Words you dislike? Or really like?

[devildeac]

You misspelled "subversive." ;-)

"...You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows..."

[OldPhiKap]

"...You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows..."

"I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw."

(Different bard, I know)

[Nrrrrvous]

"...You don't need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows..."

"...better stay away from those
that carry around a fire hose..."

[Phredd3]

Yes, we are quite the civilized, congenial bunch over there .

That may be where I first learned the word, too. I like quaff even more than imbibe.

Not "swill"? My father used to talks about swilling down some beers. And he meant it non-perjoratively.

[devildeac]

Not "swill"? My father used to talks about swilling down some beers. And he meant it non-perjoratively.

I've used "swill" a time or three in the past, almost always in a deprecatory manner, but I can most certainly appreciate its use in the fashion you described by your father.

[Tripping William]

Not "swill"? My father used to talks about swilling down some beers. And he meant it non-perjoratively.

I've used "swill" a time or three in the past, almost always in a deprecatory manner, but I can most certainly appreciate its use in the fashion you described by your father.

As a noun, clearly pejorative. As a verb? Maybe not so much.

[-jk]

whoa, thanks for the shout out! Distaste may be too strong, we kind of see them as our idiot cousins, kind of like Randy Quaid in Christmas Vacation.

It's been said (so it must be true) that English has twice as many words as any other tongue, which is a glorious thing.

I just read a book in which the word "disorientated" was used several times, and was distressed to find that it is deemed quite acceptable. Balderdash I say!

I've seen some Scouts that were "disorientated" on hikes...

-jk

[budwom]

I've seen some Scouts that were "disorientated" on hikes...

-jk

What about the "veteran hiker" who got disorientated (sic) for 12 days in Zion National Park...story seems a bit odd...

[sagegrouse]

What about the "veteran hiker" who got disorientated (sic) for 12 days in Zion National Park...story seems a bit odd...

Story is she hit her head early in her journey, but we'll see what further explanation might come out.

[sagegrouse]

Has anyone yet mentioned my least favorite word

COMORBIDITY

co·mor·bid·i·ty
/ˌkōmôrˈbidədē/
Learn to pronounce
nounMedicine
noun: co-morbidity; plural noun: co-morbidities; noun: comorbidity; plural noun: comorbidities

the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient.
"age and comorbidity may be risk factors for poor outcome"
a disease or medical condition that is simultaneously present with another or others in a patient.
"patients with cardiovascular or renal comorbidities"

How about old age and a couple of other things?

[Phredd3]

"Bollux" is a good word. Some variant of it applies to a lot of my posts, actually.

[budwom]

"Bollux" is a good word. Some variant of it applies to a lot of my posts, actually.

that's interesting in that I love the word, but am used to seeing it spelled as bollocks or bollix, primarily in the UK lit I tend to read...

[Phredd3]

"Bollux" is a good word. Some variant of it applies to a lot of my posts, actually.

that's interesting in that I love the word, but am used to seeing it spelled as bollocks or bollix, primarily in the UK lit I tend to read...

See?

[budwom]

See?

Ha! It would seem that bollix/bollux/bollocks is a fine, all purpose British substitute for the American BS word...

[DevilHorse]

A favorite word, mentioned in the UFO thread, is ‘parsec’. It is a constructed astronomical term from P-arallax, AR-c, SEC-ond.

When the subject came up in the other thread, I got to thinking… First, some background:

This refers to a measurement technique that astronomers use to measure distance of relatively near stars (only works in our local part of our galaxy due to limitations in optical telescopes (and atmospheric conditions)) by viewing their (relative) motion on photographs (plates) on a field of fixed background stars. The Angular change, measured in arc seconds (1/3600th of a degree), indicates how far the star is. The distance to a star (in units of parsecs) is equal to 1 over the change in position of a star’s relative position. The angle has to be measured exactly 6 months from its first position (measured with the field of stars at approximately right angles to the sun’s position). Important Part: This is so the earth is separated by twice its distance from the sun (an Astronomical Unit – AU) when making the measurement. The parsec is 3.26 light years, or 2 x 10^13 miles. So a Parsec distance depends specifically on the Earth to Sun distance.

In the first Star Wars movie, Han Solo is said, "You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?…It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs." That sounds like he’s using a Parsec as a unit of time and not distance. (a third of people use light-year as a unit of time and not distance, but of course you are all too intelligent for that). In the movie SOLO, they attempt to clarify this ‘phrase’ by showing that Han Solo actually took a short-cut (they wanted to show distance since a usual Kessel Run is 18 parsecs), near a black hole, to make it more “quickly” to the end of the Kessel Run; actually I haven’t thought about whether he got there faster or from a relativistic point of view he just got there younger, (the writers never considered relativistic effects of time) but this is not to my point today.

