BFMracing

General Category => General Board => Cogitative Corner => Topic started by: MrMxyzptlk on July 22, 2007, 12:24:36 PM

Title: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on July 22, 2007, 12:24:36 PM
Okay.  You all know that I like words, and I "spread the word" ( sry!  :-[ ) whenever I can, with dictionary links to possible "new vocabulary" for many to enjoy. (  ::) ? )

However, I occasionally come upon AMAZING words - words with such succinct (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/succinct) and strange definitions - that I'm truly impressed with "language!"

Upon learning a new one today, and having a plethora (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plethora) of them on hand ("on brain," as it were!), I decided that it's time to SHARE! (Oh goody goody!  :'( )

Whenever I learn one of these new beauties I endeavour (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/endeavour) to use it as often as possible for the next TWO WEEKS in order to hammer it into my feeble mind as much as possible.

I encourage you all to do likewise, because, as you'll see: these are truly excellent words, and well worth keeping "on hand" for whenever the proper occasion should arise.

So here, for all to enjoy & use as often as possible over the next TWO WEEKS, is the first of many Mr. Mxy's Word Corner words!:

frass (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frass)

Uses:

- The FDA has rules as to how much frass (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frass) is allowed into your food....  :-X

- Honey, there's frass (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frass) in my soup!

- Junior, it's time to clean the cricket cage.  It's full of  frass (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frass).

- Please post your experiences making use of this great new word: frass (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frass)!




Other words (from previous forum thread (http://begformercy1.proboards60.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1177473222)):


May 14, 2007:
OK!


'Time for the next unique & oddball english-language word!  (Actually, I'm LATE with it!  :-[ )

Your NEXT word to somehow use in your everyday life IS....


detritus (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=detritus)

de·tri·tus      /dɪˈtraɪtəs/ –noun
1.   rock in small particles or other material worn or broken away from a mass, as by the action of water or glacial ice.
2.   any disintegrated material; debris.

Here's how I used it (after a shower! :) )at lunch out with friends today:

"Man I've broken up so much of that concrete slab all morning that my hair was filled with  detritus (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=detritus) from it!" (Yes, I got a funny look....  ;D )

Now YOU use detritus (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=detritus) in a sentence today, and amaze your friends, or even YOUR PARENTS!   :o  ;D




May 23, 2007:

OK!

Time for another kewl word!

Now, this word is may FAVORITE WORD!  I deign to use it at every even slightly-related opportunity, cuz I think it's so uniquely defined!

YOU SHOULD TOO!

The next Mxy's Word Corner word is!...

>drum roll....<



defenestrate (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=defenestrate)!

de·fen·es·trate       (d&#275;-f&#283;n'&#301;-str&#257;t')
tr.v.   de·fen·es·trat·ed, de·fen·es·trat·ing, de·fen·es·trates
To throw out of a window.


There's a word that means that AND ONLY THAT! How cool is THAT?!?!

Unfortunately I've had NO opportunity recently to make use of this great word, so over the next two weeks I - like yourselves! - will endeavour to put it to use! (And I will, of course, post my experience once I have!)

[Note that in the movie "There's Something About Mary" her dog is NOT defenestrated!  The dog (accidentally!) jumps out the window on his own, so this is POOR EXAMPLE example of defenestration!  :D ]

GL, and happy defenestration!




June 4, 2007:

New word should be tomorrow, but in celebration of the restoration of this thread (? ! ? . .. w/e! ) here's the NEXT NEW WORD!:

perspicacious (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=perspicacious)

per·spi·ca·cious      [pur-spi-key-shuhs] –adjective
1.   having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: to exhibit perspicacious judgment.

And here's my immediate use of this word!:

Diagoro was perspicacious (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=perspicacious) and ebullient (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=ebullient) wrt his use of all the Word Corner words thusfar!




June 20, 2007:

Well! . . .

Perspicacious (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=perspicacious) was A Big Flop, wasn't it?!?  :-*

('Guess all the perspicacious (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=perspicacious) folks here are off for Summer break, eh??  ;) )

You ScrabbleTM (and BoggleTM) players out there should LOOOVE this one!  It ALWAYS gets challenged, but it's in MOST (not ALL!) dictionaries, although I can't say it will be for long, because I've NEVER heard it used in speach by anyone other than myself - while playing ScrabbleTM!  (Perhaps you Brit's still use it??)


crwth (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/crwth)


crwth      [krooth] –noun Music.
 crowd2.
[Origin: 1830–40; < Welsh; c. Ir cruit harp, lyre]


crowd 2       (kroud, kr&#333;&#333;d) 
n. 
   1. An ancient Celtic stringed instrument that was bowed or plucked. Also called crwth.
   2. Chiefly British: A fiddle.



THIS IS ONE OF ONLY TWO WORDS (that remain) IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WHERE "W" IS CONSIDERED A VOWEL!

Now, ... THIS ONE is REALLY hard to use in common language, but hey!!! Go for it!  Play ScrabbleTM over the next two weeks and get that free turn and 50 points offa them!  ;D

They'll never play ScrabbleTM with you again!

P.S. You MIGHT wanna check your dictionary FIRST, tho, to make sure yours has it!  (The smaller, "pocket-sized" cheap ones usually do NOT!)



July 12, 2007:


Not a lotta "crwth" players/users out there, eh?  ;D

Ok then!  'Next word for y'all!:

nib (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nib)

nib      /n&#618;b/ –noun
1.   the point of a pen, or either of its divisions.
2.   a penpoint for insertion into a penholder.
3.   a point of anything: a cutting tool with a diamond nib.
4.   a bill or beak, as of a bird; neb.
5.   any pointed extremity.

So sharpen those nibs (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nib) on top of your head and get with using this next new word!  :P



Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on July 22, 2007, 04:35:18 PM
I used that accidentally the other day

I went to call a guy a 'nub' and called him a nib instead o.0 (It was Kozmo...shhh)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on July 23, 2007, 02:41:39 AM
MrMxy instructed:
Quote
So sharpen those nibs on top of your head and get with using this next new word!

One would have to have a particularly coarse head to sharpen a nib on it...

Gotcha!  d_b
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 04, 2007, 12:49:09 AM
OKAY! Enough rest for y'all!

'Next word!:

aflicker (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=aflicker)

adjective

shining unsteadily [syn: flickering]

Once again: You have two weeks (and only the next two weeks!) to put this new word to good - somewhat appropriate - use, so don't dally!

(I can see all those brains aflicker out there already!  ;D )

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Neeox on September 04, 2007, 01:17:33 AM
Haha, i threatened to defenestrate my dad's laptop because it has Vista on it  ::)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: The Rebel™ on September 04, 2007, 02:23:03 AM
Ya know Mxy I thought you might have snuck in a link to this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Endeavour) Endeavour. I kinda like that link more myself.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on September 04, 2007, 03:29:20 AM
I love words that begin with a-! One of my fave things to say in game is "Hogs aplenty, no need to nade."  :awesome:



My Word Corner contribution:

I saw the word and my eyes alit
upon my favorite bit of grammar.
"Give these guys a shot of wit,
resplendent with verbose glamour!"

But my Word Nerd well had gone dry--
ain't that a real kicker?
No matter how hard I might try
I just couldn't use "aflicker"

in a poem.


 :doh:


 d_b


 :winkgrin:



Although I should get half a point for "alit".
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on September 04, 2007, 11:50:13 PM
What sort of English is that Jane?

"Alight" is a word, BUT, the word ALIGHT is NOT a verb! You cannot say "alit" "alighted" "alighting"  "alights". It is an adjective though, so you can have "alight" "alighter" "alightest".

Hydra ;)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on September 05, 2007, 07:24:28 AM
Doh! You caught me. I hate admitting fault so, while I AM wrong in awarding "alit" with half a point (it's not the same use of a- as in "aflicker" :embarassed:), you're a little wrong, too. Much less wrong than me as I misled you with the half-point, but wrong all the same. See how I refuse to be wrong alone?  :winkgrin:


I believe you are using "alight" like this, "alight" being the highlight of this sentence ( I know "asleep" is not the same as "alight" and "abed", I won't make the same mistake again!):

I was abed but the lamp was alight  and I could not fall asleep.


Merriam-Webster lists two forms of the word "alight" (http://meriamwebster.com/dictionary/alight), the intransitive verb and the adjective. I'm fairly certain I attempted to use the verb, however, now that I'm second-guessing myself, I may have used "alit" wrong, verb or not. Poo!

I'm glad I can comfortably discuss this here, in the Word Corner thread. :)

 :giggle:


PS- Not only am I casting the squinty eyes at "alit", now I'm questioning all my commas (I pause, a lot) and I used "me" when I think I should have used "I"...  See if you can find it! I can't stop staring at it myself. And curse my passive speaking!  :arghfist:

 :giggle: :giggle:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 05, 2007, 08:28:05 AM
1) What's all the fuss about?  How did "alight" come up?  "alit" is fine, and IS a verb, in TWO tenses! (See second entry for the actual word "alit." (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alit) It is pp. AND pt. of "alight" - which is itself and verb that requires NO OBJECT.)

2) In MODERN grammar it is now considered fine to pepper text with commas... so long as they clarify the meaning or intent. (This also includes "moderating informal language" soas to "speak in prose," sort-of.)

3) IT WAS A POEM!  Poetic License prevails!

4) Nice discussion, tho!

...'Guess we can "aflame" each other here safely, eh?!?

 :winkgrin:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 26, 2007, 09:35:50 PM
Time for a new word!:

bookkeeper (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bookkeeper)

noun

one who attends to account books or systematic records of money transactions

Besides having a singulary meaning - THE main aspect of all the words that make my wordlist - this particular word IS THE ONLY WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WITH THREE SETS OF DOUBLE LETTERS IN A ROW!


Once again: You have two weeks (and only the next two weeks!) to put this new word to good - somewhat appropriate - use, so don't dally!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Volley on September 26, 2007, 09:39:12 PM
Awww Mr mxy, your word corner is so cool, I think it deserves a place on the news fader on the home page.  :hug:  d_b
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on September 26, 2007, 11:14:49 PM
What about "bookkeeping"

HAH!

:P

Also, "committee" has 3 doubles, but not in a row, as does "assessee" and "Mississippi".

But the least notorious one (that I love) has FOUR sets of doubles in a row - SUBBOOKKEEPER".

You can tell I like words, eh? =D
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Wízzßång on September 26, 2007, 11:46:20 PM
But the least notorious one (that I love) has FOUR sets of doubles in a row - SUBBOOKKEEPER".

Now you're just talking jibberish!

Mxy, ever read any Encyclopedia Brown stories?
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on September 27, 2007, 02:25:00 AM
Oh! So THAT'S where "bookie" comes from. I always wondered.

I would make a terrible bookeeper as I am financially irresponsible.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on September 27, 2007, 02:59:41 AM
...women...

KIDDING!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Contact on September 27, 2007, 05:13:14 AM
bookkeeper (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bookkeeper)

noun

one who attends to account books or systematic records of money transactions



Ok, I am no English professor or scrabble junkie, I am not even too good at account keeping.  But I love my books, I even according to my wife horde books - why can I not be a bookkeeper ?
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: RUSTY0 on September 27, 2007, 08:45:02 AM

     I have a contribution. "Fid".

     A fid is a conical tool made of wood or bone. It is used to work with rope and canvas in marlinespike seamanship. A fid differs from a marlinspike in material and purpose. A marlinespike is meant to pry and is normally made of metal. A fid is used to hold open knots and holes in canvas. As I learned as a bosomate in The CG. Makes one really wonder where
that word originated.

                                                                                                                                         RP
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 27, 2007, 11:27:27 AM

- TY for the correction and additional interesting multi-pair letter words, Hydra!

- Ya, ContACT, I always wondered why we book collectors don't qualify as "bookkeepers!"  In fact, I initially assumed that would be the first meaning listed for the two meanings of the word! Not so!  :-\

- RUSTY0: Your word has been added to the end of my list (but don't hold your breath! At the current rate it won't show up here until mid NEXT YEAR!  ::) )
As for the etymology (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/etymology) of "fid": it was a 17th century Old Irish word for "tree, or any chunk of wood." (Prolly were a LOT of things called a "fid" back then, but I can see how such a nautical use would stick, name-wise, given all the deep tradition in seamanship....)

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Exodus on September 27, 2007, 07:17:42 PM
Quote
Ok, I am no English professor or scrabble junkie, I am not even too good at account keeping.  But I love my books, I even according to my wife horde books - why can I not be a bookkeeper ?

