I took the same line of thinking as ruzuzu when it came to yarb/bray/emordnilap. In other instances I matched words to people who'd listed/commented on them or made expressions of fondness (chained bear/wodge). As for the rest, my rationale doesn't bear scrutiny.
I wonder if there is any connection between kedge and kedgeree (sometimes "kedgery"), the British name for a curried rice dish with smoked fish and eggs normally eaten at breakfast.
frindley says: when the revolution comes I will ban all use of this phrase outside sporting contexts. If another arts marketer tells me that their romantic concert of baroque arias or exhibition of Chinese porcelain will "kick off", I will most likely kick something.
Down here in the Antipodes "sneak peek" has become the latest fad for social notworking arts marketers. It seems everyone wants to offer you sneak peeks of things, including (very often) things that have (a) already happened and (b) are public.
My only consolation is that it may yet drive out the unhealthy predilection for having everything kick off, even concerts of baroque arias on the theme of love.
So how did you get your hyperlinks in "more about Prolagus" to stick in this new Wordnik profile? I found the other day that my h-ref coding was still there, but the links were "dry".
Speaking of bad surnames: there is a German conductor, Christoph Prick, who quite sensibly adopts the name Christof Perick when he conducts in English-speaking countries.
I believe it's what we call a madeupical – a staunchly upheld wordie/nik tradition. This is a particularly fine example of the breed – I can sense the flavour intended just by looking at it. It comes across as a milder variant of noisome.
frindley has been burning the candle at both ends. Had to stay away from wordie conversations for a bit – the time zone difference was proving to be decidedly unhealthy.
Pretty please: can the comment box be restored to the top of the comments? Having it down the bottom of the page like this would make sense only if the comments ran from oldest to most recent.
A question: how do we find wordies (i.e. profiles)? The only search box appears to be strictly for words, and when I search for user profiles I know exist, nothing comes up.
Another question: Is there are way to get the comment entry box to the top? I just had to scroll right down to the bottom of the page to get to it, which seems odd when the most recent comment is at the top.
Oh yes, whichbe, I think that was me (re user preference for going straight to "comments" when you click on a word).
I've since noticed that if a word has comments you can click on the comments link and thus go straight to the bit you want, so that's a useful thing to know, but if it's a virgin word you still have to go via the definitions/reference area first.
A useful collective term for nieces *and* nephews. As in, "My sister brought the niblings to town for Christmas so they could catch up with their aunty." Derived from "sibling".
I believe there are instances of it being used online (or reported online) as far back as 1994. I first came across it c. 1997.
And I suspect "nibling" takes the prize for the word that has the greatest number of independent "inventors". Everyone seems to think they made this up!
(The real-time twitter examples are just misspellings for "nibbling".)
What, for example, is the longer form of "kelpie"?
The origin of "brumby" is uncertain, but at least one possibility is that it was from a proper name, Brumby, and another is that it has Aboriginal origins, baroombie – so again, not really a shortening, and the "-ie" sound already present.
"Esky" is a shortening from eskimo, I guess, but the "-ie" sound already present, not added. That's probably borderline, in that it would have been adopted as a brandname to appeal to the Aussie tendency.
Rarely: ordeal, martyrdom. Frequently: a soldier's first experience of battle. As a result, and more generally: a tough first encounter with anything, especially when the training or preparation is necessarily insufficient. The latter is primarily how I use it and hear it used. (For example, I arrived at my job in the United States the week when the Executive Dir. was on vacation and we were staging the first concerts of the season. To say it was full on was an understatement. Two phrases were thrown about: "thrown in the deep end" and "baptism of fire".)
Background is interesting as it appears there's a religious meaning and a military meaning and the conflation of the two in English may have come about from a mishearing or mistranslation of a French phrase. (As of writing, Wikipedia's entry on this phrase "corrects" the French without explanation, cites Online Etymology.)
Baptism of fire (in the more literal sense of ordeal, martyrdom) has biblical origins, e.g. Matthew 3:11 "I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."
Baptism of fire (military sense) first appears in O'Meara's Napoleon in Exile, 1822: "I love a brave soldier who has undergone, le baptême du fer, whatever nation he may belong to." In other words a baptism of iron or a baptism of the blade. This informative site gives the English "baptism of fire" as first appearing 1857.
(See bilby's Anzac Day list for the comments that sent me off on this tangent.)
Yes, it's spruik to rhyme with juke. I have had the entertaining discovery today that this is an Australian word of uncertain origin.
The Australian Macquarie Dictionary offers:
/spruk/ (say sproohk) Colloquial
--verb (i)
1. to harangue or address a meeting: to spruik the benefits of a unionised workforce.
2. to harangue prospective customers to entice them into a show, strip joint, shop, etc.: *In Chinatown they are now subtly spruiking for custom. --herald, 1990.
--verb (t)
3. to promote; argue publicly for: to spruik the new legislation.origin uncertain
The New Shorter Oxford adds NZ to the mix, dates it as early 20th century, has no further clues about origins and says: "Esp. of a showman; hold forth, speak in public." With the spruiker, therefore, "a speaker employed to attract custom to a sideshow, a barker; a public speaker."
The spelling makes me wonder whether there's some Dutch or South African in there. Certainly there's a family resemblance to spreken, sprechen and that general family of words.
This makes me think of the term "organ bore", which seems to me to have a double meaning… (one of which should only be used with the utmost affection and indulgence).
According to one source it applies only to quadrupeds: "That part of the spine which reaches from betwixt the shoulder blades to the loins. This name seems only applicable to quadrupeds, because they cannot reach it to scratch."
But I don't know – there's definitely a small part of my back that I can't scratch satisfactorily, and I'm bipedal all the way.
Coined by H.L. Mencken, c./pre-1940 from ecdysis, Greek word referring to the shedding of an outer layer of skin in snakes, crustaceans and insects; or moulting.
"Ecdysiast, he calls me! Why, the man Mencken…has been reading books! Dictionaries! We don't wear feathers and molt them off…What does he know about stripping?"
(Clearly she'd been reading a dictionary or two herself.)
Also the name of a river (and valley and town) in Tasmania, Australia. Furthermore, Tasmanian choreographer Graeme Murphy created a ballet called Meander (music by Sibelius).
Brief is German for letter. This strictly isn't a falsche Freund pair, since we have the legal meaning of "brief", which is a kind of letter-of-instruction.
Today I went past a small ethnic restaurant called "King Tut's Hut". I would always pronounced this "Toot", like the beginning of Tutankhamen. But I wondered whether, in combination with "Hut", the expectation was that we'd pronounce the name to rhyme with the following word. Then, to complicate matters, there was a slogan painted on the window: "Toot and come in." Hmm.
The effectiveness of this title depends so much on how you pronounce the Don's name.
In Australia my mother's generation (but not my mother for some reason) pronounced it "kwiksit". "Quik Quixote" pronounced this way would have quite a nice ring to it. But it's more likely nowadays to be pronounced in a vaguely Spanish way (kee-ho-tay), which spoils the effect in this instance.
"You may not have heard of amortality before — mainly because I've just coined the term. It's about more than just the ripple effect of baby boomers' resisting the onset of age. Amortality is a stranger, stronger alchemy, created by the intersection of that trend with a massive increase in life expectancy and a deep decline in the influence of organized religion — all viewed through the blue haze of Viagra."
I guess she may have coined that particular slant on the word (a portmanteau of "amoral immortality" seems to be the gist of it), but not the word itself.
Australian composer Rae Marcellino, used it as a title for a quartet for cello, guitar, marimba and piano in 1997: Amortality, the art of love and death (A nicer portmanteau of "amor and mortality".)
Then there seems to be currency in medical circles.
On a more serious note, I would also nominate shoeters. Not because they necessarily look bad (quite the contrary) but simply because it's so very foolish to endure extreme discomfort in the service of fashion.
We need a word for any skirt that's wider than it is long. (Skwirt, perhaps?)
And don't say mini-skirt. If you can wear a skirt that stops 20cm/8" or so from the floor when kneeling and it's still longer than it is wide this isn't a fashion faux pas. It's not a matter of absolute length but of relative proportions…
Exactly! It's the strangest feeling. As if I've hopped on a bicycle and found I've forgotten how to ride it. I hope my experience will prove to be more like ice-skating: a few laps around the rink and I'll have found my groove again. Is there a word? Will ponder.
