If GH can stand for P as in Hiccough
If OUGH stands for O as in Dough
If PHTH stands for T as in Phthisis
If EIGH stands for A as in Neighbour
If TTE stands for T as in Gazette
If EAU stands for O as in Plateau
Then the right way to spell POTATO
should be GHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEAU.

1999-06-09:DAV: I just discovered these are called "isonym" or "heterophonic homographs" http://www.frii.com/~katana/isonym.html .

in praise of paper books and dictionaries

In praise of paper books and paper dictionaries. Things that electronic dictionaries still cannot do.

• "Words I Have Looked Up In My American Heritage Dictionary" by Donald Sauter http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7049/dict.htm (this is the main inspiration for David Cary to put my word list online, and to start using paper dictionaries again.)
• "Hands off that e-Dictionary! The (few) merits and (many) disadvantages of electronic dictionaries from the author's point of view" editorial by Glen A. Hill © 2003 Glen A. Hill http://www.tefl.net/articles/Hands_off_that_e-Dictionary.htm
• "Underlining (or Highlighting): Cueing the Computer Brain" by Don McCabe http://www.avko.org/Freebies/Underlining_or_Highlighting.htm underline or highlight words when you're not sure of their meaning, even when it's not important.
• http://www.studyskills.soton.ac.uk/studytips/reading_skills.htm "Pick out what you think are the most important parts of what you are reading." ... "Choose a large dictionary rather than one which is ‘compact' or ‘concise'. You want one which is big enough to define words clearly and helpfully (around 1,500 pages is a good size)."
• [FIXME: ... online dictionaries] http://www.xasa.com/directorio/mozilla/Top/Reference/Dictionaries/World_Languages/

DAV's dictionary

new words David is learning.

DAC's vocabulary list of words:

(date is 1st time David met it)

(started 1996 May 18)

--------------------

Need to look up:

peripatetic

parvenu

autodidact

sedulous

doyen

syncophant

meritricious

quo.tid.ian

brachiating

ethos, logos, pathos

New Words:

quire, kliros, chior (architecture): the area of the church or cathedral intended for singers to sit, stand, or kneel during services; typically between the nave and the sanctuary. 2010-02-25

Amphisbaena: a mythological creature with a head at each end.
Amphisbaenia ("worm lizard"): a legless, burrowing animal; superficially similar to earthworms, except it has teeth; with a tail that vaguely resembles its head; named after the mythical Amphisbaena. 2010-02-25

hydronics: the use of water as the heat-transfer medium in heating and cooling systems. 2010-02-25

ansatz = "an educated guess that is verified later by its results."

invigilate = "To oversee a test or exam; to proctor" 2009-07-22

catallactics = "the science of exchanges", a theory of how the free market system conveges on prices. Friedrich Hayek prefers this term over "economy", because of the Greek roots of the words: economy ~= household management; catallaxy ~= "to exchange", and "to admit in the community", and "to change from enemy into friend." 2009-02-01

rubric = written in red 2003-11-11

amanuensis = "one employed to write from dictation or to copy manuscript: secretary" http://users.visi.net/~cwt/moonwalk.html 1998-09-26

satori = A spiritual awakening sought in Zen Buddhism, often coming suddenly. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=%20satori 2002-11-26 (similar to epiphany, one of DAV's favorite words) [FIXME: http://www.lewiscarroll.org/bander.html discusses a connection between epiphanies, linguistic ambiguity, and level-crossing. idea_space.html#level ]

replevin: the recovery by a person of goods or chattels claimed to be wrongfully taken upon the person's giving security to try the matter in court and return the goods if defeated in the action.

exiguous "For many weeks I had been tweaking fetchmail rather incrementally while feeling like the interface design was serviceable but grubby -- inelegant and with too many exiguous options hanging out all over." -- http://www.ccil.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-paper-6.html

usa "politically correct" ~=~ uk "ideologically sound"

Schmetterling = butterfly

Subject: Re: Raining Fish

From: david at quercus.org (David P. Adam)

Newsgroups: sci.geo.meteorology

dr.s.wright at mail.internexus.co.uk (Stephen Wright) wrote:

>Does anyone know the term for when it rains real fish?

Ichthyopluviation?

>Thanks in anticipation!

(Good thing you thanked me in advance... :))

humanism: "a naturalistic philosophy that rejects all supernaturalism and relies primarily upon reason and science, democracy and human compassion."

-- Corliss Lamont (?)

epistemology: The study of how we know things.

proscenium:

Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1996 23:17:49 -0800

To: pdx-b5 at aracnet.com

From: chris at aracnet.com (Chris Baugh)

Subject: pdx-b5: telepaths make for bad TV

....

