It’s an honor just to be nominated. I never believed I’d actually win. (You like me, you really like me, etc.)
Thursday’s (May 3, 2007)
rapacious
-dictionary.com:
-adjective
- given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed.
- inordinately greedy; predatory; extortionate: a rapacious disposition.
- (of animals) subsisting by the capture of living prey; predacious.
[Origin: 1645-55; <L. rapāci- (s. of rapāx greedy, akin to rapere to seize; see rape1) + -ous]
-Related forms:
rapaciously, adverb
rapacity, rapaciousness, noun
-American Heritage Dictionary:
- Taking by force; plundering.
- Greedy; ravenous. See synonyms at voracious.
- Subsisting on live prey.
-Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus:
ADJECTIVE: Having an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit: avid, edacious, gluttonous, greedy, omnivorous, ravenous, unappeasable, voracious.
[pn: Edacious. I really like that word. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.]
-Online Etymology Dictionary (rapacity):
1543, from M.Fr. rapacité (16c.), from L. rapacitatem (nom. rapacitas) “greediness,” from rapax “grasping” (gen. rapacis) “plundering,” from rapere “seize” (see rapid). Rapacious first attested 1651.
Wordcount Ranking: 42163
Quote from This Day:
A Partial Q23 History:
[pn: I’m not trying to make a statement here, I just thought a smidgen of context was in order…the Daniel Morris quote is from 2005, and the Brian Rucker quote is from 2003. For what it’s worth. {This may simply go in the “Only of Interest to Me” file.} Also, FWIW, as a general rule of thumb, the quotes from Q23 are listed in diminishing order by date, so that the first quote is from This Day, and from there on it goes from most recent to least recent. I don’t suppose I’ve laid that out before, but there it is.]
-Amanpour
Friday’s (May 4, 2007)
cruft
-Free On Line Dictionary of Computing:
<jargon> (back-formation from “crufty”) Anything unpleasant that accumulates over time.
-The Jargon File:
-
n. An unpleasant substance. The dust that gathers under your bed is cruft; the TMRC Dictionary correctly noted that attacking it with a broom only produces more.
-
n. The results of shoddy construction.
-
vt. [from hand cruft, pun on ‘hand craft’] To write assembler code for something normally (and better) done by a compiler (see hand-hacking)
-
n. Excess, superfluous junk, used esp. of redundant or superceded code. [pn: See this definition.]
-
[University of Wisconsin] n. Cruft is to hackers as gaggle is to geese, that is, at UW one properly says “a cruft of hackers”.
-
Rob Beschizza’s favorite word.
-Wikipedia.org:
>Computing
In hacker jargon, cruft describes areas of something which are badly designed, poorly implemented, or redundant. The term is typically applied to computer programming code and computer programs, but can be applied more generally to any device or situation where the observer feels it applies. Whether something is crufty or not is a matter of opinion - for instance, a pile of old computer parts might be ‘cruft’, but having three of the same part might not, even though it is redundant.
>Popular Culture:
Cruft may also refer to useless junk or excess materials (including obsolete computer hardware) that build up over time and have no value, including things collected from rubbish bins, so “dumpster diving” is also called “crufting”, and things collected from rubbish bins are called crufted.
In MIT slang, “cruft” refers to people who spend a lot of time at MIT, even though they are no longer students there.
>Etymology
Although the origins of this term are uncertain, it is suggested that the term is derived from Harvard University Cruft Laboratory, which was the Harvard Physic’s Department radar lab during World War II. As late as the early 1990s, unused technical equipment could be seen stacked in front of Cruft Hall’s windows. By the whimsical humor of the studen body, if the place filled with useless machinery is called Cruft Hall, the machinery itself must be cruft. This image of “discarded technical clutter” quickly migrated from hardware to software.
-No Wordcount Ranking
Quote from This Day:
Bonus Quotes from the Beschizza Files:
Usage in Thread Title Bonus:
Partial Q23 History (Non-Beschizza):
[pn: Seriously. I keep trying to cut down the ‘quote’ section. I start each entry with that intention. But I’m just such a sucker for quotes. Apologies.]
-Amanpour
Monday’s (May 7, 2007)
curtilage
-dictionary.com:
[kur-tl-ij]
-noun Law.
