GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

I actually knew a guy in high school named Philip Robert Monick, AKA Phil R. Monick.
His nickname was Maestro.

So Maestro is his Phil R. monicker, sort of?

[Algot Runeman]

holograph

noun
a manuscript handwritten by the person named as its author.

Origin:
early 17th century: from French holographe, or via late Latin from Greek holographos, from holos 'whole' + -graphos 'written, writing'


Manuscript of Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages - photo by gruntzooki on Flickr

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It surprised me how difficult it was to locate a photo for holograph, since most images were about the unrelated concept of holography and holograms. Most manuscript photos were of hand-scribed books, ones done as "fair copies" of an original. The successful search was "handwritten manuscripts."

It also seems odd to need the apparent redundancy "handwritten...manuscript." Manuscript really just means handwritten. Of course, the term manuscript has also come to mean a submission to a publisher. I wonder what handwritten work was the last to be successfully submitted to a publisher. I understand most publishers expect documents to be submitted using a word processor in .doc format.

"Fair copy" mainly means something written by a clerk who corrected the sloppy original of a writer. Today, of course, the Internet and easy digital duplication has introduced the concept of what can be copied without copyright infringement. "Fair use" is the issue.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

holograph

Grandma had started a diary just before WW 1 and kept it updated through the Nazi occupation.

In August 1944 the Feldgendarmerie searched her house. She was suspected of feeding and harbouring the gremlins who repeatedly kept sabotaging the messtins, aglets and pants' seams of the German troops stationed in Antwerp. The German MP's found nothing immediately incriminating and they moved on to the next suspect's house.

But the Feldgendarmerie's commanding Hauptmann had glanced in her diary and was so taken with it that he just took it with him, along with several fur coats which he thought would fit his local mistress. Grandma never saw her stolen diary or fur coats again. Very fortunately the Germans were driven from Antwerp in September 1944, before the content of her diary could get her into trouble.

Poor grandma. She had been considering writing a book about the care and training of gremlins in wartime, but after the loss of her diary she lost her resolve.

Maybe I could collect all my memories and posts about grandma into one single holobiograph?

Would a good title be "A Hallow Graph: Gremlins at War"?

[Algot Runeman]

phlegmatic

adjective
(of a person) having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition.

Derivatives
phlegmatically
Pronunciation:/-ik(ə)lē/
adverb

Origin:
Middle English (in the sense 'relating to the humor phlegm'): from Old French fleumatique, via Latin from Greek phlegmatikos, from phlegma 'inflammation' (see phlegm)


ninnet on Flickr

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Nope, I'm positive. Phlegmatic actually describes baseball players, who just automatically spit their phlegm, and tobacco juice, and bits of grass, and sunflower seed husks, and...

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

phlegmatic
adjective
(of a person) having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition.
...
Phlegmatic actually describes baseball players ...

Grandpa was innately easy-going and even-tempered. Except when he attended a Holland-Belgium soccer match. Then he was a firebrand supporter, apparently having four hands to rattle his rattle, blow his horn, wave his home team's flag and hold his ice lolly, all at the same time.

But his usually equanimous nature proved to be a big advantage in his marriage to grandma. It took him just a few months after their wedding to grow unperturbably phlegmatic too, in vivid contrast to her Vesuvian temperament.

[Algot Runeman]

megalopolis

noun
a very large, heavily populated city or urban complex.

Origin:
mid 19th century: from megalo- ‘great’ + Greek polis 'city'


NASA photo via woodlywonderworks on Flickr

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The city lights shine bright at night.
From DC to NYC there's little dark.
Connecticut vainly tries to cut off Boston.
200 miles and more, people crowd that shore.
Megalopolis

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

megalopolis
...
The city lights shine bright at night.
...

If you keep looking at this picture long enough, you'll see the silhouette of one of my grandma's boots. But be patient, it may take a while.

