Stephen’s Comments (group member since May 17, 2010)

Stephen’s comments from the Language & Grammar group.

M wrote: "Parallax. The discrepancy between the view through the viewfinder and the view through the lens. With viewfinder cameras from the film days, the distance between the lens and viewfinder could affec..."

Parallax is easy to see. Just close one eye hold your thumb up at night and cover the moon. Then switch eyes. Those with a mathematical bent will tell you that if you do the maths you can actually determine the distance that the moon is from earth based on that.

Astronomers also use parallax to determine distances of pretty much anything within a few light years of us. Further than that and distant distances become a paradox. (They have to switch to other methods.) ;-)

M wrote: "Premonitory. In the nature of a foreboding or a presentiment. “A premonitory shudder.”"

I don't think I've ever encountered the word in that form but of course, premonitions seem to be much more ubiquitous.

Cosmic wrote: ""Remember those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
"Indebentures" of quality
... Would like to know what this means. "

I love Janis Ian's lyrics but I think this one has gotten slightly mangled.

Debentures are corporate bonds that are not backed by any collateral. Literally, they're just a promise to pay. When Corporate bonds were issued ages ago, they were secured by the assets of the project e.g. buildings, dams, etc. that could be seized upon non-payment. As corporations became larger and their ability to pay was less in doubt, debentures became common as they were cheaper to issue and generally paid a slightly higher rate than a bond of similar risk with some physical collateral.

Here the term debenture connotes that promise with nothing really "backing" it up.

Started listening to Agatha Christie's Marple book The Thirteen Problems and my word for the day is "benignant" We have more than enough things in our world that are malignant; it's time for more benignant things, no?

Doug wrote: "Forever is a long long time. That is twice as long as one forever if there are multiple forever(s). ..."

“Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Doug wrote: "Number of athletes becoming polititions worldwide is quite surprising." Do we count Reagan and Ford?

Ken wrote: "It's the damned human race again. Not following directions. Or listening to the wrong people."

As to the rich people retreating to their summer homes, remember The Masque of the Red Death? I seem to recall the rich folks all felt somewhat safe there.

I do have to admit that I'm somewhat relieved that I'm no longer living in NYC. At least in sunny FLA social distancing is still possible.

I've recently been re-watching the wonderful BBC series Egypt which recounts (among other things) the story of Italian adventurer Giovanni Belzoni and his English wife Sarah Belzoni nee Banne.

"The Great Belzoni" was a circus strong-man who was the 1800s version of Indiana Jones. Sarah also was an author but apparently none of her works are still in print.

Among other antiquities Belzoni was the man responsible for moving what was then called the "Head of Young Memnon" which still dominates the gallery in The British Museum where it sits. https://www.bing.com/images/search?vi...

Belzoni's book Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries Within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Excavations, in Egypt and Nubia: And of a Journey to the Coast of the Red Sea, in Search of the Ancient Berenice; And Another to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon is still in print and apparently quite a good read though the BBC TV version is also a good start https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuCO-...

Carol wrote: "Curtesy of Idomfreedictionary.com

take to one's heels, to To flee. ..."

Thanks Carol!

I used to have a Cockney to American Dictionary but it's "gone walkies." ;-)

Don't recall where I got it but, I'm guessing it fell outta some lorry on the dual carriageway.

Ken wrote: "...You guessed it. The damn book took to its heels."

;-) LOL

I’ve read the expression a lot (particularly in fiction) and it refers to someone running away. Yet, when one runs, the heels are generally the part of the foot that doesn’t touch the ground.

Came across this again today and thought someone in this group might be able to shed some light on this.

Was reminded today of a short story that I read about 50 years ago. I recall it being entitled "The Shave" but when it was written in 1950 by Hernando Téllez it was entitled Espuma y nada más. The story was amazing but if you haven't read it here's a subtitled you-tube short that pretty much captures it https://youtu.be/cSkPBiDOPAs

It's been quiet in here far too long!

Mirriam Webster's web site says that Galumph is the word of the day.

Without looking it up can anyone tell me who coined the word and in what?

I've got a whole series of words for the day courtesy of The Washington Post Neologism Contest https://forums.watchuseek.com/f73/was...

I especially enjoyed #5 Willy-nilly (adj,), impotent

Sonali wrote: "Thanks Stephen. Something like our polao/pilau rice." There's also a quick rice side dish that Uncle Ben's makes that I've liked since childhood. It's called "Long Grain & Wild Rice Pilaf." As with most of the Uncle Ben's mixes there are extras in the seasoning packet. In this case dried celery, dried spinach bits, dried parsley and dried scallion. It's very mildly seasoned and it's a great side dish to have with chicken cordon blue (which can be bought frozen from a lot of grceries). It's actually a pretty elegant meal for someone who can't cook much and it's all ready in less than half an hour.

Well, enough talk of food, even if we are chatting round the "kitchen sink."

Glad you liked the Mental Floss segment. Did you recognize the 2nd man (who did most of the talking). That was John Green, a very popular author of YA books, who grew up in the rural Mid-west. Since I grew up in the rural Mid-west as well, I feel a special affinity with him. I do enjoy his books, though I am bit older than he is. And my two decades in Manhattan has scrubbed some of the "Midwestern boy" outta my system.

Doug wrote: "One language is hard enough for me..." Though the first segment IS about polyglots, other segments of the episode deals with when to use "that' vs. "which", "who vs. "whom", "lay" vs. "lie", etc. Another segment deals how and when words are added to the dictionary; "ghost words", "crutch words", etc and there's more. Not bad for 12 minutes.

On a different note the good folks behind Mental Floss are starting a good series on you-tube about languages https://youtu.be/QmUzEwT4yyY

Sonali wrote: "I have no idea what is curried rice..."

Curried rice is just rice, served as a side dish with the distinctive flavors of Cumin, Cardamom, Coriander, etc. as opposed to "Spanish Rice" or "Red Beans and Rice" etc.

In the U.S. there are a number of companies that market rice side dishes that are microwaveable and easy for even unskilled cooks to prepare. Generally it's a matter of dump the rice in a bowl, add the seasoning packet, stir and nuke in the microwave for 5 minutes, stir and then microwave on half power for 10-15 minutes. It generally requires no monitoring, and no cooking skills.

Uncle Ben's and Knorr are the two that I tend to use a lot. While I CAN cook, there are times I get hungry and don't want the hassle of having to cook. As you can see from the instructions above, it's the kind of thing you can make while doing something else.

Ken wrote: "... tried to check the ingredients list from a bottle of curry, too, but guess what? We don't HAVE any curry...."

That's pretty typical for many Americans. I've noticed since leaving NYC that it's difficult to find curry flavored instant rice, etc.

My container of curry lists Cumin first though I'm not sure that that follows the standard of having ingredients listed in descending order by weight that some other products have. Cardamom, and Coriander are listed too, as is Ginger.

Being in Florida it shouldn't surprise me that I have to look for it in the "Hispanic foods" section. This particular mix of spices hasn't curried much favor among Midwestern palates used to blander fare.

BTW... the country boy in me needs to mention one other use of the word curry that no one has mentioned... a Curry Comb is metal comb used to groom the hides of horses (and other beasties) prior to livestock shows.