Word Game: Language-Related Clues and Lingustic Q&A

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The discussion revolves around a word-guessing game focused on language and etymology. Participants take turns thinking of language-related words and providing clues for others to guess. The game encourages engagement with linguistic concepts and offers resources for etymology and language exploration. Clues often involve historical or obscure references, leading to discussions about word origins and meanings. Participants share insights on various words, including their roots and connections to different languages, while also addressing challenges in guessing. The conversation highlights the enjoyment of exploring language intricacies and the community's enthusiasm for linguistic topics.
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How to play: Think of a word or something language-related. Give us some clues. If someone guesses it correctly, they go next. Any kinks can be ironed out as they turn up.

Some handy links to get everyone started: http://www.etymonline.com/
http://www.onelook.com/
http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/main.cgi?flags=eygnnnl
http://www.ethnologue.com/family_index.asp
http://cf.linguistlist.org/cfdocs/new-website/LL-WorkingDirs/langres/index.html
_____This English noun made it's way over from India. It refers to a mammal but sounds half-bird, which might explain why its plural is sometimes irregular. _____
P.S. If anyone has any questions about languages or linguistics along the way, please ask. Please! I don't get to talk to others about that kind of stuff enough! :frown: :biggrin:
 
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honestrosewater said:
How to play: Think of a word or something language-related. Give us some clues. If someone guesses it correctly, they go next. Any kinks can be ironed out as they turn up.

Some handy links to get everyone started: http://www.etymonline.com/
http://www.onelook.com/
http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/main.cgi?flags=eygnnnl
http://www.ethnologue.com/family_index.asp
_____


This English noun made it's way over from India. It refers to a mammal but sounds half-bird, which might explain why its plural is sometimes irregular.


_____
P.S. If anyone has any questions about languages or linguistics along the way, please ask. Please! I don't get to talk to others about that kind of stuff enough! :frown: :biggrin:


Mongoose.

This English word, denoting a lung disease, descends from the indo-european word for destruction, and has preserved the difficult IE consonant cluster.
 
I haven't really gotten anywhere with this one. I don't know much about languages or how they've been categorized, so just to clarify, do you mean the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European (PIE) word for destruction? It seems like Indo-European is the family of languages that descended from PIE.?

The difficult consonant cluster is part of the word, right? If so, that's probably the most helpful clue for me. Just looking at some lung diseases, emphysema is the only one that strikes me as having a difficult cluster, /mf/, but the meaning doesn't seem to fit (in fact, the meaning seems to be going in the opposite direction, towards breath and life).

If no one else steps in, I'd probably need another clue...

BTW, how did you get my clue so quickly? That was really fast. :approve:
 
Hmm.. I think another clue might be needed here.

(Good game by the way!)
 
matthyaouw said:
Hmm.. I think another clue might be needed here.
(Good game by the way!)


Starts with a p and is just about but not quite obsolete.
 
pforgotten??
That's a difficult conconant cluster at least.
 
I am going to give it up tomorrow. Any more tries?
 
Pneumonia? I was going to guess that, but I was thinking pronunciation instead of spelling. Argh.
 
I was going to guess pneumonia as well, but couldn't see where the "decends from IE word meaning destruction" and "just about but not quite obsolete" hints come in.
 
  • #11
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  • #12
honestrosewater said:
Cool. So do you want to go again?

OK. In geology it denotes something red, but in Heraldry it means green.
 
  • #13
Wild guess, vermillion?
 
  • #14
I'm thinking something realating to "haem"?
 
  • #15
Vert? Verdigris??
That's about the associations I get from "green+heraldry".
No connection that I know of to geology, though..
 
  • #16
I found it, but half by accident, with a little too much google for it to be considered 'fair play' so I'll leave others to guess. No one is close yet.
 
  • #17
Hint. Although "vert" is the usual word for green in English heraldry, historically there were also other words, and modern heraldists have to know them to interpret old blazons (BTW, a blazon is a formal description in specialized language of a coat of arms).
 
  • #18
Had to Google too much to be fair about it, but it is a very obscure word, so perhaps we'll let it slip if too much time passes. It's be a sin to let such a possibly entertaining game die for lack of participation.
 