[Algot Runeman]

insolation

noun
[mass noun] technical
exposure to the sun's rays.
the amount of solar radiation reaching a given area.

Origin:
early 17th century: from Latin insolatio(n-), from the verb insolare, from in- 'towards' + sol 'sun'


Joe Shlabotnik on Flickr

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No beach is needed to get insolation.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

insolation
...

...

It's not the naturists who prefer insolation in isolation. It's the non-naturists who insist on it.

[Algot Runeman]

cutlass

noun
a short sword with a slightly curved blade, formerly used by sailors.

Origin:
late 16th century: from French coutelas, based on Latin cultellus 'small knife' (see cutler)


Japanese Site (left image) - (right) TaranRampersad on Flickr

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Sailors don't much need a cutlass these days. Pirates use hand guns and a variety of machine guns to board their prey. On shore, though, some love a Cutlass in spite of Oldsmobile going out of business.


Chad Horwedel on Flickr

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

cutlass
...

I don't know if Tommy Cooper ever cut a lass with a cutlass.
But if he did try, I'm sure it must have failed.
Whereupon he must have cut his loss.

[Algot Runeman]

I don't know if Tommy Cooper ever cut a lass with a cutlass.
But if he did try, I'm sure it must have failed.
Whereupon he must have cut his loss.

CUT MY LOSSES!
Say nothing.

[Algot Runeman]

pallet
Definition 1 only

noun
a straw mattress.
a crude or makeshift bed.

Origin:
Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French paillete, from paille 'straw', from Latin palea


Jonas Design and Photography on Flickr

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I've camped frequently. Mostly I use an air mattress for comfort. When I was younger I'd often use pine needles for a pallet. Too old, now.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

There's nothing I can say about a pallet. Grandma's spirit agrees.

So if you don't mind, I'd like to elaborate on "The Wave" once again.

I've been watching a movie with a very disciplined "Wave" in the intro, performed by the highly trained and rehearsed United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon.

Though a line-up and "Wave" three or more times as long would have been really awesome, this extraordinary short platoon gives a very impressive show (this "Wave" is just a small part of their full repertoire).

You can watch or download it (9 MB) but ignore the text and watch the men:

USMCSDP-wave.mp4

This clip is an excerpt of the movie "A Few Good Men".

Of course there are countless contributions on YouTube, but none filmed as well as in the movie.

Finally, though I do admire these Marine guys, I still have a softer spot for the "Bluebell Girls", who, I think, invented the "leggy wave", though their remarkable asynchronicity also needed much practice and rehearsals to develop.

Young Bluebells on YouTube
(I wonder if maybe Laurie and Sweetharleygirl were part of that ballet troupe.)

My grandma would have loved joining the Bluebells, but by then (1947) she was slightly too advanced in years. Though for as long as she was limber enough, she kept putting on a spectacular show all by herself for grandpa, who always gave her a *gallant* applause ...

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S.,

I'm sorry pallet didn't suite your palate. Perhaps a pullet would have been preferred. I'll attempt to pilot among the piles that accumulate from all these words of one day or another. I'll wave at and salute you across the gulf of the Atlantic (though acknowledging that the Atlantic isn't accurately a gulf, though it is as describing the gap across which we communicate).

Golly!

[Algot Runeman]

gelation

noun
technical
solidification by freezing.

Origin:
mid 19th century: from Latin gelatio(n-), from gelare 'freeze'


Tom Holub on Flickr

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We're again facing a wotd which has been limited to the first definition by Oxford Dictionaries Online. Probably they didn't want us to confuse frozen gelation with Jello™ gelatin, the other definition, whether frozen or not. Jello gels gently with merely cool temperatures. Dry ice doesn't have any water and doesn't make a puddle when it warms from frozen form. No drips, dry ice (solidified CO2) simply converts, sublimes, to gas form, skipping liquid state. Isn't that just sublime?!

gelation -> gelatin Take out the letter O and no freezing is required?

