The Internet Book Database of Fiction

One doesn't have to be sciency to guess the following riddle.

Sorry, that is the only way to connect my riddle to this thread. But at least here it will be seen by at least two participants. I almost ROTFLOL when my daughter explained it to me.

Why "Pancake" ?
or more precisely, why did she choose to call "Pancake" the stuffed dog her brother-in-law gave to her six-months-old baby girl ?

Context: Like her husband, her brother-in-law is Australian, but he has lived in Sweden these last years (which explains why he was able to visit a few days ago). He had a stuffed dog he was very fond of when he was a small child, and he was old enough to name it himself.
My daughter wanted the name of the new dog as a reference, somehow, to that of the other one. But though she is quite adequate in written english, she does not have a good ear for accents, and australian-mitigated-by-years-in-Sweden-talking-with-people-from-all-around-the-world is not the easiest accent.
So the name "Pancake" comes from a major misunderstanding of the name of the first dog.

Question : What was really the first stuffed dog's name ? And what did my daughter think it was ?
You do not have to know French to get it, the misunderstanding is entirely in english, just made by someone who does not have a good "ear" for accents. It is not due to a back-and-forth translation.
Please answer by PM, not on the thread, for others to try...

mompreneur

(British mumpreneur)
Pronunciation /mʌmprəˈnəː/
noun
informal
A woman who sets up and runs her own business in addition to caring for her young child or children.

Origin
1990s blend of mum or mom + entrepreneur.

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Marge made mincemeat and sold it to the local supermarkets. She was a mompreneur in the most gruesome way imaginable. Go ahead, imagine!
[Actually, mincemeat contains no meat from ANY source, so you can relax.]

loath

(also loth)
Pronunciation /ləʊθ/
adjective
predicative, with infinitive
Reluctant; unwilling.

Usage

Although different in meaning, loath and loathe are often confused. Loath is an adjective (also spelled loth) meaning ‘reluctant or unwilling’, as in I was loath to leave, whereas loathe is a verb meaning ‘feel intense dislike or disgust for’, as in she loathed him on sight. The spelling loathe for the adjective is becoming very common, and is regarded by some as a legitimate variant

Origin

Old English lāth ‘hostile, spiteful’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch leed, German Leid ‘sorrow’.

==========

I was loath to post yesterday's illustration, but not, obviously, unwilling to do so.

I hope you won't be loath to use mincemeat as WOTD next time Lexico gives us a duplicate !

grief-stricken

Pronunciation /ˈɡriːfstrɪk(ə)n/
adjective
Overcome with deep or intense sorrow.

==========

The whole hometown was grief-stricken when their favorite son crashed out of the Tour de France.

The apple tree was grief-stricken when its fruit were cruelly hacked to pieces in the most gruesome way by a loathsome mompreneur to make mincemeat.

ning-nong

Pronunciation /ˈnɪŋnɒŋ/
noun
informal Australian, New Zealand
A fool.

Origin
Mid 19th century of unknown origin.

An Australian ning-nong might be called a ding-dong in the USA. In Britain, though, a prat.

Algot Runeman wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:05 am ning-nong

Is a ning-nong just a moron or idiot, rather stupid?

While a jester is actually smart?

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:01 am

Algot Runeman wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 10:05 am ning-nong

Is a ning-nong just a moron or idiot, rather stupid?

While a jester is actually smart?

You are probably right, so far as the slang uses are concerned. I did not wish to downgrade the intelligence of the classic fool. I'm often proud to laugh at the pratfalls of a talented comedian, our modern incarnation of the court fool.

I pushed in the direction I did because of the British connection to prat, which I had not known until I checked on the way to composing the irreverent sample sentence.

I didn't go further than the Australian, US and British versions of slang terms for fool, though I bet there are local versions for other regions where English has become the dominant shared language (input from the Indian sub continent?).

In addition, I had a clipart ready from 2019 for fool. I didn't think I liked the "dunce" image from 2018 quite so well. I am also not sure that fool, ning-nong or ding-dong were equivalent with dunce.

I love the depth of thought which goes into comments left here in this forum topic.

From the research I have just done (just a few pages), it seems that ning-nong, as well a prat mean people who are actually rather stupid.
Definitely not "fool" in the meaning of "jester".

The etymology of ning-nong, or just nong, does not give any indication that it comes from some aboriginal australian language.

Conversely, I wonder if this word is not the origin of the names of two characters by Kipling. It rang a familiar bell in my memory, and I checked.
Kipling certainly had the opportunity to hear australian slang. I would not be surprised if he took from ning-nong the names of the Middle God Nqing and the Big God Nqong in the only one of his Just So Stories that takes place in Australia, The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo.
Though if Nqing and the Little God Nqa indeed sound like ning-nongs, Nqong certainly does not.

overleap

Pronunciation /əʊvəˈliːp/
verb overleaped, overleapt
[with object]
1 archaic Jump over or across.
1.1 Omit or ignore.

Origin
Old English oferhlēapan(see over, leap).

=========

Erin eagerly overleaped the rope again and again, hoping to surpass her own best count.
Conversely, Carol controlled her effort, to work harder for a shorter time.



[It is easy to consider overleaping archaic words, but having been recently, gently and correctly, chastised for loose interpretation of meaning, the word presenter prefers to tread carefully, avoiding being a ning-nong in his overweening attempts to jest.]

agomphious

Pronunciation /əˈɡɒmfɪəs/
adjective
rare
Lacking teeth; toothless.

Origin
Late 19th century. From scientific Latin Agomphia + -ous.

==========

As far as Bob was concerned any argument against any of his positions was agomphious, totally edentulous, and could be ignored.