My point is that when someone from a Galaxy Far Far Away uses a term like Parsec, which is based on an Earth to Sun distance, that is using a term that does not have a correct Galactic context!! If an anachronism is something out of time, then this is something out of space; it doesn’t belong in that galaxy! It’s as if Solo ordered a Budweiser in that Bar scene.

Anachronism is a great word.

Is there a word to describe something such as the use of Parsec that is ‘out of space’? It is not in context for that Galaxy. I realize that the writers needed to use a unit of measure for that Han Solo statement, and they wanted to use space lingo, but it just strikes me as a ‘space’ anachronism of sorts.

Larry
DevilHorse

[IrishDevil]

A favorite word, mentioned in the UFO thread, is ‘parsec’. It is a constructed astronomical term from P-arallax, AR-c, SEC-ond.

When the subject came up in the other thread, I got to thinking… First, some background:

This refers to a measurement technique that astronomers use to measure distance of relatively near stars (only works in our local part of our galaxy due to limitations in optical telescopes (and atmospheric conditions)) by viewing their (relative) motion on photographs (plates) on a field of fixed background stars. The Angular change, measured in arc seconds (1/3600th of a degree), indicates how far the star is. The distance to a star (in units of parsecs) is equal to 1 over the change in position of a star’s relative position. The angle has to be measured exactly 6 months from its first position (measured with the field of stars at approximately right angles to the sun’s position). Important Part: This is so the earth is separated by twice its distance from the sun (an Astronomical Unit – AU) when making the measurement. The parsec is 3.26 light years, or 2 x 10^13 miles. So a Parsec distance depends specifically on the Earth to Sun distance.

In the first Star Wars movie, Han Solo is said, "You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?…It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs." That sounds like he’s using a Parsec as a unit of time and not distance. (a third of people use light-year as a unit of time and not distance, but of course you are all too intelligent for that). In the movie SOLO, they attempt to clarify this ‘phrase’ by showing that Han Solo actually took a short-cut (they wanted to show distance since a usual Kessel Run is 18 parsecs), near a black hole, to make it more “quickly” to the end of the Kessel Run; actually I haven’t thought about whether he got there faster or from a relativistic point of view he just got there younger, (the writers never considered relativistic effects of time) but this is not to my point today.

My point is that when someone from a Galaxy Far Far Away uses a term like Parsec, which is based on an Earth to Sun distance, that is using a term that does not have a correct Galactic context!! If an anachronism is something out of time, then this is something out of space; it doesn’t belong in that galaxy! It’s as if Solo ordered a Budweiser in that Bar scene.

Anachronism is a great word.

Is there a word to describe something such as the use of Parsec that is ‘out of space’? It is not in context for that Galaxy. I realize that the writers needed to use a unit of measure for that Han Solo statement, and they wanted to use space lingo, but it just strikes me as a ‘space’ anachronism of sorts.

Larry
DevilHorse

Wonderful post - I was aware of the time/distance goof in a new hope, but I did not realize that parsec was galaxy-specific.

And I believe the word you are looking for is either anatopism or anachorism. The difference in the Ancient Greek root words appears to depend on distinctions that do not map well on to English, but anatopism may be the more common term, if wikipedia is any indication.

[DevilHorse]

Wonderful post - I was aware of the time/distance goof in a new hope, but I did not realize that parsec was galaxy-specific.

And I believe the word you are looking for is either anatopism or anachorism. The difference in the Ancient Greek root words appears to depend on distinctions that do not map well on to English, but anatopism may be the more common term, if wikipedia is any indication.

Anatopism and Anachorism are excellent words.
Although a slight quibble with the online definitions: "a geographical misplacement; something located in an incongruent position". The word 'geography' comes up in both and seems to also imply exploration and measurements related to the earth. But of course, that is too confining a definition, and the point is understood.

Thanks!

Larry
DevilHorse

[jimmymax]

I have come to dislike the word strongly, strongly. I'm hoping that one day soon, like a miracle, it will be gone.

[rsvman]

I have come to dislike the word strongly, strongly. I'm hoping that one day soon, like a miracle, it will be gone.

To me that is an unusual word to take a disliking to. Can you explain what it is about the word "strongly" that bothers you?

[Phredd3]

To me that is an unusual word to take a disliking to. Can you explain what it is about the word "strongly" that bothers you?

If I had to guess, I'd say it was because of something orange you can occasionally find in a roundish office in a very light colored house, but I could be wrong.