Frindley is back, having neglected wordie for a bit. Embarrassed to say that it was the recent new facebook debacle which reminded me that I have even more fun over here.
Then there is the common (and very real) condition amongst violinists and violists. It's a deep red round spot on the neck, just where the end pin of the violin/viola (holds the tail piece in place) rubs. Looks for all the world like a permanent hickey.
Exquisite use of flashcards in the service of music by those who've taken a vow of silence in a performance of the Hallelujah chorus. The thorny theological thicket of the introduction is a treat in itself.
A friend of mine has drawn my attention to this project.
It's for the three-hundredth anniversary of Samuel Johnson's birth, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, at Yale, is "blogging" daily entries from the first edition of Johnson's "A Dictionary of the English Language" (1755). You get images from the original proof copy, which includes Johnson's annotations.
Into the Bs now, with words like backfriend (a friend back-wards; that is, an enemy in secret – my friend speculates whether this is a precursor to frenemy).
New year resolutions are doomed to failure. So this year I'm going to try Ephiphany Resolutions instead. At the very least it has a nice ring to it and suggests something of both inspiration and wisdom.
My problem with new year resolutions is that number one on the list is always "go to bed before pumpkin hour" – and of course the nature of new year's eve is such that I break it instantly! I think I might opt for Epiphany Resolutions this year instead.
Seen on facebook: "WiiCritic attaches to your face and rings up your points when you purse your lips impatiently, sigh inaudibly, or simply turn your head away in that peculiar critic mix of sorrow and disgust."
I settled on Béla Lugosi not only because he is, in my mind, the most famous and quintessential of the vampire actors but also because he, like van Damme, was not born in an English-speaking country.
Well, I must confess that I consulted my exceedingly fat Dutch-English dictionary and finding no joy there, gave up. Now if only I'd thought to delve into the back issues of the New York Times…
8: I know this is totally wrong. (How do I know? not only because the sequence in the logic is off but because of internet caching and this question having been asked in 2006.) But here, regardless, is my proposal, just for the hell of it: Béla Lugosi.
Hoboken would have been a more satisfying solution if this Dutch name had meant something in English, as O.E. Deutsch's name does.
The fact that it doesn't is what diminished my confidence in the answer, since you gave Schubert : German as the clue, rather than Schubert : Deutsch. But then, if you'd given the latter I would have gotten it in the twinkling of an eye and perhaps that would have been less fun for the spectators…
Alas yes. There was a time last century when Alfvén's Midsummer Vigil piece (Midsommarvaka, aka in a watered-down version as Swedish Rhapsody No.1) was programmed on orchestral concerts all over the world all the time.
12: Ok, here's some convoluted rationalisation for you.
One possible answer could be Hoboken. It goes like this: Schubert's catalogue numbers are Deutsch numbers (as in Otto Erich Deutsch, but the name does mean German) and Haydn's catalogue numbers are Hoboken numbers.
Another possible answer would hinge on the fact that Schubert wrote a German Mass (or Deutsche Messe). Unfortunately there isn't really a Haydn mass that makes a truly neat correspondence to that (with either a place/language as its nickname or written in some vernacular), with the possible exception of the Mariazeller Messe.
Neither of these possibilities seem really convincing (to me), but with enough gymnastics they kind of work. But no doubt I will wake up at three in the morning with the simple, elegant solution staring me in the face…
Coming to this very late and finding 21 already solved, I was caught out by my own expectations when I eventually scrolled down to the question. Say Mendelssohn and Fingal's Cave to me and the artwork I think of isn't Turner's painting but a wood engraving from 1850. I can't find it online, but in composition and manner it's somewhat like this only a lot stormier and more turbulent looking.
The engraving captures something that Turner's outward-looking painting fails to show, but which is tremendously important, and here I quote Mendelssohn himself:
"A greener roar of waves surely never surged into a stranger cavern, whose many pillars made it look like the inside of an immense organ, black and resonant, utterly without purpose, completely isolated."
Now regarding 12, you could be getting into tricky ground there. First, you know there's a thesis arguing that Haydn was Croatian? Part of the problem is the changing borders in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But for the most part he's regarded nowadays as Austrian (Rohrau is considered lower Austria, I think).
But what I can't work out is the "Schubert : German" clue. Because Schubert was most definitely Austrian. In fact he was one of the few composers who became famous in Vienna (Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn et al) who was actually born in that city.
So if it's Schubert and a country where he wasn't born and didn't visit, perhaps we need a country where Haydn wasn't born and didn't visit (which rules out England as well as Austria). But perhaps I'm being too clever for my own good. (I'm also implying that you've made a mistake, which is hasty.)
So pondering further… Schubert spoke German, but so did Haydn. Schubert wrote sets of German Dances for piano, but so did Haydn (fewer of them though); Haydn did write "London" and "Paris" Symphonies and many "British folksongs" but the parallel there isn't neat enough for my liking.
Clarification required around question 19: The clip is Baba Yaga (the Hut on Hen's Legs). It does eventually segue into the Great Gate of Kiev about half way in. Question is – should this be considered significant, or should we just listen to the second part of the audio clip the clue and ignore old Baba Yaga?
Oh, what the heck. I don't think Baba Yaga has anything to do with it at all. It's the Warsaw Concerto, isn't it?
I needed to check a madeupical spelling matter and so I was brought to a certain rhino site. I am posting the link here, because not only does it outline what rhinos eat ("All rhinos are herbivores. Some eat grass; others eat buds, leaves, and fruit. They all eat a lot!"), it also posts clips of how they talk!
"A hero’s best friend. This ground-breaking addition to the game is integral to the theme of unconditional love in Fable II. The canine companion will act as friend, compass and protector. Players must merely feed their pooch and he will love unconditionally, creating a bond that sets up emotion-filled journeys all throughout this magical world."
Alas yes. Rather like decimate, quantum and "quantum leap/change" can't really be used precisely in everyday language. Best to leave it to the scientists, and confine it to the bin of corporate weasel words elsewhere
On cleaning out his car one day a man found a McDonald's apple pie under the front passenger seat. The packaging was in pristine condition and there was no sign of mold or deterioration, which amazed him, since he and his wife had sworn off McDonald's food more than three years before. Still, it looked good. So he took a bite. And it still burned his mouth!
So how do you dry your clothes? Personally, I love my hills hoist. And I didn't realise just how much until I lived in America for three years: not once was I able to hang my sheets out in the sunshine.
Indeed it is. It belongs to the same rhetorical class as kleenex and bandaid and esky but it's too early in the morning for me to recall what that's called.
Fascinating. Let me explain how this word ended up on my list (and yes, the best synonym, and certainly what I intend when I use it, is air sandwich).
I came across it relatively recently, reported to me from a conversation about concert programming. A concert (I don't know which one) for an orchestra (not mine) was described thus by its creator(!). And it just struck me as a wonderfully apt phrase for the kind of concert program (I'm surmising here) where there are various nice things to be heard, but no actual meat, nothing to make that concert compelling for the audience and musicians. So I think I will use it myself when suitable occasions arise, while simultaneously hoping that they rarely do!
Without wanting to cause offence, I have to confess that I consider the wedge-shaped "scone" an abomination. Hard, dense, insufficiently flavoursome, inconveniently crumbly… Fit only for dessert after hard tack.
(Perhaps they taste ok straight out of the oven, but they're never sold that way, so I stand by my assessment.)
Several of the Harry Potter books came out while I was in the States, so I dressed up in my black opera cape and went to my local bookstore at midnight and bought them there. One year, on a visit to Australia, one of my niblings wanted the latest book in the series, so naturally I bought an Australian edition, which gave me a chance to compare.
There is one scene where McGonagall offers Harry a biscuit from a tartan tin (with British/Aussie readers assuming something crunchy, possibly, in the context, a shortbread biscuit). The exact line is something like: "Have a biscuit," she said, pushing a tartan tin towards him.
