Subject: Zareba

From: Aussie Meyer <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 09:13:26 -0700

Judith got 6 points worth of votes plus 2 for voting correctly, and
rides her zebra-ass definition to Victory!

The actual definition from Merriam-Webster (improvised stockade) got
many votes.  "Zareba" was apparently a favorite word of P.G. Wodehouse,
who uses it to describe any number of things, including a bushy
moustache. 

Author: Jean-Joseph
Score: 1 (Eoj) + 1 (Judith) + 1 (Fran) + 2 (Linda)
zareba - n. - An especially tight-fitting waistcoat, typically made from
shiny fabric.
Commentary: "Especially one that used to fit perfectly, really!  Right?"
- Snibor Eoj
"1 point, but I doubt I would wear one." - Fran
"..for being first and also being unlikely." - Linda

Author: Eric (silent-e)
zareba, n.  One who attempts to teach that which cannot be taught.
Commentary: "..Actually, these people are called parents or
schoolteachers." - Linda
"...Welcome to growth class, people, today we will learn how to grow
tall and strong anytime we want to.  I will be your zareba today.  Let
us begin with some stretching exercises..." - Fran
"My def.  In honor of high school history teacher, Mr. Hillel Zaremba."
- Eric

Author: Hutch
zareba - n. - [Arab.] An indefensible position (E.g., the fort in _Beau
Geste_ was "Fort Zareba")
Commentary: "Honorable mention for using a movie that I cannot recall
very well.  I wonder if that was really the name of the fort?" - Linda
"Have to look hard for subtleties to disqualify some of these -- in this
case, I'm suspecious because I don't think you ever capitalize "e.g."."
- J-J

Author: FPoodry
Score: 2 (Eoj) + 2 (correct)
zareba - n. (archaeology) a worthless potsherd.
Commentary: "2 points, just because." - Snibor Eoj
"so simple, but no" - Linda
"I got this from watching PBS or the discovery channel or something,
when an archeologist in egypt was showing an example of the millions of
potsherds he throws away as useless (no writing, no art, probably not
going to be able to reconstruct the pot etc) and called it a "zaleba" or
"zarela" or something." - Fran
"Those archaeologists don't consider *any* potsherd worthless." - J-J

Author: Snibor Eoj
zareba (n.) - the boundary of a shadow.
Commentary: "umbra, penumbra, zareba? " - Linda
"How delightfully esoteric!  I can think of places where I might have
encountered this word if it existed (in relation to eclipses, for
example), but I haven't seen it, so I'll pass." - J-J

Author: Jim Moskowitz
Score: 2 (PHMA) + 2 (J-J)
zareba - n. - a cold wind that blows westward from the Atlas mountains
in Morocco, chiefly in summer months.
Commentary: "I couldn't decide between this one and the coat for my one
point vote, but the coat won in the end." Snibor Eoj
"hmmmm monsoon, simoom, zareba" - Linda
"... Very tempting, except I think I read the actual name for this
recently and I don't recognize zareba." - Fran
"Tempting, but sounds kind of reminiscent of "zephyr".  I'll give it two
points anyway." - J-J

Author: David Randall
Score: 1 (Jim) + 1 (Ranjit) + 2 (MYS)
zareba--n.--(fr. Berber) 1. the scaled horse of Berber myth.  2. the
name given to the extinct dwarf rhinoceros of North Africa by the
paleontologist Jean Claude Boulez (1864-1937).
Commentary: "1 point for a nice connection.  Also I dislike the composer
Pierre Boulez' music, and I like the redeeming notion that his father
provided some good for humanity :-)" - Jim Moskowitz
"This sounds interesting, but I'm out of points. One ghost point." -
PHMA
"Dwarf rhino?  Didn't we just have a fake definition about pygmy
hippos?" - J-J

Author: PHMA
Score: 1 (Dave Turner) + 1 (correct)
zareba, n. [Farsi] The area on dock or shore where pearl divers clean
and sort pearls.
"The only thing I can say in Farsi ("Khafe obe jowe to bokhor" -- "Shut
up and drink your beer") doesn't sound especially like this word would
fit in." - J-J

Author: Ranjit
Score:  2 (correct) + 1 (Eric)
zareba (n) - chutney on toast.
Commentary: "If I knew what chutney was, I might give this a vote.  I've
heard the word, but I don't actually have a clue what it is" - Snibor
Eoj
"yum, a snack" - Linda
"Seems too simple." J=J

