Subject: callithump results

From: Snibor Eoj <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2002 12:27:13 -0400 (EDT)

And the winner is...  Merriam-Webster!

Oops.  Maybe this one was a little too obvious, after all.  Quite a few 
people guessed right.

But since the dictionary is not (as far as we know) sentient and capable 
of picking our next word, we look to the actual players, and find a tie 
between Elliott and Ranjit.  I'll leave it up to the two of them to decide 
who gets to do our next round.  I'm sure that any strategy these two 
fellows come up with will be far more amusing than anything I'd propose.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
callithump (int.) - Nonsense expression of frustration used when children
are present. (n.) - Any such expression used when strong language may be
offensive.
by Fran - Amy 1 + 2 points right answer = 3 POINTS
Pierre: Rabbit whoever came up with this def!

callithump (n.) - Appalachian folk dance similar to the polka, but in
which partners use opposing legs side by side.
by Aussie - David 1 = 1 POINT
Linda: Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down!  my mother-in-law from RI always said,
 "Hush-a, hush-a, all fall down".

callithump (n.) - The roe of the trepang, enjoyed as a delicacy in some
parts of Malaysia and Indonesia.
by Pierre - 2 points right answer = 2 POINTS
Linda: I think I have heard this def before?  Isn't trepanning some sort of
 surgery, like drilling three holes in someone's head to let out pressure?
 No, maybe it is trepang and it is a fish.

callithump (v.) - To saw off or file off the head of a screw after it is
installed.
by Jean-Joseph - Melissa 1, Elliott 1, Pierre 1 + 2 points right answer =
                 5 POINTS
Linda: I believe that the author saw too many tools commercials before Father's
 Day.
Elliott: 1 point becaue it needs a name.
Pierre: One point for screwing around with my mind.

callithump (n.) - 1. A cautionary tale.  2. a lie told to children.
by Ranjit - Aussie 2, Fran 1, Melissa 2 + 2 points right answer = 7 POINTS
Aussie: Two points, I think.  I like the simplicity.
Fran: 1 point for thinking along the same lines as myself
Linda: My mother had a whole slew of sad stories for us kids that kept us from
 getting into trouble.

callithump (n.) - 1. A U.S. frontier remedy for intestinal parasites in
which the patient ingested the spiky dried fruit of the sweetgum tree and
was percussed for an extended time on the abdomen.  The percussion was
believed to detach the worms, allowing them to be snagged on the sweetgum
fruit and transported away.  2. (usu. Callithumps)  A faction within the
Ohio Republican Party ca. 1880, regarded by contemporaries as dangerously
extremist, which advocated abolition of the "spoils system" (q.v.) and its
replacement with a merit-based nonpartisan civil service.
by Elliott - David 2, Linda 1, Jean-Joseph 1, Amy 2, Ranjit 1 = 7 POINTS
David: 2 points, and the Mugwump Award.
Linda: The "cure" sounds dreadful.  Anyway, I disliked history in high school
 because it was taught in a boring way and was about names and dates, war and
 politics only.  I memorized the facts and promptly forgot them after the
 exams. It was only later that I saw the humor in politics  (I live in RI)
 and realized that no one really wins a war but it makes a good backdrop for
 novels and movies.  Anyway, I have no idea if these people existed, but one
 point for an extended derivation.
Pierre: Sounds like a drandall.
Jean-Joseph: Due to the preposterous nature of this definition, it is awarded
 one point on the loco-foco principle.
Ranjit: 1 pt & the Randall-Moreton Certificate

callithump (n.) - The forward hump on a Bactrian camel.
by Linda - Elliott 2 + 2 points right answer = 4 POINTS
Linda: Mine--I was inspired by the two hind legs of the starfish
Elliott: 2 points because it made me laugh.

callithump (v.) - To trip over a telephone wire while making a call.
by David - 0 POINTS
Linda: So is this word obsolete if we all get portables?
Elliott: Honorable mention.  Especially good because "callithump" has that 
 McKinley-era sound to it, and phones with wires to trip over will soon 
 seem of an age with sarsaparilla and Rowland's Macassar Oil.

callithump (n.) - A noisy, boisterous band or parade.
by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary - Fran 2, Linda 2, Pierre 2,
                                             Jean-Joseph 2, Ranjit 2
Fran: 2 points for being plausible
Linda: Two points for the noisy bands and parades, which I dearly love.
Pierre: Two points. This sounds most likely to be real.
Jean-Joseph: Two points.  On the humdrum principle.
Ranjit: 2 pts because a callithump blares past my house every year around
 St Patrick's Day.  Bagpipes!

callithump (v.) - To obscure the truth through the use of misleading
statistics.
by Melissa - Aussie 1 = 1 POINT
Aussie: Well, it sounds like callithumping. One point.
Linda: A very common practice which deserves a commoner word.

Joke def by Melissa:
callithump (n.) - a broken calliope
Linda: Does one play this in the noisy band or parade?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Snibor Eoj

[email-masked]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm a member of the Non-Sequitur Association of America
  "You can lead a yak to water, but you can't teach an old dog to make
   a silk purse out of a pig in a poke."  - Opus

---

From: Elliott A Moreton <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 01 Jul 2002 10:38:06 -0400 (EDT)

Hi. Ranjit.  I've been out of town a few days, but I'm back now and ready 
to negotiate.

> A possibly stupid suggestion for a joint round: we each
> choose a word, and players have to define one of the words,
> using the other in the definition.  (Which is which is up to
> them.)  

Like the malshave/malshrag def?  The problem is that we need a real 
definition which fits the same pattern.  The other problem is that 
it would prevent *both* of us from playing.

How about we have a spelling bee?  Fictionary players ask us to spell 
words, and the first one who drops out has to take the next round.

em

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 02 Jul 2002 10:19:28 -0400

>>How about we have a spelling bee?  Fictionary players ask
>  >us to spell words, and the first one who drops out has to
>  >take the next round.

>  Okay, spell "jeroboam".

>  Jean-Joseph

While this is very amusing, if y'all really can't decide you can try to guess the integer between 1 and 6 inclusive that I have written on page 18 of my lab notebook.  First to guess gives the next word.
-Fran