Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with vocabulary

In a word "jealous anger"

ptm — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:49:29 -0800

Looking for a word that expresses "jealous anger" My daughter asked me "What's a word for jealous and acting angry about it for everything else in life? Like bitter or something." I couldn't come up with anything beyond concupiscible which doesn't quite do it for me. What comes to my mind is a word that describes how Dick Cheney looks most of the time. Any help would be appreciated.

How do I set up a simple database for vocabulary terms?

washburn — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:07:02 -0800

How do I make a database of vocabulary terms and definitions to use for teaching? What software, settings, etc. should I use? I teach college level courses in the humanities, and my students are often responsible for learning a range of terms and definitions.

So, I'd like to compile a database of terms and their corresponding definitions. This database could then, theoretically, be used in generating quizzes, exams, and review sheets that I could give to my students. What would be the best software and procedures to accomplish this?

Is Microsoft Access the way to go? If so, as one who hasn't used Access before, where can I find a quick tutorial to help me learn how to best set up this type of simple database up and occasionally import some of its contents to Word?

A few considerations:

*I use Microsoft Word 2003. Items should be easy to import into Word and be saved as part of exams that include other non-vocab related sections.

*A feature of lesser importance (but still nice) would be an ability to tag terms, to indicate what sorts of subject matter they relate to.

*I'm not a programmer, so the simpler the better.

Thanks for any advice.

Is there a word for this situation?

jenfullmoon — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:49:42 -0800

Is there a word that describes a situation where you *technically* have free will, but don't REALLY have the option to choose otherwise? My friend who went to Catholic school told me there was a word for this, but she can't remember what it is, and Googling "free will" or "Catholic" or both or whatnot isn't cutting it.

I'm thinking along the lines of a person having a vocation or calling. Being called to be a priest/nun is an example, or if you're Buffy. TECHNICALLY they have free will and can choose not to become one, but for all intents and purposes, once they've been chosen, they can't really duck that destiny.

Mainly I just find it irritating that someone could claim they have free will in that sort of situation, when it seems to me like they don't REALLY have it. And it seems like there should be a word for that!

Help me find a word

arcticwoman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:01:28 -0800

Is there a term which people use to explain why people behave badly/differently in unfamiliar surroundings? For example, tourists behaving badly on vacations.

Jesus was ______ by two thieves while being crucified.

Lutoslawski — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:06:56 -0800

HelpMeThinkOfThisWordFilter: Jesus was ______ by two thieves while being crucified. I can hardly believe I'm using a question for this, but this evasive word has gotten so close to the tip of my tongue that I'm reaching desperation.

I'm looking for a word that refers to two things that lie on both sides of another thing. For example, Monday and Wednesday _______ Tuesday; or Monday and Wednesday are the ______ days in relation to Tuesday; or perhaps Tuesday is _____ by Monday and Wednesday.

I'm not looking for something like circumscribe or surround - the word I'm thinking of does not refer to something circular but rather two distinct things, one on each side of a middle thing.

Please hope my foggy brain, AskMe!!!

Help figure out this modifier of the word "mentality", which may be phonetically similar to "sinded".

Roach — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:27:15 -0800

Help figure out this modifier of the word "mentality", which may be phonetically similar to "sinded". Yesterday, I received this email from a friend of mine who occasionally calls on me for these sorts of things. I'm stumped! After rolling around with it using a couple of possible pronunciations, I've still got nothin'. Any love?

Okay John, I can always count on you for these things...I am trying to figure out the spelling of the following word "sinded" as in sinded mentality. It is not a word I am familiar with and I can't find it on Websters site no matter how I spell it. Any ideas?

Controlled vocabularies for photos

pahool — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:33:50 -0800

I'm looking for controlled vocabularies to describe photographic images. I need to do a comparison of several different ones for a library science class in vocabulary building. I've already taken a look at the Thesaurus for Graphic Materials and The Controlled Vocabulary Keyword Catalog and I'm looking for a few more. They can be print or electronic resources and they don't need any particular type of formatting or compatibility. Anyone have any experience with controlled vocabularies for describing photographic images or any suggestions?

Is there an adverbial form of the word 'smellable'?

voronoi — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:41:10 -0800

Is there a good adverbial form of the word 'smellable'? I'm looking for a word that functions with respect to the olfactory sense in the same way as 'visibly' does with respect to the visual sense.