If B5 is a novel told in TV, the telepathic battles are

the unfilmable parts of that novel. It's harder to suspend disbelief when

the actors are leaning on the proscenium arch.

heteroscedastic noise: Analytical Chemistry, Jan. 1, 1994.

Manifest Destiny

Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 20:07:48 -0400
From: Sarah Marr <sarah.marr at dial.pipex.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <excelsior-l at excelsior.org>
Subject: Re: OMEGA corrections
...
e.g. (exempli gratia) is 'for example': 'He hates sharp implements, e.g.
knives.'
...
i.e. (id est) is 'that is to say': 'Give me your name, i.e. what you are
called on yourbirth certificate.'

FUNCTION SysEnvirons (versionRequested: INTEGER; VAR theWorld: SysEnvRec)

: OSErr;

In this case, Pascal pushes a pointer to theWorld on the stack. The Pascal

interface glue then pops this pointer off the stack directly into A0 and calls

SysEnvirons. Everything is copacetic.

Feng Shui

(1996 May 18)

Ikabana: Japanese art of flower arranging

(1996 May 18)

Hydroponics: growing plants without soil, usually in an inert material like plastic foam or an nutrient solution. Very high yields in a small space, probably suitable for urban farming.

(29 May 1996)

Aquaculture: Farming fishes, usually in big nets in rivers. (29 May 1996)

Aquaponics: A combination of aquaculture and hydroponics: the waste products of the fishes (especially ammonia) are used as nutrients for the plants, which act as filters for the fishes in an aquarium. It is an almost closed system, requiring only feeding of the fishes and energy. There are some interesting webpages out there about this, take a look at http://www.intercom.net/biz/aquaedu/hatech/

(29 May 1996)

"aeroponics": grow a plant above the ground - for example, suspended in a pot - so that its roots grow out into the air. Then sprinkle the roots with nutrient-enriched water. The plant will also draw on the air as usual. (29 May 1996)

----------------------------

Euphemisms

(see Hacker's Dictionary) (Is it in the Jargon File ? creed.html#jargon )

+From: jdevries at gate.net
+Newsgroups: alt.hackers
+Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 09:20:35-0500
...
+ObThisIHaveDoneHack: While in college I drove a '66 Corvair 500 with a
+stock radio. Since I also had cassettes and a walkman type player, I was
+tempted to drive with headphones. I kept thinking, if I had a schematic
+of this old AM radio, I could inject the audio from the tape player. Anyway,
+while cruising home, I was turning down the volume on the radio, and it
+was making its usual pops and crackles, when it hit me. The volume control
+has to be in the audio stage. Sure enough, if the radio was tuned to dead
+air, audio could be injected at the volume control. I just soldered a 1/8"
+audio plug to a cable connected between one lug on the volume control
+(carefully chosen* to control MY signal) and ground. Worked like a champ.
+
+* "carefully chosen" means, 1) Connect to 1 of 3 lugs at random, 2) If it
+doesn't work, try another, 3) Repeat "2" as necessary.

----------------------------

VSP "We seemed to be running back to the same issues: what are we trying to say, anyway? It was more "What?" than "How?", although "How?" can keep legions of VSP (very smart people) fascinated for years on end! :)" -- From: John Whynot, 71334,143 To: W'bee/DL, 70730,3655 Topic: Art, Technology & VR Msg #21550, reply to #21489 Section: Cyber Arts [8] Forum: Cyber Date: Mon, 1994 Apr 4, 23:40:21

Magicians =def= Employees of General Magic.

reify /ri.a.fei/ = to regard (something abstract) as a material thing.

Synonyms from http://www.2600.com/phrack/phrack22.html

      Thinking:      Problem Solving
      Conversation:  Exchange of information
      Love:          Emotional fulfillment
      Sex:           Physical fulfillment
      Drugs:         Introspection
      Poetry:        Metaphor, Imagery
      Involvement:   Sense of Self-Worth
      Music:         Rhythm, Harmonics
      Food:          Flavor, Satisfaction
      Breathing:     Inhalation of Oxygen

legacy architectural baggage / compatibility barnacles

"reverse Polish notation" (RPN) on the HP calculators "Polish" in honor of its inventor, Jan Lukasiewicz (Wu-ka-sha-vich), noted Polish mathematician (1878-1956). -- from footnote on p. 599 of _Computer Architecture: A Designer's Text based on a Generic Risc_ book by Feldman and Retter.

