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Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
Icy North Started conversation Nov 24, 2015
Oxford Dictionaries hit the headlines this week when they announced their ‘Word of the Year’ for 2015, and, well, it wasn’t even a word. It was the ‘tears of joy’ emoji character - the first time they’ve selected something you can’t even render on a typewriter.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/17/oxford-dictionary-emoji-word-of-the-year-crying-face
I fully expect a backlash from this in future years - it was clearly a publicity stunt
Anyway, while we’re on the subject of new words in the dictionary, can you identify the correct meanings of these new words which entered the OED for the first time recently? Answers tomorrow.
***
1. athame
a) a knife used in pagan rituals
b) a psychological condition
c) an Amazonian rodent
d) at home
2. belayer
a) a statistical anomaly
b) an Asian motorcycle
c) someone who holds the rope for a mountaineer
d) to construct in layers, e.g. when making a tiramisu
3. tellinid
a) a burrowing mollusc
b) a camera used in astronomy
c) a fish bone
d) a TV addict
4. water blue
a) a lifeguard
b) a pale shade of blue
c) a seaweed
d) a soluble dye
***
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
bobstafford Posted Nov 24, 2015
I know the first two
Not at al sure of 3
4 sounds like .......
I am not going to spoil it for others looking forward to the answers
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
Baron Grim Posted Nov 24, 2015
I'd make some guesses, but I know better. There is a panel/game programme on NPR where they play a similar game. Guests are challenged to pick the real definition for an arcane word. One of the panel of three comedians has the true definition and the two others are prompted to fake a definition. All three will elaborate on the word origin further obfuscating which is the real definition.
As a I play along at home, I'm right, at best, maybe a bit more than a third of the time (so about as often as random choice).
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
Icy North Posted Nov 24, 2015
That show ran for many years on UK TV - it was called 'Call My Bluff'.
I only chose newly added words, but it's true that sometimes they're just newly discovered words in old documents.
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor Posted Nov 24, 2015
1. athame - a) a knife used in pagan rituals. (As in 'Pass me the athame. I think we're now on page 57 of 'Crowley's Most Ridiculous Retrograde Rituals', and you'd better remember the chant this time: it's Evoe, not Evelyn.')
2. belayer - c) someone who holds the rope for a mountaineer? As in nautical, 'to belay'? One could imagine Johnny Depp as a belayer, but not a trustworthy one.
3. tellinid: a) a burrowing mollusc, I'm guessing. As in, 'The scuba divers observed many colourful tellinids.'
4. water blue: now, that's just silly. An Oxford Blue is a rower, but I'm guessing this is b) a pale shade of blue? 'Water blue, promise to love you forevermore...'
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
MMF - Keeper of Mustelids, with added P.M.A., is now in a relationship. Posted Nov 24, 2015
Ok. I'll give it a go.
Athame
Icy's Scottish ancestry coming out? At home is too simple.
I believe I'm fairly clued up on my wildlife, so an Amazonian rodent is out.
And I think a psychological condition is out, so...
A knife used in pagan rituals
Belayer
It seems that it should be someone who holds the rope for a mountaineer, but that is too easy for one of Icy's quizzes.
As is d) to construct in layers, e.g. when making a tiramisu.
I doubt it is an Asian motorcycle, although I know they do have anglicised names for a fair amount of their vehicles.
so knowing how Icy's mind often works, I'll go for:
A statistical anomaly
Tellinid
I know a telling is a bivalve (my grandfather used to make victorian ladies from shells we collected on Ramsgate beaches).
I also doubt it is a fish bone. Think the words teleost.
And a TV addict is too poor a pun.
So lets go for a camera used in astronomy
Water blue.
What the?
I can't see it as a soluble blue dye, or a pale shade of blue. And definitely not a lifeguard so
A seaweed?
Probably way off.
MMF
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant Posted Nov 24, 2015
I'd sat that belayer would refer to putting layers on layer cakes.
Tellinid sounds like a burrowing mollusc.
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant Posted Nov 24, 2015
water blue should be a dye of some kind, obviously in a particular color. I don't understand why there would be two options for this rather than one.
[Yes, I keep jumping into these quiz threads. I have no sense, do I? ]
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
Recumbentman Posted Nov 24, 2015
I'm for at home, ropeholder, fishbone, seaweed. Only confident about (2) but confidence doesn't mean I'm right.
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor Posted Nov 24, 2015
I love Greek yoghurt in Greece...made with sheep's milk...best stuff in the universe, especially with Greek honey...
Now, Bulgarian feta is best.
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
MMF - Keeper of Mustelids, with added P.M.A., is now in a relationship. Posted Nov 24, 2015
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant Posted Nov 25, 2015
His sister made gowns. She was Taf Feta.
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
Gnomon - time to move on Posted Nov 25, 2015
I'll go for the knife, the rope-holder, the mollusc and the dye.
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
Tavaron da Quirm - Arts Editor Posted Nov 25, 2015
Found this thread on the FP, hope you don't mind if I join you? (read a few of your quizzes already during the last weeks)
my guesses:
1. athame
a) a knife used in pagan rituals
2. belayer
a) a statistical anomaly
3. tellinid
a) a burrowing mollusc
4. water blue
d) a soluble dye
In Germany they so far only revealed the 'youth word' of the year, which is Smombie. I never heard it before but that's obviously what they call a person who walks down the street only looking at their phone (smartphone zombie).
Last year's Austrian word of the year was 'situationselastisch' (situation elastic), a creation by one of our politicians. Meaning something can be adapted to the situation (for instance rules).
Key: Complain about this post
Icy Naj 24 - Tears of Joy?
- 1: Icy North (Nov 24, 2015)
- 2: bobstafford (Nov 24, 2015)
- 3: Baron Grim (Nov 24, 2015)
- 4: Icy North (Nov 24, 2015)
- 5: bobstafford (Nov 24, 2015)
- 6: Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor (Nov 24, 2015)
- 7: MMF - Keeper of Mustelids, with added P.M.A., is now in a relationship. (Nov 24, 2015)
- 8: paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant (Nov 24, 2015)
- 9: paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant (Nov 24, 2015)
- 10: Recumbentman (Nov 24, 2015)
- 11: Recumbentman (Nov 24, 2015)
- 12: paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant (Nov 24, 2015)
- 13: Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor (Nov 24, 2015)
- 14: paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant (Nov 24, 2015)
- 15: Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor (Nov 24, 2015)
- 16: MMF - Keeper of Mustelids, with added P.M.A., is now in a relationship. (Nov 24, 2015)
- 17: paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant (Nov 25, 2015)
- 18: Gnomon - time to move on (Nov 25, 2015)
- 19: Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor (Nov 25, 2015)
- 20: Tavaron da Quirm - Arts Editor (Nov 25, 2015)
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