Thought of this list when I came across cuscuses for the first time today. Cuscus is the common name for a particular species of possum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuscus
I am kad, I've just been reborn as kitinka here on Wordnik. When John comes back to the couch I'll ask him why kitinka won out over kad in the Wordie-Wordnik shuffle.
"An artifact is the product of a successful attempt to make a purposeless, useless, beautiful thing out of a past-tensed fact. It can never be art, and it can never be fact."
--"Everything Is Illuminated" (Jonathan Safran Foer)
The biliary tract (or biliary tree) is the common anatomy term for the path by which bile is secreted by the liver on its way to the duodenum, or small intestine, of most members of the mammal family. (Wikipedia)
A coronagraph is a telescopic attachment designed specifically to block out the harsh, direct light from a star, so that nearby objects can be resolved without burning out the telescope's optics.
"The Romans were so smitten with Zadar — the Old Town is a 400-by-1,000-meter peninsula (about 100 acres) framed by Adriatic islands — they gave it municipium status, the second highest among cities."
"...the stiff, sensitive whiskers that a walrus uses to search for bivalves through the seabed’s dark murk, and that feel like slender tubes of bamboo."
--Natalie Angier, "Who is the Walrus?", NYTimes, 5/20/08
"...the ability to declaim for portentous minutes about the revolution in world affairs brought about by technological change/environmental degradation/the fundamental decline in moral values."
"It was the subject of a recent cover story in San Francisco magazine that quotes a Berkeley mother so stressed out about the extravagance of her nightly baths that she started to reuse her daughter’s bath water. Where there is ecoanxiety, of course, there are ecotherapists."
Nope, I'm a kiwi-eating, darjeeling-swilling eater of world foods. To me, coffee is the #1 reason not to be a locavore, with greek olives a close second. But because I am with child* I have given it up for the time being.
*Actually had a doctor refer to me as such. I nearly peed my pants trying not to laugh.
It's not arcane, but one of my favorite units of measure is the Sverdrup. In oceanography, it's a measure of the volume of water transported by a current in a given amount of time.
"They had taken supper, an inedible excrescence, at a restaurant across the parking lot, in a booth beneath a faux Tiffany lamp, served by a spotty high school girl with an eerily keen smile and an imposingly cleft chin."
-- The Emperor's Children, by Claire Messud (page 454)
thanks reesetee! i think i'd feel a sense of accomplishment if i even had a halfway decent paragraph of fiction by november 30, so there's not much to lose.
I'm having pre-wrimo anxiety--trying to decide whether to go for it or not. It seemed like such a good idea back in July, but reality is setting in. Anyone else planning on spending November writing a mediocre novel?
One of my pet peeves is when someone says 'you times the first number by the second' instead of 'you multiply the the first number by the second.' Much to my chagrin, one of the *graduate students* in a class I'm teaching said this today. I think I have to fail her.
Until, uh, last night I thought that Belle and Sebastian were singing about louvredors rather than "louvre doors:"
"Now the centre of my so called being is
The space between your bed and wardrobe with the louvre doors"
I guess I kind of pictured there being a group of louvredors (like matadors?) being in that space. It wasn't until I went to look up 'louvredor' that I realized there was no such thing.
"We are in search of an electroporator capable of delivering 15V for 50 ms pulses that also has a plug for an external electrode. Thank you for your help."
Because everyone should know what an electroporator is, right?
Reminds me of the "Verbivore Challenge" on the radio show "A Way With Words," a cheesy show about words that was on KPBS when I lived in San Diego. If you haven't ever heard the show...here it is
Gnatstown reminds me of the Icelandic town of Myvatn (sp?), which translates to 'Fly Lake.' A beautiful little town, but unfortunately it is is accurately named.
Absolutely. I'm originally from Pittsburgh, not far from the Youghiogheny River. Unless I've been mispronouncing it my whole life, the first 'gh' is pronounced like a 'k': Yawk-i-gain-ee.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of another word with a gh that gets pronounced as a k...which means that the rest of my work day is shot as I try.
Very seriously. This is apparently a town, a state park, and a rest stop on the garden state parkway. Despite desperate attempts last weekend, I couldn't find my way from the highway to the state park and wound up in horrendous traffic. The silver lining is that it prompted me to actually buy a map.
According to Wikipedia, this word comes from a Lenape Native American word for 'upland' or 'upland village.' But I'd rather picture Cheesquake State Park as a place where they pass out cheesecake at the entrance. Or where there is cottage cheese rustling nervously in the breeze.
