Beam me up

[Caitlin]

a really cool 'big word" is:
rhombitruncatedicosadodecahedron

oooo
and it's jsut as fun to say
yippee!!!
::does a little dance::
of course there's also:
supercalifragilisticexpealidocous
or
antidisestablishmentarianism
wheeeehhheeeeeee
BIG WORDS! BIG WORDS! BIG WORDS!

erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi

[Agent M]

But what does it mean? even if it's actually a real word.

Evil will always lose.- Miep Gies

[Birdhead]

well, a dodecahedron is a polygon with... oh, 12, 11, 10 sides. So posibly it's just a REALLY multiple-sided polygon. Or, then again, truncated means cut, cut short, so maybe it means half of an icosi whatsit. Oh, I dunno.
Hey, Agent M, you're so good at finding stuff on the net, why don't you find that?
T

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

[Agent M]

Hey good idea!!!! Thanx Birdhead!!

Evil will always lose.- Miep Gies

[Birdhead]

So? Does it mean anything?

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

[Nathan]

It is sad that a lot of people don't even have a good recognition vocabulary, much less a good speaking vocabulary (I say 'speaking' rather than 'usage' as a person's speaking vocabulary is probably the smallest of any of their vocabularies --one has far more time to think of 'le mot juste' while writing than when speaking). It seems to me that people who widely and avidly are more likely to add new words they come across to both vocabularies than other people are (and of course the 'other people' aren't going to come across as many new words, regardless).

My new 'difficult' word (though I don't see myself using it in a sentence anytime soon [if at all]) is 'lauwine.' I came across it while reading Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (which is where I have been finding most of my 'difficult' words lately) and had to consult my 'dictionary of last resort' (Webster's Unabridged) in order to find its meaning (which is 'an avalanche') --see if your favorite dictionary lists it!

Re 'rhombitruncatedicosadodecahedron': This looks like the name of a semiregular polyhedron, though, while there is a truncated icosidodecahedron listed on the linked page, there is no rhombitruncatedicosadodecahedron (or rhombitruncatedicosidodecahedron, I'm not quite sure that the first spelling is correct), though this term may actually refer to the truncated icosidodecahedron --all the 'rhombi-' prefix may do is indicate that you obtain rhombic faces when you truncate an icosidodecahedron. I eagerly await Agent M's (more thorough) research on the topic.

Just a note re Birdhead's post: a dodecahedron is a (regular) polyhedron, while a dodecagon is a (regular) polygon --both have 12 faces/sides, though.

Nathan

P.S. I seem to have gone overboard with my italicization. Sorry!

Ubi materia, ibi geometria. --Johannes Kepler

Non doctrinam, sed perspicuitatem quaero.

[Birdhead]

Oh, fine, pick on me because I hate geometry and didn't pay attention when I was 12. Hey, I was partly right, it is a type of shape.

In other word news: My brother and his friend were writing a song last night for the cokesmokefreerockquest (which is on Saturday. I asked them if they felt like they were running a bit late. "Nah, it's sweet.") Anyway, they were using a synonym dictionary to find a word that meant sad to rhyme with felicity (don't ask) and got distracted by the words. Fair enough. But he happened to look at one that meant a mentally deranged person, and he said, "Hey, cool, a sockyopath." Yes, that's right- a sociopath. He was also trying to insult me and told me I was superannuated, at which point I broke into a fit of helpless laughter.

Actually, it was an insight into the minds of 14yrold boys- he didn't even know antagonistic. Oh well, he does now! :P You're right about the reading (at least I assume that's the word you left out in your first paragraph); it's just a pity people don't read more, because even truly trashy books give you more words. For example, eidetic. That's quite a cool word, but I got it form Anne McCaffrey- who, face it, is not the world's most fantastic writer (though I do like what she writes.) And it's not like you have to read hard books, either- I got "sobriquet" from alne- which is a good book, but not difficult to read. Thank goodness for someone who doesn't dumb down what she writes for teenagers!!
Ka Kite
Tui

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

[Agent M]

Nathan, you are soo boring sometimes, not to be mean or anything and no offense, but, Lighten up a little bit.

