Word Fun: digression from Houstonia thread

[ranunculus]

edaphic:
Of or relating to soil, especially as it affects living organisms.
Influenced by the soil rather than by the climate.

Edaphic    Sometimes applicable if worms get worms or moles get moles?   

[Lesley Cox]

But do worms get moles or moles get worms? (sorry).

Thanks Mark. One of many things I enjoy about the books of Reginald Hill is that each one gives me 3 or 4 new words I have to look up and learn. And what about mundungus, mumpsimus or marsipobranchiate?  

[TheOnionMan]

Thanks Mark. One of many things I enjoy about the books of Reginald Hill is that each one gives me 3 or 4 new words I have to look up and learn. And what about mundungus, mumpsimus or marsipobranchiate?  

Well, that explains the Mundungus character in the Harry Potter series.  And mumpsimus, what a great word (of course, I had to look it up), as is the antonym sumpsimus!  I give up on marsipobranchiate, what does it mean?  I subscribe to Merriam-Webster "word of the day", the etymology on words is fascinating; of course us botanically inclined folks have a headstart on knowing the roots of words.

[Maggi Young]

My guess for marsipobranchiate is:  like a kangaroo with gills!!! LOL

[Rodger Whitlock]

One of many things I enjoy about the books of Reginald Hill is that each one gives me 3 or 4 new words I have to look up and learn. And what about mundungus, mumpsimus or marsipobranchiate?

Uh-oh, I think we're starting a round of can-you-top-this-intellectwise?

Using that flimsy excuse, I have great pleasure in announcing that I finally understand the well-known Latin tag line "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes." Turns out that that "et" isn't "et" = English and, but short for "etiam", so the line means "I fear Greeks, even if they are carrying gifts."

What does this have to do with rock gardening, houstonia, or Scotland? Absolutely nothing. I'm merely showing off on a slow winter's evening.

No, wait, that's not quite right. It is very slightly relevant, as it teaches us to fear garden visitors, especially when they are bearing gifts.

Next week, "Tibi suavi daedala tellus submittit flores", a quote from Lucretius' De rerum natura.

[Lesley Cox]

My guess for marsipobranchiate is:  like a kangaroo with gills!!! LOL

That's very close really. It means having purse-like gills and is appropriate to describe lampreys apparently.

Have you had a surfeit of such words Rodger?

[TheOnionMan]

Turns out that that "et" isn't "et" = English and, but short for "etiam", so the line means "I fear Greeks, even if they are carrying gifts."
No, wait, that's not quite right. It is very slightly relevant, as it teaches us to fear garden visitors, especially when they are bearing gifts.

Rather pessimistic to fear garden visitors, and unlike garden etiquette with which I'm familiar.  What is it that you fear when garden visitors bring gifts?  Or are you speaking metaphorically?
It is perhaps time to start an OT thread on linguistics and get back to Houstonia here.

[Lori S.]

Don't worry, your thread will surely ramble back to houstonia after a few diversions...

Actually, I can understand fearing garden visitors, gifts or no...  
While I have had many very pleasurable garden visits from experienced and knowledgeable gardeners, I also am frequently asked for garden tours/advice by the casual gardener-types who are constantly walking past the yard (urban corner lot on a fairly well-travelled street)... occasionally I forget myself and succumb.  By a certain point in the conversation, it is inevitable that I will be given a lengthy explanation AGAIN of why it is entirely impossible for them to grow the plants they see in front of them, or to have the sort of garden they apparently admire, or whatever.... ugh.  This, I could live without!  (However, at least I don't run into the garage or backyard when some passerby tries to make eye-contact - as DH does.  But then, he worked in a garden center for many years, so his behavior must be excused.)
So, call me a curmudgeon... Whether or not the garden visit is to be feared depends greatly on the visitor!

Now, back to houstonia, if that is where the audience wishes it to go...

[Maggi Young]

I thought that the Word Fun theme might be one which could take flight ....so here is a topic for it.... leaving McMark's Bluets in peace rather than in pieces 

[art600]

Posted in 'I'm so Happy' but thought it might be more appropriate here

LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS):

1. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

2. A will is a dead giveaway.

3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

4. A backward poet writes inverse.

5. In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.

7. If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.

10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

13. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

14. Local Area Network in Australia : The LAN down under.

15. He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

16. A calendar's days are numbered.

17. A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.

18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.

19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.

21. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large.

22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

23. When you've seen one shopping centre you've seen a mall.

24. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine .

25. When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

27. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.

29. Marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet.

30. The roundest knight at king Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

31. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .

32. She was only a whisky maker, but he loved her still.

33. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

34. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.

35. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

36. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

37. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

38. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

39. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

40. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'

41. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

42. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab centre said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

43. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'

44. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

45. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

46. Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects.
 

[Rodger Whitlock]

Have you had a surfeit of such words Rodger?

Not at all. I have a near-endless appetite for language. Evidence to be introduced by the prosecution (for the crimes of hyper-intellectualism, thought-mopery, and failure to properly honor proletarian attitudes) includes ownership of three editions of Roget's Thesaurus, a small flock of books on Latin (I'm currently reading Bennett's New Latin Grammar with a surprising amount of pleasure), a grammar of Georgian, an introductory book on Serbian, Jespersen's famous Modern English Grammar in seven volumes, several editions of Fowler, the OED in the microtype edition, and assorted other tomes.

I wish I could find a good book on Quechua or Aymara.

I plead guilty to all charges.

My crimes are compounded by failure to really buckle down and learn another language. The prosecution is threatening to add a charge of anti-social dilettantism. I suppose as punishment I will be exiled to Tbilisi and forced to learn Georgian. Or worse, sent to one of the more obscure valleys in the Caucasus and forced to learn the Bats language.

[Maggi Young]

My crimes are compounded by failure to really buckle down and learn another language. The prosecution is threatening to add a charge of anti-social dilettantism. I suppose as punishment I will be exiled to Tbilisi and forced to learn Georgian. Or worse, sent to one of the more obscure valleys in the Caucasus and forced to learn the Bats language

 That wouldn't really constitute a proper punishment, though would it: think of all the great plants you could study over there when you had a bit of free time!

[Rodger Whitlock]

My crimes are compounded by failure to really buckle down and learn another language. The prosecution is threatening to add a charge of anti-social dilettantism. I suppose as punishment I will be exiled to Tbilisi and forced to learn Georgian. Or worse, sent to one of the more obscure valleys in the Caucasus and forced to learn the Bats language

 That wouldn't really constitute a proper punishment, though would it: think of all the great plants you could study over there when you had a bit of free time!

Shhhhhhh! Don't tell anyone. I was brought up on the Uncle Remus tales of Joel Chandler Harris (a collection of Afro-American folk tales with dialectical features accurately captured) and Br'er Rabbit's plea "Do anything you want with me Br'er Fox, but don't throw me in the briar patch!" is one of the foundations of my personality.

Incidentally, in recent years Penguin has reprinted two of the Uncle Remus collections.