This reminds me of one of my favorite misunderstandings of lyrics. A friend of mine thought that the singer of 'Lowrider' kept saying 'Low, dry dove, is a little higher.'
quixotic is my favorite (though it's not easy to choose with so many good words!). i like both the reference to a literary character and the way that it sounds. and it gets extra points for having a 'q' and an 'x' in it.
It's amazing how easy it is to get a rise out of scientists -- I'm no exception :) Black sheep we may be, but plain old sheep, we are not. I think you're spot on when you say that blind faith is the antithesis of science.
Um...'global warming' and 'power crystals' in the same category? The phrase 'global warming' may be vague, but the phenomenon is very, very real. As 99% of the climate scientists in the world (including me!) will tell you, global warming is no longer a theory. It is a fact.
sometimes finding lists like that on websites takes the joy out of compiling the list yourself (waiting for the end of 'car talk' with pencil in hand). but there are so many more listed than i've ever heard on air :)
'realtor' often becomes 'reel-i-tur' when it should be 'reel-tur' or 're-uhl-tur.' as for vietnamese and spaghetti, i'm as perplexed as you are, pedalinfaith.
I often hear "supposably" instead of "supposedly." Then there's Oregon. How most of America can mispronounce the name of one of our own states is beyond me.
"Portuguese word for a feeling of longing for something that one is fond of, which is gone, but might return in a distant future. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return."
This is one of my favorite words in another language for which we have no equivalent in English. From Wikipedia:
"...Portuguese word for a feeling of longing for something that one is fond of, which is gone, but might return in a distant future. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return."
There have been studies that show that your brain is very active when you're using hesitation words (such as "um"), so they're actually an important part of verbalization. "Kind of" and "sort of" seem like they'd be the opposite to me -- your brain shutting off, giving up on being articulate, and filling in the gap. Just a theory.
Comments by kad
kad commented on the list animals-with-nifty-names
Thought of this list when I came across cuscuses for the first time today. Cuscus is the common name for a particular species of possum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuscus
May 7, 2011
kad commented on the word aulacogen
A failed arm of a triple-junction of a plate tectonics rift system.
June 25, 2010
kad commented on the word zud
An extended period of heavy snow and extreme cold in Mongolia that prevents livestock grazing.
May 20, 2010
kad commented on the list animals-with-nifty-names
how about quokka? (Now wracking my brain to think of other words with a double k.)
March 10, 2010
kad commented on the word cotagonist
a co-protagonist.
January 13, 2010
kad commented on the list funny-place-names-in-the-garden-state
I am kad, I've just been reborn as kitinka here on Wordnik. When John comes back to the couch I'll ask him why kitinka won out over kad in the Wordie-Wordnik shuffle.
Mollusque, there's a Bivalve, NJ?
December 2, 2009
kad commented on the word saola
A rare ungulate no scientist has ever glimpsed in the wild. Also known as the Vu Quang ox.
September 4, 2009
kad commented on the word artifact
"An artifact is the product of a successful attempt to make a purposeless, useless, beautiful thing out of a past-tensed fact. It can never be art, and it can never be fact."
--"Everything Is Illuminated" (Jonathan Safran Foer)
August 3, 2009
kad commented on the word artifice
"Artifice is that thing that was art in its conception and ifice in its execution. Look around. Examples are everywhere."
--"Everything Is Illuminated" (Jonathan Safran Foer)
August 3, 2009
kad commented on the word ifact
"An ifact is a past-tensed fact. For example, many believe that after the destruction of the first Temple, God's existence became an ifact."
--"Everything Is Illuminated" (Jonathan Safran Foer)
August 3, 2009
kad commented on the word ifice
"Ifice is a thing with purpose, created for function's sake, and having to do with the world. Everything is, in some way, an example of ifice."
-- "Everything Is Illuminated" (Jonathan Safran Foer)
August 3, 2009
kad commented on the word nephelometer
A nephelometer is used to measure the turbidity of water via the scattering of light through a water sample.
June 26, 2009
kad commented on the word biliary tree
The biliary tract (or biliary tree) is the common anatomy term for the path by which bile is secreted by the liver on its way to the duodenum, or small intestine, of most members of the mammal family. (Wikipedia)
April 3, 2009
kad commented on the word pozzolan
A material which, when combined with calcium hydroxide, exhibits cementitious properties.
