Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

ASF Word of the Day

Jump to new
Riparian.

riparian (r-pâr-n)

Relating to or inhabiting the banks of a natural course of water. Riparian zones are ecologically diverse and contribute to the health of other aquatic ecosystems by filtering out pollutants and preventing erosion. Salmon in the Pacific Northwest feed off riparian insects; trees such as the black walnut, the American sycamore, and the cottonwood thrive in riparian environments.


The American Heritage ® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Click to expand...

I read today in Jennifer Byrne's blog:
The Winton is a dark tale set in dazzlingly sunny WA – but little trace of either the riparian, or the marine -scapes which he writes about so gloriously.
Click to expand...
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/firsttuesday/s3852102.htm I had never heard or read the word "riparian" before, was pleased to discover my guess as to its meaning was not far off, but am left wondering how or when I'll ever be able to casually use it in conversation.....:D
 
DocK said:
I had never heard or read the word "riparian" before, was pleased to discover my guess as to its meaning was not far off, but am left wondering how or when I'll ever be able to casually use it in conversation.....:D
Click to expand...
There is a Riparian Plaza on the river in a city about an hour up the road from you, actually. :)
 
RUPESTRIAN DELIGHTS
I was delighted to learn the word rupestrian from World Wide Words, an e-newsletter which I receive weekly on Saturdays here in New York. Here you can read the short article. One of my favorite passages from Ovid contains the word rupes, rupis f. cliff, rock; see Ovid's Remedia Amoris, lines 175-190 at The Latin Library: ecce, petunt rupes praeruptaque saxa capellae (Look, the she-goats seek the cliffs and sheer rocks, line 179). Ah, I wonder if past Latin 3 students remember this passage, which also has a fabulous two-line (lines 187-188) summary of the four seasons.

Watchers of PBS may recognize the allusion in the title to riparian delights, as expounded by Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced bou-quet) in the British comedy Keeping Up Appearances, but more on riparian another time.
Click to expand...

Source http://fenestralatina.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/rupestrian-delights.html
 
Ves said:
There is a Riparian Plaza on the river in a city about an hour up the road from you, actually. :)
Click to expand...

Well now I'm just feeling plain silly... You can tell I don't get out much :D Actually, I haven't been to that area of BrisVegas since I worked in the area for several years quite some time ago - loathe to go back having escaped, just in case the rash comes back ;) I do recall the Riverside Markets with fondness though.
 
RUPESTRIAN DELIGHTS
I was delighted to learn the word rupestrian from World Wide Words, an e-newsletter which I receive weekly on Saturdays here in New York. Here you can read the short article. One of my favorite passages from Ovid contains the word rupes, rupis f. cliff, rock; see Ovid's Remedia Amoris, lines 175-190 at The Latin Library: ecce, petunt rupes praeruptaque saxa capellae (Look, the she-goats seek the cliffs and sheer rocks, line 179). Ah, I wonder if past Latin 3 students remember this passage, which also has a fabulous two-line (lines 187-188) summary of the four seasons.

Watchers of PBS may recognize the allusion in the title to riparian delights, as expounded by Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced bou-quet) in the British comedy Keeping Up Appearances, but more on riparian another time.
Click to expand...
burglar said:
Source http://fenestralatina.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/rupestrian-delights.html
Click to expand...

Oh thank you Burglar - now I have two new words with which to impress the checkout chick at Coles - I do hope she appreciates my mastery of the language :D Do you care to suggest how I might work them both into a sentence pertaining to my weekly grocery shop?
 
The origins of Molotov Cocktail.

I reckon most people have heard of a Molotov cocktail. Essentially its a bottle of petrol and oil with a flaming wick which is used as an incendiary bomb. Apparently it was quite effective against tanks when you don't have anti tank weapons.

But where did the name come from ? At first glance it might appear to named after some glorious Russian partisan who improvised the device to stop the German tanks on the Easter front. Sounds plausible doesn't it ?

Not quite so. There is a Soviet connection. Molotov was the Sovereign Foreign Affairs Minister under Stalin. Apparently during the USSR invasion of Finland Molotov described the dropping cluster bombs as packets of bread to feed the starving Finns! Excellent line in spin.

The Finns weren't impressed with either the bombing or the BS story from the Soviet Foreign Ministry. So when the tanks rolled in they stopped them with the petrol bombs. They named these "Molotov cocktails" to go with the packets of bread the USSR had so kindly showered on the Finns.

Molotov was not impressed but the name stuck.

The name "Molotov cocktail" was coined by the Finns during the Winter War.[1] The name is an insulting reference to Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, who was responsible for the partitioning of Finland with Nazi Germany under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939. The pact with the Nazis bearing Molotov's name, which secretly stated the Soviet intention to invade Finland in November 1939, was widely mocked by the Finns, as well as much of the propaganda Molotov produced to accompany it, including his declaration on Soviet state radio that bombing missions over Finland were actually airborne humanitarian food deliveries for their starving neighbors. The Finns, far from starving and engaged in a bitter war for national survival with the Soviet forces, sarcastically dubbed the Soviet cluster bombs "Molotov bread baskets" in reference to Molotov's propaganda broadcasts.

