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PLACER

PRONUNCIATION: (for 1 & 2: PLAS-uhr, for 3 & 4: PLAY-suhr)

MEANING: noun:
1. A deposit of valuable minerals found in sand or gravel.
2. A place where such a deposit is washed to extract the valuable minerals.
3. One who finishes in a particular place in a contest.
4. One who arranges something.

ETYMOLOGY: For 1 & 2: From Spanish placer (sandbank), from Catalan placer (shoal), from Latin platea (street), from Greek plateia hodos (broad street). Earliest documented use: 1829.
For 3 & 4: From place, from Latin platea (street), from Greek plateia hodos (broad street). Earliest documented use: 1578.
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UPLACER - one who fastens footwear firmly on the feet

POL-ACER - a Canadian (maple-leaf) politician

P.R. ACER - one who pulls off a public-relations riumph

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PSYCHROPHOBIA

PRONUNCIATION: (sy-kruh-FO-bee-uh)

MEANING: noun: An abnormal fear of cold.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek psychro- (cold) + -phobia (fear). Earliest documented use: 1727.
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PSYCHROPHONIA - the noise made by very cold ice as it shrinks further

PSYCHROPROBIA - micro-mapping the temperature gradients in vessels of liquid helium

POSY-CHRO-PHOBIA - fear of bright-colored flowers

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CHEKHOV'S GUN

PRONUNCIATION: (chek-ofs GUHN)

MEANING: noun:
1. The literary principle that if an element is introduced in a story, it must be shown to have a purpose.
2. An element introduced in a story that is revealed to have a purpose later on.

ETYMOLOGY: After the playwright and doctor Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) who espoused this principle. Earliest documented use: 1951.
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CHEKHOV'S GUN - a special removable adhesive devised by Dr Chekov for attaching moustache and beard to the actors' faces, as needed, as part of their costume

CHECK-H.O.V. GUN - for when traffic enforcers encounter road rage while verifying compliance with the High-Occupancy Vehicle regulations

CHEKHOV'S NUN - unexpected cast member in The Three Sisters

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PARKINSON'S LAW

PRONUNCIATION: (PAHR-kin-suhnz law)

MEANING: noun: The observation that work expands to fill the time available.

ETYMOLOGY: After C. Northcote Parkinson (1909-1993), author and historian, who first articulated this observation in 1955 in an article in The Economist. Earliest documented use: 1955.
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PARKINSON'S LAWN - Grassy expanses grow to fill time available for watering, mowing, fertilizing, weeding, grub treatments, aerating, and other things you haven't even thought of

PARKING SON'S LAW - start turning the steering wheel back when you're even with the tail ight

PARKINSON SLAM - see https:// www.facebook.com/watch/?v=485244885181880

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BARNEY'S BULL

PRONUNCIATION: (bar-neez-BUL)

MEANING: noun: Someone or something in a very bad condition or situation.

ETYMOLOGY: Apparently from a popular 19th-century pantomime in which an escaped bull is chased by various characters until the exhausted animal
s captured by a farmhand. Earliest documented use: 1834.
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BLARNEY'S BULL - Yes, it is

BARN EYES BULL - Ferdinand gets looked at by an owl

BARNEY SKULL - ...and all this time Hamlet's been using the wrong name

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JOHN THOMSON'S MAN

PRONUNCIATION: (jon THOM-suhnz man)

MEANING: noun: A man excessively submissive to his woman.

ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps the original form was Joan Thomson’s man. Earliest documented use: 1513. Some other adjectives to describe such a man are uxorious and henpecked.
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JOINT: HOMSON'S MAN - Funny name, but it's a reasonably good pub

JOHN THOMSON'S MANE - J.T. has quite the head of hair, doesn't he?!

JOHN THOMSON'S MOAN - cain't tell whether he's in misery or ecstasy

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COLLIER'S FAITH

PRONUNCIATION: (KAHL-yuhrz fayth)

MEANING: noun: Unreasonable faith; blind faith.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin fides carbonarii (collier’s faith), from German köhlerglaube (collier’s faith). The term may have arisen from the dangerous and uncertain nature of coal mining. Earliest documented use: 1680.
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COLLIE'S FAITH - Timmy will always be there to save Lassie. Or the other way 'round.

COLLIER'S FAINT "H" - coal-miner's distinct Cockney accent

COLLIDER'S FAITH - the physicist's confidence that his cyclotron will behave as expected

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Originally Posted by wofahulicodoc
CHEKHOV'S GUN - a special removable adhesive devised by Dr Chekhov for attaching moustache and beard to the actors' faces, as needed, as part of their costume

edit: That should be CHECKHOV'S GUM above, of course - July 20, 2024 1:37 PM

Last edited by wofahulicodoc; 07/20/24 05:39 PM.
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GRUNTLED

PRONUNCIATION: (GRUHN-tuhld)

MEANING: adjective: Contented; happy.

ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from disgruntled, from dis- (intensifier) + gruntle (to grumble), frequentative of grunt. Earliest documented use: 1938.
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GAUNTLED - put through a series of [usually unpleasant] experiences administered by a line of people consecutively

GRANT-LED - 1. the Union armies in the later stages of the U. S. Civil War; 2. most scientific research these days, unfortunately

GRUNT-LEAD - (verb) to make an inadvertent sound of reluctance as one plays the first card in a Bridge hand; (noun) the card so led

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EPT

PRONUNCIATION: (ept)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Competent; skillful.
2. Effective; appropriate.

ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from inept, from Latin ineptus (unsuitable or absurd), from in- (not) + aptus (apt). Earliest documented use: 1938.
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LE PT - physical therapy school in Québec

EPOT - marijuana for vaping

ERT - what flowers grow in, on Flatbush Avenue

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