Subject: GRISON results

From: eLLioTT morEton <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 19:07:34 -0500 (EST)

A light turnout under gray skies.  Hutch with 6 points edges out Ranjit 
with 5.  Haul it away, Hutch!!

em

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General comments:

 	Hutch:  None of them are terribly believable. I guess this round
I'm simply voting away from the LEAST believable ones.
 	Jean-Joseph:  Since eLLioTT has told us that the real definition 
is from the OED, Iwill let that influence my choice.  And because nobody 
knew in advance that it would be the OED, nobody had an opportunity to try 
and match its style.  (This approach is bound to backfire.)  [Moments 
later:]  Google sez.... hmm, Google seems to say "non of the above".  A 
grison is actually a weasel-thing, Galactis vittata,
www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/277.htm
 	Ranjit:

 	There once was a grison from Grisons
 	Who ground his own grison from grison.[1]
 	When grilling[2] his grison
 	He got grease[3] on his grison
 	And confessed of grison to his grison.[4]

[1] It is not presently known whether he constructed this vessel from
tin or stone, although the use of the word "ground" suggests thelatter.
[2] The traditional grison of Louisiana and western Florida is bakedin a 
deep iron skillet, but the recipe has been adapted to regional
tastes across Europe.  For instance, along the Basque seacoast it is
most commonly made with shrimp or squid in place of chicken, mild
peppers instead of onion, and stale bread instead of cornmeal. The
okra is omitted entirely.
[3] At room temperature, lard and bacon grease, at 20 to 30 Grison,
are unlikely to spill, so this most likely took place while pouring
the used grease into the aforementioned grison for storage.
[4] In fact, this anecdote is repeated in the recently translated
diary of the servant in question: "Returning late from a game of
gleek, and the kitchen staff having retired for the evening, he
endeavored to cook for himself but succeeded only in befouling the
stove and his own leathers.  As I undressed him and prepared his bath,
he confessed to me a dark dread which I did not fully comprehend."
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grison (n.) -- A vessel for storing excess cooking fat.  "We always had 
such fatty bacon that a normal grison was insufficient for a week's worth 
of drippings.  Mother used a crockery bean pot instead."

 	By JOSH (jdms).  1+1 = 2 points.
 	Linda:  It's a cold day, had bacon, fried eggs, fried potatoes, 
onions, and tomatoes for breakfast, with fish and chips for supper.  Warm 
now.  Linda 1 point
 	Hutch:  This is all that's left: 1 point
 	Jean-Joseph:  Now you've gone and reminded me of the story about 
how I drove Christine out of the apartment that she was sharing with Clive 
and me, by means of the ersatz cookie jar.  A fine tale, though I don't 
like being reminded of Christine.
 	[Ahhh, but now that you've brought it up, you owe it to us to 
gratify our curiosity! -- EM]
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grison (n.) -- An inhabitant of the Grisons cantons in Switzerland.

 	By DAVID RANDALL.  0 points.
 	Jean-Joseph:  Hmm.  If it were German, it would be capitalized 
because it's a noun, but if this is western Suisse, and thus French, maybe 
not, but still, as an import into English, I'd think it would (and Elliott 
has espoused that words without green cards are out of place in this 
game).
 	Pierre:  A thike link grinds meat.
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grison (n.) -- A conglomerate found in Switzerland, consisting of 
seashells
embedded in gray granite. Also called "graubund".

 	By PIERRE.  2 points.
 	Linda:  I've seen similar while caving in NY.  Like the gray 
references.
 	Judith:  2 points
 	Jean-Joseph:  A moment's condiseration, but then... no way. 
Granite is igneous, and therefore can't be the matrix for a sedimentary 
rock.  There could be granite in it, but nothing can be embedded in 
granite.
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grison (n.) (rheology) -- A unit of viscosity used to describe
shear-thinning or thixotropic fluids in the food processing industry such 
as ketchup or salad dressing.  See also: Grison viscosimeter, degree 
Grison. Typical values for ketchup are in the range of 40-60 Grison, while 
Bleu cheese dressing can vary from 25 to 70 Grison.  Note that some 
ketchups are "plastic" fluids and their viscosities must be measured using 
a different method.  [Named for Eduardo L. Grison, who invented several 
devices for measuring the viscosity of food liquids while working for 
Analytical Food Laboratories 1979-1983.]

 	By FRAN.  2 points + 1 for correct guess = 3 points.
 	Hutch:  I don't think that something this new ('79-'83) could have
made it into Neddie this quickly.
 	Jean-Joseph:  Interesting name this fellow has, kind of 
inconsistent in ethnicity, though that does happen (anybosy remember Juan 
Epstein?).  I guess I have to wonder why the units of viscosity (whatever 
they may be) that are used for other liquids (motor oil?) would not 
suffice for food as well.  "Thixotropic" is a real word, and it does refer 
to substances whose viscosities change with shear, but I usually think of 
things that go the other way, that become more viscous with shear.  I 
think I might have been aware of common food products having non-Newtonian 
fluid properties, but maybe not.  No points, though.
 	Pierre:  This sounds more like Rowlett's dictionary than Oxford's. 
Two points and the tog award.
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grison (n.) -- Tin disulfide.

 	By JEAN-JOSEPH.  1 point.
 	Josh:  Simplicity should be rewarded.  1 pt.
 	Hutch:  Another attempt???  [Referring to the previous appearance 
of this same def in the ACROSPIRE round -- EM]
 	Jean-Joseph:  Will anyone go for this?  Sounds like something that 
could be gray, right?  Would Elliott do something weird like this?  You 
never know what people will be taken in by.
 	Pierre:  Another gray area.
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grison (n.) -- Apathy; want of feeling; dispassion. -- "The grison of
despair" (Macaulay).  [Fr. gris, grey.]

