GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S. "Now really!" You are "flippin' crazy."

I'm also regularly confused by the naming of the two slash marks available on the standard keyboard.

Microsoft terminology has (\) as a "backslash", but I've also read that the "normal" slash (/) is called the backslash because it was drawn by drawing back and down. In regular usage, it is the "forward" slash common in dates, fractions and the addresses of the Internet. The word "slash" by itself seems to refer to the (/).

Then, too, there was Zorro of my childhood TV watching. He slashed the Z diagonal top right to bottom left, too.

Slash, bash, hash, slosh...smash, crash! ( Good glyph, what was that? Sound of my brain running into something solidus ( ⁄ ), hitting the limit of this comment which is just my personal slant on the issue and done in my spare time, when not bowling.)

I just checked, and we have Bob Bemer to thank for the computer use of the backslash. Just ASCII and the Internet will answer.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

E.P.S. "Now really!" You are "flippin' crazy."
... Microsoft terminology has (\) as a "backslash" ... The word "slash" by itself seems to refer to the (/). ...

I wonder if Alexander cut the Gordian Knot with a Heninian backslash or a Williamsian foreslash?

Anyway, I'm willing to agree to a gentleman's disagreement and slash this forumal (foruminal?) argument with a straight stroke down the middle.

Can you meet me halfway, dear Sir Algot?

[Algot Runeman]

Anyway, I'm willing to agree to a gentleman's disagreement and slash this forumal (foruminal?) argument with a straight stroke down the middle.

Can you meet me halfway, dear Sir Algot?

I shall meet you halfway...halfway down the jousting tournament rail. /me [I'd be happy to meet you!]

In my computer (geeky command line) experience, the vertical stroke is commonly called a "pipe" since it is used in the UNIX/Linux world to signify sending, "piping" the results of one command to another command. It is like saying "first do this, then do that."

Code: Select all

ls | grep *png

This short example lists (ls) only the files with the three letters (png) in them which typically will be only the graphic files in a computer folder/directory. Ordinarily the ls command shows every file in a folder. The grep comand checks to see if a file has the matching characteristics.

[Algot Runeman]

chuffed

Pronunciation: /tʃʌft/
adjective
[predic.] British informal

very pleased: I’m dead chuffed to have won

Origin:
1950s: from dialect chuff 'plump or pleased'


Clair Lee

◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◎◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮◭◮

Chuffed to be clean!

[Algot Runeman]

fray [definition 1]

Pronunciation: /freɪ/
verb
1 [no object] (of a fabric, rope, or cord) unravel or become worn at the edge, typically through constant rubbing: cheap fabric soon frays
(of a person’s nerves or temper) show the effects of strain: as the temperature rose, tempers frayed

2 [with object] (of a male deer) rub (a bush or small tree) with the head in order to remove the velvet from newly formed antlers, or to mark territory during the rut: bucks mark their territory by fraying small trees

Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French freiier, from Latin fricare 'to rub'


Mike Nicolai

☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲☲

I was up a tree. The limb swung wide and knocked out the ladder from under me. One hand on the synthetic fiber rope, down I went. Hand flayed. Rope frayed. Both cauterized by the friction heat.

Kept hand. Trashed the rope. Not afraid of tree work, though.

[Algot Runeman]

fray [definition 2]

Pronunciation: /freɪ/
noun
(the fray)
a situation of intense competitive activity: ten companies intend to bid for the contract, with three more expected to enter the fray
a battle or fight: he charged into the thick of the fray and went down fighting

Origin:
late Middle English: from archaic fray 'to quarrel', from affray 'startle', from Anglo-Norman French afrayer (see affray)


Laughing Squid

☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮☰☮

The only real losers in the fray of a pillow fight are the geese whose feathers were used for pillow stuffing.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

fray
[definition 1] ...
[definition 2] ...

How about definition 3:

Frayed nerves !

I used to be a dentist, remember?

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S. Do dentists, or former ones, visit optometrists?

Oxford Dictionaries Online deigned to deem a frayed temper or a frayed nerve to be part of definition one [ een ]. Granted, it was hidden after the rope of the dope up the ladder. I, also, sometimes read through a reed which limits what can be seed. Don't make a scene, I know it was "seen." On words we are keen, or sometimes have been. But fun it can be to the English of the king or the queen.

[Algot Runeman]

paranormal

Pronunciation: /parəˈnɔːm(ə)l/

adjective
denoting events or phenomena such as telekinesis or clairvoyance that are beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding: a mystic who can prove he has paranormal powers (as noun the paranormal) an investigator of the paranormal

Derivatives
paranormally
adverb


Will Murphy

▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤▥▤

Do you suppose that the choice of a medium sized photo is significant in any discussion of the paranormal activity of the Word of the Day. Would it make any difference if our lair were designated Word of the Night?

Did you know that Joe and James were just a pair of normal guys?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

paranormal
...
Did you know that Joe and James were just a pair of normal guys?

Sure.
When they did KP in the army, the sergeant saw to it that they quickly learned how to thinly pare a normal potato.

[Algot Runeman]

coleopterist

Pronunciation: /ˌkɒlɪˈɒptərɪst/

noun
a person who studies or collects beetles.