In the American edition (and I admired this for its deftness as well as refusal to completely kowtow) it read: "Have a biscuit," she said, pushing a tartan tin of cookies towards him.
It's deft in that McGonagall is not given a line that she would never have uttered, but at the same time the little American readers weren't left thinking that she was offering Harry a hot scone.
To answer the original question, I would consider biscotti to fall more or less into the British/Aussie biscuit category (although I'd use the Italian name here in Australia because they're not quite like ordinary biscuits either). Would Americans consider biscotti "cookies" I wonder?
PS. Notice they didn't try to translate "tartan" to "plaid"…
Definitely "anxiousness", i.e. the noun formed from "anxious" in its second sense of wanting something very much (as opposed to "anxiety", which refers to "anxious" in its first sense of worry and nervousness).
I'd also add this non-technical observation: I regard anxiousness more as a motivating force, and anxiety as a feeling or state.
Enjoying a "mini-boom in popularity" at the moment, at least according to WWW, although Google still only yields 700 instances, including this one up near the top.
I hereby offer for Wordie enjoyment a link to entries in a competition promoting conversation between science and the arts. The task? Dance your PhD.I do not jest.
Personally I like Professor Singer's tango representing "Generation and Detection of High-Energy Phonons by Superconducting Junctions"; Professor Gaudet has fun with swing (something incomprehensible to do with phosducin); there are a couple of marine biology ones that are fun too; and you will never look at "Resolving Pathways of Functional Coupling in Human Hemoglobin Using Quantitative Low Temperature Isoelectric Focusing of Asymmetric Mutant Hybrids" in quite the same way ever again.
Plausible looking Aussie recipe for pikelets, including picture here. Disclaimer: this isn't my mother's recipe and I've not tried it myself, but it looks more or less "right".
When I was working in Cleveland I initiated an office tradition of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday (actually, any excuse will do, but that's a particularly good one), for which I made pancakes according to my tried-and-true Australian recipe. My boss informed me that she would call what I'd made Swedish pancakes or perhaps crepes. They were small-dinner-plate size and quite thin. Really nice when sprinkled with caster sugar and lemon juice then rolled up or folded. Mmm.
Pikelets, which I've not eaten in years are definitely smaller (think diameter of a generous coffee mug or small saucer) and slightly thicker. But I think, too, the recipe is slightly different. There's a picture currently showing up that has a trio of pikelets spread with jam and topped with cream – that's classic. But, my mother also used to make savoury pikelets with parsley and cheese through the mix.
I've never made the fat-and-fluffy American style pancakes so I don't have a recipe to draw comparison – I guess it includes a raising agent. I do find that kind fairly hard-going to eat.
PS. Wiki adds: # A small, thick pancake, generally in Australia, New Zealand and parts of Britain. Also known in parts of Britain as a drop-scone or Scotch pancake.
# A British regional dialect word variously denoting a flatter variant on crumpet or muffin.
Then again, the endlessly surprising wikipedia proposes this: "A buttbag (a.k.a musette or haversack) is a bag used in the armies in WWI and WWII and is still used today. The name "buttbag" is a fancy word for the bag these days because it now has a shoulder strap instead and often when walking it is over the buttocks. That kind is now used in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets for camps."
Well, I'm not sure how you'd end up finding one in a chief of staff's office, but in my world a musette can be a kind of bagpipe and thus a musette bag would be the air sack that forms the all-essential bellows.
I named one of my baroque flutes Terpsichore. The other was called Euterpe. My modern flute was called Claude, before I discovered that "Claudius" meant lame (thanks a heap, Robert Graves).
My alarm clock is completely unpredictable. It's a cheap Chinese number (Five Rams), completely mechanical, and even though I carefully wind it up each evening sometimes it just stops in the middle of the night. But I love its vaguely Art Deco styling and its construction (the curved metal back provides the "bell" and when it does ring it's a clanger). Above all I love the soothing way its irregular ticking puts me to sleep with wonderful additive rhythms, and I have yet to find another clock that gives similar satisfaction.
Frindley is officially not a fan of the website mentioned below, since it has published a scurrilous, pseudonymous, mean-spirited and very poorly researched (actually completely unreasearched sic) article posing as insider "journalism".
make the Sydney Morning Herald use the appropriate foreign characters/diacriticals for foreign names. She's sick of seeing Truls Mork instead of Mørk, and Osmo Vanska instead of Vänskä. For Pete's sake, the different characters signal different pronunciations.
Turned out, extended, flexed, pointed, en pointe, demi-pointe – beautifully encased in satin slippers that hide the stiffened canvas and leather and the miserably bloodied and blistered toes, vainly encased in strips of sheep's wool.
Clothing retailers seem to have decided that "pant" singular is the way to refer to the two-pronged garment one wears on one's legs. As in, "jacket $250, shirt $95, pant $125". But I've yet to hear of anyone "being caught with their pant down", or "pulling on their pant in the morning", or "ironing creases in their pant". Where does this nonsense come from? Will it die a natural death?
I'd love to add my blog to the "also on" list in my profile. But the list of possibilities includes all sorts of services except for mine, TypePad, even though it's a major player and even though Vox, TypePad's little brother, is there. Puzzling…
When I was in high school I had a T-shirt which read, in Swedish, "music saved me from sport". (The translation was in small letters on the sleeve.) I loved that T-shirt! And it was true: anyone in the annual school musical was exempt from sport for half the year, because that was when rehearsals took place. Hee hee.
According to this article about the Oxford Word of the Year 2008, wardrobe has become a verb, "as in: Ms. Mendes has a long-standing relationship with the house of Calvin Klein and has been wardrobed by Calvin Klein Collection."
Ugh, ugh, ugh. I'm all for creative language change and interesting new coinages. But really, what is wrong with dressed, which has been serving us so well in this context?
I came across this word in a newspaper article, probably online. But I've not heard it spoken. Ditto frugalista and topless meeting: seen but not heard.
Comments by frindley
frindley commented on the word jury-rig
Not to be confused with jerry-built.
May 9, 2011
frindley commented on the list found-in-pairs
sugartongs and pants
May 5, 2011
frindley commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
So now the analytical suspense is really killing me…
May 4, 2011
frindley commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
I think we should allow gangerh the pleasure of one big wodge.
May 4, 2011
frindley commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
I took the same line of thinking as ruzuzu when it came to yarb/bray/emordnilap. In other instances I matched words to people who'd listed/commented on them or made expressions of fondness (chained bear/wodge). As for the rest, my rationale doesn't bear scrutiny.
May 3, 2011
frindley commented on the word kedgebelly
I wonder if there is any connection between kedge and kedgeree (sometimes "kedgery"), the British name for a curried rice dish with smoked fish and eggs normally eaten at breakfast.
May 3, 2011
frindley commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
Oh no, I just thought of the perfect word for me!
** Dances around in excited anticipation of the next Identify the Wordnienik competition **
May 2, 2011
frindley commented on the word stoicking
An especially resilient item of hosiery.
April 30, 2011
frindley commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
The suspense is killing me…
April 29, 2011
frindley commented on the list cringeworthy-hair-beauty-salons
Shear Delight, Cut Loose, Herr Kutz (although I wonder if that one is apocryphal). Also, not a salon name, but a hair product line: Bed Head
April 29, 2011
frindley commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
Duh! It's tɪə-resistant, not tɛː-resistant. Silly frindley.
April 28, 2011
frindley commented on the word kick off
Thanks for warning me. That's a list I should avoid!
April 27, 2011
frindley commented on the word kick off
frindley says: when the revolution comes I will ban all use of this phrase outside sporting contexts. If another arts marketer tells me that their romantic concert of baroque arias or exhibition of Chinese porcelain will "kick off", I will most likely kick something.
Sorry if I sound twitter and blistered. Just needed to get that out of my system.
April 27, 2011
frindley commented on the word sneak peek
Down here in the Antipodes "sneak peek" has become the latest fad for social notworking arts marketers. It seems everyone wants to offer you sneak peeks of things, including (very often) things that have (a) already happened and (b) are public.
My only consolation is that it may yet drive out the unhealthy predilection for having everything kick off, even concerts of baroque arias on the theme of love.
