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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526

There's a phone called the droid. It's operating system is called "android."


I knew "andro-" meant man (or human), the "id" is apparently short for "eides" meaning "form" - as per http://etymonline.com/?term=android

Kles is glory http://www.behindthename.com/glossary/view/name_element

Androkles - glory of man?

In the miniseries "The Stand" a man character is this deaf fellow played by Rob Lowe whose name is "Nick Andros," presumably, Nick "The Man."

Androcracy - rule by men.

I'm also reminded of group names in the periodic table, for example, halides, actinoids (or actinides), lanthanides, but I don't think it's related etymologically.

Regarding the oid / eidos suffix, thyroid is "form of a shield."
Picture at http://women.webmd.com/picture-of-the-thyroid

Bacteroides - rod-shaped

A death-cap mushroom is amanita phalloides, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_phalloides
They do resemble their namesake.

asteroid - star shaped? or star form? ("aster" is Latin, but I think there are other words with mixed origins)

Now suddenly Herculoids makes sense, "like Hercules."

Colloid - like glue.

Just a minor amusement.

Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
There's a phone called the droid. It's operating system is called "android."

Is the shape of the phone also 'android'? Like the Jean-Paul Gaultier perfume bottle?

Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
Nope. Like most cell phones, it's approximated as a shallow rectangular prism, but its screen slides to the side to reveal a teeny little QWERTY keyboard.

http://images02.olx.com/ui/4/51/60/65515160_1-Pictures-of-Droid-Motrola-Cell-phone.png

There's a demonstration program called 'boids which mimics the flocking behavior of birds in flight. It's interesting, because this apparently complex behavior requires only three simple rules - separation, alignment and cohesion. Anyway, I guess boids is a play on words - maybe a parody of some cabbie's speech, but also, "like birds."

http://www.red3d.com/cwr/boids/

In biology they use the terms haploid and diploid, form of a single and form of double, to describe organisms with a single set or paired set of chromosomes.

Rheumatoid - flux form.

Acanthoid - shaped like a spike (or thorn).

Deltoids - shaped like a (Greek) delta.

Titanoides - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanoides

Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Can't handle any of those cell-phone things droid or non droid and the bother of schlepping it around all day. But I do like titanoides.
Cute extraordinary feet. He reminds me of a bear I used to know called "Snuffles".


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