lifehack

Use this forum to suggest Good Words for Professor Beard.
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David McWethy
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lifehack

Postby David McWethy » Sat May 03, 2014 6:58 am

According to Wikipedia,
The American Dialect Society voted lifehack (one word) as the runner-up for "most useful word of 2005" behind podcast. The word was also added to the Oxford Dictionaries Online in June 2011
I'm sure that's true--although after trying for the umpteenth time to get a coherent answer from PayPal, I've found that the most useful word (of any year) to succinctly capture the frustration of the experience is the one that ends the two-word expression which begins with "Well,"!!!
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things...."

Perry Lassiter
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Re: lifehack

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sat May 03, 2014 3:22 pm

Odd. I've gone my whole life without using that word. In fact, I don't remember ever hearing it.
pl

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David McWethy
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Re: lifehack

Postby David McWethy » Sun May 04, 2014 2:10 am

I feel the same way about "podcast", even though apparently Dr. G. has one; thank goodness I have a wonderful and understanding 30-something daughter who does her best to keep me current on the lingo.

It's nonetheless pretty much silk purse & sow's ear territory: I still catch myself getting something from the "ice box", and using the phrase "carriage return" instead of "Enter".

If one is ever siezed by the urge to pass as a rap "music" artist, there's a whole web site (http://www.urbandictionary.com/) with a, yes, Word of the Day, too.

One might think that it would be easy to fake being ignorant and illiterate--being free from the conventions of the English language and endowed with the ability (not to mention the absolute right to give words and phrases whatever meaning one wished to at the moment (such as "phat"). In actuality, however, it increases a whole order of magnitude the unfortunate consequences if one doesn't catch the subtle nuances--such as the difference between "Honey, do you think this dress makes my butt look fat?" and "Honey, do you think this dress makes my butt look phat?"

Armed with this internet resource on the sly, however, one can be the first on the block to know that a "Work Boyfriend" is:
...a favorite...male co-worker who you get along with really well and enjoy spending time with but in a plutonic [sic] way.
There's no way I could make something like that up; check out the site and see for yourself.
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things...."

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call_copse
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Re: lifehack

Postby call_copse » Tue May 06, 2014 7:09 am

BORING! Let's have sex.



(You may be confused if you take that out of context, but that's not my fault :D )
Iain

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call_copse
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Re: lifehack

Postby call_copse » Thu May 08, 2014 7:21 am

Oh, and as we are on the subject of maligning rap I shall just point out that Aesop Rock, a favourite artist of mine, is noted as having a wider vocabulary than Shakespeare or Melville.

http://experiments.undercurrent.com/

I do understand that if you are just familiar with Fifty Cent or similar you may not get my point - but proper hip hop is a long way from that, in the same way that Melville is a long way from Mils and Boon. Here is Aesop in recent action as part of the Uncluded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHYhzg8QWbI&feature=kp
Iain

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David McWethy
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Re: lifehack

Postby David McWethy » Thu May 08, 2014 9:45 am

I included the Urban Dictionary quote with the intent of gently getting my point across without stabbing someone with it: that the word called for was more likely "platonic"--i.e., feelings of affection without any implied progression to include physical or sexual components--rather than "plutonic", generally accepted (by Merriam-Webster Online) to be igneous
formations by solidification of magma deep within the earth and crystalline throughout.
I may be the one with egg on my face, however: If it was the author's intent to describe a relation that appeared to hold forth promise as platonic (but quickly turned into a "match made in Hell"), that zinger went right over my head and "the yolk's on me"!
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things...."


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