> brief
Verbosity off.
No way, dude.
> verbose
Maximum verbosity.
[pn: I always loved that phrase. “Maximum verbosity.” How often has that gone through my head at work?]
“Some people think they can outsmart me. Maybe. Maybe.”
- Ryan
Tuesday’s (May 15, 2007)
solipsist
-dictionary.com:
(solipsism)
-noun
- Philosophy. the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist.
- extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one’s feelings, desires, etc., egoistic self-absorption.
-Related forms
solipsismal, adjective
solipsist, noun, adjective
solipsistic, adjective
-American Heritage Dictionary:
n. Philosophy
- The theory that the self is the only thing that can be known and verified.
- The theory or view that the self is the only reality.
-Wikipedia.org:
Solipsism (Latin: solus, alone + ipse, self) is the philosophical idea that “My mind is the only thing that exists”. Solipsism is the epistemological or metaphysical position that knowledge of anything outside the mind is unjustified. The external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist. In the history of philosophy, solipsism has served as a skeptical hypothesis, and is considered impossible to refute.
Wordcount Ranking: 53273
Quote from This Day:
Q23 History Quotes:
[pn: It may be fun to guess who John Many Jars is taking about in the above quote.]
-Amanpour
i love the fact that the word of the day is in fact a new word used in that day
Wednesday’s (May 16, 2007)
gestalt
-dictionary.com:
Pronunciation[guh-shtahlt, -shtawlt, -stahlt, -stawlt]
-noun, Plural -stalts, -stalten
(sometimes initial capital letter) Psychology.
-
a configuration, pattern or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts; a unified whole.
-
an instance or example of such a unified whole.
-
Another Dungsroman favorite.
-American Heritage Dictionary:
A physical, biological, psychological, or symbolic configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that its properties cannot be derived from a simple summation of its parts.
-Wikipedia.org:
Gestalt is a German word that can be translated into English in various ways:
>as shape, form, guise or likeness (e.g., in Menschengestalt: in human form)
>as figure or as a synonym for person (e.g., eine dunkle Gestalt: a sinister figure)
>A collection of physical, biological, psychological or symbolic entities that creates a unified concept, configuration or pattern which is greater than the sum of its parts.
Gestalt may also refer to:
>Gestalt psychology (or Gestalt theory), a theory of mind and brain, describing the Gestalt effect.
>Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy, a method of psychotherapy based on Gestalt psychology.
>Gestalt therapy, a form of psychotherapy built on the experiential ideal of “here and now” and relationships with others and the world.
>Gestalt (Mac OS), an environment-query function in Mac OS.
>An anime manga and OVA series: Gestalt (manga).
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
1922, from Ger. Gestaltqualität (1890, introduced by Ger. philosopher Christian von Ehrenfels, 1859-1932), from M.H.G. gestalt “form, configuration, appearance,” abstracted from ungestalt “deformity,” noun use of adj. ungestalt “misshapen,” from gestalt, obsolete pp. of stellen “to place, arrange.” As a school of psychology, it was founded c.1912.
-Wordcount Ranking: 42848
Quote from This Day:
A Partial Past of Q23 Usage:
Twice in the Same Thread Bonus:
History Subset: The Dungsroman Gestalt (a new thriller by Robert Ludlum):
[pn: No…I didn’t use all of them. Far too many of them, yes, but he’s just irresistable.]
Two Final Palette Cleansers:
-Amanpour
Thursday’s (May 17, 2007)
hoo-ha
-dictionary.com:
-noun
- an uproarious commotion.
-adjective
2. (used to express mock surprise or excitement)
Also, hoo-hah
[Origin: 1930-35; prob. <Yiddish hu-ha to-do, uproar, exclamation of surprise; cf. Pol hu-ha exclamation of joy]
-American Heritage Dictionary:
hoo-ha or hoo-hah
n. Slang
- a fuss; a disturbance: “the subject of this last hoo-hah” (William Safire)
- A chortle or laugh: got a good hoo-ha out of tha story.
-Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus:
NOUN: Slang. A condition of intense public interest or excitement: brouhaha, sensation, stir, uproar. Informal: to-do.
-Wikipedia.org:
>from the List of characters in Camp Lazlo entry:
Commander Hoo Ha is a buffalo whose name comes from the military exclamation “Hoo-ha” (or “Hoo-rah”). He is the true leader of Camp Kidney. He usually only comes when he is called (usually on the phone) by Slinkman.
>from the Mad (magazine) entry:
The word “hoo-hah” was a running gag in the early years of Mad, often exclaimed by characters in the comic book issues written and edited by Harvey Kurtzman. Its somewhat Eastern European feel was the perfect fit for the New York Jewish style of the magazine. Kurtzman liked using Yiddish expressions and nonsense words to humorous effect, and the very first story in the first issue of Mad was even titled “Hoohah!” The word hoohah’s precise origin is unknown, though it may have sprung from the Hungarian word for ‘wow’, which is hűha.
-The Urban Dictionary:
-Spelling Hooha:
-
Female genitalia: vagina. (41 up, 19 down)
-
An exclamation of great happiness. (25 up, 10 down)
-
Female ejaculate that coincides with the sticky substance left over from too much penetration. (6 up, 24 down)
-Spelling Hoo-ha
-
any genitals on either a boy or a girl (33 up, 12 down)
-
East Coast slang for vagina; a woman’s sexual organs; pussy. (10 up, 6 down)
-
A slang word for penis; the male genitalia. (10 up, 10 down)
-Spelling Hoo-hah
- An exclamation that can be made. Has an effect simlar to that of exclamation points with written words:
This particular use of the word comes stems [sic] from Al Pacino’s character, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman.
[pn: I can’t stand Urban Dictionary, but this is the only place I found the ‘vagina’ definition.]
-Dictionary of English Slang:
Noun. A commotion, trouble, a row. E.g. “There was a right hoo-ha at work yesterday when the boss was caught kissing the office cleaner.”
-Link:
-No Wordcount Ranking
Quote from This Day (SPOILER WARNING–the film Session 9–SPOILER WARNING)
Q23 History Quotes:
The Tom Files: (SPOILER WARNING–28 Weeks Later–SPOILER WARNING)
(END SPOILERS)
The Tom Files (cont…I don’t know, maybe this is another word for canard):
The Others:
[pn: Okay, in the interest of keeping this under the character limit, I’m only going with the spelling hoo-ha for quotes here, since that is the spelling used in This Day’s quote. Folks seem to fall into one of two spelling camps for this word, the above and hoo-hah, preffered by folks like Nellie and, especially Jason McCullough. I was interested to find that one poster actually used both, and the only reason I really found this interesting was that there was a recent…um…hoo-ha about his disappearance. That poster? Kitsune.]
-Amanpour
Sunday’s (May 20, 2007)
passive-aggressive
-American Heritage Dictionary:
adjective
Of, relating to, or having a personality disorder characterized by habitual passive resistance to demands for adequate performance in occupational or social situations, as by procrastination, stubbornness, and inefficiency.
Also indicated by telling your husband he’d look great in a speedo.
-Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary:
(1)Function: adjective
being, marked by, or displaying behavior characterized by expression of negative feelings, resentment, and aggression in an unassertive way (as through procrastination, stubbornness, and unwillingness to communicate) <a passive-aggressive personality>
-Wikipedia.org:
Passive-aggressive behavior refers to passive, sometimes obstructionist resistance to following authoritative instructions in interpersonal or occupational situations. It can manifest itself as resentment, stubbornness, procrastination, sullenness, or repeated failure to accomplish requested tasks for which one is assumed, often explicitly, to be responsible. It is a defensive posture and, more often than not, only partly conscious.
…
The term “passive-aggressive” was first used by the U.S. military during World War II, when military psychiatrists noted the behavior of soldiers who displayed passive resistance and reluctant compliance to orders.