One of the participants in this thread would loathe a situation were too many people were agomphious.
He would be grief-stricken because edentulous people would systematically overleap his practice ! Unless of course they wanted a dazzling nacreous smile à la Farah Fawcett...
He would have had to change his occupation, which I am sure he'd be loath to do.


Curiously, clicking on "SHOW" on the "spoiler" in the URL above does not open the hidden image.
But one can see it by copying and pasting the link which is accessible by "quoting" the post, namely
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-seWHClVayxg/T ... Bwiki4.jpg



Note :
This seems a general problem with "spoilers" ever since the site was revived after its long absence. In a PM I sent to Algot, the spoilers were also impossible to open.

mincemeat

Pronunciation /ˈmɪnsmiːt/
noun
mass noun
1 British A mixture of currants, raisins, sugar, apples, candied peel, spices, and suet, typically baked in pastry.
2 Minced meat.

Phrases
make mincemeat of
informal
Defeat decisively in a fight, contest, or argument.

==========

After all the arguments had been made, nobody acceded to anyone else. The only mincemeat made was in the kitchen, each with their own preferred recipe.

Algot Runeman wrote: ↑Thu Jul 01, 2021 8:47 am mincemeat

Hey!
Can the stuffing of "Steak & Kidney Pie" and "Quiche Lorraine" and "Tartiflette" be called mincemeat?

Algot Runeman wrote: ↑Thu Jul 01, 2021 8:47 am mincemeat

Thank you for having so rapidly granted my wish :

voralfred wrote: ↑Sun Jun 27, 2021 12:03 am I hope you won't be loath to use mincemeat as WOTD next time Lexico gives us a duplicate !

BTW, what duplicate word was Lexico's choice for that day ?

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote: ↑Thu Jul 01, 2021 11:30 am Hey!
Can the stuffing of "Steak & Kidney Pie" and "Quiche Lorraine" and "Tartiflette" be called mincemeat?

You could have added "Hachis parmentier" a.k.a. "Shepherd's pie".

voralfred wrote: BTW, what duplicate word was Lexico's choice for that day ?

I'm sorry to say, I don't remember. The effort to remember to insert mincemeat was difficult enough by itself, and my guess is that the word on offer was not apt to be useful in mainstream conversation. Therefore, when Lexico does its random, willy-nilly thing, I take it as my prerogative to make requested substitutions.

We refuse to be slaves to the random number generators of the Internet.

...and yet, today Lexico offers...

muck up

phrasal verb
informal
1 muck something up, muck up something Do something badly or ineptly; mishandle something.
2 Australian, New Zealand Behave badly; mess around.

==========

It is serendipitous that today's Lexico random choice allows a timely opportunity to avoid further mucking up of the WotD's standard process.

probie

(also proby)
Pronunciation /ˈprəʊbi/
noun
informal US
A person, especially a firefighter, undergoing probation in a job.

==========

Vince wore his firefighter's gear with pride. Even as a probie, he was all in on the job, just like his father and uncle before him.

howzit

Pronunciation /ˈhaʊzət/
exclamation
informal South African
Used as a greeting, equivalent to ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’

Origin
Contraction of how is it?.

==========

In the US, we don't quite shorten it to the extent of howzit, but it is common to ask, "How's it going?" as a greeting. There is also a less gentile version which propriety restricts us from mentioning...

Algot Runeman wrote: ↑Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:50 am howzit
... greeting, equivalent to ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’ ...

Are you sure they are not inquiring about your zit?

prerogative

Pronunciation /prɪˈrɒɡətɪv/
noun
1 A right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class.
1.1 mass noun The right of the sovereign, which in British law is theoretically subject to no restriction.
1.2 A faculty or property distinguishing a person or class.

Origin
Late Middle English via Old French from Latin praerogativa ‘(the verdict of) the political division which was chosen to vote first in the assembly’, feminine (used as noun) of praerogativus ‘asked first’, from prae ‘before’ + rogare ‘ask’.

==========

While it is tradition to use a word proffered by Lexico, it is my prerogative to override their selection of "waxhead".

gormless

Pronunciation /ˈɡɔːmləs/

adjective
informal British
Lacking sense or initiative; foolish.

Origin
Mid 18th century (originally as gaumless): from dialect gaum ‘understanding’ (from Old Norse gaumr ‘care, heed’) + -less.

==========

Henry hoped he did not seem to be gormless, waiting all day long to post. He knew he really was just lazy.

aggregate

Pronunciation /ˈaɡrɪɡət/ /ˈaɡrɪɡeɪt/
noun
1 A whole formed by combining several separate elements.
1.1 The total score of a player or team in a fixture comprising more than one game or round.
2 A material or structure formed from a mass of fragments or particles loosely compacted together.
2.1 mass noun Pieces of broken or crushed stone or gravel used to make concrete and in building.
adjective
attributive
1 Formed or calculated by the combination of several separate elements; total.
1.1 Botany (of a group of species) comprising several very similar species formerly regarded as a single species.
1.2 Economics Denoting the total supply or demand for goods and services in an economy at a particular time.
verb
1 Form or group into a class or cluster.
1.1 Computing Collect (related items of content) so as to display or link to them.
Phrases
in aggregate
In total; as a whole.

Origin
Late Middle English from Latin aggregat- ‘herded together’, from the verb aggregare, from ad- ‘towards’ + grex, greg- ‘a flock’.

==========

John sought to aggregate the skills of his entire team in pursuit of the championship.



[It is of, at least, mild interest that this extensive definition is, itself, an aggregate of sorts, perhaps one of the longest entered during the time I've been wrangling the words for this topic.]

I use my prerogative as a probie as far as the english language is concerned to be gormless : I just aggregate many WOTDs to construct my post.

I hope I did not muck up too much.

voralfred!