Category Archives: words

medical, sexuality, words

Sense is Coming

At last people are beginning to wake up to what I’ve been saying for many years: we would all be healthier (mentally and physically) if we were OK with talking about body parts, bodily functions and sexuality.

In a Guardian article last week Nicola Heath says Our collective reluctance to say “vagina” shrouds women’s bodies – and their sexuality – in shame. The article goes on to say:

How are women supposed to talk about their health or sexuality if the anatomically correct words used to describe their body parts are taboo?
… … …
A 2015 survey in the UK revealed that 66% of women aged 18 to 24 avoided going to the doctor to talk about gynaecological issues altogether.
… … …
[Doctors] have to spend valuable consultation time trying to get [women] to specify which bit of their genitalia they are [actually] talking about.
… … …
Our unwillingness to correctly label female anatomy contributes to other problems, including a “pleasure gap” that sees men’s sexual needs prioritised over women’s.
… … …
[T]eachers admitted they were willing to say the word “penis” and talk about male masturbation, but none were comfortable talking about vaginas and female pleasure in the same way.
… … …
It’s also essential for kids to know how to talk about their bodies. Sexual health educators argue that teaching children anatomically correct terms for their body parts – genitals included – helps reduce shame and gives them the language they need …
… … …
So, familiarise yourself with the correct terms for the human body’s reproductive bits … After all, knowledge is power.

And actually also because this is in everyone’s interest.

words

Word: Plagate

Plagate

1. Having plagæ, or irregular elongated colour spots.
2. Having a stripe or stripes.

According to the OED the derivation is post-classical Latin use of classical Latin plāga blow, stroke, wound, gash, or a parallel formation, with the first English use being in 1890.

natural history, words

Word: Mollipilose

Mollipilose

Having a fur or plumage that is soft or fine; fleecy, fluffy, downy.


Barn Owl (Tyto alba). If you’ve ever met a Barn Owl up close
you’ll understand why I choose this to illustrate
mollipilose: their feathers are just unbelievably soft,
which is why they are so silent in flight.

A surprisingly late first usage in 1890 which is derived from the Latin mollis, soft + pilus, hair.

H/T @HaggardHawks

words

Word: Vulpeculated

Vulpeculated

Robbed by a fox.

Derived from the Latin vulpēcula, diminutive of vulpēs, a fox.

Although the OED records the first use in 1672, the word is said now to be obsolete.

food+drink, words

Word: Quafftide

Quafftide

The time, or season, for a drink.
That time at the end of a long day when you can finally collapse and raise a glass.

Literally: drinking-time.

The OED says it is obsolete and rare with the first usage recorded in 1582. But what a superb word, which deserves better than being obsolete and rare, because … well, isn’t it always quafftide?

H/T @susie_dent

science, words

Word: Olericulture

Olericulture

The cultivation of edible plants, especially leafy vegetables and herbs.
The branch of horticulture that specializes in the cultivation of edible plants.

The word is a Latin derivative, recorded by the OED as first used in 1886.

words

Word: Idiorhythmic

Idiorhythmic

Where each subject lives according to his/her own rhythm.
Allowing each member to regulate his or her own life; allowing freedom to the individual.

From the Byzantine Greek ἰδιόρρυθμος; idio- (self) with rhythm.
Used originally (in 1862, says the OED) and chiefly of monastic institutions.

words

Word: Semasiographic

Semasiographic

I came across this word in an article on Inca khipus, in the current issue of New Scientist [paywall]. As this is a word I’d not previously encountered it is lucky the author explained it as a system of symbols that convey information without being tied to a single language.

Various authors on Quora provide the following explanations:

Semasiographic stems from the Greek word “semasia”, which means “meaning”. A semasiographic system of communication is the way in which the meaning of something is conveyed by signs, pictures, or icons rather than by words, sounds, or speech . . . Most semasiographic systems of communication can be used in many different countries regardless of language because if the cultures have similar practices, like those with airports, vehicles, or public transportation, then they will be able to understand the meaning of what is being represented in an icon or some sort of notation.

and . . .

Emoji would be a good example of a semasiographic text. I don’t think I can insert them here like on a phone, but if I wrote something like “<3 ;)", it's completely understandable to those who know modern internet slang, but can't really be expressed with words. "Heart wink" really doesn't cut it. Notably it's cross-linguistic, in that any internet user would understand it the same way, no matter what language they used to describe the "heart" and "wink" emoticons.

and . . .

A commonly cited example of a semasiographic system is road signs, which are similar across almost all countries but require no linguistic knowledge – you may call a yield sign something else in your language, but it will continue to mean “wait for traffic to pass”.

and . . .

Usually the word refers to picture-based writing systems, like Mayan hieroglyphs:

or Egyptian hieroglyphs:

or in the case of the New Scientist article, Inca khipus.

Incidentally the word does not appear in the OED online to which I have access.

history, words

Word: Khipu

1 Comment

Khipu

Pronounced “key-poo”.

A device consisting of cords or threads of different colours arranged and knotted in various ways, used originally by the Incas of Peru and the surrounding areas for recording events, keeping accounts, sending messages, etc.

So basically this is the old Inca system of recording using intricately connected, coloured and knotted cords. This included numerical recording using a decimal number system, and it is now being thought was also textual as well as numeral. There’s an interesting article on this in the current issue of New Scientist [paywall].

The word has multiple origins being partly a borrowing from Spanish and partly Quechua. It arrived in English, via the Spanish, around 1580.

words

Work: Sortition

Sortition

The casting or drawing of lots; selection, choice, or determination by lot.
An act or instance of determining by lot.
And thus by extension: The ancient art of choosing members of government by lottery, as practised by the ancient Athenians and still in our modern jury system.

Derived from the Latin sortitio, from sortiri to cast lots.

The OED tells us the first recorded use in English was in 1597.