-Webster’s Online Dictionary (Alternate Orthography):
>Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s)
50 41 53 53 49 56 45 2D 41 47 47 52 45 53 53 49 56 45
>Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier)
01010000 01000001 01010011 01010011 01001001 01010110 01000101 00101101 01000001 01000111 01000111 01010010 01000101 01010011 01010011 01001001 01010110 01000101
>HTML Code (1990)
P A S S I V E - A G G R E S S I V E
>ISO 10646 (1991-1993)
0050 0041 0053 0053 0049 0056 0045 002D 0041 0047 0047 0052 0045 0053 0053 0049 0056 0045
>Encryption (beginner’s substitution cypher):
503553534356391535414152395353435639
[i]Dear Cecil:
What exactly does it mean to say that someone is “passive-aggressive”? I hear this term used frequently, usually with reference to a coworker, child, parent, etc, who is being a pain in the ass. Surely there’s a more rigorous clinical definition than that. --Frank Caplice, Chicago[/i]
Cecil replies:
You might get some argument there, Frank. It’s true that if you look under “passive-aggressive personality disorder” (PAPD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the older editions–more about that below), you find the syndrome solemnly described as a “pervasive pattern of passive resistance to demands for adequate social and occupational performance.” But once you delve into the history of the term, you realize that–at least in the eyes of its critics–it’s mostly useful as a high-flown way to call someone a pain in the ass.
The term “passive-aggressive” was introduced in a 1945 U.S. War Department technical bulletin, describing soldiers who weren’t openly insubordinate but shirked duty through procrastination, willful incompetence, and so on. If you’ve ever served in the military during wartime, though, or for that matter read Catch-22, you realize that what the brass calls a personality disorder a grunt might call a rational strategy to avoid getting killed.
After the war the term found its way into civilian psychiatric practice and for many years was listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the bible of the mental health trade. According to the revised third edition (DSM-III-R, 1987), someone had PAPD if he displayed five or more of the following behaviors: (1) procrastinates, (2) sulks or argues when asked to do something he doesn’t want to do, (3) works inefficiently on unwanted tasks, (4) complains without justification of unreasonable demands, (5) “forgets” obligations, (6) believes he is doing a much better job than others think, (7) resents useful suggestions, (8) fails to do his share, or (9) unreasonably criticizes authority figures.
You may say: I know a lot of people like that. Or even: I’m that way myself sometimes. Exactly the problem. From the outset skeptics argued that passive-aggressive behavior is an ordinary defensive maneuver and shouldn’t be considered symptomatic of a mental disorder…
Recognizing that the definition as then formulated wasn’t working but uncertain how to fix it, the compilers of DSM-IV (1994) dumped PAPD from the list of official disorders and relegated it to an appendix. The most telling complaint, in my opinion, was that merely being passive-aggressive isn’t a disorder but a behavior–sometimes a perfectly rational behavior, which lets you dodge unpleasant chores while avoiding confrontation. It’s only pathological if it’s a habitual, crippling response reflecting a pervasively pessimistic attitude–people who suffer from PAPD expect disappointment, and gain a sense of control over their lives by bringing it about. Some psychiatrists have suggested that PAPD be merged into a broader category, called negativistic personality disorder. Diagnostic criteria: passive-aggressive plus (a) mad at the world, (b) envious and resentful, (c) feels cheated by life, and (d) alternately hostile and clingy.
We’ll let the specialists work out the details. For now, though, we lay folk should strive to use the term “passive-aggressive” more precisely in everyday life. Say for instance that a coworker cheerfully agrees to refrain from a specified uncool act, then does it anyway. Is this passive-aggressive behavior? No, this is being an asshole. Comforting as it can be to pigeonhole our tormentors with off-the-shelf psychiatric diagnoses, sometimes it’s best just to call a jerk a jerk.
