rolig -- we hired another UI wizard, Alex Le, who started Monday. I don't want to jinx it (or him) but (contrary to how the 'mythical man-month' would have it) lots of progress is being made!
Most future projections have it that the Pacific will close as its crust continues to sink beneath Asia to the west and North America to the east, and that South America and Antarctica will eventually join the ultra-slow-motion train wreck to form a supercontinent variously dubbed "Amasia" or "Novopangaea". (New Scientist, 17 September 2011)
Most future projections have it that the Pacific will close as its crust continues to sink beneath Asia to the west and North America to the east, and that South America and Antarctica will eventually join the ultra-slow-motion train wreck to form a supercontinent variously dubbed "Amasia" or "Novopangaea". (New Scientist, 17 September 2011)
Oh man. Yep, things still broken. Fixes coming sooner now than ever. The only bright spot in this long and difficult trough of missing-comments despair is the word harshmallow, which was new to me.
I have seen the code for the return of the comments, and it sparkles. It also has new-code smell, which is part toasted marshmallow, part fresh-cut grass, and part petrichor. (I'm also not allowed to touch the new code without washing my hands first. Well, actually, I'm not allowed to touch it at all.)
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Harold Palmer, who pioneered the study of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), also noted the presence of polylogs, or known units in language. He built a list of over 6,000 frequent collocations which he included in his teaching, so that students could learn them in block. Syntax-Based Collocation Extraction
Caterina Fake, who helped to found Flickr, the photo-sharing service, among other start-ups, recalled her initial awe of Delicious. “It opened up the Internet in a way that was not remotely possible before,” she said. “You couldn’t stop surfing. It was infini-surf. You could be interested in a really arcane field of biology and find the five other people that shared that same interest and shared links on that topic.” YouTube Founders Aim to Revamp Delicious
Hi guys, I hear you. And I wish I could get things working the way we all want them to work again (comments on profiles, comments on lists, comments pagination, faster loading) ... and you're perfectly within your rights to complain, here, or to the feedback address, or to my personal address (I'm just erin@wordnik).
I appreciate both the kind words and the complaints -- they both act as a spur. But there's a big tangledy wad of code to sort out and through, and only so many people who can work on it. (Most Wordniks don't work on the functionality of the site itself, but on the back-end data analysis and processing and infrastructure.)
My best guess on the return to full functionality is still several weeks out. :-(
In the meantime, marky, if you need to find certain lists, I can search all your comments with our admin tool. Email me and I'll send you links.
Sionnach -- thank you especially for your kind words, but I don't want to give up just yet. I understand that the continued delay will definitely anger some folks (who may understandably never come back), but we don't want to just shrug and say that just because something's hard to do and taking MUCH longer than we thought, we shouldn't keep trying ...
"Perhaps a word that someone tries aggressively to mint but that doesn’t catch on should be called a Brooksism, in honor of David Brooks." Believer Mag
"If nomothete or even onomaturge do not suit as terms, I propose a newer neologism already in use, glossopoeist, a "maker of language"." Hildegard of Bingen's unknown language
Hi Prolagus, that's been a persistent and very tricky bug. It seems to affect only pages with encoding issues ... thanks for the feedback, we haven't been able to reproduce it ourselves!
dontcry -- the pronunciations are having a timeout issue (not that they've been bad, exactly, just that there's a problem with how long the link to play them persists -- does that make sense? I hope so, as that was how it was explained to me).
bilby -- in "mediocre news", I found this excellent word today: noöpolitik.
At the same time, the leader may block the drafter by “mirror-driving” — steering to the inside or outside of the race track to keep his car in front of the path he thinks the drafter may use to slip around. FirstMonday.org
"Then why doesn't he? What's wrong with us? I'd begun to think he was temperamentally morose -- that he just couldn't help it -- but after seeing him turn on his charm for the Cottons -- ! Heaven knows I didn't expect an easy life when I married him -- I was prepared even for violence. But I do loathe morosity."
It was no moment to tell her there is no such word; anyway, I rather liked it.
Hi marky! We're still plugging away. There have been some unexpected dependencies ... the good news is, the new stuff is verrry nice. The bad news is we have to make more new stuff than we thought we would.
Thanks bbmexplorer! We're using the Flickr API which links to the Flickr image page, which links to your site -- we're trying to get better data from Flickr in cases where the credit URL is different from the API URL.
I'm including the credit url here: Awesome picture of synapta below by BBM Explorer, from www.redseaexplorer.com.
Some new stuff is coming soon; it's in testing now and waiting on the dock, ticket clutched in one sweaty hand, cardboard suitcase in the other, for the next deployment packet.
Quick update: a big blocking bug around the audio has been resolved; the recorder's back from its little vacation. Tanned, rested, ready are words that spring to mind. Please let us know if you find any problems with it ...
Hi folks ... back again. We're looking into the bile salt problem (we think it may be related to our recurring bouts of gout), and the comments problem is connected to the profile page problem, which is connected to the shin bone.
PossibleUnderscore, your not-able-to-add-to-your-own-lists problem is a new one on us. (I can get to your profile here: http://www.wordnik.com/people/PossibleUnderscore) Can you let me know (either here or at feedback@wordnik.com) a list that's affected?
dharma66, there's no straightforward way to search for profiles now, but a tricky way is to use the "see all results for" a username (or part thereof) and check to see if they have a "default list". (Your default list -- with your username in it -- can be seen here, with a link to your profile: http://www.wordnik.com/search/dharma)
And we're aware of the loading-speed problem, have some ideas on how to fix it, and will be tackling it shortly. Fixes are being tested for audio and the recorder right now, too ...
bilby, I will start writing up the spec for the Roving Link Enhancer, With Jingle Bells, but we're hoping to move that position towards the bleeding edge of Link Enhancement Technology ... do you think you could pick up the ah-ooga horn or the triangle, quickly?
oh -- btw, folks, if you're interested in working at Wordnik as well as playing on Wordnik, you can check out our new jobs page here: http://www.wordnik.com/jobs
Thanks folks -- another update. All the comments are still saved -- we're working on making them accessible again. We're thinking on the order of weeks, not months, this time ... the new pipes are laid; it's a matter of checking for leaks at this point.
For folks who are seeing tiny comment font -- can you let me know what browser you're using?
Biocon, thanks for the heads-up on nemorivagous; I've revoked that user's userhood.
Hi guys -- quick update. We're still working on bringing comments back to lists and profiles. ETA (to allow for better smoke testing) is end of next week.
Just a reassurance: all comments are still in our system, they're just taking a breather ...
One problem with trying to make things like commenting faster/easier/better on the site is that, in the short term, making the deep structural changes that are necessary to scale & simplify actually makes things slower/harder/worse. :-(
There is absolutely NO intention on our part to "shut down" anything that Wordieniks are doing. (Spammers, yes. Wordieniks, no.) We want to make things better, and we understand it's frustrating while we're "under construction."
Please, if you can, keep the feedback coming, and we'll keep doing our best to finish up this renovation!
thanks dharma66 -- I *think* I nuked that user and all their works.
The comment function is in dry dock for repairs and is intermittently sputtering ... we're working on it. When it is back it will be very, very shiny, we hope!
However, by listing the number before the word, it makes it hard for other users to find your list and system -- no one is looking up 390442 - shower -- they look up shower.
A more flexible approach would be to list just the word high, and tag it with the number "3703". That way, you could see all the words with the value "3703" here: 3703 (check the "Related Words" section).
Another user is working on a similar project where she is tagging the consonant-vowel patterns in her list of words: see cvccv for examples.
I know it's hard to tell from outside, but we've spent a lot of time thinking about how to balance meeting the expectations of the folks who come to Wordnik to find information about a word, and the folks who stay at Wordnik because it's a congenial place to discuss and have fun with words. We're still working on this balance, but we're planning for more flexibility, especially around comments, and also possibly a feature where people can rearrange the order of elements on each page according to taste. :-) (I can't promise when this will happen but we think it's a highly desirable feature.)
It is highly unlikely, though, that we would be able to spin off a purely-social version of Wordnik. We just don't have the resources -- I'm sorry. And even if we could, it would make Wordnik another soulless flat definitions-only site (and the Internet is full-up on those, or was last time I checked).
The comments (and the tweets and the examples and the images and the tags and the lists, in addition to the definitions, synonyms, etc.) are part of giving a 360-degree view of every single word -- for Wordies and Wordniks and students and teachers and bad spellers and good spellers, and readers and people who just had an idle moment of curiosity, and we're going to keep changing and testing until we find better ways of giving everyone what they need for every word.
I hope this helps. Happy to answer what I can in more detail -- I just don't want to promise features and updates before we have firm dates for delivery.
biocon, it looks like there's a teeeeeny lag on the "save" button that makes it seem as if it's not saving. And the lag is longer with Firefox. I'll report it.
Hi Prolagus -- was the message you wanted a reply to about featuring the Wordies with the most comments on the Community page? That sounds like a good idea to me. I'm going to put it on the feature list for that page.
Hi Prolagus -- I'll make sure to get to your message over the weekend. And over the next ten days we'll be tackling the most urgent issues, but the site won't ever be final (in the sense that nothing more will be done). We plan to tackle more of the feature backlog and add some new stuff, too.
hey guys ... Rolig gave me a heads-up -- I'm afraid it's been really hectic over the past two weeks & I forgot that there were comments being left here. We've been scrambling to get the site redesign finished and not communicating as well as we ought to. But our priorities for the next two weeks are:
-- especially the login bugs that folks are still having
-- work on some data issues (ruzuzu especially has been helpful in pointing out stuff for us to fix)
Making it easier and more fun to interact with the site is still a goal, and a big one. We've just added a lot of tracking & process so that we be more on top of feature & bugfix requests I hope that this makes us faster and more responsive. Fingers crossed.
Email to feedback@wordnik.com will get answered (by me ... we're working on reducing our turnaround there) and you can always email me directly, too, at erin@wordnik.com. Or leave comments on my profile page. I'm re-bookmarking this page and will be back again shortly ...