LOL! Most people won't have got that :)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 27, 2007, 08:02:24 PM
Quote
Ok, I am no English professor or scrabble junkie, I am not even too good at account keeping.  But I love my books, I even according to my wife horde books - why can I not be a bookkeeper ?

LOL! Most people won't have got that :)

Exodus: You mean "most ppl" won't get what a "scrabble junkie" is?!?

I'll bet that MOST of the ppl who read this thread are scrabble junkies!

(Why do you think I know these words?!?!  :winkgrin:  Not just because I'm a bookkeeper!  ::) )

You know what ContACT?  In writing the above I just figured out why we're not "bookkeepers!"

Because there's already a word for ppl like us!: bookworms (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=bookworm)!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on September 28, 2007, 01:35:37 AM
You louse!

Another word that isn't the same as "bookkeeper": bibliophile (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bibliophile). And it's fun to say, too!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Contact on September 28, 2007, 02:44:41 AM
LOL! Most people won't have got that :)

Exodus - your right, Hydra can fill everyone else in one day.

Nice one Jane - bibliophile (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bibliophile) is a word I have never heard or used before.

Anyhow, I better go contact my account to see if my bookkeeping is all in order for him to finalise my tax return.   ;)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on September 28, 2007, 03:32:48 AM
One word:

-.-'

Well, it's more of an emotion. So here's the word:

*SIGH*

That's all I have to say.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on November 06, 2007, 01:53:15 PM
Well!  Long time, no new word!

Okay then, here's one of my second-favorite oddball words!:

Time for a new word!:

penultimate   pe·nul·ti·mate      [pi-nuhl-tuh-mit] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/penultimate)

–adjective

next to the last: the penultimate scene of the play.


It's safe to say that my word this time is NOT the penultimate one!  I have a WHOLE BUNCH MORE to go!


Once again: You have two weeks (and only the next two weeks!) to put this new word to good - somewhat appropriate - use, so don't be the penultimate one to post your use!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: OrbitAddict on November 06, 2007, 03:07:13 PM
The penultimate person and the ultima person in line failed to receive their 50% off coupons.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on November 06, 2007, 10:07:59 PM
Quick! Someone post after me so that I have the penultimate post in this thread!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: OrbitAddict on November 07, 2007, 02:14:27 PM
Ok, but I can't guarantee that I have the ultima post, because I'm sure someone will make another post after me!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Gryphon on November 07, 2007, 02:17:12 PM
And here I thought it meant the Penultimate T-1000 from "The Dig". Equal parts radio, locator, and moonlander game in a package the size of a space pen.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on November 07, 2007, 02:24:23 PM
And here I thought it meant the Penultimate T-1000 from "The Dig". Equal parts radio, locator, and moonlander game in a package the size of a space pen.


That was penultimately the most incomprehensible comment I've ever read/heard, with "I hate cheese"  boggling the mind completely.


MODIFY: Heee! 12 hours later and I'm still giggling about this one!



Who in their right mind would hate cheese...
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: OrbitAddict on November 07, 2007, 02:43:23 PM
:doh:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Daigoro on November 09, 2007, 12:40:33 PM
Hey Mxy, is there a reason you chose to introduce this word in November?????
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on November 09, 2007, 05:50:01 PM
Hey Mxy, is there a reason you chose to introduce this word in November?????

heh.

Pure coincidence.  Honest.

(Nice catch there D!)

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Wízzßång on November 21, 2007, 10:15:09 PM
Hey, does this count?

(http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/183/penultimatebw0.jpg)

This was on the freerice.com website that was discussed here. (http://www.bfmracing.net/forums/index.php/topic,6313.0.html)

Thanks Mxy.  You helped me donate 10 grains of rice!.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on November 21, 2007, 10:40:51 PM


That sure DOES count, Wizz!

Cool!

I went and did it too!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fuzion on November 21, 2007, 11:10:48 PM
I did it too,its nice to help ppl.   ;D
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on November 22, 2007, 02:44:49 AM
You missed hemidemisemiquaver?! :giggle:

(I love that word!)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on December 04, 2007, 01:11:34 PM


'Time for a new word!:

tit·tle      [tit-l] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tittle)

–noun

1.   a dot or other small mark in writing or printing, used as a diacritic, punctuation, etc.
2.   a very small part or quantity; a particle, jot (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jot), or whit (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/whit): He said he didn't care a tittle.


[Origin: bef. 900; ME titel, OE titul < ML titulus mark over letter or word. See title (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/title)]


This time I don't give a tittle if you use the new word over the next two weeks or not!


 :winkgrin:


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: VxT on December 04, 2007, 03:15:03 PM
. <- It's a tittle!!!

I win!

Woot for words i've never heard of  ;D
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on December 04, 2007, 03:15:11 PM
I will spend a little time and fiddle with a riddle and a rhyme.
Well, I haven't the time to piddle with a riddle, unles you can spare a dime.
Or is the correct word "fiddle"? Poor use of a word is surely a crime.
I'll whittle down a riddle while I consume my vittles with lime.
Then pause for a mo' and belittle the art of the mime.
So I will piddle and fiddle with a riddle that I will whittle a little
and somewhere in the middle I will use a tittle  and eat my vittles
including peanut brittle and watch the spittle for germ transmittal and slime.

That last one is fun to say.  :roflol:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: VxT on December 04, 2007, 03:17:42 PM
You made that up Jane!?  :o

Nice Work.

Fun to say lol  ;D
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on December 04, 2007, 10:11:56 PM



Niiiiice, JD!


It was sublime at the time to rhyme so part-time!
No way a crime so to chime on a dime all the time....
But i feel like a heel to make a real deal
(unreal and surreal - by far not ideal!)
of that rhyme without grime that was really quite prime!
Sans slime - even one time - I'm impressed by your mime!

Then I peal off a squeal just to see if she'll wheel.
Tho reveal her steel with real force that I feel
I should climb back in time, and forgive me my crime
that I rhyme on a dime, I'm guilty of mime,
a little aquittal - a brittle commital!
...No intent to belittle! ... Not even a tittle.

 ;D

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on December 04, 2007, 10:41:14 PM
Oh! Bravo! That was really good!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Forseti on December 05, 2007, 10:08:39 AM
Umm I am no grammar expert and poetry is in the ear of the beholder and at the whim of the writer, but...

MrMxy, did you forget a tittle after your second crime? I was thinking a comma more than a period?
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: AK-487 on December 05, 2007, 10:17:49 AM
mxy mxy!!     ::) 8)   
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on December 05, 2007, 09:31:19 PM
Umm I am no grammar expert and poetry is in the ear of the beholder and at the whim of the writer, but...

MrMxy, did you forget a tittle after your second crime? I was thinking a comma more than a period?

Nope.

Read across broken lines that lack any ending puncuation in a quick flurry and the banter will be even more obvious than the foreground meter....

(Kinda Suess-ish, or like you might hear in a coffee house in the '50s....)

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Wízzßång on December 06, 2007, 03:15:42 AM
Wow, those were nice.  I wish I had at least a tittle of artistic talent like you guys.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Forseti on December 06, 2007, 03:35:17 PM
Umm I am no grammar expert and poetry is in the ear of the beholder and at the whim of the writer, but...

MrMxy, did you forget a tittle after your second crime? I was thinking a comma more than a period?

Nope.

Read across broken lines that lack any ending puncuation in a quick flurry and the banter will be even more obvious than the foreground meter....

(Kinda Suess-ish, or like you might hear in a coffee house in the '50s....)



Lol actually, that was just the best attempt you were going to get from me to use the worrd...not really a question.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Maskan on December 07, 2007, 12:29:41 PM
:D Wow! This board makes for one amusing distraction when your SOPOSED to be doing algebra :P

(Bravo Jane, Mxy!)

I'm gonna go play a tittle of Halo before I get back to the grind stone...
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on December 12, 2007, 04:53:36 PM
Quote
. <- It's a tittle!!!

I win!

That one is called a "full stop", VxT :).

I thought the tittle was the little dot above the "i" and/or "j", not "any small dot used in writing".
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: -JR- Falx on December 13, 2007, 02:17:32 AM
I've been perusing this post and have come to the conclusion that it's all tittle tattle!! :zoid:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on December 14, 2007, 08:31:12 PM
I've been perusing this post and have come to the conclusion that it's all tittle tattle!! :zoid:

...And a tittle tale, as well!

 :winkgrin:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Plixity on December 15, 2007, 01:07:39 PM
Ooh, I had to try.

Tittle tattle a tittle, but don't you dare belittle.
Just 'cause I'm in the middle doesn't mean I play the fiddle...
Okay, perhaps a tittle...
Now my tale doesn't whittle back there,
'Cause I've gotta split some hairs.
I consumed some tuck with a side of ixtle.
Put some sauce in the betwixt, and eat it mixed.

Lawl, complete essence of random, but I thought it was fun ;D.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 02, 2008, 02:22:11 PM


Alright!  We had some good fun with that last one.  Sorry to put and end to that!  ::)  :winkgrin:



e·bul·lient      [i-buhl-yuhnt, i-bool-] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ebullient)

–adjective

1.   overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited: The award winner was in an ebullient mood at the dinner in her honor.
2.   bubbling up like a boiling liquid.


[Origin: 1590–1600; < L ébullient- (s. of ébulliéns boiling up, prp. of ébullīre), equiv. to é- e- + bulli- (deriv. of bulla a bubble) + -ent- -ent]


On New Year's night the sparkling cider was frothing ebulliently when poured into my tall-stemmed glass! Happy New Year! ... CHEERS!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Leevanhawk on January 02, 2008, 05:42:03 PM
I was ebullient due to the recent New Year :yesyes:, causing my dog to have an ebullient slobber flow from her mouth :drool:!   
I thought i might give it a try! 
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on January 20, 2008, 08:53:02 AM
My ebullience can hardly be measured when I see that there is a new Word Corner word! Not just because I like to use the new word--our good MrMxyzptlk must have the worst calender ever. It always cheers me to find that he's remembered time! Those fifth-dimensional beings... ::)

Twice in the first post, TWO WEEKS is used in all caps. TWO WEEKS! If anyone's seen the move Total Recall, I like saying "two weeks" like the woman in the customs area.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Daigoro on January 21, 2008, 10:32:57 AM
I feel all ebullient and enervated! ... No, wait, I just feel ebullient!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 22, 2008, 12:21:49 AM



Wow time flies, eh JANE??

'Time for a new word then!

Background: I encountered this word at a young age (while in the Boy Scouts, actually!) and have always loved it as a great piece of trivia, english-language-wise....

ENJOY!



ag·let [ag-lit] (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=aglet)

–noun

1.   a metal tag or sheath at the end of a lace used for tying, as of a shoelace.
2.   (in the 16th and 17th centuries) an ornament at the end of a point or other ribbon used to secure a garment.

Also, aiglet.


[Origin: 1400–50; late ME < MF aiguillette, equiv. to aiguille needle (see aiguille) + -ette -et]


While out running this morning (ya, right!  ;) ) I ran through some brush and split open the aglet on one of my shoelaces that had come loose, and then I couldn't get it back through the eyelet (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/eyelet) again!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on January 22, 2008, 03:40:01 AM
Seen THIS word before. AIGLETS is a high probability scrabble bonus word ::)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Igor on January 22, 2008, 03:22:46 PM
I hate it when my aglet cracks, and my shoelace frays, was always the end of my school shoes...... R.I.P
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on February 08, 2008, 04:27:38 AM
Seen THIS word before. AIGLETS is a high probability scrabble bonus word ::)

Is that your submission?! It doesn't count.

It was too simple and cheap, like the way an aglet makes it easier to lace something. A real tier3 (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tier) doesn't need those namby-pamby (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/namby-pamby) aglets, just as a Scrabble wiz should be able to use a word in a... Well, maybe you just know a lot of words.

I still think you should make up a real sentence! Oooh! And try to use amusing hyphenations, such as:

hoity-toity (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoity-toity) (1 or 2)
wishy-washy (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wishy-washy)
higgledy-piggledy (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higgledy-piggledy) (<-- Found this one when I got side-tracked looking up a word in the dictionary, which happens too often--I'm such a nerrrrrd!)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on February 08, 2008, 12:32:36 PM

Well, what we have here is clearly a hodgepodge (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hodgepodge) of shibboleths (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/shibboleth)!

