interrobang

The interrobang, also known as the interabang, (/ɪnˈtɛrəbæŋ/), ‽ (often represented by ?! or !?), is a nonstandard punctuation mark used in various written languages and intended to combine the functions of the question mark (also called the “interrogative point”) and the exclamation mark or exclamation point (known in printers’ jargon as the “bang”). . The glyph is a superimposition of these two marks. It is present in Unicode as U+203D ‽ interrobang.

Congener

Congener (from Latin congener "of the same race or kind," from com- "together" + gener-, stem of genus "kind") has several different meanings depending on the field in which it is used. Colloquially, it is used to mean a person or thing like another, in character or action.

In biology, congeners are organisms within the same genus. A related term -- referring to members of the same species -- is conspecific.

In chemistry, congeners are related chemicals, e.g., elements in the same group of the periodic table, or derivatives thereof.

In the alcoholic beverages industry, congeners, also known as fusel oils, are substances produced during fermentation

Crudités

Crudités are traditional French appetizers comprising sliced or whole raw vegetables which are sometimes dipped in a vinaigrette or other dipping sauce. Crudités often include celery sticks, carrot sticks, bell pepper strips, broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus spears; sometimes olives depending on local customs.

The French word "crudité", which designates uncooked vegetables, originates in much the same way as the English word "crude," from Latin. The Latin word "crūdus" simply means raw. Later, it was refined to "crūditās", which means "undigested food" and then on to "crudité" in French.

Misophonia

Misophonia, literally “hatred of sound,” is a form of decreased sound tolerance. It is characterized by negative experiences resulting only from specific sounds, whether loud or soft, and is often used interchangeably with the term Selective Sound Sensitivity. The term was coined by American neuroscientists Pawel Jastreboff and Margaret Jastreboff.

Unlike hyperacusis, misophonia is specific for certain sounds. Little is known about the anatomical location of the physiological abnormality that causes such symptoms but it is most likely high central nervous system structures. It is believed to result from abnormally strong connections between the autonomic and limbic systems in the brain, rather than over-activity of the auditory system. A subcortical route within non-classical auditory pathways may be indicated in the condition. Misophonia appears to reflect the auditory symptoms of sensory processing disorder, which typically presents in multiple sensory modes, but more research is needed to understand if, or how the conditions may be related.

polynuclear

polynuclear

1. having multiple nuclei

Aryan

Aryan /ˈɛərjən/ is an English language loanword derived from the Sanskrit ārya ('Noble'). In present-day academia, the terms "Indo-Iranian" and "Indo-European" have, according to many, made most uses of the term 'Aryan' minimal, and 'Aryan' is now mostly limited to its appearance in the term "Indo-Aryan" to represent (speakers of) North, West and Central Indian languages.

Western notions of an "Aryan race" rose to prominence in late-19th and early-20th century racialist thought, an idea most notably embraced by Nazi ideology (see master race). The Nazis believed that the "Nordic peoples" (who were also referred to as the "Germanic peoples") represent an ideal and "pure race" that was the purest representation of the original racial stock of those who were then called the Proto-Aryans. The Nazis declared that the Nordics were the true Aryans because they claimed that they were more "pure" (less racially mixed with non-native Indo-European peoples) than other people of what were then called the Aryan peoples (now generally called the Indo-European peoples).

chattel

chattel (plural chattels)

1. Tangible, movable property.
2. A slave.

Filk

Filk is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction/fantasy fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has been active since the early 1950s, and played primarily since the mid-1970s. The term (originally a typographical error) predates 1955.

Leidenfrost effect

The Leidenfrost effect is a phenomenon in which a liquid, in near contact with a mass significantly hotter than the liquid's boiling point, produces an insulating vapor layer which keeps that liquid from boiling rapidly. This is most commonly seen when cooking; one sprinkles drops of water in a skillet to gauge its temperature—if the skillet's temperature is at or above the Leidenfrost point, the water skitters across the metal and takes longer to evaporate than it would in a skillet that is above boiling temperature, but below the temperature of the Leidenfrost point. The effect is also responsible for the ability of liquid nitrogen to skitter across floors. It has also been used in some potentially dangerous demonstrations, such as dipping a wet finger in molten lead or blowing out a mouthful of liquid nitrogen, both enacted without injury to the demonstrator. The latter is potentially lethal.

