[Fictionary] TROFFER results

[lindafowens at netzero.com]

Flag Day is June 14th, my patriotic uncle's birthday.  Linda

---------- Original Message ----------
From: J-J Cote <jjcote at alum.mit.edu>
To: fictionary group <fictionary at swarpa.net>
Subject: [Fictionary] TROFFER results
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2012 22:42:16 -0400

Eric's molding edges out Linda's ersatz cripple!

General comments:
Nick: When is Flag Day? #badamerican
Ranjit: On principle I can't support any "trough" definitions, no matter how compelling.

troffer - n. - (antebellum American slang) - advertising space in a newspaper offered at a discount to the political party which the editor supports. 
by David.  Ranjit 1, Pierre 1 = 2 points
Nick: One of the printing defs. The trough + offer portmanteau makes it suspect, though.
Elliott: Typography-related def #1.  Creative, but I'd expect the discount to be in the gift of the owner or publisher rather than the editor. 

troffer - n. - from "trough". In industrial food processing, a machine that diverts byproducts that are suitable only for non-human consumption. 
by Nick.  Linda 2 = 2 points
Elliott: Seems like a job for multiple humans rather than a single machine, because it would have to recognize inedible by-products at multiple stages in the production process. 

troffer - n. - 1) One who limps.  2) One who limps for effect or feigns another disability. 
by Linda.  David 1, Nick 1, Eric 2, Ranjit 2 = 6 points
Nick: This sounds right, like some kind of con-man slang.
Eric: I'm imagining (2) as a type of beggar in Victorian London. 
Jim: I like it but am out of points. 

troffer - v. - When an elephant, rhinoceros, or other large lumbering animal plays with a rubber ball, many zoo staffers call it "troffering".  The word seems to have originated in the western U.S. in the 1970s, and is now heard in most North American zoos.  Its origin is unknown, though the the Denver Zoo and Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo each claim it for themselves.  
by Ranjit.  Jim 2, Elliott 2 = 4 points
Ranjit: I was thinking of Jim Woodring's odd little picture book Trosper, about a little elephant-rhino-thing with a rubber ball.  The book comes with a CD soundtrack by Bill Frisell.  Woodring is from Seattle, and Frisell grew up in Denver.
Nick: I like the argument.
Jim: I suspect this is a submission by Linda. I support the idea of definitions written in more varied styles than just dictionaryspeak. 
Elliott: Sounds plausibly mainly because it doesn't sound like someone trying to sound plausible.

troffer - n. - A decorative molding situated several inches below the crown molding. Also, any wall molding used to suspend pictures. 
by Eric.  David 2, Nick 2, Linda 1, Pierre 2 = 7 points and the win
Nick: I can't remember the word for those picture-hanging rails, so I'll assume it's this.
Linda: 1 point for the molding, as I used to have some in my dorm at college.  Would have preferred to just paste or tape things up, but I can see now (as a home-owning adult) what a great idea the picture molding is.  Wish I had some.
Elliott: Interior decorating def # 1.  Sounds like someone trying to sound plausible. 

troffer - n. - (obs.) The lever mechanism on a "Noiseless" typewriter (patented by W. P. Kidder in 1914 and marketed from 1917 until the late 1930's) that decelerates the typebar before impacting the ribbon and paper. 
by Hutch.  Elliott 2 = 2 points
Nick: I don't know enough about typewriter mechanisms to be sure of this one.
Elliott: Typography-related def #2.  How is it supposed to transfer ink if it hits *gently*?  And the name ``Kidder'' makes me suspicious.  One point for creativity anyway. 

troffer - n. - 1. One who adjusts the spacing of lines of type after they have been laid roughly. 2. One who arranges hors d'oeuvre at a wayzgoose.
by Pierre.  Jim 1 = 1 point
Nick: Is a wayzgoose a previous fictionition? I don't remember what printer's apprentices are called.
Jim: missing the 2 only because I'm suspicious of crazy-looking words in definitions. (Or is this prelude to the next round being the word 'wayzgoose'? :^) 
Elliott: Typography-related def #3.  Honorable mention for finding a way to work wayzgoose in. 
["wayzgoose" was the word, picked by David, back in July of '03 -- J-J]

troffer - n. - A lugubrious mendicant : beggar. 
by Jim.  No points
Nick: Another amusing word choice in the def, but unlikely to come from a dictionary.

troffer - n. - Woad remover. 
by Elliott.  Eric 1 = 1 point
Nick: Invisible bonus points for mentioning woad.
Eric: One point.  Because woad makes me laugh. 
Pierre: My name is Indigo Montoya. You terped my henna. Prepare to dye!
Jim: honorable mention for making me laugh.
Elliott: You know, like nail-polish remover. 

troffer - n. -An inverted, usually metal trough suspended from a ceiling as a fixture for fluorescent lighting tubes.
by numerous websites, and nobody voted for the boring real definition (I don't remember if this has ever happened before)
Nick: I always wondered if those things had a more specific name.
Jim: I just can't buy any 'troffer' def using the word 'trough'.
Elliott: Interior decorating def #2.  Also sounds like someone trying to sound plausible.

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