grig vote tallies

[FPoodry at aol.com]

The grig winner is Elliott, with 13 points. 


grig (n.) an aphrodisiac made of powdered rhinoceros horn, seven-year-old 
wine, adder's tongue, and a page of Holy Scripture.
by David (2 points total)
“now THAT's grog.” (Kir)
“Song of Solomon, I suppose, not Romans.  Miracle Ingredient X-33.  Damn, I'm 
out of points.” (Elliott)
“Works for me!  And people wonder why there are so many pages missing from my 
Bible.  Any opinions on which books work the best?  Is Macchabees better than 
Corinthians?  And there is of course the political incorrectness of using 
rhino horn these days.  Cow horn just doesn't have the same oomph.  (Sounds 
like Elliott.)” (Jean-Joseph)
“Cute, but I'm pretty sure rhinoceros horn is an Asian aphrodisiac, and the 
other items suggest Western magic.” (Jacob)
“I can't believe this is the right answer, but I can't really believe any of 
them are the right answer.  The idea of making aphrodisiacs out of holy 
scripture is just to good to pass up.  Does it work better if the page you 
use is one of the "begat" pages?  2 points.” (Larry)
“LOL!” (Pierre)
“The aphrodisiac recipe is deserving, and the other defs are plausible, but 
too bad.” (Linda)
“Hee hee.” (Jen)


grig (n.) An immature newt.
by Joshua (5 points total)
(2 points correct guess)
“2 points and the Gingrich Award.” (David)
“Hm.   I think I'd've known this, but given my record, it's entirely likely I 
wouldn't've. (Although an eft is certainly also this...)” (Kir)
“Isn't that an eft?  Assuming salamanders are newts.” (Melissa)
“That would be an "eft"... or is that an immature salamander?” (Jean-Joseph)
“According to the latest tad polls, the number of votes for this should be 
4.” (Pierre)
“One point.  Can this be verbed, as in "Bob and I went grigging?"  Although 
what you'd do with them I'm not sure... use them as bait maybe, I doubt 
anyone would want to fry up a mess of grigs...” (Amy)
“This one is kind of cool just because it's about newts.” (Jen)


grig (n.) A small concrete barrier placed between parking spaces to prevent 
driving through
by Melissa (1 point total)
“Oh, right, that was my definition....”(Melissa)
“This *ought* to have a name.  Give it a point.” (Judith)
“I definitely agree that there should be a word for this...but I'm out of 
points.” (Jen)


grig (v.) To patch together in a temporary way.
by Judith (0 points)
“Interestingly, the two verb forms suggested have similar feelings if not 
meanings -- ‘We don't have time for perfection.  Just grig it.’” (Jacob)


grig (n.) The silhouette-shaped hole left in a wall after a cartoon character 
has smashed through.
by Ranjit (8 points total)
(2 points correct guess)
“tempting...” (Kir)
“Hee hee.” (Melissa)
“Very nice.  One of our newcomers?  Two points.” (Elliott)
“One point.  Although I don't particularly believe this either, it's nice to 
imagine that animators have special jargon for the non-physical things that 
happen to their characters.  And if this were real, I'd like to know the 
words for when a character turns into a concertina after a safe lands on his 
head, or for the little puff of dust that appears when one falls from a great 
height, or for the period of time one can spend in midair before realizing 
and coming to grips with the fact that one is no longer standing on 
anything.” (Jean-Joseph)
“One point.” (Jacob)
“I'd love to think there's a word for this, but I doubt it.  1 point.” (Larry)
“One point.  This is undoubtedly also not the right answer, but I have to 
give it a reward for making me laugh out loud.”  (Jen)


grig (n.) (Nautical) A compartment for storing faked or coiled rope.
by Pierre (4 points total)
(2 points correct guess)
“2 pts, because if anyone would have faked rope, it would be nautical.” (Kir)
“Hey, is that rope?  Hah!  No!  Gotcha!” (Melissa)
“Too much like "brig".  Also, I believe faked and coiled are synonyms.” 
(Jacob)
If I weren't me and also running this round, I would suspect this was mine. 
-Fran 