April 27, 2011
frindley commented on the user PossibleUnderscore
Now I'm confused. Why does "PossibleUnderscore" display as "Punderscore Underscore"?
April 27, 2011
frindley commented on the word bakkushan
Weird, but it works so well!
April 27, 2011
frindley commented on the word bakkushan
This reminds me of an Ogden Nash verse (admittedly back to front):
Sure, deck your lower limbs in pants:
Yours are the legs, my sweeting.
You look divine as you advance;
Have you seen yourself retreating?
April 27, 2011
frindley commented on the word stumped
Baffled.
April 27, 2011
frindley commented on the list identify-the-wordienik
This is infinitely more difficult than I anticipated. I think I shall need to change my chosen word. How about stumped?
Anyway, my paltry effort, allocation of wild guesses aided somewhat by the use of a spreadsheet and a late swap which I shall probably regret:
bilby | playful
blafferty | systematic
chained_bear | wodge
dontcry | tear-resistant
erinmckean | slopseller
fbharjo | present
frindley | pen-like*
frogapplause | lunette
gangerh | ascian
hernesheir | greenhorn
mollusque | harlequin
oroboros | mortsafe
PossibleUnderscore | chrestomathic
Prolagus | sinistral
pterodactyl | distingue
reesetee | protean
ruzuzu | balsamaceous
seanahan | prodigal
sionnach | panda
Wordnicolina | calepinerienne
Wordplayer | boggy
yarb | emordnilap
*At least according to Andrew Clement
April 27, 2011
frindley commented on the word London derrière
Also known as Danny Boy.
April 13, 2011
frindley commented on the word bluetooth-ache
Courtesy The New York Times.
March 28, 2011
frindley commented on the word Zeitgeist
Oh bummer, I left my community/Zeitgeist comment over on zeitgeist. Still haven't gotten used to this case-sensitive business.
March 13, 2011
frindley commented on the word zeitgeist
Kind of sorry to see that the "Zeitgeist" page on Wordnik has become community in my absence. :(
March 13, 2011
frindley commented on the user frindley
Frindley has given up Facebook for Lent (2011). Does that mean she might have time to hang around here more often?
March 13, 2011
frindley commented on the list cripple-in-a-café-in-paris
That is one seriously bizarre movie (going by the synopsis)…
March 13, 2011
frindley commented on the user chained_bear
*sings* Happy birthday to you!
January 27, 2011
frindley commented on the word biro
This household word (at least in my neck of the woods) is a fitting tribute to Hungarian Bíró László, who gave us the ballpoint pen.
January 10, 2011
frindley commented on the word remarkable link
And in this postscript I add a link to an article which blatantly and without shame steals the idea and applies it to a totally unrelated topic.
October 10, 2010
frindley commented on the word remarkable link
In this comment I attempt, somewhat lamely, to play along during one of my sporadic visits to Wordnik.
October 10, 2010
frindley commented on the word flushing
The practice of feeding cows or sheep a very high level of nutrition for a couple of weeks before the breeding season in order to improve fertility.
October 6, 2010
frindley commented on the word venetian blind date
Bob: A Venetian blind date? What's that?
Betty: Oh, it's like a regular blind date, but the man shows up covered in dust.
(Nicked from the caption of a cartoon.)
October 6, 2010
frindley commented on the word chuffed
Was chuffed to discover that I Hate Perfume had been chosen as list of the day.
August 12, 2010
frindley commented on the word how to hide the like button
*like*
June 16, 2010
frindley commented on the user john
Thank you! My links weren't working the other day, but they are now. Lovely.
April 17, 2010
frindley commented on the user john
Wondering if I could be whitelisted too? Missing the "also on" function of the old profiles.
April 17, 2010
frindley commented on the user Prolagus
So how did you get your hyperlinks in "more about Prolagus" to stick in this new Wordnik profile? I found the other day that my h-ref coding was still there, but the links were "dry".
April 16, 2010
frindley commented on the word geyser
It's been proposed that may be the only English word to have been imported from Icelandic. Can anyone think of any others?
April 16, 2010
frindley commented on the word ye gods
This is the favourite exclamation of one of the characters in The Music Man. Zaneeta Shinn, perhaps?
April 15, 2010
frindley commented on the list cast-a-spell
Nice list! I hope there's more to come.
April 14, 2010
frindley commented on the word Humperdink
Speaking of bad surnames: there is a German conductor, Christoph Prick, who quite sensibly adopts the name Christof Perick when he conducts in English-speaking countries.
April 14, 2010
frindley commented on the word Charlotte russe
Ooh, offal dessert!
April 14, 2010
frindley commented on the word extinguishing lamps
"Wantonly disturbing" persons by ringing doorbells, knocking on doors or unlawfully extinguishing lamps.
April 14, 2010
frindley commented on the word ice sliding
Making slides upon ice or snow to the danger of pedestrians.
April 14, 2010
frindley commented on the word Charlotte russe
Would it hold its own against a trifle though?
April 14, 2010
frindley commented on the word take our survey
One of the few surveys I've really enjoyed taking. Nothing gives more pleasure than explaining why I love Wordie/Wordnik.
April 14, 2010
frindley commented on the word going Dutch
To share the cost of a meal or entertainment, especially if on a date.
February 9, 2010
frindley commented on the word office park
A contradiction in terms if ever there was one.
February 9, 2010
frindley commented on the word pongsome
I believe it's what we call a madeupical – a staunchly upheld wordie/nik tradition. This is a particularly fine example of the breed – I can sense the flavour intended just by looking at it. It comes across as a milder variant of noisome.
January 28, 2010
frindley commented on the word nostalgia
Nostalgia is: looking fondly over my old Wordie lists.
January 28, 2010
frindley commented on the user frindley
frindley has been burning the candle at both ends. Had to stay away from wordie conversations for a bit – the time zone difference was proving to be decidedly unhealthy.
January 27, 2010
frindley commented on the user Telofy
Ah, a variant on "Frustkauf" (as supplied to me a contact at the Berlin Philharmonic).
December 5, 2009
frindley commented on the word comments
Pretty please: can the comment box be restored to the top of the comments? Having it down the bottom of the page like this would make sense only if the comments ran from oldest to most recent.
November 14, 2009
frindley commented on the word comments
A question: how do we find wordies (i.e. profiles)? The only search box appears to be strictly for words, and when I search for user profiles I know exist, nothing comes up.
Another question: Is there are way to get the comment entry box to the top? I just had to scroll right down to the bottom of the page to get to it, which seems odd when the most recent comment is at the top.
November 12, 2009
frindley commented on the word suggestions
Oh yes, whichbe, I think that was me (re user preference for going straight to "comments" when you click on a word).
I've since noticed that if a word has comments you can click on the comments link and thus go straight to the bit you want, so that's a useful thing to know, but if it's a virgin word you still have to go via the definitions/reference area first.
November 12, 2009
frindley commented on the word nibling
A useful collective term for nieces *and* nephews. As in, "My sister brought the niblings to town for Christmas so they could catch up with their aunty." Derived from "sibling".
I believe there are instances of it being used online (or reported online) as far back as 1994. I first came across it c. 1997.
And I suspect "nibling" takes the prize for the word that has the greatest number of independent "inventors". Everyone seems to think they made this up!
(The real-time twitter examples are just misspellings for "nibbling".)
June 10, 2009
frindley commented on the word madeupical
Ok, confession time. Who's been googling:
madeupical -site:wordie.org
?
Very curious!
June 4, 2009
frindley commented on the list aussie-ie-ee-y-ey
I'm not so sure about all of these.
What, for example, is the longer form of "kelpie"?
The origin of "brumby" is uncertain, but at least one possibility is that it was from a proper name, Brumby, and another is that it has Aboriginal origins, baroombie – so again, not really a shortening, and the "-ie" sound already present.
"Esky" is a shortening from eskimo, I guess, but the "-ie" sound already present, not added. That's probably borderline, in that it would have been adopted as a brandname to appeal to the Aussie tendency.
May 30, 2009
frindley commented on the word oxford comma
Useful sometimes; wrong or at least unhelpful (I think) at other times. Just had to say that.