It is named after Johann Gottlob Leidenfrost, who discussed it in A Tract About Some Qualities of Common Water in 1756.

chain gang

In the sport of cycling, a chain gang is a group of cyclists in a close knit formation usually of two parallel lines.

The formation comes from the fact that it is harder to cycle at the front of a group than in the shelter of another rider. The rider behind enjoys the slipstream of the rider in front. If one rider were to stay at the front all the time, he would tire and the whole group would slow down. If the lead is rotated, the effort is distributed across the group and the speed can be higher or the individual effort less.

This effect is very significant - up to a 40% reduction in effort for the slip-streaming riders while the lead rider also benefits from reduced drag (somewhat under 10%) due to the air not closing up after him.

eyesore

An eyesore is a building that is largely considered to look unpleasant or ugly. Its technical usage is as an alternative perspective to the notion of landmark. Common examples include dilapidated buildings, graffiti, litter, polluted areas and excessive commercial signage such as billboards. Some eyesores may be a matter of opinion such as controversial modern architecture (see also spite house), pylons or wind turbines. Natural eyesores include feces, mud and weeds.

Menarche

Menarche (Greek: μήν moon + αρχή beginning) is the first menstrual cycle, or first menstrual bleeding, in female human beings. From both social and medical perspectives it is often considered the central event of female puberty, as it signals the possibility of fertility.

Girls experience menarche at different ages. The timing of menarche is influenced by female biology, as well as genetic and environmental factors, especially nutritional factors. The average age of menarche has declined over the last century but the magnitude of the decline and the factors responsible remain subjects of contention. The worldwide average age of menarche is very difficult to estimate accurately, and it varies significantly by geographical region, race, ethnicity and other characteristics. Various estimates have placed it at 13.0 Some estimates suggest that the median age of menarche worldwide is 14, and that there is a later age of onset in Asian populations compared to the West. The average age of menarche is about 12.5 years in the United States, 12.72 in Canada, 12.9 in the UK and 13.06 ± 0.10 years in Iceland. A study on girls in Istanbul, Turkey, found the median age at menarche to be 12.74 years.

O'clock

O'clock

In conjunction with a numeral, indicates the time within a twelve hour period (midnight to noon or noon to midnight), specifically the time when the hour hand of a clock points precisely to the symbol or marking corresponding to the designated numeral.

We are expected to be there at six o'clock in the morning!

It is two o'clock.

What o'clock is it?

Shortened form of “of the clock” or “on the clock”; that is, “according to the clock”.

tarpit

A tarpit (also known as Teergrube, the German word for tarpit (German pronunciation: [ˈteːɐ̯ˌɡʁuːbə])) is a service on a computer system (usually a server) that delays incoming connections for as long as possible. The technique was developed as a defense against a computer worm, and the idea is that network abuses such as spamming or broad scanning are less effective if they take too long. The name is analogous with a tar pit, in which animals can get bogged down and slowly sink under the surface.

narp

Acronym for Non-Athletic Regular Person. Your schools lacrosse team probably shouts it at you while you walk by.

nebulizer

In medicine, a nebulizer (spelled nebuliser in British English) is a device used to administer medication in the form of a mist inhaled into the lungs.