In other words, I want to be able to say 'he was smellably drunk' in the same way as 'he was visibly drunk'.

If this doesn't exist in English I would be really curious to know of versions of this in other languages. Actually I'm interested in this whether or not this exists in English.

Less Than Total RecallFilter: What's the Word I'm Thinking Of?

foxy_hedgehog — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:37:27 -0800

Holy vocabulary crisis, Batman! My thirty-something brain has gone soft and I forgot a word I used to know. Can you help? It's a word for presenting or seeing something as better than it is. It's not optimistic, or pollyan-aish. It's in some tip-of-my-tongue classified department of my brain right now and I can't get it back. I have a feeling in may end in "istic" but I am not sure.

Oh god the agony. Thanks so much for any and all thoughts.

Looking for an obscure word

ubiquity — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:23:40 -0800

What is the name for the little notch at the bottom of one's neck between the clavicles? That is, the area directly under the 12 in this picture?

talk dirty to me.

violetk — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:35:04 -0800

lexiconFilter: what are some words that sound really gross even as you are saying them? the most prime example of this that always strikes me is "moist." just saying it makes feel icky. another one is "salve." what other words do you find as equally unpleasant to pronounce?

What do you call the sun shining through clouds?

Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:17:57 -0800

What is the term for the depiction in art of the sun's rays shining through or behind clouds? This phenomenon. Sometimes believed to be a form of theophany. Wikipedia has an article about it, but I can't remember the name to look it up. Thank you.

Term to describe those people who ruin it for the rest.

fizzix — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:33:46 -0800

vocab-filter: Is there a vocabulary word or term to describe a service or an act of generosity that is ceased by its maintainers because a small, select group broke the rules ?
(Anecdote: I became inspired to ask this question, after hearing that city-maintained recycling bins were removed at a location because people were dumping non-recyclables in and around the bins. I am writing about the issue in my blog and became curious about this).

Additionally, would there a different term if a majority of people were not following the rules, as opposed to just a small, select few ?

I first thought that this would be a tragedy of the commons but I found it to be different because there is not a finite resource (i.e. clean water) that is being exploited.

What word have I forgotten?

mllrstvn — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:48:55 -0800

Help me remember an adjective meaning extremely gifted, normally applied to a child. It's not anything obvious. :( Okay, bedtime was an hour ago, and almost as soon as my head hit the pillow, my lines of thinking were disrupted by not remembering a word. Between now and then, I've struggled and strained to try and come up with the missing term, but it's just not happening.

The word I have in mind (or not in mind, I guess) almost always applies to children. It's an adjective and means the individual to which it applies has especially strong talents in a given area -- or perhaps even in all areas. I've read through articles on "giftedness," "savant," and "wunderkind" in hopes of finding the missing word used, but unfortunately all such efforts have been for naught.

I'm not sure if this helps, but a sentence in which this word would be found is "Timmy was a very xxxxx boy and thus had difficulty making friends." For some reason I'm thinking it may sound similar to either "coquettish" or "obsolescence," but at this point that may be nothing over and above wishful thinking. Additionally, my memory-spelunking adventures keep being undone by the word "prodigal," which isn't at all related to "prodigy."

Please come up with the answer so I can go to sleep! Thanks!

What are the most common 20% of words in any language?

jinatrix — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:11:11 -0800

What are the most common 20% of words in any language? In the interests of accelerated language learning, it would be useful to know the 20% or so of the words in any language that are used 80% or the time (Pareto's principle).

Trying to find a list of the most commonly used words - either a general list for all languages, or if there are lists for specific languages, even better

Dummy = Duddy?

rom1 — Mon, 25 May 2009 23:54:07 -0800

For some reason, I have always thought that one common name for a "pacifier" or "dummy" was "duddy" (I am not a native English speaker). Is this word used anywhere? Is the spelling correct? I can't find really any reference to it on the web.

My grandmother had a stroke and I'm looking for lists of practical words to put on flashcards for her.

hypervenom — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:16:07 -0800

My grandmother had a stroke and I'm looking for lists of practical words to put on flashcards for her. I'm having a hard time finding vocabulary words she'd actually use. Mostly nouns, but important things like "yes" or "no" too.

