[Fictionary] AFICOT: Results

[Fran Poodry]

Well, that's a surprise! I'll work on a plausible, real word!
Fran

On Sat, Jun 13, 2020 at 10:38 AM Elizabeth Heffner <elheffner at googlemail.com>
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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-- 
*Fran Poodry (she/her)*
*Oregon, USA*



*“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” ― Margaret Mead
<http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/61107.Margaret_Mead>*
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