–CECIL ADAMS
-No Wordcount Ranking
Quote from This Day:
A Partial Q23 History (if I Get Around To It, Bitches):
[pn: I love the term “douchey passive-aggressive rhetorical trick”.]
[pn2: Okay, I’m not even off the first page of search results for Q23 quotes and already I’m seeing a whole weird Bill D/SlyFrog cage match where this term makes a regular Bruce Campbell cameo as ring announcer. I’m running out of room. So…in the spirit of the word [term] of this day, I’m including anything remotely related to their little tete-a-tete in a supplemental following post.]
Back to Reality (Whoops, There Goes Gravity):
[pn: This term elicited a veritable treasure trove of quotes from you folks. Many thanks.]
-Amanpour
The Bill and Frog Show Bonus Materials:
Non-Feudal:
This One is Special:
Bonus History Materials, Beyond SlyDung:
Bonus Materials Easter Egg…Oooh, a little Lizard King/Peter Frazier Skirmish:
>Response: Actually, it’s timeless. Like commie pinko.
>Response: Or Dickhead.
[pn: Anyways, it started out strong.]
And, at long last, The Narrator makes an appearance:
[pn: Majuscular…nice.]
-Amanpour
Monday’s (May 21, 2007)
faux-pas (faux pas)
-dictionary.com:
a slip or blunder in etiquette, manners or conduct; an embarrassing social blunder or indiscretion.
[Origin: 1670-80; <F: lit. , false step]
-Wordnet:
a socially awkward or tactless act.
-Wikipedia.org:
A faux pas (IPA /ˌfoʊˈpɑː/, plural: faux pas /ˌfoʊˈpɑː(z)/) (French for false step) is a violation of accepted, although unwritten social rules. Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture and what is considered good manners in one culture can be considered a faux pas in another. For example, in English speaking Western countries, it is sometimes considered a thoughtful gesture to bring a bottle of wine when going to someone’s house for dinner. In France, however, this is considered insulting as it suggests the hosts are unable to provide their own good wine.
The term comes from French and literally means “false step”. However, it is a formal rather than an everyday expression in French and does not generally have the figurative meaning used in English. It is occasionally employed to describe a physical loss of balance or general mistakes (for instance: mes faux pas dans la vie, the mistakes I made in my life). If one uses faux pas with the English meaning in France, people might think it was a slight grammatical mistake with faut pas, the colloquial pronunciation of il ne faut pas, meaning must not in English. For faux pas with the English meaning, the French would usually say gaffe or erreur.
Quote(s) from This Day:
A Hyphenated Q23 History:
[Minor Spoilers from the game SWAT4]
Non-Hyphenated:
-Amanpour
Tuesday’s (May 22, 2007)
cur
-dictionary.com:
-noun
- a mongrel dog, esp. a worthless or unfriendly one.
- a mean, cowardly person.
[Origin: 1175-1225; ME curre, appar. shortened from curdogge. See CUR DOG.]
-Related forms:
curlike, adjective
-Synonyms 2. blackguard, cad, heel.
-American Heritage Dictionary:
- a dog considered to be inferior or undesirable; a mongrel.
- A base or cowardly person.
-Wikipedia.org:
Cur refers to a dog, usually of mixed ancestry. In common usage, the term is often derogatory; fighting dogs that regress to growling rather than maintain calm are referred to as ‘curs’. The derivation of the word “cur” is uncertain. According to the Dictionary of True Etymologies (Room, Adrian, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York, 1986), “cur” is a Germanic word, possibly from Old Norse meaning to growl. If so, then the word is onomatopoeic, and a cur is a dog that goes “grrr”.
Cur is also a category of hunting dog developed in the United States, usually not recognized as show dogs but developed solely for their hunting ability. As a result, most of the cur breeds are types rather than breeds–that is, one of these dogs can be recognized as a certain type of Cur but the appearance standard is extremely flexible, enough so that a complete breed appearance standard is difficult to create. However, several kennel clubs register various cur breeds based on their ancestry (bloodlines), and several lines are recognized within each breed. The United Kennel Club has an active registration program and competition hunting program for these dogs.
