markhavemann Posted August 6, 2020 at 10:46 AM Report Posted August 6, 2020 at 10:46 AM floccinaucinihilipilification (often humorous) The act or habit of describing or regarding something as unimportant, of having no value or being worthless Also the longest non-technical word in English. Quote
mungouk Posted August 6, 2020 at 12:31 PM Report Posted August 6, 2020 at 12:31 PM OK it's a portmanteau, but possibly of interest when discussing 漫画. Stumbled across it yesterday. Scanlation Quote Scanlation (also scanslation) is the fan-made scanning, translation, and editing of comics from a language into another language. Scanlation is done as an amateur work and is nearly always done without express permission from the copyright holder. The word "scanlation" is a portmanteau of the words scan and translation. The term is mainly used for Japanese manga, although it also exists for other national traditions on a lesser scale. Scanlations may be viewed at websites or as sets of image files downloaded via the Internet. Quote
roddy Posted September 9, 2020 at 10:59 AM Author Report Posted September 9, 2020 at 10:59 AM The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters 1 Quote
Demonic_Duck Posted September 9, 2020 at 12:13 PM Report Posted September 9, 2020 at 12:13 PM 1 hour ago, roddy said: The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters Surely not to their face, though! 4 Quote
roddy Posted September 9, 2020 at 02:30 PM Author Report Posted September 9, 2020 at 02:30 PM I did consider an Only Fools and Horses reference. 1 Quote
889 Posted September 9, 2020 at 07:25 PM Report Posted September 9, 2020 at 07:25 PM Formication has always been one of my favourite obscure words. No, it's not a typo, and it has nothing to do with redecorating your kitchen. Spoiler It's the feeling that ants are crawling on your skin. When they really aren't. 1 Quote
Shelley Posted September 9, 2020 at 08:34 PM Report Posted September 9, 2020 at 08:34 PM @889 I guess from the formic acid they use as a defence. Very clever. Quote
mungouk Posted September 9, 2020 at 09:20 PM Report Posted September 9, 2020 at 09:20 PM "formica" is Latin for ant, apparently. 1 Quote
889 Posted September 9, 2020 at 09:38 PM Report Posted September 9, 2020 at 09:38 PM According to Wikipedia, the plastic stuff "was originally used to replace mica in electrical applications" thus the name because it was "for mica." 2 Quote
matteo Posted September 10, 2020 at 01:15 AM Report Posted September 10, 2020 at 01:15 AM based on my knowledge of italian (which is very closely related to latin) - plus google - my guess is that you are all right at the same time formìca is the insect (from which the name of the acid) and the word derives from latin fòrmica is the material and the word derives from english as 889 says Quote
Demonic_Duck Posted September 10, 2020 at 05:05 PM Report Posted September 10, 2020 at 05:05 PM Courtesy of @Polyhistor in this post moil (archaic, dialect) verb work hard move around in confusion or agitation noun hard work; drudgery turmoil; confusion 1 Quote
roddy Posted September 24, 2020 at 09:40 AM Author Report Posted September 24, 2020 at 09:40 AM cinereous - ash-gray in colour. See ceniza, ash, in Spanish, but can't think I can come up with any other English words with the same root. Quote
Lu Posted September 24, 2020 at 09:56 AM Report Posted September 24, 2020 at 09:56 AM 15 minutes ago, roddy said: cinereous - ash-gray in colour. See ceniza, ash, in Spanish, but can't think I can come up with any other English words with the same root. Cinders, perhaps? 1 Quote
roddy Posted September 24, 2020 at 09:59 AM Author Report Posted September 24, 2020 at 09:59 AM Hmm. Quote Old English sinder ‘slag’, of Germanic origin; related to German Sinter . The similar but unconnected French cendre (from Latin cinis ‘ashes’) has influenced both the sense development and the spelling. Compare with sinter. Quote
Lu Posted September 24, 2020 at 10:02 AM Report Posted September 24, 2020 at 10:02 AM 1 minute ago, roddy said: Quote Old English sinder ‘slag’, of Germanic origin; related to German Sinter . The similar but unconnected French cendre (from Latin cinis ‘ashes’) has influenced both the sense development and the spelling. Compare with sinter. Okay, well if they say it's really not related, I guess that must be true... Quote
889 Posted September 24, 2020 at 03:23 PM Report Posted September 24, 2020 at 03:23 PM Bokeh. It's the effect created in a photo when the foreground object is in sharp focus and the background blurred. Apparently derived from Japanese. Quote
Demonic_Duck Posted September 29, 2020 at 07:49 PM Report Posted September 29, 2020 at 07:49 PM This one is kind of cheating — it's Old English (but hey, the thread title never specified modern English...) Anyway, I just found it too delightful not to post: wandeweorpe - mole (animal) 1 Quote
Shelley Posted October 2, 2020 at 08:53 PM Report Posted October 2, 2020 at 08:53 PM I had to look this one up - Etiolated Etiolation /iːtiəˈleɪʃən/ is a process in flowering plants grown in partial or complete absence of light.[1] It is characterised by long, weak stems; smaller leaves due to longer internodes; and a pale yellow colour (chlorosis). The development of seedlings in the dark is known as "skotomorphogenesis" and leads to etiolated seedlings. I extrapolated the meaning from context - The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter (sequel to The Time Machine) He used it to describe pigeons living in almost complete darkness - total lack of Sun and only artificial light. Having looked it up I was sort of confused as to whether or not it could be applied to animals. but he did and it made sense. Quote
roddy Posted February 10, 2021 at 09:25 AM Author Report Posted February 10, 2021 at 09:25 AM cucurbitaceous = 瓜类. Not sure which has the more strokes. Quote
calculatrix Posted February 10, 2021 at 11:43 AM Report Posted February 10, 2021 at 11:43 AM 2 hours ago, roddy said: cucurbitaceous reminds me of "pumpkinification ". One of these poor words which have only one context. Quote
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