[Fictionary] AFICOT: Results

Mon Jun 15 09:36:19 EDT 2020

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-JIm

> On Jun 15, 2020, at 9:08 AM, Jean-Joseph Cote <jjcotedsl at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
> I never saw the call for defs, the ballot nor the results, just the comments afterwards. Presumably some spam folder issue, though I don't see it in my spam folder either.
> 
> Jean-Joseph
> 
> On 6/14/2020 11:44 PM, Joe Robins wrote:
>> All, I want to apologize for failing to vote after submitting a definition.?? I never saw a ballot, it turns out to have decided to go into my spam folder.?? Poor form, and I'm kind of glad my definition got no votes in instant retribution.
>> 
>> -Joe
>> 
>> 
>> On Sat, 13 Jun 2020, Elizabeth Heffner wrote:
>> 
>>> This round drew a wide range of definitions, inspiring these comments:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *EM: That word drew some clever defs.?? Although it sounded a lot like
>>> APRICOT, it looked unrelated to other English words, which made it hard to
>>> assign votes based on etymological plausibility.?? *
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *JH: Wow! This one is absolutely all over the place!*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> The correct definition was the wooden burnishing tool in the form of a
>>> lobster claw, primarily used in lacemaking.?? I have one; pic attached.
>>> ?? Burnished
>>> threads are fuller and lie more smoothly adjacent to one another when this
>>> is desired.
>>> 
>>> Three people correctly guessed the definition and it received the following
>>> comments:
>>> 
>>> *EC*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *: I?m pretty certain that lobster claws are essential to lacemaking. 1 pt.
>>> EM: Can you burnish *lace* with *wood*??? This is delightfully surreal.?? Two
>>> points.?? PA: ?But the Barrister, weary of proving in vain?????????????????? That the
>>> Beaver?s lace making was wrong,????????????????????? One point.*
>>> *JH: **I thought ?burnish? was something you did to metal???*
>>> 
>>> The winner of the round is *Fran* *P *with *9 points *for the popular
>>> definition of the living box.*?????? Elliott M* and *Simon H* were not far
>>> behind with
>>> 
>>> *5 each. *I thoroughly enjoyed running this round and dealing with the
>>> clever definitions.???? Many thanks!
>>> 
>>> Now to the results and comments!
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> * Joe R: *Aficot, adj: filled to less than half capacity, usually in regard
>>> to a vessel for holding liquid.
>>> 
>>> * JH: *
>>> *Somebody is thinking of ?aliquot? I suppose? *
>>> 
>>> *Dave R*:?? Aficot, adj: (British army slang) engaged because the lady was
>>> pregnant.
>>> 
>>> *2 EC:*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> * Clearly ?AFIanced Cos Of Tummy? 2 points. EM: Oddly plausible.?? The
>>> etymology isn?t transparent, but the British military did bring back a lot
>>> of words from India. JM: I?m trying to work out if this would come from
>>> rhyming slang, the military concatenated-abbreviation thing, or something
>>> else. But I got nothin?.?? So, no points. *
>>> 
>>> *Elliott M: *Aficot, n: 1. a bell hung as a clapper in a larger bell. 2. a
>>> pair of identical bells hung side by side so as to rebound alternately off
>>> each other.?? 3. a pair of argumentative guests, neither of whom will let
>>> the other have the last word.
>>> 
>>> *1 + 2 + 2 for correct guess RB: *
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *1 point and probably by Elliott or David. EM: Newton?s Cradle with bells
>>> instead of balls.?? Why not? JM: Whimsy = Elliott.?? Honorable mention points
>>> for making me smile. PA: ?Navigation was always a difficult art,
>>> Though with only one ship and one bell.??????????????????? Two points for the two
>>> bells. JH: The bells striking each other strikes me as a bad idea.?? But I
>>> like the development into the third definition from the first two.?? Give
>>> this an imaginary tie-breaker point.*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Linda O*: Aficot, n: any of the early, small dropped fruit resulting from
>>> too much pollination which drop off the tree to ensure a crop of larger
>>> fruit.
>>> 
>>> * JM*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *: I like the concept, but it?s soooo close to ?apricot? that I?m deterred
>>> from guessing it. EM: Too close to APRICOT. PA:?? Why would too much
>>> pollination cause fruit to drop? JH: I don?t think that trees do this
