New Scientist 9 Feb 2002: p 51 On Brownian movement: .......Contrary to what many textboods state, Brown actually observed the motion of much smaller particles inside fluid filled voids within the pollen grains. This no doubt sounds like tiresome nit-picking.but as Einstein's analysis of Brownian movement shows, the effect is far smaller for relatively huge pollen grains than it is for the particles inside them.
Confusing the two has in the past led to accusations that Brown could not possibly have seen the effect which bears his name. It would be a shame to rob someone of his claim to fame simply because the textbooks can't be arsed to get the facts straight. Robert Matthews, Oxford
Translation, please?
cant be arsed = cant be bothered, unwilling thru laziness, Im afraid i use it far too much.
the Duncster
But, Dear Duncster, is it derived from the vulgar term for the external termination of the intestinal tract?
...is it derived from the vulgar term for the external termination of the intestinal tract?
Just guessing ... but it's probably a contraction of "Can't be bothered getting off (or moving) one's arse". I believe arse is generally used to refer to the buttocks as well as the ET ot IT.
>Just guessing ... but it's probably a contraction of "Can't be bothered getting off (or moving) one's arse". I believe arse is generally used to refer to the buttocks as well as the ET ot IT.
This sounds about right. It is not a term one would use in front of one's grandmother but is more like slang than an expletive. To be correct the ET ot IT would be more likely used in the much coarser expression "he is such an arsehole".
At least it seems clear that "arsed" was not a typo for "asked".
> At least it seems clear that "arsed" was not a typo for "asked".
Clear as day, Bill. The writer has obviously chosen this informal, and yes, crude usage to point out his annoyance at the lack of investigative diligence by would-be scientific writers who question the roots of 'Brownian motion'.
I doubt the writer makes a habit of using this kind of slang. It rounds the article off nicely though, eh.
Is it Brownian movement or motion, by the way?
Dear BY: the article uses only the word motion. Movement was my word, which I believe I have commonly seen used.
P.S. I went into Yahoo Search box for " Physics Brownian movement" and found twenty sites.
I repeated for "Brownian motion" and got seventeen sites. Seems pretty even. No clue as to preference.
I was going to chase the derivation up, but I found I couldn't be arsed, either.
Poor dear CK; Don't tell me you are half-arsed!
Yahoo Search box for Physics:
"Brownian movement": twenty sites.
"Brownian motion": seventeen sites.
Seems pretty even.
How odd, in that Google seach gives a great discrepency (but with each used enough to suggest that either one is acceptable):
"brownian movement": 8,720 hits.
"brownian motion": 51,300 hits.
AHD says, "Brownian movement ... [definition] ... Also called Brownian motion."
Poor dear CK; Don't tell me you are half-arsed!dr. bill, I believe the technical fundament
al term is
hemipygous.
I only recall hearing the term "Brownian Motion" when I was getting my physics degree. I was entirely arsed enough to walk to the basement, dig through a dusty old box of physics texts (I am not sure why depuis 15 years I have lugged them from one side of the continent to the other), and check the indexes. Not a Brownian movement to be found.
I looked it up in Encarta Encyclopedia:Brownian Motion, constant erratic movement of tiny particles suspended in a fluid or gas.
It appears that the "Brownian Motion" has carried. But notice it is immediated defined as a "movement"!
"Brownian Motion," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
I was going to contribute to this thread but now I can't be arsed.
I was going to contribute to this thread but now I can't be arsed.
What a bummer!
Gosh, if you aren't arsed, where are we to find a brown(ian) movement???
Don't want to stick my nose in where it's not wanted, but I do second that motion ...
Don't want to stick my nose in where it's not wanted, but I do second that motion ...
I believe that would be called Brownian-nosing.
This thread has gone a bit pear-shaped. In fact, I'd say it's lost the plot altogether.....
But we are amused.
Dear MG: Does getting pear-shaped mean fat-arsed? Reminds me of the guy who called his girl Crisco, because she was fat in the can. He also said she sagged, but didn't give.
pear shaped I believe the word is
pyriform. [not in wwftd, but in Grandiloquent Dictionary]
Hmmm....Hadn't heard of "pear-shaped" meaning "fat-arsed"....! Think it refers rather to the wobbly shape a pear has - which may well match some bottoms.
"Wobbly" is another good one, actually....it's how my British cousin, living in La Belgique, refers to bad driving: eg, "Stop wobbling about in my blind spot, woman!"
Are you sure the bloke said his girlfriend was "sagged"?
Just because "shag" is my most favourite British slang word.
Although....I must confess a liking for slagging people off (but only when they shag with my head and make my life go pear-shaped so I lose the plot).....
Right, it's getting late - I'm off to bedfordshire...
