Homo interneticus

Noun

Possibly the next evolved state of 'generation web' homo sapiens, who, having grown up with the internet's instant connections and access to information, may be undergoing changes to identity and the way they think.

Cited by Dr. Aleks Krotoski, academic and journalist, in The Virual Revolution Part 4, Homo interneticus? (BBC2)

Zettabyte

The size of the “digital universe” will swell so rapidly this year that a new unit – the zettabyte – has been invented to measure it.

Zettabytes overtake petabytes as the largest unit of digital measurement.

Humanity’s total digital output currently stands at 8,000,000 petabytes – which each represent a million gigabytes – but is expected to pass 1.2 zettabytes this year.

One zettabyte is equal to one million petabytes, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 individual bytes.

The current size of the world’s digital content is equivalent to all the information that could be stored on 75bn Apple iPads, or the amount that would be generated by everyone in the world posting messages on the microblogging site Twitter constantly for a century.

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

Petrichor (Thanks to ruffers)

from Greek petros "stone" + ichor the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology) is the name of the scent of rain on dry earth.

The term was coined in 1964 by two Australian researchers, Bear and Thomas, for an article in the journal Nature. In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is absorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, producing the distinctive scent. In a follow-up paper, Bear and Thomas (1965) showed that the oil retards seed germination and early plant growth.

hellion

Pronunciation: \ˈhel-yən\

Noun
A troublesome, disorderly, rowdy, or mischievous person, especially a child. A trouble maker.

Etymology: 19th Century American, probably from dialect, alteration (influenced by hell) of hallion scamp/rogue

Quoted by hoser today on the, Re: Dulwich park distance? thread in the General ED issues/gossip section

You can get a 'word of the day' emailed to you from dictionary.com (sorry if done before)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was 2010:05:17:22:59:33 by katie1997.

Narthex

noun

1.in early Christian churches, a porch or portico at the west end for penitents and others not admitted to the church itself
2.any church vestibule leading to the nave

Origin: LL(Ec) < LGr(Ec) narthçx < Gr, giant fennel: from a fancied resemblance of the porch to the hollow stem
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

nar·thex (närˈthĕksˌ)

noun
1.A portico or lobby of an early Christian or Byzantine church or basilica, originally separated from the nave by a railing or screen.
2.An entrance hall leading to the nave of a church.

silverfox Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Zettabyte
>
> The size of the “digital universe” will swell so
> rapidly this year that a new unit – the zettabyte
> – has been invented to measure it.
>
> Zettabytes overtake petabytes as the largest unit
> of digital measurement.

Zettabyte hasn't recently been invented (it dates from the 90's), exabyte slips in between petabyte and zettabyte and zettabyte is not the largest unit of digital measurement.

Digital measurements are SI units and so follow their naming standard. The list is kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, terabyte,
petabyte, exabyte, zettabyte and yottabyte.

Thank you for pointing out those mistakes Loz.

I am guilty of taking a Telegraph headline writer's words on trust. I've just gone back and done a search and notice that The Telegraph re-wrote the original headline and subhead to make it accurate in the way you describe and that the link I provided above now takes you to the updated/corrected headline.

The original headline and subhead:

Zettabytes overtake petabytes as largest unit of digital ...
May 4 2010 | Heidi Blake | Technology

The size of the “digital universe” will swell so rapidly this year that a new unit - the zettabyte - has been invented to measure it.

Was rewritten to read:

Digital universe to smash 'zettabyte' barrier for first time ...
May 4 2010 | Heidi Blake | Technology

The size of the “digital universe” will swell so rapidly this year that it will pass the "zettabyte" barrier for the first time.

See [www.telegraph.co.uk] more results

I was also interested to read the names for the submultiples (-10) of SI units. You learn something new every day.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit was 2010:06:01:13:36:05 by silverfox.

I learnt something as well - zetta and yotta are derived from 'septo' and 'octo' repectively, but mangled a little to make the symbol unique (S being used for other things like 'second' and O would get confused with zero).

I always wondered why zetta and yotta weren't in easy-to-remember alphabetical order. Now I know!

