Words

This is the Words thread

Probably what *this* should be called.
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Re: Words

Post by Rylinks » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:39 am

i don't think this is a reasonable description of a guy who traveled to spain to fight in the civil war

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Re: Words

Post by Crunchums » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:40 am

even this part?
In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenceless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification. Millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population or rectification of frontiers. People are imprisoned for years without trial, or shot in the back of the neck or sent to die of scurvy in Arctic lumber camps: this is called elimination of unreliable elements. Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental pictures of them.
feels pretty spot-on to me
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Re: Words

Post by Crunchums » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:41 am

i have trouble keeping George Orwell and Orson Welles straight and I feel like there must be other people who have the same problem
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Re: Words

Post by Ashenai » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:44 am

Jeb Bush 2012 wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:32 am
Ashenai wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 7:51 pm As an annoyed editor: "this car will be towed". Or "this car may be towed" if you want to make the potentiality/uncertainty explicit.

Purely from a grammar POV "this car will be subject to towing" is technically correct, but also terrible.
neither of those convey the same thing though - it's not a claim about the future (although ofc part of the purpose is to threaten something about the future), it's a claim of right
No, you could say it's a claim of right if it was in present tense: "the car is subject to towing". It's in future tense, and since nothing is going to happen in the future to change the status of the car, the only explanation is that it's trying to express "we may tow your car in the future".

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Re: Words

Post by Jeb Bush 2012 » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:45 am

Rylinks wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:39 am i don't think this is a reasonable description of a guy who traveled to spain to fight in the civil war
I'm not saying he didn't really care about politics! I'm saying he cared a great deal about politics and that lead him to accept some very weak arguments about how some other stuff he cared about was really about politics

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Re: Words

Post by Jeb Bush 2012 » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:47 am

Crunchums wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:40 am even this part?
In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and deportations, the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the professed aims of political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenceless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification. Millions of peasants are robbed of their farms and sent trudging along the roads with no more than they can carry: this is called transfer of population or rectification of frontiers. People are imprisoned for years without trial, or shot in the back of the neck or sent to die of scurvy in Arctic lumber camps: this is called elimination of unreliable elements. Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental pictures of them.
feels pretty spot-on to me
there's some problems with it but that's not really my point, what I dislike about the essay is the core thesis not every paragraph

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Re: Words

Post by Jeb Bush 2012 » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:49 am

Ashenai wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:44 am No, you could say it's a claim of right if it was in present tense: "the car is subject to towing". It's in future tense, and since nothing is going to happen in the future to change the status of the car, the only explanation is that it's trying to express "we may tow your car in the future".
well, not if it's an indication of a future right that needed this warning to be active or whatever. but yes, "cars parked overnight are subject to towing" would be more standard, I'm not disputing that they screwed up the potted phrase

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Re: Words

Post by Doug » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:53 am

Crunchums wrote: Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:38 pm
It has been reported that a car (see attachment) has been parked in the visitor (short-term) parking overnight at [address]. If anyone has information on this car, please let me know. As a reminder, these spots are for short-term parking only. This car will be subject to be towed.
is that really how you say that?
No
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Re: Words

Post by Crunchums » Fri Dec 03, 2021 3:41 pm

limn (verb)
to outline in clear sharp detail

liminal (adjective)
* of, relating to, or situated at a sensory threshold : barely perceptible or capable of eliciting a response
* of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition

subliminal (adjective)
* inadequate to produce a sensation or a perception
* existing or functioning below the threshold of consciousness
i think this is neat
all about the boundary
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Re: Words

Post by Doug » Wed Dec 22, 2021 6:51 am

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Re: Words

Post by Khaos » Thu Dec 23, 2021 7:06 pm

albumen is the goopy white clear part of an egg

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Re: Words

Post by groff_enthusiast » Thu Dec 23, 2021 8:19 pm

Take it to the things no one knows thread
Ashenai wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:08 pmoh no

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Re: Words

Post by Crunchums » Tue Feb 08, 2022 9:57 pm

often when I go to type "deduction" I end up typing "deducation" instead, probably because of the word "education"
I even typed it that way while making this very post : 3
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Re: Words

Post by Ashenai » Fri Feb 11, 2022 11:27 pm

irascibility

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Re: Words

Post by groff_enthusiast » Sat Feb 12, 2022 1:53 am

Encountered the adjective form of accelerant in the wild today.
adjective technical
adjective: accelerant
accelerating or causing acceleration.
"accelerant factors for carcinoma"
Basically "I need to speed up to get [annoying task] done"

and I was like "YEAH! BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND" :gft:
Ashenai wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:08 pmoh no

