Word of the Day

[Eirene]

Apoptosis
A genetically directed process of cell self-destruction that is marked by the fragmentation of nuclear DNA, is activated either by the presence of a stimulus or removal of a suppressing agent or stimulus, and is a normal physiological process eliminating DNA-damaged, superfluous, or unwanted cells —called also programmed cell death.

I'm guessing that if you discovered a way to do this only to cancer cells then you'd be a well-liked person.

Interesting fact: many cancers start with a cell that spontaneously develops a defect which causes it to be unable to undergo apoptosis. So instead of dying when it's supposed to, it keeps accumulating more and more defects until it eventually becomes cancerous. Some cancer treatments do rely on triggering apoptosis, and they think that when cancers don't respond well to those treatments, it's because those cancer cells have already lost the ability to undergo apoptosis.

[Yarjka]

Coruscate (v.) - to emit vivid flashes of light; sparkle; scintillate; gleam.

Found in Nabokov's The Defense: "...in some mysterious fashion Luzhin, melting and coruscating, and blissfully relaxing, agreed with his reasoning."

Apparently Coruscant is the name of a planet in the Star Wars universe.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

I totally saw Coruscate and thought of Coruscant.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

ex·co·ri·ate
/ikˈskôrēˌāt/
Verb
Censure or criticize severely.
Damage or remove part of the surface of (the skin).
Synonyms
bark - raw - skin - excorticate - flay

This article from Wired:

"On New Year's Day, seven polio vaccinators ? six female health workers and a male doctor ? were ambushed and shot to death in Pakistan. The violence there is a response to an admitted-to ruse by the CIA. Now, the deans of 12 public-health schools in the United States have sent an open appeal to President Obama excoriating the CIA attempt and asking that it never happen again."

[S.A.M.]

Gruntle, v. - to put in a good humor.

A local credit union is running an advertising campaign with the theme "Get Gruntled!"

The verb "disgruntle," which has been around since 1682, means "to make ill-humored or discontented." The prefix "dis-" often means "to do the opposite of," so people might naturally assume that if there is a "disgruntle," there must have first been a "gruntle" with exactly the opposite meaning. But actually, "dis-" doesn’t always work that way -- in some rare cases it functions instead as an intensifier. "Disgruntle" developed from this intensifying sense of "dis-" plus "gruntle," an old word meaning "to grumble." In the 1920s, a writer humorously used "gruntle" to mean "to make happy" -- in other words, as an antonym of "disgruntle." The use caught on. At first "gruntle" was used only in humorous ways, but people eventually began to use it seriously as well. http://www.merriam-webster.com/word/wor ... ct-24-2009

[UffishThought]

Wait! Who was the writer? Was it Wodehouse? I know he did it, at one point.

A little research later, and I've discovered that he used it in "Code of the Woosters," which came out in '38. ("I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.") I still want to know who first used it humorously, though.


(Bonus fact: it was Wodehouse who first wrote "Elementary, my dear Watson," in 1915. One of his characters was referencing Sherlock Holmes, but Holmes never actually said those words in that order. Somehow, it's Wodehouse's version that we all picked up on and quote.)

[Katya]

kayfabe - the portrayal of staged events within the industry of professional wrestling as "real" or "true"

Source - An entry on TV Tropes about the wrestling career of Andre the Giant

[Katya]

(Bonus fact: it was Wodehouse who first wrote "Elementary, my dear Watson," in 1915. One of his characters was referencing Sherlock Holmes, but Holmes never actually said those words in that order. Somehow, it's Wodehouse's version that we all picked up on and quote.)

Fascinating.

[Yarjka]

glabella (n.) - the space between the eyebrows and above the nose.

Source: Nabokov.

Seems like a word I should have known, but I am not sure I've ever seen it before. I did immediately associate it with 'forehead' though, so I wasn't too far off.

Apparently it comes from the Latin glabellus meaning smooth. Google shows that it's a popular area for the botox crowd.

[Portia]

Wait! Who was the writer? Was it Wodehouse? I know he did it, at one point.

A little research later, and I've discovered that he used it in "Code of the Woosters," which came out in '38. ("I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.") I still want to know who first used it humorously, though.


(Bonus fact: it was Wodehouse who first wrote "Elementary, my dear Watson," in 1915. One of his characters was referencing Sherlock Holmes, but Holmes never actually said those words in that order. Somehow, it's Wodehouse's version that we all picked up on and quote.)

Thy foul Front had he that Bartilmo flayd ; The Gallows gapes after thy graceles Gruntle, As thou waid tor a Haggies hungrey Gled.

Found this on ngram search from 1761. Don't .... actually know what it means?

Oh how I love Code of the Woosters. Is this in reference to the fascist guy?

[Whistler]

Nabokov loves the word glabella.

[Katya]

manumit (v.) - To release (a person) from slavery, bondage, or servitude

Source: New Yorker article about the history of the founders of Brown University

[S.A.M.]

Tokamak, n. - A toroidal device for producing controlled nuclear fusion that involves the confining and heating of a gaseous plasma by means of an electric current and magnetic field

Pushing the I'm Board! button and reaching https://theboard.byu.edu/questions/39418/

[S.A.M.]

Toroidal, adj. - of, relating to, or shaped like a torus or toroid : doughnut-shaped.

Looking up the definition of Tokakmak...

[Katya]

Tokamak, n. - A toroidal device for producing controlled nuclear fusion that involves the confining and heating of a gaseous plasma by means of an electric current and magnetic field

I was curious about the etymology of this word, so I decided to look it up. It turns out it's a Russian acronym: toroidálnaya kámera s magnítnym pólem, meaning "toroidal chamber with magnetic field."

And then I followed the link to the Board question you referenced (because I was curious about the context) and discovered that the context was me, answering a question about words that are acronyms.

[S.A.M.]

Ha! Funny how we lose so much information. Sometimes I feel like I have to keep learning just so I don't forget what I already know.

[Marduk]

syllepsis (n.) - the use of a word in the same grammatical relation to two adjacent words in the context with one literal and the other metaphorical in sense.

[Katya]

grubbers (n.) - reinforced garden gloves

etymology: brand name

source: a children's picture book

I'd never heard the term and the name wasn't capitalized, so I didn't realize it was a brand name.

[mic0]

panacea (n) - remedy for all diseases/ills/bad things.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Ooo I knew that one!