Examples of curs include:
* Black Mouth Cur
* Blue Lacy
* Catahoula Cur (Catahoula Leopard Dog)
* Leopard Cur
* Mountain Cur
* Mountain View Cur
* Stephens Cur
* Treeing Cur
Historically, the words “cur” and “feist” were used in England to refer to small hunting dogs, where “feists” were the smaller dogs and “curs” were 30lbs. or larger. The Elizabethans may have used the word “cur” to denote “terrier”.
-Webster’s Online Dictionary:
>Slang In 1812: A cut or curtailed dog. According to the forest laws, a man who had no right to the privelege of the chase, was obliged to cut or law his dog, among other modes of disabling him from disturbing the game, one was by depriving him of his tail: a dog so.
>Synonyms within Context:
BAD MAN: Blackguard, polisson, loafer, sneak, rapscallion, cullion, mean wretch, varlet, kern, ame-de-boue, drole; cur, dog, hound, whelp, mongrel; lown, loon, runnion, outcast, vagabond, rogue, (knave); ronian; scum of the earth, riffraff; Arcades ambo.
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
c.1225, curre, earlier kurdogge, probably from O.N. kurra or M.L.G. korren both echoic, both meaning “to growl.”
-Wordcount Ranking: 52519
Quote from This Day:
Bonus Quote from Q23 Past:
Bonus Quote from the Outside:
-Amanpour
Wednesday’s (May 23, 2007)
cooties
-dictionary.com:
(1)
-noun Informal
a louse, esp. one affecting humans, as the body louse, the head louse, or pubic louse.
Also, cooty.
[Origin: 1910-15; perh. < Malay kutu biting body louse, with final syl. confirmed to -IE]
(2)
-noun Scot.
a wooden container, esp. a wooden bowl, for storing or serving food or drink.
[Origin: 1775-85; var. of Scots. cood, of uncert. orig.]
-American Heritage Dictionary:
A body louse.
-Wikipedia.org:
Cooties is a slang word in American English, used by children, referring to a fictional disease. Cooties are believed to be a highly contagious disease or condition, generally carried by members of the opposite gender. In prepubescent children it serves as a device for gender separation.
Originally, the term implied body lice, but over time this became generalized to any sort of lice, including head lice. The term then evolved into a purely imaginary stand-in for anything that is considered repulsive.
In British English the term lurgy may be used in the same context, however it should be noted that lurgy has a broader definition and the two concepts are not necessarily equivalent.
>The “cootie catcher”
Made of folded pink paper, the “cootie catcher” is a popular handheld toy among schoolchildren. One surface is blank, the other drawn with dots, the “cooties”. The joke is to show the blank side, then run the toy through someone’s hair, revealing the dotted surface. It’s made so each surface looks the same apart from the “cooties”. A variation of the same toy is known to US schoolchildren as the cootie teller.
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
1917, British World War I slang, earlier in nautical use, from Malay kutu “dog tick.”
-No Wordcount Ranking
Quote from This Day:
A Partial History of Q23 Usage:
-Amanpour
Thursday’s (May 24, 2007)
pyrrhic
-dictionary.com:
(1)
-adjective
- consisting of two short or unaccented syllables.
- composed of or pertaining to pyrrhics.
-noun
- Also called dibrach. a pyrrhic foot.
(2)
-noun
- an ancient Greek warlike dance in which the motions of actual warfare were imitated.
-adjective
- of, pertaining to, or denoting this dance.
[Origin: 1590–1600; < L pyrrhicha < Gk pyrrhíché a dance; said to be named after Pyrrhichus, the inventor]
-dictionary.com:
(3)
-adjective
of, pertaining to, or resembling Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, or his costly victory.
-Wikipedia.org:
A pyrrhic is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of two unaccented, short syllables. It is also known as a dibrach.
