Is there a word for 'rendered useless'?
I'm looking for something a la 'ineffectualise' or 'futilised'.
(please excuse the ugly neologisms)
how about obsolesced?
depending on the context, superannuated might apply (or even outmoded/outdated).
then there's always 'inusitated', but that one might get you some funny looks.
or in a different sense you might use obviated.
Well, "obviate" is one of my favorite words and it's kinda close. Are you talking about rendering an action useless or an object?
k
inactivated, impaired,crippled,damaged,destroyed.
The way I felt when I retired.
> obsolesced
That's pretty good - but it does refer more 'the process of becoming obsolete' and obsolete does of course mean 'no longer in use', rather than 'useless' if memory serves.
Nevertheless very interesting, especially considering there's the transitive verb 'obsoleted' as well! Puh!
How about "elected"? (At least it fits with our MP's)
> Are you talking about rendering an action useless or an object?
I guess I should clarify; It refers to how man renders God effectual by casting him/her/the concept in stone, and then forgetting about one's supposed religion while one goes into bloody battle. It is in regard to a poem where God is wrought 'stone-deaf and stone-blind'.
yeah, when i looked it up before posting i was a tad surprised to find that 'obsolete' is a word; i've always heard it as 'obsolesced'.
a related question that's always bothered me (could be a YART, i didn't LIU): whence "86'd"? i first came across the term when i was waitressing; the manager would scribble on a board that a particular dish had been 86'd when they ran out of it. i suppose that would've been right around 1987, so it made perfect sense... but i still hear it. why'd that year stick??
I've just been looking at 'obviate' - it's quite suitable really. I even found a quote regarding religion:
Not to stir a step to obviate any of a different religion. --Fuller.
(Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, ©1998)
Nice one, Fallible F(r)iend
inactivated, impaired,crippled,damaged,destroyed.
The way I felt when I retired.
Retired from what, wwh, you seem to give a great deal of your accumulated knowledge to we the fortunate of this board. Thanks.
Maybe a phrase "A God in stone denied"
"marginalized"? "neutered"?
Isn't there a term, on the tip of my tongue, for modifying a rifle or pistol so that it cannot fire?
Knackered, stuffed, screwed, junked, kaputted ... ? Maybe not in relation to any god, of course. But there seem to be a lot more slang terms for the phenomenon than there are more formal ones.
In terms of your poem, would "ignored" be a better choice?
I've always been vaguely amused by pre-battle scenes of chaplains, who presumably subscribe to the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment, blessing those who are about to do just that in spades. Equally, they always ascribe their god's blessing to the current cause - on both sides of the battle lines at the same time.
Likes a bob each way, hmmm.
> there seem to be a lot more slang terms for the phenomenon than there are more formal ones.
You're right there Cap. I don't think 'ignored' fits too well though, because if you do battle with other men with little understanding of why, which was largely the case in WW1, with only audaciousness as your guide, then you abandon the Christian ideology. You are not just 'ignoring God', you're undermining your whole concept of that which he should represent to you. At the most important of times humanity sees it fit to let dogma and religion 'slip onto the backburner' (i.e. ignore), so to speak, only to use it when they see fit. I think the point being made though is that things don't work like that. The Bible obviously has some passages pertaining to this fickle tendency of purported 'believers' (e.g. the betrayal).
Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions AWADers
whence "86'd"? i first came across the term when i was waitressing; the manager would scribble on a board that a particular dish had been 86'd when they ran out of it. i suppose that would've been right around 1987, so it made perfect sense... but i still hear it. why'd that year stick??
The term came into use as one of an entire code which arose in US soda fountains and lunch counters in the 1920s. Orders were taken without checks and yelled to the cook, and the code developed to speed messages to the cooks while obscuring meanings from the customers.
Numbers were used frequently. Some were:
19 Banana split
33 Cherry cola
51 Hot chocolate
55 Root beer
80, 81 .... Glass of water
For the most common drinks, like water and milk, the first digit signified the beverage and the second the number of glasses, so that "84" meant "four glasses of water."
Some numbers signified things other than food orders:
13 The boss is here; don't mess around
95 A customer is leaving without paying
99 The boss wants to see you
86, perhaps chosen because the 6 rhymes with "nix," meant "no." Usually, the cook would call it out to tell the servers that they were out of a given item, but it was also used by the servers to indicate that a customer should not be served (because, for example, he was a deadbeat).
Most of the codes became obsolete with the customary use of written checks, but 86 broadened in applicability, to include ejecting a customer and as a generic term for killing or annihilating something.
Other diner codes: "burn the British" for English muffins; "Mike and Ike" for salt and pepper; and "Put out the lights and cry" for liver and onions.
Is there a word for 'rendered useless'?
I'm looking for something a la 'ineffectualise' or 'futilised'
Say hey, Bellige, To me and Spiro Agnew there is only one word to convey rendered useless...
effete:... 2) Exausted of vitality, force, or effectiveness: depleted of vigor: worn-out, spent.
I am much
undone that this matter wasn't brought to my immediate attention, with my being the master of worthless words. but, much having already been said, I hope that these additions won't be floccipaucinihilipilified or found to be supererogated.
in the sense of being worn out or used up: dibilitated, dissipated, consumed
in the sense of being moved out of the way: displaced, malpositioned
in the sense of being made ineffective: invalidated, muzzled, negated, neutralized, stultified
in the sense of being made redundant: redunded
I can think of only one word:
banjaxed
How about depreciating (and depreciated)?
"Adam and Eve on a raft" = 2 poached eggs on toast
Then there is the famous SOS (sh*t on a shingle) = creamed dried or chipped beef on toast, which did not originate in lunchrooms, but in Army mess halls. This is so ubiquitous that I don't know of anyone who uses the real name except when ordering it in a restaurant.
Has anyone ever really ordered that in a restaurant?
I couldn't imagine paying to eat it.
(Yes, I was in the army--a long time, but there are some things you don't ever forget.)
"Gelded," said Tom limply.
incapacitated...though something can be incapacitated without being rendered useless. Usually totally incapacitated is used to indicate total uselessness.