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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Page 2 of 2 1 2 Re: Any Discoverers? #42904 10/13/2001 1:55 AM Joined: Oct 2001 Posts: 1,385 plutarch veteran plutarch veteran Joined: Oct 2001 Posts: 1,385 I think your use of the word "gist" as an extrapolation of "Gist-it" is quite ingenious, Max. As you say, translation software can only give you the "gist" of the text in a foreign language. And, if your depth in things scientific is as shallow as mine, all you would want is the "gist" of a technical scientific report. The rest would be way over your head. So "gist it for me" is right on. A commendable addition to the language, Max. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: I get your gist #42905 10/13/2001 2:08 AM Joined: Oct 2001 Posts: 1,385 plutarch veteran plutarch veteran Joined: Oct 2001 Posts: 1,385 None of these words convey the nuance of "gist", wwh. A "gist" is not an adumbration, synopsis, abstract or precis. It is a dumbed down 'translation' of a techical article. It could be a synopsis or a precis but it is more than that. It seeks to interpret the work that is "gisted" in a manner that may not be technically accurate in order to make it comprehensible to a lay person. There is no flavor of that extended meaning in any of the alternatives proposed. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: I get your gist #42906 10/13/2001 3:59 PM Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 872 Birmingham, Alabama milum old hand milum old hand Joined: Sep 2001 Posts: 872 Birmingham, Alabama I agree, Plutarch, with practically everything you said except I might point out that a nuance, by it's nature, is speaker/listener specific. As a self-anointed lay person I interpret the "gist" of something as the "essence" of something. As well, it has been my observation that many writers of technical papers write to obfuscate by contrived jargon rather than elucidating their lack of something worthwhile to say. And while we are on the subject; The planet Venus also has an axial retrograde rotation, and strangely, its orbit is nearly circular which leads me and the late Velikovsky (yes that late Velikovsky) to think that the planet is a newcomer to this part of the solar system. But I say, as the late President Nixon once said- No, I am not a kook. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: retrograde #42907 10/13/2001 4:59 PM Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 2,605 Keiva Carpal Tunnel Keiva Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 2,605 Milum, I believe you're right about Venus. (slapping my own forehead -e) Do I recall that that was discovered only recently, the planet's rotation having been difficult to ascertain due to its cloud cover? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Page 2 of 2 1 2 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 Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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