"A modern name for an individual in baseball who always seems to get in trouble when talking to the press; a player who "creates controversy with his quotes"." Dickson's Baseball Dictionary 3e
"A name for a tall, skinny player with long legs; e.g. 1920s New York Giants first baseman George "Highpockets" Kelly, who was 6'4" and weighed only 190 pounds."
"For the first time in my 45-year-old career I am writing a skinback. That is what journalists call a retraction of the premise of a piece, as in peeling back your skin and feeling the pain." David Cay Johnston
"Enter e-ticulation. It’s the e-version of gesticulation. Gesticulation is the act of gesture…and now this notion of the computer gesture is emerging–living in technology like the Wii and further driven in part by the ipad. Touch, push, move, stretch and point are now becoming part of the body language of the computer. It’s applications in real life are significant. From teaching a child to professional one-on-one selling, this will become the new standard of interactive communication." John Nosta
Adrian -- thanks for the message here. Can you let me know what email address you're sending to & from? We have one unanswered email from an "Adrian" to the API team address from last week, but otherwise nothing in the queue ... the email address we use is feedback@wordnik.com, but you can also use help@wordnik.com.
The comments link ... yes, it's still broken. And it's very bad.
Hi blafferty! The lists on the individual word pages are sorted by interestingness. :-) There's still a recently-listed-words section on the "Community" page: http://www.wordnik.com/community
It's a good idea to indicate list-recentness on the word page, though ... thanks for the suggestion!
Adrian, we see your comments (we get emails about them) but when we come here they have disappeared ... are you editing them, or is that another bug? :-)
sionnach, I find I use the reverse dictionary as a kind of ad-hoc quasi-tagging. For instance, the reverse dictionary list at currency is really nice if I can't remember the name of the funny-sounding Bulgarian currency. It's also helpful to see words that are on the archaic side by looking at words like former (which led me to moidore, a new fave). I hope this helps!
"The facility, dubbed a "transcyclery" by Modern Landfill general manager Tim O'Donnell, is a 34-foot high concrete and steel-frame structure where recyclables collected in southcentral Pennsylvania will be consolidated into tractor-trailer loads." York Dispatch
Hi A -- that was user error on my part. It looks as if you don't put the whole http:// mess in, then we treat it as a wordnik.com url. We'll fix that ... thanks!
Google Translate (which we were using for the translate function) is turning off the tap. There's an interesting article in The Atlantic as to why, which can be found here.
That punctuation is important all agree; but how few comprehend the extent of its importance! The writer who neglects punctuation, or mis-punctuates, is liable to be misunderstood--this, according to the popular idea, is the sum of the evils, arising from heedlessness or ignorance. It does not seem to be known that, even where the sense is perfectly clear, a sentence may be deprived of half its force--its spirit--its point--by improper punctuations. For the want of merely a comma, it often occurs that an axiom appears a paradox, or that a sarcasm is converted into a sermonoid.”
(Edgar Allan Poe, "Marginalia." Graham's American Monthly Magazine, February 1848)
Hi blafferty ... I think that's a bug. :-) I'll ping John about it ... and Ptero/reesetee, I'll also ask about the apostrophes acting up. (They're uppity, those apostrophes.)
"Then there is “gladvertising” and “sadvertising”, a rather sinister-sounding idea in which billboards with embedded cameras, linked to face-tracking software, detect the mood of each consumer who passes by, and change the advertising on display to suit it. The technology matches movements of the eyes and mouth to six expression patterns corresponding to happiness, anger, sadness, fear, surprise and disgust." The Economist, April 20, 2011
"Because the world we live in is not just a patriarchy; it's a puerarchy—what gets focused on in the culture is defined by boys and young men." Interviewwith Paula Smith
Several varieties of so-called coffee are made from cereal and leguminous preparations. The best of these in our estimation is pea coffee. This is made from dried split peas, which are roasted, like the genuine coffee berry, ground, mixed with egg, and prepared for the table exactly in the same manner, and in like proportions as the best Java or Mocha. If prepared with the care and skill usually bestowed on coffee making, it is a most palatable and nutritious beverage, and has won the praises of many reformed coffee drinkers who would not now exchange it for their old-time drink charged with caffeine. Tea and Coffee: Their Physical, Intellectual and Moral Effect on the Human System and Are They Injurious? Some Substitutes for Both
A friend sent us some days ago an article which had every appearance of the well roasted ground Java coffee, with the request that we would try it and give our opinion of its merits as a substitute. We did so, and found it incomparably superior to anything that we have seen in use, not excepting the more common varieties of coffee. The taste is slightly pungent and most palatable, and we would not turn on our heel to exchange it for the genuine article. The preparation consists simply of the common English garden pea, picked from the vine when dry and roasted to a dark cinnamon brown. Try it. Confederate coffee substitutes
Hi marky -- we're hearing the audio at nuance fine ... we had a blip with the pronunciations but it should be fixed now! Could you let me know if that works for you?
of knowledge gleaned via social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) rather than through direct conversation. Also used for knowledge discovered through cyberstalking.
"I think he got married last week but I only have cyberdotal evidence."
the clutter you create through being too busy to put things away (usu. for an extended period of time)
"So I'm on my way to a gig and I need my unicycle, but the tire is flat! So I pump it up, but leave the bicycle pump out, right by the door. Then when I get home I trip over it and all my other rushfetti."
of a work, of verified authorship or veracity. "His ghostwritten book had no authorticity." "The authorticity of the biography has been called into question by Donald Trump."
"A dummymander is a gerrymander by one party, that, over the course of the decade, benefits the other party, and actually looks as if it was designed by that party rather than the party in power." The Art of the Dummymander[PDF}
"Auto Buds are two cars of the same make, model, color, or as identical as possible, that are parked right next to each other or in close proximity." Auto Buds on Tumblr
Jim, we do try to show the "right" dictionary entries for the lowercase variant if there aren't any for the uppercase variant (while showing example sentences for the exact word searched). I hope this makes sense!
We're working on ways to make it clearer as to when a word is a proper name and when it's a common-or-garden word. :-)
"It’s not so much misogyny as ISOgyny – the desire of advertisers (and oh so many others) to have all women match a single standard so they can sell to them/categorise them/understand them etc." Keith at Ealanta at GeekFeminism
"a visual illusion whereby the impression of depth is perceived in two-dimensional color images usually red-blue or red-green colors but can also be perceived with red-grey or blue-grey images." Wikipedia
reesetee, did you check the terms of service when you signed up back in Wordie-days? I'm pretty sure they made cummerbund-wearing obligatory on Tuesdays and Thursdays ... :-)
Thanks for the WOTD love and suggestions, folks! The Daily Wordnik WOTD Digest is a cool idea.
"In recent years, people have begun mounding mulch around the base of trees creating the 'mulch volcano.' New problems have emerged because of this practice," said Smith.
"It would be nice to have a term for the liberated elements that is both more memorable than “combining forms” and also signals the origin of these elements in the reanalysis of existing words (whether the source words are ordinary words, as with -tacular, or portmanteaus, as with -dar). I suggest libfix, which can be labeled a prelibfix (prefixal) or a postlibfix (suffixal) when its position within the word is especially relevant." Arnold Zwicky's Blog
"Then there was Andrew Ross, who suggests "uragnosia" - pronounced, he says, "you-rag-nose ear". This derives from the prefix "ur" (denoting origin) and the noun "agnosia" (more familiar in its adjectival "agnostic" form), so it means ignorance as to origin." New Scientist 21 Jan 2011
The notion of a 'nanopublication' is basically a general scientific assertion, written using semantic-web standard formats with additional meta-data concerning provenance. Beyond the PDF
"As I walked, the wind did something unexpected, yet completely appropriate: it whipped my normally Jim Halpert-esque hair into an Einstein-esque quasi-afro (a physifro, if you will)." Make Hella Official
According to the VP of marketing for Cloudcrowd, widesourcing is "The marshaling of geographically distributed workers into virtual labor assembly lines with built-in organic feedback, peer review, and per-task payment."
Hi a! We just updated our input of Wiktionary ... but we haven't settled on how often we will reload the Wiktionary data. Wiktionary itself changes every day (as does Wordnik). :-)
The father, Dhirubhai Ambani, was a brazen, rags-to-riches tycoon who established Reliance Industries after rising out of the city’s Dickensian tenements, known as chawls. NY Times
Telofy -- that is being worked on deep in the radiation-shielded bowels of Wordnik Labs as we speak. No release date yet, but not too terribly far off ...
"Google’s income shifting -- involving strategies known to lawyers as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich” -- helped reduce its overseas tax rate to 2.4 percent, the lowest of the top five U.S. technology companies by market capitalization, according to regulatory filings in six countries." Bloomberg Businessweek
"Google’s income shifting -- involving strategies known to lawyers as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich” -- helped reduce its overseas tax rate to 2.4 percent, the lowest of the top five U.S. technology companies by market capitalization, according to regulatory filings in six countries." Bloomberg Businessweek
"So, I propose the term “dangerism” to describe how a culture decides what is and isn’t dangerous. The sources of dangerism can be traced to both personal and social sources. Our individual perception of risk is based on a combination of personal experiences and family history. The cultural aspects of dangerism are probably best described by anthropologists, but the popular news media certainly plays a part in creating exaggerated portrayals of risk." —Gever Tulley, Dangerism
The musician Brian Eno invented a wonderful word to describe this phenomenon: scenius. We normally think of innovators as independent geniuses, but Eno’s point is that innovation comes from social scenes, from passionate and connected groups of people. Wired October 2010
Dear agatehinge -- the Allen data is still there -- we have just mixed it in with data from other sources, so that everything can be seen at once. (I promise you it is there as I did part of the tedious process of putting it into the new data structure ...)
Dear agatehinge, thanks for the feedback! Very important for us to hear from folks who aren't happy, as well.
We are working to add in more related words, and more relationships, so I hope you check back soon. If there are specific words you think may be missing, please let us know so we can check to see if they dropped behind someone's desk. :-)
Enantiosemy, or the occurrence of two opposite meanings for one and the same word, was first treated in special monographs by the Arabian grammarians, ....