OOoOOOOO!  Hey!! THAT'S a good one RIGHT THERE!:


shib·bo·leth     [shib-uh-lith, ‑leth] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/shibboleth)

–noun

1.   a peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons.
2.   a slogan; catchword.
3.   a common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth.


[Origin: < Heb shibbōleth lit., freshet, a word used by the Gileadites as a test to detect the fleeing Ephraimites, who could not pronounce the sound sh (Judges 12:4–6)]



Now all I have to do is come up with my sample sentence. ... Oh yeah!  I already DID THAT!

 ;)


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Maelstrom/Iron on February 08, 2008, 08:47:09 PM
 :o cool, I got a word of the day thing, but it gives me most words I learned already. I was reading your thread here and saw defenestrate. I remember that one still, came from the Latin for window. Fenestra, -ae. Only way I used it was, "Don't make me defenestrate you!" Weird reply and most just go, "Huh?" Anyways, nice thread. I look forward to using shibboleth.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Forseti on February 09, 2008, 01:59:37 PM
Not taking the cheap way out just to use it in a sentence  :siderofl: but shibboleth has a much deeper meaning behind it from the bible if anyone knows it. It was even the center of the plot for an episode of West Wing some years ago.

bah never mind I should learn to read an entire post before replying lol.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fender on February 12, 2008, 08:56:18 AM
If it weren't for shibboleths, what would the "733t" have to talk about?
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Forseti on February 15, 2008, 03:56:36 PM
One final bump from me as this will be the last time visiting this topic  :'(
I never visit the gaming corners or other sub-forums, but it was fun while it lasted. Thanks Mxy.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on February 28, 2008, 05:04:45 AM
1.   a peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons.
2.   a slogan; catchword.
3.   a common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth.

It means all that?! I needs (sic) some clarification. Do all of these apply or am I understanding it wrong:

1. (this one is the hardest for me. how can "pronunciation" and "mode of dress" be used in the same definition?!) I can't think of any examples, except maybe odd clubs that have uniforms or something.  :-\

2. Could it be "Dy-no-mite!" or the way we (or maybe just Americans) call all brands of facial tissue "Kleenex"? But then, that's a genericized trademark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark)... IDK 'bout this one either.

3. Okay, I give up, I don't know ANY of these!

"Leet" (I refuse to use the symbols) seems like a really good example. Is it?

Help us out Mxy, I'm stumped!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on February 28, 2008, 10:25:21 AM
1.   a peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons.
2.   a slogan; catchword.
3.   a common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth.

It means all that?! I needs (sic) some clarification. Do all of these apply or am I understanding it wrong:

You're reading it all too literally. You have to look at it's origins to understand what a shibboleth is, and just how strange a thing it is....:

"Shibboleth" was THE word used by the Gileadites as a test to detect the fleeing Ephraimites, who could not pronounce the sound "sh."  I.e. In order to rat-out a group of people they INVENTED A WORD - "shibboleth" - THOSE PEOPLE COULD NOT PRONOUNCE (because the word contained a pheonetic sound that culture could not pronounce....) So it has since become THE word for any sort of thing like that. (A particular hand signal, type of hat, ... anything that can be used by one group of people to distinguish themselves from another.) Hence a shibboleth can be ANYTHING any one group decides can be used to distinguish itself from another.

Quote
1. (this one is the hardest for me. how can "pronunciation" and "mode of dress" be used in the same definition?!) I can't think of any examples, except maybe odd clubs that have uniforms or something.  :-\

Because shibboleth has come to mean any abstraction of itself!  (Which is SO COOL to me, from a linguistic perspective!)

Quote
2. Could it be "Dy-no-mite!" or the way we (or maybe just Americans) call all brands of facial tissue "Kleenex"? But then, that's a genericized trademark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark)... IDK 'bout this one either.

If you can determine that whatever you pick can be used to distinguish one group from another, then yes, it is a form of shibboleth!  E.g. You wrote (as an addition to other words with specific meaning ONLY TO NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS):

[...]

I still think you should make up a real sentence! Oooh! And try to use amusing hyphenations, such as:

hoity-toity (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoity-toity) (1 or 2)
wishy-washy (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wishy-washy)
higgledy-piggledy (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higgledy-piggledy) (<-- Found this one when I got side-tracked looking up a word in the dictionary, which happens too often--I'm such a nerrrrrd!)

The prior words plus your additions formed - to me - a list that could be a shibboleth to determine native english-language speakers (albeit imperfectly, but hey - it's not too big a stretch!  ;) )

Ditto your examples of american's using product-name slang for items: Kleenex, Popsicle, ...

Quote
3. Okay, I give up, I don't know ANY of these!

"Leet" (I refuse to use the symbols) seems like a really good example. Is it?

Help us out Mxy, I'm stumped!

No, you're not... you're exactly correct with your example! (Although some "non-leets" might still be able to decipher the "word" "1337...." Oh, and I have absolutely no problem using the replacement symbols as letters, since I'm all for the evolution and diversification of language.... I've made a few contributions of my own, BTW!)

What you've given ("Leet-speak") is a valid example of a shibboleth, since it distinguishes one group from all others. (One side-effect of most shibboleths: they're usually NOT 100% effective....)

So JANE: You're only confused because you haven't made the jump to the fact that the abstraction of shibboleth, in addition to being a shibboleth, is now THE word (or term) for all such sorts of things!
(You're obviously on the right track, but you just don't seem to be able to believe that that's what's going on here, I think!)

It IS kind of crazy - that the word is viewed as the original example of the general meaning of ITSELF - but that's why I added it to my list oddball words long ago! :yesyes:

[Also, it's a great example to show how pretty-much ALL language has evolved when you really think about it: Somewhere, at some time in the past, someone looked at something and said "that's an orange" and hence everything with that color is now called "orange!" I.e. The color "orange" is an abstraction of the thing originally labelled "orange...."]


Capiche (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capiche)? (  :winkgrin: )


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 05, 2008, 12:25:15 PM


Well, well well!  Sure looks like its been AT LEAST a coupla weeks, eh?!  :winkgrin:

Time for a new word then! . . .



vin·cu·lum      [ving-kyuh-luhm] (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=vinculum)

–noun, plural -la     [-luh]

1.   a bond signifying union or unity; tie.
2.   Mathematics. a stroke or brace drawn over a quantity consisting of several members or terms, as , in order to show that they are to be considered together.


[Origin: 1655–65; < L: fetter, equiv. to vinc(īre) to bind + -ulum -ule]


Despite the propensity to hear this word in its mathematical context, I've taken a liking to it original meaning, that was leveraged into Mathematics usage due to its similar need there. Sooo, my sample sentence this time is:

Once a group starts calling themselves a "clan" they would likely have a vinculum (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=vinculum).

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on March 05, 2008, 09:04:17 PM
Shouldn't that sentence be "a vinculum"? The definition that you have there says it is a noun.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 05, 2008, 10:11:38 PM
Shouldn't that sentence be "a vinculum"? The definition that you have there says it is a noun.

Extra points to Hydra!  :embarrassed:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fender on March 18, 2008, 01:56:36 PM
Thought of an example -- the "BFM" tag is a form of vinculum, or rather a representation of one.  Which I guess begs the question: Is a vinculum the binding itself (which in this case would be BFM membership), or is it the representation of the bind or tie (which would be the tags that represent BFM membership)? Or perhaps it is both.

Given the use in mathematics, the vinculum is the bar (i.e., the symbol) showing the link between quantities in an equation.  Hmmm...

The other phrase that is now running, rather madly, through my head: "Inka-binka, bottle o' vincula..."

arg, danged OCD...!!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 18, 2008, 09:57:54 PM

Its' the bond itself, and since any representation of that bond - such a clan tags - is an manifestation of that bond, it would imply to that as well, implicitly.

Good question!

...And ... I can't help you with that song problem, FB!

S'been two weeks, but ... low traffic here lately (Spring Break fever??,) so I'll wait to sync up with my reminder that pokes me to post a new word! (Oops!  Missed a whole two weeks there!  :embarrassed: )

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 30, 2008, 11:21:58 AM


Time for a new word! . . .



bo·lide      [boh-lahyd, -lid] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bolide)

–noun Astronomy.

a large, brilliant meteor, esp. one that explodes; fireball.


[Origin: 1850–55; < F < Gk bolid- (s. of bolís) missile]


This one's really kind of unfair to give you all, usage-wise, but seeing that I actually HAD the opportunity to use it once, well, it made it onto my list ever since!

You see, myself and the rest of my family were enjoying a (rare) warm summer night out in the hot tub, and all at once, a bright streak shot across the sky and broke into a dozen-odd OTHER streaks of varying hues of orange and yellow! While the rest of my family uttered "Wow!"s and "OOooOOOO!"s, I (of course!) said "Did you see that bolide (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bolide)?!?!" (At which point they all halted their exclamations of astonishment, turned to me and said - in unison: "WHAT?!?!"  ::)  :embarrassed: )

(But it WAS an amazingly cool event to share, tho.... The sight, not my use of the term bolide (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bolide), I mean!  ::) )

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Acorn on March 30, 2008, 05:48:12 PM
Lol you havent updated your sig on it =P
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 30, 2008, 08:30:54 PM
Lol you havent updated your sig on it =P

TY!  'Got sidetracked with that exciting story!  ::)

 ;)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on April 01, 2008, 04:31:06 PM
We know how forgetful you can be at...your age, Mxy ::) :hug:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 01, 2008, 07:39:26 PM
We know how forgetful you can be at...your age, Mxy ::) :hug:

Forgetful about what?

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on April 01, 2008, 08:09:38 PM
Let me remind you. You got sidetracked on a story about Bolide, but in doing so you forgot to update the word corner word in your signature, rendering people incapable of realising that such a change has occurred in the first place.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 02, 2008, 06:47:06 PM
Let me remind you. You got sidetracked on a story about Bolide, but in doing so you forgot to update the word corner word in your signature, rendering people incapable of realising that such a change has occurred in the first place.


Hunh?

How much change in first place did you say you need?



And wh..









Hey!!!




DUCK or you'll get hit by that incoming bolide (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bolide)!





 :winkgrin:

 :P



Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 14, 2008, 01:27:54 PM


Time for a new word! . . .



cwm     [koom] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cwm)

–noun

cirque (def. 1).


[Origin: 1850–55; < Welsh: valley. See combe]



So, then, you'll likely want to see this (http://dictionary.reference.com/illus/illustration.html/ahd4/cwm/cirque).


The sole reason that this word is on my list: It's the OTHER word in the english language that uses "w" as a vowel!  (Remember "crwth" from back in the old forums (http://www.bfmracing.net/forums/index.php/topic,273.msg2028.html#msg2028)?)

As with "crwth," the only time I've ever used "cwm" was to play it in a ScrabbleTM game!





Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: CCBigBoy on April 14, 2008, 03:47:09 PM
Wait ...... Isn't Endeavour a name of an USA ship (Space Shuttle), Mr. Letters's Soap?  :o
CC=BigBoy+-
 d_b :yesyes: d_b
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 14, 2008, 10:51:40 PM
Wait ...... Isn't Endeavour a name of an USA ship (Space Shuttle), Mr. Letters's Soap?  :o
CC=BigBoy+-
 d_b :yesyes: d_b

Why yes, that is the name of one of our space shuttles, BigBoy, but, um, ... what's THAT got to do with the new word post ("cwm"), just before your post?!?!  :?:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on April 15, 2008, 01:05:24 AM
'Twas also the name of the ship that Capt. Cook was on when he discovered the East Coast of Australia and landed in Botany Bay. (And then got killed a few years later on Hawaii ::))

Quote
As with "crwth," the only time I've ever used "cwm" was to play it in a ScrabbleTM game!

::) 'Nuff said. What's your high score? :P

Try beating 627...:o

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hlao on April 18, 2008, 06:17:41 AM
cwm     [koom] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cwm)

–noun

cirque (def. 1).


[Origin: 1850–55; < Welsh: valley. See combe]

Wootz! ;D
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 23, 2008, 09:16:18 PM


Okay!  'Didn't think we got anywhere with cwm, so ... let's move on!

This new one takes us back to my original intent: words with singular of ultra-specific meaning.  (Cool, eh?!)

So now I give you...



pen·chant   [pen-chuhnt; Fr. pahn-shahn] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/penchant)

–noun

a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something: a penchant for outdoor sports.


