Rorschach test, named after Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach (1884-1922),
aims to discover the personality of a person which can't be found by the usual
questions. The subject is show random inkblot designs and asked to interpret
them. The same inkblot may appear as clouds to one person, an elephant to
another, while a third person may see a face of a woman.
Well, this week's AWAD may seem quite like this test, but it isn't. The words
for the next five days may appear to be selected with no design, but they do
have a common theme. There is a definite property that a word has to fulfill
before making an appearance this week. And your mission is to identify that
common trait. The first one to figure it out gets worldwide fame by having
his/her name circulated in nearly 200 countries. Send your interpretations
to
anu@wordsmith.org. One answer per person, please.
So, have any of you made any guesses as to what this week's theme is? At first I guessed words that sound like numbers, but I think that has since fallen out of possibility.
I think it's something to do with animals, but can't quite work out just what.
I am using this in my classroom to curb tardiness. If they are in class on time they can write the WOTD on a piece of paper and get points. If they are late they stand outside until the others are done and get no points. So far two of my girls were thinking it had to do with size. But today's word throws that one off I think. Agghhhhhh.
I think the theme this week is 'small things or ways of being that stand out from their surroundings and call for attention." The first word, dekko (a look), is what the following four words cry out for you to bestow upon them. An ait, horst, and bijou are poetically synonymous upraised masses relative to their surroundings while dotty-ness is an example of such an expression in the human personality.
Welcome, Roibin and pedelman.
I guess we'll have to wait for the great Anu to give us the answer. R., you say you're a teacher: well, there are other crazy people here, too!
More power to you, my dear.
Edit-in: welcome sylv, too.
What I noticed, is that all words were used in a review or description (?)
Nobody bothered to respond to my email on Tuesday morning, so i suppose my guess was incorrect, but i noticed that one unifying element was that each of the words had all of its letters in alphabetical order. too sophomoric an observation? it has at least held true, so far.
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
I can't doubt that you are right. And if they try to say that's not it, well, you've still got something.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!
I too guessed alphabetical order, but on Wednesday (a day late, an accolade short). Cheer up, bridget96, you're probably right and you'll hear about it in the weekend letter.
>I too guessed alphabetical order, but on Wednesday Me too, Anna, but on Friday my time
(=Thu pm US EST time), after seeing four of the words (dekko, ait, bijou, horst). For me, it was the "rst" sequence that did it.
I am impressed that you and bridget96 spotted an alphabetical pattern after only 3 and 2 (!!) words respectively.
In my response to Anu, I wondered about the longest English word that conforms to the rule (suggestions, anyone?), and also mused about sentences or passages of text made up entirely of conforming words (a bit like the "missing letter" challenge in another thread).
I haven't received mine... has anyone else?
Marty, I've been around long enough to know that when Anu suggests a theme, it's almost always about structure and not meaning. So that precedent helped it to kick in quicker to my Partsheimer's mind.
I am way too new. Will they actually tell us what the theme was? I have two girls who are very anxious to see if they were right (plus I have a gift for the winner, but they don't know that). One of these girls is a problem child who I have 5th period. However, she was in my room before first period wondering if she was right. This is a good thing. LOL
Thanks,
In reply to:
I think the theme this week is 'small things or ways of being that stand out from their surroundings and call for attention." The first word, dekko (a look), is what the following four words cry out for you to bestow upon them. An ait, horst, and bijou are poetically synonymous upraised masses relative to their surroundings while dotty-ness is an example of such an expression in the human personality.
I like your thinking! I didn't know how esoteric to go in guessing, as this is my first "guess the theme" ~ if this is the answer, I fear I'm out of my league! If it's the alphabetical bit, maybe I can hold my own...
No weekend letter, no announcement of the winner.... just a segue into this week's Dante theme with nary a mention of the previous week's activities. <sobbing, prepares the hemlock cocktail>
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
Thanks for the compliment Fiberbabe (according to your username, you must be very regular!). But I think that Anu does stick with structure and not meaning when it comes to themes so I am almost certainly wrong. Yet, hint hint Anu, discovering connections in meaning is FAR more interesting, I think.
...in awe at the sagacity of the guessers... chewing at nails in suspense...
Welcome, Marianna. I think that for you, as a student, to use a word like sagacity, you must be pretty sagacious yourself.
----------------------------------------------------------
I just read this week's post about the theme, and nearly
screamed. I thought "...a new
English verse translation done by my wife, the poet Jean Hollander, and me
and published three weeks ago by Doubleday" meant that
Stuti Garg, the poet J.H., and Anu had publised a book! Until I read on, that is, and realized that we have
a guest wordsmith this week.
Wonder how long we'll have to wait to find out the theme of ait, dekko, etc.?
