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

One of the first new words I learned after joining h2g2 was 'bevvy'.
I had to ask and was told it was short for 'beverage', spelled with two
Vs and the plural followed the usual rules as 'bevvies'.

Now I'm curious about the term 'bezzy' as in bezzy mates, or 'best'
mates, best friends. I've heard it on British TV shows but never seen it
in print (even here at h2g2) so I'm not sure if it is spelled with two Zs.
It makes sense that it would follow the double letter rule of bevvy.

Of course there should be no plural since the notion of superlatives like
'best' excludes the possibility of comparison and embraces the idea of
uniqueness, ie: singularity. Unless... my bezzy mate met your bezzy mate
and his bezzy mate. Then there would be three bezzy mates... and this
raises the possibility that someone might refer to them as our 'bezzies'.


~jwf~

I think it probably would be spelled that way. But one of the interesting things about informal usages, and especially regional ones, is that people might use them daily yet never have seen them written down. I use a lot of words I wouldn't have a clue how to spell because they are only really ever used orally and in a certain region.

jwf, you're so out of touch! It's either 'besties' or BFFs*.

(pedro, now hanging about with young folk)








*or is it BFF's?

<>

try this entry

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A10357832

Funny, I've heard all my life of gladioli, but never before heard of a gladiolus. Isn't it a gladiola? Aparently not , cuz then they would be gladiolae

No, it is a gladiolus. For example, the British Gladiolus Society: http://www.britglad.com/ .

However, gardeners often use a mangled and eccentric form of Latin. As I suppose we all do - but Gardeners' Latin hasn't been deemed a different language yet.

Bed Latin as opposed to bog Latin?

Anyone know offhand why we 'egg' people on?



It's been playing on my mind for a couple of weeks.
And the use of the expression at the end of this link
brought the question to a head.

Cautionary note:
This BBC news link contains some brief nudity but that is all
beside the point which is about 'egging' not frozen nipples.
However,
to spare the sensitive who may not wish to view such things
I will simply quote here the pertinent last line of the copy:

"It is the second year of the competition in the Harz mountains
near Braunlage, and more than 14,000 people turned up to egg on
the contestants."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8529141.stm


~jwf~

In this context 'egg' is a variation of 'edge'. To egg someone on is to edge or urge them on. There's a fuller explanation here: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/egg-on.html

That tobogganing clip brings to (my) mind the phenomenon of set dancing in Ireland.

When demonstrated in public, it is always by older men and younger women.

Egging is Old Norse: OED says

[a. ON. eggja (Da. egge), = EDGE v.1]

1. trans. To incite, encourage, urge on; to provoke, tempt. Cf. EDGE v.1 Const. (til), to, unto (an action, enterprise, etc.). Obs. exc. as in 2.

c1200 Trin Coll. Hom. 195 Alse [th]e deuel him to eggede. c1230 Hali Meid. 3, & egge[dh] [th]e to brudlac. 1330 R. BRUNNE Chron. (1810) 278 [th]e clergi of Scotland egged [th]er kyng Jon. c1350 Will. Palerne 1130 He sent enuiously to emperour and egged him swi[th]e bi a certayne day bataile to a bide. c1386 CHAUCER Pars. T. 894 [th]ei [th]at eggen or consenten to [th]e sinne bien partiners of [th]e sinne. c1440 Promp. Parv. 136 Eggyn, or entycyn to doon well or yvele [P. eggen, or styre to gode or yll], incito, provoco. 1508 BARCLAY Shyp of Folys 141b, He shall haue frendes and felawys at honde, To egge him forwarde vnto vnhappynes. 1513 DOUGLAS Æneis V. viii. 17 Thai foyne at vthir, and eggis to bargane. 1563-87 FOXE A. & M. (1596) 299/1 Especiallie being egged..by his brethren taking it to stomach. a1593 H. SMITH Wks. (1866-7) I. 379 A man which sharpens his enemy with taunts, when he would egg him to fight. 1598 R. GRENEWEY Tacitus' Ann. I. xi. (1622) 21 The like occasion egged him to the like cruelty against Semp. Gracchus. 1665 MANLEY Grotius' Low-C. Warrs 93 Their suspicions egged them to cruelty.

2. with on. Const. to, etc.

1566 DRANT Horace' Sat. v. Db, Ile egge them on to speake some thyng, whiche spoken may repent them. 1594 CAREW Huarte's Exam. Wits iv. (1596) 45 Sibils and Bacchants..men think are egged on by some diuine inspiration. 1642 H. MORE Song of Soul I. III. xxxii, That foregoing light That egs us on 'cording to what we have liven. 1691 WOOD Ath. Oxon. II. 328 Mathew Hazard [was] a main Incendiary in the Rebellion, violently egged on by his wife. 1705 STANHOPE Paraphr. II. 257 Thus they egg Men on to old Age..till they learn too late. 1747 CARTE Hist. Eng. I. 21 Everything conspired to..egg them on to the undertaking. 1852 THACKERAY Esmond II. x. (1876) 207 Schemers and flatterers would egg him on.

Brudlac by the way (second quote above) is 'bridelock', an OE. word for ‘marriage’, which did not survive the 13th c.

This is interesting: the -lac suffix (surviving in 'wedlock') is translated by OED as 'play'.

Tie me up! Tie me down!

Thank you for the all egging!

If I were a sports psychologist for the Canadian winter olympians
I would tell them to not put all their eggs in the one baskuit.

Oh, and here's news about just how importantly information about
words is rated by market researchers who dictate product development:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/02/23/wordnik-launches-initiative-to-makes-e-readers-smarter/

Imagine having all that in the palm of your hand.

Alas poor eBook. I knew him well Horatio!


~jwf~

"...without future proofing against this verbose threat no one is
safe. Significant slippage in wordy standards has been reported.
This is a step-change for the worse. All the signposts suggest
there is no quick win towards normalisation."

That quote is from:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/blogs/talking_politics/article/108278/
which was pointed out to me by our old friend Tefkat.

It is very difficult to read, but that of course is the point.


~jwf~

It had me in hysterics! I wish I could use phrases like "predictors of beaconicity" but they are so nonsensical, I wouldn't know how to use them! And what, pray, is "face-time"?

<> indeed!

Osricification proceeds in inflated spate

How many letters?

>> And what, pray, is "face-time"? <<

It began as a TV industry term meaning the amount of on-air exposure a TV personality had. It was quickly adopted by the film industry to mean the amount of time (if any) an actor had in single close-ups as opposed to wider group shots.

It has since been adopted by big business generally to mean time spent meeting in person and talking face to face as opposed to e-mails and telephone conversations. It has the advantage of allowing a reading of body language and quick and intuitive responses.


~jwf~

Thanks jwf!