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This week's theme is "misleading" words - words which aren't what they appear to be.
Today's AWAD is: "pedology" Please scroll down.
The AWAD for Day 1 is:
diglot (DY-glot) adjective
Bilingual. noun
A bilingual book, person, etc.
[From Greek diglottos, from di- (two) + -glottos, from glossa, (tongue, language).]
Words can be deceiving. Take "diglot", for example. At first sight, it looks like it could be a "construction site". But, it isn't.
That's what Anu is up to this week. He's speaking with a forked tongue. He's trying to "debase" us. That's right! He wants to throw us off base.
This is something we can all do together. Prevaricate. :)
Here are two names which aren't really names at all: "sally" and "gene". Hey, this could get interesting.
Sally and Parry got merry and spliced Gene.
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Dr. Bill [wwh] says "Crows are diglot" - "there's an old wives' tale about splitting crow's tongue makes them talk". Here is result of that search: Voices in the Woods Filed under: General — Steven B Cherry @ 11:09:21 am Someone told me a story today about a Native American farmer in Sanilac County who split a crow's tongue and taught it to talk, he named the crow Oscar. As it's told, he'd feed Oscar and Oscar would bring him coins and other shiny objects. That to me, sounded too amazing to be a legend so onto the research. This bit of satire mentions a study done by Battelle Human Affairs Research Center but I'm not able to find any reference to such a study so this may be a fabrication: Battelle Human Affairs Research Center, Seattle: Scientific researchers at this institute, which nobody ever heard of before, interviewed 3,321 crows in an effort to determine once and for all how many of them could actually talk. The Crow, genus Corvus brachyrhynos, is widely reputed in mythology and folklore to possess the property of loquacity, though ornithologists in the "know" about such things point out that, at best, this could hardly be anything more than a mimicry of real human speech. There is a difference of opinion about whether or not splitting their tonges helps them talk. There's been no scientific studies done on the subject as far as I know. http://seat.defcode.com/index.php/2003/12/12/p106
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Today's AWAD [Day 2] is:
feme covert (fem KOV-uhrt) noun, plural femes covert
A married woman.
[From Anglo-French feme covert, from feme (woman) + covert (protected).]
A feme covert is not the feminine equivalent of 007. Rather, it's a legal term to describe a married woman, one who is covered or protected by a husband. Some have interpreted the term literally to indicate a women covered by a veil. The opposite of this is feme sole, a single woman, whether divorced, widowed, or never married.
A feme covert can kick butt nowadays. She doesn't need anyone's protection. In her own home, she's got as much clout as a femme fatale. [And she can be just as deadly too, if she catches you foolin' around.]
And let's not feel too sorry for feme soles either. Some feme soles are the sole reason some guys aren't married. They're pining their hearts out for a feme sole mate.
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Pooh-Bah
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Not to be confused with SOLE BONNE FEMME:
Bonne femme is French for 'good wife' or 'good woman' and refers to dishes that are prepared in a simple, family style, frequently served in the casserole dish, plate or pan that they were cooked in. Sole bonne femme is poached sole served with white wine and butter sauce, frequently garnished with mushrooms and/or onions.
Copied from the Food Reference Website
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SOLE BONNE FEMME
My mouth waters for a sole bonne femme flambé, dxb.
[Please excuse my gourmet.]
And how about "cherchez la femme"? That's never a "bonne femme". A good detective always begins by eliminating all the bonne femmes as suspects. I don't know if that's good science or just good story-telling.
You know something, dxb. There's probably a "BONNE FEMME" frozen dinner out there. That's the closest thing some married men will ever get to bonne femme home cooking. :)
In fact, a lot of bonne femme home cooking is bon homme home cooking. Just ask Father Steve. Has anyone tried his recipe for "Vinaigrette Tangerine"?
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Today's AWAD is:tribology (try-BOL-uh-jee, tri-) noun
The study of interacting surfaces in relative motion and associated issues, such as friction, lubrication, and wear.
[From Greek tribos (rubbing), from tribein (to rub).] You could say that today's AWAD is a fabrication. That's not a lie because it was made in a lab, so to speak, not in the street, where most words are made up. Anu explains: Usually words are coined on the streets of language, but here is one instance where a word may be considered to have been synthesized in a lab, if there could be such a thing as a word lab. In 1965, a group of lubrication engineers decided they needed a name for what they did and contacted the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary for help. Out of this came the word tribology, suggested by one C.G. Hardie of Magdalen College.I've heard of idea labs before. But this is the first time I've ever heard of a "word lab". Maybe AWADtalk could become a word lab. Why not? At least we could experimint with new words. Yesterday, Faldage coined a new word "inciteful". My "Bonus ALAD" today honors this new coinage. May there be many more. :) BTW there is actually a Journal of Tribology: Welcome to the Journal of Tribology on-line, Covering: Friction and Wear, Fluid Film Lubrication, Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication, Surface Properties and Characterization, Contact Mechanics, Magnetic Recordings, Tribological Systems, Seals, Bearing Design and Technology, Gears, Metalworking, Lubricants, and Artificial Joints. http://scitation.aip.org/ASMEJournals/Tribology/Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication. That'll wet your whistle! Why couldn't they just call it "slick friction"? Have you noticed, whenever anyone sticks an -ology on the back of a word, they always stick something ostentatious on the front of it. About the only exception I can think of is "scatology". And that's because they've only got "scat" to crow about. Reminds me of an old saying: A cock always crows on his own dung hill.Of course, that doesn't mean he's got anything to crow about. Tell the rooster that! [Please resist the temptation, themilum. :) ]
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Carpal Tunnel
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I'm sure Dr. Bill would not wish the etymological connection with tribadism to go unremarked.
Bingley
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Today's AWAD is:
nonplus (non-PLUS, NON-plus) verb tr.
To put at a loss for what to do, think, or say; perplex.
noun
A state of perplexity or bewilderment.
[From Latin non plus (no more).]
If it doesn't add up, you're nonplussed. And there's not much you can do about it.
And there's not much else I can say about it.
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Today's AWAD is:
pedology (pi-DOL-uh-jee) noun
The study of soil: its formation, usage, classification, etc. Also called soil science.
[From Greek pedon (soil).]
If at first you thought pedology was the study of children, you're not completely off. Using the Greek suffix pedo- (child), this term can refer to the field concerned with the development of little ones. But for everyone's sanity, pedology is mostly used when referring to soils, and pediatrics for children. Imagine taking your sick child to a pedologist who turns out to be an expert in soils or expecting a soil specialist to check your backyard when she shows up with a stethoscope around her neck.
Have you heard the one about the pedologist who moved into a new school district? All his neighbors were up in arms. They thought he had a soiled mind.
He finally calmed them down. He told them he had nothing against kids. "I'm more of a pedofield than a pedophile", he explained.
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Carpal Tunnel
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"The loess said about this the better," said Muhammed Ali.
"I want to be a loam," said Grita Garbo.
"That was the last straw brick," said Adobe Gillis.
"Life is just a china bowl of cherries," said Forrest Gumbo.
"just leave it in the till," said Buckminster Fuller's earthy partner.
"Let us grow mold together," said the man from the Marl borough.
TEd
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