Where's my jetpack?!

Ambrosia Voyeur — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:16:42 -0800

Is there a better word for this notion than "futurism?" What's the best word or phrase to connote desire for the idealized future -- that romantic, superficial imagining of things to come which is the flipside of nostalgia?

It's what can make science fiction and utopia/dystopia fantasy stories so alluring, can make you cry "where's my jetpack?!" but isn't confined to mere technophilia.

In the paper I'm writing, I'm using "futurism" to describe the visual style of the film a lot, so I'd like to have another, distinct term to describe the motivation of looking into the future with hopeful, fantastic, or romantic imagination. I figure maybe one of you smart sci-fi literate cookies might have figured this out by now.

Arguments for why "utopianism" or "futurism," etc. are actually the best options are completely welcome to me.

ESL Textbook Recommendations

sdis — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 17:22:37 -0800

ESL Textbook Recommendations, anyone? I'm starting to teach English to some private students and to a few classes. With my private student, I'm going through my teaching resources relatively quickly, and I'm going to need some new resources relatively soon. I'm in the states for a couple of weeks and figure that this is a good opportunity to buy a textbook or two and use it to help build lesson plans.

My lessons have currently been broken up as follows, which has turned out very nicely so far:
A. 10 minutes: Review of previous lesson
B. 20 minutes: Lesson on English in some new context: How to talk about locations of objects, how to do introductions, how to talk about your family, etc. Currently using http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/Teacher/sectiontwo/sectionII.html lessons
C. 10 minutes: Accent elimination work, etc (My private student is Korean)
D. 20 minutes: Grammar lesson: working on some verb tense

I need good source material primarily for topic B. Any ideas or recommendations?

Jumpman? Who the F@&% is Jumpman!?!

SinisterPurpose — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:15:37 -0800

If you're old enough to remember NES and SEGA, What words do you think of when you reflect on your youthful gaming? I'm trying to collect a vocabulary of early gaming. What words do you associate with those early days of ooey gooey 8-bit goodness?

Search your memories for these words which will forever be ingrained into your gaming DNA. I very much appreciate the participation of all.

*No points for up up down down left left right right A B A B Select Start.*

What'd this Brit just say?

hobbes — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:13:24 -0800

Having trouble making out a word in this narration: "An odious (?) collection of moves?" MP3 link (@ 0:10) And for those interested, the voice is John Redhead's from the recent climbing movie On-Sight.

Thanks MeFi.

Good examples of intercultural communications based on ideograms or common concepts?

Bio11 — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:13:04 -0800

Good examples of intercultural communications based on ideograms or common concepts? I'm not working in this field and I need very comprehensive examples, or descriptive experiments. I'm wondering what kind of grammar would be involved between an english and a mandarin speaker, for instance. Regarding the vocabulary used, what would be a bare minimum (In term of quantity and precision?)
Online resources arewelcome, of course. Thanks.

A word for Greek voyeurism?

Tufa — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:44:39 -0800

There is a Greek word which describes a preference for voyeurism over participation in sexual activities. What is it? (It may involve small boys.)

Describe 'legalese' in a word.

xanthippe — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 07:39:08 -0800

Describe 'legalese' in a word. How do lawyers write - in a pithy adjective or two?

They are precise, grammatical, wordy, meticulous; people find their writing a bit boring and tedious to read, but at the same time the exactitude and accuracy of every phrase is clearly a standard of quality in the legal profession.

I need to capture both aspects of this in a couple adjectives for an essay, describing the aspects of 'legalese' that are commonly disdained with a more positive, appreciative connotation. Brainstorm please!

Better synonyms needed

ricochet biscuit — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:54:23 -0800

Vocabularyfilter: I am looking for some near-synonyms for "binary" and "analog" but without the techie sheen those both have. For a checklist of questions, I need a way to distinguish between two types of questions: some of the items are answerable by a simple "yes or no" while others have a spectrum of responses, each worth a certain value on a numerical scale. That is to say, if questions are worth five points each, some will be scored only zero or five (the "yes or no" items), while other items might get a two or a four or a one. The placeholder terms I am using right now are "yes or no" and "rateable," but I am sure there must be more elegant terms than these.