:o)))))))))
Quinion and a couple other sites say "pear-shaped" referred to difficulty in flying a perfect circular loop, and was extended to mean other problems getting out of control. Doesn't appeal to me.
you would say "It's all gone pear-shaped" when things go wrong it is Southern saying that through TV etc. has spread around the country
"We'd robbed the bank and everything was going great , it all went pear-shaped when the getaway car would'nt start."
the Duncster
From whence cometh the charming acronym OTT (for Over The Top)? I like that one....
"From whence"???
Online Webster's:
From whence, though a pleonasm, is fully authorized by the use of good writers.
And Atomica:
USAGE NOTE The construction from whence has been criticized as redundant since the 18th century. It is true that whence incorporates the sense of from: a remote village, whence little news reached the wider world. But from whence has been used steadily by reputable writers since the 14th century, most notably in the King James Bible: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help” (Psalms). Such a respectable precedent makes it difficult to label the construction as incorrect. Still, it may be observed that whence (like thence) is most often used nowadays to impart an archaic or highly formal tone to a passage, and that this effect is probably better realized if the archaic syntax of the word—without from—is preserved as well.
Bean, thanks! It's good to learn something new. [
]
>This thread has gone a bit pear-shaped.
not to be confused with turnip-shaped. (napiform)
http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/
Whence (and from whence) and whilts are very uncommon in US speach and writing.
i used to have UK produced instruction manuals that suggested Whilst holding with a spanner...
these direction alway were fun.. Our staff was such a mixed bag-- about 25% understood (from UK, or Jamaca, or other island that has british based schooling.) but many of the other nationals (pick a country!) who's first language was not english, really had a problem.
Dear of troy: Forgive the quibble, but "whilst" is not Brit slang. And I think USns might be less likely to know what a "spanner". I know it only from having read such books as Nevil Shute's "Trustee From the Toolroom".
That must have been a bit of a wrench, Bill!
No, CK: the wrench is the painful sensation of discovering my erroneous pronunciation of some common English words or names of eople or places.
you would say "It's all gone pear-shaped" when things go wrong
My colleagues and I working on Y2K called our manual "What to do if things turn pear shaped". If nothing else, it lightened up an otherwise contentious issue.
Hev
DA da DAAAA!
Thank you, Bean, for nobly taking up the cause of "from whence" (a few posts back).
"fully authorised by the use of good writers"
Hey, I'm a good writer! Must go celebrate with some two-bite brownies....
but before I go, some more Brit slang (sort of):
What are you like?
You git!
Town bike
Taking in laundry
and the rather rude
"You twat!" - which, interestingly enough, is pronounced differently in the UK - where they make it rhyme with "cat" - from how it is pronounced in (scary loaded word coming up) the colonies, where it rhymes with "what."
Two words to add to the list:
chuffed: happy, pleased
tabbed: from what I can gather to walk or march
nd the rather rude "You twat!" - which, interestingly enough, is pronounced differently
in the UK - where they make it rhyme with "cat" - from how it is pronounced in (scary
loaded word coming up) the colonies, where it rhymes with "what."
Dear MG: This word interests me, because I think it is related to the cross-wise plank in a skiff, which is called a "thwart", on which you rest your butt. It is also used to refer to the female pudenda. I have seen a quote in that sense dating from about 1200. And I have only heard it pronounced like 'not'.
"You twat!" - which, interestingly enough, is pronounced differently in the UK - where they make it rhyme with "cat" - from how it is pronounced in (scary loaded word coming up) the colonies, where it rhymes with "what."
Obviously the colonies does not refer to where USns live since USns pronounce it to rhyme with "squat". "What" rhymes with "hut".
what/hut/not
in Canada, none of these quite rhyme. Even twat doesn't quite rhyme with what....but it's close (for those indelicate enough to use it
such as, okay I'll admit it, me - but only under extenuating circumstances, honest!)
what and hut...yeah, unless i have on my 'formal' speaking voice, and then its slightly different..
but not, got, hot, are all closer to twat! then What or hut!
twat fall some where between not/got/hot and that/hat/sat!
OK, so we definatately need a list of words to be read..at wordapalooza.
we'll make up a list, and scrabble the list order, and then each person read the list.. and we'll try to deside what they are saying.. include American and Merkin, Roof and Rut, rough, car and care.. Mary and Marie, not and nut..
(i am sure this game will best played after a round or two of drinks has loosened everyones tongues!)
Sorry, I was watching TV. You talking about what-nots, now?
CK: to quote that eminent authority [namely you], "Good on ya, mate!"
A can of coke costs a buck! Mon Dieu, a 2L is only 99 cents. Come, we'll celebrate here in Montréal.
Congrats, CapK. I have a bottle of champagne chillin' in my fridge. Think I'll go pop the cork.
only 99 cents
and that's Canadian.
