[Fictionary] SURRA results

[Fran Poodry]

*Elliott: Moss? Does that even grow in New Mexico, or is the climate
too arid for moss?*

Well, having just been in highly arid Utah, there was moss growing on some
rocks in round little lumps maybe 2-3 cm across. But not very widespread,
no.

On Sat, Oct 23, 2021 at 8:38 PM E Cohen <eac at inbox.com> wrote:

> Congratulations to Jim's elephant trail, whose 14 points ran away with
> the prize! Nicolas' salt deposits came in next with a solid eight
> points, and I am pleased to note that the true definition received only
> one point.
>
> Thank you all for such a full and varied ballot.
>
> Take it away, Jim!
>
> --------
>
> General comments
>
> Ranjit: It feels funny to give my votes to the first two defs in the
> list - would I have chosen differently if I'd read them in a different
> order? These are all quite good!
>
> Jean-Joseph: OK, often it's best to go with the least intriguing
> possibilities: two points for the elephant trail and one for the salt
> deposits.
>
> Elliott: None of these are the least bit plausible.
>
> --------
>
> Real definition
>
> surra, n. A disease of some mammals, characterized by loss of appetite,
> weight loss, fever, and salivation. It is acute and generally fatal in
> horses, donkeys, mules, cattle, buffalo, deer, camels, llamas, dogs, and
> cats; a chronic form of the disease occurs in pigs, sheep, and goats.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surra
>
> 1 Pierre
>
> Pierre: One point, though the sets of animals sound taxonomically
> implausible.
>
> Pierre: Looking it up afterward, I sighted a ked. Trypanosoma
> melophagium (I'd expect "melophagi" or "melophagorum") is transmitted by
> keds.
>
> --------
>
> Pierre
>
> surra, n. A wind-eroded mass of rock resembling the sail of a submarine.
>
> 4: 2 Ranjit, 1 Elizabeth, 1 real vote
>
> Ziv: Resembling the what now?
>
> Ranjit: 2 points and i had to check if submarines really have sails, and
> they do, and now i can visualize just what this rock would look like.
>
> Hutch: Geological, or topological, words tend to be older than submarines.
>
> Elliott: Now I'm picturing a seventeenth-century pirate submarine, which
> sneaks up on its prey completely submerged except for three masts hung
> with black sails and a Jolly Roger. "
>
> --------
>
> Jean-Joseph
>
> surra,conj. (obs.) Subsequently; and then.
>
> 2: 1 Ranjit, 1 Jim
>
> Ranjit: 1 point for the audacity of conjunction
>
> Jim: 1 point for the chutzpah of making it a conjunction."
>
> --------
>
> Linda
>
> surra, n. A soft humming sound.
>
> 3: 2 Nicolas, 1 Elliott
>
> Ziv: Someone inspired by susurrus, maybe?
>
> Pierre: Susurrus.
>
> Hutch: Someone is trying to pull "sussuration" out here.
>
> Nicolas: 2 points on susurrate grounds.
>
> Elliott: Plausible because of ``susurration'' ... but of course, that's
> just what they want us to think.  One point.
>
> --------
>
> Elliott
>
> surra, n. A failure mode of early swivel chairs, occurring when the
> center of mass of the occupied chair lies so far off the swivel axis
> that the chair topples when swivelled.
>
> Hutch: Funny, but no.
>
> Nicolas: Harry the Handsome Executive, is that you?
>
> Eric: Is that the game where you shoot a staple gun?
>
> --------
>
> David
>
> surra, n. (fr. Warlpiri) Stewed termites.
>
> Ziv: Almost want to give one point for Warlpiri, but there's too many
> great definitions this round.
>
> Hutch: The two food definitions are too similar to be believed. Not that
> the foods are similar.
>
> Elliott: Australian languages aren't big on fricatives, so I'm guessing no.
>
> --------
>
> Elizabeth
>
> surra, n. A filled, flaky, Moroccan pastry, containing soft-cooked egg.
>
> --------
>
> Ranjit
>
> surra, n. A picnic with lots of time and wine
>
> Hutch: I don't believe this definition in the slightest, but there
> certainly does need to be a word for such a picnic. I've always thought
> of it as a "Hash House Harriers Trail" ... as long as you include beer
> along with the wine.
>
> Elliott: ``If I, could save time, in a bottle ...''
>
> --------
>
> Hutch
>
> surra, n. A camelid closely related to llama, alpaca, guanaco, and
> vicuña; markedly larger than the llama (approx. size of a horse). Like
> the llama, they were associated with an Aymar deity, but that deity went
> out of favor when its priests failed to predict the coming of Europeans
> to the Andes. Breeding decreased radically during Spanish rule and it is
> unknown whether any remain alive today.
>
> Pierre: Is this the grass mud horse?
>
> Nicolas: I want there to be a secret llama.
>
> --------
>
> Fran
>
> surra, n. A viscous slurry of water, clay, moss, and dye used to
> decorate adobe walls, resulting in colored patterns that become
> permanent moss patterns. v.To decorate a wall with a slurry of water,
> clay, moss, and dye, typically in geometric patterns.
>
> 1 Ziv
>
> Ziv: One "I want this to be real" point
>
> Pierre: Tossup between this and the disease.
>
> Elliott: Moss? Does that even grow in New Mexico, or is the climate too
> arid for moss?
>
> --------
>
> Ziv
>
> surra, interj. A command for banishing demons. v. To banish demons with
> the command "surra."
>
> 1 Fran
>
> Elliott: I've always had good luck with ``kill -9'', but I'll be sure to
> try ``surra'' next time the need arises.
>
> --------
>
> Jim
>
> surra, n. A broad trail created by elephants.
>
> 14: 2 David, 2 Ziv, 2 Jean-Joseph, 2 Pierre, 1 Hutch, 1 Nicolas, 2 Fran,
> 2 Elliott
>
> Hutch: There's bound to be a word for this. Why not "surra"? 1 point
>
> Nicolas: 1 point. Seems like this might have a name.
>
> Elliott: I like it.  Is that thing where they hold each other's tail in
> single file for real, or just in kids' books?  Two points.
>
> --------
>
> Nicolas
>
> surra, n. Salt deposits remaining after a body of water evaporates.
>
> 8: 1 David, 1 Jean-Joseph, 2 Jim, 2 Hutch, 2 Elizabeth
>
> Pierre: Chott award.
>
> Jim: 2 points since I’m a sucker for geology definitions (although the
> one about the sail on a submarine was too specific for me to believe).
>
> Hutch: 2 points. Believable
>
> Elliott: Maybe suggested by similarity to SLURRY?"
>
>
>
> -- Eric   |   @GoudyBoldItalic
>
>
> --
*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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