GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

A home for our "Off-Topic" Chats. Like to play games? Tell jokes? Shoot the breeze about nothing at all ? Here is the place where you can hang out with the IBDoF Peanut Gallery and have some fun.

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Algot Runeman
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

E.P.S. wrote:usually thankless task.

THANK YOU!
What thankless task. You thanked me, and I don't think it is the first time. Now, get on with the stories of your grandmother. We're breathlessly waiting. They vivify us, even when she vilifies those around her who scoff at her furs.

Oh, and spread the word (of the day). Vibrate the bushes and trees and vines to vivify the visits of vamps, villains, voracious verbal vampires, whatever. Validate the WotD so it never fades to become null and void.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

tucket

Say it, Sam: /ˈtəkit/

noun
archaic
a flourish on a trumpet

Image
Joe Schlabotnik

Audio file: mp3 of Purcell's "Trumpet Voluntary" found at: http://trumpetsoloist.com/musicclips.html

_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_-!-_

Max tapped the bucket while Simon buzzed his lips, as if a tucket with a trumpet. The crowd didn't have the words to describe the music, but they stood entranced, enjoying what was being done. Words come and go, some disappear without any fanfare or flourish.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

Algot Runeman wrote:tucket
Decades ago I met a young woman who introduced herself with the name Nan Tucket. She didn't say what instrument she played, if any.

But to this day I've been wondering if it really was her name or an alias based on the name of the place she came from.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by MidasKnight »

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:
Algot Runeman wrote:tucket
Decades ago I met a young woman who introduced herself with the name Nan Tucket. She didn't say what instrument she played, if any.

But to this day I've been wondering if it really was her name or an alias based on the name of the place she came from.
I seem to remember a comparison to a bucket
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

MidasKnight wrote:
E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:
Algot Runeman wrote:tucket
Decades ago I met a young woman who introduced herself with the name Nan Tucket. She didn't say what instrument she played, if any.

But to this day I've been wondering if it really was her name or an alias based on the name of the place she came from.
I seem to remember a comparison to a bucket
It must have been the limerick, right? (Warning! Rude language there.)
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

comestible

Say it, Sam: /kəˈmɛstɪb(ə)l/

noun
(usually comestibles)
an item of food: a fridge groaning with comestibles

adjective
edible: sugar, coffee, and sundry other comestible requisites

Origin:
late 15th century: from Old French, from medieval Latin comestibilis, from Latin comest- 'eaten up', from the verb comedere, from com- 'altogether' + edere 'eat'

Image

_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_

The conference organizers provided yummy comestibles for the participants. Vendors were happy. The food was in the vendor room. Vendors were also not shy about snagging a cup of coffee and a bagel.

[Yes, that photo is fresh. This was the comestible table at the TiE conference in Holyoke, MA this morning.]
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

Algot Runeman wrote:comestible
When I see the word comestible, I can't refrain from thinking of andouillettes, head cheese, Camembert and oh so edible young nubile women.

Sorry, I'm hardcoded that way.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

bromance

Say it, Sam: /ˈbrōˌmans/

noun
informal
a close but nonsexual relationship between two men.

Origin:
early 21st century: blend of brother and romance

Image
thebarrowboy

_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_-^-_

When I, an unbelievably old bozo, was young, we called bromance friendship. That still seems good enough.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

punctilio

Say it, Sam: /ˌpəNGkˈtilēˌō/

noun (plural punctilios)
a fine or petty point of conduct or procedure.

Origin:
late 16th century: from Italian puntiglio(n-) and Spanish puntillo, diminutive of punto 'a point'

Image
Rahel Jaskow

__.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.___.-.__

Of course there are those who consider the instructions reperesented by the small,l circular sign at the right of the photo to be puntillio. Commonly those same folks are inebriated, DUI, operating under the influence...drunk.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

slugfest

Say it, Sam: /ˈsləgˌfest/

noun
informal
a tough and challenging contest, especially in sports such as boxing and baseball.

Origin:
early 20th century: from slug2 + -fest

Image
Photo (screencapture) NFL.com

.-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-..-^-.

Matt Ryan and Colin Kaepernick, quarterbacks in the US NFL football championships of the NFC, are having a veritable slugfest. They are throwing touchdown passes left and right. Another term often used is a "shootout." Odd, I think. No fisticuffs or pistols at ten paces are involved. Atlanta leads San Francisco 24-21 partway through the third quarter.

[Don't you just love up-to-the-minute application of the WotD...even if you care nothinb about American football.]
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

Potemkin

Say it, Sam: /pəˈtem(p)kin/

adjective
informal
having a false or deceptive appearance, especially one presented for the purpose of propaganda: it proved her to be a Potemkin feminist

Origin:
1930s: from Grigori Aleksandrovich Potyomkin (often transliterated Potemkin), a favorite of Empress Catherine II of Russia, who reputedly gave the order for sham villages to be built for the empress's tour of the Crimea in 1787

Image
Alyson Hurt

.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\...

