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Word Games / Re: New way to submit a word
« on: March 19, 2020, 03:54:21 PM »
Thanks, Alan. Love it!
David
David
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2
Words / Re: New word suggestion: betimes
« on: June 29, 2019, 01:52:33 PM »
I followed the same path as mkenuk: tried "betimes" - not allowed; tried "betime" - allowed as rare. I've never heard of "betime" as a verb before either, so I've learned something too. I do think "betimes" is a strong candidate to be allowed in Chi as common.
David
David
3
Words / Re: Spoller alert 12/16/17 standard puzzle
« on: December 19, 2017, 04:13:38 PM »
Picking up on Greynomad's last comment, spackle was well-known to me when I was growing up here in Australia. I used it to fill cracks when I first started interior painting, but the problem with it was that, being made primarily of gypsum plaster, it set hard, and over time it would shrink and crack. There was no flexibility in it (unlike polyfilla), so if the house moved at all - and what house doesn't - you were back to square one. When I painted the interior of my house in the late seventies, I used polyfilla, which, being cellulose-based, didn't shrink and would cope with some movement in the house, and I've only used polyfilla since.
I understand that spackle is still on the market, but I haven't heard of anyone using it anytime recently, so maybe whether or not we know the word "spackle" is a product of time as much as of geography. If we do know it, we may be showing our age!
David
I understand that spackle is still on the market, but I haven't heard of anyone using it anytime recently, so maybe whether or not we know the word "spackle" is a product of time as much as of geography. If we do know it, we may be showing our age!
David
4
Say Hello / Re: Happy birthday, Les!
« on: November 21, 2017, 04:51:31 PM »
G & T in hand...
On the principle of "better late than never", a belated happy birthday, Les! Hope it was a good one.
David
On the principle of "better late than never", a belated happy birthday, Les! Hope it was a good one.
David
5
Say Hello / Re: Hello there!
« on: November 21, 2017, 04:44:41 PM »
Hi Lainey. Welcome to the forum.
David
David
7
Words / Re: Ocarina
« on: August 17, 2017, 11:24:12 AM »
Extraordinary! Who knew that the ocarina could be played with such virtuosity? I used to have a little one years ago, and could manage "Baa, baa, black sheep", but not much more.
Of course a consort like this has the same problem as a recorder consort - balance. The treble instruments are very penetrating, while the lower instruments struggle to be heard. Also, given that they are made of clay, I'm impressed that they can be tuned with such accuracy. Anyone know how it's done?
David
Of course a consort like this has the same problem as a recorder consort - balance. The treble instruments are very penetrating, while the lower instruments struggle to be heard. Also, given that they are made of clay, I'm impressed that they can be tuned with such accuracy. Anyone know how it's done?
David
8
Words / Re: SPOILER - CURRENT 10 LETTER GAME - SUNDAY 11TH.
« on: June 14, 2017, 01:02:24 PM »
Now there's a thought, Pat. Here's a modest offering to start the ball rolling:
There once was a bird named Linda,
Whose fuse was drier than tinder.
She came on a shrike,
Which she did not much like,
So she burned the poor bird to a cinder.
David
There once was a bird named Linda,
Whose fuse was drier than tinder.
She came on a shrike,
Which she did not much like,
So she burned the poor bird to a cinder.
David
9
Words / Re: Standard game Sunday 30th
« on: May 02, 2017, 04:49:04 PM »
Correct, Pat. Here in Oz rota is virtually unknown. We use roster.
David
David
10
Words / Re: Bogy words
« on: April 29, 2017, 12:16:27 PM »
Being an Aussie, my common bogy words are often those alternative US spellings. If the British spelling with which I am familiar is present, I will usually get the US spelling, but if the letters don't include the British spelling, I not infrequently miss it - like "color" in yesterday's standard game. Grrr! Ah well, it all adds to the complex allure of this wonderful game...
David
David
11
This Forum / Re: 'New' flag not appearing
« on: March 22, 2017, 01:37:42 PM »
It's not just you, T. I'm not seeing it either.
David
David
12
Words / Re: Octopi
« on: October 23, 2016, 06:29:46 PM »
This is an interesting one. As an erstwhile Latin and Greek scholar, I feel quite strongly that octopi is wrong - for the reasons cited by OED - but I accept that in the real world people do use it, so I think it should be allowed as rare. For myself I will continue to use octopuses, when I have occasion to refer to such critters in the plural at all.
David
David
13
Words / Re: word suggestion / missing word? nuptials
« on: April 14, 2016, 02:48:15 PM »
I tried it too, MK. As you surmise, it is quite common in Oz. I would think it might be included.
David
David
14
Words / Re: Souse and torus - common?
« on: March 24, 2016, 12:10:17 PM »
I agree that "souse" and its derivatives are relatively common - much more so than the majority of words that you have recently reclassified as rare - and imho should remain common.
I'm not so sure about "torus" though. I am (I hope) a reasonably well educated man, albeit with interests in the humanities rather than the sciences, but I didn't know "torus", which seems to be used in fairly specialised scientific contexts. Although I have no doubt that some others will be very familiar with it, I think it's a candidate for reclassification as rare.
I really appreciate all the work you are putting into refining the word list for us. Many thanks!
David
I'm not so sure about "torus" though. I am (I hope) a reasonably well educated man, albeit with interests in the humanities rather than the sciences, but I didn't know "torus", which seems to be used in fairly specialised scientific contexts. Although I have no doubt that some others will be very familiar with it, I think it's a candidate for reclassification as rare.
I really appreciate all the work you are putting into refining the word list for us. Many thanks!
David
15
Words / Re: Rooves
« on: August 03, 2015, 11:09:24 PM »
Alas, how true! Comes of listening to Russian Orthodox music while on the site. Very distracting!
David
David