May 17, 2009
frindley commented on the word flat out like a lizard drinking
Busy, snowed under, working hard. I would dispute that it means in a hurry (even though being busy may well result in haste).
May 13, 2009
frindley commented on the word autopneumotrombics
The art of blowing one's own trumpet.
From "Tim J's" excellent article on Why Twitter is so confusing.
May 3, 2009
frindley commented on the word seeing the elephant
And what a great name for a kiddies' history book.
April 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word baptism of fire
Rarely: ordeal, martyrdom. Frequently: a soldier's first experience of battle. As a result, and more generally: a tough first encounter with anything, especially when the training or preparation is necessarily insufficient. The latter is primarily how I use it and hear it used. (For example, I arrived at my job in the United States the week when the Executive Dir. was on vacation and we were staging the first concerts of the season. To say it was full on was an understatement. Two phrases were thrown about: "thrown in the deep end" and "baptism of fire".)
Background is interesting as it appears there's a religious meaning and a military meaning and the conflation of the two in English may have come about from a mishearing or mistranslation of a French phrase. (As of writing, Wikipedia's entry on this phrase "corrects" the French without explanation, cites Online Etymology.)
Baptism of fire (in the more literal sense of ordeal, martyrdom) has biblical origins, e.g. Matthew 3:11 "I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."
Baptism of fire (military sense) first appears in O'Meara's Napoleon in Exile, 1822: "I love a brave soldier who has undergone, le baptême du fer, whatever nation he may belong to." In other words a baptism of iron or a baptism of the blade. This informative site gives the English "baptism of fire" as first appearing 1857.
(See bilby's Anzac Day list for the comments that sent me off on this tangent.)
April 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word spruik
And it would seem I'm not alone in being unaware of its being a particularly Australian usage.
April 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word spruik
Yes, it's spruik to rhyme with juke. I have had the entertaining discovery today that this is an Australian word of uncertain origin.
The Australian Macquarie Dictionary offers:
/spruk/ (say sproohk) Colloquial
--verb (i)
1. to harangue or address a meeting: to spruik the benefits of a unionised workforce.2. to harangue prospective customers to entice them into a show, strip joint, shop, etc.: *In Chinatown they are now subtly spruiking for custom. --herald, 1990.
--verb (t)
3. to promote; argue publicly for: to spruik the new legislation. origin uncertain--spruiker, noun
The New Shorter Oxford adds NZ to the mix, dates it as early 20th century, has no further clues about origins and says: "Esp. of a showman; hold forth, speak in public." With the spruiker, therefore, "a speaker employed to attract custom to a sideshow, a barker; a public speaker."
The spelling makes me wonder whether there's some Dutch or South African in there. Certainly there's a family resemblance to spreken, sprechen and that general family of words.
April 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word borehole
This makes me think of the term "organ bore", which seems to me to have a double meaning… (one of which should only be used with the utmost affection and indulgence).
April 21, 2009
frindley commented on the word paschal bilby
Thinking of bilby this Easter.
April 12, 2009
frindley commented on the word acnestis
According to one source it applies only to quadrupeds: "That part of the spine which reaches from betwixt the shoulder blades to the loins. This name seems only applicable to quadrupeds, because they cannot reach it to scratch."
But I don't know – there's definitely a small part of my back that I can't scratch satisfactorily, and I'm bipedal all the way.
April 10, 2009
frindley commented on the word www_nilbymouth_com_au
Ha!
April 10, 2009
frindley commented on the word www_nilbymouth_com_au
What's a nilby mouth anyway? Is there such a thing as a nilby? Bilby?
April 9, 2009
frindley commented on the word ecdysiast
Coined by H.L. Mencken, c./pre-1940 from ecdysis, Greek word referring to the shedding of an outer layer of skin in snakes, crustaceans and insects; or moulting.
Gypsy Rose Lee took an objection apparently:
"Ecdysiast, he calls me! Why, the man Mencken…has been reading books! Dictionaries! We don't wear feathers and molt them off…What does he know about stripping?"
(Clearly she'd been reading a dictionary or two herself.)
March 29, 2009
frindley commented on the word gonorrhoea tripper
Tripper is German for gonorrhoea.
March 29, 2009
frindley commented on the word parole password
Parole is German for password
March 29, 2009
frindley commented on the word bug nose
Bug is the German word for nose (in aviation, i.e. of a plane)
March 29, 2009
frindley commented on the word tag day
Tag is German for day
March 29, 2009
frindley commented on the word dag day
Dag is Norwegian for day
March 29, 2009
frindley commented on the word dag
sionnach has omitted the crucial thing about dags: they're still attached to the sheep, usually around its nether regions.
March 29, 2009
frindley commented on the word picasso
Turns up in Easy Virtue (2009). Larita Whittaker poses for a portrait by "a Spaniard", with picasso-esque results.
March 28, 2009
frindley commented on the word toulouse-lautrec
Turns up in Elvira Madigan. Elvira sells a sketch portrait that had been made of her by a "cripple in a café in Paris".
March 28, 2009
frindley commented on the word facebook
I would have taken plethora's stance until the recent redesign of facebook – at which point it ceased to indulge my fantasies of any kind. Very sad.
March 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word meander
Also the name of a river (and valley and town) in Tasmania, Australia. Furthermore, Tasmanian choreographer Graeme Murphy created a ballet called Meander (music by Sibelius).
March 23, 2009
frindley commented on the word mad toll
Toll is German for mad.
March 23, 2009
frindley commented on the word brief letter
Brief is German for letter. This strictly isn't a falsche Freund pair, since we have the legal meaning of "brief", which is a kind of letter-of-instruction.
March 23, 2009
frindley commented on the word hard hart
Hart is German for hard.
March 23, 2009
frindley commented on the word kraft power
This one's not so strong groan. Kraft is German for power or strength.
March 23, 2009
frindley commented on the word empty leer
Leer is German for empty.
March 23, 2009
frindley commented on the word poison gift
Gift is German for poison.
March 23, 2009
frindley commented on the word tut
Today I went past a small ethnic restaurant called "King Tut's Hut". I would always pronounced this "Toot", like the beginning of Tutankhamen. But I wondered whether, in combination with "Hut", the expectation was that we'd pronounce the name to rhyme with the following word. Then, to complicate matters, there was a slogan painted on the window: "Toot and come in." Hmm.
March 22, 2009
frindley commented on the word quik quixote
The effectiveness of this title depends so much on how you pronounce the Don's name.
In Australia my mother's generation (but not my mother for some reason) pronounced it "kwiksit". "Quik Quixote" pronounced this way would have quite a nice ring to it. But it's more likely nowadays to be pronounced in a vaguely Spanish way (kee-ho-tay), which spoils the effect in this instance.
Which reminds me of King Tut…
March 22, 2009
frindley commented on the list prate
Great list!
March 21, 2009
frindley commented on the word amortality
In a special issue of Time magazine, March 2009, Catherine Mayer claims to have coined the term "amortality". She writes:
"You may not have heard of amortality before — mainly because I've just coined the term. It's about more than just the ripple effect of baby boomers' resisting the onset of age. Amortality is a stranger, stronger alchemy, created by the intersection of that trend with a massive increase in life expectancy and a deep decline in the influence of organized religion — all viewed through the blue haze of Viagra."
I guess she may have coined that particular slant on the word (a portmanteau of "amoral immortality" seems to be the gist of it), but not the word itself.
Australian composer Rae Marcellino, used it as a title for a quartet for cello, guitar, marimba and piano in 1997: Amortality, the art of love and death (A nicer portmanteau of "amor and mortality".)
Then there seems to be currency in medical circles.
And this little guide mentions it.
March 21, 2009
frindley commented on the word facebook
Five Reasons Why Wordie is Better than Facebook
1. The home page is simple and elegant.
2. The design doesn't randomly change in ways that remove most of the functionality you've come to value.
3. It's not trying to be something it's not (unless, in a spirit of whimsy, you count flickr).
4. It's able to waste my time for longer while leaving me with the vague feeling that I might have been improving my mind.
5. Did I mention that the design doesn't change?
March 21, 2009
frindley commented on the list fashion-faux-pas
On a more serious note, I would also nominate shoeters. Not because they necessarily look bad (quite the contrary) but simply because it's so very foolish to endure extreme discomfort in the service of fashion.