April 1, 2009
kad commented on the word lemmata
plural form of lemma.
March 24, 2009
kad commented on the word coronagraph
A coronagraph is a telescopic attachment designed specifically to block out the harsh, direct light from a star, so that nearby objects can be resolved without burning out the telescope's optics.
November 14, 2008
kad commented on the word log line
Used for measuring the speed of a ship.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mosmd/logln.htm
October 21, 2008
kad commented on the word secchi disk
A circular disk used to measure water transparency in oceans and lakes.
October 21, 2008
kad commented on the word osmometer
A device for measure the osmotic strength of a solution.
October 21, 2008
kad commented on the word robocall
This robocall has John McCain in hot water right now:
October 20, 2008
kad commented on the word hypnagogic startle
The sudden, whole-body jerk that often occurs as you're falling asleep.
October 7, 2008
kad commented on the word deriching
The opposite of enriching.
September 30, 2008
kad commented on the word bacteriovory
"Marine bacterial populations are controlled through grazing protists in a process known as bacteriovory."
--Zubkov and Tarran, Nature, September 2008
September 11, 2008
kad commented on the word bananaphone
noooooo! the bananaphone earworm begins again!
July 14, 2008
kad commented on the word municipium
"The Romans were so smitten with Zadar — the Old Town is a 400-by-1,000-meter peninsula (about 100 acres) framed by Adriatic islands — they gave it municipium status, the second highest among cities."
-- New York Times, 7/7/08
July 8, 2008
kad commented on the word bdelloid rotifers
small transparent animals that live in damp places such as puddles, or patches of moss
June 4, 2008
kad commented on the word vibrissae
or walrus whiskers:
"...the stiff, sensitive whiskers that a walrus uses to search for bivalves through the seabed’s dark murk, and that feel like slender tubes of bamboo."
--Natalie Angier, "Who is the Walrus?", NYTimes, 5/20/08
May 21, 2008
kad commented on the word squananaphone
a telephone that looks, amazingly, like a banana and a squid.
March 15, 2008
kad commented on the word globaloney
"...the ability to declaim for portentous minutes about the revolution in world affairs brought about by technological change/environmental degradation/the fundamental decline in moral values."
--David Brooks, The Rank-Link Imbalance
New York Times, March 14, 2008
March 14, 2008
kad commented on the list a-long-strange-trip
Strawberry Fields?
February 19, 2008
kad commented on the word ecoanxiety
"It was the subject of a recent cover story in San Francisco magazine that quotes a Berkeley mother so stressed out about the extravagance of her nightly baths that she started to reuse her daughter’s bath water. Where there is ecoanxiety, of course, there are ecotherapists."
--For 'EcoMoms,' Saving Earth Begins at Home. NYTimes, 2/16/08
February 16, 2008
kad commented on the word eat, pray, rove
The disillusioned Boy Genius seeks gastronomical and spiritual enlightenment on a journey to the world's most traveled places.
February 14, 2008
kad commented on the word the kite ruiner
The story of an Afghan boy haunted by the guilt of destroying his best friend's kite.
February 14, 2008
kad commented on the word angels and lemons
Dan Brown's suspense-filled tale of an attempt by the Illuminati to sell the Pope a Ford Pinto.
February 14, 2008
kad commented on the word human stain remover
Or is it someone who hates Phillip Roth?
January 29, 2008
kad commented on the word run dry run
excellent!
January 29, 2008
kad commented on the word aqua regia
Such a nice sounding phrase for what is actually extremely caustic stuff.
December 14, 2007
kad commented on the word idea hamster
I thought I'd discovered a bug on dictionary.com when this came up. Does anyone actually use this phrase?
December 9, 2007
kad commented on the list reasons-to-love-the-steelers
cowher power! here we go!
November 15, 2007
kad commented on the word baklava
see also: yummy
November 15, 2007
kad commented on the word holy carp
can't believe this hadn't been listed until now! it's a colleen classic!
November 15, 2007
kad commented on the word locavore
Nope, I'm a kiwi-eating, darjeeling-swilling eater of world foods. To me, coffee is the #1 reason not to be a locavore, with greek olives a close second. But because I am with child* I have given it up for the time being.
*Actually had a doctor refer to me as such. I nearly peed my pants trying not to laugh.
November 14, 2007
kad commented on the word locavore
I've also heard locatarian as a way to describe the valiant few among us on the east coast who can forgo coffee.
November 13, 2007
kad commented on the word eye cap
Skipvia, did you actually witness such an eye popping event?