In the interesting and suggestive introduction (pp. 10-30) Dr. Landau examines the various attempts at an explanation of the problem from a linguistic, logical and psychological standpoint. He himself ascribes the enantiosemy to nine factors: 1) objective reasons which are inherent in the things themselves (i. e., an object may be viewed and described from opposite sides), 2) polarity of certain ideas which are thus subject to differentiation, 3) present phonetic identity of originally phonetic variation, 4) contrast of association of ideas, 5) the tropical nature of language. For the Semitic languages in particular: 6) lack of compounds and abundance of denominatives, 7) the tendency of the Orientals to wit and irony, 8) our imperfect knowledge of the Oriental mode of thinking, and 9) the difference between the Orientals and Occidentals in the manner of expression. From The American journal of Semitic languages and literatures, Volume 13
Well, it might be hard to get Grant to work on Wordie, since he's now working down in San Diego for someone else ... but John's still here and working hard!
The next big goal, sitewise, is to make it easier for people to contribute in fun and interesting ways. I'm not sure if definitions are the way to go, but we'll be testing all sorts of different things, for sure.
Our goal for Wordnik is still the same: all the words, and everything about them. It's a big goal, but we'll get there ...
"We derive from this a certain lack of confidence in government data and a suspicion of ansercide (slaying of ducks and geese, cf. arborcide, the wanton murder of trees - see NY Times, 7/15/10" NYCivic
Hi Hernesheir! We don't do that in a systematic way now, but it's in the Master Plan. If this is something you'd like to see, nag us often -- that moves things further up the list. :-)
The Zany Carter Deluxe (ZCD) is the official drink of MR. Side effects include euphoria AND depression, also a high risk of coming unstuck from you present spot in the space-time continuum. MobileRead Advice for Newbies
"Note to fellow journalists: Iceland is laughing at us. The evidence is in an article on an Icelandic Web site headlined simply, “Múhaha,” discussing our inability to pronounce the name of their volcano, Eyjafjallajökull (that’s “AYA-fyatla-jo-kutl,” according to NASA ... " The Lede
Hi ... Okay, I can't actually bring myself to type your username, out of sheer modesty, but a quick update. We're re-ranking examples now and should have a new batch up soonish, which should de-emphasize some of the not-so-good examples, and get rid of the server-hiccup problem which created the "invisible word" examples where the word doesn't actually appear in the example given.
Hi bilby! There's no age limit (upper or lower) for Wordnik, although we don't recommend it to young children (simply because we can't guarantee that they won't see -- ahem -- grown-up words).
Of course, the usual rules for young children in places frequented by grownups also apply here at Wordnik: behave nicely, no tantrums, and make sure your hands are clean before you touch anything.
That's a really good point -- what would you all suggest we add to the FAQ to make it clearer or more helpful?
And another idea -- does somebody want to volunteer to do a guest blog post from the point of view of a Wordienik? We'd *love* that! Then we could point people at it, as well as to the FAQ.
Hi gangerh! I sent you an email, but am also leaving you a comment in case my email was spaminated ... can I entice you into giving me a quote or two about sweet tooth fairies? I'm hoping to write about them for the Boston Globe.
"the act of pulling the car door handle at precisely the same instant that driver is attempting to unlock the door, thus nullifying the unlock action." from Joe Posnanski
Hey Sionnach, I understand your disappointment ... I do want to point out though that the goal we're working towards with Wordnik is not necessarily to have *definitions* for every word, but to have examples ... I wrote something for the NYT a couple weeks ago about the relative helpfulness of definitions -- it's here, and might help define (sorry, couldn't help myself) part of what we're working towards.
Ooh, somebody noticed! We loaded a lot of "sound effects" pronunciations at the appropriate words a while back -- beep is probably my favorite. I like to imagine that it was recorded by Harpo Marx. (Note: it was not recorded by Harpo Marx.)
We have a big blog post on the Wordnik statistics here: Carbonated Frequencies. It's a little out of date (we fixed some of the known weirdnesses mentioned).
Right now we have a bit of a frequency "hole" for the 1970s and 1980s that we're working to fill with more data. We'll give updates as we have 'em!
In "Murder Must Advertise," Whifflers were those who participated in Wimsey's advertising scheme for Whifflets cigarettes -- "Whiffling Round Britain". "The great Whifflers' Club practically founded itself, and Whifflers who had formed attachments while Whiffling in company, secured special Whifflet coupons entitling them to a Whifflet wedding with a Whifflet cake and their photographs in the papers."
Hey guys, thanks for your comments. We do read them all and I promise we take them seriously.
We do have a BHAG, which is (as John pointed out below) to be the most information about the most words for the benefit of the most people, ever. We're not nearly there yet ... but that's the goal.
The main thrust of the next few months will be to improve & expand our examples & statistics (I'd love for 'vexample' to eventually be tagged "archaic" or "dated"!) while improving the rest of the experience of the site ... which also includes the Random word function, which is slated for discussion on Monday. :-)
I can't promise that we'll act on every suggestion -- in fact, with such a small team, we can't -- but I can promise that we will always listen. You guys all know our first names, and we're all firstname@wordnik.com, so feel free to email us directly, as well as leave comments.
Hey Prolagus, we've got some song lyrics in the example-sentences queue. I'll let you know when they're live -- we're working out some formatting issues.
Hi -- leaving a comment here as I wanted to respond to Prolagus's note below, about us "trying to make the entries better for less-humorous uses". We really do like the humorous uses, I promise, and we often call across the office to each other to point out new and great ones, but there is a limit to how many vexamples folks are willing to put up with, even if they do spark some good jokes.
I'll comment more over on wordnik about "What's a Wordnik for" ...
Prolagus, sorry about that. I wish we could keep all the vexamples and suchlike for their riffing potential, but we are trying to make the entries better for less-humorous uses ...
VanishedOne, we'll get that other stuff cleaned up! Thanks!
Thanks! We kicked the pronunciation server and it should have finished its coffee break and be working again ... feel free to let us know at http://www.wordnik.com/people/feedback if it happens again!
The original Wordnik mandate had an implied "English" in there ... so "All the (English) words." We'll get to all the other languages eventually, provided they form an orderly queue. :-)
whichbe, rest assured all the lists are extant, we just have to run around re-attaching the hoses to the right intake valves. Or something like that ... we'll have another update in the next few days, I hope by Wednesday.
Dear Prolagus, there's no such thing as too much feedback or feedback given too early. We really appreciate your taking the time to make suggestions! :-)
Oh, telofy -- shoot, that bug (adding a new list, then a new word, then ... boom) is one we thought we caught. It's high on the list to fix. We're also working on those IPA problems -- we're about to get a newer, cleaner data source for those.
Prolagus, I'll see what we can do about your missing upper-case P. I think we have some extras around here we can swap in. :-) And we are planning on eventually letting you "hide" words from your public lookup history at some point!
I also wanted to pop in here and say that for 99% percent of Wordies, your Wordie username should work at Wordnik, you just have to reset your password (with this link: http://www.wordnik.com/user/forgot). If your username DOESN'T work (that is, if you lost the arm-wrestle for that username to another user on the Wordnik site), you'll get an email with your new username, which will be super-whateveryourusernamewas. You'll also have to reset your password.
Some Wordniks lost the username-contest to stronger and craftier Wordies; they will also have to assume the burden of superness and reset their passwords.
If we were pretty sure you were the same person on Wordie and Wordnik (same username, same or suspiciously similar email addresses) we merged the accounts. If we messed up and you are now living with a stranger, let us know ASAP! (It was only a few folks, so we hope we got it right!)
"A program that generates a copy of its own source text as its complete output. Devising the shortest possible quine in some given programming language is a common hackish amusement."
Comments by erinmckean
Show previous 200 comments...
erinmckean commented on the word blimpworthy
Worthy of a visit from a Goodyear blimp. From http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/07/goodyear_blimp_blimpworthy/
November 11, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
rolig -- we hired another UI wizard, Alex Le, who started Monday. I don't want to jinx it (or him) but (contrary to how the 'mythical man-month' would have it) lots of progress is being made!
November 10, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word topothesia
The description of an imaginary place.
November 9, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word solomo
web buzzword, standing for "social" + "local" + "mobile". Credited to John Doerr of KPBC.
November 9, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word GNFAB
= great name for a band
November 9, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word hobnail
The houses are now unshod. Thanks!
November 3, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word hectopron
a unit of one hundred audio pronunciations
November 2, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word Novopangaea
Most future projections have it that the Pacific will close as its crust continues to sink beneath Asia to the west and North America to the east, and that South America and Antarctica will eventually join the ultra-slow-motion train wreck to form a supercontinent variously dubbed "Amasia" or "Novopangaea". (New Scientist, 17 September 2011)
October 23, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word Amasia
Most future projections have it that the Pacific will close as its crust continues to sink beneath Asia to the west and North America to the east, and that South America and Antarctica will eventually join the ultra-slow-motion train wreck to form a supercontinent variously dubbed "Amasia" or "Novopangaea". (New Scientist, 17 September 2011)
October 23, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word Alaska divorce
"Alaska divorce ‘liberating oneself from marriage by murdering the spouse’ (Tabbert 1991)" Speaking American
October 21, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word moneme
A word unanalyzable into two morphemes.
October 12, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word TOO
target of opportunity
October 7, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word bison
A bison is what an Australian washes his face in.
October 7, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Oh man. Yep, things still broken. Fixes coming sooner now than ever. The only bright spot in this long and difficult trough of missing-comments despair is the word harshmallow, which was new to me.
I have seen the code for the return of the comments, and it sparkles. It also has new-code smell, which is part toasted marshmallow, part fresh-cut grass, and part petrichor. (I'm also not allowed to touch the new code without washing my hands first. Well, actually, I'm not allowed to touch it at all.)
