Word of the day

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Random, unrelated words

Boffo
- is a term used for describing a play or movie that is very successful- great reviews,
popular with the public, earning lots of money. There is no particular agreement on the
word's origin, but it may be a sort of portmanteau of "box office".

Jet Black- If something is deeply, darkly black, it is sometimes referred to as "jet black".
Jet is a sort of mineral made of highly compressed carbon used in fine jewelry.
It was especially sought after in Victorian times and was the source of Jean Valjean's wealth
in Les Miserables. It is a form of lignite and is deeply black. So if something is "jet black"
it resembles the extreme blackness of the gemstone.

Davit- In some movies like Titanic, or if you have taken a cruise, you may have noticed the
lifeboats hanging from a sort of crane-like device that can, when necessary, swing out and lower them into the ocean.
Those cranes are called davits
 

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Ague (pronounced something like "a-gyou")
is an illness involving fever and shivering, sweating and chills,
and is often associated with malaria. Not used so much in modern times.
 

Bagumbawalla

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Capitulate vs Recapitulate

Capitulate comes from roots meaning "head" or "heading",
In its modern sense it is used to mean giving in under pressure to something
one does not want. similar terms might be surrender, give in, give up, submit, accede,
acquiesce...
Whereas capitulate usually refers to surrender rather than accepting an extreme consequence,
like death or enslavement, other words like accede or acquess usually imply a more
measured balancing of pros and cons.

The general resolved to capitulate rather than engage in a blood-bath that he could not win.

The coach acquiesced and allowed girls to play on his team, when otherwise he would lose half his funding.

Recapitulate does not mean to surrender again. "Heading" is one of the roots of recapitulate.
A document, contract, law, agreement... has information categorized under different headings,
paragraphs and so on. To recapitulate means to repeat the main points of some document, essay,
news item... to summarize and clarify the various points.


mp
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Shrapnel
Is a term that is often misused.
Originally, it was a very specific type of anti-personnel weapon named for its inventor, lieutenant-general Henry Shrapnel,
and has been obsolete since the end of world war one. Basically an artillery shell, after discharge, released a bunch of buckshot-like
"bullets" that went on to do more widespread damage/harm.

Since that time, the projectile is filled with explosive and that explosion sends fragments of the casing (and additional materials)
in all directions to spread death and destruction over a wider area. So, if you are struck by such a weapon it would be more
correct to say that you have been wounded by exploding fragments- rather than shrapnel.

Cruciverbalist
Is a "fancy" word for a person who works on crossword puzzles.

Vested vs Invested
Vested means having a fixed title or given right-such as the right to perform marriages, sell certain commodities, prove ownership
(as in a house or other property.
Through some sight on Google, I have been vested with the right to perform marriages.

Invested (as in invest) means to put money or time into something, such as stock or savings plan or product that you hope earns money in the future.
Early on, I invested in Bitcoin, and now I am set for life.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Some sort-of related words

Tableau
A tableau is a group of motionless figures often depicting a scene from literature, a painting, showing relationships,

interrelationships, like a moment "frozen in time"-sort of like the figures in this paining...


Vignette
A vignette is originally a type of sketch or photograph, often expressing or evoking a mood with
a central image that kind of fades away toward the edges of the frame. The term has come to mean something like
an isolated glimpse of life. so, in a play or a movie, and so on, there can be short scenes or vignettes that,
sort of like a tableau, represent in a visual way inner thoughts, feelings...
A few days ago My wife and I saw the movie Last of the Showgirls. Rather than develop the material with lots of action
and conflicts, we were presented with vignettes that sort of explained how things developed over time to become the way they were.



Collage
A collage is a piece of artwork or decoration made from bits and pieces of paper, newsprint, fabric, and so forth, glued onto
a board or canvas to create a design or express something through juxtaposition.


Montage
Montage is seen in film/movies and is when, instead of shooting a scene in one continuous shot, many short snippets or
fragments are inter-cut together to create a more intense, dramatic effect.


Mise en scene
Mise en scene comes originally from stage plays and describes how prop, characters, backgrounds and so forth
are placed to create a more meaningful arrangement. In movies, also, the juxtaposition and placement of various elements
leads to a better understanding of the directors intentions.


 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Synchronicity
Ok, you are just about to call a friend to see if he can play some tennis, and just as
you are picking up the phone, it begins to "ring". You answer and the person calling you is
the same person you were about to call. Coincidence or synchronicity, and
what's the difference?
I had always used the term to describe a function of the "mind" that finds meaning
in things- the same sort of thing that finds meaning in sounds and scribbles and permits
language to develop, religions to develop, and so on. Jung, the inventor of the term,
described it differently- as "meaningful coincidences" that suggest a deeper, underlying
order in the universe... an acausal connecting principle" between the psyche and the
external world of events- a sort of "cosmic consciousness", or "collective unconscious".

By "collective unconscious" Jung meant something like an invisible, as yet, undetectable
something that is all pervasive- sort of like "dark matter" that connects everything and everyone,
and makes psychic events possible.

Almost everyone except psychics, fortune-tellers, and that sort, rejects Jung's "theory",
but we still have the word in our dictionary- so I suggest using my interpretation- that synchronicity
is basically just human's propensity to make associations and find connections and meanings in things-
even to the extent that we do so sometimes when no connection exists.
 

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Transom
Especially in older movies, you will see someone in a hallway outside someone's door, above the door is a window.
Is that window a transom? Not exactly. The horizontal beam above the door is the transom. The window above it is
the "transom window". Many boats have a transom- a flat or square surface that goes from port to starboard- sometimes
for mounting a motor or mounting a rudder.

Transom windows were used for ventilation in days before air conditioning, and also for natural lighting.

 

Bagumbawalla

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Parlay vs Parley

Parlay
Means to take a small amount of money (or something of little value) and increase its value.
Typically it is used in gambling to describe taking a small amount of money and
by re-betting the winnings, sometimes over and over, into a much larger amount- Parlayed into a small fortune.
It can also be used in a non-gambling sense. A person has a small savings, enough to buy some run-down
apartment building, and, by fix them up, parlay a small savings into a reliable income.

Parley Comes from different roots that mean to speak or discuss. Usually parley is used
when the discussion is between opponents as in- the union representative was sent to parley with the
factory representative in an attempt to gain better working conditions.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Some words about government.

Kakistocracy
is a government of the worst, least qualified, unscrupulous.

Kleptocracy is a government of thieves-who attain power not for the benefit of
the people, but in order to steal from the countries resources with unrestrained political corruption.
As of 2024 The USS was ranked #69 on on a scale of 1-100 of corruption.

Plutocracy is a government of of the wealthy who enter politics to achieve power and further their own self interests.

Oligarchy is similar to a plutocracy where the elite of a country, intellectuals, billionaires, use their power
to promote self-interests.

Ochlocracy is "mob rule" where a weak or corrupt government is confronted by gangs who may fight
corruption, or conversely, indulge in looting and/or killing for their own interests. Gangsters or mobsters,
here in the USA, once controlled city governments through threats, killings, and bribery.

Coulrocacy is basically a "government of clowns".
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Censor----- Censer----- Sensor

Censor-
Censor can be a noun or a verb.
As a noun it is a person who tries to suppress/ban material of various kinds- movies, books, military or political documents, ideas and so forth.
As a verb it is the act, itself, of suppression.

Censer- A censer is a container used for the burning of incense- as part of a religious ceremony, or, maybe, just because you like the smell.

Sensor- A sensor is a device for detecting, measuring, or responding to various stimuli, conditions, or situations.
Many automobiles, for example, have sensors that automatically turn the headlights on or off for the drivers convenience.
 
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