My Word Imperfect entries, Part IV
In June of 2007, I came across a blog called Word Imperfect, which is run by a person known as the Word Imp. At that time, the blog was normally updated every day. After quite a while when new posts were rare, the blog owner has recently resumed a new-post-every-day schedule.
Each day, the Word Imp puts up a new word and a made-up definition, and readers submit comments with their own made-up, "wacky" definitions of that word. The next day, the Word Imp reveals the real definition and chooses three finalists from the entries submitted. Readers vote (in a poll) for what they think is the best one, and the next day the Word Imp announces the winner. The only prize is the glory of being chosen.
This is the fourth group of my Word Imperfect entries. The times given are the approximate times of my posts, in Arizona time (MST), from the clock on my computer.
Naiad:
9:00 PM 7/18/2007
A naiad is a Native American Indian Advertisement, which could be an ad about them, or featuring them, or featuring products made by them, or having one or more of them somewhere in the ad, or even just obliquely referring to them. It may seem odd to have both 'Native American' and 'Indian' in the name, but they were trying to please everyone. As it turned out, they didn't please too many, so it's probably a good thing they decided to concentrate on using the acronym and not spend too much time on defining what it meant.
Pyaemia:
11:23 PM 7/19/2007
Pyaemia is excessive fear of the number PI. Some fear is normal; only excessive fear is considered pyaemia.
Thanatoid:
8:57 AM 7/20/2007
A thanatoid is a person in a hurry, someone who "went that-a-way." The name comes from a combination of "that-a" and "toid", with the first psrt blurred into thana by usage.
Caudle:
I missed adding a definition.
Ginglymus:
8:42 AM 7/22/2007 *** finalist
Ginglymus is a game similar to polo, but played while wearing long stilts instead of riding horses. It was popular for a time in the early 17th century among the English gentry. The name is believed to have originally been something like "gangly master", a reference to the appearance of the stilt-wearing players. Ginglymus eventually fell out of favor when it was realized that the players just looked too silly, even for English gentry.
My entry for ginglymus was chosen as one of the three finalists. It's allowable there to vote for yourself, and I did. I didn't win, though.
The vote count the last time I checked it:
11:52 PM 7/23/2007
Choose a winner for ginglymus
thinks! 50%
stephen 21.43%
wunx~ 28.57%
Total votes : 14
Minacious:
11:57 PM 7/23/2007
Minacious is what fans of the late Minnie Pearl called themselves.
I don't know whether my definition of minacious was a finalist or not, as I didn't get back to the site in time to check.
Wampee:
7:47 AM 7/24/2007
Wampee is a show business term formed from the words "warm" and "pizazz", and is used to describe an actor, a show or a performance that is very noticeably less than it should be.
Duumvir:
12:31 AM 7/26/2007
Duumvir is a type of grog that was taken by Vikings on their long sea voyages. It had a distinctive flavor due to the Duum tree (a type of fir) sap that was used to line the kegs. Those who consumed too much of the liquor were said to be truly Duumed.
Pergunnah:
7:05 AM 7/26/2007
A pergunnah is an old man or woman who has little money or is having a run of bad luck. It originally referred only to old women, as the term is a corruption of "poor grandma", but as the original words became less recognizable the usage spread to include old men as well.
I don't know whether my definition of pergunnah was a finalist or not, as I didn't get back to the site in time to check.
Scissel:
I missed adding a definition.
Struthious:
11:21 AM 7/28/2007
Struthious is a term used in the building trades to refer to a floor, wall, ceiling, etc., being straight and true and not misaligned or at a slant.
I don't know whether my definition of struthious was a finalist or not, as I didn't get back to the site in time to check.
Sciolist:
I missed adding a definition.
Gimcracks:
11:44 PM 7/30/2007
Gimcracks are the fault lines along which the ancient supercontinent Pangaea split apart. They are named after Sir Roger Gimcrack, who did pioneering work in this area.
Moquette:
12:31 PM 7/31/2007
A moquette is a person who imitates the Radio City Rockettes. The name is a cute misspelling of mockette ("mock" replacing "rock" and the result then combined with coquette), with mock in this case meaning imitation. The term generally tends to be slightly disparaging, but in a humorous fashion, and carries the implication that while the person might like to dance like a Rockette, the goal wasn't quite achieved.