November 10, 2007
kad commented on the list the-measure-of-man
It's not arcane, but one of my favorite units of measure is the Sverdrup. In oceanography, it's a measure of the volume of water transported by a current in a given amount of time.
November 7, 2007
kad commented on the word bobization
or systematically naming all men 'Bob'
November 2, 2007
kad commented on the word pseudotribosphenic
From what I can gather, this is a type of tooth, a molar to be more precise.
Etymology: Pseudo, false, for superficial resemblance; tribos, grinding, for the grinding and crushing function of the pseudo-tribosphenic molar;
November 1, 2007
kad commented on the word next steps
perhaps each of us should have an action item.
October 31, 2007
kad commented on the word succotash
Or, as served in Pittsburgh in the 1970s, a dish that came in a box in the frozen food section and elicited groans from young children.
October 29, 2007
kad commented on the word excrescence
"They had taken supper, an inedible excrescence, at a restaurant across the parking lot, in a booth beneath a faux Tiffany lamp, served by a spotty high school girl with an eerily keen smile and an imposingly cleft chin."
-- The Emperor's Children, by Claire Messud (page 454)
October 29, 2007
kad commented on the list my-stupid-day
glad you had pad thai and mocha...they seem to balance out the passive-aggressive and the overcast.
October 25, 2007
kad commented on the word diluent
And kind of like an eluent--a substance used to separate different components of a solution.
October 18, 2007
kad commented on the word nanowrimo
thanks reesetee! i think i'd feel a sense of accomplishment if i even had a halfway decent paragraph of fiction by november 30, so there's not much to lose.
October 18, 2007
kad commented on the word puptuplet
I love it!
October 18, 2007
kad commented on the word nanowrimo
I'm having pre-wrimo anxiety--trying to decide whether to go for it or not. It seemed like such a good idea back in July, but reality is setting in. Anyone else planning on spending November writing a mediocre novel?
October 18, 2007
kad commented on the word times
One of my pet peeves is when someone says 'you times the first number by the second' instead of 'you multiply the the first number by the second.' Much to my chagrin, one of the *graduate students* in a class I'm teaching said this today. I think I have to fail her.
October 18, 2007
kad commented on the word compersion
Sort of the good-spirited opposite of schadenfreude.
October 17, 2007
kad commented on the word jeez
i like "jeez louise" myself.
October 16, 2007
kad commented on the list expectant-words
ew! though i wonder if there are enough synonyms for phlegm to constitute a list...
October 11, 2007
kad commented on the word buwahaha
Is this how you spell the sound of Dr. Evil's laughter in 'Austin Powers?'
October 6, 2007
kad commented on the word islets of langerhans
is there a road trip destinations list yet?
October 5, 2007
kad commented on the word correlogram
a correlation graph that helps to reveal the characteristics of a time series
October 5, 2007
kad commented on the word commensurable
I was surprised to find that this is actually a word. I'd always used commensurate, which basically has the same meaning.
October 3, 2007
kad commented on the word pit of despair
"The Pit of Despair! Don't even think about trying to escape. The chains are far too thick. Don't dream of being rescued either."
--The Albino, in 'The Princess Bride'
October 2, 2007
kad commented on the list misunderstood-lyrics
Until, uh, last night I thought that Belle and Sebastian were singing about louvredors rather than "louvre doors:"
"Now the centre of my so called being is
The space between your bed and wardrobe with the louvre doors"
I guess I kind of pictured there being a group of louvredors (like matadors?) being in that space. It wasn't until I went to look up 'louvredor' that I realized there was no such thing.
October 2, 2007
kad commented on the word goji berries
I can't see or hear 'goji berries' without hearing this guy in my mind:
September 27, 2007
kad commented on the word electroporator
"We are in search of an electroporator capable of delivering 15V for 50 ms pulses that also has a plug for an external electrode. Thank you for your help."
Because everyone should know what an electroporator is, right?
September 26, 2007
kad commented on the list the-elements
kewpid, you also might enjoy this list
September 25, 2007
kad commented on the word gloaming
Always makes me think of one of the saddest short stories I've ever read: 'In the Gloaming,' by Alice Elliot Dark.
September 24, 2007
kad commented on the word fumiferous
and 'fumi' would be a great nickname for a dragon :)
September 22, 2007
kad commented on the word verbivore
Reminds me of the "Verbivore Challenge" on the radio show "A Way With Words," a cheesy show about words that was on KPBS when I lived in San Diego. If you haven't ever heard the show...here it is
September 20, 2007
kad commented on the word back door front
A weather front that slips in behind another.
