h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>> ...architectural dictionary doesn't list it, but it looks as though quadrant... <<

Try searching just 'mouldings' (or godforbid, moldings). There you might find 'quarter round', half round, concave, convex and all the other sorts of 'trim' bits. Many used to be made of solid wood strips (usually 8 foot lengths) but now they are often pieced together (finger joint) to create variable lengths. And of course there are man-made "woodlike" materials moulded to both traditional and modern shapes.

Sizes vary. Size is measured on the flat (back) surfaces so a one inch quarter round would be one inch deep on each of the flat sides (sorta like an equilateral triangle). But sometimes these sides are deliberately not equal and you can get one/half by two inch or 7/16s by four inches (but these would not be called 'quarter round').

And there's also an assortment of vinyl and metal mouldings usually for commercial applications in an even wider variety of shapes and sizes.

The key word then is moulding (or trim mouldings); each of the shapes will have a different name such as the 'quarter round' you described.

~jwf~

I like very much that link of Freerice. It is relatively easy for me to guess the synonym. I know a lot of words because they have latin root. Some, simply, are almost the same in Spanish:

sonorous, sonoro
reprehend, reprender
despot,tyrant: déspota, tirano
perspicuity, perspicacia
senescence, senectud
...

Cheers Mar,
You've earned the distinction of being the first non-native English speaker to send me running to a dictionary. And, it's a word I really ought to know and will no doubt be using more and more often in the weeks, months and years to come.


senescence

noun
1. the organic process of growing older and showing the effects of increasing age [syn: aging]
2. the property characteristic of old age [syn: agedness]


peace
~jwf~

Around these parts where I live, a stupid person is sometimes called a 'tool'.

I was just wondering if this is a very local Northern Ireland expression, or if it's more widely used. Have any of the rest of you come across it?

Yeah, it's pretty common in the west of Scotland. Whether it's from here or your neck of the woods, I couldn't say.

I've not heard 'tool' in that sense in South Central England, nor in Northumberland (nor, as I recall, S W Scotland - Greenock area)

I've heard it used that way but its a bit dated now.

RodtheBrit How well do you know Greenock - I stay in Gourock.

Flanker, some years (decades, in fact) ago, I was there for about 9 months.
In that sense, I suppose my claim to have not heard 'tool' used this way is spurious, so please disregard it.
I was working at the shipyard & it took me 3 of those months to become (reasonably) confident with the language...
Great place to be. I loved it.

Gourock was where I noticed a Greek kebab shop opposite a Turkish one. For some reason I found that amusing (it doesn't seem so now!).
Also where I learned about Basmati rice - and how to cook it - from the woman in an Indian (or Pakistani?) shop.

Oh, and the 'Tontine Hotel' in Greenock (is it still there?) gave me to wonder about their family politics!

Well not much has changed over the years - The Greek kebab shop is now a chip shop but the Turkish one is still going strong. The Tontine hotel is also still going although it is under new ownership, The Gantock hotel, which was to be sold off, mysteriously burnt down and Greenock Wanderers build a new Clubhouse and thats about it. The views are still stunning esp. on a day like this .. on second thoughts on any day really whatever the weather..

>>...tool...<<

Tool is definitely well known in North Am as a term of derision, usually on the occassion of some stupid or useless behaviour. Its association with 'tools' in the sense of inanimate work objects was never very clear so I'd always thought it was meant to be a synonym for dick or dickhead - the idea being that a penis is just about the stupidest, most inconsiderate and selfish thing in the universe.
But that analogy breaks down when one realises that a penis is not altogether useless, being responsible for the continuation of the species... OH right, yeah, I guess that's really a stupid idea too; I keep forgetting how things have changed.

~jwf~

If I thought about it at all, I supposed it was rhyming slang for "fool"

Not from "He's not the sharpest tool in the box"?

I'm pretty sure tool is a synonym for dick. It justs sounds like it.

Hubby's brother once gave him a birthday card with a picture of a man doing some metalwork under the sign "Mike's Pipe and Tool Works". Inside the card said, "I hope yours does, too". To me, that makes the connection between 'tool' and a man's 'bits'.

Tool is a synonym for penis. But the question is, when you call someone a tool as an insult, is it this meaning or a different one?

There are a variety of slang words for penis, all of which can be used as an insult. I don't see why the word 'tool' should be any different.

I definitely associate calling people a "tool" as penes.

HI and I were talking this afternoon (I know, shock, horror, but there was nothin' on the tell-o-vision and we'd finished reading the paper), and got to wondering about blockbuster films.

Does anyone know which particular block has been busted by a blockbuster, and why this is used for films?

RF

A blockbuster is any form of entertainment with box-office boffo!
I hope that's cleared it up for you.

If not, consult (with due respect and circumpection) someone known to be openly jewish and working in the advertising or media industries. Just don't mention Iran.

~jwf~

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080624/world/israel_sarkozy_security