Movie audiences may not always be aware of the Poetmkin nature of many scenes in a film. Green screens have improved and CGI is awe inspiring these days. Then, of course, there were all those towns built just for the "Westerns" of the cowboy movies.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by voralfred »

Algot Runeman wrote:Potemkin

Say it, Sam: /pəˈtem(p)kin/

adjective
informal
having a false or deceptive appearance, especially one presented for the purpose of propaganda: it proved her to be a Potemkin feminist

Origin:
1930s: from Grigori Aleksandrovich Potyomkin (often transliterated Potemkin), a favorite of Empress Catherine II of Russia, who reputedly gave the order for sham villages to be built for the empress's tour of the Crimea in 1787

Image
Alyson Hurt

.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\.../***\...

Movie audiences may not always be aware of the Poetmkin nature of many scenes in a film. Green screens have improved and CGI is awe inspiring these days. Then, of course, there were all those towns built just for the "Westerns" of the cowboy movies.

Well, when I read that "Potemkin" meant propaganda, my first idea was that it was not a direct reference to Catherine's favorite, nor a direct reference to the warship named after him, but to the movie named after the warship.
For some mysterious reason, Einsenstein did not glorify the many more numerous victims of the Kronstadt rebellion.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

fixity

Say it, Sam: /ˈfiksitē/

noun
the state of being unchanging or permanent: the fixity of his stare

Origin:
mid 17th century (denoting the property of a substance of not evaporating or losing weight when heated): partly from obsolete fix 'fixed', partly from French fixité

Image
Rishi Bandopadhay

=-=-/.\-=-==-=-/.\-=-==-=-/.\-=-==-=-/.\-=-=(.)<>(.)=-=-/.\-=-==-=-/.\-=-==-=-/.\-=-==-=-/.\-=-=

The children attempted to play the stare game against the corpse, but their bodies betrayed them. Nobody stares with better fixity than a dead person. They all eventually did have to blink, but not the corpse.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

doryphore

Say it, Sam: /ˈdôriˌfôr/

noun
rare
a pedantic and annoyingly persistent critic.

Origin:
1950s (introduced by Sir Harold Nicolson): from French, literally 'Colorado beetle', from Greek doruphoros 'spearcarrier'

Image
Lis Ferla

---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---

Bob criticized everything so much it was rare to hear him say anything positive at all. His acquaintances (no real friends) were shocked when he raved about the new book, a debut novel, by Samuel Boorstone. Then, after a little research, they determined that Samuel Boorstone was his own pen name. Some remained surprised that he was able to get out of the rut of being a doryphore well enough to praise himself.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by voralfred »

Algot Runeman wrote:doryphore

Say it, Sam: /ˈdôriˌfôr/

noun
rare
a pedantic and annoyingly persistent critic.

Origin:
1950s (introduced by Sir Harold Nicolson): from French, literally 'Colorado beetle', from Greek doruphoros 'spearcarrier'

---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---./^###^\.---

(...)
Colorado beetle, or Arizona beetle ?
It happened about 30 years ago, but I'll never forget that day.
It felt like a Plague of Egypt, except it was in Phoenix, and they were not locusts but what I'd call "doryphores", in French.
You could not take a step without crushing dozens of them underfoot. They fell on your hair and clothes. A total nightmare...
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

voralfred wrote:
Algot Runeman wrote:doryphore
... A total nightmare...
These days doryphores concerning fur clothing come crawling out of the woodwork in the most unexpected places.

Old babes and learned physicists, surely they must have a streak of doraphobia. They're all conspiring to condemn and ban carefully preserved antique pelts, like those of my grandma's coats and accoutrements.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

stickum

Say it, Sam: /ˈstikəm/

noun
informal
a sticky or adhesive substance; gum or paste.

Origin:
early 20th century: from the verb stick2 + -um (representing the pronoun them)

Image
Jodi Green

____\**/____\**/____\**/____\**/____\**/____\**/____\**/____\**/____\**/____

Three of the flies on the stickum along the strip of flypaper had arranged themselves evenly on the strip hanging from the ceiling. Seeming to be just dead flies, these were actually tiny military stealth drones collecting information. Their orientation allowed each to survey 120 degrees of a circle. Together, they could see the full panorama of the drug operation located south of Kabul.

So far, only menial laborers had been recorded. Graphene and synthetic DNA components drew little power from the nanoscale batteries. Sooner or later, a warlord would show up, and then the data transmitted to headquarters would trigger a raid or perhaps an attack by the big drones.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

dale

Pronunciation: /dāl/

noun
a valley, especially a broad one.

