[Fictionary] ASTEISM results!

Mon May 25 10:40:31 EDT 2020

Thanks! I'm surprised and not a little happy that my definition worked so
well.   My enjoyment of this game usually far exceeds my ability to score
points in it.

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On Mon, May 25, 2020 at 10:09 AM Jim Moskowitz <jim at jimmosk.com> wrote:

> 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!
>
>
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