October 5, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word polylogs
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Harold Palmer, who pioneered the study of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), also noted the presence of polylogs, or known units in language. He built a list of over 6,000 frequent collocations which he included in his teaching, so that students could learn them in block. Syntax-Based Collocation Extraction
October 5, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word gnat
according to Tony, "A gnat is inelegant code. It's not quite a bug."
September 30, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi bilby -- yeah, it looks like Niger (and niger) have been wiped off the map. We'll take a look at it!
September 20, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word kilolex
why doesn't this mean "a thousand words"?
September 13, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word infini-surf
Caterina Fake, who helped to found Flickr, the photo-sharing service, among other start-ups, recalled her initial awe of Delicious. “It opened up the Internet in a way that was not remotely possible before,” she said. “You couldn’t stop surfing. It was infini-surf. You could be interested in a really arcane field of biology and find the five other people that shared that same interest and shared links on that topic.” YouTube Founders Aim to Revamp Delicious
September 13, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word blarticle
"Interestingly a bias that perhaps the OP recognizes shows up in this blarticle (what do you call one entry in a blog anyway)." Hacker News
September 13, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi guys, I hear you. And I wish I could get things working the way we all want them to work again (comments on profiles, comments on lists, comments pagination, faster loading) ... and you're perfectly within your rights to complain, here, or to the feedback address, or to my personal address (I'm just erin@wordnik).
I appreciate both the kind words and the complaints -- they both act as a spur. But there's a big tangledy wad of code to sort out and through, and only so many people who can work on it. (Most Wordniks don't work on the functionality of the site itself, but on the back-end data analysis and processing and infrastructure.)
My best guess on the return to full functionality is still several weeks out. :-(
In the meantime, marky, if you need to find certain lists, I can search all your comments with our admin tool. Email me and I'll send you links.
Sionnach -- thank you especially for your kind words, but I don't want to give up just yet. I understand that the continued delay will definitely anger some folks (who may understandably never come back), but we don't want to just shrug and say that just because something's hard to do and taking MUCH longer than we thought, we shouldn't keep trying ...
September 12, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word Brooksism
"Perhaps a word that someone tries aggressively to mint but that doesn’t catch on should be called a Brooksism, in honor of David Brooks." Believer Mag
September 9, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word glossopoeist
"If nomothete or even onomaturge do not suit as terms, I propose a newer neologism already in use, glossopoeist, a "maker of language"." Hildegard of Bingen's unknown language
September 8, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi Prolagus, that's been a persistent and very tricky bug. It seems to affect only pages with encoding issues ... thanks for the feedback, we haven't been able to reproduce it ourselves!
dontcry -- the pronunciations are having a timeout issue (not that they've been bad, exactly, just that there's a problem with how long the link to play them persists -- does that make sense? I hope so, as that was how it was explained to me).
bilby -- in "mediocre news", I found this excellent word today: noöpolitik.
September 6, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word mirror-driving
At the same time, the leader may block the drafter by “mirror-driving” — steering to the inside or outside of the race track to keep his car in front of the path he thinks the drafter may use to slip around. FirstMonday.org
September 6, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word noopolitik
"He works on ideas about new information-age modes of conflict (cyberwar, netwar) and cooperation (noopolitik)." FirstMonday.org
September 6, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word morosity
"Then why doesn't he? What's wrong with us? I'd begun to think he was temperamentally morose -- that he just couldn't help it -- but after seeing him turn on his charm for the Cottons -- ! Heaven knows I didn't expect an easy life when I married him -- I was prepared even for violence. But I do loathe morosity."
It was no moment to tell her there is no such word; anyway, I rather liked it.
from I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith.
September 4, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word isandlwana
Images from BBM Explorer via Flickr courtesy of http://southafricaholidaysblog.co.uk/battlefields/
August 31, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word Isandlwana
Images from BBM Explorer via Flickr courtesy of http://southafricaholidaysblog.co.uk/battlefields/
August 31, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi marky! We're still plugging away. There have been some unexpected dependencies ... the good news is, the new stuff is verrry nice. The bad news is we have to make more new stuff than we thought we would.
August 31, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word synapta
Thanks bbmexplorer! We're using the Flickr API which links to the Flickr image page, which links to your site -- we're trying to get better data from Flickr in cases where the credit URL is different from the API URL.
I'm including the credit url here: Awesome picture of synapta below by BBM Explorer, from www.redseaexplorer.com.
August 31, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
hey marky, that's my list so I'll fix it -- thanks!
August 30, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi folks!
Some new stuff is coming soon; it's in testing now and waiting on the dock, ticket clutched in one sweaty hand, cardboard suitcase in the other, for the next deployment packet.
August 23, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Thanks dharma66! Time has run out for that spammer; I've deleted all those comments.
and ... testing edits.
August 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
thanks marky!
Quick update: a big blocking bug around the audio has been resolved; the recorder's back from its little vacation. Tanned, rested, ready are words that spring to mind. Please let us know if you find any problems with it ...
August 18, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
And ... I know I probably didn't answer everything. I'll swing back again with some more updates later today.
August 17, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi folks ... back again. We're looking into the bile salt problem (we think it may be related to our recurring bouts of gout), and the comments problem is connected to the profile page problem, which is connected to the shin bone.
PossibleUnderscore, your not-able-to-add-to-your-own-lists problem is a new one on us. (I can get to your profile here: http://www.wordnik.com/people/PossibleUnderscore) Can you let me know (either here or at feedback@wordnik.com) a list that's affected?
dharma66, there's no straightforward way to search for profiles now, but a tricky way is to use the "see all results for" a username (or part thereof) and check to see if they have a "default list". (Your default list -- with your username in it -- can be seen here, with a link to your profile: http://www.wordnik.com/search/dharma)
And we're aware of the loading-speed problem, have some ideas on how to fix it, and will be tackling it shortly. Fixes are being tested for audio and the recorder right now, too ...
August 17, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
The comments were broken on the inside. :-( Things are moving along, I hope to have more updates soon!
Profile comments will probably return first, then lists.
(bilby, triangle-sharpening is one of my specialities; that, and timpani-degreasing.)
August 11, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
bilby, I will start writing up the spec for the Roving Link Enhancer, With Jingle Bells, but we're hoping to move that position towards the bleeding edge of Link Enhancement Technology ... do you think you could pick up the ah-ooga horn or the triangle, quickly?
August 9, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Thanks biocon! I'll check it out!
oh -- btw, folks, if you're interested in working at Wordnik as well as playing on Wordnik, you can check out our new jobs page here: http://www.wordnik.com/jobs
August 9, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Thanks folks -- another update. All the comments are still saved -- we're working on making them accessible again. We're thinking on the order of weeks, not months, this time ... the new pipes are laid; it's a matter of checking for leaks at this point.
For folks who are seeing tiny comment font -- can you let me know what browser you're using?
Biocon, thanks for the heads-up on nemorivagous; I've revoked that user's userhood.
Oroboros, I'm afraid the translate feature is being turned off by our friends at Google. There's a great article in The Atlantic that talks about why: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/06/an-economic-burden-google-can-no-longer-bear/240283/
dontcry, the audio was working earlier. We'll go kick it a little and see if we can wake it up ...
mollusque, ticket filed! We'll see what happens.
August 8, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word stenopodium
There's one started here: http://www.wordnik.com/lists/steno--1
August 8, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Thanks folks! We'll keep working to get things shipshape(r) around here soon!
August 6, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word sympathetic embarrassment
This also is known as igry or pena ajena, aka "Spanish shame".
August 5, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi guys -- quick update. We're still working on bringing comments back to lists and profiles. ETA (to allow for better smoke testing) is end of next week.
Just a reassurance: all comments are still in our system, they're just taking a breather ...
August 3, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word withe
Maybe they are all "willowy" young women?
August 2, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Prolagus, I just filed a ticket on that today (the return-to-page-after-login issue). Drives me nuts too.
August 2, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi folks -- thanks for the feedback.
One problem with trying to make things like commenting faster/easier/better on the site is that, in the short term, making the deep structural changes that are necessary to scale & simplify actually makes things slower/harder/worse. :-(
There is absolutely NO intention on our part to "shut down" anything that Wordieniks are doing. (Spammers, yes. Wordieniks, no.) We want to make things better, and we understand it's frustrating while we're "under construction."
Please, if you can, keep the feedback coming, and we'll keep doing our best to finish up this renovation!
August 1, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
thanks dharma66 -- I *think* I nuked that user and all their works.
The comment function is in dry dock for repairs and is intermittently sputtering ... we're working on it. When it is back it will be very, very shiny, we hope!
July 31, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
Ruzuzu's was using the email address "ameworn.ew@gmail.com" but it's probably a throwaway.
So weird! We're working to find a way to keep these "Uniclones" (b/c they are Unicode mimics) out.
July 29, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user ruzuzu
Hi folks, I'm deleting the bizarro-world ruzuzu comments.
July 29, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Cool idea.
Also, I am intrigued by your ideas and would favorite that list. :-)
July 29, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Prolagus -- so explicit reordering (since the current orders are either "order added"or "alpha")?
July 29, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks biocon -- not sure how we missed that. I've added it to the List list. :-)
dharma66 -- can you point me to the spam? I'll banhammer 'em.
July 29, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user dharma66
Hi dharma, I'm looking for your previous list ... I have a good idea where it went and hope to be back to you soon!
July 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi folks, thanks for the feedback on the mobile site issues! We're looking into it.
July 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
thanks biocon ... we're looking into that problem! Until we get it fixed, I have found that if I just refresh the page, the comment is updated.
July 27, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks blafferty ... we'll check it out. (I think you're right and that it's a loading issue.)
July 26, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user Khvalovsky
We're very happy to see how active you have been on Wordnik.com! We think your list http://www.wordnik.com/lists/digital-english-vocabulary is very interesting.
However, by listing the number before the word, it makes it hard for other users to find your list and system -- no one is looking up 390442 - shower -- they look up shower.
A more flexible approach would be to list just the word high, and tag it with the number "3703". That way, you could see all the words with the value "3703" here: 3703 (check the "Related Words" section).
Another user is working on a similar project where she is tagging the consonant-vowel patterns in her list of words: see cvccv for examples.
