Contronyms and cussin’

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today was sparked by:

14 words that are their own opposites.

10 old fashioned words to spice up your cussin’.

Among the contronymns was seed with the example of seeding a tomato meaning to take the seeds out.

I’ve never felt the urge to take seeds out of a tomato but if I did I’d say I was deseeding, not seeding.

The cussin’ was interesting.

I don’t think any of the words have the short, sharp vowels and hard consonants needed to vent your ire but the discussion got a delightful response from a listener: heck is the place for people who don’t believe in gosh.

Wonderful words we should revive

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass this afternoon was sparked by 27 delightful obsolete words it’s high time we revived.

They include:

Groak – To silently watch someone while they are eating, hoping to be invited to join them.

Crapulous – To feel ill because of excessive eating/drinking.

Grumpish – Sullen. An alternative to grumpy.

Jargogle – To confuse, bamboozle.

Apricity – The sun’s warmth on a cold winter’s day.

Twattle – To gossip, or talk idly.

Grogonize – To have a paralyzing or mesmerizing effect on someone.

Cockalorum – A little man with a high opinion of himself.

Curglaff – The shock one feels upon first plunging into cold water.

Callipygian – Having beautifully shaped buttocks.

Fuzzle – To make drunk, intoxicate.

Quockerwodger – : A wooden puppet, controlled by strings.

Curmuring – A low rumbling sound produced by the bowels.

Lumming – : Heavy rain.

But it’s not just the words which appealed. Each is illustrated by a photo of an owl reacting to or looking like the word which adds to the fun.

 

Calories and laughter

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today was sparked by:

* What 200 calories look like (not much if it’s got fat and sugar, quite a bit with vitamins).

* World Laughter Day: How a Laughing Fit Sparked an International Movement.

Apropos of both – laughing and eating are generally mutually exclusive so the more you laugh the less you eat and vice versa.

Best seats

Today’s discussion on Critical Mass with Jim Mora was sparked by musical chairs – choosing the right seat.

Blogging at Big Mischief,  Alex Cornell goes through six possible seating arrangements and picks the best seat at each.

The desirability or otherwise of seats at a table can be modified by careful planning.

If architects and interior designers paid more attention to acoustics, got away from the fashion for hard surfaces and introduced more soft furnishings, it would be easier to converse comfortably while dining.

Round or small tables are fine for small numbers but oval or rectangular ones give more conversation options for bigger tables.

If you’ve got a rectangular table it’s better to put someone at the top and bottom if you’ve got even numbers and one person at either top or bottom for odd numbers.

The alternative of putting people only along the sides can leave those at the ends marooned with only the one beside them to chat with.

Savings and packaging

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today was sparked by:

* Twenty money-saving tips from bankers and their wives  (for which I tip a hat to A Bee of a Certain Age) and the comments which it provoked.

Among those comments were:

 

Great tips!

Kudos on finding that delicate balance between classism and sexism.

Mr. Moneybags | 4 days ago

 

Cancel your private health insurance and get paid to enrol the entire family in scientific experiments.

wysiwig | 4 days ago

 

You know, this is good, but I think you’re missing a few things that might really help the average wealthy investment banker take the sting out of tightening his belt. For example: . . .

- If you are not particularly fond of one or more of your younger children, there is a great way to kill two birds with one stone by cutting costs at home on food AND the mouths you need to feed. I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout. Not to mention the guilt you will spare yourself by not having to put the little tyke into a private school. It may sound radical, but it’s just a modest proposal.

Good luck!

supernovashock | 4 days ago

1.  
2. 

   I really like the assumption that all these bankers are men. What if there is a straight woman banker? Should she get her wife to iron her shirts? Should she just quit in an effort to apease the patriarchy so this article can hold true? I can’t believe this article was written by a woman. Shame on you, Sarah Butcher. It’s women like you who make it so much harder for the rest of us to to break out of the shitty mould society says we must fit.

   Moocow | 4 days ago

    
3. 

   Straight women bankers are a dying breed.

   Edwarde Sanspoisson | 4 days ago

    
4. 

   Maybe they’re dying in ironing accidents…

   Jef With One F | 4 days ago

 

One way that I save myself money on a regular basis is by parking my private jet and just taking the bus to Vegas. A jet is not really necessary unless travelling over oceans. This method has saved me bucket loads of cash. I recommend you all to do the same, but if those smelly commoners are just too dirty for you to rub elbows with, you might also consider booking a personal car on the train.

Ashley | 2 days ago

We also looked at:

* Cool and unusual packaging.

 

Books, maps and super heroes’ alphabet

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today was sparked by:

* The 30 best places to be if you love books.

* 38 maps you didn’t know you needed.

* And a phonetic alphabet based on superheroes (only some of whom I recognised).

Punctuation marks & business cards

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today was sparked by:

13 little known punctuation marks we should be using at Mental Floss.

Some of them could be very useful but I can’t work out how to do them on a keyboard.

And

Business cards of 20 famous people.

 

Dull men & problem solving books

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today was sparked by:

* A celebration of ordinary, everyday things at the Dull Men’s Club.

