GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[Algot Runeman]

naming of Mozilla

Just look at the Mozilla Foundation logo:

[Algot Runeman]

conniption

noun
North American informal
a fit of rage or hysterics: his client was having conniptions on the phone

Origin:
mid 19th century: probably an invented word


Tony the Misfit on flickr

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To avoid a conniption today, I'll ignore all grammar gaffes on radio advertising.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... today, I'll ignore all grammar gaffes on radio advertising.

Examples, please ...
<silent chuckle à la Sheldon Cooper>

[Algot Runeman]

EXAMPLES! You couldn't handle examples!
(Channeling Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men)

And on the topic of serendipity:
Within 20 minutes of posting the conniption WotD, I encountered this tweet. Check the @username of the person posting.


I follow user @doctorow, so I wouldn't expect to have seen this tweet.

[MidasKnight]

Yeah, I can't say I've heard that as an adjective. I mean, I KNOW what it would mean if I did hear it, but I just haven't heard it.

Massive, Huge, Ginormous ... not Godzilla.

Didn't it inspire the naming of Mozilla and Filezilla?

Or am I daft?

Yes to both questions?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

EXAMPLES! ... Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men ...

It's been a while.
I'll have to go to the LʘʘkieStore, rent that movie-DVD ...

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... Massive, Huge, Ginormous ... not Godzilla.

Didn't it inspire the naming of Mozilla and Filezilla?
Or am I daft?

Yes to both questions?

Thank you. I think ...

[Algot Runeman]

oakum

noun
[mass noun] chiefly historical
loose fibre obtained by untwisting old rope, used especially in caulking wooden ships.

Origin:
Old English ācumbe, literally ‘off-combings’. The current sense dates from Middle English


tomylees on flickr

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The chandler supplied Sparrow with a moderate amount of oakum for the start of her voyage. Her freshly refit rigging would supply all she'd need for the rest of the trip.

[Algot Runeman]

philogynist

noun
formal
a person who likes or admires women.

Derivatives
philogyny
noun

Origin:
mid 19th century: from philo- ‘loving’ + Greek gunē 'woman' + -ist


Jeff Karpala on flickr

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After misogyny, the word mavens have given us philogyny, and it makes me happy to have balance. Now will they give us a chance to balance controversy? Do you think a kiss suggests philogyny? Better, at least, than whips and chains!

[MidasKnight]

Philogyny could inspire its own controversy.

[Algot Runeman]

Philogyny could inspire its own controversy.

Just ask certain celebrities, athletes and politicians with recent scandals in the news.
We may avoid controversy further by avoiding the use of specific names.

[Algot Runeman]

discombobulate

verb
[with object] humorous
disconcert or confuse (someone): this attitude totally discombobulated Bruce
(as adjective discombobulated) he is looking a little pained and discombobulated

Derivatives
discombobulation
noun

Origin:
mid 19th century: probably based on discompose or discomfit


12th St. David on flickr with the caption: "Recombobulation Area - Milwaukee airport (MKE). This is for putting your shoes and your belt and whatnot back on after they discombobulate you for security."

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I think I now have a good enough reason to visit Milwaukee!
Even though I fly very little, a security check has become discombobulating, and reassembling myself after a security check is an odd dance.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

discombobulate
Origin:
mid 19th century: probably based on discompose or discomfit
...
"... Milwaukee airport ... putting your shoes and your belt and whatnot back on after they discombobulate you for security."

So the Brit who told me that Johannesburg's famous Disco Mbobu's security staff conducted the most rigorous body search, was actually pulling my leg?

I mean, their security did no body search?

[Algot Runeman]

zoetrope

noun
a 19th -century optical toy consisting of a cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that, when viewed through slits with the cylinder rotating, give an impression of continuous motion.

Origin:
mid 19th century: formed irregularly from Greek zōē 'life' + -tropos 'turning'


Andrew Dunn on Wikipedia

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Like my imaginary friend, Zoey, the zoetrope is a flickering, fleeting, flirtation.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

zoetrope
... the zoetrope is a flickering, fleeting, flirtation.

Yes, I must sadly admit to only having dreamt about precisely that zoetrope with the lovely young lady depicted in my Disco Mbobu post above.

Though all bets would have been off, if it had been my grandma's body being flirtatiously searched ...

[MidasKnight]

EPS, your grandmother sure comes up in your posts often.

Things that make you go 'hrm...'

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

EPS, your grandmother sure comes up in your posts often.

Oh yes, she's been a driving force in my dreams almost since D-Day.

[Algot Runeman]

primate

noun
Christian Church
the chief bishop or archbishop of a province: Cardinal Glemp, the primate of Poland

Derivatives
primatial
Pronunciation:/prīˈmāSHəl/
adjective

Origin:
Middle English: from Old French primat, from Latin primas, primat- 'of the first rank', from primus 'first'


Lawrence OP on flickr

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The primate of Persnikitania challenged the bishop of his chess opponent, Chester, a chimp. But that primate pulled his piece back. He preferred consolidating his board control over a rush to take his opponent's pawn. Thus far it was an even match.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

primate
noun
Christian Church
the chief bishop or archbishop of a province: Cardinal Glemp, the primate of Poland

I wonder what Carl Linnaeus was thinking when he named the class of great apes, humans and other monkeys for the church primates.

[Algot Runeman]

cosmonaut

noun
a Russian astronaut.

Origin:
1950s: from cosmos, on the pattern of astronaut and Russian kosmonavt [космонавт]


footysphere on flickr [Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut]

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Although I've aged out of the pool, it was always impossible for me to be a cosmonaut. No matter what the country, a person may be an astronaut, I'd guess. For the Soviet era, it was important to create some separation from the west. Having a separate term was a good technique. Cosmonaut wasn't a translation of astronaut. It was separate, special for the USSR. The Wikipedia Astronaut article has some interesting discussion of the terms used in other languages and the history of the word.

[Algot Runeman]

caducity

noun
archaic
the infirmity of old age; senility.
literary frailty or transitory nature: read these books and reflect on their caducity

Origin:
mid 18th century: from French caducité, from caduc, from Latin caducus 'liable to fall', from cadere 'to fall'


Charlotte Astrid on flickr

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I wonder if these people are preparing for a marathon or cooling down after finishing one.
None have demonstrated caducity by calling out, "Help, I've fallen, and I can't get up!"
[Well known from an ad for a product called, Lifeline, I think. Unfortunately, I don't remember for sure.]

It also seems appropriately droll that caducity is considered archaic.

[Algot Runeman]

hellion

noun
informal
a rowdy, mischievous, or troublemaking person, especially a child.

Origin:
mid 19th century: perhaps from dialect hallion 'a worthless fellow', changed by association with hell


Remix of Charlotte Astrid on flickr and Don Bergquist (don-denver.blogspot.com)

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Remember, the second photo might be just before or just after running a marathon. Hellion, indeed.
[A close look will reveal the can is an American beer.]

[Algot Runeman]

ingot

noun
a block of steel, gold, silver, or other metal, typically oblong in shape.

Origin:
late Middle English (denoting a mould in which metal is cast): perhaps from in + Old English goten, past participle of geotan ‘pour, cast’


BullionVault on flickr

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I have no long ingots.
No vault full of gold.
Don't hold with those wingnuts.
They're crazy, I'm told.

My brain full of itches.
My wealth is untold.
It's words are my riches.
Though I'm finding it difficult to keep them from pouring out of the hold.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

ingot

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who's the most precious ingot of them all?

There's none to beat Algot and his wherewithal!

[Algot Runeman]

E.P.S., Words too kind.
[Might be the first "precious" attribution since I was 3 months old.]