For Marty, I was curious too so I looked around the net and found the following. ALMOST, ABHORS, ACCENT, ACCESS, BIOPSY, BIJOUX, CHINTZ, EFFORT, and GHOSTY. Alphabetical order was my guess for this week too.
Thanks fundybayman - you prodded me out of my apathy. I'll see your 6 and raise you one -
BEEFILY and
BILLOWY.
Here's the full paragraph:
"AEGILOPS (alternate spelling of egilops, an ulcer in a part of the eye) is apparently the longest word in W2 whose letters are in alphabetical order. This word is not in W3. CHILLLOSS (the opposite of a heatloss) has its letters in alphabetical order, although this word may not be in any dictionary. [Word Ways] The title of the film EFIK MOVY was written abcdEFghIjKlMnOpqrstuVwxYz to show the alphabetical-order property. Mike Turniansky, consulting W3, says BEEFILY and BILLOWY seem to be the only current words of 7 or more letters that have the letters in alphabetic order." Source:
http://home.xnet.com/~eo/word.html
Hello.
My 2 cents' worth guess for last week's topic is:
"Words Indicating Superficiality To Their Context."
Hope we find out soon.
Great link Marty
In reply to:
Thanks for the compliment Fiberbabe (according to your username, you must be very regular!).
Oh my. I manifested that handle as an allusion to my sewing background. That's what blinders will do for a person... 
In reply to:
...hint hint Anu, discovering connections in meaning is FAR more interesting, I think.
Interesting, yes. Enough to drive me to drink? That too.
OK. Do we innundate the Chief with E-mails demanding to know what last week's theme was?
Or do we let Jackie do it on our behalf, since we know she is Fearless Leader's alter-ego?
OK. Do we innundate the Chief with E-mails demanding to know what last week's theme was?
Or do we let Jackie do it on our behalf, since we know she is Fearless Leader's alter-ego?If Father Steve is correct, you'd do better asking on your knees in the Church of the Holy AWAD ...
If Father Steve is correct, you'd do better asking on your knees in the Church of the Holy AWAD ... ... at the altar-ego?
... at the altar-ego?Preeeeecisely! Except that instead of book and bell, it'd be OED and magnifying glass.
bridget96, were SO many folks ahead of you? Well, at least we got it right... (I, very belatedly).... wonder what the winner won?
You're our winner on the board, in any case.
['aside' emoticon] It was a great AWAD mail, I thought. Late, but one of the best.
It was a great AWAD mail, I thought. Late, but one of the best.
Aaaah! WHAT AWAD mail? D'you mean there was one that gave the theme, and I didn't get it?? Aack! Would you please post it?
It's WAY too long to post, Jackie. Maybe I was among the first, since my addy begins with "a" (and the theme WAS alphabetical order) hehehe... I'll forward it to ya.
*sobbing, barely able to type*
thanks for the words of cheer, annastrophic... as my final act before the benevolent Dr. K initiated the Pavulon drip, i checked the postings. imagine my delight to see that i'm not the only one surprised by the outcome (incidentally, i sent my guess at 5:57am on Tuesday... what time does this Tracy person wake up, for pete's sake??)
so now, my departure carries arguably more noble Housemanesque nuances <rests fleet foot on windowsill for emphasis>
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
In reply to:
...(incidentally, i sent my guess at 5:57am on Tuesday... what time does this Tracy person wake up, for pete's sake??)
bridget96,
Perhaps she spotted what the words had in common on Day 1, with only the word "dekko" to go by?
If that's the case, she'd no doubt excel at this maths puzzle, which has only one correct answer, of course...
Q. Provide the next four numbers in the following series:
3 , _ , _ , _ , _
LMAO marty!!
I emailed her tonight out of curiosity and got the following reply:
"Thanks for the congratulations. There goes a little chunk of my 15
minutes of fame.
I actually did guess after only one word. The statement "there is a
definite property that a word has to fulfill" was a clue that the theme
was related to the word itself rather than the meaning of the word, and
the first interesting and unusual property that came to mind seemed to
fit, so I guessed it.
I don't get up earlier than you--but I'm guessing I go to bed later!"
*still chuckling over that puzzle*
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
Oh, i almost forgot to mention that she figured it out *sunday night*, evidently just minutes after AIT was disseminated.
when i grow up, i wanna be smart like that
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
Bridget96 (yet another numerically interesting handle) said:
when i grow up, i wanna be smart like thatBridget, Bridget, don't put yourself down like that! Let others do it for you ...
*giggle*... as you just did? and what makes you so sure that i'm not just flaunting my youth? ;-)
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
and what makes you so sure that i'm not just flaunting my youth?I don't know how old you are - aren't goddesses ageless, no matter how old they are? Anyway, you have all the power of knowledge itself, and you appear bring the Bacon home to us, even if he is well-aged!
btw, how do you quote from someone's previous posting? i tried to cut and paste earlier, but the absence of the lovely cerulean shade to distinguish my interpolation made me even less intelligible than usual.
