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Topics - pat

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Words / Harakiri

« on: February 21, 2024, 11:11:42 PM »

I'm wondering if this might be suitable for inclusion as a rare word. It's often, probably usually, written as two hyphenated words but there are also examples of it written as a single word, not least in the title of a 1962 film.

Whatever / AI

« on: February 16, 2024, 07:49:31 PM »

There's been talk of chatbots in another thread which made me wonder what people's view is of AI in general. Without a doubt it could be hugely beneficial to us, but does anyone else share my fear that it will eventually become the third big threat to humankind, the other two being nuclear armagaddon and climate collapse? As far as I'm concerned it's just a case of which one wins the race.

Words / Calaboose

« on: January 26, 2024, 07:07:23 PM »

Calaboose (US, Australia, dialect) A prison or jail/goal. A seed word played by 49 out of 323 people is common? I think not!

Words / Monopolise rare?

« on: December 29, 2023, 11:43:36 PM »

Monopolise was classed as rare in the monopolies puzzle, presumably because it ends in 'ise' rather than 'ize'. It was my understanding that when there's a difference between UK and USA word endings then both are classified the same. Is there a reason why the rules don't apply to this word?

Whatever / Christmas quiz

« on: December 15, 2023, 10:13:48 PM »

The GCHQ - the UK's intelligence, security and cyber agency, sets an annual christmas puzzle, aimed at 11-18 year-olds, although many adults struggle with it. It says this year's is its hardest yet. I've managed to work out half of the answers but I'm still battling with the rest. I hope you can read it OK.

Words / Eggfly

« on: December 15, 2023, 02:36:43 AM »

Eggfly, a genus of tropical brush-footed butterflies, was rejected by yesterday's 7-by-many. I think it's a well-known enough word (amongst people interested in butterflies) to warrant inclusion as a rare word.

Whatever / Late night playing

« on: November 17, 2023, 05:15:05 AM »

I think i should avoid looking at Chi shortly before bedtime. I had the weirdest dream last night. I was playing Chi and I entered 'fleece'. It was accepted as a rare word even though 869 people had played it. Where do these weird dreams come from? 'Fleece' wasn't even a word in the current games and I've never seen a scoreboard register 869 players.

Words / Trite, triter, tritest

« on: June 17, 2023, 10:39:27 PM »

Trite is obviously common, but is there a reason why tritest is also common while triter is rare? Surely they should both be in the same category.

Whatever / To brighten your day

« on: June 17, 2023, 12:28:44 AM »

These might give you a laugh:

THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY "THOMAS COOK VACATIONS" FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS:
1. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax."
2. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food."
3. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."
4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price."
5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."
6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow."
7. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallartato close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned."
8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared."
9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers."
10. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."
11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun."
12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair."
13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends' three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller."
14. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the resort.' We're trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service."
15. "When we were in Spain, there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners."
16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning."

Words / Signboard

« on: June 01, 2023, 06:10:18 PM »

The seed word in yesterday's standard puzzle, which roughly half of the 642 players got. I was one of them, trying it in hope rather than expectation as it's not a word I'm familiar with. The dictionary says it's a US word so I'm wondering if it should actually be classed as common given that words that are country-specific generally aren't.

Words / Cakeist

« on: March 28, 2023, 03:09:00 AM »

Cakeism, the wish to have two things at the same time when this is impossible. Cakeist, rejected by the heartsick puzzle, is an adjective describing this or a noun for someone indulging in cakeism.

The Financial Times has even used the word in a headline

https://www.ft.com/content/db92314e-8ce6-40fe-88b4-ff3246a16e2a

I'd like to suggest cakeist for inclusion and also cakeism if it's not already accepted.

Whatever / Questions about Australia

« on: February 19, 2023, 09:46:46 PM »

Oldies but goldies. These might give you a chuckle:

These were posted on an Australian tourism website and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials.

Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? (UK)
A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA)
A: Depends how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney - can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden)
A: Sure, it's only 3,000 miles. Take lots of water.

Q: Can you give me some info about hippo racing in Australia? (USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle-shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not ...oh, forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is north in Australia? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia? (UK)
A: What for? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna boys' choir schedule? (USA)
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is ... oh, forget it. Sure, the Vienna boys' choir plays every Tuesday night in Kings Cross, right after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia? (UK)
A: You are a British politician, right?

Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? (Germany)
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum. (USA)
A: Rattlesnakes live in A-mer-ica, which is where YOU come from. All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless and can be handled.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia but I forget its name. It's a kind of bear and lives in trees (USA)
A: It's called a Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia? (USA)
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? (France)
A: Only at Christmas.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you'll need to learn it first.

Word Games / Yesterday's Wordiply

« on: February 18, 2023, 11:53:15 PM »

For those who don't know, Wordiply is a game where you're given a sequence of 3 or 4 letters and you have 5 goes to find the longest word containing those letters, in that sequence.

Yesterday's offering was ICER. I'd be willing to bet that not many people found the longest word (you're not told how many letters it contains). Have a go, see if you can get it (but not if you played the game of course!)

Word Games / Wordiply

« on: January 25, 2023, 11:36:00 PM »

At last I was able to play antidisestablishmentarianism in a word game, allowed by yesterday's Wordiply whose letters were ant. I'm just waiting to be able to play floccinaucinihilipilification now! I can't imagine it's high on Alan's list of priorities to create a 12-by-many or a 9-by-many that would allow these words.

I still wish Wordiply would say how many common maximum length words there are.

Words / Paywall

« on: January 23, 2023, 06:55:39 PM »

I'd like to suggest paywall for inclusion: "(on a website) an arrangement whereby access is restricted to users who have paid to subscribe to the site."

I noticed that the word has been used in five threads but not as a suggestion for inclusion.