July 26, 2011
erinmckean commented on the list where-is-that-light-coming-from
I very much love this list. Thanks for making it!
July 25, 2011
erinmckean commented on the list where-is-that-light-coming-from
I very much love this list. Thanks for making it!
July 25, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Thanks Prolagus -- I found it.
I know it's hard to tell from outside, but we've spent a lot of time thinking about how to balance meeting the expectations of the folks who come to Wordnik to find information about a word, and the folks who stay at Wordnik because it's a congenial place to discuss and have fun with words. We're still working on this balance, but we're planning for more flexibility, especially around comments, and also possibly a feature where people can rearrange the order of elements on each page according to taste. :-) (I can't promise when this will happen but we think it's a highly desirable feature.)
It is highly unlikely, though, that we would be able to spin off a purely-social version of Wordnik. We just don't have the resources -- I'm sorry. And even if we could, it would make Wordnik another soulless flat definitions-only site (and the Internet is full-up on those, or was last time I checked).
The comments (and the tweets and the examples and the images and the tags and the lists, in addition to the definitions, synonyms, etc.) are part of giving a 360-degree view of every single word -- for Wordies and Wordniks and students and teachers and bad spellers and good spellers, and readers and people who just had an idle moment of curiosity, and we're going to keep changing and testing until we find better ways of giving everyone what they need for every word.
I hope this helps. Happy to answer what I can in more detail -- I just don't want to promise features and updates before we have firm dates for delivery.
July 25, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks biocon ... I'll keep trying to figure it out on our end.
July 25, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
biocon, it looks like there's a teeeeeny lag on the "save" button that makes it seem as if it's not saving. And the lag is longer with Firefox. I'll report it.
July 25, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi Prolagus -- was the message you wanted a reply to about featuring the Wordies with the most comments on the Community page? That sounds like a good idea to me. I'm going to put it on the feature list for that page.
July 25, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks biocon! I'm able to save/delete comments on "ruct" (and I'll go clean up those sentences). Can you let me know what browser you're using?
July 25, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
sorry for any confusion there folks, was admin-ing the Baseball list and not signed in as me. :-)
July 23, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Hi Prolagus -- I'll make sure to get to your message over the weekend. And over the next ten days we'll be tackling the most urgent issues, but the site won't ever be final (in the sense that nothing more will be done). We plan to tackle more of the feature backlog and add some new stuff, too.
July 23, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
(And Ruzuzu -- we love your emails. Especially the series on the definition mismatches, because they have a lovely found-poetry quality.)
July 23, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Oh, that seems promising ... thanks for the lead!
July 21, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word menfauxpause
where two or more English speakers are gathered together, there exists a quorum. :-)
July 20, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks bilby, both for the bug report and the word glitchette. :-)
July 20, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
Featuring top comments and -ers is definitely on the wishlist of improvements for the community page.
We're also going to add a better (3rd-party) system for feedback. We think the current Feedback-profile lack-of-a-system is borked, too. :-(
ruzuzu, I got your comma-mail ... I hope you got my reply!
July 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word new interface
hey guys ... Rolig gave me a heads-up -- I'm afraid it's been really hectic over the past two weeks & I forgot that there were comments being left here. We've been scrambling to get the site redesign finished and not communicating as well as we ought to. But our priorities for the next two weeks are:
-- fix the big stag beetle-sized bugs
-- especially the login bugs that folks are still having
-- work on some data issues (ruzuzu especially has been helpful in pointing out stuff for us to fix)
Making it easier and more fun to interact with the site is still a goal, and a big one. We've just added a lot of tracking & process so that we be more on top of feature & bugfix requests I hope that this makes us faster and more responsive. Fingers crossed.
Email to feedback@wordnik.com will get answered (by me ... we're working on reducing our turnaround there) and you can always email me directly, too, at erin@wordnik.com. Or leave comments on my profile page. I'm re-bookmarking this page and will be back again shortly ...
July 18, 2011
erinmckean commented on the list winds-of-the-world
Hi sionnach -- found a cool one today: derecho.
July 18, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks bilby! We'll check it out ...
July 18, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
qubital, your comment isn't showing up here, but we're fixing that too-long example ... thanks!
July 17, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word controman
"A modern name for an individual in baseball who always seems to get in trouble when talking to the press; a player who "creates controversy with his quotes"." Dickson's Baseball Dictionary 3e
July 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word highpockets
"A name for a tall, skinny player with long legs; e.g. 1920s New York Giants first baseman George "Highpockets" Kelly, who was 6'4" and weighed only 190 pounds."
July 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi Prolagus, I really want that tag-commenting feature back, too. We're working out how to make it possible to comment on *everything*. (No, really.)
July 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word skinback
"For the first time in my 45-year-old career I am writing a skinback. That is what journalists call a retraction of the premise of a piece, as in peeling back your skin and feeling the pain." David Cay Johnston
July 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word e-ticulation
"Enter e-ticulation. It’s the e-version of gesticulation. Gesticulation is the act of gesture…and now this notion of the computer gesture is emerging–living in technology like the Wii and further driven in part by the ipad. Touch, push, move, stretch and point are now becoming part of the body language of the computer. It’s applications in real life are significant. From teaching a child to professional one-on-one selling, this will become the new standard of interactive communication." John Nosta
July 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Ah -- yes, we've got this bug noted. Working on it ... thanks for the reporting, it really helps!
July 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi reesetee -- I can't replicate that problem with the word-list-page-adding ... remind me again of your preferred browser? We'll check it out!
Glad you like the "view" option. :-)
July 13, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Adrian, we're getting comments via email notifications that aren't showing up here ... we're looking into it.
July 12, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks Marky! I'll take a look ...
July 12, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word -eering
I think this is my new favorite suffix. I'm favoriteering it.
July 11, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Adrian, I don't see your comment here, but the link you want is http://www.wordnik.com/words/Teresa%20of%20%C3%81vila
July 6, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user Telofy
Hi Telofy, we've fixed the evil problem with your list of evil words: this url should now behave nicely: http://www.wordnik.com/lists/bored-now---evil-words
July 5, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Adrian -- thanks for the message here. Can you let me know what email address you're sending to & from? We have one unanswered email from an "Adrian" to the API team address from last week, but otherwise nothing in the queue ... the email address we use is feedback@wordnik.com, but you can also use help@wordnik.com.
The comments link ... yes, it's still broken. And it's very bad.
July 5, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Telofy -- I think that's it! I'll ask to get it changed in the db.
July 4, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi blafferty! The lists on the individual word pages are sorted by interestingness. :-) There's still a recently-listed-words section on the "Community" page: http://www.wordnik.com/community
It's a good idea to indicate list-recentness on the word page, though ... thanks for the suggestion!
July 4, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
We'll call it a bug then. :-) Thanks!
June 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks yarb!
Adrian, we see your comments (we get emails about them) but when we come here they have disappeared ... are you editing them, or is that another bug? :-)
June 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks marky ... we're working on a lot of this right now. (And by "we" I mean John and Zeke.) :-)
June 27, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks Rolig! Glad you're back, and thank you for the feedback!
June 24, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi Marky, we're tracking down that bug ...
June 23, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi marky! Being able to click through to the lists is on the list of stuff to fix ... thanks!
June 23, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user rolig
Hi Rolig --- want to try again? John and Tony edited your list title.
June 22, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user rolig
Hi rolig -- any luck getting word pages to load yet?
June 21, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks guys! Lists are a top priority right now ... we make a lot of them too. :-)
sionnach, I find I use the reverse dictionary as a kind of ad-hoc quasi-tagging. For instance, the reverse dictionary list at currency is really nice if I can't remember the name of the funny-sounding Bulgarian currency. It's also helpful to see words that are on the archaic side by looking at words like former (which led me to moidore, a new fave). I hope this helps!
June 21, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi guys -- it's good to hear this, and we're taking notes.
We have NOT been good about following up on comments here in the past and that's one of the things that will be changing with this redesign.
rolig -- not sure what's up with the Trouble page. We're looking at it. Can you let us know what OS/browser you're using?
June 20, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word transcyclery
"The facility, dubbed a "transcyclery" by Modern Landfill general manager Tim O'Donnell, is a 34-foot high concrete and steel-frame structure where recyclables collected in southcentral Pennsylvania will be consolidated into tractor-trailer loads." York Dispatch
June 20, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi A -- that was user error on my part. It looks as if you don't put the whole http:// mess in, then we treat it as a wordnik.com url. We'll fix that ... thanks!
June 20, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
testing comments
June 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
work
June 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
testing double brackets turtle
June 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks Pro!
Google Translate (which we were using for the translate function) is turning off the tap. There's an interesting article in The Atlantic as to why, which can be found here.
We're looking into alternatives ...
June 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word disagram
disagram, n: a chart or other infographic showing just how badly one has been snubbed, disrespected, or insulted. #foundword Doctor Madu
June 18, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi Pterodactyl! Thanks for letting us know -- we'll check it out asap!
June 18, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word rotonym
a word, that when all letters are rotated by half of the language's alphabet, becomes another word in that language. from rotonym.woktiny.net
June 17, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word entymology
Suggested meaning: "the study of words that bug you" (thanks, Hans Krimm!)
June 17, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word sermonoid
That punctuation is important all agree; but how few comprehend the extent of its importance! The writer who neglects punctuation, or mis-punctuates, is liable to be misunderstood--this, according to the popular idea, is the sum of the evils, arising from heedlessness or ignorance. It does not seem to be known that, even where the sense is perfectly clear, a sentence may be deprived of half its force--its spirit--its point--by improper punctuations. For the want of merely a comma, it often occurs that an axiom appears a paradox, or that a sarcasm is converted into a sermonoid.”
(Edgar Allan Poe, "Marginalia." Graham's American Monthly Magazine, February 1848)
June 15, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word menfauxpause
Now also applicable to the Weiner scandal -- any dumb thing done by a middle-aged guy who should know better ...
