parolee - common?

[mkenuk]

Parolee.
Came in yesterday's percolate challenge game.
It's obvious what the word means, but I can't say I've ever come across it before.

Still, some players must know it - 53 from 342, almost twice as many as saw plectra (27, of which I was one!)

If I'm honest, I'd have to ask if these aren't two prime candidates for the drop.

MK

There've been some massive rosette targets in the Challenge games recently - 84 for both afterglow and percolate and 79 for the current game. Am I right in thinking that 84 is the max. for a Challenge game?

MK

[Leedscot]

I don't mind parolee but I have to agree re plectra - if I was that way inclined I think I'd ask for plectrums.

And earplugs.

[TRex]

Agreed. I'm okay with parolee, but plectra? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

[nineoaks]

Parolee is very familiar to me.
Plectra? Not so much

nineoaks

[a non-amos]

In the recent past I have been a parolee.  Informally, of course.

This was at Appomattox.  It was the 150th anniversary of the surrender.  As part of the reenactment they had a printing press going full tilt, printing as many parole papers as they could on whatever paper they could find.

This parole required that we not fight for the Confederacy or against the USA.  With that paper we were allowed to return home peacefully.  Without that paper we would have been a fair target for Union forces.  That is, if we had been there 150 years ago.

Note to would-be statesmen: It's not enough to win the war; we need to win the peace.  While many were screaming for retribution, Lincoln wanted a peaceful reunion with no retribution.  Everyone would return home to live in peace.  He was silenced by a single bullet.

Tomorrow we in the US celebrate Presidents' Day.  This is a celebration of two presidents, Washington and Lincoln.

How will I celebrate this holiday?  As a parolee, I must celebrate this peacefully and with no actions for the Confederacy or against the USA.  Such were the terms of parole.  I intend to do some unexpected cooking for my wife.

- A 

[letijohn]

The word parolee is okay but plectra? I would never make up this word. 

[Tom]

I guess plectra is probably not widely known but, fair to say, (harking back to school days and English lessons) that the plural form for many words that end in 'um' drops that ending and adds an 'a'. For example, bactrium, stadium, addendum, consortium etc.

[TRex]

Well, sure — but who knows what a plectrum is — let alone uses one and calls it a plectrum?

[mkenuk]

A guitarist or a banjo player?

Let's be honest - most of us as teenagers learn how to strum a few chords on the guitar.

I can still remember my old guitar, and -yes! -I had a plectrum. Except we use to call it a 'plec' ('not known in Chi!)

[TRex]

A guitarist or a banjo player?

Let's be honest - most of us as teenagers learn how to strum a few chords on the guitar.

I can still remember my old guitar, and -yes! -I had a plectrum. Except we use to call it a 'plec' ('not known in Chi!)

In the U.S. it is called a 'pick'. (Which is why I clarified 'and calls it a plectrum'.)

[mkenuk]

You're quite right, TRex. Nobody would ever say, for example, that they 'couldn't find their plectrum'.
'Where's my xxxxxx plec?' would be normal in those circumstances.

I can also remember that my plec(trum) actually had the words 'Get your cotton-pickin' hands off my plec!' written on it!

We knew 'pick' as well of course, but for whatever reason, a 'pick' was something used by banjo players.
No, a 'plec' it was, if you played the guitar (in UK).

Incidentally, the Wikipedia entry for 'plectrum' seems to use the plural form 'plectra' at least as much as much as it does the singular.

MK

[Les303]

The word parolee is okay but plectra? I would never make up this word.  

letijohn , while the forum can be fun , chi can be frustrating!

It has taken me quite a long time ( & I assume it will be the same for you ) to get used to seeing words that are totally unfamiliar to me , being classed as common.
Plectrums ( as mkenuk points out ) were usually given an abbreviation or slang name whose usage has probably declined a lot since the late seventies / early eighties so no surprise that you have never heard of it not to mention the added challenge of recognising the plural.
You will soon discover that there are many little quirks to be overcome in this wonderful game " bloody plurals " being at the top of my list.

[Calilasseia]

A number of words that have their origins in Latin second declension neuter nouns, undergo transformations of this sort, from ending in -um in the singular, to -a in the plural.

[mkenuk]

Many such words, which were common, have now been caught and downgraded. 'Centra' and 'recta' are two which come to mind.
I suspect that 'plectra' will be the next to go.
I wonder how long it will take for 'perinea' to appear again in Chi. I've a strange feeling that that is also 'common'.
'Symposia'? 'emporia'? 'alluvia'?

MK

[Alan W]

I'll consider the suggestions about parolee and plectra before long, but for now I'll answer MK's suggestion about the maximum number of common words in a Challenge puzzle.

In fact there can be up to 85 common words in a Challenge puzzle. This has happened 13 times in the history of Chi. The most recent occasion was in October 2016 when the big word was HORSEPLAY.