Subject: aroph results - David Kushner wins!

From: Pierre Abbat <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 09:35:20 -0400

aroph, n. (fr. Turkish) 1. The body of an oud; an unstrung oud. 2. 
(slang) A foolish or unintelligent person.
by James Kushner. 5
David: 1 point
Linda: Two for the oud
James: That one's mine. I think I'm looking at a maximum of two points 
from other voters here. (I think the Vegas folks who run 
fictionarywagering.com from their Aruba server have my over/under at 1 1/2.)
Elliott: Two points for plausibility, even though I don't belive it at 
all.  I can imagine Turkish having both definitions (assuming for the 
moment that there is such a thing as an oud), but I can't picture 
English borrowing both.

aroph, n. (fr. Mdvl. Fr. arove, L. arevus; cognate to the G. arheff and 
Sp. arruvio) 1. A general's cape, often decorated with eagles or fascii. 
  2. A thick cape.  3. An overcoat.
by David Randall. 5
Judith: 1 point
2 for spagyrations
James: ONE POINT, both for the reference to decoration and for the fun 
etymology. (Note to competitors: including the etymology is a an easy 
way to get a cheap point from me.)
Ranjit: 1 pt for thoroughness.

aroph, n. In alchemy, elemental mercury considered the father of all 
other metals.
by Ranjit Bhatnagar. 4
Pierre: Azoth.
Linda: 1 for the mercury
James: False cognate from "aleph"? And is mercury considered the father 
of metals? News to me.
J-J: Two points.
Elliott: One point for atmosphere.

aroph, adj. Subordinate, partial, incomplete.
by Hutch. 3
Judith: 2 points
James: "Subordinate" doesn't quite relate to the other two, does it?
J-J: One point.

aroph, n. Any decoration, usually carved/filigree, but may be painted, 
on a shepherd's or, more likely, on a bishop's crook.
by Linda Owens. 2
James: I like this one. I think I'm leaning more towards the defs that 
lean towards the decorative. TWO POINTS.

aroph, adj. (Obs.) Variant of _enough_.
by Jean-Joseph Cote. 2
James: ...as spoken by Rex, The Wonder Dog.
Ranjit: I've read aroph- this is my favorite. 2 pts.

aroph, n. Any of various medicinal preparations made or invented by 
Paracelsus or the Paracelsians.
by T. B. von Hohenheim. 2
David: 2 points
James: So, this would be a generic term? I'd probably give this points if I
had ever heard of Paracelsus, which I haven't.

aroph, n. 1.  Any magical charm or amulet whose function is unknown. 2. 
  (Pej.)  One hired for reasons unrelated to competence.
by Elliott Moreton. 0
James: Clearly, someone's on the same definitional wavelength 
(literalism into metaphor) as I am.

Elliott: This was a tough round.  NOTHING is believable.
James: With that terminal "ph", you knew we'd be living in the land of 
antiquities/obsolete words/Middle Eastern derivations this round. (And I 
only added to the morass.)
Linda: Flummoxed as usual!

phma

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From: James Kushner <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 12:08:55 -0400

Um... Pierre, did you indicate which aroph definition was the real
one? A quick perusal of the list yielded non-dictionary authors for
each of the definitions. Would that break the tie?

--James

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From: Pierre Abbat <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 05 Aug 2005 21:36:58 -0400

> each of the definitions. Would that break the tie?

The real one is the one by Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, which 
is Paracelsus's real name. ;)

phma