What did J. R. R. Tolkien mean by "Recovery"?
Tolkien wrote about "Recovery" in his essay "On Fairy-Stories." What did he mean by this word? #Tolkien #reading #books #TolkienTuesday #words #definitions #Inklings

*Youtube makertainer uses a neural net and evolutionary algorithm to generate and 3DPRint a new model aircraft. It flies, but is it a "slopject"? No Large Language Model, token system or big-data is involved. #slopject #definitions youtu.be/yQ80AqMJxUg?...

🚀 I asked A.I. to design the u...

#Hivemind: is #polysemy a good or a bad thing? #words #meanings #definitions

#Words #Definitions #Language #Firearms #Violence #Defense

We should be precise with our language —

Guns aren't used for defense. You can't defend yourself with a gun.

Shooting very small pieces of metal very fast doesn't provide you with any protection whatsoever.

What you do with a gun is always an attack.

Maybe a counter-attack, or a preventive attack, but an attack nevertheless.

#Polish #Language #Languages #Dictionary #Dictionaries #PolishLanguage #PolishDictionary #Definition #Definitions.

#Meme #Memes #Humour #Humor

a chair is something agreed to be called chair by those speaking and those listening. linguistic definitions are inherently subjective, affected by the culture and beliefs of those using the words. there is nothing that is, inherently, in its very essence, coded "chair" in our universe; only intentions mutually understood through shared experiences.

this is the flaw in demanding one define womanhood as well, as the definition is altered by both the speaker and listeners' perspectives.

when we don't agree on a definition, we cannot come to a mutual understanding, and that's not a gotcha like terfs would have you believe, it's a trait of human communication even more ubiquitous than mutual understanding.

the fact that people keep arguing about such things makes me think they're either being intentionally disingenous (less likely than my impulse is to assume) or simply don't understand this yet.

i was told one to stop overestimating people. Hanlon's Razor tells us to never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

ignorance is only an excuse for hostility when it is chosen repeatedly in an observable way when truth is equally accessible; this is very rarely how conversations work, and even less so when discussing things online.

"How to define RPGs and CRPGs? And why the title of my book doesn’t make sense anymore :(" -- https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/06/14/how-to-define-rpgs-and-crpgs-and-why-the-title-of-my-book-doesnt-make-sense-anymore/

#CRPG #Definitions #WRPG

jejune; also to a nominally lesser extent: feckless
#definitions #streetart #words

Tonight I am #CrossAtWords that are obscure or use alternate spellings in #crosswords.

ern - a sea eagle which is usually spelled erne
viand - archaic English for food, but my francophonic brain wants a final E again
anele - obsolete for anoint

This word is cool though:
adit - horizontal entrance to a mine, so perpendicular to a shaft

And I also learned that Adar is a month in the Jewish calendar.

#definitions #WordMeanings

...even as they themselves were forced into starving, they gave what food they could find to the captives they held.

fuck your #definitions of everything....

#FEED #GAZA.

Today the only clue deserving #CrossAtWords was a spelled out letter S. But I do want to commemorate my new vocabulary from today's post-breakfast crossword puzzle:

sarod - Indian guitar
stere - cubic meter (!?)
ret - soak flax/hemp
tret - obscure shipping term for a waste allowance
eft - a newt (I've seen this word in several puzzles now, and this time I actually remembered it!)
bur - a prickly seed husk (aka a burr)

#crosswords #definitions #english #WordMeanings

I just ran across the word, renegacy, in a China Mieville book (Perdido Street Station.) Can anyone tell me, preferably in 25 words or less*, or better yet, like I’m five, what is #renegacy?
#words #definitions

#Surveillance for #human #infections with avian #influenza A(#H5) viruses: objectives, case #definitions, #testing and reporting (#WHO), https://etidiohnew.blogspot.com/2025/04/surveillance-for-human-infections-with.html

If you want to be picky about it, sure, the number is four...
https://xkcd.com/3063/
#pluto #planets #astronomy #definitions #NDTisAPoop

How do you define lying? Here are some examples to consider, which you may or may not believe count as lies:

1. Saying something untrue sarcastically
2. Saying something true sarcastically, convincing others it's untrue
3. Dancing around a question to imply an untrue answer, while only saying true things
4. "I've got a school project and I need to ask you some questions" (both true, but implying a connection that doesn't exist)

#definitions #semantics #AskFedi

Word meanings change over time - do you know the original meaning of these?

25 Words That Don’t Mean What You Think They Do
https://buff.ly/41sI6f6

#definitions #wordchoice #writing #amwriting #dictionary #etymology

𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗭-𝗟𝗘-𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗭-𝗟𝗘-𝗙𝗘𝗨
𝑀𝑜𝑖, 𝑒𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑎𝑖̈𝑓, 𝑗’𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒̀𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑢𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑒́𝑡𝑢𝑒𝑧-𝑙𝑒-𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑧-𝑙𝑒-𝑓𝑒𝑢… 𝑄𝑢𝑒 𝑙𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑥 𝑠𝑜𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒.

#CessezLeCessezLeFeu #CessezLeFeu #guerre #trêve #paix #ResteEnPaix #sivispacemparabellum #sivisbellumsimulapacem #Dictionnaire #Définitions #NeoPar

I am not cross at all these words (some I am even glad to learn!) but a few earned an angry face drawn next to the clue.

smew - a small duck I am unlikely to ever see myself 😢
amah - nursemaid in India
erose - eaten away (suspiciously thin entry in Wiktionary)
sloe - aka blackthorn, a wild plum (relative of roses!)
ameba - who spells amoeba this way!?
rale - crackling noise from the chest, though seldom used in singular

#CrossAtWords #crosswords #definitions #WordMeanings #EnglishLanguage

Just finished a crossword. These are the answers to the clues I am "cross" about. That is, obscure (to me) words. So new hashtag: #CrossAtWords

olio - a stew
olla - a jug
brocket - type of deer
sera - crazy plural for serum
transom - crossbar of a doorway or window (in addition to many other meanings)

My wife wanted "transom" to be a way to describe a really attractive trans-masc person. We may start using it that way.

#WordMeanings #definitions #EnglishLanguage #crosswords