Word of the Day - Page 3

Eichhörnchen · 01-29-16, 01:25 AM

"Oooph! Mein hemorrhoids are most definitely real..."

Catfish · 01-29-16, 02:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torplexed

Factoid and it's descent into meaninglessness.

The “-oid” ending in English is normally added to a word to indicate that an item is not the real thing. A humanoid is not quite human. Originally “factoid” was an ironic term indicating that the “fact” being offered was not actually factual. However, CNN and other sources took to treating the “-oid” as if it were a mere diminutive, and using the term to mean “trivial but true fact.” As a result, the definition of “factoid” is now hopelessly muddled and it’s probably better to avoid using the term altogether. Thanks CNN.

A factoid is still something else than a fact, only Fox news treats it as such

No you are right, the meaning has changed. But a factoid as i understand has now become a fragment or a small part of some complex fact (?)

And the junkyard or scrapyard, has become a recycling park

The Ministry of war is now the Ministry of defense, and so on.
I guess Miniwar has turned to Minideaf, then.

Orwellian Newspeak in full swing.

vienna · 01-29-16, 03:06 PM

The word sophisticate, and its derivations, also has been redefined to mean its opposite. Originally, sophisticate was used to describe something false, tampered with or defiled; it now describes something, or someone, of a worldly, educated, or highly fashionable status...

Oddly, one other word, from the same root, still retains the original meaning of the root: sophistry, the use use of false or misleading arguments or deceptive actions for the purpose of deceit...

So, in the vein of the above post, is Fox News sophisticated or sophistry?...

<O>

Sailor Steve · 01-29-16, 04:38 PM

"Gross" originally meant large, or great; slowly came to mean overly large or obese, so much so that it meant disgustingly obese. Now people use "gross" to describe anything disgusting or sickening.

Aktungbby · 01-29-16, 05:30 PM

Especially when you're at weight watchers with 144 really fat people; that's really gross!

vienna · 01-30-16, 01:37 PM

That reminded me of something that happened to me a couple of decades back. There is a large building complex in downtown Los Angeles and it had a multi-level underground retail/restaurant mall. On the very lowest level, there was courtyard where they would sometimes put on entertainment and it had bench seating arranged around the central court area. I had just started a project in a nearby building, so I went to the mall, bought a good-sized lunch at one of the restaurants and decided to eat down at the courtyard. I was eating and reading a book I had brought along when I started to get the uneasy feeling someone was staring at me. I looked around to the front and the sides and saw no one watching me. Then I turned around and saw, through a storefront window, a large group of people seated in a meeting of some sort and many of them were staring at me with rather a bit of animosity. I looked up and read the sign above the storefront's door. I had the apparent bad luck of eating my good-sized lunch in front of a Weight Watchers store while a meeting/class was in progress...

<O>

Aktungbby · 01-30-16, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vienna

That reminded me of something that happened to me a couple of decades back. There is a large building complex in downtown Los Angeles and it had a multi-level underground retail/restaurant mall. On the very lowest level, there was courtyard where they would sometimes put on entertainment and it had bench seating arranged around the central court area. I had just started a project in a nearby building, so I went to the mall, bought a good-sized lunch at one of the restaurants and decided to eat down at the courtyard. I was eating and reading a book I had brought along when I started to get the uneasy feeling someone was staring at me. I looked around to the front and the sides and saw no one watching me. Then I turned around and saw, through a storefront window, a large group of people seated in a meeting of some sort and many of them were staring at me with rather a bit of animosity. I looked up and read the sign above the storefront's door. I had the apparent bad luck of eating my good-sized lunch in front of a Weight Watchers store while a meeting/class was in progress...

<O>

I know the feeling; my wife's been a member for years!

I don't just bring home a pizza...I'm an 'enabler'!

Jimbuna · 01-30-16, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vienna

That reminded me of something that happened to me a couple of decades back. There is a large building complex in downtown Los Angeles and it had a multi-level underground retail/restaurant mall. On the very lowest level, there was courtyard where they would sometimes put on entertainment and it had bench seating arranged around the central court area. I had just started a project in a nearby building, so I went to the mall, bought a good-sized lunch at one of the restaurants and decided to eat down at the courtyard. I was eating and reading a book I had brought along when I started to get the uneasy feeling someone was staring at me. I looked around to the front and the sides and saw no one watching me. Then I turned around and saw, through a storefront window, a large group of people seated in a meeting of some sort and many of them were staring at me with rather a bit of animosity. I looked up and read the sign above the storefront's door. I had the apparent bad luck of eating my good-sized lunch in front of a Weight Watchers store while a meeting/class was in progress...

<O>

Classic

Schroeder · 01-31-16, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

"Gross" originally meant large, or great;

Actually it's the German word for "big". Though we spell it "groß".

Jimbuna · 01-31-16, 08:10 AM

"I sent my résumé hoping to find a job and resume working."

Sailor Steve · 01-31-16, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Actually it's the German word for "big". Though we spell it "groß".

Kaiser Friedrich "the big"? I think in this case "the great" would be the better translation.