Evil will always lose.- Miep Gies

[Birdhead]

Hey! Nathan's interesting. Of course, it's rather unique to annotate your posts, but...
No, seriously, igenore Agent M, Nathan, your posts are great. And (implies furiously) thoughtful. Which is rare.
T

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

[Agent M]

They're thoughtful but maybe he can translate into english sometimes????

Evil will always lose.- Miep Gies

[Birdhead]

They are in English. If you were having trouble understanding them, you could have just asked.
Also, you shouldn't be so mean. You don't diss people like that.
T

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

[Agent M]

Sorry. I really and truly am.

Evil will always lose.- Miep Gies

[Birdhead]

Er... what am I supposed to say?? I'm glad you're sorry, but I can't say that, can I, becasue I soud like... like... I dunno. It sounds wrong, anyway. Suffice it to say, good, we're all happy again. I didn't mean to yeall, as I suspect I probably did... oops...
T

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen

[Nathan]

Apology accepted, Agent M. Don't worry, I wasn't particularly offended --my sister frequently accuses me of being boring and exhorts me to 'lighten up.' Also, it is unreasonable for me to expect everybody to be quite as enthusiastic about my interests as I am. I think that your criticism was probably mainly aimed at my prolix (and sometimes even garrulous) writing style --I will attempt to be more conversational and colloquial in future posts, though I'm not sure how well I will succeed (I probably ought to practice my conversational writing, anyway). Regardless, I will try very hard to excise any and all of the passages of didactic pedantry that are sure to crop up.

AACK! Typos! You're right Birdhead, the sentence in question is supposed to read "...people who read widely and avidly..." (thanks for the correction! --I was positive that 'read' was in there when I posted it [I obviously was 'mentally correcting' the passage --a frequent bane of mine while proofing my own writing]).

Sorry, Birdhead, I didn't mean to 'pick on you' about geometry. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't notice that you were referring to the planar figure until I went back and 'brushed up' on my solid geometry prior to writing my post (which is why I italicized the endings: to 'point up' the differences between the words).

More responses to Birdhead:

I don't think that 'extrapolate' is a 'difficult word' at all, but then it's a scientific word and I am a person with a strong scientific bent...

Re 'eidetic': That's a neat word! I don't think that I had come across it before. As far as 'soubriquet' (that's the spelling I'm used to) is concerned, I remember first coming across it in print (I think that I had heard it before, though) in an article on Beverly Sills.

Re 'alne': Is that the entire title of the book? I can't seem to find it listed anywhere.

Oh --and many thanks for defending me 'in absentia!'

Nathan

Ubi materia, ibi geometria. --Johannes Kepler

Non doctrinam, sed perspicuitatem quaero.

[This message was edited by Nathan on 03 June 2003 at 11:08.]

[Birdhead]

A tip towards conversational writing? Not that I object, but prolix is not exactly colloquial.

As for picking on me, that's OK, I was kidding. I freely acknowledge my difficulties in the areas of geometry and measurement, as we've already dicussed... *rolls eyes* mind you, if I acknowledge it, I should be doing something to correct it, as plainly I'm not. Oh well. I'll fudge it at the end of the year. I'm good at that...

And as for "read," I probably wouldn't even have noticed had I not been re-reading to see exactly what you said. It's a word that's easy to fill in for yourself, and people who read a lot do tend to do that (have you noticed? Especially fast readers..)

And extrapolate- nor do I. The rest of the English class, however... (with, of course, the notable exception of my best friend, who is standing behind me and tsking offendedly.) And eidetic- yeah, it is cool. I used it in an English essay, and was slightly shocked when there was a note on the paper- "neat word, but what does it mean??" I think she suspected me of making it up....

Er, I think it's A Wizard Alone that you're asking about? I can't quite guess from context what you mean, though... and any time!
Ka Kite
Tui

Tuibird in Aotearoa
Conservationist, Scientist, and proud of both!
Chocolate lover extraordinaire...
Ahahahaha, ahahahahaha, ahahahaha...
My mission: Bringing Maori to the world!
Spelling Freak and Typo Queen