The nöosphere is defined as the sum total of all human knowledge and experience.

chantaltaxia (moving towards its preferred environment). http://www.legomindstorms.com/

New Words & Their Definitions http://members.tripod.com/~kathee/newword1.htm some funny ones. Similar to _Sniglets_.

translations of common phrases in "EMPLOYER SPEAK " and "APPLICANT SPEAK " http://www.intradata.com/humor/employer_speak.txt

Orwellian logic

Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 17:11:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: Hardrock Llewynyth <hardrock at eskimo.com>
To: "Those Oh-So-Wacky Libertarian Dudes." <christlib at swcp.com>
Subject: Christlib: [mitnick] H/Ps should "own" their own Language! (fwd)
Reply-To: <christlib at swcp.com>


a little something i found on another mailing list (the Kevin Mitnick
one).  I don't know if i already forwarded it; but i figured that now
would be a good time to send it again.

hardrock

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1998 00:51:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: ksandre <ksandre at cyberportal.net>
Reply-To: mitnick at 2600.com
To: mitnick at 2600.com
Subject: [mitnick] H/Ps should "own" their own Language!


In reference to the ABC 20:20 story, and any other Media reporting of H/P
activity or perceived threat, I am forwarding an article from an activist
M/L about 'Orwellian Logic' in the Media as applied to the recent physical
Terrorist events.  Since part of the subject of this KDM M/L is how to
influence the most people through the media regarding Kevin's issues (and
concurrently H/P issues in general), I think this article very
dramatically highlights how the Media does this and therefore might help
frame methods of overcoming it and possibly regain "ownership" of the
very words used as weapons against people like Kevin and future Kevins.
H/Ps should own the language and words that define them!

=======================================================================

Subject: Orwellian Logic and the Monibombings (fwd)


Here's an explanation, using Orwellian logic, about how the indefensible
(such as the recent US bombings in Sudan and Afghanistan) gets defended in
ordinary political discourse....


---------- Forwarded message ----------

ORWELLIAN LOGIC 101 -- A FEW SIMPLE LESSONS

By Norman Solomon  /  Creators Syndicate


     During the week after U.S. missiles hit sites in Sudan and
Afghanistan, some Americans seemed uncomfortable. A vocal
minority even voiced opposition. But approval was routine among
those who had learned a few easy Orwellian lessons.

     When terrorists attack, they're terrorizing. When we attack,
we're retaliating. When they respond to our retaliation with
further attacks, they're terrorizing again. When we respond with
further attacks, we're retaliating again.

     When people decry civilian deaths caused by the U.S.
government, they're aiding propaganda efforts. In sharp contrast,
when civilian deaths are caused by bombers who hate America, the
perpetrators are evil and those deaths are tragedies.

     When they put bombs in cars and kill people, they're
uncivilized killers. When we put bombs on missiles and kill
people, we're upholding civilized values.

     When they kill, they're terrorists. When we kill, we're
striking against terror.

     At all times, Americans must be kept fully informed about
who to hate and fear. When the United States found Osama bin
Laden useful during the 1980s because of his tenacious violence
against the Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan, he was good, or at
least not bad -- but now he's really bad.

     No matter how many times they've lied in the past, U.S.
officials are credible in the present. When they vaguely cite

evidence that the bombed pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum was
making ingredients for nerve gas, that should be good enough for
us.

     Might doesn't make right -- except in the real world, when
it's American might. Only someone of dubious political
orientation would split hairs about international law.

     When the mass media in some foreign countries serve as
megaphones for the rhetoric of their government, the result is
ludicrous propaganda. When the mass media in our country serve as
megaphones for the rhetoric of the U.S. government, the result is
responsible journalism.

     Unlike the TV anchors spouting the government line in places
like Sudan and Afghanistan, ours don't have to be told what to
say. They have the freedom to report as they choose.

     "Circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks his whip," George
Orwell observed, "but the really well-trained dog is the one that
turns his somersault when there is no whip."

     Orwell noted that language "becomes ugly and inaccurate
because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our
language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts." And
his novel "1984" explained that "the special function of certain
Newspeak words ... was not so much to express meanings as to
destroy them."

     National security. Western values. The world community. War
against terrorism. Collateral damage. American interests.

     What's so wondrous about Orwellian processes is that they
tend to be very well camouflaged -- part of the normal scenery.
Day in and day out, we take them for granted. And we're apt to
stay away from uncharted mental paths.

     In "1984," Orwell wrote about the conditioned reflex of
"stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any
dangerous thought ... and of being bored or repelled by any train
of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction."

     Orwell described "doublethink" as the willingness "to forget
any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes
necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long
as it is needed."