Nebulizers are commonly used for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, asthma, COPD and other respiratory diseases.

doolally

doolally (comparative more doolally, superlative most doolally)

1. (chiefly UK) insane, mad or eccentric

Plautdietsch

Plautdietsch, or Mennonite Low German, was originally a Low Prussian variety of East Low German, with Dutch influence, that developed in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Vistula delta area of Royal Prussia, today Polish territory. The word is another pronunciation of Plattdeutsch, or Low German. Plaut is the same word as German platt or Dutch plat, meaning 'flat' or 'low' but formerly meaning 'intelligible', and the name Dietsch corresponds etymologically to Dutch Duits and German Deutsch (both meaning "German"), which originally meant 'ordinary language, language of the people' in all the continental West Germanic languages.

nincompoop

nincompoop (plural nincompoops)

A silly or foolish person.

fangle

fangle (plural fangles)

1. (obsolete) A prop; a taking up; a new thing.
2. Something newly fashioned; a novelty, a new fancy.
3. A foolish innovation; a gewgaw; a trifling ornament.
4. A conceit; whim.

moonwise

moonwise (not comparable)

1. (nonstandard) Anticlockwise.

sunwise

sunwise (not comparable)

1. (nonstandard) Clockwise.

keet

keet (plural keets)

1. A guinea fowl
2. its young

storey

A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). The plurals are storeys and stories, respectively.

The terms floor, level, or deck can also be used in this sense; except that one may use "ground floor" and "ground level" for the floor closer to what is considered the ground or street level, whereas "storey" is commonly used only for levels strictly above or below that level The words "storey" and "floor" also generally exclude levels of the building that have no roof, even if they are used by people—such as the terrace on the top roof of many buildings.

frenectomy

A frenectomy (also known as a frenulectomy, frenulotomy or frenotomy) is the removal of a frenulum, a small fold of tissue that prevents an organ in the body from moving too far. It can refer to frenula in several places on the human body. It is related to frenuloplasty, a surgical alteration in a frenulum. Done mostly for orthodontic purposes. Frenectomy is either performed inside the middle of upper lip, which is called labial frenectomy, or under the tongue, called lingual frenectomy. Frenectomy as it is a very common dental procedure in dental world and is performed both on children and adults.

librettist

librettist (plural librettists)

1. The person who writes a libretto, the text of a musical work.
   

Chickenhawk

Chickenhawk (also chicken hawk and chicken-hawk) is a political epithet used in the United States as ad hominem argument to criticize somebody who strongly supports a war or other military action (i.e., a War Hawk), yet who actively avoided military service when of age.

The term is meant to indicate that the person in question is cowardly or hypocritical for personally avoiding combat in the past while advocating that others go to war in the present. Generally, the implication is that "chickenhawks" lack the experience, judgment, or moral standing to make decisions about going to war. The term is not applied to those who avoided military service without subsequently adopting a hawkish political outlook.

Netsuke

Netsuke (Japanese:根付) are miniature sculptures that were invented in 17th-century Japan to serve a practical function (the two Japanese characters ne+tsuke mean "root" and "to attach"). Traditional Japanese garments—robes called kosode and kimono—had no pockets; however, men who wore them needed a place to store their personal belongings, such as pipes, tobacco, money, seals, or medicines.

Glulam

Glued laminated timber, also called Glulam, is a type of structural timber product composed of several layers of dimensioned timber bonded together with durable, moisture-resistant adhesives. This material is called 'laminating stock' or lamstock for short.

By laminating several smaller pieces of timber, a single large, strong, structural member is manufactured from smaller pieces. These structural members are used as vertical columns or horizontal beams, as well as curved, arched shapes. In fact, glulam is the only engineered wood product that can be produced in curved shapes, offering unlimited design flexibility. It is available in a range of appearance characteristics to meet end-use requirements. Connections are usually made with bolts or plain steel dowels and steel plates.

Mistpouffers

Mistpouffers are unexplained reports that sound like a cannon or a sonic boom. They have been heard in many waterfront communities around the world such as the banks of the river Ganges in India, the East Coast and inland Finger Lakes of the United States, as well as areas of the North Sea, Japan and Italy; and sometimes away from water.

sexsomnia

Sleep sex, or sexsomnia, is a condition in which a person will engage in sexual acts while still asleep. Such acts can include masturbation, fondling themselves or others, having sex with another person and in more extreme cases sexual assault and rape.