Words, Meanings, Language & Quotes

grok : coined by Robert Heinlein. "Understand fundamentally in such a way that it becomes a part of your way of thinking."

Rowan Campbell British Library It sometimes strikes me just how much chance and canny timing have to do with the way we experience the world. While cataloguing audio files, I came across the following speaker (born 1944, London) who tells us that her great-grandmother used to say “I’ve had an elegant sufficiency”, which then became a family saying for when you have had enough to eat. It is fairly common for kitchen table lingo to be submitted to the Evolving English WordBank, and having never heard it before, I assumed it to be one of these idiosyncratic family phrases and thought no more of it. But the universe must have decided that this wasn’t good enough, and presented me with the phrase the very next day. To my offer of a second helping, a dinner guest replied, “I’ve had an elegant sufficiency, any more would be superfluity.” This was a phrase used by their grandmother at least two generations later than attested by the woman above, and...

Elizabeth Gosch The Australian January 27, 2007 AFTER finally winning a round against Tooheys at Australia's advertising watchdog, Dave Thomason is off to the UN to have the use of the word "Pom" ruled as racial discrimination. More than four years and hundreds of letters of complaint later, Mr Thomason and his group - British People Against Racial Discrimination - had a win this week against the use of a word they find derogatory and offensive - Pom. The Advertising Standards Bureau upheld BPARD's latest complaint against the Tooheys New Supercold advertisements - specifically the radio ad that featured British men singing Land of Hope and Glory with revised lyrics such as, "whinge whine bang-on gripe grumble". Emboldened by their success, Mr Thomason and his 14 West Australian members and 12 Victorian members are putting together a petition to the UN. "The decision showed racial terminology should not be used to advertise products," Mr Thomaso...

A rude assholelike person . Originated in P ittsburgh n. A person, usually male , that has an unfavorable personality or annoying habits. Generally implies stupidity or ignorance. "No surprise he got thrown in jail . What a jagoff."

peenge (Scotland) To complain childishly.

Used to promote the healing of wounds, as herbs or other remedies. a remedy for wounds. Citations for vulnerary She was now in an apartment of the castle, anxiously superintending the preparation of vulnerary herbs, to be applied to the wounded ...Sir Walter Scott, A Legend of Montrose, 1819 Formerly country people cultivated Comfrey in their gardens for its virtue in wound healing, and the many local names of the plant testify to its long reputation as a vulnerary herb ...Maud Grieve, A Modern Herbal, 1931

[boo-struh-feed-n, -fee-don] [noun] An ancient method of writing in which the lines run alternately from right to left and from left to right.