Author: Merriam-Webster Online
Score: 2 (Judith) + 1 (PHMA) + 2 (Fran) + 1 (Linda) + 2 (Ranjit) + 1
(MYS)
zareba - n.- (Arabic zarIbah enclosure): an improvised stockade
constructed in parts of Africa especially of thorny bushes 
Commentary: "nice plausibility." - Fran
"one point because I originally thought zareba was an arabic word, but I
really have no idea." - Linda
"Most nouns that come into English from Arabic start with "al-", and
though this etymology isn't impossible, it doesn't seem that likely." -
J-J

Author: Judith
Score: 2 (Jim) + 2 (Dave Turner) + 2 (correct) + 2 (Eric)
zareba: (n) the sterile offspring of a male zebra and a female donkey.
       See also "bareza".
Commentary: "2 points for the nonintuitive "see also"!" - Jim Moskowitz
" There's a word for this - it's called a zonkey. There's also a zorse.
And some people are working on rebreeding the quagga." - PHMA
"Does the "see also" belong to Judith?" - Linda
"tempting, but it sounds like I might make it up, so I don't want to
give it points." - Fran
"This would suggest that people domesticate zebras, which I'm pretty
sure
is never done.  My understanding is that if you get a zebra upset (by
trying to ride on it, for example), it will bite - hard - and not let go
until you're dead." - J-J

Author: Lindafowens
Score: 1 (correct)
zareba--n.  a zither-like musical instrument originally developed and
played by Spanish gypsies. Similar instruments are found in many areas
where gypsies may have traveled or traded.  Especially popular in
ensembles providing rapid dance music.
Commentary: "Z[ither] + iArriba!.... I don't _think_ so!" - Jim
Moskowitz
"Isn't that the samovar?   (Weak joke, occasioned by my forgetting
the word "Cimbalom".  Getting old is hell...)" - Judith
"Is this anything like the vihuela?" - PHMA
"Seems too wordy." = J-J

Author: MYShaner
Score: 1 (J-J) + 1 (correct)
zareba (n) - in ham radio, one of the unassigned bands on either side of
the emergency services frequency.
Commentary: "I'd have heard of this." - PHMA
"No idea, but sounds too modern, still....." - Linda
"I'd think this would most likely be some kind of acronym if  it were
real, and I can't think of what it would be derived from.  But I'll give
it one point anyway." - J-J

---

From: "Judith E. Schrier" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 13:26:43 EDT

>rides her zebra-ass definition to Victory!

Aww...That's what I get for sitting on a freshly-painted park bench!

>zareba--n.--(fr. Berber) 1. the scaled horse of Berber myth.

It's not really a horse...it's a cross between a horse and an
alligator...sterile, of course.

>Commentary: "2 points for the nonintuitive "see also"!" - Jim Moskowitz

:-)

>"Does the "see also" belong to Judith?" - Linda

:-(
Linda knows me too well...

>until you're dead." - J-J

Not at all.  You release the donkey in the zebra pen and let nature
take its course.  The zareba has its daddy's looks and its mommy's
disposition...

Test Word coming in a separate mailing...

love, judith

---

From: Jed Hartman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 17:07:45 -0400

Doing my occasional email catchup, realized that I'd once again missed a
whole round.  Oh, well -- as someone who's become mostly an observer of
this game rather than a participant, let me just note that I love the
definitions and the commentaries you folks provide.

I particularly liked Aussie's zareba poem this time.  Nice!

I thought it was interesting that many of the definitions this time could
be seen as involving reversals, contradictions, paradoxes, and boundaries
-- indefensible forts, teaching what can't be taught, and so on.

>"If I knew what chutney was, I might give this a vote.  I've
   Chutney basically means "relish," as I understand it.  (From Hindi
"catni".)  It refers to a wide range of sauces, dips, relishes, and other
condiments eaten in conjunction with Indian (and related) food.
   If you've been in an Indian restaurant and have been given a small bowl
of green-flecked sauce, that's mint chutney.  The chunky salsa-like sauce
with the pieces of mango in it is mango chutney.  And so on.  I think that
the dark brown very thin sauce and the thicker orange spicy sauce are also
both considered chutney, but I'm not certain of that.

>And some people are working on rebreeding the quagga." - PHMA

References to the quagga always remind me of this limerick that Ranjit once
sent me (during a discussion of the phrase "self-stultifyingly eristic
skink"):

What a wonderful beast was the Quagga!
Well striped, and a pretty fast jogga.
But now it's extinct
(Unlike the skink)
--and that's true, or my name ain't Bhatnaga.

--jed