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
Bridget, age 96, asked:
btw, how do you quote from someone's previous posting? i tried to cut and paste earlier, but the absence of the lovely cerulean shade to distinguish my interpolation made me even less intelligible than usual.You do have to cut and paste, but that's just the start. I suggest you click on the "FAQ" link at the top of every page and read thoroughly. All will be revealed!
Capital Kiwi wrote:
Isuggest you click on the "FAQ" link at the top of every page and read thoroughly 
wow, totally missed the FAQs.
Thanks!! pretty nifty, albeit time-consuming.
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
Glad you found them - I hope!
Perhaps she [sic]
spotted what the words had in common on Day 1, with only the word "dekko" to go by?
If that's the case, she'd [sic]
no doubt excel at this maths puzzle, which has only one correct answer, of
course...
Q. Provide the next four numbers in the following series:
3 , _ , _ , _ , _Or maybe not. This one has me stumped.
I must admit I was only guessing. As Chief informs us, there is a .3% chance that a single word chosen at random (or as part of a different theme) will have its letters in alphabetical order, so I had at least 3 chances in 1000 of being wrong.
Personally, I'm most impressed by the guess "sounds like a number", which turned out to be true for the second word, too!
Speaking of inferring too much from a single word, there's maybe a 5% chance (I'm guessing) that a person named "Tracy" won't be a "she" after all. In my case, I was named for my father, who was named for his father, who was named for his mother's maiden name in a day when "Tracy" was not such a common girl's name.
No offence taken, though. We live each day by taking our best guess.
I work with a Tracy who is a systems engineer. place your bets...
I work with a Tracy who is a systems engineer. place your bets...
hmmmm okay i'll bet female.
bridget=)
Ipsa scientia potestas est ~Bacon
I have a male cousin named Tracy. Until I was 8 or so, I had never met or heard of a female Tracy, Tracie, Tracey, Traci, etc... My guess is that there's more than %5 of a male/female Tracy ratio.
Following rapunzel's lead, i dug this one up b/c it was the first day that both Fiberbabe and i joined the board. rereading this made me smile for a couple of reasons:
(1) i clearly was one of those folks who got so excited when i joined the board that i felt the need to spout off whatever stupid thing popped into my mind at every chance possible
and i'll thank you all not to point out that not much has changed(2) i just thought the AsP would enjoy reminiscing about the good ol' days when the most annoying thing on the board was my stupid signature line
~~~~~~
oh, and this is wholly unrelated to the above discussion, but i just wanted to announce that i have created a thread in Animal Safari for non-word-related-discussion of urology gone awry, cophrophilia, clysterous chitchat and the like, for the oblectation and convenience of those of you who enjoy such delights.
~~~~~
now, does anyone know anything about the word 'antistoecon'?
it was the first day that both Fiberbabe and i joined the board
Fiberbabe having joined the board just the once, it would be the *only day that you both joined.
[weasel]i disagree. each day that either fiberbabe or i (or both of us) elect to add our gems to the general discussion, we are in effect joining the board. the day in question was the first such day.[/weasel]
(1) ...and i'll thank you all not to point out that not much has changedOK, I won't.
(2) i just thought the AsP would enjoy reminiscing about the good ol' days when the most annoying thing on the board was my stupid signature line You had to remind me.
And that's ASp to you, young lady
" now, does anyone know anything about the word 'antistoecon'? "
I second the motion.
now, does anyone know anything about the word 'antistoecon'? Is this a trick question? Helen, are you paying attention?
http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/METAPLASM.HTM
huh? rhetoric is not my forte! Food is my forte-- and i carefully refrained, when pointing out about the connection between our Milky Way and the greek Galaxy-- how i learn/remember the connections...
those of you who enjoy greek pastry's might know.. creamy, milk custard baked between layer of flakey philo pastry.Heavenly..
Dear caradea: Ask a polite question, and what do you get? You get proof nobody knows the answer, or is even interested. Present company excepted.
Dr Bill,
I posted a rhetoric site that supplies the answer, provides alternate spellings for antistoecon, and compares it to similar rhetorical devices.
What more would you like, my good sir?
Until this day, I didn't know you were you!!!!
CK! And I thought I was being original[groan-e!!]
All will be revealed! This week's theme: yours to discover Well, I guess so
Dear AnnaStrophic: I know about the site, and so does caradea. I don't know the answer to her question, do you?
I don't know the answer to her question, do you?
The question being (correct me if I'm wrong):
does anyone know anything about the word 'antistoecon'?
If that hasn't been answered to her (not to mention your) satisfaction, try this for an answer:
YES