  • #19
The word is http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sinople" .

In the 16th century a fad for describing nobles' arms, as distinguished from knights' and commoners' with special terms introduced sinople and other outre words into heraldry. Although righteously scornful of such foolishness, modern armorists have retained the words in their vocabulary.
 
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  • #20
selfAdjoint said:
The word is http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sinople" .
In the 16th century a fad for describing nobles' arms, as distinguished from knights' and commoners' with special terms introduced sinople and other outre words into heraldry. Although righteously scornful of such foolishness, modern armorists have retained the words in their vocabulary.
Yep! But like Matt, I had to Google around to find it. If I may offer a word (and this will be a real easy one for someone!)
Shoe for a destructive anti-revolutionary.
 
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  • #21
Sabot...
 
  • #22
AKG said:
Sabot...
Bingo. When the industrial revolution hit France, laborers would throw wooden clogs (sabots) into the carved and hand-fitted wooden cog-wheels and bust things up pretty badly. The labor movement (peasants doing hand-work being put out of work by mills) was pretty strong. This is the root of the word saboteur.
 
  • #23
Yup, I learned that from watching Star Trek probably 10 years ago. I don't know if this will be any good:

a machine designed to fly by flapping mechanical wings
 
  • #24
ornithopter
 
  • #25
yeah, I didn't think it would be a good one... your go I guess.
 
  • #26
A loud flying bug.
 
  • #27
Hint: wizard
 
  • #28
Hint: Name of a house.
 
  • #29
One more hint: Potter
 
  • #30
Bumblebee? (through Dumbledore, wizard in the Harry Potter books). But then it could be a dor (June bug) too.
 
  • #31
You got it - dumbledore. A pretty archaic word - I wonder how JK Rowling came across it...
 
  • #32
Well I can't honestly claim it since I only used Dumbledore as a clue and didn't realize it was the word!
 
  • #33
I seem to recall that J.R.R. Tolkien used "dumbledore" for bumblebee in one of his poems.

But then again, he loved archaic words, calling spiders addercups on occasion..
 
  • #34
Since SA has declined, may I offer another, easier word?
hide or exude
 
  • #35
turbo-1 said:
Since SA has declined, may I offer another, easier word?
hide or exude

Could it be secrete?
 
  • #36
selfAdjoint said:
Could it be secrete?
Yep! The honor is yours...
 
  • #37
turbo-1 said:
Yep! The honor is yours...

Just a quicky, stuck speedy.
 
  • #38
How about "fast"
 
  • #39
turbo-1 said:
How about "fast"

Absolutely right! Your turn.
 
  • #40
Here's another:

stinky order
 
  • #41
hint: grade
 
  • #42
hint: put a comma between "stinky" and "order"
 
  • #43
I don't really know what you're looking for, but does it have something to do with rank?
 
  • #44
Rank is the word. You're on deck.
 
  • #45
Woohoo! Okay, try this one.

In this language, English speakers might refer to themselves with disgust if they mispronounce this sound. (So what's the language and one of the names of the sound?)
 
  • #46
How about "Feh!" = Yiddish interjection.
 
  • #47
turbo-1 said:
How about "Feh!" = Yiddish interjection.
No, but that's interesting. The sound I'm thinking of is part of a very common word that literally refers to the person who says it.
 
  • #48
It's a Germanic language.
 
  • #49
English speakers might refer to themselves with disgust if they mispronounce this sound.
This is confusing to me. If it's a sound, I am guessing that means one syllable? :confused:

Then how can one refer to oneself with disgust in one syllable.

I can think of something like 'blech', but I am probably in the wrong direction.

or do you mean 'Ich' (Deutsch) pronounced as 'Ick'?
 
  • #50
Astronuc said:
or do you mean 'Ich' (Deutsch) pronounced as 'Ick'?
Yep, I was thinking of the voiceless palatal fricative [ç] in the German word ich (I) being pronounced as a [k], giving English ick. Several things seem to come together to make it a common mistake. I just made (and am still making when not careful) the mistake myself. :biggrin:

Your turn. :smile:
 
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