Each day, the Word Imp puts up a new word and a made-up definition, and readers submit comments with their own made-up, "wacky" definitions of that word. The next day, the Word Imp reveals the real definition and chooses three finalists from the entries submitted. Readers vote (in a poll) for what they think is the best one, and the next day the Word Imp announces the winner. The only prize is the glory of being chosen.
This is the fourth group of my Word Imperfect entries. The times given are the approximate times of my posts, in Arizona time (MST), from the clock on my computer.
Naiad:
9:00 PM 7/18/2007
A naiad is a Native American Indian Advertisement, which could be an ad about them, or featuring them, or featuring products made by them, or having one or more of them somewhere in the ad, or even just obliquely referring to them. It may seem odd to have both 'Native American' and 'Indian' in the name, but they were trying to please everyone. As it turned out, they didn't please too many, so it's probably a good thing they decided to concentrate on using the acronym and not spend too much time on defining what it meant.
Pyaemia:
11:23 PM 7/19/2007
Pyaemia is excessive fear of the number PI. Some fear is normal; only excessive fear is considered pyaemia.
Thanatoid:
8:57 AM 7/20/2007
A thanatoid is a person in a hurry, someone who "went that-a-way." The name comes from a combination of "that-a" and "toid", with the first psrt blurred into thana by usage.
Caudle:
I missed adding a definition.
Ginglymus:
8:42 AM 7/22/2007 *** finalist
Ginglymus is a game similar to polo, but played while wearing long stilts instead of riding horses. It was popular for a time in the early 17th century among the English gentry. The name is believed to have originally been something like "gangly master", a reference to the appearance of the stilt-wearing players. Ginglymus eventually fell out of favor when it was realized that the players just looked too silly, even for English gentry.
My entry for ginglymus was chosen as one of the three finalists. It's allowable there to vote for yourself, and I did. I didn't win, though.
The vote count the last time I checked it:
11:52 PM 7/23/2007
Choose a winner for ginglymus
thinks! 50%
stephen 21.43%
wunx~ 28.57%
Total votes : 14
Minacious:
11:57 PM 7/23/2007
Minacious is what fans of the late Minnie Pearl called themselves.
I don't know whether my definition of minacious was a finalist or not, as I didn't get back to the site in time to check.
Wampee:
7:47 AM 7/24/2007
Wampee is a show business term formed from the words "warm" and "pizazz", and is used to describe an actor, a show or a performance that is very noticeably less than it should be.
Duumvir:
12:31 AM 7/26/2007
Duumvir is a type of grog that was taken by Vikings on their long sea voyages. It had a distinctive flavor due to the Duum tree (a type of fir) sap that was used to line the kegs. Those who consumed too much of the liquor were said to be truly Duumed.
Pergunnah:
7:05 AM 7/26/2007
A pergunnah is an old man or woman who has little money or is having a run of bad luck. It originally referred only to old women, as the term is a corruption of "poor grandma", but as the original words became less recognizable the usage spread to include old men as well.
I don't know whether my definition of pergunnah was a finalist or not, as I didn't get back to the site in time to check.
Scissel:
I missed adding a definition.
Struthious:
11:21 AM 7/28/2007
Struthious is a term used in the building trades to refer to a floor, wall, ceiling, etc., being straight and true and not misaligned or at a slant.
I don't know whether my definition of struthious was a finalist or not, as I didn't get back to the site in time to check.
Sciolist:
I missed adding a definition.
Gimcracks:
11:44 PM 7/30/2007
Gimcracks are the fault lines along which the ancient supercontinent Pangaea split apart. They are named after Sir Roger Gimcrack, who did pioneering work in this area.
Moquette:
12:31 PM 7/31/2007
A moquette is a person who imitates the Radio City Rockettes. The name is a cute misspelling of mockette ("mock" replacing "rock" and the result then combined with coquette), with mock in this case meaning imitation. The term generally tends to be slightly disparaging, but in a humorous fashion, and carries the implication that while the person might like to dance like a Rockette, the goal wasn't quite achieved.
Labels: posts, wordimperfect, writing
posted by Stephen at 10/13/2009 05:31:00 AM
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