When the hand-held bottle firebomb was developed to attack Soviet tanks, the Finns called it the "Molotov cocktail", as "a drink to go with the food".[2] Molotov himself despised the name, particularly as the term became ubiquitous and genericized as Soviets faced increasing numbers of cocktail-throwing protestors in the Eastern Bloc in the years after World War II.[3]
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov_cocktail
 
DocK said:
Oh thank you Burglar - now I have two new words with which to impress the checkout chick at Coles - I do hope she appreciates my mastery of the language :D Do you care to suggest how I might work them both into a sentence pertaining to my weekly grocery shop?
Click to expand...

Funny story about the checkout chicks at Coles.

I met a blind man who was going shopping in Coles.
Normally the management sent an employee to assist him.
But this particular day, I decided to do him a good deed.
Shopping done, we approached the checkouts.
I hesitated, he asked why.
I replied that I was looking for a good looking checkout chick!


My! Don't teens have sharp hearing!! :p:
 
DocK said:
Oh thank you Burglar - now I have two new words with which to impress the checkout chick at Coles - I do hope she appreciates my mastery of the language :D Do you care to suggest how I might work them both into a sentence pertaining to my weekly grocery shop?
Click to expand...

I don't know whether you have a teenage daughter DocK, but I imagine that like me you have mystified by the contrived speech style used by increasing numbers of school girls and young women. It is called "Vocal Fry".

Reena Gupta, the director of the Voice and Swallowing Center at OHNI, says vocal fry is the lowest of the vocal registers.
"There are three vocal registers (falsetto, modal and fry). Falsetto is the highest and modal is where we tend to speak naturally," she said.
"Vocal fry occurs when the vocal (arytenoid) cartilages squeeze together very tightly. This allows the vocal cords themselves to be loose and floppy. When air passes between them, they can vibrate irregularly, popping and rattling.
"While undoubtedly this is not "normal" speech and will result in damage, it is increasingly accepted in music and speech in the teenage and 20-something set. It does not always indicate a vocal cord problem exist
Click to expand...

This woman gives a demonstration;

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Calliope said:
I don't know whether you have a teenage daughter DocK, but I imagine that like me you have mystified by the contrived speech style used by increasing numbers of school girls and young women. It is called "Vocal Fry".



This woman gives a demonstration;

Click to expand...


No, no daughters Calliope. In general I find that if I spend any amount of time listening to a group of teenagers I'll be amused, confused, irritated, impressed and often confounded, sometimes all at once - but will almost always feel old and nostalgic. Listening to my own sons for any length of time often requires a request for translation - usually met with either looks of pity or great hilarity. When I asked one of them recently why, instead of saying "lol", he didn't just actually laugh - he just shook his head and looked at me as if I was so out of touch it was barely worth the effort of trying to communicate with me. I vaguely remember feeling the same about my parents when I was his age, so fair enough I guess.

What alarms me the most though is when I find myself using teen speak :eek:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For those amongst us who like that English is a living language:

A new word:

Exhaustipated

Too tired to give a **** ...
 
Benediction:

1. An expression of approval or good wishes.

2. A prayer asking for God's blessing, usually at the end of a Christian service.

3. In Christianity, the state of being blessed.
 
burglar said:
Benediction:

1. An expression of approval or good wishes.

2. A prayer asking for God's blessing, usually at the end of a Christian service.

3. In Christianity, the state of being blessed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that burglar, a very timely reminder.

That was yesterday's word. Today's word is : Formidophobia

For an apt definition or demonstration one need look no further than the past day's posts to the TGA and CAB threads!

Apologies burglar, I think I am in need of another timely reminder of yesterday's word!
 
------------ Oligochaetology ----------------

The specific study of worms is called Oligochaetology.
 
burglar said:
Benediction:

1. An expression of approval or good wishes.

2. A prayer asking for God's blessing, usually at the end of a Christian service.

3. In Christianity, the state of being blessed.
Click to expand...

burglar said:
Tomorrow's word will be Acolyte:

a). A devoted follower

b). One who lights altar candles
Click to expand...

Many of you will probably be unaware of burglar's motivations for posting these two words.

Apart from the ecclesiastical theme, these words have something further in common which has led to burglar's decision to post them here. This has doubtless been the source of considerable amusement to us both!

Regretfully, others are unlikely to appreciate the hilarity as it hinges upon interchanges between burglar and I.
 
----------------- cosmology ----------------

Cosmology is the study of the origins and eventual fate of the universe. Physical cosmology is the scholarly and scientific study of the origin, evolution, structure, dynamics, and ultimate fate of the universe, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order.[1] Religious cosmology (or mythological cosmology) is a body of beliefs based on the historical, mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions of creation and eschatology.
 
Nictitate, - to wink or blinkNictitating

We used to play alphabet word games with the kids. As many words of starting with that letter in the one sentence. This reminds me of one for "N" - Nictitating Nigerian Nun in a Nightie.

And..........the nictitating membrane is the third transparent eyelid/membrane.
 
Top