quote:

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In vain I have pointed out that we don't refer to a "bike-bike" or a "trike-bike" to refer to the abbreciations for the two and three-wheel equivalents of a quadricycle...

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We don't refer to a "bike" as a "bike-bike", or a "trike" as a "trike-trike" because neither a "bike" nor a "trike" can be confused with anything else, whereas a "quad" can be a "quad bike" or a place where people gather in a courtyard, sometimes called a "quad" [in particular by the British military].

I'm more interested in your coinage "abbreciations", RE. It is not every abbreviation which is appreciated [by everyone].

For the life of me, straightarrow, I couldn't find that quote from Richard. Was it early on in the thread?

Question: when does a "mis-spelling" become an "alternative spelling"?

Interesting question, arnie. I am going to start another thread on this discussion.

Jerry, no need at all to apologize. I really was off-subject, but the misspelling of a major NY hotel was intriguing to me. Of course, I assumed it was I who was wrong!

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

Quote "... whereas a "quad" can be a "quad bike" or a place where people gather in a courtyard, sometimes called a "quad" [in particular by the British military]..."

A good and spirited defence of the indefenceable.

That "quad" is an abbreviation for "quadrangle" as well as for "quadricycle" matters not one iota. There are very many abbreviations that do service for more than one word or term. There is little chance of confusion in this, and most other, instances.

People call quads "quad-bikes" simply because they are ignorant of the etymology of the word "quad".

quote:

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That "quad" is an abbreviation for "quadrangle" as well as for "quadricycle" matters not one iota.

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Well, it might matter if you were a college student and you got a message from a coed inviting you to meet her at "the quad".

uberhysteria - headline in the NY Times today. I couldn't find it anywhere, not even in Google, so it might be their coinage. Has anyone heard it?

uberhysteria

Never heard of it. Does it meant super hysteria in context? Maybe the prefix uber- (or should I type über-?) is becoming more productive in English.

Yes, that is what it seemed to mean. I can't do those little dots, but I knew that they should have been there. I think "uber" is becoming more common...but I don't know what you mean by "productive."

productive

Linguists distinguish, usually, two kinds of morphology: inflectional and derivational. The former is like -s for plural in nouns or 3PS in verbs; the latter is for affixes like hyper-, -ize, -ling, etc. They also distinguish between productive and non-productive. -en as a plural isn't really productive. Other than ox ~ oxen or vax ~ vaxen, I can't imagine people using it and it being understood. The prefixes hyper- and cyber- are rather productive and people can usually figure out what is meant. The suffix -gate is overused, but productive.

Thanks, jheem. I missed that explanation.

I found a great coinage today, mommying activities. This comes at a time when states are capping medical practice lawsuits, so the lawyers have to find a way to prove that housewives are worth something. They have to quantify "mommying activities," such as chauffering & cooking.

Why does it have to be mommying? Can't it be parenting? Child-rearing?

mommying activities

How do they differ from mothering activities?

I am just quoting an article that I read in the Wall Street Journal. I agree that the term could be "mothering" or "momming" or "maaing" or whatever, as well as "parenting" or "child-rearing."

At this conference I am attending, I heard 2 new (to me) coinages. That speakers didn't explain them, so obviously to some they are common. Have you heard them?

Minimester - A course that's less than a semester, such as a 2-week course.

Collapetition - This was used to describe universities in the area that both must collaborate, but also are in competition, thus they are in collapetition.

We have this judge in the area who has to live in Chicago in order to be a judge, but he really lives in the suburbs. When they finally figured that out, he was questioned before the Courts Commission, and gave what they described as Clintonian responses. I like it!

They asked where he lived, and he responded, "It depends what your subjective meaning of the word 'live' is." Later he said, "Again, home means many things to many people." And, then this, "'Lived' is not something that is quantitatively measured." He explained that he always felt that his parents' home on the north side of Chicago was his primary address."

Presenteeism - I just saw this used in a Chicago Tribune editorial today. Can anyone guess its meaning? I surely hadn't seen it used before today. I don't know if it is really a word (or if they just made it up), but its meaning is intriguing.

World Wide Words, The Word Spy have articles on presenteeism, and MedicineNet have articles on presenteeism. Some of them credit Professor Gary Cooper with coining the term. This site says Professor Cooper coined the term to "to describe the overwork and feelings of job insecurity resulting from downsizing and restructuring in the 1990s."

He may have redefined the term, but he didn't coin it. From the OED Onlline:

quote:

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presentee2 SECOND EDITION
1989

One who is present. Hence presenteeism.

1892 ‘MARK TWAIN’ Amer. Claimant xxi. 211 There was an absentee who ought to be a presentee--a word which she meant to look out in the dictionary. 1931 H. WITHERS Everybody's Business ix. 161 Certainly he is an absentee..if he adopted the habit of dropping in at the works and making well-meant suggestions.., is it likely that his presenteeism would be helpful? 1943 Nat. Liquor Rev. July 4/2 The Kaiser Company's public relation officials discovered that the term ‘absenteeism’ irked the people who read it... The Kaiser Company..changed its policy and praised those who were on the job by using the term ‘presenteeism’.

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I don't feel too bad, since the present definition seems to have evolved in the 1990s. The one from the OED seems to have meant just being present. Now the definition seems to be the opposite of absenteeism, that is feeling the need to come to work sick.

With the new flu scares here in the U.S. (thanks to England's failure to provide us with enough vaccine), people are predicting presenteeism, thus flu epidemics. I know at our office they gave out those bacterial handwashing products to all of us, and they have told us to stay home if we have flu symptoms.

Many people in public libraries are considered "high risk" for flu, and get a higher priority for the vaccine. I always get a shot, given my high contact with the public and my extranneous health concerns. In fact, when the vaccine arrives at my Dr.'s office, her nurse usually gives me a call to set up an appointment. Now THAT is marvelous patient/customer/client service!

We in Illinois must have more of a scarcity of the flu vaccine than in other parts of the country. I can't imagine librarians here receiving flu shots. We have had sick, elderly people deprived of them. Yet, my sister was just in from Arizona, and she was saying that people there were freely receiving flu shots, too.

There was a huge outcry here because the players on the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Bears received flu vaccines.

I found 2 coinages today:

tankering - when airlines dodge high fuel prices at airports to save money.

SLAPP an acronym for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, and that's exactly what it is. When the average citizen speaks out publicly against a company or industry, apparently a new ploy is for the company to sue the complainant. The example given was a trash company that was attacked by a private citizen for being a "trash terrorist." The private citizen had immersed himself in the minutiae of trash, and he had publicly testified against a proposed garbage holding pen that was about to go up. The company now is suing this private citizen for $5 million.

Quote "...tankering - when airlines dodge high fuel prices at airports to save money..."

Airlines, like motorists, will fill up wherever they can get the cheapest fuel and there's nothing wrong with that. However, it infuriates Governments like the UK's since it means that they can't tax the airlines' fuel as they tax the motorists'

What they have now done is impose a passenger tax which means that the airlines now have to collect a fee (variable according to the route but it can be as much as £40) from their passengers and pass the cash on to the Government.

Being a Government has got the be the most profitable business in the world!

Dibbing

This may be a regionalism...and it surely is a coinage that only holds for cold weather cities.

"Dibbing" means that after a big snow, people will spend hours shoveling their cars out. They then think they have "dibs" on that spot for the rest of the winter! They will put old lawn chairs, or other articles, in the space so that others can't park there. And, if you do park there, removing their garbage,...whew! Your car can get keyed, or worse!

I see "dibbing" as pathetic, but our mayor in Chicago actually supports it! To me, the streets are public, and no one should be guaranteed a parking space.

[Now, she can get off her pedestal!]

I have never heard the term "dibbing" but I like it! I disagree with you, Kalleh - if I have spent all that time shoveling the public street, for the remainder of the snow problem I would consider that section of the public street mine. Of course, I have no legal right to do so, but I would think my neighbors unethical if they didn't honor my hard work by allowing me to use that spot.

Thankfully, I have a driveway and garage now!

Weather makes people funny.

if I have spent all that time shoveling the public street, for the remainder of the snow problem I would consider that section of the public street mine.

Sometimes the snow lasts for 2½ months or more...do you really think for a couple of hours of shoveling (or however long it would take) that someone should have free access to that spot for the whole winter? Put yourself in this position: You are gone for the weekend in the end of December when you get 15 inches of snow. All your neighbors parked around your apartment have shoveled their spaces and put old lawn chairs and other garbage in front of your home. When you get home, not only will you not have a parking spot anywhere near your home for months, but you will have a line of garbage, on both sides of the street, in front of your home. Do you still disagree with me?

Weather makes people funny.

Yeah...you would know, being a Californian and all!

Quote, "...Sometimes the snow lasts for 2½ months or more...."

I can understand the problem - the snow in England sometimes lasts for hours - even a day or so in a really bad year...

Mind you, we've not had any yet in the south, so fingers crossed.

It depends on our winter, of course. But many winters get heavy snows early, and then it doesn't begin to melt until March. I can surely see CW's point that it would be "unethical" if someone spent hours shoveling out a space, went somewhere, only to return to someone parking there. I can understand that, really. In fact, they have a really good ordinance in Boston where the person who shovels is allowed to keep the spot, but for 48 hours only after a major snow. That's fair. To be able to keep your own private spot for weeks or even months on streets where parking is very limited to begin with...well, that's unethical to me. One begins to wonder about the motivation here: Is it to get your own private parking spot, on a public street, all winter? Probably.

There was another article about "dibbing," partly because, indeed, we just got our first big snow...8 inches. In this article one author eloquently refers to dibbing as droit du shoveleur, which apparently means "the rights of the shoveler" in French (I am taking his word for it because I don't know French). It's surely much classier than "dibbing", though I suppose that Chicago is more of a "dibbing" sort of a city.

Interesting. Which side of the argument was the author of droit du shoveleur on? It is obviously based on droit du seigneur, the (apocryphal) right of a feudal lord to sleep with the bride of his vassal on their wedding night. Is he implying that a similar ethical system is in operation here?

That is interesting. I just knew the newspaper's definition was not going to be completely accurate, thus my qualification. Thanks, arnie!

The lawyer who coined the term meant it to mean that those who shovel the snow have the right to the parking space. That seems to follow the droit du seigneur.

Oh, well, I can see your point, Kalleh. I was forgetting my days of all street parking. But why would someone shovel a space clear in front of your house instead of in front of theirs?

Yeahbut...

My point was that few right-minded people nowadays approve of droit du seigneur. By using a phrase such as droit du shoveleur, he is equating the practice with a "right" that would nowadays be condemned by most people, and one that never actually existed.

Was that intentional, or did he just make a bad choice when coining his phrase?

Was that intentional, or did he just make a bad choice when coining his phrase?

We really need to invite him to wordcraft to find out! I don't know, arnie, though the article in the newspaper briefly mentioned it in reference to the "rights of the shoveler." I am thinking the lawyer coined it correctly, but the newspaper misinterpreted it. Anyone knowing that term, I suspect, would understand the use you explain, arnie.

But why would someone shovel a space clear in front of your house instead of in front of theirs?

Remember, person A was gone for the weekend. Living in the city, everyone lives very close to each other. So, person B comes home late at night and can only find a spot in front of person A's home. He parks there, and during the night we get 15 inches of snow. He wakes up on the morning of December 29th, shovels that spot in front of person A's home, and ta dah! He has a guaranteed spot until March 10th when all the snow melts!

reviving a thread...

I read about a great coinage today, creative waste; it means the time that workers spend chitchatting at the water cooler. It may actually be postive time for companies where workers connect with each other, thus boosting morale and helping them cooperate as a team.

With some of this creative waste they suggested learning a language from a colleague, writing a haiku or taking a brisk lap around the block.

Hmmm, does posting on wordcraft count? Or writing a limerick for OEDILF?

People who process those tiny feathers in down-filled sleeping-bag factories run the risk of paralysis ..... from the waste down.

Hehehe - good one, JT!

I sure hope wordcraft counts, Kalleh! LOL

Re creative waste: "Indolence" literally means "not having grief!"

quote:

"Indolence" literally means "not having grief!"

Quite right. Common corporate maxim: 'When in doubt, the safest course is to do nothing'.

It might be kind of nice to be the stimulus for a new coinage. On the other hand...

Heather Armstrong blogged her way to being fired. She had a lucrative Web design job. However, in her blog, dooce.com, she called her boss such things as "Her Wretchedness" and "the most insane person you have ever witnessed outside of 'Dateline NBC.'" Her boss found out and fired her, thus the term dooced, which means to lose one's job because of one's Web site. There are many personal stories in this article about people who have been "dooced."

The most interesting story to me was a university professor who says the issue is different in academia. Professors worry about blogs being "frivolous" activity, and it may be an obstacle to earning tenure. I hadn't even thought of that! Now tenure committees will have to evaluate the scholarliness of blogs and Web sites!

Reviving a thread...

Have you heard of the word ecocide? I read that it was recently coined by Jared Diamond in his book, "Collapse." Yet the OED cites it from 1970, with a quote from the Guardian Weekly, and Onelook cites it in 6 dictionaries. Obviously it hasn't been recently coined.

I read about a great coinage today, and it very well could stick here in the U.S.:

Starbucksatization - When Starbucks come into communities, often it is a barometer people use to measure the status of a community. Starbucks seem to add some panache to their downtown or shopping areas.

There really isn't another word that means this, is there?

I've heard of "Wal-Mart Syndrome," which means that a small town's downtown core is being dealt a death blow.

I missed this, Asa. I can see that!

I read about helicopter parents yesterday. Baby boomer parents are following their children to college and then on to their jobs. I have been on both sides of that...a college professor and also the parent of a college student. It made me more empathetic when parents would advocate for their kids. College does cost a lot of money these days. It is way over $30,000 a year to attend the University of Michigan, a state school, for example. I think the parents may be trying to get some value for the money they are spending. I have seen college professors who have cancelled classes or given 50% of the class F's (entirely undeserved), and in situations like that, I can't argue against a parent supporting his/her child.

On the other hand, it certainly can get out of hand. And parents advocating for their kids at work is a new one for me!

Has anyone heard of "ashy," which means the dry skin of elbows, heals, etc.? A speaker said that word is common in the south, though I've never heard it.

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Starbucks seem to add some panache to their downtown or shopping areas.

"Pan," universal + "ache," so Starbucks is a universal pain? One often sees women with too-tight Jordache (aching jord, whatever that is) in Starbucks. At least the yuppies at Starbucks don't leave as many cups and wrappers in the street as do McDonald's and Buggar King consumers.

Have you ever heard of "dimwitticisms?" I found the word on this site:

While a "witticism" is a clever remark and the height of expressionism, a "dimwitticism" is a worn-out word or phrase that dulls our reasoning and dims our insight. They are those expressions that we use when we are too lazy to put for the effort ot speak.

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Has anyone heard of "ashy," which means the dry skin of elbows, heals, etc.? A speaker said that word is common in the south, though I've never heard it.

A bit late in answering this but, yes, I have heard the term but only in relation to the African-American community. Dryness of skin produces an "ashiness" that is more noticable on a darker-skinned person in that the dryness actually can look as though ashes had been rubbed on the person's elbows or wherever. I had a friend who grew up poor in the south who said that keeping her scalp moisturized was a major concern for her growing up because an ashy appearance was considered the mark of a lower class individual.

Well, well, well! Even though you've finally added a few more letters so that I can start limericking again, you gave me a great idea. There is no limerick on that definition of 'ashy.' I am writing one!

However, there is a nice limerick on "ashy," using an alternate definition; here it is:

Her clothing has always been trashy;
Her hair, which was blonde, is now ashy.
Her locks have gone grey,
And her figure astray,
But at least her Rolls-Royce is still flashy!

~ Snowy Owl

BTW, the speaker who mentioned "ashy" was indeed African-American.

YES! Thanks to "ashy" and "boanthropy" (OEDILF just added bo, bp, bq to the list of letters that can be used for limericks), I now have 100 limericks!

I know, as of this moment, Chris Doyle has a whopping 1653...I don't know how he does it! But I am happy with my 100.

While Google has 106 sites for M-learners, I haven't heard of the word before. A speaker today was talking about it meaning the way the younger generation learns by being digitally literate and connected, by multi-tasking, and by using nonlinear thinking.

Is that your concept of what it means? I was particularly confused by the 'nonlinear thinking' because I consider that to be better than linear thinking...but in the same breath the speaker was saying how students are at a much lower caliber than they used to be.

quote:

I was particularly confused by the 'nonlinear thinking' because I consider that to be better than linear thinking...but in the same breath the speaker was saying how students are at a much lower caliber than they used to be.

I'm not completely certain what they mean by linear learning, but it is clear that there are different types of problems to solve, and different people are better at certain ones. Low level math requires very straight forward application of rules, which I would think as good for those who are very good at "linear thinking". High-level math is something entirely different, require creativity, putting together vastly different ideas in novel ways to prove complicated things, etc., which would best be served by "non-linear thinking". At least, that's how I view those terms.

Students being a lower caliber doesn't really mean much without quantification. Test scores are historically bad at judging talent in art, among many other domains, and lower test scores doesn't mean people are dumber, just different.