tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post9031990750562176893..comments2023-10-17T07:36:20.507-04:00Comments on Notes from a Sticky Wicket: -ine: Do You See Yonder Cloud...Shriram Krishnamurthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02956763366608000839noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-8120218693189839062009-08-19T10:52:50.765-04:002009-08-19T10:52:50.765-04:00And the latest one which is spreading like fire ;)...And the latest one which is spreading like fire ;) "swine" flu...Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09530831012369055616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-13932887050526912342008-10-06T14:01:00.000-04:002008-10-06T14:01:00.000-04:00Hm. I figured most of them would still be current ...Hm. I figured most of them would still be current in specialized fields (zoology, maybe)... much as "riparian" and "lacustrine" are still used by ecologists where the rest of the world might say "river-like" or "lake-like".korinthehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06408545511148129637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-252423748614994672008-10-02T17:07:00.000-04:002008-10-02T17:07:00.000-04:00On the other hand, I refuse to hear absolutely any...On the other hand, I refuse to hear absolutely anything negative about one of my all-time favorite words, “boustrophedonic”.Shriram Krishnamurthihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02956763366608000839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-26014217849552745082008-10-02T16:31:00.000-04:002008-10-02T16:31:00.000-04:00It's not the antiquity itself that makes a word bu...It's not the antiquity itself that makes a word bullshitty. For example, the word "antiquity" is not bullshitty, nor is "example". What makes "batrachian" and "phalacrocoracine" bullshitty is that no one knows what they mean or uses them anymore. They sound more like antidepressants than descriptive names for animals. These words are, in a word, obsolete: formed freely and naturally in Latin, etched in absurd stone in English. The word for "batrachian", in our times, is "toad-like". "Batrachian" is wishful thinking and, in my book, bullshit -- and I'm sorry if that makes me seem asinine.Michael Greenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17752327998242049897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-11388359415724720732008-10-02T16:22:00.000-04:002008-10-02T16:22:00.000-04:00delphinineI never would have guessed that "ostraci...delphinine<BR/><BR/>I never would have guessed that "ostracize" had to do with oyster shells.<BR/><BR/>Why would a word's antiquity make it "bullshitty"? The Romans and Greeks had words for these animals and that's where most of these adjectives come from.korinthehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06408545511148129637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-81713043607529758092008-09-27T15:06:00.000-04:002008-09-27T15:06:00.000-04:00Trina Avery offered:‘elephantine’—which can also m...Trina Avery offered:<BR/><BR/>‘elephantine’—which can also mean ‘made of ivory’, as in the chryselephantine (made of gold and ivory) statue of Athena in the Parthenon.Shriram Krishnamurthihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02956763366608000839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-22733499056722619152008-09-23T23:00:00.000-04:002008-09-23T23:00:00.000-04:00My favorite: formicate.(Ant-like)My favorite: formicate.<BR/><BR/>(Ant-like)Mauricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03019442378581634856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-27250569106178683202008-09-22T22:19:00.000-04:002008-09-22T22:19:00.000-04:00A lot of them seem bullshitty, though...like funny...A lot of them seem bullshitty, though...like funny, pre-Linnaean ways to list the animals that Noah took on the ark.<BR/><BR/>The truly disappointing thing is the aim of the website: to help people cheat at pub quizzes.Michael Greenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17752327998242049897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-36768560826322749412008-09-22T22:09:00.000-04:002008-09-22T22:09:00.000-04:00Oh boy. I stand humbled by the superiority of the...Oh boy. I stand humbled by the superiority of the Internets.Shriram Krishnamurthihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02956763366608000839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-54093395496595336352008-09-22T22:02:00.000-04:002008-09-22T22:02:00.000-04:00Here are some more: leonine - lion asinine - ass...Here are some more:<BR/><BR/> leonine - lion<BR/> asinine - ass<BR/> vulpine - fox<BR/> corvine - crow<BR/><BR/>and don't forget<BR/><BR/> hominoid - human<BR/><BR/>-- PaulPaul Stecklerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13416750891822431224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038562.post-14497213857304738572008-09-22T21:59:00.000-04:002008-09-22T21:59:00.000-04:00First result, Googling for "list of animal adjecti...<A HREF="http://www.pubquizhelp.com/animals/adject.html" REL="nofollow">First result</A>, Googling for "list of animal adjectives"...Michael Greenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17752327998242049897noreply@blogger.com