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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 163 responses total. |
luci
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response 25 of 163:
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Apr 14 06:32 UTC 1995 |
Thanks, Steve.
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robh
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response 26 of 163:
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Apr 14 11:04 UTC 1995 |
One of my favorite words, just for its sound, is "zeitgeist".
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gracel
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response 27 of 163:
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Apr 14 12:26 UTC 1995 |
re #7 -- the word for a battle between frogs & mice is
"batrachomyomachy".
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rcurl
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response 28 of 163:
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Apr 15 06:41 UTC 1995 |
And, pray tell, where does a battle between frogs and mice occur, so
that the word is needed? Also, while we are at it, how about a battle
between frogs and toads? (No, not between just frogs *or* toads.)
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glenda
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response 29 of 163:
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Apr 15 13:58 UTC 1995 |
It may come from mythology. I first saw the reference in a "Thor" comic
book, where Loki turn Thor into a frog and he gets involved in the war. The
word is a real word, we looked it up in some dictionary, I think the OED.
I just went upstairs to look again, but couldn't find anything with that
beginning. Now if I just get all of STeve's comic collection cataloged and
into its file cabinets in the next couple of hours I could find it, but as
I have too many other things to do with higher priorities this is unlikely
to occur any time soon :-)
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davel
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response 30 of 163:
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Apr 15 14:51 UTC 1995 |
(Grace found it, I think, but I hadn't read this thread & found what she
said too confusing to remember (in the absence of context). I expect
she'll post it when she gets a chance.)
Rob, "Zeitgeist" has been one of my favorites for a long time, too. A lot
of German words, for that matter. (There was this cute poem about a
Werwolf who asked someone to decline him, & then was crushed to find that
"wer" doesn't have plural forms ... )
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peacefrg
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response 31 of 163:
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Apr 15 15:51 UTC 1995 |
Smegmomenometer or something like that...
Oh, Also... Smegma
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janc
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response 32 of 163:
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Apr 15 17:33 UTC 1995 |
I like the word "thing".
My middle name is "Dithmar" and I have in my possession a history of
Dithmarschen, which my father gave my mother as an engagement present.
(Dithmarschen was an intermittantly independent country located in the
southwest corner of the Danish Peninsula.) The book is in German, and I
don't actually read German, so I've been over the years slowly translating
the thing. The main city of Dithmarschen was Meldorf. Mr Kamphausen, the
author of my book, claims the name comes from "mellen," which means to
vote or to count, and that this name testifies to Meldorf's importance
as a "thingplatz." Well, I've never before encountered the word "thingplatz"
in German before. It looks weird. Like "thing place" or something. So
I looked it up in my Oxford-Duden English/German Dictionary. And to my
surprise, it was there. But it defines "thingplatz" as "thingplace."
So I got out me OED and looked up "thing." It turns out that a "thing"
was originally a public assembly, sort of a combination court and
informal legislative body. The Grex coop conference, for example, is a
pretty good thing. This kind of usage still seems to survive ("I've got
a thing at Madison Square Garden tonight").
Anyway, I like finding this kind of thing.
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birdlady
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response 33 of 163:
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Apr 15 17:40 UTC 1995 |
I also like the word, well name, Mr. Snufflupagus. It rolls off of your
tongue, and is so much fun to say! =)
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davel
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response 34 of 163:
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Apr 15 20:55 UTC 1995 |
Re #27: obviously I wasn't reading closely enough. But in answer to
Rane's questions, with the expert & her copy of the OED at my elbow:
Batrachomyomachy: the battle of the frogs & mice, a mock-heroic poem
possibly of the Homeric age. (And then she mutters that "batrach" is
frogs, but she doesn't know whether the Greeks had a separate word for
toads, & that we don't have an English-Greek dictionary which would let
her determine this easily.)
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srw
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response 35 of 163:
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Apr 16 05:44 UTC 1995 |
Perhaps in #31 you mean Sphygmomanometer. That is one of the blood pressure
measuring devices. From Sphygmus=pulse and manometer=pressure gauge.
Do not confuse it with a sphygmometer, which just measures pulse, not
blood pressure.
cool word.
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rcurl
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response 36 of 163:
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Apr 16 06:32 UTC 1995 |
Unctuous is very.
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aruba
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response 37 of 163:
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Apr 16 19:44 UTC 1995 |
A friend of mine really likes "onionsmut".
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omni
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response 38 of 163:
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Apr 17 03:42 UTC 1995 |
Another one of my favorites is-- Ubiquitous. Hope I spelled it right,
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kenb
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response 39 of 163:
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Apr 17 03:49 UTC 1995 |
Onionsmut brings a tear to my peeping eye.
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birdlady
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response 40 of 163:
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Apr 17 17:10 UTC 1995 |
Appypolylogies (apologies) from _A Clockwork Orange_ is cool, too. My friend,
Jason, says it all the time. =)
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luci
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response 41 of 163:
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Apr 17 18:21 UTC 1995 |
Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moon light, I always ask
that of all my prey...I just like the sound of it.--from Batman
Anyway, I also like the words alabaster, which I think is a shade of light
blue...and acetabulum which I think is the space in the pubic bone area.
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rcurl
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response 42 of 163:
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Apr 17 18:32 UTC 1995 |
alabaster is an "off white" - it comes from the rock alabaster, which is
a variety of gypsum.
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macha
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response 43 of 163:
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Apr 17 21:54 UTC 1995 |
Cerulean...that new color in the Crayola Box. Actually, I like a lot of the
color names...burnt sienna, magenta, periwinkle...
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luci
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response 44 of 163:
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Apr 17 22:00 UTC 1995 |
I've always liked cattywampus, too. What does it mean?
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zook
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response 45 of 163:
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Apr 18 02:03 UTC 1995 |
The acetabulum is the socket in which the head of the femur sits - ie the
socket portion of the hip joint.
Sitzmark - the impression left in snow by a skier who has fallen backwards.
Apophthegm - a terse epigram, eg "A stitch in time saves nine" (pronunciation
is particularly cruel when delivered by a lisper)
Bloviate - to orate at great length
Crapulous - gluttinous (esp. as pertains to grog)
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nephi
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response 46 of 163:
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Apr 18 02:44 UTC 1995 |
Mellifluous sounds so . . . mellifluous!
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popcorn
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response 47 of 163:
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Apr 18 15:33 UTC 1995 |
This response has been erased.
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rhett
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response 48 of 163:
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Apr 18 15:43 UTC 1995 |
I would have to say my most favorite word would be "meanee, meanee, borg, borg
"just to quote the Swedish Chef ... but I would have to say the most popular
word in my vocabulary would definitely have be CONFUSED!!!
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peacefrg
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response 49 of 163:
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Apr 18 15:52 UTC 1995 |
Yeah, thats what meant..Thanks steve.
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