A new word to like: faff.
As a noun, an over-complicated task, particularly one seen as a waste of time. The verbal form seems to be more slangy, sprouting from the noun, as in "Don't faff around."
A new word to like: faff.
As a noun, an over-complicated task, particularly one seen as a waste of time. The verbal form seems to be more slangy, sprouting from the noun, as in "Don't faff around."
In my family we have a slang word for a task that takes a lot of time but is ultimately worthless. It has morphed a little into meaning busy work or work that others require from which there is no escape. It was coined by my brother, and to my knowledge we are the only people who use it. When my brother was serving a mission for the LDS church his mission president made all the missionaries prepare and submit a report every week. It was called the Missionary Evaluation Report Form. Thence came the word "merf."
Examples:
"Wanna go see a movie?"
"I wish. I have a crap-ton of merf to do."
"What are you doing this afternoon?"
"Merf, mostly."
Word I like: commotion.
Words I like: warn’t and ahint (the ‘i’ is long). As my father used to say, he warn’t ahint the barn when they passed out the brains.
Also, another phrase my father used: “I’m going to fix his wagon.” This refers to the showing of one’s displeasure at the inconsiderate or discourteous behavior of another person (for example by cutting one off in traffic or following too closely). With the person driving directly behind on a two lane road with no passing, this could involve a leisurely drive slowing down frequently to enjoy the scenery, and be a great source of schadenfreude for everyone in the car.
word I like: cush (informal for cushy)
I like it, too.
Heard another of my favorite words on the radio yesterday; a word I hadn't heard or thought of in a long time: caterwaul.
What an awesome word! I also like caterwauling. Might even be better. Gotta find a way to work it into a conversation sometime this week.
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust
I realize this is marginally off track for the thread, but it is in fact a word that I like.
While working in Brasil, one of the Portuguese words I picked up was "beija flor" which is the word for hummingbird.
The literal translation of beija flor is kisses flower. I always thought that was a really cool name for a hummingbird.
Slightly off topic, but I am amused when professional writers unwittingly (at least I hope so) step in it. Saw this in a newspaper recently:
Arthritis patients whose sex life is affected by the pain of their condition should discuss sexual activity with their doctors.
As Groucho Marx said, "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know."
Here's another word I have grown to despise: vigil.
"separated" and "shoulder"
Linguistic question --
I linked a video on the Brexit thread that the originator titled "If Brexit were a cat (it would do X)."
It seems to me that one should say "If Brexit was a cat (it would do X),"
yet it would be correct to also start the sentence "Were Brexit a cat (it would do X)."
Am I right about that? And if so, why is that right?
It's the subjunctive in either order and should be "were." It's counterfactual/hypothetical.
What if Brexit were Schrödinger's cat? Might it then be a superposition of factual and counterfactual?
Which brings up the word "Verschränkung."
Upon further consideration it seems to me that Brexit is very Schrödinger's catlike only with all possible outcomes being some version of a dead cat.
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust