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Lint between the toes is called gronk. Is there a similar word for lint in the navel?
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Our basically thorough research department finds no toejam in the
gronk slot. Is there an urgent need for a synonym for belly-button fuzz? |
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I can't answer your question, but we have talked about belly buttons before, and I also found this for you.
omphalologist [link]: a physician whose specialty need not be identified (facetious; akin to calling an unknown product a "widget".) His specialty is omphalology. You will be pleased to know that for 2002 the Ig-Noble Prize, given annually for scientific research that "cannot or should not be reproduced," was awarded for a survey on belly button lint. 4799 persons responded to that survey. |
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Well, I do thank you, Jerry and Hic, for humoring me and posting something here. It was late last night, and I was wanting to make a word post. However, I now realize this word post may get the prize for the worst post on the board! So sorry!
Anyway, to answer Jerry: Jerry, "gronk" is defined in my "There's a Word for It!" (~ Elster). While any author, online or published, can be wrong, I have been impressed by his work. The major sources he has relied upon are: Century Dictionary (1914); the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (1991); Webster's New International Dictionary, second edition (1934); Random House Dictionary of English Language, second edition, unabridged (1987); and the American Heritage Dictionary of the American Language, third edition (1992). The definition given in the book is: "a dialectal term for the dirt and scuzz that collects between your toes, colloquially known as cheese or toe-jam." However, I looked all through Google for that definition of "gronk" and didn't find it. So, it may not be accurate. Now, I know that I have heard of that word for navel lint before, but I cannot remember it. However, I also realize that this isn't an important question! |
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As questions go, no, this isn't one of the more important but that doesn't mean it should go unanswered.
Navel lint? Sorry, no clue. But I do recall some celebrity from the 60's or late 50's (Orson Bean, maybe?) mentioning in an interview that there once was a Broadway showtune devoted to "nurr" (spelling totally uncertain but that's how it was pronounced) which this person explained was the technical term for lint that forms at the bottom of one's jacket pocket. I had thought it might have come from "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" but a google search there (not to mention the rest of the net using a variety of spellings) turned up nothing. The song wasn't exactly a major hit... |
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The worst of it is, I know I've seen that word before. I just can't remember where.
I tried to search for "nurr", as I thought I might get a hint for navel lint. However, I couldn't find it, either. Interestingly, the words "ner" and "nur" exist, but they don't mean lint at the bottom of a pocket. Now, that would be a useful term; I always remove the "nurr" before I do the wash. |
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First of all, thanks to everyone for your kind welcomes! And please bear with me while I figure out how to post correctly.
 I did a little searching on navel lint and found this person's website. Ummm, it really isn't for the faint of heart. Just a little warning. He called it "fluff", by the way. I also found this, which includes some different names for the belly button and some very interesting belly button related information. [This message was edited by WinterBranch on Sat Aug 23rd, 2003 at 22:17.] |
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quote: Charles tells me that there are two(2) errors in his book TaWfI (and leaves finding them as an exercise for the student). Perhaps this is one of them. seriously though, if I wanted to verify this word, I'd look in the DARE. (next on my wish-list of resources!) http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/dare/dare.html [This message was edited by tsuwm on Sun Aug 24th, 2003 at 11:11.] |
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quote: This site contained a quote from The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman: "Don Emmanuel grinned, scratched his rufous beard and then his pubic region, and said, 'I will give you all the advice in the world if only you can tell me why it is that the dingleberries excavated from my navel by Felicidad are always composed of blue Lint, when I possess no clothes of that colour.' " I've never before heard bellybutton lint called "dingleberries". Rather, I learned that dingleberries came from a different orifice! The site also talks about bellybuttons and referred sensations (near the bottom of the page). Apparently some people feel a remote sensation when they touch their bellybuttons. How about you? Tinman |
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Thanks, Tsuwm, for that resource. I plan to buy it.
 quote:Oh, the questions that come up here!  Tinman, is that resource posted on our Links for Linguaphiles? If not, should it be? It looked good to me. |
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Ref that site, there is a major (to a nit-picker like me) error. All mammals do not have navels. I assume you can name the two that don't. (answer, if not tomorrow, soon)
Also, when I was young and still in the self-exploration stage, I discovered that if I poked myself too deeply in my navel, not only would it hurt but I would immediately feel deeply depressed. I can still recreate this sensation today but, not being of a psychologically masochistic frame of mind, rarely do. |
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quote:I'm pretty sure that Novobatzky and Shea have another word for this, Tinman, but I can't locate it at the moment.  |
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quote: As a fellow nitpicker, I must tell you that the above statement is not true. Some mammals do have navels. Now, if you had said, "Some mammals do not have navels" or "Not all mammals have navels", then I could agree with you. I didn't know the answer, but I looked it up. Tinman |
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mammals do not have
navels. -------------------------------------------- I can't remember the critters' names, but for some strange reason the term, monotreme pops into my addled pate. Now, as for dingleberries in the beard, perhaps said person is a point-of-origin coprophage. YUCCCHHHH!  |
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quote: Yes, yes, totally correct. And of course I can't cover myself with some sort of "Well, you knew what I meant" defense since, to do so, would simply add support to those greengrocers who insist on selling "apple's." The two navel-less mammals are the duck-billed platypus and the somewhat related echidna, both of which are hatched from eggs. The fact that they are classified as mammals ranks right up there with "fire" being a one-syllable word -- I don't understand it but, thank you anyway, I'll accept both to be true without the benefit of the lengthly explanations that I'm sure many of you would be all too happy to inflict on me. Semi-related sidenote: An old joke, supposedly born of an actual classroom situation, revolves around a teacher asking a student for the precise definition of the word "mammal." The student (not the brightest penny in the pile) replied "It has hair... And it gives milk..." before faltering which prompted the teacher to reply "Well, so far you haven't eliminated the coconut!" |
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Since you didn't ask...
