ghoppe

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	7,855 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	2 years, 6 months
11225 badges		location	Saskatoon, Canada		seen	2 hours ago

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Aug 20	comment	Word for an object's “desire” +1 for the layman answer. As much as I love esoteric words, invite or suggest will be more widely understood than affordance.
Aug 7	awarded	Nice Answer
Jul 6	awarded	Nice Answer
Jun 18	comment	Less vulgar synonyms for “circlejerk” @stephanie Again, it's all about tone. If said with a jocular tone and a chuckle, even circle jerk wouldn't sound particularly forceful.
Jun 18	comment	Less vulgar synonyms for “circlejerk” @Stephanie It also depends on tone and context, of course. In my opinion, if someone said "If you're finished patting each other on the back…" in a meeting I was part of, I would receive quite a direct message. This is not a particularly polite or weakly-worded thing to say in my view, and the meaning is clear: you've all been blowing hot air and discussing unimportant things.
Jun 15	comment	Less vulgar synonyms for “circlejerk” I think this works best as a substitute, and would have a similar level of admonishment without the vulgarity.
Jun 15	comment	Less vulgar synonyms for “circlejerk” @Stephanie Aren't the connotations for any non-vulgar alternative to a vulgar phrase by definition weaker?
May 22	awarded	Enlightened
May 2	awarded	Pundit
Apr 26	comment	A word for showing a bit of anger that you are not satisfied with what is offered? I agree with @emragins “Thanks for nothing.” is dripping with contempt.
Apr 19	comment	Verb for increasing the vertical dimension of a space? @MonicaCellio In that case, what's wrong with enlarging? I mean, it's pretty obvious from that context and physical dimensions of trucks and tunnels that the trucks won't get wedged in by the sides. ;)
Apr 19	comment	Verb for increasing the vertical dimension of a space? While this sort of question is often an interesting thought experiment, most of the time I'm left thinking “why is a single word required?” I would just say they are increasing the clearance of the tunnel.
Apr 5	revised	What's the origin of the word “geezer”? deleted 18 characters in body
Apr 5	answered	What's the origin of the word “geezer”?
Mar 12	comment	Origin of the expression “being cagey about something” @FumbleFingers I that that sense is clearly the scottish slang I linked above meaning "in good spirits, brisk, lively". A magpie with a worm is decidedly happy. :)
Mar 12	comment	Origin of the expression “being cagey about something” @FumbleFingers After reading the previous page of that Gilchrist reference, it occurs to me that he need not be referencing Cluny. I think it's pretty explicit what he's talking about, in context. He writes on page 91: “… my then projected editorial lucubrations, must long ere now have consigned me to an iron cage, not quite so convenient or agreeable for its captive starling, as the extensive wire works which cover the roof my house, are for their various tenants.”
Mar 12	comment	Origin of the expression “being cagey about something” @FumbleFingers Both "Banker" and "Starlings" are used as proper nouns, referring to a particular archetypal person "the Banker" and his particular pet birds. (Also, it used to be common to capitalize a species name in English.) I maintain that "Cagey" is referring to a particular place (in this case, Cluny's Cage) — skimming through his writing it doesn't seem he capitalizes at random.
Mar 12	comment	Origin of the expression “being cagey about something” I did a bit more research on possible scottish origins of "cagey" and found this which explains cagey and meikle but doesn't have anything to do with evasiveness or going into hiding.
Mar 12	comment	Origin of the expression “being cagey about something” @FumbleFingers I don't think Gilchrist was using the word "Cagey" in the modern sense. The word is capitalized and italicized, so it seems to reference a particular place. Later in the sentence he speaks of living in Burdy House which is a place of captivity/purgatory. Gilchrist is Scottish. I think it's quite likely he was referring to Macpherson of Cluny, who during the Jacobite uprising of 1745 hid in a cave at Ben Alder (his "cage") for 8 years. Perhaps the modern meaning "evasive" is ultimately related to this "go into hiding" sense used by Scottish immigrants to the USA…
Mar 12	comment	Word for parent of a single child? The only problem I have with this construction is that it is often used to mean something that was in the past, but is no longer. A "one-time" mother could be a mother who has lost her child, or who for some reason no longer acts as a mother or is estranged.