[Origin: 1665–75; < F, n. use of prp. of pencher to incline, lean < VL *pendicāre, deriv. of L pendére to hang]



Now THIS word I use fairly frequently! I pretty-much use it in place of the similar meaning for the word "habit (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/habit)."

One might even say that I have a penchant for using the word!


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Exodus on May 06, 2008, 01:49:34 AM
I would go as general as saying you have a penchant for word games!

MmmmMmmMm... i like it.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on May 13, 2008, 02:56:46 PM

Well there goes another lead balloon!  :LOL:

Okay, so let's see if THIS one fares any better!:

ca·piche   [ka-peesh] (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Capiche)

Slang interjection

1. (US, with a menacing connotation) Understand?


[Origin: 1940s slang, from It. capisci? "do you understand?" (also coppish, kabish, capeesh, etc.).]



This is another one that I use regularly,
and I'd suggest that you use it a few times over the next two weeks,

capiche?

 :toughguy:




Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on May 14, 2008, 03:52:48 PM
Is it only an interjection? Is it at all possible for me to capiche something? Perhaps I don't capiche the word because I thought it was Italian... Didn't they use it in The Godfather? Because that's the only place I've ever heard anyone use Italian words that made it into the American language. ::) Of course, only after we mutilate it (capisci).

"Don't put your feet on the coffee table, you're mussing my doilies! And I don't want you wearing your shoes in the living room anymore, capiche?"


By the way Mxy, have you put Dictionary.com aside? :giggle: Merriam-Webster rules!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on May 14, 2008, 11:31:55 PM
Is it only an interjection? Is it at all possible for me to capiche something? Perhaps I don't capiche the word because I thought it was Italian... Didn't they use it in The Godfather? Because that's the only place I've ever heard anyone use Italian words that made it into the American language. ::) Of course, only after we mutilate it (capisci).

Yes, it's only and interjection/interrogative, and yes, it's only an English (US, almost exclusively) word after it came into being after being mutilated - as you say - in the nineteen-fourties...

Quote
"Don't put your feet on the coffee table, you're mussing my doilies! And I don't want you wearing your shoes in the living room anymore, capiche?"

Apropos, indeed!


Quote
By the way Mxy, have you put Dictionary.com aside? :giggle: - Merriam-Webster rules!

Nope, because:

- It lacks SO many words, like "capiche," for instance!
- It's main page is a MESS.
- They're too conceited for my taste.
- Impossible for me to remember how to spell website name.
- I burned my Merriam-Webster dictionary after wifey used it to beat me in ScrabbleTM because it didn't have some word that I played for lots o' points that she challenged - and WON because of it's lameness!   :doh: :angry:

 :winkgrin:



So NO Merriam-Webster for me, capiche?!?

 :siderofl:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on May 15, 2008, 12:37:46 AM
Capiche! No?
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on May 30, 2008, 08:41:32 AM
Gullable is not in the dictionary
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Goalie on May 30, 2008, 09:40:03 AM
Gullable isn't in the dictionary, but gullible is, capiche?
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on May 30, 2008, 12:03:53 PM
oooh shot down in flames, silly me
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on May 31, 2008, 01:03:20 AM



ROFL!  :siderofl:


Wow!  It's that time AGAIN!:

ad·ju·di·cate [uh-joo-di-keyt] (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=adjudicate)

–verb (used with object)

1.   to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence.
2.   to settle or determine (an issue or dispute) judicially.

–verb (used without object)

3.   to sit in judgment (usually fol. by upon).


[Origin: 1690–1700; < L adjūdicātus (ptp. of adjūdicāre).]



Wifey and daughter-child were in disagreement as to whether daughter-child's new clothes were appropriate attire, so I had to step in and adjudicate a settlement. (Daughter-child lost, of course! Do you think I'm NUTS?!?!  :LOL: )




Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on May 31, 2008, 01:05:15 AM
Erg. As a debater, I hate all adjudicators. For some reason we always get the one who has no idea what he/she is doing.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on May 31, 2008, 01:18:18 AM
Erg. As a debater, I hate all adjudicators. For some reason we always get the one who has no idea what he/she is doing.

No you don't.


 :winkgrin:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on June 18, 2008, 03:42:06 PM
Society doesn't like adjudicators. It seems we prefer to do what we want and, if it's wrong/bad, make the decision to not do it on our own. Maybe it's just me...
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on June 19, 2008, 07:52:04 PM


Hmmmm.....

You post, JANE, and another thread got me to thinking:...

Is Darwinism just Mother Nature's final adjudicator??

 :siderofl:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on June 21, 2008, 10:45:18 PM


Okay. A new one before I leave for a bit:

fid [fid] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fid)

–noun Nautical.

1.   a stout bar of wood or metal placed across a lower spar so as to support a higher one.
2.   a stout bar used to hold a running bowsprit in its extended position.
3.   a wooden or metal pin for parting strands of a rope.
4.   a bar or pin used as a key or toggle.



[Origin: 1605–15; orig. uncert.]

Some digging elsewhere, however, revealed that it was a 17th century Old Irish word for "tree, or any chunk of wood."



What can I say?  RUSTY0 knows his fids (http://www.bfmracing.net/forums/index.php/topic,273.msg27420.html#msg27420)!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on June 22, 2008, 01:47:05 AM
I have no idea what a spar is when used as a noun and "a running bowsprit in its extended position" is incomprehensible...

However, the other day, I found myself on a sea vessel (yes, I did) and I was walking around on the poop deck (whatever that is). I stumbled (it was already shaky footing, the waters were choppy) and looked around to see what I tripped on. It was an eel and it was alive! I don't know how it got there but I needed to kill it immediately. I grabbed the nearest object (a fid) and smashed it to death.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Kiwi on June 22, 2008, 02:08:15 AM

A spar is a mast, boom, pole - pretty much anything solid (not a rope or wire) that holds up sails etc.  A bowsprit is a spar that extends out from the bow of a boat - that allows a sail to be rigged further out from the mast so you can have a bigger sail.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on June 30, 2008, 08:07:35 PM


Recent WINNERS!:



JANE: Best use OF A fid!


Kiwi: Best explanation of a nautical thingamajig (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/thingamajig)!


 :LOL:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on July 17, 2008, 08:54:14 PM
Well, it's been a while, and I know that you've all been waiting with worms in your mouth, er, I mean, baited bated breath, so without further ado!...


ilk [ilk] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ilk)

–noun

1.   family, class, or kind: he and all his ilk.

–adjective
2.   same.

—Idiom
3.   of that ilk,
a.   (in Scotland) of the same family name or place: Ross of that ilk, i.e., Ross of Ross.
b.   of the same class or kind.



[Origin: bef. 900; ME ilke, OE ilca (pronoun) the same, equiv. to demonstrative i (c. Goth is he, L is that) + a reduced form of līc like1; cf. which, such]



Don't you HATE spam-nading CAMPERS?  Me too!  'Guess were of the same ilk (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ilk)!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on July 17, 2008, 10:31:35 PM
I'll have to name a town zetlandpeat.

Is an ilk the same as a moose? Are mice of the same ilk as a kangaroo?
is s"ilk" tha same ilk as cotton.

desparate goes so early in the morning, be back later with more of the ilk
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on July 18, 2008, 11:50:36 PM
I'll have to name a town zetlandpeat.

Is an ilk the same as a moose? Are mice of the same ilk as a kangaroo?
is s"ilk" tha same ilk as cotton.

desparate goes so early in the morning, be back later with more of the ilk



OOOooOOOOH!






That made me ill-k!  :zombie:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on August 16, 2008, 08:53:09 AM
A Dunce is known for being a stupid person.

The word is taken from John Duns Scotus, so called from his birthplace Duns in Scotland.

His followers were called Dunses, these guys raged in the pulpit when modern theology was pushing their way in to the distance.

The name made reference to the opposition of progress or learning

Hence Dunce
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 03, 2008, 09:11:20 AM


Okay, you've all had a long enough "Summer Break!"  BACK TO WORK!


horripilation [haw-rip-uh-ley-shuhn, ho-] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/horripilation)

–noun

a bristling of the hair on the skin from cold, fear, etc.; goose flesh.



[Origin: 1615–25; < LL horripilātiōn- (s. of horripilātiō). See horripilate, -ion]



OOooOOOO! The mere MENTION of that word gives me horripilation!  :o

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on September 03, 2008, 04:33:25 PM
You can imagine my own horripilation when I saw your sig! What could the word be if it's <hidden!> I came here as fast as I could.

Good word! I've never heard of it or even knew there was a name for it, aside from goosebumps. I was confident that was a scientific word... :P
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on September 03, 2008, 10:17:51 PM
Quote
I've spoken to the beggar Bolwing. He tells me that the Fork of Horripilation is being fought over by groups of Heretics and Zealots, I'll have to get it from them.
After taking the fork:

I have found the Fork of Horripilation. I should return it to Big Head.
After receiving reward:

I have returned the Fork of Horripilation to Big Head. He has told me a secret as a reward.

http://oblivion.wikia.com/wiki/The_Fork_of_Horripilation_(quest) (http://oblivion.wikia.com/wiki/The_Fork_of_Horripilation_(quest))

Fixed link. ~Hydra

Thanx Hydra debata
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 04, 2008, 12:58:13 AM
ROFL @ Peat'!

Oh, and you need to include that closing parenthesis or your link won't work....

http://oblivion.wikia.com/wiki/The_Fork_of_Horripilation_(quest) (http://oblivion.wikia.com/wiki/The_Fork_of_Horripilation_(quest))

FYI: I don't have the Shivering Isles expansion, so I guess I missed out on that quest!  :'(

 :winkgrin:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on September 15, 2008, 08:40:21 AM
lol

my parent(s) told me i had to work on my (t)hesis when closing the study door

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Lucky on September 23, 2008, 03:42:06 PM
Aww, that's awesome.  Very cool word, I'm going to use that from now on instead of "goose bumps".  :LOL:

 d_b
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on October 07, 2008, 08:18:43 AM

Given the dearth of followers, I've given y'all a break and put more time between words, in case y'all were gettin' swamped....

 :winkgrin:


Okay, the next Mxy installment, linguistic-wise is!:


bibliophile [bib-lee-uh-fahyl, -fil] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bibliophile)

–noun

a person who loves or collects books, esp. as examples of fine or unusual printing, binding, or the like.

Also, bib·li·oph·i·list [bib-lee-of-uh-list]


[Origin: 1815–25; biblio- + -phile]



ContACT claims to be a bibliophile (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bibliophile) here (http://www.bfmracing.net/forums/index.php/topic,273.msg27400.html#msg27400).

[Note the distinction between a bibliophile (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bibliophile) and a bookkeeper (http://www.bfmracing.net/forums/index.php/topic,273.msg27354.html#msg27354) (an earlier Word Corner word which generated much discussion!)

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: ·WídgêT· on October 07, 2008, 12:48:47 PM
ahh I remember that word, it was one of our vocabulary words last year (sophmore year) in high school.  :interesting:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Flip on October 07, 2008, 09:56:39 PM
this is cool im learning new vocab  :LOL:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on October 09, 2008, 01:17:54 AM
Quote
bookkeeper


Ah...the memories!

I actually knew this word...My dad is a bit of a bibliophile when it comes to Astronomy, you see.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on October 09, 2008, 01:31:57 AM
I don't know if I'm a bibliophile in the "esp." sense--I don't collect old books or books on a specific topic. But I do buy and keep all the books I've read; I don't borrow from the library. If I really don't like a book, I won't keep it, I'll put it on the table in the lobby of my apartment for someone to take (or the office people to toss).

I keep the books because my big bookcase fulla books makes me look smart. :P Of course, I didn't feel smart when I was moving... To save space, I used bigger boxes to pack them. Omg, they were so heavy! :doh:

I have approximately 200 books, most of which I won't read again. But if I want to, they're there.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on October 09, 2008, 10:34:24 PM
I collect old books, I am often in charity shops thumbing through them looking for titbits.
I go for a, books that interest me, b, books in good condition (all pages etc), c, with topical titles/authors reletive to parts of the house and d, books with handwriting in front cover, presented to, given too, these will have a date etc. The oldest one I have to date is 1896 given to a pupil by his sunday school.
I have an Insurance Association book from 1953 listing all cars and light trucks at the time and includes standard quotes,times for accident repairs. my gem is a county engineers typed diary from 1920's detailing his daily tasks over 10 years, very interesting as I live in said county and can see some of the thing he saw and wrote down including some of the works he got done.
I also have a large collection of Womens Studies books used for a degree.

