[Fictionary] LOVAT results

[Ziv Stern]

Hi all! This is great fun, I'm happy to be here!
I would be happy to lead a round... I just learned the word OSSICONE --
does anyone know it? (Or is there a more specific procedure for checking
that no one does? I didn't see it happen with lovat.)

-Ziv (he/him)

On Thu, Apr 16, 2020, 10:14 AM Ranjit Bhatnagar <ranjit at moonmilk.com> wrote:

> Ah, as Ziv is new, I think they ought to jump into the lovat and run a
> round of fictionary! (Unless you don't want to!)
>
> - r
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2020 at 10:11 AM Jim Moskowitz <jim at jimmosk.com> wrote:
>
>> And see, already I found a math mistake! (I proofread twice, but should
>> have given it a third go.)
>>
>> —> Ziv also has six points, and is also tied for the lead! I think he and
>> Ranjit ought to discuss which of them gets to run the next round.
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Apr 16, 2020, at 10:04 AM, Jim Moskowitz <jim at jimmosk.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > It’s time to reveal who wrote what, who voted for what, and who gets to
>> run our next round!
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - an albino vixen.   DAVID
>> >   David: Tom Wolfe would use this as a stole to accompany his white
>> suit.  I know, it's my own definition. Just sayin'.
>> >   Jean-Joseph: OK, invoking the arbitrary "no organisms" rule…
>> >   Joe: I love the idea that there would be a word for this, but it
>> seems like too much of a special case.  Or are vixens particularly prone to
>> albinism?
>> >  2 points for correct voting!
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - a tightly bound bale.   NICK
>> >   Jean-Joseph: 1 point — Ordinary enough for One point.
>> >   Helen: 1 point - It's such an elegant definition, like a line of
>> poetry.
>> >   Ranjit: 1 point
>> >   Liz: 1 point
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - a tool for cleaning Kalman filters.  JEAN-JOSEPH
>> >   Jean-Joseph: Mine, let's see how many people get this math joke.
>> >   Elliott: 2 points — ... using Von Neumann whitening, of course.  Two
>> points for funny.  (Is this secretly vowel harmony def #3, because Kalman
>> is a Hungarian name?)
>> >   Pierre: Isn't that a DSP thing? How can you clean a DSP filter?
>> >   Ranjit: Yeah, they need a linting now and then.
>> >   Eric: Heh! :-) I'm sure all the signal processing engineers are
>> amused? I don't remember exactly what one is, but I'm pretty certain you
>> don't clean it with a brush.
>> >   Plus 1 point for correct voting!
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - a refrigerated van or small refrigerated truck.  RANJIT
>> >   Jean-Joseph: 2 points — One of the definitions left standing: Two
>> points.
>> >   Eric: 2 points — Just boring enough to get my vote. Two points!
>> >   Fran: 1 point
>> >   Ziv: 1 point
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - a small warbler with a reddish stripe on its rump.    LINDA
>> >   Ranjit: 1 point — I will give a point to almost anything with a
>> reddish stripe on its rump. 1 point.
>> >   Jean-Joseph: Organism.
>> >   Eric: Nope. No birds.
>> >   Plus 2 points for correct voting!
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - a Mongolian meat stew simmered with onions and spices.
>> HELEN
>> >   Pierre: 2 points
>> >   Hutch: 1 point — Similar to the Hungarian word, it feels like it
>> could be Mongolian as well ... mostly because I don't know any Mongolian, I
>> suspect. 1 point
>> >   Joe: 1 point — Yum!
>> >   Jean-Joseph: Since we have some new players this round, I guess it's
>> appropriate that somebody submitted a definition for something prepared in
>> a yurt. It's been a while!
>> >   Elliott: Vowel harmony def #1.
>> >   Eric: My new plan is to never vote for any Mongolian definition,
>> Mongolian has only one word and that word is "yurt".
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - a muted green color used especially in tweed and woolen
>> garments.  OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS [i.e., the real definition]
>> >   Linda: 2 points
>> >   Liz: 2 points
>> >   David: 2 points — and the Lord Lovat Award.
>> >   Jean-Joseph: 1 point — I like this, not enough to really believe it
>> or to give it full score, but I will award it One point.
>> >   Joe: 1 point, because this somehow sounds more plausible than my
>> remaining candidates?
>> >   Ziv: 1 point
>> >   Eric: 1 point — I hate it already. One point.
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - a cushioned bar in front of a church pew for kneeling
>> during prayer.   JOE
>> >   Linda: 1 point
>> >   Pierre: I've used this, and I've never heard anyone call it a lovat.
>> >   Jean-Joseph: We always just called this a "kneeler".
>> >   Hutch: Just a "kneeler" isn't it?
>> >   Ziv: Honorable mention for this one for me. Feels like something that
>> ought to have a weird and obscure name, but I'd think it would be something
>> more latin-y sounding.
>> >   Plus 1 point for correct voting!
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - an annual medicinal herb native to the Mediterranean
>> region, also known as moonflower.   LIZ
>> >   Pierre: 1 point
>> >   Hutch: Okay, 1 point
>> >   Helen: 1 point - When in doubt, it's probably either a bird or an
