standard puzzle common word spoiler

[Tom44]

So I missed four words in yesterday's standard puzzle (Dec 29), three of which I should have gotten, but not the fourth.  Sixer as common??  I don't mind cardinal numbers as words, but I seriously doubt they are common words.  Sixer as a proper noun might be common to Americans due to sports teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, but not otherwise.

[yelnats]

I got 'sixer' as I had to play cricket at school and while a sixer was always the aim, I doubt whether I ever achieved one. In backyard cricket, a sixer is over the fence, and out!

[2dognight]

  If you had ever been a brownie or a cub you definitely know the word sixer

[mkenuk]

Surely this word came up for discussion a few weeks ago, didn't it?

 

[mkenuk]

I don't mind cardinal numbers as words, but I seriously doubt they are common words. 

You're surely not suggesting that three, four, five etc should be classed as 'uncommon'?
 

[rogue_mother]

If you had ever been a brownie or a cub you definitely know the word sixer

I was a Brownie for two years and have no clue what a sixer is in that regard. I only just recently learned of its relationship to cricket, where it is apparently the cricket equivalent of baseball's home run. The word sixer is not used in the United States, except, as Tom44 says, in the name of the sports team 76ers (Seventy-Sixers) and by those few in our country who do play cricket.

And yes, MK, sixer was mentioned previously, but not in its own topic. TRex brought up the word during a discussion about sexto.

[Alan W]

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, sixer can mean "a leader of a six in a pack of brownie scouts in the Girl Guide movement in Britain, Canada, and various other countries". It's obvious from rogue_mother's post and comments in the other topic where sixer was discussed, that the word in this sense is unknown in some countries.

Sixer does have a US meaning: a six-pack of beer. But this usage doesn't seem to be very widespread.

In the other thread Ozzyjack mentioned the expression go for a sixer, meaning to fall heavily. I think this might be mainly used in Australia. I saw it in a story in the New Yorker in 2006: "You've got to be careful you don't go for a sixer on that." But the story, "Black Ice" turned out to be by an Australian writer, Cate Kennedy.

The cricket sense is pretty well known where cricket is played, but that's not everywhere.

So I agree the word should not remain common.

[Tom]

Common or rare. To me the argument is becoming nonsensical. A word is common or rare depending on the individual. The way Chihuahua is headed, words will only be common if they are known to the majority of North Americans. The fact that the world is filled with hundreds of millions who speak and understand English (be it British, Australian, American, African, European, South Asian) makes the common or rare argument moot, indeed.

[pat]

The way Chihuahua is headed, words will only be common if they are known to the majority of North Americans.

I don't think this is true, Tom. I can't think of any offhand but there are certainly words that are commonly known in the USA but still uncommon on Chi due to them not being widely known elsewhere. In fact I think Alan is very fair in that respect; north Americans don't get preferential treatment.

[Tom]

Thank you, Pat, for the response. I'm certainly not suggesting that Alan is purposely unfair - absolutely not - but I do think the game is becoming unfair (or, perhaps, I should say steadily unequal) by means of its structure and determination. It is increasingly accepting words favoured (even this is underlined because it's not spelled favored) by Americans as common or rejected by Americans as rare simply because they don't use it much. Cricket, for instance, is a game enjoyed by over a billion people, most of whom would be familiar with the word sixer. (There it is again, 'sixer' underlined!)

[pat]

I don't think the underlining of words as you type has anything to do with Chi, but more to do with your computer setup i.e. whether you want to use British or American English. For me, in the UK, favoured is fine, favored is underlined. Sixer is also underlined, presumably because it's colloquial.

[Les303]

Happy new year Alan,

I couldn't let the first day of 2018 go by without providing you with at least, just one little headache.
Always happy to accept your adjudication on how any particular word should be classed, after all, do we have any choice, well yes we do because you are such a fair man that you are always prepared to listen to counter arguments & can even be persuaded to change your decision.

I stated in the other thread, that anyone who plays or follows cricket, knows what a sixer is.
You did acknowledge that with this quote " The cricket sense is pretty well known where cricket is played, but that's not everywhere."

Let me just emphasis that point by listing all the countries that I can think of that are qualified to play international test cricket, i'll let you do the maths as to how many billions of people throughout the world would be familiar the word sixer.

United Arab Emirates , Pakistan , Kenya, Zimbabwe, Scotland, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ireland, Afghanistan & New Zealand.
Oops , almost forgot to mention these other minnows, South Africa, India, England & Australia.
There are dozens of other cricket playing countries throughout the world that are classified as associate members while they try to build their game to the required level to be included with the test playing nations.

While you might not find " sixer " listed in too many " old " dictionaries, it is listed in my, brand new,  latest edition compact Macquarie (thanks Santa ) with three meanings ; a heavy fall, a major setback & hitting a cricket ball out of the ground.

Thanks for your consideration, cheers Les.

[pat]

Of course, Les, (and anyone else who ever asks for a word to be made common - including me!), you do realize that the more common words there are in a puzzle, the more difficult it is to get a rosette!

 

Happy new year to all.

[Les303]

To get a what

No need to answer that,  it was a long time ago, but I do now recall what a rosette is.

However, please do answer this ; you spelt realise with a " z ". ?

[pat]

Yes, I realize that I spelt realize with a 'z'. I always do; I even have to deliberately stop the spell checker from changing it for me. I believe (although I may be wrong - I often am) that the 'ize' ending was the original British way of spelling such words and I still prefer it (that's the way it's pronounced after all) to the 'ise' ending.