Subject: ACROSPIRE - May I have the envelope, please?

From: Hutch <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2005 17:24:00 -0600

The winner, by a HUGE margin,

 . . The 1913 Webster's Dictionary

As J-J noted, the full definition was really a noun for the 
first sprout that was later verbed. (Quote from J-J Coté, 
long ago: "Any noun can be verbed.")

Acrospire, n. [Gr. + anything twisted.] (Bot.) The sprout 
at the end of a seed when it begins to germinate; the 
plumule in germination; -- so called from its spiral form. 
v.i. To put forth the first sprout.

And now for the human winner: eLLioTT's 'empty pedestal' 
definition.

His fictionition was commented on by everyone who made any 
comments and received the only 'if I only had more votes' 
vote. His own remark on his fictionition

 . I came close to adding "(Compare EQUOSPIRE)",
 . but decided that was just too much.

made me burst into laughter while talking on the phone to 
one of our clients.

So, ... take it away, eLLioTT!

BB,
Hutch

==========

General Comments:

Jean-Joseph Coté: [In response to my comment that the 
definitions were "well-varied"] Sez you. Looks like a lot 
of "high-breathing" or "high aspiration" definitions to me.
[After checking] Nope, it's the sprout. But the second hit 
on Google is (indirectly) from the Hutchinson 
Encyclopaedia. And all of the hits that I see have it as a 
noun, not a verb: the first real shoot developing in a 
germinating grain seed.

Judith Schrier: Frankly, I don't believe any of them...but 
I trust you, Hutch, so I'll vote. [BWAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH! 
Another of the masses has fallen under my evil spell. Soon, 
I will RULE THE WORLD!!! ... Oh, 'scuse me.]

eLLioTT morEton: (After checking OED:) Well, shiver me 
timbers! The "spire" isn't from Latin spirare "to breathe", 
but from Greek speirein "to sow"! Very nice word -- thanks!

James Kushner: [who responded after my reminder] All right, 
I guess I respond to shouting. Here's my vote: [and then 
added, like J-J] Lots of air and height and breathing for 
this one.

-----

acrospire n. A hobby airplane, weighing between 0.5 and 
0.75 ounces, with a "pushing" propeller in the rear powered 
by twisted rubber and the rudder at the front. Usually 
built to fly in counter-clockwise fashion for times lasting 
more than 20 minutes.
by Fran Poodry
3 points (1 for correct)

Jean-Joseph Coté: I used to be peripherally involved in 
this sort of model aircraft stuff, and I don't remember 
this word. 14-17 grams is pretty heavy for a rubber-powered 
plane, I think, and this sounds like a tricky thing to make 
work properly. Still, I give it two points because it's not 
really a high-breather, and the wording is odd enough to 
not look made-up.
eLLioTT morEton: I might believe it if the word were 
capitalized, like a brand name, but ... no.
Ranjit Bhatnagar: what do you call the clockwise ones? 
[Have to admit I was wondering that myself - Hutch]

acrospire v. To reach for the stars.
by lindafowens
2 points (2 for correct)

Jean-Joseph Coté: I was going to submit a joke definition 
along the lines of "to strive beyond one's reach".
eLLioTT morEton: Acrospire, punk! Drop the weapon!

acrospire n. Tin disulfide.
by Jean-Joseph Coté
3 points

Jean-Joseph Coté: Mine. Totally out of left-field, although 
the stuff does exist.
eLLioTT morEton: Always nice to see someone avoiding the 
obvious, but this also avoids the plausible.

acrospire n. 1. An empty pedestal on which living persons 
may pose. 2. A public park furnished with such.
by eLLioTT morEton
5 points

Jean-Joseph Coté: Goofy. One point.
eLLioTT morEton: I came close to adding "(Compare 
EQUOSPIRE)", but decided that was just too much.
Ranjit Bhatnagar: Brilliant idea. 2 pts.
Fran Poodry: Honorable mention
lindafowens: I think I want one of these to put at the new 
Exeter town library to thank all of those who contributed 
to the building of said library. Everybody gets 15 minutes 
of fame, then it's back to the pigeons--or turkey vultures. 
Linda 1 point

acrospire n. Breathing exercises adopted by mountain 
climbers from Tibetan monks.
by David Randall
2 points

Jean-Joseph Coté: Learning to breathe up high.
eLLioTT morEton: Just barely believable (alternative-
medicine techniques have names like that), and neither too 
far- nor too near-fetched. Two points!

acrospire n. Altitude sickness; inability to breathe 
properly due to insufficient air pressure.
by Judith Schrier
2 points (2 for correct)

Jean-Joseph Coté: Difficulty breathing up high.
eLLioTT morEton: Overshadowed by the breathing exercises.

acrospire v. To put forth a first sprout.
by Webster Dictionary, 1913 
<http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?
WORD=acrospire>
10 points (4 'unassigned' points for votes from people who 
didn't submit fictionitions)

Jean-Joseph Coté: The first attempt to reach for the stars.
eLLioTT morEton: Applause for non-obviousness, but I don't 
think old-time biologists would mix Greek with Latin like 
that.
Ranjit Bhatnagar: Go little bean, go! 1 pt.
James Kushner: TWO POINTS... for being less like any of the 
others than any of the others were. (Well, that made sense 
when I thought it, but it did seem to lose something in the 
telling... like coherence.)
lindafowens: I'm in a sprout mood, being in the middle of 
Harry Potter VI. 2 points, Linda

acrospire n. (meteorology) An intense updraft.
by Ranjit Bhatnagar
3 points (1 for correct)

Jean-Joseph Coté: Mother Nature breathes, and you get 
higher.
eLLioTT morEton: Modern meteorologists would, though. One 
point!
James Kushner: ONE POINT. Why not?

---

From: eLLioTT morEton <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 16:35:36 -0400 (EDT)

> So, ... take it away, eLLioTT!

Thanks, Hutch, and all yall fictioneers!  How about

 	grison

?  If you know the word, please tell me; otherwise, definitions are due to 
this email address by Thursday, October 27th.

em

---

From: Fran Poodry <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 19:47:10 -0400

Heh.  I know more than I want to about indoor free-flight aircraft powered
by rubber.  14-17 grams is indeed very massive for one of these planes--many
weigh the same as a penny and fly inside disused aircraft hangars for many
minutes.  They are tiny, beautiful, and insect-like.  Many old guys who
started building airplanes "back in the day" (sorry, that's one of my
favorite phrases and I had to use it) when Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic
are still at it, with a few younger people also involved due to Science
Olympiad.  I had one such old guy give a guest lecture in my physics 2
classes last year--he is also a book illustrator, most famously of "The
Borrowers."  He is in his eighties.  He brought in many models, including an
ornithopter of his own design.
As far as I know, most of these planes are hand-built and individually
designed...no brand-names involved.
There are fewer collisions when all the planes fly the same direction in the
hangar.  I think the direction is generally counter-clockwise.
-Fran