GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

Thank you, E.P.S., for following through on your wishes and providing all of us with the photo alternative. It was impetuous of me to think that Elvis might represent the harum-scarum attitude of youth. Had I stayed more staid, and wanted to get [ahem] I'd have written about a harem. But not living in the Arabian desert of times past, it would have been...

bootless

Pronunciation: /ˈbuːtlɪs/

adjective
archaic
(of a task or undertaking) ineffectual; useless: remonstrating with him seems ever to have been a bootless task

Origin:

Old English bōtlēas 'not able to be compensated for by payment' (see boot2, -less)





It is bootless to wear boots which have no soles.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

bootless

That reminds me.

Researchers one step closer to 'bootless' computer

Physicists at the University of California, Riverside have made a breakthrough in developing a "spin computer," which would combine logic with nonvolatile memory, bypassing the need for computers to boot up.

When shall we see the bootless computer in retail stores, I wonder?

[Algot Runeman]

mien

Pronunciation: /miːn/

noun
a person’s appearance or manner, especially as an indication of their character or mood: he has a cautious, academic mien

Origin:
early 16th century: probably from French mine 'expression', influenced by obsolete demean 'bearing, demeanour' (from demean2)



◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎

It was difficult to take the professor seriously. His academic mein suffered because of the clown nose he wore during lectures.

[Apologies to all decendants of this august person. It was a close thing. There were several great photos of current professors looking very serious for the camera. I couldn't bring myself to damage a current reputation.]

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

mien

I think Albert Einstein wouldn't have minded wearing a clown nose if the occasion had warranted such a mien.

[Algot Runeman]

There is no doubt. Einstein had a good sense of humor. I've often chuckled over his "E=MC Squared" one liner.

Merry Christmas to all who drop by at WotD from time to time. It's not actually the day here, yet, but just in case festivities overwhelm the effort to post a word on the 25th...

Happy Holidays to those whose festivities are less specific.

[laurie]

Merry Christmas to all who drop by at WotD from time to time... Happy Holidays to those whose festivities are less specific.

Same to you, Algot!!

[Algot Runeman]

muggle

Pronunciation: /ˈmʌg(ə)l/

noun
informal
a person who is not conversant with a particular activity or skill: she’s a muggle: no IT background, understanding, or aptitude at all

Origin:
1990s: from mug1 + -le2; used in the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling to mean 'a person without magical powers'


Self Portrait

☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃☃



This muggle will always struggle and his life he will juggle to get a snuggle with his beloved wife on Christmas.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

muggle

So the picture above is a not a mug shot, but a muggle shot, right?

[Algot Runeman]

Yes, E.P.S., "a muggle shot," indeed. Just avoid thinking "a muggle who was shot." I sincerely wish to avoid giving ideas to anybody.

Can you also provide another bit of assistance? Please let me know if the language of this <http://www.tantehilde.be/wrdprss/> web site is Flemish or Dutch. My sister-in-law made a doll for my daughter (40 years old) using the photos on the site as a guide, but didn't feel the need for a translation. She asked if I knew the language and Dutch or Flemish were my guesses.

[Algot Runeman]

chirography

Pronunciation: /kʌɪˈrɒgrəfi/

noun
[mass noun]
handwriting, especially as distinct from typography.

Derivatives
chirographic
adjective


Dan Pope

✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍✍

Studying chirography would be taxing for my brain. Of course, studying anything is taxing for my brain.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... if the language of this http://www.tantehilde.be/wrdprss/ web site is Flemish or Dutch. My sister-in-law made a doll for my daughter (40 years old) using the photos on the site as a guide, but didn't feel the need for a translation. She asked if I knew the language and Dutch or Flemish were my guesses.

Let's first examine the blog's URL:

• 'tantehilde' is webspeak for 'Tante Hilde', which is Standard Dutch for 'Aunt Hilde',
• '.be' is the TLD for Belgium,
• I assume 'wrdprss' stands for 'WordPress'.