Pyrrhics alone are not used to construct an entire poem due to the monotonous effect.
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with devastating cost to the victor. The phrase is an allusion to King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties when he defeated the Romans during the Pyrrhic War at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC. After the latter battle Plutarch relates in a report by Dionysius:
“The armies separated; and it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one more such meeting would utterly undo him…”
In both of Pyrrhus’s victories, the Romans lost more men than Pyrrhus did. However the Romans had a much larger supply of men from which to draw soldiers, so their losses did less damage to their war effort than Pyrrhus’s losses did to his.
The report is often quoted as “Another such victory over the Romans and we are undone.” While it is most closely associated with a military battle, the term is used by analogy in fields such as business, politics, law, literature, and sport to describe any similar struggle which is ruinous for the victor.
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
“dance in armor” (1597), also a type of metrical foot (1626), from L. pyrrhicha, from Gk. pyrrikhe orkhesis, the war-dance of ancient Greece, traditionally named for its inventor, Pyrrikhos. The name lit. means “reddish,” from pyrros “flame-colored,” from pyr “fire.”
-Wordcount Ranking: 61039
Quote from This Day:
[SPOILER WARNING—28 Weeks Later—SPOILER WARNING]
[END SPOILERS]
And The Filet:
-Amanpour
Friday’s (May 25, 2007)
canon
-dictionary.com:
- an ecclesiastical rule or law enacted by a council or other competent authority and, in the Roman Catholic Church, approved by the pope.
- the body of ecclesiastical law.
- the body of rules, principles, or standards accepted as axiomatic and universally binding in a field of study or art: the neoclassical canon.
- a fundamental principle or general rule: the canons of good behavior.
- a standard; criterion: the canons of taste.
- the books of the Bible recognized by any Christian church as geniune and inspired.
- any officially recognized set of sacred books.
- any comprehensive list of books within a field.
- the works of an author that have been accepted as authentic: There are 37 plays in the Shakespeare canon. Compare APOCRYPHA (def. 3).
- a catalog or list, as of the saints acknowledged by the Church.
- Liturgy. the part of the Mass between the Sanctus and the Communion.
- Eastern Church. a liturgical sequence sung at matins, usually consisting of nine odes arranged in a fixed pattern.
- Music. consistent, note-for-note imitation of one melodic line after another, in which the second line starts after the first.
- Printing. a 48-point type.
- A word geeks use to make Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and comic books seem important like the Bible.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME, OE < L < Gk kann measuring rod, rule, akin to kánna cane]
-American Heritage Dictionary:
(2)
- a member of a chapter of priests serving in a cathedral or collegiate church.
- A member of certain religious communities living under a common rule and bound by vows.
-Wordcount Ranking: 7116
Quote from This Day:
-Amanpour
Tuesday’s (May 29, 2007)
clitoris
-dictionary.com:
-noun Anatomy.
the erectile organ of the vulva, homologous to the penis of the male.
[Origin: 1605–15; < Gk kleitorís, akin to kleíein to shut]
-American Heritage Dictionary:
A small elongated erectile organ at the anterior part of the vulva, homologous with the penis.
-The American Heritage Science Dictionary:
A sensitive external organ of the reproductive system in female mammals and some other animals that is capable of becoming erect. It is located above or in front of the urethra.
-Wikipedia.org:
The clitoris (Greek κλειτορίς) is a sexual organ. In humans, the visible knob-like portion is located near the anterior junction of the labia minora, above the opening of the urethra and vagina. Unlike the homologous male organ (the penis), the clitoris does not contain the distal portion of the urethra and functions solely to induce sexual pleasure. This is the same throughout the animal kingdom with the only known exception of the Spotted Hyena, where the urogenital system is modified so that the female urinates, mates and gives birth via an enlarged, erectile clitoris, known as a pseudo-penis [pn: which I believe is one of Elhajj’s many Q23 usernames.].
