> obsolesced That's pretty good - but it does refer more 'the process of becoming obsolete' and obsolete does of course mean 'no longer in use', rather than 'useless' if memory serves. Nevertheless very interesting, especially considering there's the transitive verb 'obsoleted' as well! Puh!
> Are you talking about rendering an action useless or an object?
I guess I should clarify; It refers to how man renders God effectual by casting him/her/the concept in stone, and then forgetting about one's supposed religion while one goes into bloody battle. It is in regard to a poem where God is wrought 'stone-deaf and stone-blind'.
yeah, when i looked it up before posting i was a tad surprised to find that 'obsolete' is a word; i've always heard it as 'obsolesced'.
a related question that's always bothered me (could be a YART, i didn't LIU): whence "86'd"? i first came across the term when i was waitressing; the manager would scribble on a board that a particular dish had been 86'd when they ran out of it. i suppose that would've been right around 1987, so it made perfect sense... but i still hear it. why'd that year stick??
Knackered, stuffed, screwed, junked, kaputted ... ? Maybe not in relation to any god, of course. But there seem to be a lot more slang terms for the phenomenon than there are more formal ones.
In terms of your poem, would "ignored" be a better choice?
I've always been vaguely amused by pre-battle scenes of chaplains, who presumably subscribe to the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment, blessing those who are about to do just that in spades. Equally, they always ascribe their god's blessing to the current cause - on both sides of the battle lines at the same time.
> there seem to be a lot more slang terms for the phenomenon than there are more formal ones.
You're right there Cap. I don't think 'ignored' fits too well though, because if you do battle with other men with little understanding of why, which was largely the case in WW1, with only audaciousness as your guide, then you abandon the Christian ideology. You are not just 'ignoring God', you're undermining your whole concept of that which he should represent to you. At the most important of times humanity sees it fit to let dogma and religion 'slip onto the backburner' (i.e. ignore), so to speak, only to use it when they see fit. I think the point being made though is that things don't work like that. The Bible obviously has some passages pertaining to this fickle tendency of purported 'believers' (e.g. the betrayal).
whence "86'd"? i first came across the term when i was waitressing; the manager would scribble on a board that a particular dish had been 86'd when they ran out of it. i suppose that would've been right around 1987, so it made perfect sense... but i still hear it. why'd that year stick??
The term came into use as one of an entire code which arose in US soda fountains and lunch counters in the 1920s. Orders were taken without checks and yelled to the cook, and the code developed to speed messages to the cooks while obscuring meanings from the customers.
Numbers were used frequently. Some were:
19 Banana split 33 Cherry cola 51 Hot chocolate 55 Root beer 80, 81 .... Glass of water
For the most common drinks, like water and milk, the first digit signified the beverage and the second the number of glasses, so that "84" meant "four glasses of water."
Some numbers signified things other than food orders:
13 The boss is here; don't mess around 95 A customer is leaving without paying 99 The boss wants to see you
86, perhaps chosen because the 6 rhymes with "nix," meant "no." Usually, the cook would call it out to tell the servers that they were out of a given item, but it was also used by the servers to indicate that a customer should not be served (because, for example, he was a deadbeat).
Most of the codes became obsolete with the customary use of written checks, but 86 broadened in applicability, to include ejecting a customer and as a generic term for killing or annihilating something.
Other diner codes: "burn the British" for English muffins; "Mike and Ike" for salt and pepper; and "Put out the lights and cry" for liver and onions.
I am much undone that this matter wasn't brought to my immediate attention, with my being the master of worthless words. but, much having already been said, I hope that these additions won't be floccipaucinihilipilified or found to be supererogated.
in the sense of being worn out or used up: dibilitated, dissipated, consumed in the sense of being moved out of the way: displaced, malpositioned in the sense of being made ineffective: invalidated, muzzled, negated, neutralized, stultified in the sense of being made redundant: redunded
"Adam and Eve on a raft" = 2 poached eggs on toast
Then there is the famous SOS (sh*t on a shingle) = creamed dried or chipped beef on toast, which did not originate in lunchrooms, but in Army mess halls. This is so ubiquitous that I don't know of anyone who uses the real name except when ordering it in a restaurant.
Has anyone ever really ordered that in a restaurant? I couldn't imagine paying to eat it. (Yes, I was in the army--a long time, but there are some things you don't ever forget.)
incapacitated...though something can be incapacitated without being rendered useless. Usually totally incapacitated is used to indicate total uselessness.
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site.
Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to
hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.