 	By HUTCH.  2+2+1+1 = 6 points and VICTORY!!!!
 	Linda:  Yes, I'm affected by the weather.  It's been too rainy 
lately and the promised sun did not appear.  2 points.
 	Josh:  It appeals, somehow.  2 pts.
 	Judith:  1 point
 	Hutch:  Mine. The real quote is "The apathy of despair". Still by
Macaulay, though.
 	Jean-Joseph:  The somewhat obvious etymology gives me pause, but 
not enough to stop me from giving it my remaining point.
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grison (n.) -- A falconer's protective leather or synthetic shoulder pad.
"'Going about with a soiled grison,' they'll say about each other,
meaning unaware of their own glaring flaws."

 	By RANJIT.  1+2+1 = 4 points + 1 for correct guess = 5 points.
 	Linda:  Like this def.
 	Fran:  1 point.  I'm guessing that one of these definitions is 
from David Randall.
 	Hutch:  I do know a bit about falconry and this doesn't sound
familiar.
 	Jean-Joseph:  Something seems not right about this, but the quite 
is kind of OED-looking, so I'll give it two.
 	Pierre:  1
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grison (n.) -- A servant without livery, dressed in grey, for secret
errands. "I keep Grifons, Fellows out of Livery, privately for nothing,but 
to carry Answers."  (Shadwell, _The Volunteers, or Stockjobbers_, Act
II, Scene i (1693).)

 	By SOME OTHER DICTIONARY ("Hatz.-Darm."), whose definition was 
quoted verbatim by OXFORD E. "NED" DICTIONARY. 2 points.  The actual full 
OED def, cut and pasted, is

 	1. grison stone (= F. peirre de grison): a kind of freestone.
  1653 URQUHART Rabelais II. xxix, Riflandouille or pudding-plunderer, who 
was armed cap-a-pe with grison stones.
 	2. 'A servant without livery, dressed in grey, for secret errands' 
(Hatz.-Darm.).  1693 SHADWELL Volunteers II. i. 14, I think I must keep 
a Secretary, I keep Grisons [printed Grifons] Fellows out of Livery, 
privately for nothing, but to carry Answers.

 	("[sic]" on the "peirre" -- is that archaic, or a typo?  The 
comment "[printed Grifons]" was added by the OED, not me -- EM)

 	Fran:  1 point.  I'm guessing that one of these definitions is 
from David Randall.
 	Hutch:  A "grey one", I suppose? I don't really believe the name 
of the play, but Thomas Shadwell was a real person and the (phony, but 
correct) use of the tall "s" character makes it a bit more believable: 2 
points.
 	Jean-Joseph:  Well that's odd.  Why is it "grifons" in the quote? 
Is this like "the pursuit of Happinefs"?  That thing that looks like an 
'f' isn't really an 'f', and shouldn't be transliterated as such.  I 
think.
 	Ranjit:  1 pt and the Randall Ribbon.

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grison (n.) -- A Cajun dish composed of cornmeal, with onions, okra, and
various "odd parts" of a chicken.

 	By JUDITH.  2 points.
 	Hutch:  Not from Neddie! Won't believe that Neddie would use that
phrasing.
 	[Strictly speaking, you're right, it's not *from* Neddie, only 
*via* Neddie.  But, unwilling though Ned might be to *use* such phrasing, 
Ned is perfectly happy to *quote* it! -- EM]
 	Jean-Joseph:  "Odd parts" in an OED entry?  Unlikely.
 	Ranjit:  2 pts because I'm hungry and I like the phrase "various 
'odd parts' of a chicken."

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Linda's def arrived less than five minutes after I'd sent out the ballot, 
with this message:

grison, adj--a grayness of the face, as from illness, shadow, or 
lightbeard-growth in men.  Linda    PS Sorry I'm late. Birth of grandson 
took priority. L.

Felicitations, Linda!

---

From: Fran Poodry <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 07 Nov 2005 19:59:09 -0500

I was inspired by the assignment I've given my Physics 2 students: to do
"one evening's internet research" on a topic relating to fluids.  In
particular, as I did one evening of research looking for things for THEM to
research, I came across "degree MacMichael" which is apparently a unit of
viscosity used in the food industry to describe liquid chocolate, and
whether it is appropriate for spray-coating, drip-coating, dunk-coating,
etc.
There are a number of viscosimeters (viscometers) available for purchase
from various places, each named for its inventor, apparently, and using many
different methods.  The "falling sphere" type generally requires a
transparent fluid, however there are also rotating-disk viscometers and cone
viscometers, among others.
It is true that the viscosities of non-Newtonian fluids are interesting to
measure.  In addition to thixotropic and plastic fluids, there are
rhoepectic, pseudo-plastic, and dilatant fluids, each exhibiting their own
characteristic viscosity/shear rate curve.  Shear is sideways force.  For
example, sour cream tends to be fairly glommy (a very scientific term) until
you start stirring it, and then it loosens up.  A cornstarch and water
mixture can be rolled into a ball, and then "melt" into a puddle on your
hand.  Paint flows easily when stirred or pushed around by paint bristles,
but then stiffens up so as not to flow down the wall you've put it on.
The units of viscosity for Newtonian fluids (viscosity does not change with
shear rate) are measured in Pascal-seconds (SI) or centipoise (1/100 Poise)
(pronounced "Pwaz") (named after the French physician Poiseuille who first
developed a theory of viscosity related to blood flow in arteries) by
physicists.
BTW, an intriguing story about something really viscous can be found at
http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/pitchdrop/pitchdrop.shtml
(those crazy Australians!)

Now you know more than you ever wanted to about viscosity!
-Fran