grig (v.) 1. To measure in a casual or careless manner  2. To estimate
by Jean-Joseph (0 points)
“When I was an estimator, we called it SWAG (for Sophisticated Wild Ass 
Guess).” (Aussie)
“Interestingly, the two verb forms suggested have similar feelings if not 
meanings -- ‘We don't have time for perfection.  Just grig it.’” (Jacob)


grig (v.) To delay - used as a notation in music.
by Aussie (0 points)
“Doesn't sound Italian, and I'd have heard of it if it were this.” (Pierre)


grig (n.) (Public school slang, UK) A student who feigns illness to avoid 
participating in athletic events.
by Jacob (4 points total)
“Gotta like it.  One point.” (Aussie)
“That would be me.  Not it, but 1 point.” (Melissa)
“Has the right snivelly sort of sound.  ‘Jarvis minor's grigging again.  Says 
he's ill, but that's rot.  Let's give him a good hazing, for the honour of 
the House.’  Most Likely to be Eric Award, and 1 point.” (Elliott)
“Mine.  Probably suggested by ‘prig’ which seems British to me.” (Jacob)
“I also love this one, though I'd hate to think there's a slang word for this 
and it hasn't caught on worldwide, or even to British parochial schools.” 
(Larry)
“Next I like the public school slang, of the feigning student. Reminds me of 
my son Greg, only he would skip school to do sports, so 1 point.” (Linda)
“I would've been a grig in junior high school if I'd dared.” (Jen)


grig (n.) (Military jargon, USA) The pilot of a fighter aircraft that employs 
incendiary and antiforestation devices.  From "Ground Igniter".
by Larry (8 points total)
“Highly likely. Two points.” (Aussie)
“1 point, not that I believe it.” (David)
“1 pt, although "antiforestation" doesn't sound right.” (Kir)
“Best Etymology in a While Award.” (Melissa)
“Two points.  I don't have much confidence in this, but I go find it 
plausible.” (Jean-Joseph)
“I like this.  Give it two points.” (Judith)
“This one is slightly plausible, but I'm out of points.” (Jen)


grig (n.) 1.  A fictitious fourteenth horse added to a race that would 
otherwise have an unlucky thirteen.  2.  (Slang) _To bet (on) the grig_, to 
count on something that will certainly not happen.
by Elliott (13 points total)
“Happily Randallesque.” (Kir)
“2 points!” (Melissa)
“Two points.  Not real, but should be.  Brilliant expansion of plausible 
specialized word into plausible slang.” (Jacob)
A Tom Waits lyric:
    Well, you've left on the rail
    and we're just one more tale
    that never got a chance to begin.
    The stakes were too big
    I bet on the grig
    Here's one more time that it didn't come in.
            (Jacob)
“I love this definition, but I didn't think there were ever more than 8 or 10 
horses in a race.  The track would get pretty crowded.  I could be wrong, of 
course; either way, full marks for effort but no votes.” (Larry)
“1 point” (Joshua)
“1 point funny!” (Ranjit)
“I'll bet one point on this grig.” (Pierre)
“Two points.  I don't think horse races usually have that many horses, but 
it's a cool derivation anyways.” (Amy)
“I like the 14th horse the best, because I have a horse, so 2 points.” (Linda)
“Two points.  I doubt this is true but I really like the idea.” (Jen)


grig (n.) A lively, bright person.
Webster's II New Riverside University Dictionary
“2 points” (Joshua)
“2 pts believable” (Ranjit)
“Two points.” (Pierre)


Jean-Joseph adds:
Hmm... checking the dictionary now, I guess it's the "lively person", as one 
usage example listed is  "merry as a grig", meaning "lively", although the 
actual definitions were 1) a small eel, and 2) a grasshopper or cricket, 
suggesting that the immature newt wasn't too far off. ("Merry as a small 
eel"?!?)


Interesting.  My dictionary says nothing about eels, but does classify the 
word as “archaic.”  I wonder if my dictionary has been sloppy about the 
origin of this...Similarly, several people pointed out that my first word 
choice, guerdon, referred to a coin, whereas my dictionary specified 
non-monetary reward...perhaps another case of slacking on the etymology.
-Fran