What new word did you learn today?

[Rath Darkblade]

Not quite a word, but a sound effect: splortch!

This is the sound a rotten tomato makes when it hits a malefactor sitting in the stocks (or standing in the pillory).

 

[Homer Potvin]

Not quite a word, but a sound effect: splortch!

This is the sound a rotten tomato makes when it hits a malefactor sitting in the stocks (or standing in the pillory).

I miss tomatoes that splattered. The over engineered ones now bounce!

 

[Rath Darkblade]

I miss tomatoes that splattered. The over engineered ones now bounce!

On the plus side, if you accidentally drop one, it won't splortch all over your kitchen floor.

On the minus side, they might bounce, but you still can't use them as mini-basketballs.

 

[Homer Potvin]

So the opening of a news article is called a "lede" and not a "lead?" Far out, man!

 

[WellWater]

remora - an obstacle, hinderance, obstruction



My habitual procrastination provides a remora to completing my to-do list.

 

[Louanne Learning]

contronym - a word that has two opposite meanings, for example:

Bolt – to secure / to move quickly
Cleave – to split apart / to cling to
Clip – to fasten / to cut away
Resign – to quit / to commit to

 

[Naomasa298]

Aberllynfi.

It's Welsh for "three cocks".

Powys village Three Cocks censored on British Cycling website

British Cycling apologises for the error citing a "autocorrect error" for the fault.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Rath Darkblade]

"We apologise for this accidental censorship which was caused by some overly sensitive filters." Ah, yes. "No sex please, we're English".

I wonder what these filters would make of places like Scunthorpe. Or Grope Lane, Shrewsbury (so called because it was once part of a -- ahem -- 'Red Light' district).

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Aberllynfi.

It's Welsh for "three cocks".

Powys village Three Cocks censored on British Cycling website

British Cycling apologises for the error citing a "autocorrect error" for the fault.

www.bbc.co.uk

Sorry to spoil the fun, but "Three Cocks" is the name the Saeson (the English) imposed on the village. The Welsh means "The Mouth of the River Llynfi." (You see the same formation with "Aberystwyth," "Aberbran," "Abergavenny," and so on.) The place where Afon Llynfi meets the River Wye is a little to the north.

If you want "Three Cocks" yn Gymraig, try "Tri Ceiliogod." Coc-a-dwdl-dŵ, go-go-go!

 

[Naomasa298]

If you want "Three Cocks"

I can't say I've ever found myself in that position.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

If you want "Three Cocks"

Some farmers might, especially if they were chicken farmers -- and especially if they had a poultry supply of cockerels.

(What? Some people can't take a yolk. But I'd better leave before I get egg on my face)

 

[Rath Darkblade]

And here's a new word I just learned: Cattywampus, meaning askew. (orig. Midland and Southern US, c. 1834).

It can also refer to something that is "catty-corner" (diagonal) or in complete disarray. The word likely evolved from the Greek prefix "cata-" (downward) and the Scottish word "wampish" (to wriggle or twist about).

 

[Louanne Learning]

"catty-corner"

we always referred to it as kitty-corner

 

[Catrin Lewis]

we always referred to it as kitty-corner

We were of the cattycorner persuasion in upper Missouri, though "kitty-corner" was acceptable, too. But "Catercorner"? That was just the grammarians' way of telling us hicks how we should talk. Forget them!

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Epistemics, noun, singular, the scientific study of knowledge, its acquisition and its communication.

Epistemic, adjective, relating to knowledge, epistemology or epistemics.

(From Chambers Dictionary, 1993]

Heard it for the first time on a YouTube video about the domain creep of therapy-speak in modern life.

 

[Catrin Lewis]

I can't say I've ever found myself in that position.

True. Too many roosters does not make for a peaceful henhouse.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Epistemics, noun, singular, the scientific study of knowledge, its acquisition and its communication.

Epistemic, adjective, relating to knowledge, epistemology or epistemics.

(From Chambers Dictionary, 1993]

Heard it for the first time on a YouTube video about the domain creep of therapy-speak in modern life.

I heard it first during one of Sir Humphrey's speeches. Here it is:

Humphrey's explanation is splendid. "You ... lied."

 

[Catrin Lewis]

I heard it first during one of Sir Humphrey's speeches. Here it is:

Humphrey's explanation is splendid. "You ... lied."

The funny thing is, I've known the words "epistemology" and "epistemological" these past three decades, (even if I did struggle to get my mind around what they actually meant). But when I heard that YouTube analyst say "epistemic" a day or two ago, at first I thought he'd made it up!

 

[Homer Potvin]

The funny thing is, I've known the words "epistemology" and "epistemological" these past three decades, (even if I did struggle to get my mind around what they actually meant). But when I heard that YouTube analyst say "epistemic" a day or two ago, at first I thought he'd made it up!

It's a wonky word, basically referring to the overall philosophy of knowledge, but it doesn't have a strong/common contextual usage outside of the philosophical. I don't think I've ever written it, and if I did, I was probably just looking for a big word.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Epistemic knowledge is also used in science - it refers to how scientific knowledge is gathered,

i.e. understanding the process of science