Oooops gotta go to work, can go on for hours....may be later folks
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Goalie on October 09, 2008, 10:46:13 PM
I used to be a bibliophile when I was younger.  I had about 150 children's books stuffed in my cabinet and shelves.
Later on, I found out about the public library.  I loaned all my books from then on.  I maybe bought a book or two every so often, but I mainly checked the books out from the library.

I read manga, fantasy and sci-fi now, not including the books/articles needed for research.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Lucky on October 27, 2008, 03:53:08 PM
Bibliophile...  Never heard of that one!  All these words are hurting my brain  :sad:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on November 01, 2008, 09:28:09 PM


Okay, you'll LOVE this one!:


nares (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nares) [nar·es]


–plural noun, singular nar·is [nair-is]

the nostrils or the nasal passages.



[Origin: 1685–95; < L nārés, pl. of nāris a nostril; see nose]



When she was four my little sister shot milk out her nares (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bibliophile) when I told a joke at the breakfast table!  :milknose:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on November 01, 2008, 09:36:31 PM
I have never heard that word before!

Anyway, in grade school, I got a dime stuck in my right naris. You know they have those ridges? Well that thing was stuck waaaay up in there and it hurt to pull on it! The nurse used vaseline. And it was pennies for me and my nares from then on! Now that I've matured, I can use nickels.

:LOL:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: ·WídgêT· on November 02, 2008, 10:25:03 AM

Anyway, in grade school, I got a dime stuck in my right naris. You know they have those ridges? Well that thing was stuck waaaay up in there and it hurt to pull on it! The nurse used vaseline. And it was pennies for me and my nares from then on! Now that I've matured, I can use nickels.

:LOL:

Really? I got a rock up my naris in like preschool, a very interesting experience it was  :P
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on November 13, 2008, 04:17:27 PM
As long as it was not the Rock of Gibralta, I am sure you will be ok...
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on December 01, 2008, 10:29:32 AM

[A hush falls over the crowd...]:


nepotism (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nepotism) [nep-uh-tiz-uhm]


– noun
patronage bestowed or favoritism shown on the basis of family relationship, as in business and politics: She was accused of nepotism when she made her nephew an officer of the firm.


[Origin: 1655–65; < It nepotismo. See nephew, -ism]



I put my son into an empty spot on my election board this past election, instead of getting a replacement worker from the county offices. Yes, I'm guilty of nepotism (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nepotism)!  ::)

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on December 06, 2008, 01:30:41 AM
I work with the local Authority tis common place there

Our Monachy suffers with this too.......

Jobs for the boys in most famly run enterprises
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 06, 2009, 01:26:29 PM


Wow.  This thread has all but died, methinks....  ::)

So goes another dead language!  ;D



Oh well, time for some attempted resuscitation?



expunge (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/expunge) [ik-spuhnj]


–verb (used with object), -punged, -pung⋅ing.
1.    to strike or blot out; erase; obliterate.
2.    to efface; wipe out or destroy.


[1595–1605; < L expungere to blot out, erase, equiv. to ex- ex- 1 + pungere to prick]



I often use my radar (actually a motion tracker...  ::) ) in Halo to assure that I expunge (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/expunge) enemy hogs "with extreme prejudice" before they even get a shot off!  ::)  :P

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Miser on January 06, 2009, 01:33:00 PM
When playing "Zelda, Twilight Princess", I attempt to expunge the darkness with my light filled master sword.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: jim360 on January 07, 2009, 10:40:56 AM
I really would like to expunge the record of that "special relativity" thread in Cogitative corner, but it hangs there as a grim reminder of mistakes past.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: ·WídgêT· on January 07, 2009, 11:01:19 AM
I really would like to expunge the record of that "special relativity" thread in Cogitative corner, but it hangs there as a grim reminder of mistakes past.

Ditto :P
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 08, 2009, 10:52:59 PM
I really would like to expunge the record of that "special relativity" thread in Cogitative corner, but it hangs there as a grim reminder of mistakes past.

Ditto :P

Lame  :P



 :winkgrin:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on January 12, 2009, 03:22:27 PM
Mmmm

Expunge

is

an

African

percussion

instrument

now used

as a

chair.................

Ex-punge
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on February 03, 2009, 02:50:34 PM


I think I'll just expunge that last word....

And replace it with!:


co⋅gent (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cogent) [koh-juhnt]


–adjective
1.    convincing or believable by virtue of forcible, clear, or incisive presentation; telling.
2.    to the point; relevant; pertinent.


[1650–60; < L cōgent- (s. of cōgēns, prp. of cōgere to drive together, collect, compel), equiv. to cōg- (co- co- + ag-, s. of agere to drive) + -ent- -ent]



I am SO glad that "concerned BFM Halo Race citizens" made a cogent (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cogent) argument for the BFM "All Nav" Infinity map and it's now being tested in servers 1 and 5!!!
:yesyes: :yesyes:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: -JR- Falx on February 15, 2009, 10:03:26 PM
I'm trying to think up a cogent argument to have MR MIXY expunged......................!!!! :toot:

My word...........exanimate         ....dead,lacking animation,spiritless....

Not sure of ze rools but!! :doh:

ps:nothin personal :yesyes:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: zetlandpeat / {HM}Zet on February 20, 2009, 09:58:45 AM
With you mrmxy I am in the

company of a gentleman...
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on February 26, 2009, 12:33:48 AM
...Not a lot of cogent responses to that last word....

So then!:


per⋅snick⋅et⋅y (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=persnickety) [per-snik-i-tee]


–noun
1.    overparticular; fussy.
2.    snobbish or having the aloof attitude of a snob.
3.    requiring painstaking care.

Also, pernickety (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=pernickety&db=luna).


[1885–90; orig. Scots, var. of pernickety]


Related forms:
per⋅snick⋅et⋅i⋅ness, noun


Synonyms:
1. nitpicking, finicky.



Even my Optometrist (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=eye%20doctor&db=luna) says that I'm  persnickety (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=persnickety) about my vision. When he does the "Which one's better? This one.... >flip< Or this one?"-test I can tell the difference between his finest changes even when he tries to trick me!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on February 26, 2009, 01:07:16 AM
You should have seen my niece on her first birthday. One picture everyone must get is the messy cake-all-over-the-face pic. But she was such a persnickety, clean-freak baby she wouldn't touch the cake. When someone pushed her hand into it, she had a fit! :XD:


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on March 05, 2009, 05:46:45 PM
I think I might have slight OCD (who doesn't?) when it comes to packing bags. I always get so persnickety when I fold my clothes, they just have to  be perfect! >.>
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 05, 2009, 09:28:51 PM
I think I might have slight OCD (who doesn't?) when it comes to packing bags. I always get so persnickety when I fold my clothes, they just have to  be perfect! >.>

Do you pack extra tights when you travel, Supee?  :winkgrin:

 :siderofl:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on March 15, 2009, 10:38:01 PM
I am so unorganised with everything I do! I have things all over the floor, my study books deposited on a large variety of shelving and can never find a thing! Contrary to what people believe about law students, I am definitely not a persnickety person.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_LËÕ on March 21, 2009, 05:25:58 AM
jane is persnickety with punctuation i think  :P

0r 1 ju557 k1ll3d 3ngl15h  :P

1 1s ar3 g00d gramma and s7uff
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on March 21, 2009, 06:28:02 AM
jane is persnickety with punctuation i think  :P

I'm persnickety with punctuation?!?! Look around, I'm not the one who puts an apostrophe at the front of my intentionally incomplete sentences! And I don't persistently and stubbornly use four or sometimes even five (!) dots when I omit or trail off pointedly, when everyone knows that the standard and universally accepted and embraced ellipsis is three dots! Three!

:LOL: If you know who I'm talking about (it's not LEO), then know that I'm not making fun of him. Well, I am, but I wouldn't make fun if I didn't love the little details and wish I was dedicated enough to steal them. Okay, I've used the more-than-three-dots ellipsis a few times because sometimes it's better than just three.

And while I don't put an apostrophe at the beginning of incomplete sentences, I put them ev'rywhere else, whether the word's need them or not. :winkgrin:


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 21, 2009, 06:48:34 PM

:P


FYI: It is acceptable punctuation to place an apostrophe in place of any missing letters or words from a sentence that would be grammatically incomplete otherwise.  To whit:

'Been there. (Acceptable shortened version of "I have been there.")


As for ellipses, you've got it wrong!  :P

If you want to add the "dramatic pause" associated with ellipses - not the "and so on" version - you use three stops, like this "..." ... UNLESS IT ENDS A SENTENCE!  In that case you use FOUR stops, in addition to any terminating punctuation!...    <=== See?!

If I typed five somewhere I was just being over enthusiastic, is all!  ;D

Oh, and, of course, all punctuation should ALWAYS go INSIDE closing terminators, such as quotation marks, too!  (Although I've been bucking the trend on this in cases where it creates literally-incorrect content within the quotes. ['Told you I buck the "status quo" of language!]  E.g. At the end of the line type "format". )

The problem with the above is that as currently-defined, written English is ambiguous in these areas because literal correctness wasn't of much value.  Now however, it can mean the difference between correct and NOT, so I'm fighting them on this one!


Thanks for making me come and rant here, tho, JD!  ;D




Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on March 22, 2009, 02:42:11 AM
Aha! I figured out why Mxy thinks he is an English teacher.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Kiwi on March 22, 2009, 12:26:59 PM

he reads books and stuff

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Kiwi on March 31, 2009, 02:36:21 PM

Here's a word I come across from time to time:  eponymous

Meaning: Of, relating to, or being the person after which something is named

From the Greek eponymos

You see this often in a "self-titled" album like Pearl Jam's album Pearl Jam, or Led Zeppelin's first album Led Zeppelin. These would be referred as eponymous albums.   

In fact, the band R.E.M. had an album called eponymous.  So not really eponymous since to be eponymous it should have been called R.E.M.
(http://www.google.co.nz/images?q=tbn:sOr6hoJxJM3t0M)

For example, from an album review:

Led Zeppelin had a fully formed, distinctive sound from the outset, as their eponymous debut illustrates

or

Or Robinson Crusoe, the eponymous hero of the book....

Not a word you would use in normal conversation I suppose....although JANE is certainly going to try now! lol
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on April 01, 2009, 05:40:21 AM
I make eponymic references all the time! :P


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 01, 2009, 10:23:00 AM

Here's a word I come across from time to time:  eponymous

Meaning: Of, relating to, or being the person after which something is named

From the Greek eponymos

You see this often in a "self-titled" album like Pearl Jam's album Pearl Jam, or Led Zeppelin's first album Led Zeppelin. These would be referred as eponymous albums.   

[...]



heh.

I always thought that was the name of the recording company!:



Eponymous Records!




(Try and wrap your brain around THAT! :winkgrin: )


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 16, 2009, 10:28:43 PM


K then!  I need to update to the new word because of another thread!!!:


an⋅frac⋅tu⋅os⋅i⋅ty (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anfractuosity) [an-frak-choo-os-i-tee]


–adjective Informal.
1.    the state or quality of being anfractuous. [ WHY do they do this?!?!  ::) ]
2.    a channel, crevice, or passage full of windings and turnings.

[1590–1600; < L anfrāctuōs(us) winding (anfrāctu(s) a bend (see ambi-, fracto-) + -ōsus -ose 1 ) + -ity]



The "Spelling B" thread (http://www.bfmracing.net/forums/index.php?topic=7842.msg227399#msg227399) has had its share of anfractuosities (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anfractuosity) lately!


 :LOL: :P


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on April 17, 2009, 01:45:53 AM
Quote
1.    the state or quality of being anfractuous. [ WHY do they do this?!?! ::) ]

LOL! Why indeed. We hates that.


Quote
2.    a channel, crevice, or passage full of windings and turnings.

Those (1 and 2) definitions would seem to make the word a noun. I checked and both dictionary.com and my beloved Merriam-Webster.com list it as a noun. In your post, you've listed it as an adjective. I would have sworn you copy and pasted this stuff Mxy! Or are you rebelling and calling it an adjective anyway... What would Geoffrey K. Pullum have to say about that?! :LOL:


Quote from: Merriam-Webster.com
2: a winding channel or course ; especially : an intricate path or process (as of the mind)

:love: Merriam-Webster! I was wondering if it could be something intangible, but I needn't look any further than MW, it has all the answers.

