Wordie: Lost for word: Comments

Comment by frogapplause, 7 days ago

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:47:17 +0000

Bald men toss their heads too. Probably to position their heads for maximum shine.

Comment by Prolagus, 7 days ago

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:30:38 +0000

I don't know if there's a word, but it's especially unbhairable when men do it.

Comment by bilby, 8 days ago

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:36:32 +0000

Is there a word for that funny, sort of pointlessly self-indulgent head toss that actors do in shampoo commercials?

Comment by Prolagus, 8 days ago

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:51:19 +0000

Forget? Unusual name for toes. But I like it.
See a forget of toes.

Comment by mollusque, 8 days ago

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:24:03 +0000

A forget, listed as a noun in OED2.

Comment by gangerh, 8 days ago

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:42:30 +0000

So, we have names for our fingers. But what do we call our middle three toes?

Comment by gangerh, 9 days ago

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:21:12 +0000

I have one of those, Shevek, and as soon as I remember what it's called let me know.

Comment by Shevek, 9 days ago

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:06:27 +0000

What is the opposite of a memory?

Comment by gangerh, about 1 month ago

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:44:12 +0000

Just thinking inside the box, and there it was, bilby.

Comment by bilby, about 1 month ago

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:40:03 +0000

Transitape! How did you find that?!

Comment by gangerh, about 1 month ago

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:34:02 +0000

bits of blue holding tape
Generic - transitape.
Brands - Transticky, Bluestick, Stayputty.
Discontinued brand - Stickaround (apparently consumers found it too difficult to remove).

Comment by bilby, about 1 month ago

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:35:25 +0000

Appliances that come new in boxes - uhh, microwave, fridge, printer, that sort of thing - often have little bits of blue tape inside them. The tape is there to hold moving parts in place while the appliance is in transit. When you set up the appliance part of the job is to remove all the bits of blue holding tape. But we can't call them bits of blue holding tape forever! *wails* What are they called?

Comment by Sakhalinskii, 2 months ago

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:45:59 +0000

"Your outrageous retort has disabled my ability to form basic plurals."

Comment by plethora, 2 months ago

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:37:21 +0000

Whistle.

Comment by chained_bear, 2 months ago

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:49:52 +0000

I always say in a peremptory manner, "Yes?!" Because really all they need to hear is a noise indicating there's a sentient being in there. Probably pooping.

I have always thought a ripper fart on command would do the trick very nicely, also.

Comment by Prolagus, 5 months ago

Fri, 02 May 2008 23:17:05 +0000

And of course, yes we have no bananas.

Comment by reesetee, 5 months ago

Fri, 02 May 2008 21:18:20 +0000

Or how about this: "HEY! Get away from me!"

Then there's this: "Why do you hate freedom?"

Comment by trivet, 5 months ago

Fri, 02 May 2008 19:44:12 +0000

Random surprised noises also work quite well, I've found.

Comment by Prolagus, 5 months ago

Fri, 02 May 2008 19:23:00 +0000

So, you never felt the need for a formal code for this kind of event?

(Sorry, gangerh, for showering your email address with notifications)

Comment by dontcry, 5 months ago

Fri, 02 May 2008 19:18:14 +0000

Prego!

Comment by pterodactyl, 5 months ago

Fri, 02 May 2008 19:14:12 +0000

Pro, I usually hear occupied, just a minute, or there's someone in here. But if you want to, you could continue to say occupato -- I bet most Americans would understand it.

Comment by Prolagus, 5 months ago

Fri, 02 May 2008 18:42:00 +0000

Of course from now on I will say you're pooping on my head. Thank you for destroying my social life. :-)

Comment by dontcry, 5 months ago

Fri, 02 May 2008 18:35:37 +0000

Pro, you say one of these: sorry, occupied, just a minute, or my favorite you're pooping on my head. I think there's an Italian phrase for that, but my head's all persimmony right now.

Comment by Prolagus, 5 months ago

Fri, 02 May 2008 18:23:05 +0000

OK, it's my turn.
I need help with English and this is particularly hard to ask to anyone.
You are in a public toilet, but you forgot to lock the door. What do you say when someone from outside puts his/her hand on the handle?
In Italy we say occupato (busy, engaged).

...I fear one day this piece of information could become useful...

Comment by seanahan, 5 months ago

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:46:50 +0000

There have been similar attempts at this kind of thing before, but not in a public manner, What's the word for that?.

Comment by sionnach, 5 months ago

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:33:54 +0000

If it had been a different kind of cereal, fruit loop the loop might have been a possibility.

Comment by Asativum, 5 months ago

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:13:46 +0000

Here's one found in the wild: antiaurosemantonym

You can see it lurking at the top of pulchritude, contributed by logophile, and not far from its tentative definition: a word that sounds unlike its meaning. There's even a reference to skipvia's list on the subject.

Comment by plethora, 5 months ago

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:01:27 +0000

I keep reading ricocereal as "rice-o-cereal" on the comments feed on the homepage and thinking "What has that got to do with anything??" Yes, I'm very smart.

Comment by Asativum, 5 months ago

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 01:36:38 +0000

Hey, I like the simplicity of cereal pinball. But ricocereal has a great ring to it too -- maybe it's the technical term?

But what's the term for something serendipitous that I couldn't have done better if I had tried?

Comment by bilby, 5 months ago

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:00:41 +0000

I think I'm looking for the cereal pinball. Does it make a satisfying splong sound?

Comment by Prolagus, 5 months ago

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:43:58 +0000

Are you looking for a word that describes
1) the cereal pinball
2) the food pinball
3) the whole phenomenon
or
4) other (please specify)?

Comment by mollusque, 5 months ago

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:05:03 +0000

How about ricocereal?

Comment by gangerh, 5 months ago

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:29:22 +0000

At breakfast recently I put my spoon into my bowl of Sugar Puffs and one Sugar Puff, on contact with the spoon, catapulted out of the bowl, flew across the table, rebounded off the teapot with a (very satisfying) ping and finally came to rest beside the butter dish. Something I couldn't have done trying.

There must be a word that describes this kind of phenomenon. All contributions gratefully received, as they say.

Comment by gangerh, 5 months ago

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:23:57 +0000

Know what you want to describe but can't locate a word for it? Let the collective power of Wordies help you. Expect to be amazed at the wit and wisdom that over 7000 minds can bring to your word search. Simply enter your description in the box and click the comment button. You should receive word as soon as one is identified or madeuped. (Much gratitude to Asativum for this solution).