Lexigame Community

General Category => Words => Topic started by: ridethetalk on October 05, 2021, 02:33:27 AM

Title: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: ridethetalk on October 05, 2021, 02:33:27 AM

SPACER – change of status from rare to common. Absolutely everybody must know what a spacer is…

Title: Re: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: Ozzyjack on October 05, 2021, 06:46:49 AM

No.  What are they?

Title: Re: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: pat on October 05, 2021, 09:38:17 PM

I was wondering that myself.  ;D

Title: Re: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: ridethetalk on October 06, 2021, 02:02:33 AM

Okay - serious questions then...

Spacers are like thick washers as in bolt, washer, nut or, in this case bolt, spacer, nut...

Title: Re: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: Jacki on October 06, 2021, 09:22:17 AM

Pandora bracelets have them too.

Title: Re: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: gromit on October 06, 2021, 04:23:29 PM

Also a term for a device used with asthma inhalers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthma_spacer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthma_spacer).

Title: Re: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: Ozzyjack on October 06, 2021, 05:01:17 PM

I guess I'm just not mechanically minded, don't wear bracelets and luckily don't have Asthma. :D

Title: Re: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: birdy on October 17, 2021, 06:26:34 AM

And for those who read science fiction, a fairly common gender-neutral for what used to be called spaceman.

Title: Re: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: Alan W on October 19, 2021, 02:14:14 PM

Quote from: ridethetalk on October 05, 2021, 02:33:27 AM

SPACER – change of status from rare to common. Absolutely everybody must know what a spacer is…

I'm sometimes unsure about how seriously to take your pronouncements, RTT. Obviously there are people who don't know what a spacer is, so it will remain rare.

Further to birdy's contribution, the online Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction (https://sfdictionary.com/view/325/spacer) identifies the word as having been used for "spaceman n.; esp. a civilian who travels or works in space" since 1937, and for a spaceship since 1939. Probably gender-neutrality wasn't a consideration in the early days. Just the genre's fondness for coining new words.

Despite these two senses, plus others in web design and surgery, I don't think the word is sufficiently well known for a change to be justified.

Title: Re: Sunday 3 October Challenge SCRAPPIER puzzle
Post by: ridethetalk on October 19, 2021, 08:54:03 PM

I was truly astonished that this was not commonly known to people here - perhaps it is my handyman status that makes this so well known to me.

Yes, I'm a handyman - I live here; you can't get any handier than that!!!