The area of land occupied by a dwelling and its yard and outbuildings, actually enclosed or considered as enclosed.
[Origin: 1250-1300; ME courtelage <AF;OF cortillage, equiv. to [i]cortil[/b] yard (cort COURT + -il dim. suffix) + -age AGE].
-American Heritage Dictionary:
The enclosed area immediately surrounding a house or dwelling.
-Merriam Webster Dictionary of Law:
:the area surrounding and associated with a home.
NOTE: The curtilage of a house is associated with the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.
-Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary:
:a piece of ground (as a yard or courtyard) within the fence surrounding a house.
-Wikipedia.org:
Curtilage is a legal term describing the enclosed area of land around a dwelling. It is distinct from the dwelling by virtue of lacking a roof, but distinct from the area outside the enclosure in that it is enclosed within a wall or barrier of some sort.
It is typically treated as being legally coupled with the dwelling it surrounds despite the fact that it might commonly be considered “outdoors”.
This distinction is important for US law for cases dealing with burglary and with self defense under the Castle Doctrine. Under Florida law, burglary encompasses the English common-law definition and adds (among other things) curtilage to the protected area of the dwelling into which intrusion is prohibited. Similarly, a homeowner does not have to retreat within the curtilage under Florida’s Castle Doctrine.
The curtilage (like the home) is also protected from unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
>from the Open Fields Doctrine entry:
While open fields are not be [sic] protected under the Fourth Amendment, the curtilage, or outdoor area immediately surrounding the home, is. Courts have treated this area as an extension of the house and as such subject to all the privacy protections afforded a person’s home (unlike a person’s open fields) under the Fourth Amendment.
An area is curtilage if it “harbors the intimate activity associated with the sanctity of a man’s home and the privacies of life.” Courts make this determination by examining “whether the area is included within an enclosure surrounding the home, the nature of the uses to which the area is put, and the steps taken by the resident to protect the area from observation by people passing by.” Theoretically many structure might extend the curtilage protection to the areas immediately surrounding them. The courts have gone so far as to treat a tent as a home for Fourth Amendment purposes in the past. It is possible that the area immediately surrounding a tent (or any structure used as a home) might be used as curtilage.
[pn: The tent thing above makes me think of pushing out borders in an RTS for some reason.]
Despite this rather broad interpretation of curtilage, the courts seem willing to find areas to be outside of the curtilage if they are in any way separate from the home (by a fence, great distance, other structures, even certain plants).
Wordcount Ranking: 59842
Quote from This Day:
Bonus Quote from The Next Day:
-Amanpour
Tuesday’s (May 8, 2007)
piquant
-dictionary.com:
-adjective
- agreeably pungent or sharp in taste or flavor; pleasantly biting or tart: a piquant aspic.
- agreeably stimulating, interesting or attractive: a piquant glance.
- of an interestingly provocative or lively character: a piquant wit.
- Archaic. sharp or stinging, esp. to the feelings.
[Origin: 1515-25; <F. lit., pricking (see PIQUE, -ANT); r. pickante <It piccante]
-American Heritage Dictionary:
- Pleasantly pungent or tart in taste; spicy.
- a. Appealingly provocative.
b. Charming, interesting or attractive: a piquant face - Archaic. causing hurt feelings; stinging.
-Wikipedia.org:
>Monkeygland Sauce entry:
Monkeygland Sauce is a restaurant item in South Africa. The piquant sauce features a blend of fruit and spices and is often used with steak, hamburgers, pork ribs or chicken. Several popular South African fast-food chains serve a Monkeygland Burger.
[pn: I just wanted to type ‘monkeygland’ a few times.]
>Picong entry:
Picong or Piquant is light comical banter, usually at someone else’s expense. It is a way Trinidadians and Tobagonians heckle and mock each other in a friendly manner. However, the line between humor and insult is fine and constantly shifting, and at times the convivial spirit may degenerate into more heated debate and perhaps, physical altercations. The ability to engage in picong without crossing over into insult is highly valued in Trinidadian culture.
-Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus:
ADJECTIVE: Affecting the organs of taste or smell with a strong and often harsh sensation: pungent, sharp, spicy, zesty. Archaic: poignant.