Burtonisation. ( good one for a pub quiz).
( brewers technique of chemically changing the water of say Bury st Edmunds to make it taste/ react like the water of Burton on Trent to make the beer that used to be made in Burton on Trent taste like it does ( even though made in Bury)

Phlebotomist

phle·bot·o·mist (flĭ-bŏt'ə-mĭst)

noun

1.One who practices phlebotomy.

2.One who draws blood for analysis or transfusion.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Word referred to by penguin69 on the 'What is the latest on the new hospital in ED?' thread

Norkage

Adjective
Of or relating to a nork or norks(noun)

Verb
To display norks

(see also cleavage)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was 2010:06:14:15:25:43 by Brendan.

0 words found.

norkage does not appear in Merriam-Webster's Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 4th Edition.

0 words found.

norks does not appear in Merriam-Webster's Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 4th Edition.

Cerumen

Main Entry: ce·ru·men
Pronunciation: \sə-ˈrü-mən\
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, irregular from Latin cera wax; akin to Greek kçros wax
Date: 1741
: earwax

— ce·ru·mi·nous \-mə-nəs\ adjective

cerumen. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
Retrieved June 14, 2010, from [www.merriam-webster.com]

Word refered to by ianr in thread: "Re: 32" Sony Bravia Brand New in box!" now "." (For Sale...)

quire 1 (kwr)
n.
1. Abbr. qr. or q. A set of 24 or sometimes 25 sheets of paper of the same size and stock; one twentieth of a ream*.
2. A collection of leaves of parchment or paper, folded one within the other, in a manuscript or book.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Middle English quayer, four double sheets of paper, from Old French quaer, from Vulgar Latin *quaternus, from Latin quatern, set of four, four each, from quater, four times; see kwetwer- in Indo-European roots.]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
quire 2 (kwr)
n. & v. Archaic
Variant of choir.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

(* ream 1 n
1. (Communication Arts / Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a number of sheets of paper, formerly 480 sheets (short ream), now 500 sheets (long ream) or 516 sheets (printer's ream or perfect ream). One ream is equal to 20 quires

2. (often plural) Informal a large quantity, esp of written matter he wrote reams
[from Old French raime, from Spanish rezma, from Arabic rizmah bale]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ream2
vb (tr)
1. to enlarge (a hole) by use of a reamer
2. US to extract (juice) from (a citrus fruit) using a reamer
[perhaps from C14 remen to open up, from Old English rȳman to widen]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003)

I have quite the fondness for abligurition (excessive spending on food and drink!)

Deracinated

1. To pull out by the roots; uproot.
2. To displace from one's native or accustomed environment.

Good old Telegraph.

Embower

em·bow·er transitive verb \im-ˈbau̇(-ə)r\

Definition of EMBOWER:
to shelter or enclose in or as if in a bower

Examples of EMBOWER
like a rose embowered in its own green leaves — P. B. Shelley

over the years grapevines have completely embowered the summerhouse in the garden

First Known Use of EMBOWER
1580

merriam-webster.com/dictionary

Antimacassar

Well strictly speaking not a new word, but I found out where it comes from...

Apparently Macassar was a hair cream widely used, and much celebrated, at the beginning of the 19th Century.

So the anti-Macassar was anti hair oil. They should install them on bus windows.

Which is a shame really, because antimacassar sounds like it would be much better if it were an elderly relative's oversized underwear.

>quire 2 (kwr)
>n. & v. Archaic
>Variant of choir.

Still battling on. Try a search on quire with, eg, chapel, church, or prayer.

>quire 2 (kwr)
>n. & v. Archaic
>Variant of choir.

Quotation by Abraham Cowley

Even Lust the Master of a hardned Face,
Blushes if thou beest in the place,
To darkness' Curtains he retires,
In Sympathizing Night he rowls his smoaky Fires.

When, Goddess, thou liftst up thy wakened Head,
Out of the Mornings purple bed,
Thy Quire of Birds about thee play,
And all the joyful world salutes the rising day.

Abraham Cowley (1618–1667), British poet. Hymn: To Light (l. 57–64). . .

Seventeenth-Century Verse and Prose, Vols. I–II. Vol. I: 1600–1660; Vol. II: 1660–1700. Helen C. White, Ruth C. Wallerstein, and Ricardo Quintana, eds. (1951, 1952) The Macmillan Company.

