I'll take daphynitions for Sphragistics until next Wednesday.

is no one other than Arnie going to play? BTW, great definition, old chap!

I've gotten three so far. C'mon guys and gals... get those daffynitions flowing.

I have six daffynitions, and one real one. Are there anymore? C'mon, you have a chance to fool Arnie!

Well, not so many of you wanted to play this time, but here goes...

1. A form of meditation popular in the early Eighteenth Century characterized by deep breathing.

2. The scientific study of seals and signet rings.

3. An obscure spin-off of linguistics involving the study of rare word constructions.

4. The study of rhythmical patterns

5. Branch of chaos theory in mathematics dealing infinitely discontinuous functions.

6. Activities and dogma of the Sphragist Cult, precursors of the Zorophragists.

7. ... the study of architectural and mathematical aspects of early Middle Eastern civilizations.

8. the study and development of underwater breathing apparatus

Extra credit will be awarded to the first person who can tell us what is especially unusual about this word.

I'll have whatever arnie's having.

Oh, all right, if you insist. I'll hazard 8 please.

I'll take number five, and I think this is the only word in our language containing the "sphr" consonant cluster. Jusphra guess.

~~~ jerry

I'll try 7 - I've had computer probs after coming back from a weekend in Wales so haven't been able to post.

I'm back now, thanks to the supreme efforts of my friend Steve .

I guess #4.

I'll pick 5. And the most unusual thing I can see about the word sphragistics is that it begins with 4 consonants. And, as CJ will note, it has 3 vowels and 9 consonants.

Tinman

Hmmm. I like 4 and 2, and 4 has been chosen, so I guess I'll seal this session with a 2.

Number 2 will do me.

quote:

Originally posted by arnie:
Number 2 will do me.

Bugger. That's me wrong then.

Oh, I think this is a ridiculous guess, but I will try 6.

I'm going to guess that everyone who has guessed has guessed. I've been quite ill again and will leave the tallying to someone else please.

The answer is..... YUP! #2 And the winner is Jerry for the extra points. This is the only word in the English language with the sphr combination.

Oh, Jo - I hope you feel better soon! Why don't we all tell which daffynition was ours . . . mine was #8 (thanks for guessing it, Bob!)

quote:

Originally posted by jo:
This is the only word in the English language with the sphr combination.

What about sphrigosis? And these?

Tinman

Thanks a lot, Tinman.

I am returning my Extra Points so that they may be awarded to you.

<big grin>

Mine was Number Seven; I tried to entice with something reminiscent of Sphinx. Only Cat nipped at it; nobody else even sniffed.

My daffynition was number six.

I am cancelling my membership in the Zorophragists Cult forthwith.

well, according to my dictionary "sphragistics" and its related variants is the only ENGLISH word... all those others appear to be Latin. But I'm ready to be declared wrong. What the heck...

Hab, yours was my second choice. Jerry, good job!

My daffynition was number 4...gottcha, CW!

World Wide Words.

quote:

It is almost the only word in English today that contains the /sfr/ combination of sounds, not the easiest cluster of consonants to say.

My daffynition was number one, which fooled no-one.

fooled jerry and tinman with my #5

Oh, arnie, wipe that frown off your face! You are way ahead of all of us, and you did, in fact, get this word right!

Great word, Jo. So sorry you're not feeling well again. Take care!

Who is next? Hab? I don't think you've had a word in ages!

Does anybody have a word for us? Pretty Please?

OK - new thread started.

The new word is SERAC (anagram of ACRES and CARES and CASER and SCARE, which has nothing to do with the meaning of SERAC.) Watch for it in a Thread near you!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: haberdasher,