March 21, 2009
frindley commented on the word skwirt
Hereby proposed as a word for referring to a skirt that's wider than it is long.
See comment on this fashion faux-pas list to see why "mini-skirt" isn't adequate to the task.
March 21, 2009
frindley commented on the list fashion-faux-pas
We need a word for any skirt that's wider than it is long. (Skwirt, perhaps?)
And don't say mini-skirt. If you can wear a skirt that stops 20cm/8" or so from the floor when kneeling and it's still longer than it is wide this isn't a fashion faux pas. It's not a matter of absolute length but of relative proportions…
March 21, 2009
frindley commented on the list lost-for-word
Exactly! It's the strangest feeling. As if I've hopped on a bicycle and found I've forgotten how to ride it. I hope my experience will prove to be more like ice-skating: a few laps around the rink and I'll have found my groove again. Is there a word? Will ponder.
March 21, 2009
frindley commented on the word epitaph
Oh seanahan, that article nearly made me cry.
March 20, 2009
frindley commented on the word epitaph
See dyer.
March 20, 2009
frindley commented on the word dyer
An epitaph for Mr Dyer:
Dyer by name, and a dyer by trade,
Of a dire disease he a die-er was made.
But mark you well, what seems very quaint:
A die-er was he of a liver complaint.
March 20, 2009
frindley commented on the user frindley
Frindley is back, having neglected wordie for a bit. Embarrassed to say that it was the recent new facebook debacle which reminded me that I have even more fun over here.
March 19, 2009
frindley commented on the word i bought some shoes. they make me some trouble
Don't forget the loafers. As my mother would say: the Devil makes work for idle hands. (And idle shoes I dare say.)
March 8, 2009
frindley commented on the word cello scrotum
Then there is the common (and very real) condition amongst violinists and violists. It's a deep red round spot on the neck, just where the end pin of the violin/viola (holds the tail piece in place) rubs. Looks for all the world like a permanent hickey.
February 7, 2009
frindley commented on the word gratituous sex
It must be, don't you think? Too clever just to be a boring old typo.
February 2, 2009
frindley commented on the word jo
In Japanese j�? (that's o with a macron above it) can mean prelude or overture, in connection with traditional theatrical forms.
February 1, 2009
frindley commented on the word is there a word for the sound of a piano falling
A flat major.
January 29, 2009
frindley commented on the word flashcard
Exquisite use of flashcards in the service of music by those who've taken a vow of silence in a performance of the Hallelujah chorus. The thorny theological thicket of the introduction is a treat in itself.
January 26, 2009
frindley commented on the word let's
Love that song!
January 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word frindley argument
All-round good-humoured debate in which nothing too serious is at stake. (But it's better if I'm right.)
January 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word frindley reminder
Useful when calling in other people's deadlines.
January 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word poodle-faker
Just in this month deborking began'>revisiting the conversation that was going on before the deborking began: World Wide Words on poodle-faker.
'>I don't suppose gangerh might kindly consider some judicious deletions? You know, to make following the thread easier?
January 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word research
Perfect! Just what I needed to clinch a frindley argument I'm having.
January 25, 2009
frindley commented on the word johnson
A friend of mine has drawn my attention to this project.
It's for the three-hundredth anniversary of Samuel Johnson's birth, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, at Yale, is "blogging" daily entries from the first edition of Johnson's "A Dictionary of the English Language" (1755). You get images from the original proof copy, which includes Johnson's annotations.
Into the Bs now, with words like backfriend (a friend back-wards; that is, an enemy in secret – my friend speculates whether this is a precursor to frenemy).
January 24, 2009
frindley commented on the word research
Serious question: how long has "research" been accepted as a verb?
January 21, 2009
frindley commented on the word emoticon
Possibly the world's earliest emoticon (from 1862) can be examined here.
January 20, 2009
frindley commented on the word epiphany resolutions
New year resolutions are doomed to failure. So this year I'm going to try Ephiphany Resolutions instead. At the very least it has a nice ring to it and suggests something of both inspiration and wisdom.
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the user frindley
My problem with new year resolutions is that number one on the list is always "go to bed before pumpkin hour" – and of course the nature of new year's eve is such that I break it instantly! I think I might opt for Epiphany Resolutions this year instead.
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the user dontcry
Thanks mate! Avva good one!
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the word dekko
I don't think I've ever heard it. I'm more familiar with terms like squiz as in "take a squiz at this".
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the word wiicritic
Seen on facebook: "WiiCritic attaches to your face and rings up your points when you purse your lips impatiently, sigh inaudibly, or simply turn your head away in that peculiar critic mix of sorrow and disgust."
I like this idea!
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the word simpler spelling
Cute but depressing; these people seem serious.
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the word with whom do i have the pleasure of speaking with
There's a small family resemblance to git, but much funnier.
But in any case he was "asking for it" wasn't he? Makes wonderful column-fodder…
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
8: some variations I know they're wrong and they don't rhyme right, just having fun…
ruddy baron
gore-store raider
sanguine purloiner
transfusion peculation
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
I settled on Béla Lugosi not only because he is, in my mind, the most famous and quintessential of the vampire actors but also because he, like van Damme, was not born in an English-speaking country.
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
Well, I must confess that I consulted my exceedingly fat Dutch-English dictionary and finding no joy there, gave up. Now if only I'd thought to delve into the back issues of the New York Times…
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
23: Yeats
"Cast a cold Eye On life, on Death. Horseman, pass by!"
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
8: I know this is totally wrong. (How do I know? not only because the sequence in the logic is off but because of internet caching and this question having been asked in 2006.) But here, regardless, is my proposal, just for the hell of it: Béla Lugosi.
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
Hoboken would have been a more satisfying solution if this Dutch name had meant something in English, as O.E. Deutsch's name does.
The fact that it doesn't is what diminished my confidence in the answer, since you gave Schubert : German as the clue, rather than Schubert : Deutsch. But then, if you'd given the latter I would have gotten it in the twinkling of an eye and perhaps that would have been less fun for the spectators…
December 31, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
34: My guess is Tassili. If not that then some other cave location in Africa, corresponding the Lascaux Caves in France.
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
35: The picture's very, very small, but it looks like a peat-bog woman, so I'm going to say Seamus Heaney.
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the word alfven is sadly out of fashion nowadays
That's Hugo Alfvén, Swedish composer and would-be watercolourist.
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list talk-like-frindley
Alas yes. There was a time last century when Alfvén's Midsummer Vigil piece (Midsommarvaka, aka in a watered-down version as Swedish Rhapsody No.1) was programmed on orchestral concerts all over the world all the time.
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
12: Ok, here's some convoluted rationalisation for you.
One possible answer could be Hoboken. It goes like this: Schubert's catalogue numbers are Deutsch numbers (as in Otto Erich Deutsch, but the name does mean German) and Haydn's catalogue numbers are Hoboken numbers.
Another possible answer would hinge on the fact that Schubert wrote a German Mass (or Deutsche Messe). Unfortunately there isn't really a Haydn mass that makes a truly neat correspondence to that (with either a place/language as its nickname or written in some vernacular), with the possible exception of the Mariazeller Messe.
Neither of these possibilities seem really convincing (to me), but with enough gymnastics they kind of work. But no doubt I will wake up at three in the morning with the simple, elegant solution staring me in the face…
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
36: Babe!
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
37: is anyone else finding it difficult to make out the words in the second clip (which are presumably important here)? I realise it's been solved, I was just trying to work it out for myself.
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
38: Sweden (I haven't heard the Midsummer Vigil in sooo long – Alfvén is sadly out of fashion nowadays)
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
Coming to this very late and finding 21 already solved, I was caught out by my own expectations when I eventually scrolled down to the question. Say Mendelssohn and Fingal's Cave to me and the artwork I think of isn't Turner's painting but a wood engraving from 1850. I can't find it online, but in composition and manner it's somewhat like this only a lot stormier and more turbulent looking.
The engraving captures something that Turner's outward-looking painting fails to show, but which is tremendously important, and here I quote Mendelssohn himself:
"A greener roar of waves surely never surged into a stranger cavern, whose many pillars made it look like the inside of an immense organ, black and resonant, utterly without purpose, completely isolated."
