[Fictionary] YAMEN results

[Jim Moskowitz]

Hutch is our winner with his detailed pruning-knife definition. The 
actual word, courtesy of Merriam Webster online: " the headquarters 
or residence of a Chinese government official or department"  More 
detail is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamen
Here's the breakdown. Thanks to all for playing, and take it away, Hutch!


yamen, v. To do a walking meditation in the midst of a crowd, esp. in 
a city. BY FRAN (9 points total)
3 points from Nick "This sounds relaxing"
2 points from Ranjit "roaming + zazen?"
2 points from Jean-Joseph
1 point from Linda "because it's rainy out and I'm housebound"
1 point from Pierre "It sounds like it could be related to 'yatra'"


yamen, n. The entryway to a yurt, ger, or other round dwelling.  BY 
LINDA (1 point total)
1 point from Elliott "This is so blatant it might actually be true"
0-point vote from Jed
Nick: "YURRRRRRT! (Imagine that sounding kind of like the Inception 
bwwwwaaahhh sound.)"
Pierre: "Yurt alert!"


yamen, n. A spiced Jamaican noodle soup made with goat broth.   BY 
DAVID (5 points total)
3 points from Pierre "for having a plausible Chinese etymology"
1 point from Nick "for not being an Asian language def."
1 point from Ranjit "jah + ramen?"
Linda: "I know people eat goats, but my own personal goats would make 
nasty, stringy broth which would probably butt your insides.  Wait, I 
get it---you serve it with Yamen noodles!"


yamen, adj. Foreign or unusual. BY JED (6 points total)
3 points from Fran "for being shortest, and not a noun"
2 points from Nick "for simplicity"
1 point from Jean-Joseph


yamen, n. The second-highest abbot in a Buddhist monastery. BY PIERRE 
(7 points total, including two for guessing correctly)
3 points from Eric
2 points from Linda
Nick: "Do Buddhists have abbots?"
Elliott: "I would have thought that a monastery could have only one 
abbot, but that was before I found out about German mayors."


yamen, n. An archaic, long-handled pruning knife of England; now 
rarely used due to the mass production of shears making them 
available to the middle class. The word yamen is of northern or 
Scottish descent; in other areas, the knife is called aler (Herts), 
haveller (Suffolk/Norfolk), fothering iron (Yorks), or haearn dyludo 
(Wales).  BY HUTCH (11 points total)
3 points from David
3 points from Ranjit "for all the detail!"
3 points from Jean-Joseph
2 points from Jed
Linda: "The archaic pruning knife almost blinded me with science."
Nick: "This seems like a suspicious amount of detail."
Pierre: "Apparently "dyludo" means "fothering", whatever that means"


yamen, adj. Pertaining to objects unlike yurts.  BY DAVID (joke def)
0-point vote from Jed
Linda: "a small curse for the unlike-yurts def--are we great minds in 
the same gutter?? Or must someone always steal my thunder??"
Nick: "YURRRRRRRRRRRRRT"
Pierre: "Two people need to see the doctor about yurticaria"
Elliott: This, too, is blatant, but in a most implausible way


yamen, n. The headquarters or residence of a Chinese government 
official or department. REAL
2 points from Pierre
Nick: "Believable, but out of points."
Elliott: "What is it doing in an English dictionary?"  [the same 
thing 'chalet' is? --Jim]


yamen, n. The sliding weight affixed to the shaft of an atlatl. BY 
ERIC (5 points total)
3 points from Linda
2 points from David
Nick: "I didn't know there was a weight involved in spearthrowers."
Elliott: "What's it for?  Do you use it to adjust the range somehow?"


yamen, v. To level a wall-hung frame or similar item by increments, 
through trial and error. BY RANJIT (4 points total)
2 points from Fran "though I don't know why you would need a word for 
this, and it is also not a noun"
1 point from Jed
1 point from David
Nick: "I prefer to think of this as 'The Method'."
Ranjit: "from yaw + amend, though I think roll is the more appropriate tilt"


yamen, n. Very thick smog (Beijing slang). BY NICK (no points)
Elliott: "If the roundmeister is using an English dictionary, how 
come this word is in it?"


yamen, n. A bolt with a head on each end and a captive nut.  BY 
JEAN-JOSEPH (4 points total)
3 points from Jed
1 point from Fran "for making me try to imagine what one would use 
this for and whether one could actually make it"
Nick: "A toy for contractors' kids?"
Pierre: "If a bolt has a head on each end, how do you put it through the hole?"
Elliott: "Very nice definition --- ``captive nut'' sounds like it 
could be real engineering jargon.  But what is it *for*?"


yamen, n. The parishioner's response to a tedious sermon. BY RANJIT (joke def)
2 points from Eric
2 points from Elliott "Ohh, that is very funny."
Nick: "Hah. (Personally, I take notes during sermons to better listen.)"
Ranjit: "from yawn + amen"


Eric chose not to award a 1-point vote and Elliott chose not to award 
a 3-point vote