>>> naturally; I think that people have to manually pick those ?too many
>>> fruit?.*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Helen P: *Aficot, n: a string, leather thong, or metal cuff placed at the
>>> ankle to prevent socks from slipping.
>>> 
>>> *2 + 1 EM: *
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Used to AFFIX COTTON? JM: So much like the horse-sleeve definition! But I
>>> have less trouble believing people would wear it than horses, so this one
>>> gets the (2) points! JH: A garter? SH: One point to the sock cuffs, out of
>>> sock solidarity.*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Nicolas W: *Aficot, adj: (botany) having pairs of unequally sized
>>> embryonic leaves.
>>> 
>>> *2 EM: *
>>> 
>>> *Too close to APRICOT HP: This sounds good, except for ?embryonic?.?? Can
>>> leaves be embryonic? FP:?? Sounds legit.?? 2 points.*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *E Cohen*: Aficot, n: the smeared fruit exudate inevitable upon consuming a
>>> particularly juicy fruit.
>>> 
>>> *1 + 1 for correct guess EC: *
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Mine.?? From ?affectionate apricot?. EM: Too close to APRICOT. JM: Doesn?t
>>> sound like any dictionary writing style I?m used to.?? I like the image,
>>> though! JH: Would there be a different word for the juice that runs down
>>> your chin when you eat something other than fruit?*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Ranjit B: *Aficot, n: (computational geometry) The affine cotangent.
>>> 
>>> *2 EM: *
>>> *But what happened to the other f? PA: I know affine and cotangent
>>> separately, and I?ve heard of some modified trig functions such as the
>>> haversine, but not the aficot.*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Pierre A: *Aficot, n: the double crown worn by Carolingian kings in the
>>> 700s, formed by combining the crowns of Austrasia and Neustria.
>>> 
>>> *2 + 1 + 1 for correct guess FP: *
>>> 
>>> *Honorable mention. EM: Weren?t the Carolingian kings post-Charlemagne, and
>>> hence post-800? JM:?? See, this is where Know Thy Roundrunner can be
>>> useful.?? This seems like the kind of word Liz would have come across.?? But
>>> the image of two crowns on one head is silly enough that I?ll give it only
>>> 1 point.*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Jim M: *Aficot, adj: having exactly three prime factors.
>>> 
>>> *EM:*
>>> 
>>> * Mathematicians use each others? names as adjectives (?Suppose towards a
>>> contradiction that S is not Hausdorff?), so maybe there was a number
>>> theorist named Aficot? PA: I know of uses for numbers with exactly two
>>> prime factors, such as RSA, but what are numbers with three prime factors
>>> used for? JH: I would expect this to have some form of ?tri? in it.*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Simon H**: *Aficot, n: a sock-like sleeve used to protect the lower leg of
>>> a horse from extreme cold, flies, or infected wounds or sores.
>>> 
>>> *1 + 2 + 1 + 1 HP: *
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *This gets my two points.?? Why would there be two sock definitions if one
>>> were not right??? And the other is mine, so it must be this one. FP: Horse
>>> stuff also sounds legit. 1 point. JM: So much like the anti-sock-slipping
>>> definition!?? And after all, everyone?s heard of horseshoes, so why not
>>> horsesocks? And yet I don?t buy it.?? Honorable mention, though. JH: I know
>>> this is a thing, but I?ve never heard a name for it. 1 point.*
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *Fran P**: *Aficot, n: a living box made by growing fruit trees
>>> espalier-style on all sides of a wooden structure, then removing the inner
>>> structure.
>>> 
>>> *1 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 HP: *
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> *I planned to stay away from fruit on this one ? the apricot connection was
>>> too tempting.?? But this is such a beautiful idea! One point. RB: I would
>>> like to see one of these! EM: I want to vote against it because it?s too
>>> close to APRICOT, but I like the idea so much I can?t help giving it ONE
>>> POINT. JM: Why would these need to be *fruit* trees??? Unless the idea is
>>> that it supplies you with food as well as lodging?but don?t the trees keep
>>> on growing inward once the walls are removed? JH: Kinda cool idea! I?m
>>> doubtful that this is it, but I like the idea! 2 points.*
>>> 
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> 
> -- 
> J-J Cote
> jjcote at alum.mit.edu
> 