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

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a word game focused on language-related clues and linguistic questions. Participants share clues about words, engage in guessing, and explore the etymology and meanings of various terms, including those from different languages and historical contexts.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant introduces a word game involving clues about language-related words, encouraging others to participate and ask questions about linguistics.
  • Another participant attempts to guess a word related to a lung disease, questioning the clues provided and seeking clarification on the consonant cluster mentioned.
  • Several participants express the need for additional clues to aid in guessing, indicating uncertainty about the hints given.
  • Discussion includes various guesses for words based on clues, with some participants noting the difficulty of the clues and the need for fair play in guessing.
  • Participants explore the historical context of words like "sinople" in heraldry and its obscure nature, with some expressing frustration over the difficulty of the game.
  • There are multiple guesses for words related to the clues, with some participants referencing their sources or prior knowledge of the terms.
  • One participant mentions the connection between the word "sabot" and its historical context during the industrial revolution, explaining its etymology.
  • Another participant brings up the word "dumbledore," linking it to J.R.R. Tolkien and discussing its archaic usage.
  • Participants continue to share clues and guesses, with some expressing confusion over the intended meanings and sounds referenced in the clues.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the format of the game and the sharing of clues, but there is no consensus on some of the specific words or meanings being discussed, leading to multiple competing guesses and interpretations.

Contextual Notes

Some clues are noted to be particularly obscure or difficult, leading to reliance on external sources for guesses. The discussion reflects varying levels of familiarity with linguistic terminology and historical context.

  • #121
Correct prefix.
The coiner also used the term 'instress' to describe how this impluse escapes from the things of the landscape.
 
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  • #122
fi said:
This word is derived from 2 O.E. words. The meaning of the word created is about entry to the meaning of things created.

"-spiration" is not O.E.; it is of latin origin ("Dum spiro spero").
 
  • #123
would anyone care to take the next turn?
Maybe there are no great Gerard Manley Hopkins fans here, or maybe no great fans of bad clues!:smile:
The word he coined was 'inscape'.
 
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  • #124
If no one else is going...

Originally from latin words meaning a member of a lower class, this word now means quite the opposite.
 
  • #125
proletariat?
I'm never sure of its meaning usually, nor its spelling!
 
  • #126
Nope. The word isn't a direct opposite of lower class, but rather something relating to the opposite, usually with negative connotations.
 
  • #127
are you thinking of hoi polloi? That's Greek, not Latin, and its literal meaning is the people - the masses, as it were. But it's sometimes used today to refer to snooty upper classes. Not by anybody who knows any Greek, though.
 
  • #128
Nope, that's not it either.
 
  • #129
clique, mayhap? Or clientele?
 
  • #130
Nope.
When adopted into English, the word first meant a member of the lower class who aspires to be a member of a higher class.
 
  • #131
Was the original word "upstartius"?? :confused:
 
  • #132
How about aspirant?
 
  • #133
Nope. The original latin was sine nobilitate.
 
  • #134
ignoble - darn
 
  • #135
Nope. The word is an abbreviation of the original latin.
 
  • #136
got to be "snob"
 
  • #137
Bingo. (I hoped someone would get it there. I'd ran out of clues!)
 
  • #138
This is an old weapon with a name derived from a stinky French word.
 
  • #139
Used for breaching gates and doors.
 
  • #140
A Ram, or battering ram?
 
  • #141
turbo-1 said:
This is an old weapon with a name derived from a stinky French word.


Petard, an ancestor of the satchel charge. The engineer in Shakespeare who was "hoist with his own petard" was not raised gently; he was blown up. Petard means "fart" in French.
 
  • #142
Good job, selfAdjoint! I should have known that someone here would have been fascinated enough with that Hamlet quote to look it up. Give us your best.
 
  • #143
A nice little detour for you word-hounds...Mel Brooks wrote (and took) the character "Governor Le Petomane" for the incomparable movie Blazing Saddles. You might want to Google "Le Petomane" to see why. The guy was out-drawing Europe's biggest stars in the late 19th/early 20th C.
 
  • #144
selfAdjoint said:
Petard means "fart" in French.

Petard does not mean fart in modern french. "Pet" means fart. In french petard is define as a small explosive devise, a cigarettes, a joint and in very rare occasion your bum. Also, petard is a quebec slang term for a very good looking guy.
 
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  • #145
iansmith said:
Petard does not mean fart in modern french. "Pet" means fart. In french petard is define as a small explosive devise, a cigarettes, a joint and in very rare occasion your bum. Also, petard is a quebec slang term for a very good looking guy.
Thanks, iansmith. If I recall, at the time the word was grabbed by Shakespeare, "peter" meant to fart in French. As an infrequent visitor to PQ, I have never heard petard used to describe a really hot dude, but then again, I tend to hang with the bikers whose total command of English can be "smoke show!" (rear tire burn-off). :smile:
 
  • #146
OK, here's an easy one. Two words, antonyms, differing only in the transposition of two letters.
 
  • #147
We might need a hint. Also, do the transposed letters have to be contiguous, or can they come from different parts of the word, like garbed and barged?
 
  • #148
The words should probably be classified as "almost" antonyms or "antonyms in some useages". The letters are contiguous.
 
  • #149
One last hint. One of the words is a rather specialized one, but turns up often here at PF; the other is in common general use.
 
  • #150
clueless! perhaps one more hint?
 

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