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
1615, coined in Mod.L., from Gk. kleitoris, a diminutive, but the exact sense is uncertain. Probably from Gk. kleiein “to sheathe,” also “to shut,” in reference to its being covered by the labia minora. The related noun form kleis has a second meaning of “a key, a latch or hook (to close a door).” Wooden pegs were the original keys; a connection also revealed in L. clovis “nail” and claudere “to shut” (see close (v.)). Some medical sources give a supposed Gk. verb kleitoriazein “to touch or titillate lasciviously, to tickle,” lit. “to be inclined (toward pleasure)” (cf. Ger. slang der Kitzler “clitoris,” lit. “the tickler”), related to Gk. kleitys, a variant of klitys “side of a hill,” related to klinein “to slope,” from the same root as climax. But many sources take kleitoris literally as Gk. “little hill.” The It. anatomist Mateo Renaldo Colombo (1516-1559), professor at Padua, claimed to have discovered it (De re anatomica, 1559, p. 243). He called it amor Veneris, vel dulcedo “the love or sweetness of Venus.” It had been known to women since much earlier, of course. Slang abbreviation clit first attested 1960s.
-Online Etymology Dictionary, Revisited:
[pn: I was surprised to see that I was given two results after I typed in clitoris. The first being the entry above. The second being the entry for, and I’m not making this up, mustache. The why follows…]
Dutch slang has a useful noun, de befborstel, to refer to the mustache specifically as a tool for stimulating the clitoris; probably from beffen “to stimulate the clitoris with the tongue.”
-Wordcount Ranking: 31792
Quote from This Day:
Bonus Response That Doesn’t Use The Word, But Still:
Double Bonus Quote from This Day:
A Brief Q23 Clitoral History (or ‘Hanzii Must Have a Very Happy Computer’):
Past Subset: The Kelly Wand Files:
History Subset Part II…The CryptClitBit:
And a Bonus from the Outside:
-Amanpour
Best Word of the Day Ever.
In Japan, the words for “Chestnuts and Squirrels,” when said together, sound like “clitoris.” which is a subject of many inside jokes.
- your bonus useless knowledge for the day.
Humphrey(John Cleese): So, just listen. Now, did I or did I not… do… vaginal… juices?
Pupils: Mmm. Mmm. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Humphrey: Name two ways of getting them flowing, Watson.
Watson: R - rubbing the clitoris, sir?
Humphrey: What’s wrong with a kiss, boy? Hmm? Why not start her off with a nice kiss? You don’t have to go leaping straight for the clitoris like a bull at a gate. Give her a kiss, boy.
Wymer: Suck the nipple, sir?
Humphrey: Good. Good. Well done, Wymer.
Pupil: Uh, stroking the thighs, sir.
Humphrey: Yes. Yes, I suppose so. Hmm?
Pupil: Oh, sir. Biting the neck.
Humphrey: Yes. Good. Nibbling the earlobe, uhh, kneading the buttocks, and so on and so forth. So, we have all these possibilities before we stampede towards the clitoris, Watson.
Watson: Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.
Wednesday’s (May 30, 2007)
temerity
-dictionary.com:
-noun:
reckless boldness; rashness.
[Origin: 1400-50; late ME temeryte, <L temeritās hap, chance, rashness, equiv. to temer(e), by chance, rashly + -itās -ity]
-Synonyms audacity, effrontery, foolhardiness.
-American Heritage Dictionary:
Foolhardy disregard of danger; recklessness.
-Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus:
NOUN: Foolhardy boldness or disregard of danger: brashness, foolhardiness, incautiousness, rashness, recklessness, temerariousness.
[pn: temerariousness?]
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
1432, from M.Fr. témérité (15c.), from L. temeritatem (nom. temeritas) “blind chance, accident, rashness,” from temere “by chance, blindly, casually, rashly,” related to tenebrae “darkness,” from PIE base *temes- “dark” (cf. Skt. tamas- “darkness,” tamsrah “dark;” Avestan temah “darkness;” Lith. tamsa “darkness,” tamsus “dark;” O.C.S. tima “darkness;” O.H.G. dinstar “dark;” O.Ir. temel “darkness”).
