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Alex, your AAAB, CCCB… rhyme-schemed verse is marvelous.
I’ve narrowed it down to 15.
My unusually verbose dart board (perhaps a friend of e), says: “If it’s consensual, go with L ”.

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I pick P only because I like the word "remoter".

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The correct answer is "D".
desert terrain where the wind moves shallow dunes across rock

I should know because I am a amateur geologist.

Ok, so maybe I don't know, but if it is not the defining term for the shallow but wide sand piles over flat rocks that are found thoughout the World, then what is the term used to describe that wind blown effect?

I cheated and checked and the configuration is known as a "yarak".

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I'll take c.

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O, I guess I'll go fishing.

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Your normal fine exotic collection, gang! Fairly perplexed, all I can try is tsuwm’s Armil® test.

a) Jaundice (from Arabic yarqaan)
c) A shaman in training. From the Tungus yoraq, son-in-law
d) Anglicized from the Bedouin "uareg"; desert terrain where the wind moves shallow dunes across rock

From Arabic, into English. Hmmmmm….

f) A simple yet strong traditional tent structure, made from horse skin, used as housing by the nomadic peoples of the Mongolian steppes
g) The hood of a waterproof insulated jacket
h) A tent made of tanned goat skins and dried dung used as shelter by many nomadic North African tribes

Three leathery coverings. Hmmmm…

e) A cross between a Camel and a Yak, these herbivores are known for their ability to make sounds that can be understood by most birds
o) A fish found in the Persian Gulf the flesh of which is popularly believed to have curative powers
b) Dried buffalo dung

Animals or by-products. Hmmmmm…..

i) From Bhutani yarkh'u, a broad track or path, hewed into the rock, that skirts an almost vertical mountainside
k) Aleut kayak with a flat stern for fitting an outboard motor

Sound-alikes from other cultures. Hmmmm…..

j) The song sung by the groom at a traditional Turkish wedding. The first verse extols the beauty of the bride. The second and third verses are fierce demands for lifelong fidelity, and describe possible penalties of banishment or death for transgression.
l) Inuit term for the custom of loaning one's mate to a guest

Indigenous carnal customs. Hmmmmmm….

n) A rare Armenian kirtle. See Kimono: a rare Asian yarak.
p) Cultured goats' milk, consumed in remoter regions of the Himalayas

Exotic terms from Asian lands. Hmmmmm……


All that leaves is:
m) A falconry term describing a hawk in prime condition for hunting

Sheeeeeesh, that sounds just as unlikely in its own right! What part of speech could that be? Otoh, I was reading a fine short story by Gilad Evron in Granta recently that reminds me hunting hawks have a significant history in Palestine, so mebbe it *could be an Arabic term after all. Well, this has to be my choice, I guess.

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Quote:


a) Jaundice (from Arabic yarqaan)
c) A shaman in training. From the Tungus yoraq, son-in-law
d) Anglicized from the Bedouin "uareg"; desert terrain where the wind moves shallow dunes across rock

From Arabic, into English. Hmmmmm….




This would be all well and good, but Tungus is (maybe) an Altaic language spoken in Siberia and totally unrelated to any Semitic language. It is, in fact, the language from which we got shaman (not the original language that spawned the word in the first place, but who's counting?) according to the AHD.

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hehheh, guess I know who laid *that egg, then, Fong

And as more than wan correspondent has pointed out, my divisions could easily be occamed on other boundaries but.

[shrug]

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Quote:

guess I know who laid *that egg, then, Fong




Or either that or I looked it up after having voted my ownself, one.

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> LIU

ahhhh. ok, yah gots a point. get me to a dic, sure, narry a moment's tarry...

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