The text of the blog is almost entirely Standard Dutch, but it is peppered with typically Flemish vernacular like 'gesmos' (spilling), 'wasmachien' (laundry machine), 'spoeit u' (hurry up) and lots of English too.

A typo also suggests it's a Flemish blogger. In Standard Dutch the word 'galerij' (gallery) is logically pronounced with a somewhat drawn out first syllable, while Flemish vernacular pronounces it with a short first syllable, hence the logical but mistaken spelling of 'gallerij'.

All this proves Tante Hilde's blog to be undeniably Flemish.

BTW.

• For its articles in Dutch, the Flemish-American Gazette Van Detroit writes in Standard Dutch, not Flemish.
• Simon Ager, a particularly advanced polyglot, maintains a very interesting site about languages and writing systems. See the extraordinary page about Constructed scripts.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

chirography

A shopping reminder written by a physician? In Latin?
A pharmacist may be able to read it.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Not a WotD but an Idiom of the Day

In a conversation in a TV show I'm watching, I've encountered an expression I don't understand. I've rendered it in bold and large font in the transcription below.

[A conversation between Harm and Mattie]

...

H: Uh, did Mrs. Del Mucci stop by?

M: Three times yesterday. She brought two dresses, a grammar textbook and a Bean casserole.

H: She's a good neighbor, huh?

M: Can't get past the hairs on her cheek.

H: (laughs) That's a small price to pay for help.

M: I don't need her help.

M: Mattie, look, I don't care how long you've lived alone. You are still a minor without parental supervision.

...

Now I'm thinking of a cat's whiskers. Could that sentence mean: "I can't do anything without her noticing." ?

Google didn't help. Can you tell me what it means, please?

[Algot Runeman]

Can't get past the hairs on her cheek.

Your interpretation is just right, E.P.S. "Can't help noticing" is perhaps too kind, though. At the extreme, Matti might be disgusted by the hairs. If associated with a mole...phew. It would be difficult to not stare at the mole and hairs instead of looking the woman in the eye.

[Algot Runeman]

carp [definition 2]

Pronunciation: /kɑːp/

verb
[no object]
complain or find fault continually about trivial matters: I don’t want to carp about the way you did it

Derivatives
carper
noun

Origin:
Middle English (in the sense 'talk, chatter'): from Old Norse karpa 'brag'; later influenced by Latin carpere 'pluck at, slander'


Omar Ali

▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼

Calvin carped at the chair umpire. It wasn't the call of a fault which bothered him. He was going on and on about how small the crowd was. It was as if Calvin thought the umpire could summon a crowd with the wave of his visor.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

carp [definition 2]
complain or find fault continually

If tennis champion Ilie Nastase was nicknamed the "Bucharest Buffoon",

then surely John McEnroe must have been the "Court Carper" ?

[Algot Runeman]

alimony

Pronunciation: /ˈalɪməni/

noun
[mass noun] chiefly North American
a husband’s (or wife’s) provision for a spouse after separation or divorce; maintenance: he is said to have paid $300,000 alimony to his first wife

Origin:
early 17th century (in the sense 'nourishment, means of subsistence'): from Latin alimonia 'nutriment', from alere 'nourish'


Brian Lambeth

✉☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑☑✉

Tony was a phony. Divorce had lead to alimony. He owned no stock in Sony, poor Tony. He sometimes gets a little behind. Never trust him if he says, "The check is in the mail."

[voralfred]

Can't get past the hairs on her cheek.

Your interpretation is just right, E.P.S. "Can't help noticing" is perhaps too kind, though. At the extreme, Matti might be disgusted by the hairs. If associated with a mole...phew. It would be difficult to not stare at the mole and hairs instead of looking the woman in the eye.