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
1521, from M.Fr. piquant “pricking, stimulating, irritating,” from O.Fr. prp. of piquer “to prick, sting, nettle” (see pike (2)).
Wordcount Ranking: 39093
Quote from This Day:
Bonus Quote from the Q23 Past:
Double Bonus from the Outside:
-Amanpour
Incidentally, my dictionary says that a “trope” is also a “conventional idea or phrase.” We’re using the word in that sense, and there’s no usage note that suggests that this is a “wrong” way to do it.
Your quotes aren’t working.
When I saw the start of this post, I was hoping the Ralphie quote would show up at the end. :)
Sorry. Trimmed to the relevant bit.
Wednesday’s (May 9, 2007)
podiums
-dictionary.com:
-noun, plural -diums, -dia
- a small platform for the conductor of an orchestra, for a public speaker, etc.
- Architecture
a. a low wall forming a base for a construction, as a colonnade or dome.
b. a stereobate for a classic temple, esp. one with perpendicular side.
c. the masonry supporting a classical temple.
d. a raised platform surrounding the arena of an ancient Roman amphitheatre having on it the seats of privileged spectators. - LECTERN.
- a counter or booth, as one at an airport for handling tickets or dispensing information.
- Zoology, Anatomy. a foot.
- Botany. a footstalk or stipe.
[Origin: 1605–15; < L: elevated place, balcony < Gk pódion little foot, equiv. to pod- pod- + -ion dim. suffix. See pew]
-American Heritage Dictionary:
- An elevated platform, as for an orchestra conductor or a public speaker.
- A stand for holding the notes of a public speaker; a lectern.
- Architecture
a. a low wall serving as a foundation.
b. A wall circling the arena of an ancient amphitheatre. - Biology A structure resembling or functioning as a foot.
-Wordnet.princeton.edu:
dais, pulpit, rostrum, ambo, stump, soapbox (a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it)
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
1743, “raised platform around an ancient arena,” also “projecting base of a pedestal,” from L. podium “raised platform,” from Gk. podion “foot of a vase,” dim. of pous (gen. podos) “foot” (see foot). Meaning “raised platform at the front of a hall or stage” is from 1947.
Wordcount Ranking: 26747
Quotes from This Day:
Quote from the Day Before:
Q23 History:
[pn: As for our history, it can be summed up in the following thread, as far as I can tell: Greetings from Philadelphia. Yes, this is a pedestrian selection (forgive me), but it’s really all about the usage. And about the fact that instead of posting a “What The Fuck Is This Meme?” post, I just delved into the past threads. It was, shall we say, strangely rewarding.*]
[pn(2): Only three past quotes that use today’s word are necessary, though I do recommend Bill D’s delightful additions, here and here , as well.]
[pn: I just love the use of the word ‘oft’ there.]
Oh…and finally:
-Amanpour
[*I also stumbled upon a couple of links that led to nowhere. Like this one. Does this mean the thread was removed, or it’s just too old to access? Thanks. If was was removed, due to offensiveness or something, accept my apologies.]
Friday’s (May 11, 2007)
catasser/catassing
Quotation:
There’s a term for people who involve themselves in virtual worlds at the expense of the real: catasser. It was coined by a fellow who let his cat suffer an unchanged litter box rather than pause his online gaming. His apartment took on the unpleasant odor of “cat ass” and the term took off.
Article or Document Title:
In Search of Disposable Time
Author: Dave Elfving
-Wikipedia.org:
Catassing (also referred to as “poopsocking”) [pn: please please please don’t make me run down the etymology of that one] is the process of sequestering oneself at a computer and avoiding other day-to-day activity in favor of ‘leveling up’ in a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) whose game design makes heavy use of level treadmills or their functional equivalents.
The term appears to have originated in a June 1, 2000 newspaper article called “The Surreal World” in which the author described a gamer who had become so addicted to Ultima Online that he had spent all his waking hours playing the game, dispensing for other activities competing for his time including personal hygiene and changing the cat’s litter box. As a result he and his entire apartment reportedly had the “pungency of cat urine”, which he then called “a Den of Cat Ass and Murdered Time”. On June 2 the article was linked from Lum the Mad, a popular MMORPG commentary site at that time, and was used by Jeff Freeman (aka Dundee) in the rec.games.computer.ultima.online newsgroup a week later.