     In his afterword to "1984," Erich Fromm emphasized "the
point which is essential for the understanding of Orwell's book,
namely that `doublethink' is already with us, and not merely
something which will happen in the future, and in dictatorships."

     Fifty-two years ago, Orwell wrote an essay titled "Politics
and the English Language." Today, his words remain as relevant as
ever: "In our time, political speech and writing are largely the
defense of the indefensible."

     Repression and atrocities "can indeed be defended," Orwell
added, "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."

     National security. Western values. The world community. War
against terrorism. Collateral damage. American interests.

==================================================================
=EOF=

apodictic: Expressing, or of the nature of, absolute truth and certainty. -- 1998-11-11 "But many of the most poignant and life-changing experiences of believers, which they apparently recognise from one another's testimony, are held to be as intractable and apodeictic as my experience of the consciousness of another human. I can't scientifically *prove* that Jeff Dee is conscious, but I know it as well as I know anything. Maybe it's the same with religious claims - the `evidence' is accessible only to some, and perhaps only after they have placed themselves in a state inconsistent with skeptical kibbitzing. (I certainly hope this isn't the case, but my hopes can't legislate the ontology of the universe.) " -- Date: Wed, 09 Sep 1998 From: Damien Broderick <damien at ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU>

film noir http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=film+noir 1998-12-08

Improve your Vocabulary http://www.moonmac.com/~mklprc/Improve_Vocab.html

Ethernet (n): something used to catch the etherbunny.

"excess capacity and waste" / "safety margins" -- http://www.tbtf.com/archive/03-02-98.html In general, a "detergent" is any linear molecule containing a polar group attached to a long-chain fatty acid moiety, the molecule exhibiting both hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions and tending to self-organize in solutions. -- http://scienceweek.com/ Transposable genetic elements (also called "jumping genes") are mobile segments of DNA that may appear at apparently random locations in the genome. -- http://scienceweek.com/

"technopropisms": "the word I coined to describe mistakes that survive spelling checkers." -- Sandy Reed <sandy_reed at infoworld.com> in 1998-12-21 Infoworld http://www.infoworld.com/ example: the poem "I have a spelling check her".

MNEMONICS = Mnemonics Neatly Eliminate Mankind's Only Nemesis - Insufficient Cerebral Storage -- http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1756/taofaq3.txt

Software Glossary http://www.bram.net/humor-archive/1997-Oct/msg00027.html such classics as "ALL NEW -- The software is not compatible with previous versions." "REVOLUTIONARY -- The disk drives go round and round."

"A mondegreen is a lyric which is heard incorrectly." You can submit your own mondegreens, and check out those submitted by others, at http://www.enteract.com/~jessicar/lyrics/ .

I know someone who pronounces "Null", "knoll", and "Noel" identically.

"Engineering, in our view, is the application of scientifically based methods to the definition, design and construction of systems, products and artefacts in a predictable and manageable fashion. Specifically, it includes constraints relating to performance, economy of production and resources consumed by completed systems, quality and social usefulness." -- http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/research/se-3.html

http://piclist.org/techref/dictfun.htm list a bunch of isonyms (in sentence form).

ITMA (It's that man again) ... misinformation technology (MIT). -- http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/16586.html (also has lots of other humourous technology terms)

• ``An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.''
• ultramundane
• "Love is the attachment that results from deeply appreciating another's goodness." -- Gila Manolson http://www.aish.com/dating/wisdom/What_Is_Love$.asp
• The two words "information" and "communication" are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through. -- Sydney J. Harris
• [FIXME:] protesters protestors
• "When in doubt about the meaning of a word, I've always found it helpful to check a dictionary." -- Douglas Casey in _Liberty_ magazine 2003-04 p. 16
• description vs. explanation "The description is about "what" happens or "how" it happens, while the explanation is "why" it happens."
• http://www.americandialect.org/ [FIXME: to read] [a few funny euphemisms]
• "confusing words" http://www.ldresources.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=27;t=000001 ... http://www.ldresources.com/confusing_words/ [FIXME: email give him pointer to spin_dict ?]
• [FIXME: don't I already have something written about schadenfreude schaden-freude http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude ?] "It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail." -- Gore Vidal
• irenic
• 2004-09: gephyrophobia
• 2006-01-01: bobeche (the little things that catch the wax on a chandelier)
• 2009-10-13: autochthonous and its near-antonym, anachronism.

A technical manual (ATM)

asynchronous transfer mode

automated teller machine

Return to list of DAV's documents

Send comments, suggestions, bug reports to
David Cary
d.cary@ieee.org. end http://rdrop.com/~cary/html/spin_dictionary.html