[Fictionary] ASTEISM results!

[Jim Moskowitz]

Congrats Liz, for that amazingly delusive definition! And congrats as well to Ziv, for running your first round so well!


> On May 25, 2020, at 9:38 AM, Ziv Stern <nzivstern at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Though they doubted themselves, Elizabeth is our runaway winner (as well as the only person to guess the correct answer!) 
> 
> At least one classicist among us correctly recognized the etymology of this word, from ἄστυ (astu: city)! However, this word’s been on a journey since then which altogether erased the “city” connection: > ἀστεῖος (asteios: urbane, polite, witty) > ἀστεϊσμός (asteismos: wit, particularly ironical self-deprecation, mock-modesty)
> The earliest citation in the OED is from Puttenham’s The arte of English poesie (1589): “Asteismus, or the Merry scoffe, otherwise The ciuill iest.”
> 
> General comments:
> - Guiding principle for this round, no stars. "Asterism" is a word and this isn't it.
> - Given the several similarities, I wonder if some of our players will be accused of peeking at each other’s papers? I guess it was a foregone conclusion that we’d all submit nouns.
>  - I am discounting all defs referring to stars, as the word should have "astr" or "aster" in it. An asterism is a constellation considered as a pattern of stars rather than a region of sky.
> - This is hard. None of the defs has a meaning resembling that of anything
> resembling "aste" that I know of, except mine (Greek αστυ, town) and the stars
> (Greek αστηρ, αστρον).
>  - Rule 1: I am auto-discounting anything connected with stars.
>    Rule 2: I am auto-discounting anything connected with wacky belief systems.
> 
> asteism, n. the belief that we are made of star stuff. Joe
> Wasn't that something cooked up by Claude Degler during one of the Numbered Fandoms?
> See Rules 1 and 2.
> 
> asteism, n. belief in the wholesome properties of mildew. David
> Some people will believe anything. Unfortunately, I still won’t believe this def.
> Rule 1 doesn't come into play but...ick!  Rule 2.
> 
> asteism, n. reluctance to examine or confront a complex issue. 
> Ranjit: 2 + 1 = 3
> I work with quite a few people who suffer from this, and I would be delighted if there is a name for it.
> We certainly need a word for this.
> 
> asteism, n. polite irony; a genteel and ingenious manner of deriding another. Wiktionary
> No points, but a condition to aspire to.
> Also plausible.  Also very 'Jim', should derision absolutely be called for, not that Jim would stoop so low. 
> 
> asteism, n. belief that humans came from the stars about a million years ago. Linda
> I wonder why the million years is in there? Is there some discontinuity in the hominid fossil record?
> And are bummed because tree-of-life root doesn't grow here.
> Rules 1 and 2.
> 
> asteism, n. inability to sequence episodic memory correctly, usually following cerebral trauma. Elizabeth: 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 for correct answer = 13
> I thought this sounded plausible when I crafted it, but now I am cringing.  This is normal. 
> Two points. Extra points for breaking off the "a" into "not", which makes the word seem to have a reasonable shape.
> I'm sure there's a word for that.  Why not asteism?  2 points!
> 
> asteism, n. a sect of Transylvanian Unitarianism in which meditation is the primary form of worship. Fran
> Scary Buddhists? Scary Friends?
> Rule 2.
> 
> asteism, n. a lenticular flat-topped elevation in karst topography caused by an intrusive igneous dike. 
> Eric: 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 6
> I can picture what you're talking about, but "asteism" just doesn't have the right vibes.
> I always vote for lentils. 2 points!
> I’m a sucker for geology definitions. 2 points.
> Goodness.  Intrusive igneous dike sounds very...in your face.  I may have to use it as an insult in my next Medieval RPG.
> 
> asteism, n. a belief popular in the vicinity of Bow Church (London) that the world was created in five days. 
> Jean-Joseph: 1 + 1 = 2
> One point. Because why should God get a shorter weekend than I do? (I'm sure the Bow Church part is a clever joke which I don't get.) (I'll give this my definition-most-likely-to-be-by-Elliott award, as well.)
> Five days, huh?  Shaved one off the previous record of six? I like the idea of a religious belief that's *that* local, why there?  Is ``five days'' Cockney rhyming slang for something like ``a Great Blaze'', i.e., the Big Bang?  Anyhow, one point for amusement value.
> That'd make the believers almost exclusively Cockney in the old and truer sense of being born within earshot of the bells of Bow Church (these days it tends to be a label given to any Londoner).  I don't see Cockney folks buying into that really.  Also, Rule 2.
> 
> asteism, n. also called a "sky burial", the practice of allowing a deceased person's body to be consumed by vultures. 
> Simon: 1 + 2 = 3
> Sky-Clad to Sky Burial: The Stations of a Modern Pagan Life. Random House, $29.95.
> I love the term sky burial, although I think you’d still need to do some actual burying with the leftover bones…
> I learned of sky burial from reading Sandman, and it seems possible that whoever wrote this did too, so I'll give them 1 point for good taste.
> A common practice in ancient ... Persia, I think.  You put the body up in a high place so that only the birds could get it.  Two points for probably being the real one.
> Pretty sure this is a practice known as jhator.  My memory may be failing me.   Actually, scratch that, we all know my memory IS failing me...it's just a question of whether or not the demolition gang got to that bit yet.
> 
> asteism, n. in ancient Greece, the government of surrounding towns or colonies as subordinates of a city-state. 
> Pierre: 1 = 1
> By process of elimination, 1 point
> I'm feeling quite peeved at my inability to recall the actual term. Obviously this is what happens to Classicists when they don't Classic for sufficiently lengthy periods.  It's not 'asteism' in any case.  At least I don't think so. I'm now engaging in critical levels of self-doubt.  That might even make a good definition for Asteism.
> 
> asteism, n. a condition of the fingernails, often caused by an iron deficiency, which presents as a pattern of longitudinal ridges on the nail. 
> Jim: 1 + 1 = 2
> While I believe you're describing a real condition, I don't think "asteism" would be the word for it
> Plausible, but I have this condition and thus have looked it up previously.
> *examining his fingernails*  Hmm, do I have asteism?  I don't think I have an iron deficiency, but there are definitely longitudinal ridges on my fingernails.  Does this apply to toenails as well?
> 
> Bonus (from Elliott): 
> Here's Edward Gibbon on sky-burial among the Persians:
> 
> The disappointment of the philosophers provoked them to overlook the real
> virtues of the Persians; and they were scandalized, more deeply perhaps
> than became their profession, with the plurality of wives and concubines,
> the incestuous marriages, and the custom of exposing dead bodies to the
> dogs and vultures, instead of hiding them in the earth, or consuming them
> with fire.  (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Ch. XL.)
> 
> The adoration of fire was introduced into Colchos by the zeal
> of the Magi: their intolerant spirit provoked the fervor of a Christian
> people; and the prejudice of nature or education was wounded by the
> impious practice of exposing the dead bodies of their parents, on the
> summit of a lofty tower, to the crows and vultures of the air.  (Decline
> and Fall of the Roman Empire, Ch. XLII.)
> 
> He doesn't call it asteism because ... what do you know, because asteism
> is something completely different!