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Re: Word of the day
Posted: Sat December 02, 2023 2:43 pm
by 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.
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Sun January 28, 2024 2:36 pm
by 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!"
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Fri March 22, 2024 1:09 am
by 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.
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Fri March 22, 2024 12:53 pm
by Alex
BurtReynolds wrote:“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.
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Tue April 16, 2024 2:07 pm
by BurtReynolds
Mudlark
a person who gains a livelihood by searching for iron, coal, old ropes, etc., in mud or low tide.
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Tue April 16, 2024 2:09 pm
by BurtReynolds
Alex wrote:BurtReynolds wrote:“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.
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Fri May 10, 2024 2:11 am
by BurtReynolds
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Tue June 18, 2024 8:51 pm
by BurtReynolds
Who're - acceptable contraction of "who are"
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Tue June 18, 2024 8:58 pm
by tree_
haha, whore, haha
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Tue June 18, 2024 8:59 pm
by BurtReynolds
tree_ wrote:haha, whore, haha
Who're you laughing at?
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Tue June 18, 2024 9:42 pm
by tree_
BurtReynolds wrote:tree_ wrote:haha, whore, haha
Who're you laughing at?
Whomever who're
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Sat June 29, 2024 9:44 pm
by BurtReynolds
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Sat August 24, 2024 4:35 pm
by BurtReynolds
"figment of my imagination" is redundant:
figment
noun
a thing that someone believes to be real but that exists only in their imagination.
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Mon September 02, 2024 2:32 am
by 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.
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Mon September 02, 2024 2:32 am
by 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.
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Mon September 30, 2024 5:21 pm
by dad
leporine: of, pertaining to, or resembling a rabbit or hare.
I had never heard that word until today when a coworker used it.
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Fri November 29, 2024 12:12 am
by BurtReynolds
im·pre·ca·tion
/ˌimprəˈkāSH(ə)n/
nounformal
a spoken curse.
"she hurled her imprecations at anyone who might be listening"
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Mon December 15, 2025 9:53 pm
by BurtReynolds
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Mon December 15, 2025 10:43 pm
by 96583UP
nice
can also be used to describe 2025 america’s general moral and cultural condition
Re: Word of the day
Posted: Thu December 18, 2025 6:54 pm
by 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.