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
17: Solveig
19: Warsaw
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
Now regarding 12, you could be getting into tricky ground there. First, you know there's a thesis arguing that Haydn was Croatian? Part of the problem is the changing borders in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But for the most part he's regarded nowadays as Austrian (Rohrau is considered lower Austria, I think).
But what I can't work out is the "Schubert : German" clue. Because Schubert was most definitely Austrian. In fact he was one of the few composers who became famous in Vienna (Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn et al) who was actually born in that city.
So if it's Schubert and a country where he wasn't born and didn't visit, perhaps we need a country where Haydn wasn't born and didn't visit (which rules out England as well as Austria). But perhaps I'm being too clever for my own good. (I'm also implying that you've made a mistake, which is hasty.)
So pondering further… Schubert spoke German, but so did Haydn. Schubert wrote sets of German Dances for piano, but so did Haydn (fewer of them though); Haydn did write "London" and "Paris" Symphonies and many "British folksongs" but the parallel there isn't neat enough for my liking.
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the list quiz-time-7-special-saturnalia-edition
Clarification required around question 19: The clip is Baba Yaga (the Hut on Hen's Legs). It does eventually segue into the Great Gate of Kiev about half way in. Question is – should this be considered significant, or should we just listen to the second part of the audio clip the clue and ignore old Baba Yaga?
Oh, what the heck. I don't think Baba Yaga has anything to do with it at all. It's the Warsaw Concerto, isn't it?
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the word rhino
See features for Ogden Nash on this subject.
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the word features
Farewell, Farewell, you old rhinocerous
I'll stare at something less prepocerous.
- Ogden Nash
I needed to check a madeupical spelling matter and so I was brought to a certain rhino site. I am posting the link here, because not only does it outline what rhinos eat ("All rhinos are herbivores. Some eat grass; others eat buds, leaves, and fruit. They all eat a lot!"), it also posts clips of how they talk!
Furthermore, I learn, the rhino is an odd-toed ungulate and has a prehensile lip.
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the word unconditional
XBox and Lionhead Studios throw new shade on the matter:
"A hero’s best friend. This ground-breaking addition to the game is integral to the theme of unconditional love in Fable II. The canine companion will act as friend, compass and protector. Players must merely feed their pooch and he will love unconditionally, creating a bond that sets up emotion-filled journeys all throughout this magical world."
December 29, 2008
frindley commented on the word caullifluous
But see also mellon collie
December 28, 2008
frindley commented on the word wordie word of the year 2008
I nominate git.
December 23, 2008
frindley commented on the word quantum
Alas yes. Rather like decimate, quantum and "quantum leap/change" can't really be used precisely in everyday language. Best to leave it to the scientists, and confine it to the bin of corporate weasel words elsewhere
December 21, 2008
frindley commented on the word wander
I wonder as I wander out into the mall
What I shall buy Jenny and Brian and all
Something unique, yes, but something that's small
I wonder as I wander out into the mall
I really should've done this a full month ago
It's so hard to shop when we're moving so slow
And where's the inspiration I just do not know
I really should've done this a full month ago
A Shopping Carol, with apologies to John Jacob Niles
December 21, 2008
frindley commented on the word apple pie
On cleaning out his car one day a man found a McDonald's apple pie under the front passenger seat. The packaging was in pristine condition and there was no sign of mold or deterioration, which amazed him, since he and his wife had sworn off McDonald's food more than three years before. Still, it looked good. So he took a bite. And it still burned his mouth!
December 7, 2008
frindley commented on the word esky
So how do you dry your clothes? Personally, I love my hills hoist. And I didn't realise just how much until I lived in America for three years: not once was I able to hang my sheets out in the sunshine.
December 7, 2008
frindley commented on the word glip
An erroneous flashing point on a radar screen, representing nothing and typically accompanied by a short, high-pitched and out-of-tune sound.
December 6, 2008
frindley commented on the word esky
The esky, bilby? Or the hills hoist?
December 5, 2008
frindley commented on the word thermos
Indeed it is. It belongs to the same rhetorical class as kleenex and bandaid and esky but it's too early in the morning for me to recall what that's called.
December 5, 2008
frindley commented on the word ablution
I use ablute as a verb all the time and think it's a shame this excellent word isn't "official"
December 4, 2008
frindley commented on the word grow like top seed
Grow like topsy
December 4, 2008
frindley commented on the word nothing burger
Fascinating. Let me explain how this word ended up on my list (and yes, the best synonym, and certainly what I intend when I use it, is air sandwich).
I came across it relatively recently, reported to me from a conversation about concert programming. A concert (I don't know which one) for an orchestra (not mine) was described thus by its creator(!). And it just struck me as a wonderfully apt phrase for the kind of concert program (I'm surmising here) where there are various nice things to be heard, but no actual meat, nothing to make that concert compelling for the audience and musicians. So I think I will use it myself when suitable occasions arise, while simultaneously hoping that they rarely do!
December 4, 2008
frindley commented on the word for the term of his natural life
Novel by Marcus Clarke set in a Tasmanian convict settlement.
December 2, 2008
frindley commented on the word meldrop
Apparently from an Old Norse word, referring to foam from a horse's mouth.
November 30, 2008
frindley commented on the word foxtail
Throw it, catch it – but only by the tail. Foxtail is about the only ball game I've ever truly enjoyed.
November 30, 2008
frindley commented on the list special-beasts
I'd make some suggestions but I'm flat out like a lizard drinking.
November 30, 2008
frindley commented on the list skip-the-light-fontastic
Maestro Wide; Sinsation; Snell Roundhand (I always imagine someone writing very fast); Snipple; Manifesto
November 27, 2008
frindley commented on the word cookie vs biscuit
Without wanting to cause offence, I have to confess that I consider the wedge-shaped "scone" an abomination. Hard, dense, insufficiently flavoursome, inconveniently crumbly… Fit only for dessert after hard tack.
(Perhaps they taste ok straight out of the oven, but they're never sold that way, so I stand by my assessment.)
November 25, 2008
frindley commented on the word enwrap
Oh come on Beethoven, get out of bed and write some music.
;-)
(It's a fantastic verb, though.)
November 23, 2008
frindley commented on the word why we have editors
We have editors so that Mozart doesn't die in 1792 more than once a year. Or maybe that's why we have proofreaders.
November 23, 2008
frindley commented on the word chrysleriana
Ah. Exquisite! I think I will make this my wotd.
November 23, 2008
frindley commented on the word cookie vs biscuit
Several of the Harry Potter books came out while I was in the States, so I dressed up in my black opera cape and went to my local bookstore at midnight and bought them there. One year, on a visit to Australia, one of my niblings wanted the latest book in the series, so naturally I bought an Australian edition, which gave me a chance to compare.
There is one scene where McGonagall offers Harry a biscuit from a tartan tin (with British/Aussie readers assuming something crunchy, possibly, in the context, a shortbread biscuit). The exact line is something like: "Have a biscuit," she said, pushing a tartan tin towards him.
In the American edition (and I admired this for its deftness as well as refusal to completely kowtow) it read: "Have a biscuit," she said, pushing a tartan tin of cookies towards him.
It's deft in that McGonagall is not given a line that she would never have uttered, but at the same time the little American readers weren't left thinking that she was offering Harry a hot scone.
To answer the original question, I would consider biscotti to fall more or less into the British/Aussie biscuit category (although I'd use the Italian name here in Australia because they're not quite like ordinary biscuits either). Would Americans consider biscotti "cookies" I wonder?
PS. Notice they didn't try to translate "tartan" to "plaid"…
November 23, 2008
frindley commented on the word too many notes
Definitely "anxiousness", i.e. the noun formed from "anxious" in its second sense of wanting something very much (as opposed to "anxiety", which refers to "anxious" in its first sense of worry and nervousness).
I'd also add this non-technical observation: I regard anxiousness more as a motivating force, and anxiety as a feeling or state.
November 23, 2008
frindley commented on the word william williams
Not to mention Donald McDonald.
