Word of the Day

[Katya]

Fruit machine - British term for a slot machine.

[S.A.M.]

camouflet - an underground explosion of a bomb or mine that does not break the surface.

Apparently has french origins meaning to blow smoke in someone's face as a joke.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Another post from me today. How fortunate:

auriculotherapist: Someone who practices auriculotherapy, a form of acupuncture on points of the outer ear for the relief of pain in other parts of the body.

from: http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/bar/3749486388.html

Ad reproduced below, for posterity:

"Of course everyone loves getting their feet massaged! Well that's what I do, I am a Reflexologist and Auriculotherapist (ear reflexology) and I can help heal your body by the reflex points mainly located on the feet. Stress plays a main point in getting better and if you want to get there you will need to relax, let me help."

[Katya]

busk - A stay or stiffening strip for a corset; also a term for the corset, itself

Apparently unrelated to "busk" in the sense of street performing

[Laser Jock]

ponding - the unwanted pooling of water (I had no idea this could be a verb!)

Source: a "special weather statement" from the National Weather Service, which contained the following: "... HEAVY SHOWERS CAUSING SOME PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS..."

(Side note: I wonder when, or if, they'll move away from all caps? I'm guessing they originally used teletype or something, but even teletype had upper and lower case as of at least 40 years ago... And all caps just looks so bad. )

[Katya]

austral - Of or relating to the south, in particular. (cf. oriental, occidental, and septentrional)

Source: A French article, which made me wonder if the word was ever used in English.

[Portia]

septentrional

This was the coolest word I've learned here! Comes from the Big Dipper.

[S.A.M.]

austral - Of or relating to the south, in particular. (cf. oriental, occidental, and septentrional)

Source: A French article, which made me wonder if the word was ever used in English.

Totally. Australia.

[Portia]

austral - Of or relating to the south, in particular. (cf. oriental, occidental, and septentrional)

Source: A French article, which made me wonder if the word was ever used in English.

Totally. Australia.

SO GOOD

[Katya]

septentrional

This was the coolest word I've learned here! Comes from the Big Dipper.

Oh, I wondered what it had to do with "seven." Very cool!

[Katya]

austral - Of or relating to the south, in particular. (cf. oriental, occidental, and septentrional)

Source: A French article, which made me wonder if the word was ever used in English.

Totally. Australia.

I did make that connection (although the name of the country comes from Latin, not English).

[S.A.M.]

austral - Of or relating to the south, in particular. (cf. oriental, occidental, and septentrional)

Source: A French article, which made me wonder if the word was ever used in English.

Totally. Australia.

I did make that connection (although the name of the country comes from Latin, not English).

Australopithecus!

Ok, these are better. They refer to austral seasons:
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10 ... 11-00324.1
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10. ... 11-00324.1

And austral wind:
http://wind.willyweather.com.au/nsw/gre ... stral.html

Austral Africa:
http://books.google.com/books?id=PDtCAA ... CF0Q6AEwBg

Google austral windscreens

[Portia]

Quick, guess which cardinal direction Austria comes from (put on your German, not your Latin, hat). This is totally how I'll teach my kids to remember the difference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Austria

[Katya]

Australopithecus!

Ok, these are better. They refer to austral seasons:
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10 ... 11-00324.1
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10. ... 11-00324.1

And austral wind:
http://wind.willyweather.com.au/nsw/gre ... stral.html

Austral Africa:
http://books.google.com/books?id=PDtCAA ... CF0Q6AEwBg

Google austral windscreens

Nice!

[Katya]

Quick, guess which cardinal direction Austria comes from (put on your German, not your Latin, hat). This is totally how I'll teach my kids to remember the difference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Austria

I can't guess because the answer is really obvious in German.

[Tally M.]

saturnine - sluggish in temperament; gloomy; taciturn. Also, archaic: a. of or relating to lead, b. having or symptomatic of lead poisoning

Origin: "1433, lit. "born under the influence of the planet Saturn," from M.E. Saturne (see Saturn). Medieval physiology believed these characteristics to be caused by the astrological influence of the planet Saturn, which was the most remote from the Sun (in the limited knowledge of the times) and thus coldest and slowest in its revolution."

Source: "Umm..." by Michael Erard

[S.A.M.]

septentrional

This was the coolest word I've learned here! Comes from the Big Dipper.

Oh, I wondered what it had to do with "seven." Very cool!

You guys got me thinking about September, then October, November, and December. These are named to be the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth months, not the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth. It used to be that way:

In Latin, septem means "seven" and septimus means "seventh"; September was in fact the seventh month of the Roman calendar until 46 BC, when the first month changed from Kalendas Martius (1 March) to Kalendas Januarius (1 January). It is the sixth month of the Astrological calendar, which begins end of March/Mars/Aries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September

[Digit]

Abecedarians were a 16th century German sect of Anabaptists who effected an absolute disdain for all human knowledge, contending that God would enlighten his elect from within themselves, giving them knowledge of necessary truths by visions and ecstasies, with which human learning would interfere.

Found while reading this book about book design.

[Katya]

revenant - A person who has returned, esp. supposedly from the dead.

Source: An article about heirloom apple trees.

[Marduk]

revenant - A person who has returned, esp. supposedly from the dead.

Pshh, this one was easy. You need to play more video games.