Platapus · 01-31-16, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

"I sent my résumé hoping to find a job and resume working."

That is one of my favourite peeves to pet. Either spell it with no accents (the 'merica way) or with two accents (the way the rest of the world seems to spell it.

)

But not with only one accent mark.

It ain't writtin' English good.

Torplexed · 01-31-16, 11:10 AM

People unfamiliar with the French-derived word “risqué” (‘slightly indecent”) often write “risky” by mistake. Bungee-jumping is risky, but nude bungee-jumping is risqué.

Platapus · 01-31-16, 11:16 AM

One of my favourite words is "Disgruntled" While it may be difficult to know what exactly that means, I do feel confident that I am that thing most of the time.

The prefix dis usually means opposite or not. But to assume that disgruntled means not gruntled is incorrect. Another use of the prefix is as an intensifier. In fact it is the archaic use of the prefix dis that was applied to the term gruntle.

So we are now dealing with feeling more gruntled as opposed to not gruntled.

So what does gruntle mean? Well it means to grunt or grumble indicating disagreement (note the different use of the prefix dis) dissatisfaction, or unhappiness (Dishappiness? nah).

So when I am disgruntled, I am more unhappy. So if I can cure myself of my disgruntlement, I will be back to my normal level of unhappiness.

The opposite of disgruntlement is not being happy, but being less unhappiness.

That's weird.

Platapus · 01-31-16, 11:22 AM

What's up with UP?

English is a crazy language.

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this . . . There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP."

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?

Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends.
And we use art to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.

We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

Fess UP...you like this!
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so............ Time to shut UP.....!

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

01-29-16, 01:25 AM	#31
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 17,482 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	"Oooph! Mein hemorrhoids are most definitely real..." __________________

01-29-16, 03:06 PM	#33
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,723 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	The word sophisticate, and its derivations, also has been redefined to mean its opposite. Originally, sophisticate was used to describe something false, tampered with or defiled; it now describes something, or someone, of a worldly, educated, or highly fashionable status... Oddly, one other word, from the same root, still retains the original meaning of the root: sophistry, the use use of false or misleading arguments or deceptive actions for the purpose of deceit... So, in the vein of the above post, is Fox News sophisticated or sophistry?... <O> __________________ __________________________________________________ __

01-29-16, 04:38 PM	#34
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	"Gross" originally meant large, or great; slowly came to mean overly large or obese, so much so that it meant disgustingly obese. Now people use "gross" to describe anything disgusting or sickening. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

01-29-16, 05:30 PM	#35
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 30,087 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	Especially when you're at weight watchers with 144 really fat people; that's really gross! __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!!

01-30-16, 01:37 PM	#36
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,723 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	That reminded me of something that happened to me a couple of decades back. There is a large building complex in downtown Los Angeles and it had a multi-level underground retail/restaurant mall. On the very lowest level, there was courtyard where they would sometimes put on entertainment and it had bench seating arranged around the central court area. I had just started a project in a nearby building, so I went to the mall, bought a good-sized lunch at one of the restaurants and decided to eat down at the courtyard. I was eating and reading a book I had brought along when I started to get the uneasy feeling someone was staring at me. I looked around to the front and the sides and saw no one watching me. Then I turned around and saw, through a storefront window, a large group of people seated in a meeting of some sort and many of them were staring at me with rather a bit of animosity. I looked up and read the sign above the storefront's door. I had the apparent bad luck of eating my good-sized lunch in front of a Weight Watchers store while a meeting/class was in progress... <O> __________________ __________________________________________________ __

01-31-16, 08:10 AM	#40
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 191,044 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	"I sent my résumé hoping to find a job and resume working." __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

01-31-16, 11:10 AM	#43
Torplexed Let's Sink Sumptin' ! Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5,823 Downloads: 43 Uploads: 0	People unfamiliar with the French-derived word “risqué” (‘slightly indecent”) often write “risky” by mistake. Bungee-jumping is risky, but nude bungee-jumping is risqué. __________________ --Mobilis in Mobili--

01-31-16, 11:16 AM	#44
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,402 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	One of my favourite words is "Disgruntled" While it may be difficult to know what exactly that means, I do feel confident that I am that thing most of the time. The prefix dis usually means opposite or not. But to assume that disgruntled means not gruntled is incorrect. Another use of the prefix is as an intensifier. In fact it is the archaic use of the prefix dis that was applied to the term gruntle. So we are now dealing with feeling more gruntled as opposed to not gruntled. So what does gruntle mean? Well it means to grunt or grumble indicating disagreement (note the different use of the prefix dis) dissatisfaction, or unhappiness (Dishappiness? nah). So when I am disgruntled, I am more unhappy. So if I can cure myself of my disgruntlement, I will be back to my normal level of unhappiness. The opposite of disgruntlement is not being happy, but being less unhappiness. That's weird. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

01-31-16, 11:22 AM	#45
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,402 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	What's up with UP? English is a crazy language. You lovers of the English language might enjoy this . . . There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP." It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends. And we use art to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP. Fess UP...you like this! One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so............ Time to shut UP.....! We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.