June 7, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi blafferty ... I think that's a bug. :-) I'll ping John about it ... and Ptero/reesetee, I'll also ask about the apostrophes acting up. (They're uppity, those apostrophes.)
June 2, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word arbitricious
both arbitrary and capricious
June 2, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word gladvertising
"Then there is “gladvertising” and “sadvertising”, a rather sinister-sounding idea in which billboards with embedded cameras, linked to face-tracking software, detect the mood of each consumer who passes by, and change the advertising on display to suit it. The technology matches movements of the eyes and mouth to six expression patterns corresponding to happiness, anger, sadness, fear, surprise and disgust." The Economist, April 20, 2011
May 30, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word puerarchy
"Because the world we live in is not just a patriarchy; it's a puerarchy—what gets focused on in the culture is defined by boys and young men." Interviewwith Paula Smith
May 26, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
thanks Marky! Fixed.
May 25, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word pea coffee
hey folks, been traveling -- came across this word in Moby Dick so added a couple of linkety-link citations ...
May 24, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word pea coffee
Several varieties of so-called coffee are made from cereal and leguminous preparations. The best of these in our estimation is pea coffee. This is made from dried split peas, which are roasted, like the genuine coffee berry, ground, mixed with egg, and prepared for the table exactly in the same manner, and in like proportions as the best Java or Mocha. If prepared with the care and skill usually bestowed on coffee making, it is a most palatable and nutritious beverage, and has won the praises of many reformed coffee drinkers who would not now exchange it for their old-time drink charged with caffeine. Tea and Coffee: Their Physical, Intellectual and Moral Effect on the Human System and Are They Injurious? Some Substitutes for Both
May 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word pea coffee
A friend sent us some days ago an article which had every appearance of the well roasted ground Java coffee, with the request that we would try it and give our opinion of its merits as a substitute. We did so, and found it incomparably superior to anything that we have seen in use, not excepting the more common varieties of coffee. The taste is slightly pungent and most palatable, and we would not turn on our heel to exchange it for the genuine article. The preparation consists simply of the common English garden pea, picked from the vine when dry and roasted to a dark cinnamon brown. Try it. Confederate coffee substitutes
May 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the list mobying-along
Thanks ruzuzu!
If you want to read along this is a good way to do it: Moby Dick at Daily Lit
May 17, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word questorm
a blend of beerstorming and Q&A session
May 6, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word heiligenschein
"an optical phenomenon which creates a bright spot around the shadow of the viewer's head." From German words meaning "holy shine". Wikipedia
May 3, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word TEotWaWKI
The End of the World as We Know It
May 2, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi marky -- we're hearing the audio at nuance fine ... we had a blip with the pronunciations but it should be fixed now! Could you let me know if that works for you?
May 2, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi yarb ... that's a neat idea! Thanks for suggesting it!
I'd like a tool to import Ruzuzu's favorite words into my brain. :-)
April 29, 2011
erinmckean commented on the list gel-2011-words
Thanks!
This is for the GEL conference in NYC -- I've done "Make A Word" workshops before but this is the first since Wordnik was born. :-)
April 29, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word menfauxpause
Any inappropriate or unfortunate remark made by a man in reference to female hormones, etc.
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word dismunication
suboptimal communication, esp. caused by contrahearsee
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word irkular
advertising material left in inconvenient places (doorways, offices, under your windshield wipers)
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word Santapause
The time Santa takes to eat the cookies at each house.
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word artitact
the ability to speak pleasantly about ugly or banal art.
"You have great artitact; I couldn't think of anything nice to say about the play."
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word kaleidopause
The time spent in contemplation of a beautiful object.
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word compunctual
Feeling a compulsion to be on time or early for appointments, meetings, etc., usually resulting in awkward waiting around.
"He's so compunctual -- if he were five minutes late, I would assume he had died."
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word ineptitize
To perform a task so badly that bystanders are compelled to step in and finish it for you.
"The best way to ineptitize any dish is to start with the burner on high."
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word enfabler
Someone who is begrudgingly complicit in another person's exaggerations, tall tales, boasting, fables, etc.
"I didn't want to throw cold water on her story, but we were really only waiting for ten minutes, not two hours. I'm such an enfabler."
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word cyberdotal
of knowledge gleaned via social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) rather than through direct conversation. Also used for knowledge discovered through cyberstalking.
"I think he got married last week but I only have cyberdotal evidence."
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word onlineage
The history or origin story of a website -- "the onlineage of Wordnik includes Wordie.org". Also, the history of an internet meme.
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word cattygram
an insulting or snarky SMS or IM message
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word malagraph
See malagram
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word malagram
An embarrassing or inappropriate photo posted (usu. by a third party with malicious intent) to a social media site.
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word catagram
A completely inappropriate photo shared (usu. by a third party) via social media.
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word textation
A long conversation carried out through text messages.
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word rushfetti
the clutter you create through being too busy to put things away (usu. for an extended period of time)
"So I'm on my way to a gig and I need my unicycle, but the tire is flat! So I pump it up, but leave the bicycle pump out, right by the door. Then when I get home I trip over it and all my other rushfetti."
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word authorticity
of a work, of verified authorship or veracity. "His ghostwritten book had no authorticity." "The authorticity of the biography has been called into question by Donald Trump."
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word contrahearsee
the frustration caused by increasingly poor hearing or vision, brought on by aging
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word offend request
an offensive friend request (by a spammer, from someone who was mean to you in high school, etc.) See offrend request
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word offrend request
an offensive friend request (by a spammer, from someone who was mean to you in high school, etc.)
April 28, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word dummymander
"A dummymander is a gerrymander by one party, that, over the course of the decade, benefits the other party, and actually looks as if it was designed by that party rather than the party in power." The Art of the Dummymander[PDF}
April 15, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Only when I know the answer, Pro. :-) I'll poke John about answering your list questions ...
April 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word auto buds
"Auto Buds are two cars of the same make, model, color, or as identical as possible, that are parked right next to each other or in close proximity." Auto Buds on Tumblr
April 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks ruzuzu!
Jim, we do try to show the "right" dictionary entries for the lowercase variant if there aren't any for the uppercase variant (while showing example sentences for the exact word searched). I hope this makes sense!
We're working on ways to make it clearer as to when a word is a proper name and when it's a common-or-garden word. :-)
April 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word cinemagraph
"beautiful images that are more than a photo, but not quite a video" Cinemagraph
April 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word isogyny
"It’s not so much misogyny as ISOgyny – the desire of advertisers (and oh so many others) to have all women match a single standard so they can sell to them/categorise them/understand them etc." Keith at Ealanta at GeekFeminism
March 24, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word chromostereopsis
"a visual illusion whereby the impression of depth is perceived in two-dimensional color images usually red-blue or red-green colors but can also be perceived with red-grey or blue-grey images." Wikipedia
March 24, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word Vujà dé
Vujà dé means looking at something you're vastly familiar with in an entirely new light. Bill Taylor
March 24, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
reesetee, did you check the terms of service when you signed up back in Wordie-days? I'm pretty sure they made cummerbund-wearing obligatory on Tuesdays and Thursdays ... :-)
Thanks for the WOTD love and suggestions, folks! The Daily Wordnik WOTD Digest is a cool idea.
March 18, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word mulch volcanoes
"In recent years, people have begun mounding mulch around the base of trees creating the 'mulch volcano.' New problems have emerged because of this practice," said Smith.
March 13, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word ortanique
Supposedly the word is a blend of 'orange', 'tangerine', and 'unique'.
March 13, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
chained_bear, the solution to that problem is to wear a dress every day. Works for me. :-)
Kidding aside, thanks again for the heads-up on the problem!
March 13, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user dontcry
Oh no, that's not good.
Could you let us know what browser/operating system you're using, so we can test it?
March 4, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word prickarious
used of a situation which might cause one to behave like a prick.
March 4, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks for noticing! We're very happy with the spiffy new Wordnik.com page, we'd love your feedback and suggestions!
March 4, 2011
erinmckean commented on the list the-nose-knows
You're welcome -- thanks for the link to the not-a-banana list, too!
March 4, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi Hernesheir!
The "subscribers" referenced in the lists are the number of people who subscribe to individual Wordniks' Word of the Day Lists.
There are *no* plans right now (or on the horizon) to extract money from Wordniks for use of the site!
I hope this helps ...
(on edit: What Prolagus Said.)
March 2, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word libfix
"It would be nice to have a term for the liberated elements that is both more memorable than “combining forms” and also signals the origin of these elements in the reanalysis of existing words (whether the source words are ordinary words, as with -tacular, or portmanteaus, as with -dar). I suggest libfix, which can be labeled a prelibfix (prefixal) or a postlibfix (suffixal) when its position within the word is especially relevant." Arnold Zwicky's Blog
February 26, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word orgadophile
Living in open woodland.
February 25, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word airplane breakfast
I've been trying for some time to get a semicolon in here with no luck at all. Refresh; yourself.
February 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the list flights-of-fancy
I never knew there were so many named fictional birds! This list = awesome.
February 17, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word hamomanometer
Something that measures gases produced by ham?
February 14, 2011
erinmckean commented on the list mountweazels
Do you want to add hiybbprqag?
February 4, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word hiybbprqag
“Evidently, ‘hiybbprqag’ is a word meaning, you got served,” he jokes. Colbert: “Hiybbprqag Is A Word Meaning You Got Served”
February 4, 2011
erinmckean commented on the list famous-ship-names
Ooh, chained_bear's list is fab!