* 10 Novels to solve all your problems supports my contention that you learn about real life by reading fiction. (Hat tip: Beattie’s Book Blog).

A reader alerted me to Dull Men’s Club which I appreciate.

I welcome any other suggestions of websites which might be on interest for Critical Mass.

12 scams of Christmas

Discussion with Paul Brennan on Critical Mass today focussed on Macafee’s 12 scams of Christmas.

I thought I knew better but a few weeks ago I thought an email was from my brother in Australia it wasn’t and contained a virus which, fortunately my computer picked up and quarantined.

Luck, skill, crisis and laughter

Discussion with Finlay MacDonald on Critical Mass today was sparked by:

In poker and elsewhere is it luck or skill that counts?

Apes suffer mid-life ciris too.

Laughter as a form of exercise.

 

Letters and germs

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical mass today was sparked by:

Letters to the Editor of the Telegrpah which didn’t get published.

I especially enjoyed:

SIR – One is, of course, delighted to hear that the Greek economy is to be saved –once again.

On a recent visit to Crete I asked for the recipe for a Greek salad. There came the not entirely ironic reply: “First, you borrow some feta…”

Christopher Rodda

Boscastle, Cornwall

And:

SIR – My family home, Compton Castle, built in the 14th Century, is open to the public.

For the convenience of the visitors, my father had a sign saying “Lavatory” placed on a door. One day, my mother overheard a young man say to his companion, “What’s a lavatory, dear?” To which she replied, “That’s medieval for toilet.”

His Honour Judge Francis Gilbert, Q.C.

Bovey Tracey, Devon

The other link was hygiene hotspots wich shows how clean your house is – or more likely isn’t.

Hat tip for the latter to: Monday Micro at Infectious Thoughts which will lead you to is the toilet seat really the dirtiest place in the house.

Grammarly, smothery mothering & culinary prime

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass this afternoon was sparked by:

* Word fun at Grammarly.

Scroll down to page three to seen the difference between fighting with someone and fighting with someone.

Below that you’ll find bookworm problem # 37 – pronouncing a word incorrectly because you’ve read it but never heard it spoken.

I was in my 30s before I learned that badinage was not pronounced ban dee age (as in bandying words).

I was well into adulthood before I realised it was halcyon and not halycon which I pronounced haley con through an association with Haley Mills and happy, summery times.

* Smothery mothering in is too much mothering bad for you at the Virginia Quarterly Review.

Why do these studies look at mothers or children but not both together and why do few mention fathers?

*  Women master cookery at the age of 55  at the Telegraph – hmm, this means I must be in my culinary prime which I’m not sure I’m happy about.

Introverts, smiles & over fat from under slept

Topics discussed with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today were:

An introvert’s manifesto

Muscles to smile and frown

And

If you’re over fat you could be under slept: – the impact of sleep deprivation on weight gain.

 

Breaking bad habits & replacing them with good ones

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today was sparked by:

How to break habits - advice from Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit.

And related to that:

5 tips for changing bad habits into good ones at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

Listening and napping

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today was sparked off by:

Ten simple steps to a remarkable relationship – which gives tips on listening.

And

Napping visually.

 

 

50 things to know and beating procrastination

Websites discussed on Critical Mass with Jim Mora today:

50 things everybody should know how to do

and

Kick procrastination’s ass: run a dash which I found via Barking Up the Wrong Tree where there’s a far-too-familiar procrastination loop.

Overeating cues & sleep deprivation

Discussion topics on Critical Mass with Jim Mora today:

How external cues make us overeat

and

How little sleep can you get away with?

Books, adjectives and icons

Websites discussed with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today were:

How a book is born (warning might be depress you if you’ve got a good idea). Hat tip: Beattie’s Book Blog

The hierarchy of adjectives - scroll down to the last paragraph to find one of those things-you-know-but-didn’t-know-you-knew. Hat tip: Quote Unquote

And one we didn’t discuss because Jim had discussed it with someone else recently but I missed it and you might have too: Icons that don’t make sense anymore – only people of a certain age will recognise the origins of most of them.

Value of tragedy, bizarre books & time management

Discussion with Jim Mora on Critical Mass today centred on:

Sadness breeds gratitude, the value of tragedy

The bizarre world of bonkers book collecting

and

Time management tips from extremely busy people

Technology’s march & language

Links for today’s chat with Jim Mora on Critical Mass:

The 100 year march of technology at The Atlantic.

The graph showing the adoption of technology is fascinating, not least because it shows that households were slower to adopt things like washing machines which made domestic chores easier than those which entertained, like radios.

Three must-have travel languages at Daisann McLean’s Real travel.

She chose Cantonese:

. . . Harder and more beautiful and complex than Mandarin, full of sass and splendor. It’s got everything you want in a language. Great food culture. Terrific vocabulary of insults. And the best thing of all: no hierarchy of class or gender built into the grammar.

The vocabulary of insults probably isn’t the best reason for choosing a language. But it can be fun to deliver an insult in another language in such a way that the listener thinks you’re delivering a compliment – though it pays to be quite sure they don’t understand what you’re saying.

My rusty Spanish has only a couple of insults – one of which is pajero which shows why people who name vehicles ought to check with speakers of other languages.