Origin:
mid 19th century: from Coleoptera + -ist


http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0502.htm

☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☺☺☺☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹☹

My daughter is not a coleopterist. Bugs bug her. The only beetle she likes is a beetle squished and thrown away by somebody else.

[laurie]

Personally, I prefer John, Paul, George and Ringo.

[Algot Runeman]

Hmm.

Spelling Mistress, is it, Laurie?
Beetles...
I've named my dogs and cats. I've never named beetles in my collection.

Hmm.

Does Hmming count as music without the U?
Besides, I'm not sure I know the tune.

[Algot Runeman]

waldo

Pronunciation: /ˈwɔːldəʊ/

noun (plural waldos)
a remote-controlled device for handling or manipulating objects.

Origin:
1940s: named after Waldo F. Jones, a fictional inventor described by Robert Heinlein in a science-fiction story


Chris Christner

⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒

Science Fiction has occasionally influenced language, but, a waldo may be one of the few terms that have really come to real life.

[laurie]

Now I know why they were so keen to find out where Waldo was hiding. They were sick of his bouncing the pizzas off the ceiling.

[Algot Runeman]

pittance

Pronunciation: /ˈpɪt(ə)ns/
noun
1 [usually in singular] a very small or inadequate amount of money: he paid his workers a pittance

2 historical a pious bequest to a religious house or order to provide extra food and wine at particular festivals, or on the anniversary of the benefactor’s death.

Origin:
Middle English: from Old French pitance, from medieval Latin pitantia, from Latin pietas 'pity'


Yahoo Japan

☱☲☴☲☱☲☴☲☱☲☴☲☱☲☴☲☱☲☴☲☱☲☴☲☱☲☴☲☱☲☴☲☱☲☴☲☱☲☴☲

Paul proffered a pittance of penance pending priestly performance. Pathetic!

[Algot Runeman]

laity

Pronunciation: /ˈleɪɪti/
noun
[usually treated as plural] (the laity)
1 lay people, as distinct from the clergy.

2 ordinary people, as distinct from professionals or experts.

Origin:
late Middle English: from lay2 + -ity


Gavin Golden

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

The dance mob is one of the modern era's best efforts from the laity. More crowd power for creative expression -- brought to us by the mobile phone?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

laity
...
The dance mob is one of the modern era's best efforts from the laity. More crowd power for creative expression -- brought to us by the mobile phone?

3 Austrian merrymaking
If you visit the ancient mountains of Austria and catch a goatherd getting laid,
you'll hear several echo's responding, "YO-de-la-iii-tyyy!"

A good and catching example is "The Lonely Goatherd" in "The Sound of Music".

[laurie]

I will never hear that song in innocence again...

[Algot Runeman]

grosgrain

Pronunciation: /ˈgrəʊgreɪn/

noun
a heavy ribbed fabric, typically of silk or rayon.

Origin:
mid 19th century: French, 'coarse grain' (see also grogram)


Peter Jupp

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The smooth silks laughed at the grosgrain ribbon. They ribbed it for being a lumpy fabric, looking cobbled together instead of flowing along a long lithe thigh.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

grosgrain

The editor demanded such a drastic rewrite that it went against more than the writer's grain. He refused because changing his well-rounded story (in his opinion) went squarely against his grosgrain!

[Algot Runeman]

corsage

Pronunciation: /kɔːˈsɑːʒ, ˈkɔːsɑːʒ/

noun
1 a spray of flowers worn pinned to a woman’s clothes.
2 the upper part of a woman’s dress.

Origin:
early 19th century (in corsage (sense 2)): French, from Old French cors 'body', from Latin corpus


the green gal

⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯⛯

Carissa craved a colorful corsage. Mark manufactured one for her. He said that she was his flower and needed no sad competition.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

corsage
...
Carissa craved a colorful corsage. Mark manufactured one for her. He said that she was his flower and needed no sad competition.

The bride-to-be insisted she required no corsage.
All she wanted was her soon-to-be-husband to embrace her and hug her and adore her and tickle her and kiss her and love her and ravish her and ... and ... and DO her.
She claimed that her cherished fiancé, Robert Surcouf, the famous corsair, would be all the corsage she needed, thank you.

Spoiler: show

Poster's Note: I'm afraid the young lady confused "corsage" with "potion corsée" (spicy potion = aphrodisiac). She was *blonde*, you know?

[Algot Runeman]

harum-scarum

Pronunciation: /ˌhɛːrəmˈskɛːrəm/

adjective
reckless; impetuous: a wild harum-scarum youth

noun
a reckless, impetuous person.

Origin:
late 17th century (as an adverb): reduplication based on hare and scare


It's Elvis Time

⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄⟃⟄

"You ain't nothin' but a hound dog," sang the harum-scarum youth on the screen. Parents almost everywhere swooned and covered their childrens' eyes while turning down the TV volume. They, themselves, continued to watch.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

harum-scarum

I don't know why, but I've never liked The Pelvis.

I would by far have preferred to see harum-scarum swashbuckler Rudolph gallantly ravishing the lovely princess in the sheik's hareem (though famous Valentino died long before my time).