One-syllable words with specific technical or rare meanings

[Terra]

In video games, usually MMORPGs, 'adds' are mobs spawned in the middle of a boss fight.

"Mob" itself may fit the topic, in the sense of (to quote Wiktionary) "A non-player character [in a video game] that exists to be fought or killed to further the progression of the story or game."

Speaking of "mob", is it a shortening/corruption of "monster"? Or maybe it's from the usual word "mob", but got corrupted to mean "a member of a mob", instead of the mob itself?

[KathTheDragon]

Speaking of "mob", is it a shortening/corruption of "monster"? Or maybe it's from the usual word "mob", but got corrupted to mean "a member of a mob", instead of the mob itself?

In my understanding, it's shortened from 'mobile entity'.

[Terra]

Speaking of "mob", is it a shortening/corruption of "monster"? Or maybe it's from the usual word "mob", but got corrupted to mean "a member of a mob", instead of the mob itself?

In my understanding, it's shortened from 'mobile entity'.

Interesting. Never heard of that theory or term.

[sirdanilot]

Squib (link); a brief satirical piece of writing or speech. I never heard of this word, but came across it while browsing for classes to follow; one of the examination requirements was to write a 'squib style article'. Never heard of the word before.

[Astraios]

Don't you mean: non-magical person born to wizarding parents.

[Terra]

'squib' reminds me of another:
dud : a bomb/shell that fails to explode;; extended to mean anything that doesn't perform the way that it should/is-expected-to

[Dewrad]

Speaking of "mob", is it a shortening/corruption of "monster"? Or maybe it's from the usual word "mob", but got corrupted to mean "a member of a mob", instead of the mob itself?

In my understanding, it's shortened from 'mobile entity'.

Interesting. Never heard of that theory or term.

Wiktionary claims that it is an abbreviation of mobile (vulgus), meaning "fickle crowd".

[Neon Fox]

Speaking of "mob", is it a shortening/corruption of "monster"? Or maybe it's from the usual word "mob", but got corrupted to mean "a member of a mob", instead of the mob itself?

In my understanding, it's shortened from 'mobile entity'.

Interesting. Never heard of that theory or term.

Wiktionary claims that it is an abbreviation of mobile (vulgus), meaning "fickle crowd".

Wiktionary is talking about the common English term for a bunch of angry people, not the computer game term for an AI-controlled monster. It may or may not be correct about the former; KathAveara is correct about the latter.

[CatDoom]

Squib (link); a brief satirical piece of writing or speech. I never heard of this word, but came across it while browsing for classes to follow; one of the examination requirements was to write a 'squib style article'. Never heard of the word before.

"Squib" also refers to a small firecracker or explosive; I'm most familiar with it's use in film and theater, where the term refers to an explosive, often attached to a bag of artificial blood, which is used to simulate the impact of a bullet.

[linguoboy]

Yesterday I typed "swarf" when I meant to type "dwarf" and discovered it's an actual English word with the technical meaning "the waste chips or shavings from metalworking or a saw cutting wood" or "the grit worn away by use of a grindstone or whetstone, being particles of the material being cut and of the cutting stone itself".

[sirdanilot]

^ Cognate to dutch zwerf / zwerven ' to roam' / zwerver 'homeless person' ?

[Cedh]

^ Cognate to dutch zwerf / zwerven ' to roam' / zwerver 'homeless person' ?

No, those Dutch words are instead cognate to English swerve 'turn aside, deviate from a straight course'. Which is of course an interesting one-syllable word in itself...

[sirdanilot]

^ Cognate to dutch zwerf / zwerven ' to roam' / zwerver 'homeless person' ?

No, those Dutch words are instead cognate to English swerve 'turn aside, deviate from a straight course'. Which is of course an interesting one-syllable word in itself...

And swarf isn't cognate to swerve at all? Seems strange to me, since they look alike a lot and have quite similar meanings (something with 'roam or stray from a certain point' ).

[Cedh]

^ Cognate to dutch zwerf / zwerven ' to roam' / zwerver 'homeless person' ?

No, those Dutch words are instead cognate to English swerve 'turn aside, deviate from a straight course'. Which is of course an interesting one-syllable word in itself...

And swarf isn't cognate to swerve at all? Seems strange to me, since they look alike a lot and have quite similar meanings (something with 'roam or stray from a certain point' ).

According to Etymonline they're from the same PIE root, so you're right that they're related, but the connection doesn't seem to be especially close.

[linguoboy]

And swarf isn't cognate to swerve at all? Seems strange to me, since they look alike a lot and have quite similar meanings (something with 'roam or stray from a certain point' ).

According to Etymonline they're from the same PIE root, so you're right that they're related, but the connection doesn't seem to be especially close.

Really? Isn't OE geswearf just a prefixed o-grade derivation from the verbal stem? (Cf. StG sessen/Gesäß, wenden/Gewand, etc.)

[Cedh]

Yes, you're right. I seem to have overlooked the OE meaning in the article on "swerve", sorry.

[CatDoom]

On a mostly unrelated note, I think geswearf is my new favorite word (of the day, anyway). Man I love Old English.

[Thry]

Tell me about it. It has the craziest words. I like steorra.

PG is also fun: *dumbaz, *hwazuh

[CatDoom]

All those final z's do make it look kind of "X-TREME!" I'm tempted to start calling friends "my manniz."

[----]

ey manniz, hwazuuuuh?
nothingen muchiz

[Thry]

justaz he2r chillijandz!

[Nortaneous]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glebe
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/furze (synonyms: gorse, whin)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reeve_%28England%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_leet

[Astraios]

Gorse and furze, really? Why not rat and vole and shrew and mouse as well.

[Thry]

cos less rare I guess

[Salmoneus]

cos less rare I guess

Gorse vs vole? The former's certainly more common around here.