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Re: Words

Post by groff_enthusiast » Sat Feb 12, 2022 1:54 am

Crunchums wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 9:57 pm often when I go to type "deduction" I end up typing "deducation" instead, probably because of the word "education"
I even typed it that way while making this very post : 3
The Socratic Method lives!
Ashenai wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:08 pmoh no

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Re: Words

Post by Skeletor » Sun Feb 13, 2022 12:39 am

Crunchums wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 9:57 pm often when I go to type "deduction" I end up typing "deducation" instead, probably because of the word "education"
I even typed it that way while making this very post : 3
i had a similar problem with the album MASSEDUCTION
wow, [you]. that all sounds terrible. i hope it gets better for you

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Re: Words

Post by Doug » Sun Feb 13, 2022 1:06 am

Crunchums wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 9:57 pm often when I go to type "deduction" I end up typing "deducation" instead, probably because of the word "education"
"Deaducation" is something that the narrator mentions in an amusement park ride about a haunted school
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Re: Words

Post by Crunchums » Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:57 pm

ameliorate
make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better.
"the reform did much to ameliorate living standards"

alleviate
make (suffering, deficiency, or a problem) less severe.
"he couldn't prevent her pain, only alleviate it"

so i guess the difference alleviate makes bad things less bad (but still negative) whereas ameliorate can make bad things positive
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Re: Words

Post by Doug » Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:38 pm

The connotation of alleviation is an effect on the symptoms themselves

The connotation of amelioration can be compensatory, like, we reimburse you for a loss but we can't fix the loss itself
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Re: Words

Post by Crunchums » Sun Feb 20, 2022 11:07 pm

neat; thanks
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Re: Words

Post by groff_enthusiast » Mon Feb 21, 2022 9:07 pm

Doug wrote: Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:38 pm The connotation of alleviation is an effect on the symptoms themselves

The connotation of amelioration can be compensatory, like, we reimburse you for a loss but we can't fix the loss itself
Strong agreement on alleviate.

Soft disagree on ameliorate, the other (I'd say more common) use for ameliorate is to acknowledge the improvement, while putting the focus on the work yet to be done. If the experience goes from bad to good, no one says ameliorate.
Ashenai wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:08 pmoh no

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Re: Words

Post by Doug » Mon Feb 21, 2022 9:16 pm

Specifically, amelioration in land use refers to irrigation, drainage, remediation of soil, etc. to convert land to usability
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Re: Words

Post by Jeb Bush 2012 » Tue Feb 22, 2022 3:17 am

the ameliaration is the maximum number of amelias any given community is permitted to have, so that the name does not lose its power

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Re: Words

Post by Blissful » Tue Feb 22, 2022 7:56 am

Lotus
Image

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Re: Words

Post by Luna » Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:39 am

Blissful wrote:Lotus
you're banned

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Re: Words

Post by pterrus » Tue Feb 22, 2022 3:41 pm

Okay so if I put my TV stand diagonally in the corner of the room, that's kitty-corner right? That is a correct use of "kitty-corner"? Or can you only use that for intersections. Internet unclear.

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Re: Words

Post by Skeletor » Tue Feb 22, 2022 4:10 pm

That's cattywompus
wow, [you]. that all sounds terrible. i hope it gets better for you

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Re: Words

Post by groff_enthusiast » Tue Feb 22, 2022 6:04 pm

pterrus wrote: Tue Feb 22, 2022 3:41 pm Okay so if I put my TV stand diagonally in the corner of the room, that's kitty-corner right? That is a correct use of "kitty-corner"? Or can you only use that for intersections. Internet unclear.
I've always understood it as the corner opposite of something.

Like, the gas station on the SW corner of an intersection is Kitty Corner from the local game store on the NE corner

Your example is not in reference to something, which I think is the important part. So the TV stand is absolutely kitty corner from _something_, but only you can tell us what.
Ashenai wrote: Sat Jul 16, 2022 5:08 pmoh no

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Re: Words

Post by pterrus » Tue Feb 22, 2022 6:24 pm

Suppose I place a couch facing the TV. Is the TV kitty corner from the couch? And if so, is it only kitty corner because the couch/TV system is diagonal relative to the rest of the room? Because intuitively if it weren't diagonal then it would just be regular, we wouldn't need to involve kitties.

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