The photo, by the way is from Chile where it is obviously sometimes chilly, further confusing me because I find chili to be hot even after it has been long removed from the stove.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

gelation

Aspic depends on gelation. Aspic (in its French meaning) is a reversible hydrocolloid, meaning that upon heating it liquefies and upon cooling it gelifies (solidifies), both of which can be done repeatedly.

Anyone who ever had a dental impression made with alginate paste, has experienced gelation. But dental alginate is an irreversible hydrocolloid, which means that its gelation cannot be undone.
Of course, alginate paste is not limited to dental impressions. You can just see the two short breathing tubes inserted in the girl's nostrils.

No, it cannot be used instead of bikini wax. Sorry.

OT anecdote:
During World War I the Allied naval blockade throttled Germany's maritime commerce. The German dental industry was cut of from foreign raw material supply and was unable to continue producing important impression-taking materials. They were forced to develop alginate as an ersatz product.
This alginate proved to be remarkably precise and much more economical than the previously used material. Ironically, this superior ersatz was of course reserved to the German dental profession for the duration of the war.
Today alginate is produced and used worldwide as the primary impression material.

Sooner or later, young or old, everybody goes through gelation. Grandma too.

[Algot Runeman]

direful

adjective
archaic or literary
extremely bad; dreadful.

Derivatives
direfully
adverb

Origin:
late 16th century: from dire + -ful


Laiane on Flickr

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Direful thoughts come easily in the dark of night when you startle awake.
Dread and doom decend.
Sleep stays tauntingly just beyond the edge of your covers.
Daylight cannot come too soon.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

direful

My grandma was not particularly vengeful or violent. And she did not believe in magic or voodoo or whatever.

Still, as I said before, she had a Vesuvian temper, very capable of wishing a dreadful fate on her family's detractors. She has been known to blow direful spells or curses towards persons reckless enough to make fun of her furs or grandpa's shamanic potion.

Whether the spells worked remains to be seen.

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S.,

Your curse/kiss connection between fur swathed grandmother and occasional candidate Sarah Palin made me laugh. It is wonderful to start the day with a good guffaw! Thanks.

[Algot Runeman]

dentelle

noun (plural pronunc. same)
[mass noun]
ornamental tooling used in bookbinding, resembling lace edging.

Origin:
mid 19th century: from French, 'lace', from dent 'tooth' + the diminutive suffix -elle


Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts on Flickr

Additional description: http://privatelibrary.typepad.com/the_private_library/2009/09/bound-to-please-at-the-private-library.html

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Delicate dental decoration is rarely done. Dentille decoration in books is less common today than before.
Doreen's doilies densely decorate the den. She is a constant crochet creator, but she's exhausted the option to give her work away to friends.

[Algot Runeman]

parky
definition 1

adjective (parkier, parkiest)
British informal
chilly: it was parky on Bradfield Moors last week

Origin:
late 19th century: of unknown origin


Pauline Eccles on geograph.org.uk

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It was parky at the beach, but it didn't keep people away.

definition 2 = alternate spelling of parkie, a park keeper.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

parky
...
It was parky at the beach, but it didn't keep people away.
...

Watch the sparky parky. If he wears a snarky parka, it's parky.

[Algot Runeman]

If you're visiting Cape Cod, watch out for the sharky.

[Algot Runeman]

bavardage

noun
idle gossip; chitchat.

Origin:
French, from bavarder 'to chatter', from bavard 'talkative', from bave 'drivel'


Dano on Flickr

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If you sit here at the table,
Please have a cup of joe.
And then if you are able,
You'll put me in the know.

We'll wile away the hours.
The sun will rise to noon.
A cup of soup re-powers.
The kids will be home soon.

Tomorrow fills up quickly.
With charming bavardage.
I'm glad we are not sickly,
Though that would certainly offer us the chance to discuss doctors, hospital visits, those catty nurses of either gender and how awful Mrs. Martin has looked recently.