There are three types of mammals • Placental mammals nourish fetus inside the body, attached by an umbilical cord to a placenta (hence the navel) • Marsupials, like koalas and kangaroos, nourish young in an external pouch • Monotremes, like the echidna and platypus, still lay eggs, like their reptilian ancestors You didn't really think I'd not respond, did you, C J? Tinman [This message was edited by tinman on Fri Aug 29th, 2003 at 3:04.] |
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quote: Well, frankly, no, but I commend you on your brevity. In yet another example of wanderingthreaditis, we've started out with words describing lint and now find ourselves deeply into zoology (pronounced zoe- [not zoo-] OL-o-gee, by the way) but such is life. Confirmation please - Kangaroos etc, even though they are fed within the mother's pouch after their birth, are of course fed by the mother internally before that time. This would imply that they too have navels, yes? Tinman's referenced site implies that this is not the case. I've never had the opportunity to closely examine Australian marsupials myself (that, along with making love with Britney Spears, are my two great unfulfilled fantasies) so any clarification from fellow Wordcrafters would be appreciated if only to satisfy my never-ending quest for generally useless knowledge. So, has anyone been in close contact with a kangaroo or koala? Or, for that matter, has anyone here made love with Britney? Details in either case would be gratefully appreciated. |
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I can confirm that Britney Spears does have a navel. http://www.britneyspears.com/photos/sass.php?img=02
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quote:Well, I haven't been close to a marsupial, either, to look for a navel (nor to Brittany; much thanks to Arnie for the confirmation! ).However, this Web Site indicates that they may have a navel. While their gestation time is very short, the mother has a "yolk-type placenta". I guess it all depends on what that means. |
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quote: No, you didn't think I'd not respond? quote: Quite right. There is a book called There is No Zoo in Zoology by Charles H. Elster (Collier Books, 1988) quote: No. The placenta in placental mammals (true mammals or eutherians) supplies nourishment to the embryo during the long gestation period. The embryo is connected to the placenta by an umbilical cord. When this cord is severed in the newborn baby, the resulting scar is called the umbilicus, navel, or belly button. Wikipedia explains it better. Marsupials have a short gestation period, and the embryo receives its nourishment from a yolk sac placenta. Apparently this yolk sac placenta is attached to the mother but not to the embryo, and the nourishment is absorbed (through diffusion?) directly rather than through an umbilical cord. Since the marsupial has no umbilical cord it can’t have a belly button. See marsupial in Wikipedia. I found this on the exZOOberance site: "REPRODUCTION "Like all marsupials, kangaroos lack a true placenta, the structure in a pregnant female's womb that provides nutrients for and removes waste from the growing embryo. Instead of a fully developed placenta, kangaroo females form a type of yolk sac in the womb. The embryo absorbs nutrients from this yolk sac for four to five weeks and then emerges from the birth canal, still in an embryo-like form but with well-developed forelimbs." I thought you might be interested in this little tidbit I found: “These early explorers and naturalists were even more at a loss regarding the opossum's reproductive nature. The penis of the male opossum is bifurcated or forked. This, combined with the female opossum's prenatal habit of licking her belly, nipples and pouch area, led to the folktale that in reproducing, the male and female have sex through the female's nose and she then blows the young into her pouch. Later, it was discovered that the females have a bifurcated reproductive track and all the preening is done to create a moist warm pathway for the newborns to follow.” Puts a new meaning in “blow job”, doesn’t it? Tinman [This message was edited by tinman on Sat Aug 30th, 2003 at 23:49.] |
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I learnt yesterday from an article in the "Radio Times" (arguably on of the UK's best written magazines and the one with fewest typographical and grammatical errors) that oral sex is illegal in many US States.
This was in a commentary about a programme covering the activities of a British laywer who specialises in trying to gain revokation of the death penalty imposed on many US offenders, who, as we know, often languish on Death Row for many years. He deals only in this area - with two exceptions: Firstly he is acting for the British suspects currently incarcerated in Guantanimo Bay by the US military and secondly he defends those accused of having oral sex in those US States that prohibit it! I have to say that I was quite amazed to learn that such a common and accepted practice could be considered a crime - but then, who am I to try to fathom the minds of legislators? Richard English |
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quote:I recently found that out myself, as well. Like you, I was stunned. It seems as though I may have posted about it somewhere here, but I can't find it now. This thread has definitely taken a twist! Tinman, thanks for the elucidation about "yolk-type placentas." I hadn't heard of them before. I continue to look through my word books to find that word, which I know exists, for navel lint. In the process, I have found some great words though! In the "Bodily Processes and Characteristics" chapter of the written "Grandiloquent Dictionary" I like hobbledehoy or an adolescent boy who is awkward or clumsy; a stipling. Then in "Depraved and Insulting English" there is cacocallia which means a state of being ugly but sexy. My best bet is probably Elster's "There's a Word for It!", but I've not found it yet.... |
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