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stranger
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stranger
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Hi guys, i was wondering does anyone know how to do a reverse lookup for a word?
i have a definition for a word but can't find the word itself :-)
last week we were on holiday in brisbane and on one of the water taxis there a word and ir's definition was playing amongst the advertisments for air conditioners etc. my wife was particularly taken with the one word description of a vague walk, but now neither of us can remember the actual word.
it ended in ate [like perambulate] but that's about all we can remember
i've tried online dictionaries to figure the word from the definition, but so far nothing has been found, maybe you can help?
Adrian
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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try here: OneLook Reverse Dictionaryand welcome to another Kiwi!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Similar to the link that etaoin provided, there is a book called Word Menu that is useful for this task.
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stranger
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stranger
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Quote:
try here:
OneLook Reverse Dictionary
wonderful! you're a star
that's exactly what i needed, the word was vagulate, and i'd actually remembered it but when i queried the merriam webster online it didn't recognise it so i thought i'd not remembered it!
i'll bookmark the tool for future use, thanks
Adrian, (actually a pom, but living happily as a kiwi and hoping no one notices the strong black country accent. after 15 years it's still audible they tell me)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>i queried the merriam webster online
ha! not even M-W unabridged has this Virginia Wolfe special.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Greetings, fishy! Nice website. You look like just our sort of nutter. Please hang around a bit 
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addict
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addict
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Quote:
(actually a pom, but living happily as a kiwi and hoping no one notices the strong black country accent. after 15 years it's still audible they tell me)
So "black country accent", where is that? I've heard of "West Country", but not familiar with this one.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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It's the cradle of the worldwide industrial revolution, Elizabeth.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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thanks for the link, mav. but more useful for me was this: map
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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> but yeahbutnobut I assumed all y'all could find your way from *there...  ;]
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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and I guess we could, eh? 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Makes me want to go back, it does.
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addict
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addict
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Wow, mav, thanks for that link! The glass just makes me drool....
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stranger
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stranger
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Quote:
So "black country accent", where is that? I've heard of "West Country", but not familiar with this one.
the two links are correct, but i remember a far less glossy place than that.
it was the industrial centre of england before the start of last century, but is now somewhat jaded [unless you visit the tourism jaunts or buy yourself a canal barge bucket.] see photos on flickr
i am from west bromwich originally. it's a tiny geographical area, bounded by wolverhampton at the north and birmingham at the south, iron bridge at the west and walsall on the east, it's about 20 or 30 odd square miles of england packed with canals and railways and soot and smoke.
the black country has a somewhat unique nature in that it has a fairly distinct dialect or patois that is still fairly widely used, and worshipped in some circles. of course most of this was beaten out of me as a kid, and my cosmopolitan lifestyle has watered it down still more. i'd love to say it's a link back to middle ages english, but i fear it's nothing like that. shakespeare was almost a local lad though, and some say he would have talked like my neighbours, i of course was far too posh according to my mum.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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my Mother's maternal grandparents name was Bromwich. I have never asked from whence they came. guess I'll do that.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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my Mother's maternal grandparents name was Bromwich. Really? Cool! 9fish--welcome, by the way!--I was told by a former Brum-ite that in order to speak like the locals, I should basically just omit all vowels. Is that accurate for the black country as well?
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stranger
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stranger
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Quote:
I was told by a former Brum-ite that in order to speak like the locals, I should basically just omit all vowels. Is that accurate for the black country as well?
there's a subtle difference between the accents in Birmingham and the black country [B'ham isn't in the black country] they whine more
rather than omit vowels, it's more a matter of swallowing them, they all become glottal stops [apparently], but now i'm really getting out of my depth
Adrian
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