the worthless word for (Mar 25 1994 was): lapidary
choose one:
a) something your dog does
b) something a runner does
c) something you do when you sit down
d) none of the above, it's etched in stone
please, *no* private answers!
my guess is d) ... because the other options don't sound all that plausible. Sounds like a type of camel to me though.
I've always found it wonderful that you can admire the lapidary work on a carbuncle, and perhaps nobody who has not read Sherlock Holmes will appreciate that you are not speaking of pus-filled excrescences on a person's face.
As a fine poem on lapidary work (with, no doubt, passing meditations upon life, death and strangers passing by), see W B Yeats' "Lapis Lazuli", with the (today unfortunate-sounding) brilliant finale: "Their eyes/Their ancient, glittering eyes are gay."
Apologies - all this from memory so may have misquoted.
cheer
the sunshine warrior
carbuncle ... pus-filled excrescences on a person's face.
Not a word often used in this context in this counry-- here people have zits, and black heads and lots of other words, many of which i confess i have forgotten, (Jazz might know some-- ) i still get an occational zit-- but i remember some pretty discriptive terms (pizza faced) from my youth-- the common polite word used is a "blemish" but no one speaks of blemishes-- (except ad men) some people visit Zit city and come home with souveniers.
Acne is a large problem for teens, but most of fortunately out grow it-- except for a zit or two once a month or so, until we get old, and then can go 3 or 4 months with out an eruption. There are some aspect of getting older that are nice!
even carbuncle is not used--for a stone, but rather cabochon -- or some varient spelling. and not just for garnets, but even saphires.
Too easy! A lapidary is a person who etches in stone, usually precious stones (gems)
wow
W B Yeats' "Lapis Lazuli", Hah! The name of that stone is my cheat sheet. It's my mnemonic for remembering what lapidary means.
carbuncles
One of my grandfather's stories was the one about when he was a very young man (this would be ca. 1900) in Harrisburg, PA, he developed a large messy carbuncle on the back of his neck. One of the neighbors saw it and reported it to someone and next thing he know, my grandfather, to his extreme fury, was locked up in the pesthouse, or lazaretto, for several days before he could get a doctor to certify that he didn't have a communicable disease. Amazing to find that such an institution existed in the U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century.
How come I can never get my quizzes to be so hard?
-Scott
there is a great english cult film about a man with a carbuncle on his neck--
A Head for Advertizing
very funny, very strange.. it has some gross errors-- (film has been flipped for a reel, and everything is in mirror image-- and the set changes with in a scene-- continuity errors.) but its is a very funny "black" comedy.
I guess I would call it a boil-- (if it was something beyond a zit)
here people have zits, and black heads and lots of other words, many of which i confess i have forgotten, (Jazz might know some-- )I'm flattered that you think I know so much about facial pus,
but I think you've covered what I know.
Ok, Dr wwh, what the difference between a carbuncle and a subcutaneous bumpy thing. And what's a "wenn?"
wow
coincidentally, the worthless quiz for (Jan 7, 2000) was: papuliferous
choose one:
a) sweaty
b) pimply
c) scaly
"here people have zits, and black heads and lots of other words, many of which i confess i have forgotten, (Jazz might know some-- )"
Jazz knew, but was too fastidious to add a dermatologist's word "comedo". Or "furuncle".
Dear wow: thanks for asking. A carbuncle is a group of interconnecting abscesses. I've only seen a couple, and they were on the back of the neck. Righteously avoiding making an unfair number of posts, a wen is a sebaceous cyst on the scalp, usually not inflamed. I have heard some people call unpigmented small warts wens. Papular means a small elevation of several different types (papular=like a little tit) . Some kinds of skin rashes are called macular when just red spot, and maculo-papular when some of the red spots are elevated.
What I know about dermatology could be writ on the back of a postage stamp with a broad crayon.I remember getting a poor grade when examiner asked me about rhinophyma, the kind of schnozzola W.C.Fields had. All I could remember was that J.P.Morgan had it, which the examiner was not impressed by.
Sorry Jazz I didn't mean to give the impression you might have personal experience-- but I remember my kids had some colorful expressions when they where in HS, and while you might not be rude and use any of them to some one face, you might have heard some....
There is a book of slang out that has a whole chapter devoted to all the expression that evolved (mostly teens and early adults) to speak of getting sick to one's stomach--- and there have been bouts of colorful expressions about acne... maybe they have faded from everyones memory, not just mine.
the worthless word for (Sept 11, 1996 was): malapert
choose one:
a) inattentive
b) sagging
c) impudently bold
d) afflicted with festering boils
-tsuwm
tsuwm Subject: Re: joe's occasional alternative quiz
the worthless word for (Sept 11, 1996 was): malapert
impudently bold, she answered tongue in cheek(ily).
wow