I have to think of a sentence. I am determined to use the word as a singular.

bbl


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 17, 2009, 08:32:00 PM


It is, indeed a noun, JD: I cut&paste the PREVIOUS word's code and edit in the new stuff, and missed updating the form of language part!  :embarrassing:

It's now corrected, TY!


...And if you look further down the referenced page you'll see definitions that include abstracted forms, too....

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on April 20, 2009, 03:32:26 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure#Maze_of_twisty_little_passages


Instead, it could be called  the maze of anfractuosity.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on April 20, 2009, 03:41:08 AM
I think maze of anfractuosity be redundant. Oh, the anfractuous English language! Does that count?


EDIT: I also think I sound like a pirate up thar, argh!



Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 20, 2009, 01:54:03 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure#Maze_of_twisty_little_passages


Instead, it could be called  the maze of anfractuosity.


Wow, does THAT bring back memories!!



PLUGH!



J.D.: ARRRRRR!


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on April 20, 2009, 04:30:44 PM
:love: the colossal cave adventure
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on June 05, 2009, 12:43:30 AM


Long time no word!

This one's a twofer!:


hoke (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hoke) [hohk] verb, hoked, hok⋅ing, noun


–verb (used with object)
1.    to alter or manipulate so as to give a deceptively or superficially improved quality or value (usually fol. by up): a political speech hoked up with phony statistics.

–noun
2.    hokum (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hokum).

[1930–35; back formation from hokey or hocum]



I spend a LOT of time hoking up (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hoke) my posts,
most of which are chock full of hokum (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hokum) in the first place!


 :winkgrin:


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Kiwi on June 05, 2009, 01:00:09 AM

Great word(s)!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Hydra on June 05, 2009, 02:39:31 AM
LOL yes, that is a great way to describe your posts, Mxy :siderofl:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Goalie on June 05, 2009, 09:41:59 PM
Your examples and the dictionary's example reminded me of logical fallacies.

I personally like the "red herring," mostly because it sounds like a fish, but also it means that the person is hoking up his/her argument by avoiding the topic altogether.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Kane on June 08, 2009, 10:24:23 AM
HA i love yousing big words like on myspace and stuff
here are a few of my favorates...

Catyclismic- SUPER HUGE AWESOMENESS
Chaotic-adj. form of Chaos
Seridipitous- Discoverd by mistake

i love using big words that no one nos what they mean cause they make me look smart  :zoid:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on June 08, 2009, 10:48:15 AM
HA i love yousing big words like on myspace and stuff
here are a few of my favorates...

Catyclismic- SUPER HUGE AWESOMENESS
Chaotic-adj. form of Chaos
Seridipitous- Discoverd by mistake

i love using big words that no one nos what they mean cause they make me look smart  :zoid:

Ya, but a Big part of looking smart is spelling them correctly!:

Seridipitous => serendipitous

 :winkgrin:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on July 11, 2009, 11:21:05 AM
It's okay Kane, I like to hoke up my conversations as well, just it backfires sometimes. v.v
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on July 12, 2009, 12:38:28 PM


Okay, enough of that hokey!

NEXT!:


a⋅myg⋅da⋅la (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amygdala) [uh-mig-duh-luh]


–noun, plural -lae.  Anatomy.
1.    an almond-shaped part, as a tonsil.
2.    a ganglion of the limbic system adjoining the temporal lobe of the brain and involved in emotions of fear and aggression.


bef. 950; < ML: almond, tonsil, L: almond < Gk amygdálē; r. ME amygdal, OE amigdal almond < L amygdalon < Gk amýgdalon; cf. almond



The dental surgeon bought his fiancee and HUGE amygdala1 (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amygdala)-shaped diamond ring, but upon his proposal, she took it and - with all her might - shoved it through his skull into his amygdala2 (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amygdala), killing him instantly!

 :o

'Guess the wedding's off then?!?

 ::)

 :winkgrin:


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on July 16, 2009, 05:25:43 AM
Tonsils are almond-shaped??


Dr Lector, what's up with Bob? He seems... subdued.  :eyebrow:


I ate his amygdala with some fava beans and a nice glass of almond milk.



Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: SgtTanner on July 25, 2009, 02:01:48 AM
nice keepem comin i feel smarter just by readin this topic
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 26, 2010, 02:34:38 AM


Okay.  Time to blow off the dust and get back to some kewl words!!

NEXT UP!:


ob·fus·cate (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/obfuscate) [ob-fuh-skeyt, ob-fuhs-keyt]


–verb (used with object),-cat·ed, -cat·ing.
1. to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.
2. to make obscure or unclear: to obfuscate a problem with extraneous information.
3. to darken.


1536, from L. obfuscatus, pp. of obfuscare "to darken," from ob "over" + fuscare "to make dark," from fuscus "dark."



I was going to scribe an elongated, convoluted diatribe full of trepidation and angst,
but alas, beckoning to me from afar were dulcet harmonies in curt hemi-demi-semiquaver.  
Hence I decided on this simple razor:

"Teller of Untruths, Teller of Untruths, your trousers are in a state of conflagration!*"

'That enough obfuscation (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/obfuscation) for ya??


* "Liar, liar, pants on fire!"

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Kiwi on April 26, 2010, 02:50:25 AM


 Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: jim360 on May 09, 2010, 04:07:31 PM
Ah, the noble art of obfuscation! I remeber one particular master at it was the fictional character in a British comedy, Sir Humphrey Appleby. A few samples, with translations:

1. "Yes, I do see that there is a real dilemma here, in that while it has been Government policy to regard policy as the responsibility of ministers and administration as the responsibility of officials, questions of administrative policy cause confusion between the policy of administration and the administration of policy, especially when responsibility for the administration of the policy of adminstration conflicts or overlaps with the responsibility for the policy of the administration of policy."

Translation: No-one can be blamed for anything.

2. "Prime Minister, I must express in the strongest possible terms, my profound opposition to the newly instituated practice which imposes server restrictions on the ingress and egress of senior members of the heirarchy, and will, in all probability, should the current deplorable innovation be prepetuated, precipitate a constriction of the channels of communication and culminate in a condition of organisational atrophy and administrative paralysis that will render effectively impossible the coherent and coordinated discharge of the function of governmetn within Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

Translation: "I've lost my key."

3. "It's clear that the Committee has agreed that your new policy is really an excellent plan. But in view of some of the doubts being expressed, may I propose that I recall that after careful consideration, the considered view of the Committee was that, while they considered that the proposal met with broad approval in principle, that some of the principles were sufficiently fundamental in principle, and some of the considerations so complex and finely balanced in practice that in principle it was proposed that the sensible and prudent practice would be to submit the proposal for more detailed consideration, laying stress on the essential continuity of the new proposal with existing principles, the principle of the principal arguments which the proposal proposes and propounds for their approval. In principle."

Translation: "Don't say anything about your new policy just yet."
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on May 09, 2010, 08:34:07 PM
Newton's three laws are rather cut and dry for the most part, yet my physics professor still manages to obfuscate the information by going off on tangents that rarely relate to the respective subject, and in retrospect apologizes before repeating the procedure.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on July 11, 2010, 08:06:52 PM


Not getting the coverage that thsi thread used to get, but I'll keep on pluggin' anyway!

Therefore!:


flysch (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/flysch) [flish]


noun Geology
an association of certain types of marine sedimentary rocks characteristic of deposition in a foredeep.


1845–55;  < G < Swiss G flīsch  referring to such deposits in the Swiss Alps; perh. akin to Swabian dial. flins  slate (akin to flint)


NOTE: This word ties (at least) two others for longest word without a "traditional" vowel. (And one of the other two can be a letter LONGER when plural!)



While playing scrabbleTM the other day
I had no vowel tiles and only the letter "Y" to use as a vowel on the board.

I figured that I could play either 1) the planetary alignment of three (or more) celestial bodies, or 2) a regular, recurring symmetric motion, or 3) some underwater sedimentary rock.

Which do you think I played?


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Kiwi on July 12, 2010, 12:37:01 AM

Hmmm.... syzygy, rhythm or flysch?  I'd say flysch.

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on July 12, 2010, 04:52:11 PM

What do you mean, "traditional" vowel? The letter Y is a vowel! The only time I've ever not called it a vowel, or at least implied that it wasn't a "traditional" vowel, was when I was trying to spell this guy's last name (Wieand). I was saying I have no clue how to spell his name, just that it "has, like, all the vowels in it. It's something like W-A-E-I-O-U-and-sometimes-Y-N-D". It wouldn't have been funny without the "and-sometimes-Y". It possibly wasn't funny with it, but I digress.

I would say that Y is more traditional than the other vowels, and I think Chaucer would agree. What do you say, Geoff?

"But al thyng which that shyneth as the gold,
Nis nat gold, as that I have herd it told."


So, what, are you suggesting that Y isn't really a vowel, even if They say it is? Some of Them do... This is why no one reads Chaucer anymore, hmph!

Anyway, all those stuck-up vowel traditionalists looking down their noses at the letter Y, deigning to make concessions for us with their patronizing quotation marks... "Traditional". Well, I never! Those unduly hard-headed folks can start a club for themselves, and the ironic Flysch Fellowship will one day cause an archaeological upset that will delight spiteful logophiles for many years after.


* * * *


And THAT is how you use "flysch" in a REAL sentence. I win this round. Unless someone can top it. :smly_a_wink:


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: ToAsTy (CaptObvious) on August 14, 2010, 09:11:48 PM
first time visiting the word corner and i gotta say... awesome  ;D
i find it wierdly interesting haha. keep em coming
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on August 17, 2010, 08:27:58 PM


Okay then, next, for your

edification (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/edification) [ed-uh-fi-key-shuhn]


noun
1. an act of edify (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/edify)ing.
2. the state of being edified; uplift.
3. moral improvement or guidance.


1350–1400;  ME (< AF) < L aedificātiōn-  (s. of aedificātiō ), equiv. to aedificāt ( us ) (ptp. of aedificāre ) built ( aedi-  s. of aedēs  house + -fic-,  comb. form of facere  to make + -ātus -ate1 ) + -iōn- -ion





Heh.  This thread is nothing but edification (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/edification),
in the sense of linguistic morality, at least!
 :winkgrin:


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on August 17, 2010, 09:31:56 PM
Oh nose! I missed flysch, but hopefully this will give me a bit of edification for my lack of attendance. And you need to correct your sig.... >.>
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Kiwi on August 17, 2010, 11:26:45 PM

edification = getting schooled by Edison

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on October 10, 2010, 01:50:31 PM
So now - by popular request! (That means YOU, Supee!  :winkgrin: ) - the new Word Corner word!

The Brit's should know THIS one!:


con·stab·u·lar·y1 (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/constabulary)  [kuhn-stab-yuh-ler-ee]


noun
1. the  body  of  constables  of  a  district.
2. a  body  of  officers  of  the  peace  organized  on  a  military  basis.


1350–1400;   < ML  constabulāria,   fem.  of  constabulārius   constabulary  2  ;  r.  ME  constablerie   < OF  < ML  as  above  



con·stab·u·lar·y2  (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/constabulary)


adjective
pertaining  to  constables  or  their  duties.

Also,  con·stab·u·lar


1815–25;   < ML  constabulārius;  see  constable (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/constable)






After a long night at the Hart & Garter my mates and I were nicked by some bobbies on our way about.
It took the whole lot of the constabulary (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/constabulary), but they got us all locked up!


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on October 11, 2010, 02:20:37 PM

[nerd]

I love this word! Was just thinking about it earlier actually. Not in a sentence, just the word itself. I like the change from CONstable to conSTABulary. Emphasis FTW! It certainly makes MY day. :P

[/nerd]


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on October 13, 2010, 12:44:16 PM
After the concert let out, it took the entire constabulary of Atlanta to quiet the crowd and get the under control.


Woot, took me a moment to think of a good-ish sentence Mxy. Nice pick. = )
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Joel on December 17, 2010, 05:27:24 AM
what happened to this thread?
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on December 17, 2010, 01:39:03 PM
what happened to this thread?

Nuthin'.

I either wait for more replies/participants to at least TRY to post a sentence using the word - or post a story about using it "in the wild" - or eventually get around to posting a new word.

Give it a try Joel and then I'll post the next new word!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Joel on December 18, 2010, 12:19:49 AM
the whole constabulary is chasing me!  :o
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on December 19, 2010, 11:12:36 AM
the whole constabulary is chasing me!  :o

Why?!?