February 1, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word uragnosia
"Then there was Andrew Ross, who suggests "uragnosia" - pronounced, he says, "you-rag-nose ear". This derives from the prefix "ur" (denoting origin) and the noun "agnosia" (more familiar in its adjectival "agnostic" form), so it means ignorance as to origin." New Scientist 21 Jan 2011
January 31, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word nanopublication
The notion of a 'nanopublication' is basically a general scientific assertion, written using semantic-web standard formats with additional meta-data concerning provenance. Beyond the PDF
January 29, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word retina display
"A "retina display" is just Apple's marketing term for a screen where you can't distinguish individual pixels." Gizmodo
January 19, 2011
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
Thanks ruzuzu! We're continuing to tidy up the Century, so expect more niceness from it shortly. :-)
January 6, 2011
erinmckean commented on the word physifro
"As I walked, the wind did something unexpected, yet completely appropriate: it whipped my normally Jim Halpert-esque hair into an Einstein-esque quasi-afro (a physifro, if you will)." Make Hella Official
December 28, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word biocremation
alkaline hydrolysis
December 28, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word heresthetics
Heresthetics involve "changing the space or the constraints on the voters in such a way that they are encouraged ... to move themselves to the advantage of the heresthetician." The politics of the international pricing of prescription drugs
December 28, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list christmas-cookies
A new one I just saw -- piparkakut. Enjoy!
December 23, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word Englifh
"Englifh" books -- books printed with the medial s.
December 22, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word widesourcing
According to the VP of marketing for Cloudcrowd, widesourcing is "The marshaling of geographically distributed workers into virtual labor assembly lines with built-in organic feedback, peer review, and per-task payment."
December 21, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list mistakes-were-made
Oh, that's a nice one! Thanks ruzuzu!
December 20, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi a! We just updated our input of Wiktionary ... but we haven't settled on how often we will reload the Wiktionary data. Wiktionary itself changes every day (as does Wordnik). :-)
December 19, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list cloud-words
I found some cloud jargon! Check out lennies.
December 15, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word hanselines
This word made me wonder if gretelines existed, but I can't find evidence of it.
November 19, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word chocochop
"which are of course delicious chocolate pork chops with a real pork chop bone." Dinosaur Comics
November 19, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list the-doctor-doctor-who
Brilliant list! I think we need to add timey-wimey, though ...
November 16, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word steampunk
"steampunk is nothing more than what happens when goths discover brown" (Charles Stross)
November 6, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list double-trouble
how about roister-doister?
November 6, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word co-meronym
Two or more lexical items related by both being parts of a common whole.
November 2, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word wet-folder
In origami parlance, Mr. Joisel was a wet-folder, dampening his paper so that he could coax it into sinuous curves. NYTimes
October 30, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word chawl
The father, Dhirubhai Ambani, was a brazen, rags-to-riches tycoon who established Reliance Industries after rising out of the city’s Dickensian tenements, known as chawls. NY Times
October 29, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi Chuck! The word is already here: arachibutyrophobia
October 29, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Telofy -- that is being worked on deep in the radiation-shielded bowels of Wordnik Labs as we speak. No release date yet, but not too terribly far off ...
October 29, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word opfor
short for "opposing force"
October 25, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word Double Irish
"Google’s income shifting -- involving strategies known to lawyers as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich” -- helped reduce its overseas tax rate to 2.4 percent, the lowest of the top five U.S. technology companies by market capitalization, according to regulatory filings in six countries." Bloomberg Businessweek
October 21, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word Dutch Sandwich
"Google’s income shifting -- involving strategies known to lawyers as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich” -- helped reduce its overseas tax rate to 2.4 percent, the lowest of the top five U.S. technology companies by market capitalization, according to regulatory filings in six countries." Bloomberg Businessweek
October 21, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word dangerism
"So, I propose the term “dangerism” to describe how a culture decides what is and isn’t dangerous. The sources of dangerism can be traced to both personal and social sources. Our individual perception of risk is based on a combination of personal experiences and family history. The cultural aspects of dangerism are probably best described by anthropologists, but the popular news media certainly plays a part in creating exaggerated portrayals of risk." —Gever Tulley, Dangerism
October 20, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word scenius
The musician Brian Eno invented a wonderful word to describe this phenomenon: scenius. We normally think of innovators as independent geniuses, but Eno’s point is that innovation comes from social scenes, from passionate and connected groups of people. Wired October 2010
October 3, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word coffice
Coffices–Coffee Shops for Working BrooklynBased.net
September 28, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word pwaft
See the discussion here.
September 22, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Dear agatehinge -- the Allen data is still there -- we have just mixed it in with data from other sources, so that everything can be seen at once. (I promise you it is there as I did part of the tedious process of putting it into the new data structure ...)
Thanks!
Erin
September 16, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Dear agatehinge, thanks for the feedback! Very important for us to hear from folks who aren't happy, as well.
We are working to add in more related words, and more relationships, so I hope you check back soon. If there are specific words you think may be missing, please let us know so we can check to see if they dropped behind someone's desk. :-)
Thanks again!
Erin
September 16, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word enantiosemy
Enantiosemy, or the occurrence of two opposite meanings for one and the same word, was first treated in special monographs by the Arabian grammarians, ....
In the interesting and suggestive introduction (pp. 10-30) Dr. Landau examines the various attempts at an explanation of the problem from a linguistic, logical and psychological standpoint. He himself ascribes the enantiosemy to nine factors: 1) objective reasons which are inherent in the things themselves (i. e., an object may be viewed and described from opposite sides), 2) polarity of certain ideas which are thus subject to differentiation, 3) present phonetic identity of originally phonetic variation, 4) contrast of association of ideas, 5) the tropical nature of language. For the Semitic languages in particular: 6) lack of compounds and abundance of denominatives, 7) the tendency of the Orientals to wit and irony, 8) our imperfect knowledge of the Oriental mode of thinking, and 9) the difference between the Orientals and Occidentals in the manner of expression. From The American journal of Semitic languages and literatures, Volume 13
September 3, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
Hi Mollusque!
Well, it might be hard to get Grant to work on Wordie, since he's now working down in San Diego for someone else ... but John's still here and working hard!
The next big goal, sitewise, is to make it easier for people to contribute in fun and interesting ways. I'm not sure if definitions are the way to go, but we'll be testing all sorts of different things, for sure.
Our goal for Wordnik is still the same: all the words, and everything about them. It's a big goal, but we'll get there ...
Thanks!
Erin
September 2, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks telofy! Fixed now.
August 23, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word erinnophily
"Erinnophily - the study of commemorative labels." From http://www.junior-philatelists.com/terms.htm
August 1, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list you-must-be-joking
Oh duh! Dor! Thanks ruzuzu!
July 26, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word gunate
Thanks, membender! I cleaned up the examples.
July 19, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word synformy
(The) visual or acoustic similarity of lexical forms which may cause learners to
confuse similar words. PDF link
July 19, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word ansercide
"We derive from this a certain lack of confidence in government data and a suspicion of ansercide (slaying of ducks and geese, cf. arborcide, the wanton murder of trees - see NY Times, 7/15/10" NYCivic
July 19, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi Hernesheir! We don't do that in a systematic way now, but it's in the Master Plan. If this is something you'd like to see, nag us often -- that moves things further up the list. :-)
July 8, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word Zany Carter
The Zany Carter Deluxe (ZCD) is the official drink of MR. Side effects include euphoria AND depression, also a high risk of coming unstuck from you present spot in the space-time continuum. MobileRead Advice for Newbies
July 5, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list fruits-of-linguistic-invention
Fruitful new coinages.
June 28, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word by enlarge
An eggcorn for "by and large".
June 14, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list woulda--coulda--shoulda
I think gimme and lemme qualify! I'll add 'em.
June 11, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word amdram
short for "amateur dramatics"
June 6, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word portmanqué
Coined by Rob Walker here: http://www.murketing.com/journal/?p=2335
June 1, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list the-decemberists
Hi Emily! I think "hescher" is more commonly spelled hesher. *Great* list.
May 28, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word Klondike plague
"Already he was showing the early signs of "Klondike Plague": scurvy."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704635204575242752100852566.html
May 21, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word nerled
ill-treated, as if by a stepmother
May 14, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list wordniks-who-proudly-contribute-worthless-stuff--a-lot-of-dumb-comments--and-useless-words-to-the-zeitgeist-page
I would like to be an honorary member of this fine company. Is there a Junior Birdman division?
April 20, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list knee-ded-words
Aw, thanks!
I can attest that John seems to be doing better. He's down to one crutch on occasion, even. :-)
April 20, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word ostentatiatory
An ornate room to show off one's wealth or power. (Jim Butcher)
April 19, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word Eyjafjallajökull
"Note to fellow journalists: Iceland is laughing at us. The evidence is in an article on an Icelandic Web site headlined simply, “Múhaha,” discussing our inability to pronounce the name of their volcano, Eyjafjallajökull (that’s “AYA-fyatla-jo-kutl,” according to NASA ... " The Lede
April 17, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word pelrollock
an ill-dressed, worn-out looking woman
April 12, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word semiopathy
So at the end of last year, when we coined the term semiopathy—the phenomenon of reading inappropriate emotions into signs—dozens of readers discovered that they were semiopathologists. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17323356.700-feedback.html
April 12, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word knilb
"Knilb" - pronounced with a silent k - is his word for briefly opening your eyes and then closing them again, maybe to check when you wake if it is time to get up yet. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18825263.100-feedback.html'>http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18825263.100-feedback.html
April 12, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word bouquiniste
a seller of second-hand books
April 11, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word maquereau
in the sense of "a pimp", also "mackerel"
April 11, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word cellar saver
a disparaging slang term for a volunteer fireman
April 5, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Thanks, possibleunderscore! I cleaned it up.
April 4, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list we-have-both-kinds--country-and-western
Send me some links to mp3s? :-)
March 31, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word hegan
A male vegan.
March 26, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list superlative-words
Oh, thank you sionnach! That's a good one!
March 22, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list words-stephenie-meyer-overuses
Is it fair to say she overuses the word vampire in a book about a vampire? :-)
Otherwise this list made me chuckle. While I deliberately smolder in my aloof, yet scintillating and graceful, way.
March 20, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list cricket
So this will be an open cricket list, but check those lists out too!
March 16, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list cricket
Also bilby's Sportie: Cricket
March 16, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list cricket
Wait, gangerh's list is better: I Don't Like Cricket, I Love It
March 16, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi ... Okay, I can't actually bring myself to type your username, out of sheer modesty, but a quick update. We're re-ranking examples now and should have a new batch up soonish, which should de-emphasize some of the not-so-good examples, and get rid of the server-hiccup problem which created the "invisible word" examples where the word doesn't actually appear in the example given.