>> herb. I'll go with the herb.
>> >   Jean-Joseph: Organism.
>> >   Plus 2 points for correct voting!
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n., pl. lovatok - a Hungarian equestrian competition judged on
>> style and skill rather than speed.   PIERRE
>> >   Hutch: 2 points — Pretty sure that basically all "equestrian"
>> competitions are judged on style and skill; speed is always merely a
>> tie-breaker. If speed is the primary factor in determining the winner, the
>> competition is referred to as a "race". Nonetheless, somehow this feels
>> right, as an eastern European word. 2 points
>> >   Elliott: 1 point — Vowel harmony def #2.  "Rather than speed" doesn't
>> sound like it belongs in a definition, somehow.  One point.
>> >   Jean-Joseph: That does look like the way you might form a plural in
>> Hungarian (ex. lake = to, lakes = tavak). But that also makes it a bit too
>> foreign to likely be a word that you'd pick.
>> >   Ziv: My linguist senses are tingling for this one---I believe you
>> that this could be a Hungarian word. But I can't imagine the Hungarian
>> plural making it into English usage...
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - an object or device from which a swung sledgehammer can
>> rebound so as to strike something from below.  ELLIOTT
>> >   Elliott: How do you hammer upwards?  You might be mining, or driving
>> nails into a wooden ship's hull; how do you do it?  Do you bounce it off
>> something, like an anvil, or a little trampoline?  Do you use a hydraulic
>> device where you bash down on one side of a U and a piston shoots up on the
>> other side?
>> >  Helen: 2 points - If this does exist, why shouldn't it be called a
>> lovat? And if it doesn't exist, it should. I've watched enough Vermont
>> timber-framers almost kill themselves using sledge hammers and chainsaws
>> from below. Some quite dear to me. Though I can't really see this working
>> for a chainsaw.
>> >   Ziv: 2 points
>> >   Fran: 1 point
>> >   David: 1 point, and the Swing Low Sweet Sledgehammer Award
>> >   Jean-Joseph: No. No. This sounds like such a bad idea. Like a
>> trampoline for a sledgehammer (but presumably made of solid iron or
>> something)? If it's going to retain enough energy to do anything useful on
>> the way back up, it's going to be an invitation for somebody to get hurt.
>> So hard to control.
>> >   Joe: I am imagining all the injuries that would happen from improper
>> use of such a device.  Ouch.
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - fertilizer made from a mixture of cattle manure, horse
>> manure, sheep manure, chicken manure, and straw.   FRAN
>> >   Pierre: 1 point
>> >   Liz: 1 point
>> >   Eric: 1 point — I usually add shallots and dill. One point.
>> >   David: 1 point, and the Duke's Mixture Award
>> >   Jean-Joseph: Huh. Some benefit to the particular mixture? I can
>> easily picture fertilizer that's made form whatever manure is available,
>> but I'm not so sure about a custom blend.
>> >
>> >
>> > lovat - n. - where a bay or bow window is built over a portico, the
>> trim extending from the portico roof to the part-wall below the window.
>>  ERIC
>> >   Ranjit: 2 points — i like excessively technical details.
>> >   Jean-Joseph: I'm having trouble even picturing what this would look
>> like.
>> >   Helen: You would certainly need a lovat to build something like this.
>> >   Plus 1 point for correct voting!
>> >
>> >
>> > LOVAT - n. - LOw VAntage Training (U.S. Army) : military exercises
>> simulating combat where soldiers must remain close to the ground, e.g.
>> bombardment drills.   ZIV
>> >   Fran: 2 points
>> >   Joe: 2 points; This sounds plausible, so whoever came up with this
>> deserves my 2 points.
>> >   Jean-Joseph: Nah.
>> >   Elliott: Sounds plausible to me, but the word was given to us in all
>> lower-case letters, and I don't think the roundmeister would have done that
>> if the real def was all caps.  One point.  [Jim’s note: Actually, I’m
>> pretty sure I always put the word in all-caps, to leave its actual
>> capitalization ambiguous.]
>> >   Plus 1 point for correct voting!
>> >
>> >
>> > Overall/general comments
>> >   Jean-Joseph: Oh man, it's easier when none of the definitions seem
>> plausible than when it's like this and most of them do.
>> >   Fran:  I did not find 3 defs I wanted to give points to. However...
>> >   Elliott: Many of these defs are vaguely plausible, but not
>> outstandingly so, leaving me with no easy choices.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > AND THE WINNER IS… well, actually the most points (10) went to the
>> correct definition, so I didn’t do a stealthy enough job.  But in second
>> place, with 6 points, is a tie between Ranjit’s refrigerated truck and
>> Elliott’s sledgehammer trampoline.  As a tiebreaker I’ll point out that
>> Elliott ran a round recently, so I think that Ranjit should get to run the
>> next one. But congratulations to you both, and to everyone for
>> participating! We now return you to your physical distancing already in
>> progress.
>> >
>> > -Jim
>> >
>> >
>> > P.S. Because there’s always the chance that I missed or miscounted
>> something, please let me know if you think we actually have a different
>> winner.
>>
>>
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