Origin:
Old English dæl, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse dalr, Dutch dal, and German Tal, also to dell

Image
cobalt123

^^^^^\_/^^^^^\_/^^^^^\_/^^^^^\_/^^^\_____________________/^^^^^\_/^^^^^\_/^^^^^\_/^^^^^\_/^^^^^

On a peninsula replete with fjords, a dale is downright delightful. I wonder if the original/working title of Richard Llewellyn's book was "How Broad was My Dale"?
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

salariat
Say it, Sam: /səˈle(ə)rēət/

noun
(the salariat)
salaried white-collar workers.

Origin:
early 20th century: from French, from salaire 'salary', on the pattern of prolétariat 'proletariat'

Image
Caroline Schiff

Image
Adam Currell

__________________________________( )__________________________________

The singular member of the salariat passed through the crowd at Occupy Wall Street.
[I'm quite certain that the second illustrative image is NOT illustrative at all for salariat.]
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

lustrum

Pronunciation: /ˈləstrəm/

noun (plural lustra /-trə/ or lustrums)
chiefly literary historical
a period of five years.

Origin:
late 16th century: from Latin, originally denoting a purificatory sacrifice after a quinquennial census

--. . . . .--. . . . .--. . . . .--. . . . .--. . . . .--. . . . .--. . . . .--. . . . .--. . . . .--. . . . .--. . . . .--

The last lustrum has been very good. Retirement is lustrous. I'm looking forward to several more lustra or even decades.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

Algot Runeman wrote:lustrum
Old Amos always told younger people that each lustrum happens only once. So make the most of it and celebrate each one with coruscant lustre.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

Photobomb flashback:

Image

Imagine how foolish that seagull feels after posing for the portrait.
Perhaps he should go to the home of the Aflac duck to commiserate with him over the broken wing.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

daemon

Say it, Sam: /ˈdēmən/

(also demon) [I've never seen it written this way in any computer related document.]

noun
Computing
a background process that handles requests for services such as print spooling and file transfers, and is dormant when not required.

Origin:
1980s: perhaps from d(isk) a(nd) e(xecution) mon(itor) or from de(vice) mon(itor), or merely a transferred use of demon1

Image
BSD UNIX Daemon by John Lassiter

___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___-^^^-___

Working out of sight, the daemon for his Web server did steady, reliable service. His hundreds (scores, dozens, handful) of fans got to see his blog entries without a glitch.

[The closest connection to demon I'm aware of is the BSD mascot.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by MidasKnight »

Daemon has been used as an alternate spelling for demon (the evil mythical creature-type) for at least decades and has nothing to do with computers.

Not saying you're wrong, just saying you're incomplete.
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Re: GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

Post by Algot Runeman »

The connection to demons for the daemon spelling is well and good (speaking very loosely about "good" here). :D
It is the reverse that concerns me, slipping demons into the job of computer program daemons.

I'll attempt to be less "incomplete." :wink: (I'll, sadly, never be truly complete.)

My years of computer reading lead me to doubt that "demon" is common computer usage. My memory is that any time I've read the term in a computer book, the spelling has been "daemon". The term refers to the utilities running in the background, generally not the stuff users see like email client programs or the browser with which they gaze at WotD on the Internet.

If a person uses the daemon spelling to refer to minions of the occult, it's no skin off my nose. My concern was the definition's suggestion that common usage in computer texts included the demon spelling. I do not feel that assertion is true.

According to Wikipedia, the Greek daimon wasn't necessarily malevolent.

The helpful daemon of computer use would seem to stem from Hesiod in Theogony "...they remain invisible, known only by their acts" which is quoted in the second Wikipedia link in the preceding paragraph. While a computer virus might qualify as both a daemon and demonic (negative connotation), that really isn't the sense of use for daemon in computer discussions. Daemons are useful. They are background code doing the grunt work of keeping things running.

I did find an online reference to the spelling "demon" as a computer term here. The author, Margaret Rouse, cites Eric Raymond as using the term. But his spelling is "daemon" not "demon." Raymond is a well known programmer and hacker (with the positive sense of that word). Eric Raymond has written gpsd, a daemon for handling the connection of a GPS receiver to a computer. The daemon doesn't do the mapping of your trip, but makes the GPS data available for mapping programs that a user looks at. The user needs the daemon to do its work, but does not typically use it directly.

My association of meaning with "demon" has generally negative feelings. I see demons as the kind of being associated with Christian religious descriptions of Hell, Satan, etc. I would just as soon keep such beings out of my computers, thanks.

Because I'm concerned most WotD readers have by now gone away for their nap, I'll finish here...still incomplete. :slap:
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