English.
Macaronic language is one of many language games used by the literary group Oulipo, in the form of interlinguistic homophonic transformation: replacing a known phrase by a homophonic equivalent in another language, the archetypal example of which is by François Le Lionnais, transforming John Keats' "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" into "Un singe de beauté est un jouet pour l'hiver" 'A monkey of beauty is a toy for the winter'.^[8]
Macaronisms figure prominently in the The Trilogy by the Polish novelist, Henryk Sienkiewicz, and are one of the major compositional principles for James Joyce's novel Finnegans Wake.

This post has been edited by Miss Savage: 11 September 2012 - 07:26 PM

[Use Of Weapons]

As it happens, my ringtone is a macaronic carol from the middle ages, "Nowell sing we, both all and some", which mixes Latin and Old English.

More recently, William Walton set a number of carols, including one macaronic example, "Make We Joy Now In This Fest (In quo Christus natus est)"

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

I found another one!

eructation

noun
a belch

funny wiki-entry:
Belching (also known as burping, ructus, or eructation) is the release of gas from the digestive tract (mainly esophagus and stomach) through the mouth. It is usually accompanied with a typical sound and, at times, an odor.

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

via lactea

that's what the Romans called our Milky Way. Ain't that awesome!

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

hapax legomenon
is a word which occurs only once within a context, either in the written record of an entire language, in the works of an author, or in a single text (wiki).


it boggles my mind that there is a term that consists of two words to describe a single word that has only ever been used once. actually, that there is a term for such a word is a source of amazement too.

[worry]

That's a great one, I'd love to look up some examples.

Also, Blind Sapper disappeared!

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

worrywort, on 21 February 2013 - 11:14 PM, said:

That's a great one, I'd love to look up some examples.

Also, Blind Sapper disappeared!

I was wondering where the thread and its maker were! Maybe he'll turn up again if we keep posting remarkable and phenomenal words.

This post has been edited by Miss Savage: 22 February 2013 - 08:36 PM

[worry]

Not a word of the week per se, but interesting analysis of No vs. Nope: http://www.slate.com...is_shorter.html

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

hebetude

and a great website for words!
My lihttp://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-heb2.htmnk