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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread obnoxious objects #167890 04/30/2007 12:24 PM Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 6 california Snap stranger Snap stranger Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 6 california Hi all, I'm new and I need your help. I need a word for a friend who's working on a project. I'm looking for a particular word, featured once in Word-a-day. It's an -ism word, defined as the belief that inanimate objects willfully oppose people, that they are "out to get" us. Thanks! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: obnoxious objects Snap #167896 04/30/2007 1:21 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York I can't keep all of Anu's words in my head, of course, but one we use frequently around this household -- and I'm not sure that's a Word-A-Day, but -- is "resistentialism." Does that fit? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: obnoxious objects AnnaStrophic #167897 04/30/2007 2:34 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass that must be it; from March 4, 2004: the worthless word for the day is: resistentialism Paul Jennings's mock philosophy which maintains that inanimate objects are hostile to humans. [OED2] "Resistentialism is a philosophy of tragic grandeur... Resistentialism derives its name from its central thesis that Things resist men... Resistentialism is the philosophy of what Things think about us." - P. Jennings, The Spectator, 23 Apr. 1948 "'Things are against us.' This is the nearest English trans- lation I can find for the basic concept of Resistentialism." - P. Jennings, Oddly Enough (1950) "I must object to Oxford's dubbing resistentialism a "mock philosophy." There is nothing mock or sham about it, as anyone who has ever had to call a plumber on a Sunday morning to unclog a refractory toilet will attest." - Charles Elster (who devotes most of two pages in his "There's a word for it!" to this word) -joe (paranoia runs deep) friday Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: obnoxious objects tsuwm #167899 04/30/2007 2:55 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,027 Switzerland wsieber old hand wsieber old hand Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 1,027 Switzerland There is nothing mock There we have it again: one man's mock is another man's stock (philosophy). Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: obnoxious objects Snap #167905 04/30/2007 3:56 PM Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 6 california Snap stranger Snap stranger Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 6 california Thank you all, yes indeed that is the exact word I was looking for! Snap Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: obnoxious objects Snap #167907 04/30/2007 4:09 PM Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 6 california Snap stranger Snap stranger Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 6 california Actually, the exact word I'll be using is antiresistentialism. It is to be used in regard to a descritpion of the behavior of electrons, and how they behave like particles if you measure them in one manner, and like waves if you measure them in another, even when the only thing changed in the experiment is how you perform the observation. It's almost as if the electron knows what you are looking for, and adjusts its behaviour accordingly. Thanks again for your help. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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