powfag.. choose one:
a) a shaggy-dog story; a groaner [from a series of short stories by Larry Niven (as Lynn Varrie), all of which ended with an outrageous pun: Percival Powfag's Exploits in Known Space
b) [from Cree (US)] the raw materials used to make up a fire
c) a powderhorn designed to be hung from the saddle of a horse
d) a very strong cigarette [Welsh slang, from pwff puff, and ffagl flame, torch]
e) a persistent heavy mist occurring during cold weather in the late fall or early spring, common in woods in northern Wisconsin [from Menominee apeha'pfe-o-akh, it deceives the eyes]
f) 1. (Finnish) a crude broom made from twigs tied together
2. (musical jargon; contraction of "power faggotto") an electric bassoon
g) Pretty, Overweight, White, Female, Actively Gay (well known to Date Referral Services)
h) the ceremonial burning-at-the-stake of a captured enemy
i) slang. any damaged vented midrange on a woofer [from 'Peavey-Olsen Woofer Functional Acoustics Gap' (roadie term of art, 1970's)]
j) Scots term for a talisman carried in a sporran, typically carved from cherry burl, though occasionally carved from stone or bone
k) to tire bodily from overwork; to become worn out in mind from care or anxiety; to work to the point of exhaustion
_______
entries from dxb, musick, ASp, wofa, milum, Faldage, maxq, Wordwind, TEd, owlbow, and the usual gang of idiots
two entries were *very similar and I combined them.
I'm going with "E" because I've been there. Also know as 'Superior slush'.
After a little re-search it seems to be only my personal small band of idiots who called it that...
This may be the strongest set of offerings in the history of our game. Almost every one (with the possible exception of f)has the ring of truth to it. I was gonna vote for e but Musick already jumped on it. I think Dese will do.
And the reason I think D answer is D answer is that when I looked at the word I wondered if it might have something to do with a burning branch, or faggot, so I'll stick with that. No one try to change my mind now!
I think I'll go with E because it's the only one to have a square bracket rather than a parenthesis (although I don't think it's the most convincing definition).
e] vs d) c) a) etc.
It's genius!
I'm with TEd. these are great defs.
gimme a B
As are in the rules I'd like to vote a split-ticket.
Please place 1/2 of my vote on "E".
And put the other 1/2 on the letter "C".
Thank you.
Now, Mr. Dickens, was it the best of times or the worst of times. You can scarcely have it both ways.
For those tempted to vote for E, a hevay fog or mist, derived from the Menominee word apeha'pfe-o-akh, I must tell you that my late father spent several years learning Menominee (he was born in Menominee, MI in 1902) and according to his Menominee-English dictionary this word apeha'pfe-o-akh is their term for the flail used to harvest wild rice along the shorelines of the lakes and rivers in the area.
My old man tried for years to get the ten tribes of the UP to appoint him their agent for selling wild rice, which would have made all of them rich. The ten tribes have the right to harvest all wild rice on the shores of Michigan and Superior (though there isn't much wild rice in Superior). One tribe refused to do this so the mini-cartel died aborning and they all to this day continue to try to undersell the others.
I still have pictures of my father in a canoe that is laden almost to the gunwales with the just-harvested rice. He's holding a apeha'pfe-o-akh in his left hand and his other hand is holding out to one of the chiefs a bottle of fire water.
I usually don't post editorially in midvote, but then I am the hogmaster.
1) I've changed the bracket on e), making it just the same as other definitions (as it was intended to be) -- any subtextual meaning gleaned from this (and the selfsame correction thereof) is taken at your own risk
2) a bit earlier, I added italics to apeha'pfe-o-akh and other foreign bits, which had gotten lost in transit from one venue to another
3) half votes get automagically invalidated; this has come up before. YCLIU
4] always remember, this IS a kakistocracy and I AM the hogmaster
p.s. - ignore the TEd behind the curtain.
(3) half votes get automagically invalidated; this has come up before I see, Mister tsuwm. In that case I cast my full vote for "E".
And I cast a full vote for "C" for my sock puppet, Mister Plutarch, who has given me his proxy.
who has given me his proxyI hope there's an anecdote[sic]...
Clearly J; you can see the Scottish origin in the anagram of "talisman" into "man alist," which refers to the fact that there's nothing on under the kilt.
And speaking of Larry Niven, I recall a series, "Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot" purporting to be by one Grendel Briarton, of precisely that description. All the "stories" took less than one page to complete, mercifully. Never did figure out who GB was, always had suspicions that it was Isaac Asimov but cound never confirm. Anybody have more information?
Reginald Breton. See
http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?Through_Time_and_Space_with_Ferdinand_Feghoot, and others.
A Search Engine is a strange and wonderful thing.
Give me a K, if for no other reason than it's the only verb.
Using the British term ‘fagged’ as a possible indicator, I shall opt for ‘K’ – ‘kay?
adding to the list: J
(so that's what they're called)
The choice is Easy, if only because such crEativity should bE rEwarded.
"...a bottle of fire water. I can smell something fishy here, but methinks it went skimming off the top of my head - missing any/all the available synapses... either that or I'm starting to *trust TEd too much.
C'mon... spill the beans...
It just sounds like it should be from an Indian language, so it's B or E.
Mmmm, to B or not to B…
B it is.
Actually there's no pun or anything. That's a true story about the wild rice and the flail for harvesting same.
I'll try to find someone with a scanner so I can post the picture in my AOL picture gallery.
I think I may not have made the legal picture clear; the Indians in Michigan have the right not only to the wild rice along the shores of the Great Lakes but also all of the lakes in Michigan, whether the land at the waters edge is private or public property. I seem to recall Rem's telling me that this was one of the few treaty provisions that the whites never broke. YCLIU.
I'll join the majority, and play misty for E.
Bingley
of the entrants, I think we have yet to hear from dxb and Wordwind.
(it's so hard to keep track, don't you know..)
I believe he's incomputerado till the weekend...
I'll go with d. Comical definition, actually, somehow fixed in linguistricks.
In voting for F, am I voting for 2 definitions? If I have to make a sub-choice, gimme F1.
Out of pity and because I don't believe this is a word at all really - not a real word - I shall pick up i.
Ifn I'm still in time, I'd like to donate a vote to the owner of A (since they're all equally unlikely!)