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Joel on December 21, 2010, 11:58:08 PM
because i stole all their cookiezzz!!!  :winkgrin:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on December 22, 2010, 05:04:30 PM


...That's good enough for me!  (You Cookie-Thief, you!)  :winkgrin:

New word then!:



Guignol2 (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Guignol)  [Geen-yol]


noun
an entertainment with sensational or horrifying dramatic intent; also called Grand Guignol


French 'punch'; Grand Guignol 'Great Punch' was Paris puppet theater





Franz Kafaka's The Metamorphosis
 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Metamorphosis) makes excellent use of Guignol (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Guignol)
to deliver it satirical message.


Good luck with THIS one over the holidays!  :muah:


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Tanxs1 on December 27, 2010, 02:37:16 PM
Hard... err....

The play used Guignol2 effectively to deliver it's message of being charitable on Christmas. (omg i basically copied you mxy!!)

Err.... The clown used Guignol2 to SCARE ME (how scary are clowns these days?).

My attempt, but I failed at it :P.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Joel on January 05, 2011, 01:18:50 AM
I went to see the guignol2 with some friends of mine and we were all quite scared and we never saw one again.

hope that was good enough for ya mxy!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 06, 2011, 01:51:33 PM
Okay, let's keep the word-ball rolling this year!:



spe·cious (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/specious) [ spee-shuhs ]


adjective
1. apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible: specious arguments.
2. pleasing to the eye but deceptive.
3. Obsolete . pleasing to the eye; fair.


1350–1400;  ME < L speciōsus  fair, good-looking, beautiful, equiv. to speci ( ēs ) ( see species (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/species)) + -ōsus -ous (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/-ous)





Once while in a meeting with a CEO and staff discussing corporate business process strategies I called out one person's position as being a "specious (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/specious) argument," at which point everyone stopped and the VP said "What does that mean?" to which I replied "something that sounds good, but lacks any real benefit."  After a short pause they agreed, the position was killed and the discussion turned elsewhere.
(But they never looked at me the same way after that....  :winkgrin: )





Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Zeek on January 06, 2011, 02:48:46 PM
i was very specuious when the whole class got 100% on their tests
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 06, 2011, 06:45:30 PM
i was very specuious when the whole class got 100% on their tests

'Sounds like you mean suspicious (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/suspicious) instead?...  ::)

Try another one....

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Bleak on January 06, 2011, 08:45:41 PM
The song was good, but the lyrics were specious at best.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Trekstr on January 06, 2011, 09:09:47 PM
The 100% the student got on his English test was specious until he found that there had been a 50 point curve.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Tanxs1 on January 07, 2011, 08:20:42 AM
Tanxs1 doesn't know what specious means.

:P

Omg nao I gotta think of a real one. Errr......

Can't think :( .

*tanxs1 makes a silent exit  :ninja:*
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Kiwi on January 07, 2011, 12:51:49 PM

If you want specious excuses and arguments, you have to look no further than the Unban Request board.

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fraggle on January 07, 2011, 01:02:49 PM
Tanxs1 doesn't know what specious means.

:P

Omg nao I gotta think of a real one. Errr......

Can't think :( .

*tanxs1 makes a silent exit  :ninja:*


Can't think? C'mon Tanxs, that's a specious excuse at best... :P

:siderofl:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Tanxs1 on January 07, 2011, 01:33:44 PM
LOL
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on January 07, 2011, 02:07:40 PM
Ack, I missed a word! Here goes....

At first, most might feel the film had a great sense of Guignol to it, but upon a second and third viewing everyone felt that it was much more specious than anything else.

I hope that works for ya. = )
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on January 07, 2011, 05:04:16 PM

The presidential candidate grabbed the nearest baby and turned toward the cameras. His rolled-up sleeves, specious smile and apparent interest in the future of our great country was on the front page of every newspaper, and we all loved him then.


* This is not referring to any actual person. I read somewhere, maybe a book called Boomsday but I don't remember, about political candidates trying to get pictures taken of themselves holding babies or with a tear on their cheek... Was aiming for satirical ;D


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Trekstr on January 18, 2011, 07:01:37 PM
*bumb
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on January 26, 2011, 11:44:30 AM

The presidential candidate grabbed the nearest baby and turned toward the cameras. His rolled-up sleeves, specious smile and apparent interest in the future of our great country was on the front page of every newspaper, and we all loved him then.


* This is not referring to any actual person. I read somewhere, maybe a book called Boomsday but I don't remember, about political candidates trying to get pictures taken of themselves holding babies or with a tear on their cheek... Was aiming for satirical ;D




Shaking hands and kissing babies is a rather common phrase for a reason. xD
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 29, 2011, 01:14:05 PM


I just came upon this word and had to put it at the top of the list!:



ter·gi·ver·sate (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tergiversate) [ tur-ji-ver-seyt ]


verb (used without object), -sat·ed, -sat·ing.
1. to change repeatedly one's attitude or opinions with respect to a cause, subject, etc.; equivocate.
2. to turn renegade.


1645–55;  < L tergiversātus  (ptp. of tergiversārī  to turn one's back), equiv. to tergi-  (comb. form of tergum  back) + versātus,  ptp. of versāre,  freq. of vertere  to turn; see -ate1 (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/-ate)





Watching the politician trying to explain his actions, I realized that I'd never heard such tergiversation (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tergiversation) in all my years....




Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Tanxs1 on January 29, 2011, 01:40:50 PM
The Government's operative went tergiversation. (?)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 29, 2011, 04:16:06 PM
The Government's operative went tergiversation. (?)


 ;D


Try again....

(Read the words in the definition IN PLACE OF the word itself, and see if that makes sense....)

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Trekstr on January 29, 2011, 07:30:16 PM
The congressman tergiversated my opinion of health care in his speech several times.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on January 29, 2011, 11:26:52 PM
When determining the necessity of the new rule, Elvis constantly tergiversated with each new pro and con.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Tanxs1 on January 30, 2011, 12:34:49 AM
Sticking to it  ;D. I don't mind making no sense! >: D
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fraggle on January 30, 2011, 04:32:13 PM
When confronted with the news that things were not going well, the leader would equivocate in his addresses to his people in order that they were kept oblivious to the true nature of his progress, otherwise he would find them tergiversating with each new development as each new event would have a beneficial or a detrimental effect on his popularity and the strength/credulity of his leadership.

a situation that he could ill afford if he intended to last.

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 30, 2011, 08:20:45 PM


vnice, Fraggle!

 :neckbeard:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: -shiNe! on February 22, 2011, 10:14:06 PM
We need a new word!  :-X
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Tanxs1 on March 03, 2011, 08:21:02 AM
We need a new word!  :-X

 :cop: :cop: :cop:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 03, 2011, 10:42:43 AM



 :P


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Tanxs1 on March 03, 2011, 10:43:41 AM
That smiley face better become a new word.... :P
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fraggle on March 03, 2011, 01:00:42 PM


vnice, Fraggle!

 :neckbeard:


Tyvm! ;D
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on March 03, 2011, 01:59:21 PM

That smiley face better become a new word.... :P

Learn a new word every day!

http://dictionary.reference.com/


And for the current word:

"No need to tergiversate - if you don't like my artwork, just say so. Macaroni is not an easy medium to work with. I'll go burn it now."


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Crimson on March 03, 2011, 02:34:05 PM

And for the current word:

"No need to tergiversate - if you don't like my artwork, just say so. Macaroni is not an easy medium to work with. I'll go burn it now."


LOL  :siderofl:  :siderofl: :siderofl:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 03, 2011, 04:36:07 PM


TY JD, I was hoping for at least ONE more usage!


Hence we now feast our brains upon!...



pro·cras·ti·nate (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/procrastinate) [ proh-kras-tuh-neyt, pruh- ]


verb, -nat·ed, -nat·ing.

–verb (used without object)
1. to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost.

–verb (used with object)
2. to put off till another day or time; defer; delay.


1580–90;  < Latin prōcrāstinātus  (past participle of prōcrāstināre  to put off until tomorrow, equivalent to prō- pro-1 (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pro-)  + -crāstināre,  derivative of crāstinus  of tomorrow; crās  tomorrow + -tinus  suffix forming adjectives from temporal adverbs); see -ate1 (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/-ate)





'Guess I've procrastinated (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/procrastinate) long enough on posting the new word, eh?  ::)

GOTCHA!

 :winkgrin:  :P






Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_JANE on March 03, 2011, 08:15:21 PM

Ah, great word.  My favorite use of the word is "Procrastinators unite! Tomorrow."  Ha ha.

Will come up with a real sentence later...

:P


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MufnMan on March 03, 2011, 09:07:01 PM



"MufnMan Likes To Procrastinate Homework."


:)


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Marty on March 04, 2011, 04:17:41 AM
I will stop procrastinating soon.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Tanxs1 on March 04, 2011, 08:16:22 AM
Wait... Mxy posted a word I already knew the meaning of?  :giggle:

Procrastination FTW
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on March 04, 2011, 10:05:11 AM


You remind me, Jane: In High School a friend of mine and I started two clubs: The Procrastinator's Club, and the Apathy Club!

The first never got around to holding an initiation meeting, and the other, well, anyone that cared to join was not allowed in!

 :siderofl:


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Goalie on March 04, 2011, 02:59:32 PM
Top Ten Reasons Why I Procrastinate:

1.










Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Trekstr on March 05, 2011, 03:33:52 PM
I don't know why I procrastinate, I never got around to making an excuse for it.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on March 05, 2011, 03:52:44 PM
Lol, this word and I are good friends, have been for a loooonnng time. I'll use it in a sentence later.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fraggle on March 06, 2011, 04:24:22 AM
Well, I was supposed to be painting my bathroom yesterday, but the forums were just there, and I kept procrastinating...

...Won the draw-a-phrase game though ;D



so I guess, I'd better get on with the painting I should have done yesterday!  :embarrassing:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Lº§tMyMiNÐ on March 06, 2011, 04:17:36 PM
Hello, people. Lº§tMyMiNÐ here.

Well, I'd just like to say that even though it's been fun racing with you all on BFM, I hate to say that I've been procrastinating from learning XSI Mod Tool, something I'd like to use to start making models for Source on ModDB, my favorite mod site.

Just throwin' in my two cents.

;)

-
Lº§tMyMiNÐ
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Trekstr on March 30, 2011, 04:34:16 PM
If i keep procrastinating on these history assignments, i will soon be unwilling to do any sort of work for the class out of fear that the homework i procrastinated on will keep me up until i have to get up to go to school again. ;D
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on May 23, 2011, 03:13:55 AM
-pandiculates- Time for a new word Mxy? xD It's only been almost 3 months! Quit procrastinating!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on May 23, 2011, 10:50:17 AM
-pandiculates- Time for a new word Mxy? xD It's only been almost 3 months! Quit procrastinating!

My "main" computer - the one with that list on it - has been awaiting a replacement motherboard (from Singapore.)  Sorry!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on May 24, 2011, 06:12:31 PM
So... What's the shipping like on that? >.>
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on May 25, 2011, 01:49:32 PM
So... What's the shipping like on that? >.>

US$9.00 Air Freight

Got it in-hand now, and working on things.  Should be up by the weekend. (It's not the EXACT same mobo....  ::) :-\ )
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Tanxs1 on June 30, 2011, 08:31:16 AM
In Mxy's absence, I'll post the new word.

The bird is the word!

:P Just kidding.

Bump.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on June 30, 2011, 12:29:38 PM


Well, I for one find it hilariously ironic that you all had to wait so long, while I was not procrastinating to bring you this next, new Word Corner word!:



su·per·cil·i·ous (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/supercilious) [ soo-per-sil-ee-uhs ]



–adjective
haughtily disdainful or contemptuous, as a person or a facial expression.


1520–30;  < Latin superciliōsus. See supercilium, -ous





To those of you who thought I was procrastinating (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/procrastinate): I give you a long, supercilious (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/supercilious), look!

 :P

 :siderofl:






Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_Kiwi on June 30, 2011, 01:03:09 PM

I associate supercilious with being arrogant or having a feeling of superiority.   Patronizing or condescending.  I guess that's the "haughtily" part of your definition.  Great word.  One of those you can use on someone and they have to go look it up, and get a nasty surprise.  Hey Enoch, stop being so supercilious!
What's that kiwi?  Look it up Enoch!  I don't have a dictionary at the bakery kiwi.  Look it up when you get home then. I will!



Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Joel on June 30, 2011, 01:51:13 PM
LOl i had this word for one of my vocab lists in English for the book "the great gatsby" and i love that word


The supercilious bachelor scoffed when he realized his best friend did not own a private jet.

p.s. not exactly sure if this is in the correct form but i just got uo after 4 hours of sleep so correct me if I'm wrong
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on July 03, 2011, 09:46:03 AM
I give you a supercilious glare back Mxy! Pushing your computer beyond it's capabilities. You knew it couldn't take it, you were too hard on it!
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on August 06, 2011, 09:13:36 PM



Hey!  I'm back!

Did you all suffer from Chronosynclastic Infundibulum* while I was away?



a·mel·io·rate (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ameliorate) [ uh-meel-yuh-reyt, uh-mee-lee-uh- ]



verb (used with object), verb (used without object), -rat·ed, -rat·ing.
to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve; meliorate (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/meliorate).


Origin: 1760–70; a-5  + meliorate (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/meliorate)





I've made this word post more ameliorable (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ameliorable) by keeping it short and sweet....







* See paragraphs #2 & 3.... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sirens_of_Titan#Plot)



Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Lº§tMyMiNÐ on August 07, 2011, 09:37:11 PM
Meh, I will say this: I felt some of my previous warthog skins weren't exactly all that good, so I went back and ameliorated them. I must say, that's amongst one of the best things I've ever done.

;D

That's 'nuff said!
-
L°§tMyMiNÐ
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on August 08, 2011, 03:54:22 AM
Over the past month I've spent a majority of my time at work, but the past couple of days has done wonders to ameliorate my relationships with my family members.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on August 08, 2011, 08:12:02 AM


:neckbeard:                                 :neckbeard:


for you two!


...And 'Mind: I didn't know that you're of British flavoring?!  [ amongst (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amongst) ]

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Joel on August 09, 2011, 10:02:25 AM
BFM admins help to make halo race servers more ameliorable.
PR_Joel

p.s. took a crack at it right when i woke up i hope i hit it right.  :)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: -shiNe! on August 09, 2011, 11:14:19 AM
Can you say like you "ameliorated them with something"?
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: jim360 on August 09, 2011, 12:04:24 PM
I wouldn't like to say for certain, but I think if you wanted to say something like that, it would be better to "enhance" them with something, or perhaps more simply to "strengthen". I'd use "ameliorate" - well, never to be honest since improve almost always will do just as well, but if I did it would simply substitute the word "improve" and I don't think the phrase "to improve with something" makes much sense. You'd tend to "ameliorate something by doing something else".
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 08, 2011, 12:28:29 PM


Bor-riiing!


NEXT!: A simple word, oft overlooked, I bring you...



a·but (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/abut) [ uh-buht ]



verb, a·but·ted, a·but·ting.

verb (used without object)
1. to be adjacent; touch or join at the edge or border (often followed by on, upon,  or against ): This piece of land abuts on a street.

verb (used with object)
2. to be adjacent to; border on; end at.
3. to support by an abutment (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/abutment).


Origin: 1425–75; late Middle English  < Middle French, Old French abuter  touch at one end, verbal derivative of a but  to (the) end; see a-5 , butt2



Related forms
un·a·but·ting, adjective


After getting his butt joint abutting the foundation,
the carpenter sat on and lit up
his butt,
and had a cold butt sandwich.



BUT WAIT! THERE's MORE!:
See how all the letters in each word abut each other?!

 :dance:



Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: -shiNe! on September 08, 2011, 02:19:44 PM
In the game of Curve ball. My pad on most occasions, cannot abut the corner of the game on level 7.

Weird^^ I don't think I said It right.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fraggle on September 09, 2011, 04:39:05 AM
I'm a keen LEGO™ enthusiast. It's such a brilliant building tool because the studs on the bricks ensure that each piece abuts the adjacent pieces rather neatly and thus there's never a shoddily built structure.


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 09, 2011, 12:21:13 PM
I'm a keen LEGO™ enthusiast. It's such a brilliant building tool because the studs on the bricks ensure that each piece abuts the adjacent pieces rather neatly and thus there's never a shoddily built structure.


Well done, Fraggle!!  :neckbeard:


Extra credit for excellence in grammar, too!  :zoid:

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fraggle on September 09, 2011, 12:29:18 PM


Well done, Fraggle!!  :neckbeard:


Extra credit for excellence in grammar, too!  :zoid:


:embarrassing: ;D Thankyousir
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Light on September 10, 2011, 12:12:32 AM
I just have to put this in here...
Susurrus
It's pretty much my favorite word ever.
It is 'a soft murmuring or rustling sound.'
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 11, 2011, 09:09:13 PM
I just have to put this in here...
Susurrus
It's pretty much my favorite word ever.
It is 'a soft murmuring or rustling sound.'


Appended to my list!

TY!


(Don't hold your breath, tho: There are over a hundred other words in front of it....  ::) )

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on September 24, 2011, 10:41:02 PM
One of the main reasons why I dislike many Metropolis' is due to the fact that many buildings abut each other. Maybe it's just that I vrew up on a farm.... xD
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on September 25, 2011, 07:35:35 PM
One of the main reasons why I dislike many Metropolis' is due to the fact that many buildings abut each other. Maybe it's just that I vrew up on a farm.... xD


LOL!


Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on November 05, 2011, 09:26:12 PM



Well done, that!  And now for something completely different....


Each of us forms our own "bag" of "invested thoughts and wisdom," thus making each of us not just unique beings, but also the individuals we are - and present to each other we meet as we stumble along our path.  Seems an important-enough aspect of each and every one of us that we should have a word for it, no?  Hence we have the word:



cre·do (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/credo) [ kree-doh, krey- ]



noun, plural -dos.

1. (often initial capital letter) the Apostles' creed or the Nicene Creed.

2. (often initial capital letter) a musical setting of the creed (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/creed), usually of the Nicene Creed.

3. any creed or formula of belief.



Origin: 1150–1200; Middle English < Latin: literally, I believe; first word of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds in Latin






                                       Mxy's Credo:

                                       1) Leave things better for my having been alive.
                                       2) Experience the richness of the Cosmos to the best of my ability.
                                       3) Understand "Why?"
                                       4) Live long enough to be a burden on those around me.  :winkgrin:



Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on November 06, 2011, 12:19:26 PM
The 4th is perhaps my favorite Mxy. = ) I'm still developing my credo, however with a bit more time to contemplate it I'm certain that I'll find it. Well, off to work! -flies away-

Edit:

Part of my credo:

Express your happiness to the ones you love. While you may take pleasure in thinking how beautiful a girl is, she takes pleasure in hearing it.

Actively practice the conservation of energy/matter. Let everything you do be for a purpose, never just for the sake of doing something.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on November 22, 2011, 11:12:21 AM


Extended version in my life, as a part of "better the Cosmos": I'm still a bit of a chivalrist*, always holding doors and offering to assist and such.

Just one aspect of being enough of a Good Samaritan soas to have my kids scold me for "interfering" in stranger's lives.  (Strange how they can think it "interfering" when I get thanks from people for it, eh??)


* Not a valid word for "one who practices chivalry," but I'm going with it anyway, since part of "a better place" includes extending the English language, in my book.  :cop:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on November 22, 2011, 08:25:49 PM
My son isn't quite old enough to criticize me for such things, yet.... However I too try to hold doors open for people, even when my hands are full. Lol. If I'm there first I feel like there's no use in making them waste energy to open a door when I could just hold it open with my foot or something. -goes back and edits his credo-

Edit: I always joke around when someone calls me lazy. I just say," No, I'm just practicing the conservation of energy." xD
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: jim360 on November 23, 2011, 01:40:51 AM
I always hold doors open for people. Infuriates me, sometimes, when they go through without thanking me, or perhaps when other people don't show the same courtesy. I once had to take a bike through a door, not an easy task when there was a step in the door too, and it was locked, and I had the key. Anyway, this other person wanted to go through the door, so I unlocked it, and they then just strode through and let it shut on me and my bike! There was another man there and we just stared at each other in a typical English, "I'm so going to get angry about that later!" sort of way.

So yes, I am very chivalrous. Sort of.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 27, 2012, 08:09:58 PM

Seems as though the frequency of my posting new words is inversely-proportional to the amount of interest.  ::)





gad·a·bout (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gadabout) [ gad-uh-bout ]



noun

1) a person who moves about restlessly or aimlessly, especially from one social activity to another.

2) a person who travels often or to many different places, especially for pleasure.



Origin: 1810–20;  noun use of verb phrase gad about




When I finally get around to visiting Alaska
- the last of the 50 US States that I have left to visit -
I will consider myself to be an official gadabout (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gadabout)!

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Fraggle on January 28, 2012, 03:19:16 AM
My colleague is a gadabout. she's off on Holiday to various overseas destinations many times in each year.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: starter4ten on January 28, 2012, 10:21:18 AM
In a similar vein to the last post...

Gallivant : to travel, roam, or move about for pleasure

"Oh you've been off gallivanting around town whilst I was left holding the baby have you!"   :toot:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on March 03, 2012, 11:27:20 AM
My two best friends are most certainly gadabouts. Within a time span of four years they went from slot cars, to real cars, to paintball, to card games, to guitars, then to amateur film making. My finances did not permit me the ability to keep up with their intense yet quickly changing interests so I don't consider myself much of a gadabout.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on April 09, 2012, 02:29:24 PM
Due to a request by Nebula, we're moving along to the next new word, which by coincidence is:



syz·y·gy (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/syzygy) [ siz-i-jee ]



noun, plural -gies.

1) Astronomy . an alignment of three celestial objects, as the sun, the earth, and either the moon or a planet: Syzygy in the sun-earth-moon system occurs at the time of full moon and new moon.

2) Classical Prosody . a group or combination of two feet, sometimes restricted to a combination of two feet of different kinds.

3) any two related things, either alike or opposite.



Origin: 1650–60;  < Late Latin syzygia  < Greek syzygía  union, pair, equivalent to sýzyg ( os ) yoked together ( sy- sy-  + zyg-,  base of zeugnýnai  to yoke1  + -os  adj. suffix) + -ia -y3




The real event behind all the hullabaloo about the strange occurrences this forthcoming year end
is the preponderance of syzygies (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/syzygy) that will be happening throughout this calendar year,
many of which occur near year's end.

This should be met not with alarm,
but rather described as any Red Lectroid from the eighth dimension would tell you: 

"So what.... Big Deal!"

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on May 16, 2012, 03:55:40 PM
Would the middle leg in a three legged race count as a syzygy?







(see what I did there? xD)
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Øụ†₭ąṧ‡ on January 25, 2013, 09:25:44 PM
One day there will be a new word that truly means something and stands for what what we all believe in and Mr. Mxy will be there to post it... :winkgrin: But How long must we wait oh great and magical ImP? :eyebrow:
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on January 29, 2013, 01:58:52 AM
Can't blame him really.... Being a 5th dimension imp does create a lot of distractions.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on January 30, 2013, 08:33:15 AM
Okay, okay already! (Man, when it rains it pours battery acid!  ::) )



ir·i·dol·o·gy (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/iridology) [ ir-i-dol-uh-jee ]



noun, plural -gies.

the inspection of the iris of the eye as an aid in determining a person's state of health or in diagnosing a health problem.



Origin: 1920–25; irido- + -logy




(http://i45.tinypic.com/25yykir.jpg)


Widely considered to be pseudoscience or even quackery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridology#Criticism),
we used to perform iridology (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/iridology) on each other's eyes a lot
(when dating back in the Dark Ages....  ::) )

 ;D

Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on January 30, 2013, 11:07:19 AM
At my last eye exam, my doctor wished to dilate my pupils, which would've made any iridology quite impossible.
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: Øụ†₭ąṧ‡ on January 30, 2013, 02:48:40 PM
Ewww; Eye's gross me out in a very phobic way  :o
Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: MrMxyzptlk on June 25, 2013, 12:08:30 PM
S'been awhile....



cat·a·chre·sis (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/catachresis) [kat-uh-kree-sis]



noun

misuse or strained use of words, as in a mixed metaphor, occurring either in error or for rhetorical effect.



Origin: 1580-90; < Latin  < Greek:  a misuse (akin to katachrêsthai  to misuse), equivalent to kata- cata- + chrêsis  use ( chrê ( sthai ) to use, need + -sis -sis)









This sentence is a fine example of catachresis!





Title: Re: Mr. Mxy's Word Corner
Post by: BFM_SüprM@ñ on July 04, 2013, 08:16:34 AM
Most of the posts in this thread are an example of catachresis, Mxy, not just your previous post!