Word of the Day. Post it Here

Captain Kremmen

Captain Kremmen

All aboard, me Hearties!
Valued Senior Member
If you hear a new word. Post it here and let us know what it means.

* * * * Moderator's note: This has been turned into a Sticky. The rules now require giving the etymology as well as the definition. * * * *

I heard this one today.

Sverdrup

The Gulf Stream carries about 31 Sverdrups of water per second into the North Atlantic -- a Sverdrup is an imaginary cube with sides 100 metres (110 yards) long going past a fixed point. That makes the current 2,000 times the flow of the Mississippi River.

Etymology

"The sverdrup, named in honour of the pioneering oceanographers Harald and Otto Sverdrup, is an unit of measure of volume transport. It is used almost exclusively in oceanography, to measure the transport of ocean currents. It is equivalent to 106 m3/s or 0.001 km³/s. Its symbol, when it is granted one, is either Sv or S, which conflicts with the sievert or the siemens, respectively."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sverdrup
 
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Chris Cremin said:
If you hear a new word. Post it here and let us know what it means. I heard this one today: "Sverdrup." The Gulf Stream carries about 31 Sverdrups of water per second into the North Atlantic -- a Sverdrup is an imaginary cube with sides 100 metres (110 yards) long going past a fixed point. That makes the current 2,000 times the flow of the Mississippi River.
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This is a great idea. Establish the tradition of including the etymology and I'll make this a Sticky. So pray tell, what is the origin of "sverdrup"? :)
 
What happened to my post? :shrug:

Well I'll do it again then.


Sverdrup........see above.
 
Nope, all CT is saying is that's a new word for him, and he first came across it today...
 
Not an uncommon word, but an interesting etymology:

Phony

1. Not genuine or real; counterfeit: a phony credit card.
2. False; spurious: a phony name.
3. Not honest or truthful; deceptive: a phony excuse.
4. Insincere or hypocritical.
5. Giving a false impression of truth or authenticity; specious

Etymology

It's a word from 18th century thieving slang.

This word has nothing to do with telecommunications or linguistics. Today's word derives from a con used by British thieves and swindlers of old called the "fawney rig." A "fawney dropper" dropped a gilded brass (i.e. phony gold) ring, which an accomplice picked up in front of the victim. The ring was then sold to the victim for less than its ostensible value but far more than the real value. The ring was called a "fawney" from Irish fáinne "ring," hence "phony" ring. (This etymology has something of a phony ring, doesn't it? Well, it isn't phony; it is genuine.)

Source

From the slang terms "fawney" (slang for ring) and "rig" (slang for game, diversion or trick)
 
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Cubie

A Rubik’s cube is built from 26 cubies, each able to make re-stricted
rotations about a core of Rubik’s cube. A face of Rubik’s
cube is a side. Each face is divided into 9 facelets, where each of the
9 facelets is part of a distinct cubie. A cubie is either an edge cubie
(two visible facelets), a corner cubie (three visible facelets), or a
center cubie (one visible face, in the center of a side). The facelets
are similarly edge facelets, corner facelets, or center facelets.


Etymology
Cubie, a little cube.
 
Ball Guff
The stink arising from a male's nether regions
after his pendulous parts are released from confinement.

Etymology
Heard it on the radio.
 
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Lord Hillyer said:
I'm a vegan who only sleeps with other non-vegans. Vegans I'm attracted to are hard to find.
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so your not a vegansexual then, and why would you only sleep with non vegans if your a vegan yourself?. thats a bit strange, what if you found a vegan you liked? you still wouldent?.

ofcourse you might be joking.

peace.
 
EmptyForceOfChi said:
Do we have a specific name for this type of predator though? One that feeds on other predators?
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I guess that means I'm the only person here who knows how to use Wikipedia. :)

The classification of the levels of predation is called trophism. Herbivorous animals that do not eat meat are called primary consumers. The carnivorous animals that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers. Predators that eat those carnivores are called tertiary consumers. It goes up through quaternary etc., but apparently it's rare to find more than six levels of predation. In addition, the terminology is pretty rough because many predators are not specialized (unlike anteaters, for example) and can catch and eat herbivores, carnivores, and higher-level carnivores indiscriminately. Canids not only do this but they eat fruit as well so they defy classification,.

In addition, scavengers who eat only organisms that are already dead (not fruit and seeds, and not the contents of the intestines of prey animals left behind by the original predator) are called detritivores, i.e. they eat detritus. Canids even transcend this category. Domestic dogs that eat commercial food full of preservatives are famous for eating stool because it replenishes the bacterial culture in their incredibly short gut, which is killed off by the preservatives. But even wolves and coyotes will happily clean up another predator's kill site and eat the icky leftovers.

However, we started by looking for the word for orcas, great white sharks and tigers: predators that only kill and are never killed. Those animals are called apex predators. Man falls into this group as well.
 
do we have a specific name for this type of predator though? one that feeds on other predators?
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"Connoisseurs". ;)

And no, that's not a type of dinosaur. =P

- N
 
A word from this past Saturday:

ugsome
Dreadful, frightful, loathsome.

Etymology
From Middle English uggen, from Old Norse ugga (form of uggr, to fear).

[Same root as "ugly."]
 
"voicejail "

"The loop of options where you get stuck when trying to navigate your voice mail."
 
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