Quiristers

Winchester, The Pilgrim’s School (Quiristers)

Late fourteenth century origins
On 28 March 1394 William of Wykeham formally opened his college at Winchester with 70 poor scholars, a warden, headmaster and second master, ten priest-fellows, three chaplains, three lay clerks, 10 commoners (that is, those who paid for their commons) and 16 quiristers. The latter lived in a very small house in Chamber Court. The statutes were issued in their final form in 1400. Concerning the quiristers they must be paupers and they should be under 12 years old, well mannered and with an ability to sing. They were to be eligible for Winchester college scholarships and would have a free education under a chaplain or other teacher in return for their singing.

For many years they served in the college, helping the servants to make the fellows’ beds and waiting at table. Each quirister was given cloth for a gown and they must not wear hats. For about 150 years Wykeham’s plans worked smoothly and each year four or five quiristers were admitted to the college as scholars.

[www.ofchoristers.net]

gas·tro·lith
noun \ˈgas-trə-ˌlith\

Definition: a stone or pebble ingested by an animal and functioning to grind food in gastric digestion

blather. rambling talk with no real substance.

Malefic

1. Having or exerting a malignant influence.
2. Evil; malicious.

[Latin maleficus : male, ill; see mel-3 in Indo-European roots + -ficus, -fic.]

hieing

Used by woolmarkthedog on the Ask Silverfox thread in the Lounge

HIE (verb)

hied hy-ing or hie-ing

Definition of HIE
intransitive verb: to go quickly: hasten

transitive verb: to cause (oneself) to go quickly

Examples of HIE
we had best hie home before the snow gets worse

Origin of HIE
Middle English, from Old English hîgian to strive, hasten
First Known Use: 12th century

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Great thread this. When people accuse me of winning debates from 'clever words' this is where I learn them.

rheumy

As in "Casting a rheumy eye round the chamber, Charlie realised he was under-dressed..." Quentin Letts Daily Mail (3/11/10)

rheum noun \ˈrüm\

Definition of RHEUM

1: a watery discharge from the mucous membranes especially of the eyes or nose

2 archaic: tears

— rheumy\ˈrü-mç\ adjective

Origin of RHEUM
Middle English reume, from Anglo-French, from Latin rheuma, from Greek, literally, flow, flux, from rhein to flow

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

His head and rheumy eyes distill in showers. --Dryden.

And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
To add unto his sickness. --Shakespeare.

shellacking 

As used by President Obama when taking the blame for the the midterm election results

shel·lack·ing[shuh-lak-ing]

–noun Slang (chiefly US, Canadian)

1. an utter defeat: "a shellacking their team will remember".
2. a sound thrashing: "His father gave him a shellacking for stealing the book".

Origin:
1705–15; shell + lac (trans. of F laque en écailles)

1 shel·lac  [shuh-lak]
noun, verb, -lacked, -lack·ing.

–noun
1. lac that has been purified and formed into thin sheets, used for making varnish.
2. a varnish (shellac varnish) made by dissolving this material in alcohol or a similar solvent.
3. a phonograph record made of a breakable material containing shellac, esp. one to be played at 78 r.p.m.: an LP that can hold nearly 10 times as much as the old shellac.

–verb (used with object)
4. to coat or treat with shellac.

5. Slang .
a. to defeat; trounce.
b. to thrash soundly.

Word Origin & History
1713, from shell + lac (see lacquer). Translates Fr. laque en écailles "lac in thin plates." The verb is 1876, from the noun. The slang sense of "beat soundly" is 1920s, perhaps from the notion of shellac as a "finish." Shellacked "drunk" is from 1922 (cf. plastered).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Dilettante

Thank you to the person who used this word in an email (and made me laugh most heartily in the process) - I hope you know who you are.

Hacktivist

As in: "Amazon brought down by ‘hacktivists’"

Hacktivist(s) (noun)

A hacker, or group of hackers, who carry out 'dedicated denial of service' (DDOS) attacks on websites as a protest or in furtherance of a cause, by using a botnet (a network of computers controlled by one hacker) to overload a website with high numbers of requests so that it stops working.

Cited in The Times, today, December 13



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit was 2010:12:13:15:57:11 by silverfox.