Word of the day

[BurtReynolds]

myrmidon

1
capitalized : a member of a legendary Thessalian people who accompanied their king Achilles in the Trojan War
2
: a loyal follower, especially a subordinate who executes orders unquestioningly or unscrupulously

Myrmidon and Ants

The Myrmidons, legendary inhabitants of Thessaly in Greece, were known for their fierce devotion to Achilles, the king who led them in the Trojan War. Myrmex means "ant" in Greek, an image that evokes small and insignificant workers mindlessly fulfilling their duties. Whether the original Myrmidons were given their name for that reason is open to question. The "ant" association is strong, however. Some say the name is from a legendary ancestor who once had the form of an ant; others say the Myrmidons were actually transformed from ants. In any case, since the 1400s, we've employed myrmidon in its not-always-complimentary, ant-evoking, figurative sense.

[BurtReynolds]

perdure - similar to endure, but different.

"Here's a pretty good metaphor to get across the main idea of perdurantism.

Between two towns there's a road. You can pick any one section of the road and say that it's part of the road, but the whole road is not present at that one section. Rather, the whole road is the thing which is stretched out between the two towns. Perdurantism thinks of objects in a similar way: you, your computer, and other things, are not wholly present at any one given time. What is present is a temporal part: you-at-time t. Another temporal part is you-at-time t1, t2 ... tn, and so on. The whole you is stretched out through time, like the road is stretched through space. Perdurantists explain our persistence through time by appeal to temporal parts. (Further reading. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/temporal-parts/)

Endurantists, on the other hand, claim that you, your computer, and so on, are wholly present at every time. The whole you is the sum of your spatial parts (or maybe an object over and above them -- see compositionalism!) and you persist through time because these parts endure through time.

There are some complications in that there's nothing preventing someone from saying that objects have spatial and temporal parts as opposed to temporal parts alone, so the distinction between the two positions can get a bit fuzzy. But still, that's the quick-and-dirty version.

Hope it helps!"

[BurtReynolds]

“Bork” is an informal verb used in US politics to describe the act of systematically defaming or vilifying a person, often to prevent their appointment to public office. The word comes from Robert Bork (1927–), an American judge whose nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987 was rejected due to unfavorable publicity for his allegedly extreme views.

[Alex]

“Bork” is an informal verb used in US politics to describe the act of systematically defaming or vilifying a person, often to prevent their appointment to public office. The word comes from Robert Bork (1927–), an American judge whose nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987 was rejected due to unfavorable publicity for his allegedly extreme views.

if you could bork anyone on RM, who would it be?

for me, i’m thinking i’ll bork washing machine out of working in foodservice ever again.

[BurtReynolds]

Mudlark

a person who gains a livelihood by searching for iron, coal, old ropes, etc., in mud or low tide.

[BurtReynolds]

“Bork” is an informal verb used in US politics to describe the act of systematically defaming or vilifying a person, often to prevent their appointment to public office. The word comes from Robert Bork (1927–), an American judge whose nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987 was rejected due to unfavorable publicity for his allegedly extreme views.

if you could bork anyone on RM, who would it be?

for me, i’m thinking i’ll bork washing machine out of working in foodservice ever again.

I would bork tree and Lenny. They would have to make a living as mudlarks.

[BurtReynolds]

[BurtReynolds]

Who're - acceptable contraction of "who are"

[tree_]

haha, whore, haha

[BurtReynolds]

haha, whore, haha

Who're you laughing at?

[tree_]

haha, whore, haha

Who're you laughing at?

Whomever who're

[BurtReynolds]

[BurtReynolds]

"figment of my imagination" is redundant:


figment

noun
a thing that someone believes to be real but that exists only in their imagination.

[BurtReynolds]

The "ye" in "ye olde coffee shoppe" was always pronounced the same as "the".

The y in this ye was never pronounced (y) but was rather the result of improvisation by early printers. In Old English and early Middle English, the sound (th) was represented by the letter thorn (þ). When printing presses were first set up in England in the 1470s, the type came from Continental Europe, where this letter was not in use. The letter y was used instead because in the handwriting of the day the loop of the letter thorn was often not connected to the upright, and so the thorn looked very similar to y.

[BurtReynolds]

The "ye" in "ye olde coffee shoppe" was always pronounced the same as "the".

The y in this ye was never pronounced (y) but was rather the result of improvisation by early printers. In Old English and early Middle English, the sound (th) was represented by the letter thorn (þ). When printing presses were first set up in England in the 1470s, the type came from Continental Europe, where this letter was not in use. The letter y was used instead because in the handwriting of the day the loop of the letter thorn was often not connected to the upright, and so the thorn looked very similar to y.

[dad]

leporine: of, pertaining to, or resembling a rabbit or hare.

I had never heard that word until today when a coworker used it.

[BurtReynolds]

im·pre·ca·tion
/ˌimprəˈkāSH(ə)n/
nounformal
a spoken curse.
"she hurled her imprecations at anyone who might be listening"

[BurtReynolds]

[96583UP]

nice

can also be used to describe 2025 america’s general moral and cultural condition

[contamination]

I was on a phone with my American friend about a week ago and I described a song to her as earworm, and she had no idea what that meant. So I guess it's not commonly used in American English?

earworm
a song or melody that keeps repeating in one's mind

Edit: Well the search does return multiple hits so I guess people do use it after all. What the hell.