-Urban Dictionary:
-
"I’m 50 years old, when I and my friends started smoking as 10, 11, 12…year olds, we would share one smoke, and we always cursed the guy who would wet the filter, hence the term “catass”
-
when someone takes a drag of your cigarette and leaves it all gooey and wet!
[Personal Note: Urban Dictionary has a thumbs up/thumbs down voting system. Both of these entries have more down thumbs than up. I found this definition nowhere else.]
Quote from This Day:
A Q23 History:
[pn: In the interest of keeping this to one page, past quotes will be restricted to the form set in this day’s usage: catasser. So, no ‘catassing’ or ‘catass’ quotes (save Gordon’s quote below, where he defines it). This word was far more popular at Q23 than I would have guessed going in. But what do I know? The closest I’ve gotten to MMORPG-land is the odd game of Titan Quest at Shoot Club. Okay, I know that game doesn’t even qualify, but I do love playing it. I did create a LoTRO Hobbit at Shoot Club too. Got him to Level 2. So there.]
And the Award for Most Usage in a Single Post goes to…
-Amanpour
Saturday’s (May 12, 2007)
maelstrom
-dictionary.com:
-noun
- a large, powerful, or violent whirlpool.
- a restless, disordered, or tumultuous state of affairs: the maelstrom of early morning traffic.
- (initial capital letter) a famous hazardous whirlpool off the NW coast of Norway.
[Origin: 1550–60 for def. 3; < early Dmaelstroom, now sp. maalstroom, repr. mal(en) to grind + stroom stream. See meal2, stream]
-Synonyms. 2. tumult, pandemonium, bedlam.
-American Heritage Dictionary:
- a violent or turbulent situation: caught in the maelstrom of war.
- A whirlpool of extraordinary size or violence.
-Wikipedia.org:
A maelstrom (or malström) is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. The word is a compound of the Nordic words mala (to grind) and ström (stream). The word originates from the mythological story of Grottasöngr. The original Maelstrom is the Moskstraumen, a powerful tidal current in the Lofoten Islands off the Norweigan coast.
-Websters Online Dictionary:
(Norwegian, whirling stream). There are about fifty maelstroms off the coast of Norway, but the one Englishmen delight to tremble at is the one at the foot of the Lofoten Islands, between the islands of Moskenes and Mosken, where the water is pushed and jostled a good deal, and when the wind and tide are contrary it is not safe for small boats to venture near.
It was anciently thought that the Maelstrom was a subterranean abyss, penetrating the globe, and communicating with the Gulf of Bothnia.
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
1682 (Hakluyt has Malestrand, c.1560), “whirlpool off the northwest coast of Norway,” from Dan. malstrøm (1673), from Du. Maelstrom, lit. “grinding-stream,” from malen “to grind” (see meal) + stroom “stream.” Name given by Du. cartographers (e.g. Mercator, 1595). Perhaps originally from Færoic mal(u)streymur. Popularized as a synonym for “whirlpool” c.1841.
Wordcount Ranking: 32680
Quote from This Day:
Q23 History in Part:
Bonus Quote from A Poor Marksman Missing the Target:
-Amanpour
This thread really makes me regret that I don’t use big words - there goes immortality.
Monday’s (May 14, 2007)
supertaster
-Wordspy.com:
(SOO.pur.tays.tur) n. A person with an extremely strong sense of taste. Also super-taster, super taster.
Example Citation:
“We live in different taste worlds,” said Linda Bartoshuk, an experimental psychologist at Yale University. Some people have more taste receptors and find strong tastes unpleasantly intense. They shudder at bitter flavors that most of us shrug off and that some of us can’t detect at all. These “supertasters” avoid the bitter but healthful flavonoids that abound in broccoli, grapefruit, and other good-for-you foods, so they have a greater risk of cancer. On the other hand, supertasters tend to be thinner, with lower risk of cardiovascular disease, because they also avoid very fatty, salty and sugary foods.
—Cathryn M. Delude, “A matter of taste,” The Boston Globe, December 24, 2002
Earliest Citation:
Alexandra Logue was the sort of finicky eater who drives parents to distraction. At 1 year of age she wouldn’t touch anything except bread and milk. Fifteen years later she couldn’t stand such teen-age staples as spaghetti or Coke. She still refuses to eat fish.
''I’m what’s known as a ‘super taster,’ ‘’ said Dr. Logue, an experimental psychologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and author of ‘‘The Psychology of Eating and Drinking’’ (W. H. Freeman, 1986). Dr. Logue’s genetic ability to taste flavors that most other people can’t taste led to her interest in why children and adults have very different responses to certain foods.
‘‘People say very finicky children are doing it for attention,’’ she said, ‘‘but they may actually be tasting different things than we do.’’
—Lawrence Kutner, “Parent and child,” The New York Times, January 12, 1989
Notes:
Taste researchers divide people into three categories: nontasters, medium tasters, and supertasters. This gustatory hierarchy is based on the relative sensativity to a bitter compound called 6-n-propylthiouracil which, thankfully, also goes by the shorter (and pronounceable) name PROP. Nontasters–about 25 percent of the population–can’t taste the bitterness in PROP at all; medium tasters–about 50 percent of us–taste the bitterness but aren’t bothered by it; supertasters–the remaining 25 percent–are overwhelmed by the bitterness in PROP, to the point of revulsion.
Why the super taste? It turns out that there’s a strong (and not at all surprising) correlation between the density of a person’s taste buds and that person’s supertaster status. For example, supertasters can have as many as 1,000 taste buds per square centimeter, while nontasters can have as few as 40.
-Wikipedia.org:
A supertaster is an individual who lives in a more intense taste world. Women are more likely to be supertasters, as are Asians, Africans and South Americans. Among individuals of European descent, it is estimated that about 25% of the population are supertasters. The cause of this heightened response is currently unknown, although it is thought to be, at least in part, due to an increased number of fungiform papillae [1]. The evolutionary advantage to supertasting is unclear. In some environments, heightened taste response, particularly to bitterness, would represent an important advantage in avoiding potentially toxic plant alkaloids. However, in other environments, increased response to bitter may have limited the range of palatable foods. In our modern, energy-rich environment, supertasting may be cardioprotective, due to decreased liking and intake of fat, but may increase cancer risk via decreased vegetable intake. It may be a cause of picky eating, but picky eaters are not necessarily supertasters, and vice versa.
The term originates with experimental psychologist Dr. Linda Bartoshuk who has spent much of her career studying genetic variation in taste. In the early 1990s, Bartoshuk and her colleagues noticed some individuals tested in the laboratory seemed to have an elevated taste response and took to calling them supertasters[2]. This increased taste response is not the result of response bias or a scaling artifact, but appears to have an anatomical/biological basis.
>Problem Foods:
-Alcoholic beverages
-Brussels sprouts
-cabbage
-coffee
-grapefruit juice
-green tea
-kale
-spinach
-soy products
[pn: This would drive me crazy because I love the ‘bitter’ component in foods. Particularly in my favorite beer type at the moment, the India Pale Ale (IPA).]
Quote from This Day:
Bonus: The Quote that Started It All:
Two Bonus Gently Mocking Quotes:
And Finally…A Great Bonus Callback from 2005:
[pn: There are more delightful instances of supertaster usage in the First date smoochin’ thread–a legendary thread that nevertheless should have been called First Date Gettin’ or First Date Cryin’ since we barely ever got around to any actual smoochin’ and anyway the dropping of the final ‘g’ makes me want to hallmark-card hurl–than I care to include here. Knock yourself out searching for the word in that thread yourself.]
Sort of Related Bonus Quote:
Barely Related Bonus Quote:
-Amanpour
What?
No “I can taste every man you’ve ever been with” quote?
for shame.
Every time I kiss you I’m going to be tasting 36 other guys…
37!
…
Yeah. F. Entropy Stew’s post in that portion of the thread was comedy gold.
Yeah, yeah.
Rimbo: Hey, thanks for the post about tropes. Incidentally, what dictionary were you using?
-Amanpour
Oxford American.