-Wordcount Ranking: 33958
Quote from This Day:
Bonus Quotes from Q23’s Past:
Special Bonus, Most Gratifying Past Thread Yield:
[pn: Every now and then, Wotd “research” leads me to a thread that is a particular pleasure to read. This jeffd usage of the word yielded such a thread. So…thanks jeffd.]
Special Bonus Jawdropper Quote from 2005:
[pn: The Whitta usage above produced another great thread yield, if for no other reason than to get Ben’s view on the prequel to 28 Weeks Later.]
And Finally:
Oh…and a Bonus Quote Exchange from the World of TeeVee:
-Amanpour
Friday’s (June 1, 2007)
licentiousness
-dictionary.com:
>licentious
-adjective
- sexually unrestrained; lascivious; libertine; lewd.
- unrestrained by law or general morality; lawless; immoral.
- going beyond customary or proper bounds or limits; disregarding rules.
-American Heritage Dictionary:
-adj.
- Lacking moral discipline or ignoring legal restraint, especially in sexual conduct.
- Having no regard for accepted rules or standards.
-Wordnet:
-noun
- the quality of being lewd and lascivious
- dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure [syn: profligacy]
-Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus:
NOUN: Excessive freedom; lack of restraint: dissoluteness, dissolution, libertinism, license, profligacy.
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
licentious
“morally unrestrained”, 1535, from M.L. licentiosus “full of license, unrestrained”, from L. licentia (see license).
-Wordcount Ranking [of the Beast]: 66655
Quote from This Day:
-Amanpour
Monday’s (June 4, 2007)
shill
-dictionary.com:
-noun
- a person who poses as a customer in order to decoy others into participating, as at a gambling house, auction, confidence game, etc.
- a person who publicizes or praises something or someone for reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or friendship or loyalty.
-verb (used without object)
- to work as a shill: He shills for a large casino.
-verb (used with object)
- to advertise or promote (a product) as or in the manner of a huckster; hustle: He was hired to shill a new TV show.
-American Heritage Dictionary:
n. One who poses as a satisfied customer or an enthusiastic gambler to dupe bystanders into participating in a swindle.
v. intr.
To act as a shill.
v. trans.
- To act as a shill (for a deceitful enterprise).
- To lure (a person) into a swindle.
-Wikipedia.org:
A shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services or a political group, who pretends no association to the seller/group and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage others unaware of the set-up to purchase goods or services or support the political group’s idealogical games. Shills are often employed by confidence artists and governments.
In the UK the term plant is used, being identical with the North American ‘shill’ in most instances, from having someone planted in the audience or in a crowd. This may be to avoid confusion between the British monetary unit of the shilling and the gerund form of the word “shill”. However plant does not carry as strong a negative connotation as ‘shill’.
>Shills on the internet:
In online discussion media, such as message boards, discussion forums, and newsgroups, shills may pose as independent experts, satisfied consumers, or “innocent” parties with specific opinions in order to further the interests of an organization in which they have an interest, such as a commercial vendor or special-interest group. Websites may also be set up for the same purpose. For example, an employee of a company that produces a specific product may (directly or discreetly) praise the product anonymously in a discussion forum or group (often called spamming) in order to heighten and generate interest in that product, or a member or sympathizer of a special-interest group may pose as a highly-qualified expert in a specific field in order to give apparently disinterested support to whatever cause the group promotes.
-Online Etymology Dictionary:
1916, “one who acts as a decoy for a gambler, auctioneer, etc.” (probably originally circus or carnival argot), probably a shortened form of shillaber (1913) with the same meaning, origin unknown. The verb is attested from 1914.
-Wordcount Ranking: 45580
Quotes from This Day:
A Couple Bonus Quotes from Q23’s Past:
-Amanpour