September 20, 2007
kad commented on the list strange-pennsylvania-place-names
Gnatstown reminds me of the Icelandic town of Myvatn (sp?), which translates to 'Fly Lake.' A beautiful little town, but unfortunately it is is accurately named.
September 19, 2007
kad commented on the word sobriquet
me too!
September 19, 2007
kad commented on the list funny-place-names-in-the-garden-state
Absolutely. I'm originally from Pittsburgh, not far from the Youghiogheny River. Unless I've been mispronouncing it my whole life, the first 'gh' is pronounced like a 'k': Yawk-i-gain-ee.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of another word with a gh that gets pronounced as a k...which means that the rest of my work day is shot as I try.
September 18, 2007
kad commented on the list funny-place-names-in-the-garden-state
Thanks reesetee! Are you in the Garden State, too?
September 18, 2007
kad commented on the word cheesequake
Very seriously. This is apparently a town, a state park, and a rest stop on the garden state parkway. Despite desperate attempts last weekend, I couldn't find my way from the highway to the state park and wound up in horrendous traffic. The silver lining is that it prompted me to actually buy a map.
According to Wikipedia, this word comes from a Lenape Native American word for 'upland' or 'upland village.' But I'd rather picture Cheesquake State Park as a place where they pass out cheesecake at the entrance. Or where there is cottage cheese rustling nervously in the breeze.
September 18, 2007
kad commented on the word vagisil
If there's anything worse than having a yeast infection, it's having to buy a product called Vagisil to get rid of it.
September 18, 2007
kad commented on the list misunderstood-lyrics
brenda renetti (instead of brenda and eddie in billy joel's 'scenes from an italian restaurant')
September 18, 2007
kad commented on the word lowrider
This reminds me of one of my favorite misunderstandings of lyrics. A friend of mine thought that the singer of 'Lowrider' kept saying 'Low, dry dove, is a little higher.'
September 18, 2007
kad commented on the word cuckquean
a female version of a cuckold.
September 15, 2007
kad commented on the word kouprey
a critically endangered ungulate found mainly in northern Cambodia.
September 13, 2007
kad commented on the list newspaper-names
the rutgers university newspaper is the daily targum.
September 11, 2007
kad commented on the word morman
A Mormon who is also a man, e.g. Mitt Romney.
September 3, 2007
kad commented on the word vernix
A waxy white protective substance covering the skin of a fetus.
September 2, 2007
kad commented on the word youse
I love the 'How to Speak 19th Century' page! It reminds me of John's list of Olde Fashyned Slang:
http://wordie.org/people/John?wl=917
July 19, 2007
kad commented on the user john
dig the random word!
July 12, 2007
kad commented on the word youse
there was a you'uns thread going...
July 10, 2007
kad commented on the word square the circle
it's already been done. the result is the squircle.
July 3, 2007
kad commented on the list stuffie-lettuce-pray
go.
June 20, 2007
kad commented on the word freegan
I had always thought that it was the latter definition.
May 7, 2007
kad commented on the list scavenger-hunt-1-blanguage
blistering? as in a blistering review?
February 20, 2007
kad commented on the list klaatu-barada-n-necktie-nickel-klaatu-barada-nahagablaga
legendary chicken fairy, make my dreams come true!
February 20, 2007
kad commented on the word eel
inconceivable!
February 20, 2007
kad commented on the word you'uns
As in you'uns-guys goin' dahntahn? Watch the Stillers?
February 7, 2007
kad commented on the list they-roll-off-the-tongue
quixotic is my favorite (though it's not easy to choose with so many good words!). i like both the reference to a literary character and the way that it sounds. and it gets extra points for having a 'q' and an 'x' in it.
January 15, 2007
kad commented on the word censoriousness
none of the letters stick up or hang down, and i dig that in a word. the dot of the 'i' is a bit troublesome, though.
January 5, 2007
kad commented on the word embranglement
"Even in repose he shows a history thick with embranglement, dust-stomping men turning figures in the steep sun." -- Don DeLillo, Underworld
January 5, 2007
kad commented on the word five by five
"She's like this cleavagey slutbomb walking around going 'Ooh. Check me out, I'm wicked cool. I'm five by five.'" -- Willow, 'This Year's Girl'
December 28, 2006
kad commented on the list pittsburgh-words
jaggers, jaggerbushes, and recently learned that 'dippy eggs' are a pennsylvania thing.