Congrats, CapK. I have a bottle of champagne chillin' in my fridge. Think I'll go pop the cork.Yeah, thanks a heap, Connie Just pass me that glass, will yer? Ta ...
How long's yer arm? [whistling "My Connie Lies Over the Ocean-e]
In reply to:
the rather rude "You twat!" - which, interestingly enough, is pronounced differently in the UK - where they make it rhyme with "cat" - from how it is pronounced in (scary loaded word coming up) the colonies, where it rhymes with "what."
However it's pronounced, I cannot forbear from bringing to the Board's notice Robert Browning's use of the word in his poem Pippa Passes:
Then, owls and bats,
Cowls and twats,
Monks and nuns, in a cloister's moods,
Adjourn to the oak-stump pantry!
When this was queried by his publisher, Browning in all innocence said that it was an item of nun's headgear, citing a 17th century ditty, where unfortunately it meant just what you'd expect but the poet had taken a wild guess at the meaning from context.
Bingley
the poet had taken a wild guess at the meaning from context.
Yes, and no one ever got up the nerve to tell him what it really meant!
Well, Jackie, in the interests of philological certitude, perhaps you could explain to us exactly what it does mean.
Bingley
Sigh--I found out yesterday that there was a term I knew nothing about, and which explains several posts that I had formerly looked at in dumb non-comprehension. I was talking with a Brit-speaking friend about the wayzgoose site, and reading about the Morris dancing group (side, rather, there--I kept asking "the side of what?"). I commented that it must be a rather remarkable group, when I read that at a gathering some of the dancers were legless.
For this I received: 1.)outrageously prolonged laughter, and 2.) the information that that meant they were drunk. Gave me a whole new perspective, Max, on your post title "Mav's legless".
Well, Bingley, I might, but I don't know what philological means.
Philological -- to do with philology
Philology -- the practice of philologists
Philologist -- one who loves and studies words, we denizens of AWADtalk basically.
Now, I repeat: in the interests of philological certitude, perhaps Jackie could explain to us exactly what twat does mean.
Bingley
Gee--do philology and philately come from the same root?
They do. We are still waiting for your explanation of the poet's misunderstanding.
Bingley
Probably - for a new word to be accpeted thoroughly and legitimately, it needs a philologists stamp of approval.
Or isn't that t'what Bingley was alluding?
What it means:
Speaking for our dear Gutter PolicePerson, to whom I owe a favor for pointing out my gutteral misinterpretation of today's Word, there are several beverages that were served to the steerage class passengers on the now defunct TransWorld Airlines' flights. These were TWA milk, TWA coffee and TWA tea.
hahaha. You are a rascal.
k
We are still waiting for your explanation of the poet's misunderstanding.
How the heck do I know? I reckon he ran in too genteel a circle to have heard the term; he was just too sweet and innocent--like thee and me.
he was just too sweet and innocent--like thee and me.
Tee hee! [snickering-e]
New Scientist for 2 March, OpinionFeedback,p.108:
".....Now we have the Meterological Offices Edinburgh division advertising online for "Climate Quality Controllers".
West Lothian reader Jim Bartholomew, who found this, says: "It's just the sort of thing we need up here in the middle of a dreich winter. .........."
Dear Max: I could tell it meant unpleasant, but what are the specifications to the charge?
Dear Max: "dreich" is not in several dictionaries I use. So perhaps "dialectic" might fit better than "slang".
Dreich may be the etymological forebear of drek, then. Any views?
I never knew this was a real word! it was like snafu, or faquary (a contraction, for "Where the F*** are we?") a word that i used all the time, but never thought about!
dreich, or as i think of it, dreek, is cold, left over, day old coffee, that you are drinking because there is no fresh coffee to brew up, or some such.. (how can you drink that dreek?) and or a cold, windy, rainy, grey winter's day.. the kind you wake and want to just get back under the covers with a nice cup of cocoa, and good book..
Gee--do philology and philately come from the same root?
Well, Phil O'logy was my ethics professor in college wheras Michael Philately is an Irish-American ex-riverdancer who tends to stamp quite a bit.
Okay, This isn't Wordplay and fun and I'm being flippant but I'm on a day off and I had to come into work to some stuff so I think I'm entitled to a bit of fun!
Dreich may be the etymological forebear of drek, then. Any views? CK, I cannot forebear [
] saying, "Honor thy yiddish!" Dreck is yiddish, and a commonly-used word.
dreck:
slang Trash, especially inferior merchandise.
ETYMOLOGY: German, dirt, trash and Yiddish drek, excrement
http://www.bartleby.com/61/63/D0386300.html "Dreich" is obscure scottish, and is pronuonced with a long-e sound.
http://www.scotsmagazine.com/words.htm#D