Thanks!
March 5, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi bilby! There's no age limit (upper or lower) for Wordnik, although we don't recommend it to young children (simply because we can't guarantee that they won't see -- ahem -- grown-up words).
Of course, the usual rules for young children in places frequented by grownups also apply here at Wordnik: behave nicely, no tantrums, and make sure your hands are clean before you touch anything.
February 22, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
That's a really good point -- what would you all suggest we add to the FAQ to make it clearer or more helpful?
And another idea -- does somebody want to volunteer to do a guest blog post from the point of view of a Wordienik? We'd *love* that! Then we could point people at it, as well as to the FAQ.
February 20, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list ghost-words--1
Ha! What are the kinds of minds they say think alike, again?
February 20, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list punk-genres
Vanishedone, I love this list.
February 20, 2010
erinmckean commented on the list words-of-ill-repute
I was meaning to make a list of old-fashioned words for people who "aren't what they should be," but I got distracted and only added one.
February 3, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word U2 in the air
John's spangly jumpsuits are LEGEND in the office. My favorite is the blaze orange one. It's like he's a disco DOT worker.
January 27, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word U2 in the air
I kind of love the gold lamé. If you're a rock star -- hey, lamé all the way!
January 27, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hi frogapplause, I think that got fixed yesterday morning ... thanks for letting us know!
January 25, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
Hey marky, sorry not to get to this earlier -- there is a plan for a lists API. Watch the blog, we'll announce it there when it's fully cooked. :-)
Thanks!
January 22, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
Oh, lovely -- thank you!
January 19, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user gangerh
Heh. Boston Globe Theatre.
January 15, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user gangerh
Hi gangerh! I sent you an email, but am also leaving you a comment in case my email was spaminated ... can I entice you into giving me a quote or two about sweet tooth fairies? I'm hoping to write about them for the Boston Globe.
January 15, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word I miss wordie
Thanks, reesetee!
January 11, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word gleng
"the act of pulling the car door handle at precisely the same instant that driver is attempting to unlock the door, thus nullifying the unlock action." from Joe Posnanski
January 11, 2010
erinmckean commented on the word I miss wordie
Hey Sionnach, I understand your disappointment ... I do want to point out though that the goal we're working towards with Wordnik is not necessarily to have *definitions* for every word, but to have examples ... I wrote something for the NYT a couple weeks ago about the relative helpfulness of definitions -- it's here, and might help define (sorry, couldn't help myself) part of what we're working towards.
January 11, 2010
erinmckean commented on the user Telofy
I'll try to get some scripts so we can put 'em in the corpus.
And you forgot the CLOTHES! OMG, the clothes in that show are so good!
December 29, 2009
erinmckean commented on the user Telofy
I'm *loving* the Pushing Daisies quotes. Thanks for adding them!
December 29, 2009
erinmckean commented on the list words-that-sound-dirty--but-arent--1
ooh, thanks!
December 19, 2009
erinmckean commented on the user super-erinaceous
what makes you super?
December 19, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word hippodamia
I wish this meant "genius of ladybugs," because they are very, very smart, indeed.
December 19, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word whisper
Ooh, somebody noticed! We loaded a lot of "sound effects" pronunciations at the appropriate words a while back -- beep is probably my favorite. I like to imagine that it was recorded by Harpo Marx. (Note: it was not recorded by Harpo Marx.)
December 15, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word blegging
from blogging + begging: begging on a blog
December 14, 2009
erinmckean commented on the user erinmckean
Aw, thanks! Y'all are too nice. :-)
December 7, 2009
erinmckean commented on the user marky
Hey Marky! We like your enthusiasm. We'll be letting more folks into the API soon, probably next week sometime.
December 6, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word statistics
We have a big blog post on the Wordnik statistics here: Carbonated Frequencies. It's a little out of date (we fixed some of the known weirdnesses mentioned).
Right now we have a bit of a frequency "hole" for the 1970s and 1980s that we're working to fill with more data. We'll give updates as we have 'em!
December 4, 2009
erinmckean commented on the list british-broadcasting-concision
bilby, I read that as "street" actresses being unregulated, illicit, and somewhat riskier to watch than prescription actresses.
December 3, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word whiffler
In "Murder Must Advertise," Whifflers were those who participated in Wimsey's advertising scheme for Whifflets cigarettes -- "Whiffling Round Britain". "The great Whifflers' Club practically founded itself, and Whifflers who had formed attachments while Whiffling in company, secured special Whifflet coupons entitling them to a Whifflet wedding with a Whifflet cake and their photographs in the papers."
December 3, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word wordnik
Hey guys, thanks for your comments. We do read them all and I promise we take them seriously.
We do have a BHAG, which is (as John pointed out below) to be the most information about the most words for the benefit of the most people, ever. We're not nearly there yet ... but that's the goal.
The main thrust of the next few months will be to improve & expand our examples & statistics (I'd love for 'vexample' to eventually be tagged "archaic" or "dated"!) while improving the rest of the experience of the site ... which also includes the Random word function, which is slated for discussion on Monday. :-)
I can't promise that we'll act on every suggestion -- in fact, with such a small team, we can't -- but I can promise that we will always listen. You guys all know our first names, and we're all firstname@wordnik.com, so feel free to email us directly, as well as leave comments.
November 29, 2009
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Hey Prolagus, we've got some song lyrics in the example-sentences queue. I'll let you know when they're live -- we're working out some formatting issues.
November 29, 2009
erinmckean commented on the user PossibleUnderscore
Hi -- leaving a comment here as I wanted to respond to Prolagus's note below, about us "trying to make the entries better for less-humorous uses". We really do like the humorous uses, I promise, and we often call across the office to each other to point out new and great ones, but there is a limit to how many vexamples folks are willing to put up with, even if they do spark some good jokes.
I'll comment more over on wordnik about "What's a Wordnik for" ...
November 29, 2009
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Prolagus, sorry about that. I wish we could keep all the vexamples and suchlike for their riffing potential, but we are trying to make the entries better for less-humorous uses ...
VanishedOne, we'll get that other stuff cleaned up! Thanks!
November 28, 2009
erinmckean commented on the user feedback
Vanishedone -- thanks for reporting the spammers, we've dealt with them (perhaps not the Wordie treatment, but effective nonetheless) ...
We'll do our best to clean up those borked tags, too. Thanks!
November 28, 2009
erinmckean commented on the list real-genius
I think you're being too harsh on Val Kilmer. Did you see The Saint? :-)
November 24, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word pronunciations
Thanks! We kicked the pronunciation server and it should have finished its coffee break and be working again ... feel free to let us know at http://www.wordnik.com/people/feedback if it happens again!
November 24, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word kanji
The original Wordnik mandate had an implied "English" in there ... so "All the (English) words." We'll get to all the other languages eventually, provided they form an orderly queue. :-)
November 21, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word CiteULike
CiteULike is actually on our list of stuff to *remove* from the corpus because the sentences from it aren't really helpful.
November 17, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word purenteen
It seems to have the variant purentine as well.
November 16, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word bugs
whichbe, rest assured all the lists are extant, we just have to run around re-attaching the hoses to the right intake valves. Or something like that ... we'll have another update in the next few days, I hope by Wednesday.
November 16, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word list of the day
Aw, c'mon John! You know how I like the tech! But sure, mentioning it here would be nice. :-)
November 14, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word list of the day
Thanks! For now you can just email us (feedback@wordnik works); eventually we'll see if we can't do something more high-tech.
November 14, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word comments
Dear Prolagus, there's no such thing as too much feedback or feedback given too early. We really appreciate your taking the time to make suggestions! :-)
November 12, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word wordnik
Oh, telofy -- shoot, that bug (adding a new list, then a new word, then ... boom) is one we thought we caught. It's high on the list to fix. We're also working on those IPA problems -- we're about to get a newer, cleaner data source for those.
Prolagus, I'll see what we can do about your missing upper-case P. I think we have some extras around here we can swap in. :-) And we are planning on eventually letting you "hide" words from your public lookup history at some point!
I also wanted to pop in here and say that for 99% percent of Wordies, your Wordie username should work at Wordnik, you just have to reset your password (with this link: http://www.wordnik.com/user/forgot). If your username DOESN'T work (that is, if you lost the arm-wrestle for that username to another user on the Wordnik site), you'll get an email with your new username, which will be super-whateveryourusernamewas. You'll also have to reset your password.
Some Wordniks lost the username-contest to stronger and craftier Wordies; they will also have to assume the burden of superness and reset their passwords.
If we were pretty sure you were the same person on Wordie and Wordnik (same username, same or suspiciously similar email addresses) we merged the accounts. If we messed up and you are now living with a stranger, let us know ASAP! (It was only a few folks, so we hope we got it right!)
November 11, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word anyhoo
Anyhoo is a humorous mispronunciation of "anyhow."
August 20, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word cagoul
a lightweight waterproof jacket.
August 5, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word kitler
A kitler is a cat whose markings make it look as if it has a "Hitler moustache".
August 3, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word mixologist
"Mixologists serve drinks. Bartenders serve people."
July 20, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word Competetive
a Sussex dialect word for a narrow path or passage between two walls or hedges
July 14, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word IBM
IBM used to stand for "International Business Machines".
June 9, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word melamed
test
May 18, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word pantoble
short for "jeans shorts"
May 3, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word quine
"A program that generates a copy of its own source text as its complete output. Devising the shortest possible quine in some given programming language is a common hackish amusement."
http://www.nyx.net/~gthompso/quine.htm
April 16, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word kitska
"To apply the wax, you use a small tool called a kitska, which is like a tiny funnel attached to a wooden handle."
http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/posie_gets_cozy/2009/04/my-pysanky-eggs.html
April 15, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word cakeage
a fee charged by a restaurant for cutting a cake brought in by a customer, as for a birthday.
April 10, 2009
erinmckean commented on the word venustation
it means "To make something beautiful or handsome"
March 26, 2009
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