Algot, I think you misunderstood EPS's original understanding of the phrase. As I understand what he understood it was: the woman seems to have an in-built radar, she notices everything I do as if she had extra-sensitive whiskers like a cat.
What you mean (and not being a native english-speaker, I concur to your reading of the phrase) is that the woman has extremely ugly facial hair, possibly on or around a mole, and that Mattie just cannot ignore them, they just ruin his ability to deal with her. That indeed seems to be the correct meaning of that phrase, but it is very different from EPS first understanding. Am I right, Francis?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... "the woman seems to have an in-built radar, she notices everything I do as if she had extra-sensitive whiskers like a cat."
...
Am I right, Francis?

Yes, that's exactly how I understood it.

... Algot, I think you misunderstood EPS's original understanding of the phrase.

I think that, besides confirming my assumption, Algot was exploring other possible meanings of the sentence in question. Maybe that would have been more obvious if Algot had done it in a few paragraphs, like I edited his post in the example below.

"Can't get past the hairs on her cheek."
Your interpretation is just right, E.P.S.

"Can't help noticing ['the hairs on her cheek' is implied, I think]" is perhaps too kind, though. At the extreme, Matti might be disgusted by the hairs. [Here Algot suggests to me an image of an unkempt woman with hairy ears, a dark moustache, a couple of warts surrounded by a few long hairs and black strands protruding from her nose ... ]

If associated with a mole...phew. It would be difficult to not stare at the mole and hairs instead of looking the woman in the eye.

As for the latter, I know exactly what Algot means. In my youth I've had a same-age female friend who had a slightly raised, dark brown, hairy mole on her left cheek, the size of a $0.05 coin, about 2 cm in front of her left ear. Fortunately, before her sixteenth birthday, the mole was succesfully excised. The remaining, slightly recessed scar was almost invisible with a good suntan or careful make-up (tanning sunbeds didn't exist then).

[Algot Runeman]

Aargh! I completely misread E.P.S. and concentrated on the program dialog. The cat whisker meaning would need a phrase like "can't get something past Mrs. De. Mucci (she's extra sensitive)" if it meant an enhanced sensitivity on her part. Another similar phrase would be "can't put something over on someone."

"Can't get past" is the reaction of Mattie in the dialog. There is no indication that Mattie was anything but a complete gentleman. I didn't get the impression that Mrs. Del Mucci was put off. She visited three times on the same day. The cat's whiskers interpretation would indicate that Mrs. Del Mucci was forcing herself into Mattie's world, choosing to ignore his distaste.

Every time I have used the phrase "can't get past..." it has meant something about my own lack of ability (my insensitivity), not the enhanced perception of another person.

There is a related forum discussion here: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1140600
The #2 comment by Matching Mole indicates that not getting past something is "an insurmountable obstacle to the speaker."

We also have another saying: "Your mileage may vary." It is often used to imply that my observations may not match yours.

[Algot Runeman]

ramekin

Pronunciation: /ˈramɪkɪn, ˈramkɪn/

(also ramekin dish)
noun
a small dish for baking and serving an individual portion of food.
a quantity of food served in a ramekin, in particular a small quantity of cheese baked with breadcrumbs, eggs, and seasoning.

Origin:
mid 17th century: from French ramequin, of Low German or Dutch origin; compare with obsolete Flemish rameken 'toasted bread'


sea turtle



Ray ordered lunch, a house salad and French onion soup. The restaurant used a larger ramekin than most. They never stinted on the soup, which they liberally draped with Gruyère.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

ramekin

Those corrugated ramekins look just right for "Crème Brulèe".

But remember to stack them only when empty!

[voralfred]

ramekin

Those corrugated ramekins look just right for "Crème Brulèe".

But remember to stack them only when empty!

Sometimes it takes some effort not to eat the computer screen...

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Sometimes it takes some effort not to eat the computer screen...

My screen is too high on my desk for the dog to reach, otherwise

Spoiler: show

[laurie]

I'd be more inclined to lick the French onion soup with Gruyère than the Crème Brulèe.

Just sayin' ...