Word Of The Day....

derivative (noun)

an expression representing the rate of change of a function with respect to an independent variable.

edit: that doesn't tell you that much though ... see below (HF needs LaTex editor)

 

Mercurial
: changing moods quickly and often
: changing often : very changeable
: very lively and quick

 

Crane

Bird

Cranes are a clade of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the group Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back.


It is interesting to note that in feng shui, crane birds mean immortality.....

Can you tell that i love birds? lol....but I love all animals.

 

elicitation

elicitation is the term applied to subtle extraction of information during an apparently normal and innocent conversation.

 

knob knocker
used in place of words like gay, stupid, queer, dumb, ect... when describing someone or something.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Knob%20knockers

 

synonyms: see above

 

i love most terrestrial non-humans too, although birds are no where near the top of my list.

but i'm sorry,
crane to me is a mechanism,
usually powered,
for lifting and positioning heavy objects.

something i was once upon a time an apprentice operator of.

the word has also been used to describe a device for hanging something from over a fire in a fireplace,
such as a suspending a big heavy cast iron stew pot from, in tudor and even elizabethan times.

that use probably came before the modern one. the bird may have been named before that, though of this i'm not sure.
the phrase craining one's neck, presumably comes from the bird.

the one i was apprentice operator on was owned by the then sacramento division of the then southern pacific railroad.
it was built in 1949 by pauling and harnishphager, which i'm sure i'm spelling at least part of that wrong.
being as i was born in 1948, it was only one year younger then i was.
this was in 1972/3, when i was working for the railroad, before the bombs blew up in the west end of the freight yard in roseville,
the west end being a place called antelope, which at that time consisted of little more then the three buildings that were destroyed by that happening.
i got a lot of overtime, enough to quit and buy a boat, filling in the hole that made with a clam bucket attached to that crane.
antellope is now miles of ticky tacky housing development, right up next to the part of the freight yard where unexploded ordinance
still occasionally turns up under it.

oh and i remember there was a movie (i don't remember if i watched the whole thing or part of it or just the trailers for it) about the girl dying of radiation sickness, who had been a survivor of hiroshima, folding paper cranes (the bird kind this time) for good luck and making friends with her gods.
(this was a couple of decades before an anime, something of the fireflies i think the anime was, based also on japanese survivors of that use of nuclear weapons in war)

 

Yes, thank you. i knew there were other definitions for the word "crane." How interesting that you worked with one....and thank you for telling the story of that here. It was very interesting to read.

I had a strong feeling for the crane bird once...after my father died, and I was at a beach with some of his ashes.....to let go over the ocean...and it was dark, as i wanted to be there alone. without other people there.....and there was a crane grazing at the water's edge. He , if that is what he was, a he...as i don't know, was very comforting to see and spend the very spiritual time with at that difficult time. I had just learned that cranes meant immortality a year or so before that.....and it was an uncanny...almost magical moment then that had a lot of meaning for me.

If I ever get into the back of my crawl space attic...i will dig out the painting I made of two cranes during that time, and share a photo of it on the forum.

I have no word for the day today.

 

Social Engineering

Psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. It often involves pretexting and neuro-linguistic programming, and the tendency of human beings to trust people that seem to be nice people or credible persons; or that flatter, or give them complements; or otherwise seem to show a genuine interest in them as a person.

Social Engineering at it's best is almost imperceivable, and is a technique widely used by hackers and phreaks of all sorts.

 

Maudlin

drunk enough to be emotionally silly

weak and effusively sentimental

The elderly man became maudlin and so began to weep like a child.

 

i like the sound of this word....


bam·boo·zle.


[bamˈbo͞ozəl]







VERB


1.

informal

fool or cheat (someone):
"Tom Sawyer bamboozled the neighborhood boys into doing it for him"

synonyms: deceive · delude · hoodwink · mislead · take in · dupe ·
[more]




•
confound or perplex:
"bamboozled by the number of savings plans being offered"

 

Even though I like the sound of the word, bamboozle, and I like to say it, I do not like it's definition.

 

for·mi·da·ble.


[ˈfôrmədəb(ə)l, fərˈmidəb(ə)l]







ADJECTIVE


1.
inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable:
"a formidable opponent"

synonyms: intimidating · forbidding · daunting · disturbing · alarming ·
[more]

 

com·pla·cent
kəmˈplās(ə)nt/
adjective
showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements.
"you can't afford to be complacent about security"
synonyms: smug, self-satisfied, self-congratulatory, self-regarding, conceited; More

 

jackanapes
play

noun jack·a·napes \ˈja-kə-ˌnāps\

Popularity: Bottom 40% of words


Definition of jackanapes

1. 
   1: monkey, ape
   
2. 
   2a : an impudent or conceited fellowb : a saucy or mischievous child
   

 

Right-I've been LONGING for a reason to parade this one...

'Paraskevidekatriaphobia'

Yuss...well impressive,innit!

a noun,describing in medical terms,the fear of Friday 13th.

ok-carry on,chaps...

 

Plumb!

A fruit a nut and a person! What a great word?

Oh, and a tool!

 

Gaucherie
Noun

Lack of social grace, sensitivity, acuteness, and/or awkwardness
An act, or movement that is tactless or socially incorrect.

My husband exudes an extreme amount of gaucherie when speaking in a public place.

 

B a r s t u a r d

Even my auto correct knows what I mean!

 

Quixotic

(Adjective)

To be impractical, unrealistic, or over optimistic

Quixotically(Adv) Quixotism

(A great word for the scrabble player)