November 22, 2008
frindley commented on the list scientific-papers-with-delightful-titles
I want to see someone do an interpretative dance for "Ultrasonic frogs show hyperacute phonotaxis to female courtship calls"
November 17, 2008
frindley commented on the word agelastic
Enjoying a "mini-boom in popularity" at the moment, at least according to WWW, although Google still only yields 700 instances, including this one up near the top.
November 16, 2008
frindley commented on the word interpretative dance
I hereby offer for Wordie enjoyment a link to entries in a competition promoting conversation between science and the arts. The task? Dance your PhD. I do not jest.
Personally I like Professor Singer's tango representing "Generation and Detection of High-Energy Phonons by Superconducting Junctions"; Professor Gaudet has fun with swing (something incomprehensible to do with phosducin); there are a couple of marine biology ones that are fun too; and you will never look at "Resolving Pathways of Functional Coupling in Human Hemoglobin Using Quantitative Low Temperature Isoelectric Focusing of Asymmetric Mutant Hybrids" in quite the same way ever again.
November 16, 2008
frindley commented on the word pikelet
Plausible looking Aussie recipe for pikelets, including picture here. Disclaimer: this isn't my mother's recipe and I've not tried it myself, but it looks more or less "right".
November 16, 2008
frindley commented on the word sheep-pig
I guess when your nose begins looking like a pig snout, clan goes out the window and species it is. But yes, in the story it's "clan".
November 16, 2008
frindley commented on the word pikelet
When I was working in Cleveland I initiated an office tradition of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday (actually, any excuse will do, but that's a particularly good one), for which I made pancakes according to my tried-and-true Australian recipe. My boss informed me that she would call what I'd made Swedish pancakes or perhaps crepes. They were small-dinner-plate size and quite thin. Really nice when sprinkled with caster sugar and lemon juice then rolled up or folded. Mmm.
Pikelets, which I've not eaten in years are definitely smaller (think diameter of a generous coffee mug or small saucer) and slightly thicker. But I think, too, the recipe is slightly different. There's a picture currently showing up that has a trio of pikelets spread with jam and topped with cream – that's classic. But, my mother also used to make savoury pikelets with parsley and cheese through the mix.
I've never made the fat-and-fluffy American style pancakes so I don't have a recipe to draw comparison – I guess it includes a raising agent. I do find that kind fairly hard-going to eat.
PS. Wiki adds: # A small, thick pancake, generally in Australia, New Zealand and parts of Britain. Also known in parts of Britain as a drop-scone or Scotch pancake.
# A British regional dialect word variously denoting a flatter variant on crumpet or muffin.
November 16, 2008
frindley commented on the word frowsy
Then again, the endlessly surprising wikipedia proposes this: "A buttbag (a.k.a musette or haversack) is a bag used in the armies in WWI and WWII and is still used today. The name "buttbag" is a fancy word for the bag these days because it now has a shoulder strap instead and often when walking it is over the buttocks. That kind is now used in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets for camps."
November 16, 2008
frindley commented on the word musette bag
See frowsy.
November 16, 2008
frindley commented on the word frowsy
Well, I'm not sure how you'd end up finding one in a chief of staff's office, but in my world a musette can be a kind of bagpipe and thus a musette bag would be the air sack that forms the all-essential bellows.
November 16, 2008
frindley commented on the word sheep-pig
baa ram ewe!
November 15, 2008
frindley commented on the word farding
Here's the wtopnews link.
November 15, 2008
frindley commented on the list what-do-these-words-have-in-common
So it would appear there are rules: at least two syllables, and members of the same family have to have the same initial letter.
November 15, 2008
frindley commented on the word achtentachtig prachtige grachten
Dutch for: "eighty-eight beautiful canals"
But you have to say it out loud with the proper sounds for "ch" and "g".
November 15, 2008
frindley commented on the word terpsichorean
I named one of my baroque flutes Terpsichore. The other was called Euterpe. My modern flute was called Claude, before I discovered that "Claudius" meant lame (thanks a heap, Robert Graves).
November 14, 2008
frindley commented on the word snooze button
My alarm clock is completely unpredictable. It's a cheap Chinese number (Five Rams), completely mechanical, and even though I carefully wind it up each evening sometimes it just stops in the middle of the night. But I love its vaguely Art Deco styling and its construction (the curved metal back provides the "bell" and when it does ring it's a clanger). Above all I love the soothing way its irregular ticking puts me to sleep with wonderful additive rhythms, and I have yet to find another clock that gives similar satisfaction.
November 14, 2008
frindley commented on the word www_crikey_com_au
Ooh, thank you bilby. A combination of two shades of sage green proved to be very calming indeed. Will now try a nice jacaranda.
November 14, 2008
frindley commented on the word www_crikey_com_au
Frindley is officially not a fan of the website mentioned below, since it has published a scurrilous, pseudonymous, mean-spirited and very poorly researched (actually completely unreasearched sic) article posing as insider "journalism".
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word when the revolution comes
When the revolution comes, frindley will…
make the Sydney Morning Herald use the appropriate foreign characters/diacriticals for foreign names. She's sick of seeing Truls Mork instead of Mørk, and Osmo Vanska instead of Vänskä. For Pete's sake, the different characters signal different pronunciations.
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word sprachgefühl
Nøw, nøw, døn't discriminåtë ågåinst øther Nørdic diåcriticåls!
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word cans
Headphones
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word heavy metal umlaut
They're making up for all the umlauts that the German government has now eliminated from the language. Schade.
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word nipplefruit
"Learn Chinese at home
A better chance to find a new job Don't hesitate,FREE TRIAL now!"
?
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word ballerina feet
Turned out, extended, flexed, pointed, en pointe, demi-pointe – beautifully encased in satin slippers that hide the stiffened canvas and leather and the miserably bloodied and blistered toes, vainly encased in strips of sheep's wool.
I know.
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word blame
Business Logic Anomaly Menders and Extractors
idiots'>acronym courtesy of elgiad007 on idiots
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word corpse
Code Outputting Resources for Programmed Service Engineering
idiots'>another wonderful acronym courtesy of elgiad007 on idiots
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word bullcrap
Bilby's Utilitarian Lightfisted Lending Corps for Resourcing Australian Projects
thank you bilby-of-the-10000-comments
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the user plethora
* bakes special Armenian nutmeg cake and prepares to launch *
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word armenian nutmeg cake
But much, much tastier!
November 13, 2008
frindley commented on the word sweets
Lollies, confectionery… yum! Oh, that would be candy too.
November 12, 2008
frindley commented on the word advent calendar
My English grandmother used to send one out every year. Always one of the beautiful card ones with windows. (No sweets!)
November 12, 2008
frindley commented on the word pants vs pant
Clothing retailers seem to have decided that "pant" singular is the way to refer to the two-pronged garment one wears on one's legs. As in, "jacket $250, shirt $95, pant $125". But I've yet to hear of anyone "being caught with their pant down", or "pulling on their pant in the morning", or "ironing creases in their pant". Where does this nonsense come from? Will it die a natural death?
November 12, 2008
frindley commented on the word features
I'd love to add my blog to the "also on" list in my profile. But the list of possibilities includes all sorts of services except for mine, TypePad, even though it's a major player and even though Vox, TypePad's little brother, is there. Puzzling…
November 12, 2008
frindley commented on the word sport
When I was in high school I had a T-shirt which read, in Swedish, "music saved me from sport". (The translation was in small letters on the sleeve.) I loved that T-shirt! And it was true: anyone in the annual school musical was exempt from sport for half the year, because that was when rehearsals took place. Hee hee.
November 12, 2008
frindley commented on the word wardrobe
According to this article about the Oxford Word of the Year 2008, wardrobe has become a verb, "as in: Ms. Mendes has a long-standing relationship with the house of Calvin Klein and has been wardrobed by Calvin Klein Collection."
Ugh, ugh, ugh. I'm all for creative language change and interesting new coinages. But really, what is wrong with dressed, which has been serving us so well in this context?
* contemplates adding new comment to when the revolution comes *
November 12, 2008
frindley commented on the word hypermiling
I came across this word in a newspaper article, probably online. But I've not heard it spoken. Ditto frugalista and topless meeting: seen but not heard.
November 12, 2008
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