December 23, 2006
kad commented on the list she-blinded-me-with-pseudoscience
oh, also thought i'd suggest 'aromatherapy,' which my last dentist used in an attempt to make the cavity-filling process less stressful.
December 14, 2006
kad commented on the list she-blinded-me-with-pseudoscience
It's amazing how easy it is to get a rise out of scientists -- I'm no exception :) Black sheep we may be, but plain old sheep, we are not. I think you're spot on when you say that blind faith is the antithesis of science.
December 14, 2006
kad commented on the word nick
as is mark.
December 14, 2006
kad commented on the list bushisms-where-wings-take-dream
uninalienable
December 14, 2006
kad commented on the list glaciation-fluvioglaciation-and-periglaciation
moraine, kettle, pluvial lake
December 14, 2006
kad commented on the list she-blinded-me-with-pseudoscience
Um...'global warming' and 'power crystals' in the same category? The phrase 'global warming' may be vague, but the phenomenon is very, very real. As 99% of the climate scientists in the world (including me!) will tell you, global warming is no longer a theory. It is a fact.
December 13, 2006
kad commented on the list pseudonyms-or-what-s-in-a-name
sometimes finding lists like that on websites takes the joy out of compiling the list yourself (waiting for the end of 'car talk' with pencil in hand). but there are so many more listed than i've ever heard on air :)
December 13, 2006
kad commented on the list pseudonyms-or-what-s-in-a-name
lots of good ones on their website:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/about/credits/credits.html
my favorite:
Curator of our French Armanents Exhibit - Brittany Spears
December 13, 2006
kad commented on the list i-don-t-give-a-damn
joy, ruby, jewel
December 13, 2006
kad commented on the list word-chemistry
neat. it took me a minute to figure out what this list was, and now i'm madly trying to think of words to add to it :)
December 12, 2006
kad commented on the word sic transit gloria
Goldie Hawn's character in the movie 'Foul Play' was named Gloria Mundy.
December 12, 2006
kad commented on the list words-of-youth
and 'wicked' if you're in new england.
December 11, 2006
kad commented on the list words-some-people-can-t-pronounce-no-matter-how-often-they-try
'realtor' often becomes 'reel-i-tur' when it should be 'reel-tur' or 're-uhl-tur.' as for vietnamese and spaghetti, i'm as perplexed as you are, pedalinfaith.
December 8, 2006
kad commented on the list ramona
uncle hobart, chevrolet (ramona's doll), picky-picky (their cat)
December 8, 2006
kad commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I often hear "supposably" instead of "supposedly." Then there's Oregon. How most of America can mispronounce the name of one of our own states is beyond me.
I love this list, by the way :)
December 8, 2006
kad commented on the user aidje
Herpetophobia, while not specific to alligators/crocodiles is the fear of reptiles, amphibians, and other similar animals.
December 6, 2006
kad commented on the word saudade
"Portuguese word for a feeling of longing for something that one is fond of, which is gone, but might return in a distant future. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return."
December 6, 2006
kad commented on the list daisyladen-s-words
This is one of my favorite words in another language for which we have no equivalent in English. From Wikipedia:
"...Portuguese word for a feeling of longing for something that one is fond of, which is gone, but might return in a distant future. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return."
December 6, 2006
kad commented on the list the-name-game
pearl, ruby, sandy, mark
December 6, 2006
kad commented on the list words-often-used-by-stupid-people-to-cover-for-the-inability-to-articulate-a-full-idea
There have been studies that show that your brain is very active when you're using hesitation words (such as "um"), so they're actually an important part of verbalization. "Kind of" and "sort of" seem like they'd be the opposite to me -- your brain shutting off, giving up on being articulate, and filling in the gap. Just a theory.
December 6, 2006
kad commented on the word fnordy
creepy, very creepy
December 6, 2006
kad commented on the word lambdoid
ooh, i like this one. there's also deltoid, but I can't think of other shapes defined by Greek letters. i sense a new list coming on...
December 5, 2006
kad commented on the list drummers-jargon
i never knew that drummers had their own lingo...fascinating.
December 5, 2006
kad commented on the user kad
i totally agree, burrito. i could say it over and over and never get sick of it.
December 5, 2006
kad commented on the list trying-to-be-literary
perhaps denouement as well?
December 5, 2006