zompist bboard

Viktor77 wrote:Can we consider Shtetl one syllable?

Is it Yiddish for "small city"/"town"? Wouldn't that "L" be syllabic in Yiddish too?

Imralu wrote:

Zontas wrote:Initial "z" perhaps from West Country English's pronunciation (as with vane, vixen, and vat)

I wish that caught on more. When the zun zets it looks like it valls slowly (zlowly?) from the sky.

Ageerd, but aw dhe Birtons zhood quit be dropping aitches. Oirbuh, oirbuh innovation (with dhe lone exampuh of dhe neutrah pronoun "e, im, er, erself"). Awso, zed just looks and zownds kinda coo.

And yes, e be "zlowly" (or "zlowlay").

Was that Wessex accent too thick or too unrealistic?

Imralu wrote:

Viktor77 wrote:Can we consider Shtetl one syllable?

Is it Yiddish for "small city"/"town"? Wouldn't that "L" be syllabic in Yiddish too?

Yeparooni. Shtetl is /StEt'l/.

I've just come across jegged, meaning "dressed in jeggings" :/

Scaif (or scaife) - a spinning wheel impregnated with olive oil and diamond dust, used for cutting and polishing diamonds.

Zontas wrote:

Imralu wrote:

Zontas wrote:Initial "z" perhaps from West Country English's pronunciation (as with vane, vixen, and vat)

I wish that caught on more. When the zun zets it looks like it valls slowly (zlowly?) from the sky.

Ageerd, but aw dhe Birtons zhood quit be dropping aitches. Oirbuh, oirbuh innovation (with dhe lone exampuh of dhe neutrah pronoun "e, im, er, erself"). Awso, zed just looks and zownds kinda coo.

And yes, e be "zlowly" (or "zlowlay").

Was that Wessex accent too thick or too unrealistic?

Too unrealistic.

Well, "Shell" is jargon for a unix-command line. There's also "Root", which can mean a linux system administrator, or the start of the Linux filesystem.

Also, I don't know how widespread this is, but I often use "Hash" when referring to a "#!", which is a special number used in initiating shell scripts.

Hmm... you know, there's actually of lot of this kind of jargon in computer science circles. Ah foo.

What the fuck? Nobody in this thread mentioned quark??

pecs and abs?

How about "truss" as a noun? The verb is fairly general, but the noun is far more specific.

clawgrip wrote:How about "truss" as a noun? The verb is fairly general, but the noun is far more specific.

It's not that rare. Sure, I don't talk about roofs on a daily basis, but I do use it occasionally. But then, we do see a lot of buildings with exposed beams, being in the *~old world~* and all.

The verb 'to truss' on the other hand, I don't think I've ever used.

Personally, I don't tend to use the word truss much. And the verb truss, while rare, has a pretty generalized meaning "tie up"

How about a bur? That's pretty specific.

If we can do French then I'm adding If which means a yew tree.

Also that's another good one, yew.

How is yew a rare or technical word? Has this degenerated into a random list of monosyllabic words?

(In which case, note that many common trees glory in monosyllabic names: ash, elm, oak, beech, birch, pine, plane, lime, fir, spruce et caetera ad nauseam)

Dewrad wrote:How is yew a rare or technical word? Has this degenerated into a random list of monosyllabic words?

(In which case, note that many common trees glory in monosyllabic names: ash, elm, oak, beech, birch, pine, plane, lime, fir, spruce et caetera ad nauseam)

One of the great annoyances of conlanging. Words I want simple words for in my conlang: hypostasis, apostasy, hypothesis. Words that real languages have simple words for: grebe, spruce, wren, vole, chive. At least in Europe, it seem that 75% of the basic vocabulary is trees, birds, and the occasional small mammal or scented weed.

If we had not quit nature entirely this would still make sense.

Thry wrote:pecs and abs?

+ delts, lats, glutes, and quads

Reading a description of Sassanid architecture yesterday I came across squinch.

linguoboy wrote:Reading a description of Sassanid architecture yesterday I came across squinch.

What about plinth? How often do we honestly use plinth unless you build railings or construct columns for a living?

Quoin is another good one for architecture.

I'm just full of these for architecture.

Flute and drum are used when referencing columns, as well as knell and dye.

Frieze and hearth are pretty specific words, though not very rare.

Viktor77 wrote:

linguoboy wrote:Reading a description of Sassanid architecture yesterday I came across squinch.

What about plinth? How often do we honestly use plinth unless you build railings or construct columns for a living?

Quoin is another good one for architecture.

I don't know that I've ever used plinth or quoin my life. Joist, jamb, sash, sconce, lath, grout yes, but not either of those two.

Jose wrote:Well, "Shell" is jargon for a unix-command line. There's also "Root", which can mean a linux system administrator, or the start of the Linux filesystem.

Also, I don't know how widespread this is, but I often use "Hash" when referring to a "#!", which is a special number used in initiating shell scripts.

Hmm... you know, there's actually of lot of this kind of jargon in computer science circles. Ah foo.

grep, cat, diff

Plinth is very common, in my experience. For instance, when there's discussion about what's going to be put on the fourth plinth in trafalgar square this time, newsreaders happily call it a plinth and expect everyone to be happy with this. Whereas they wouldn't use words like 'squinch' or 'quoin'. Or 'jamb', or 'lath', and probably not 'sconce' for that matter. 'Grout', 'sash' and 'joist' are common.

What about common among people who are never anywhere near Trafalgar Square, London?

linguoboy wrote:Reading a description of Sassanid architecture yesterday I came across squinch.

What were you reading, may I ask? That sounds interesting.

Salmoneus wrote:Plinth is very common, in my experience. For instance, when there's discussion about what's going to be put on the fourth plinth in trafalgar square this time, newsreaders happily call it a plinth and expect everyone to be happy with this. Whereas they wouldn't use words like 'squinch' or 'quoin'. Or 'jamb', or 'lath', and probably not 'sconce' for that matter. 'Grout', 'sash' and 'joist' are common.

As Drydic Guy says, have you ever used the word "plinth" in reference to anything other than Trafalgar Square or perhaps some similar square in London or the UK? If a word is associated with a specific place, individual, or technique, and is not generally otherwise used, then it is definitely a "specific technical or rare" word. I think that you saying "plinth" is common is akin to an expert in Sassanid architecture contesting linguoboy's claim that squinch is specific, technical or rare because he comes across it all the time.