[Fictionary] KONZO results

[J-J Cote]

If I did the accounting and the arithmetic correctly, the winner of this
round is Eric with his M*A*S*H hash. Congratulations!

General comments:
Elliott: "Konzo" elicited three Japanese etymologies, and, as I mentioned
in my reply to your email earlier, I would have done the same if I'd added
an etymology to my own definition.  It
does have that Sino-Japanese sound to it.
Ranjit:  I guess it looks like a japanese word to a lot of us
Hutch: I was going to vote -10 for the joke definition, then try to
convince you that this means I should get *-*(*-*5) points. However, I
see at least three that could be joke definitions.


> konzo - n. - (fr. Igbo) A taboo-breacher who is to be sold as a slave.
>
by David. Nick 1, Pierre 1 = 2 points


> konzo - n. - (derived from American Sign Language) - A rebus with no
> solution.
>
David's joke definition. Elliott 2
Nick: I wonder how a pronunciation would be assigned
Pierre: There's a standard way to map English into ASL (fingerspelling, and
a letter in  the English word may become the handshape of the ASL word),
but no standard map from ASL to English, so an ASL word being borrowed as
"konzo" is highly unlikely.
Elliott:  I like the idea of loan words from ASL into English.  How might
that happen?  Are there fingerspelled words in ASL that are original
to ASL, and could be easily transliterated?  Two points for thinkiness.


> konzo - n. - A dish of chopped vegetables, ground meat, and fried noodles,
> created for U.S. troops in Korea.
>
by Eric. David 1, Nick 2, Elliott 1, Hutch 1, plus 2 for correct guess = 7
points.
David:  1 point for anodyne plausibility.
Pierre:  There is a jamo for /z/ (ㅿ), but it's obsolete, as the sound
vanished centuries ago.
Elliott:  Maybe a stealth fourth Japanese definition, since many the of
U.S. forces in the Korean War were based in, and supplied via, Japan, and
hence could have been eating food with a Japanese name.  If that were the
real definition, though, I'd expect that it would still be on the menu as a
nostalgia item in Korean restaurants in the U.S.  One point.


> konzo - n. - A fish of the species Larimichthys konzo, in the croaker
> family, found around Shikoku, whose swim bladder is held to have medicinal
> properties.
>
 by Pierre. Ranjit 1, plus 2 for correct guess = 3 points.
Ranjit:  1 point mostly because I'm imagining a cute painting of a chubby
fish like Matsumoto Hoji's famous frog.


> konzo - adj. - (classic and retro video game community) - of music or
> especially sound effects, excellent, surprising. From Koji KONDO (composer
> at Nintendo) + GONZO.
>
by Ranjit. Eric 1 = 1 point.
Eric:  And I'm sure this is wrong but I like it anyway. One point.
Nick:  I think I would have heard this term, especially in the most recent
episode of 20000 Hz https://overcast.fm/+AAMLcZqW4yY
Elliott:  But what does GONZO mean?  I only know the Muppet Gonzo and
Hunter S.
Thompson's "Gonzo Journalism".
[A deep dive into that:
https://beatdom.substack.com/p/uncovering-the-origins-of-gonzo-on ]


> konzo - n. - 1. A traffic jam of hot-air balloons ascending and descending
> over the same spot.  2. Obstruction of the mind by an attempt to rethink
> too many beliefs at once.
>
by Elliott, who lost half his wager by voting for the joke definition and
nets -1 point.
Nick: I want there to be a term for 2.
Pierre:  No clue what language this is from.
Ranjit:  This one gets the honorary Elliott-or-maybe-Jim award 🏅


> konzo - n. - A hand lettering style in which ascenders and descenders
> remain vertical but horizontals become oblique and parallel to the desired
> layout angle. From the Japanese calligraphic style.
>
by Nick. Ranjit 2, Hutch 2 = 4 points.
Nick: Mine (inspired by a crafting YouTube video kid was watching)


> konzo - n. - An epidemic paralytic disease occurring among hunger-stricken
> rural populations in Africa where a diet dominated by insufficiently
> processed cassava results in simultaneous malnutrition and high dietary
> cyanide intake. [fr. Yaka "tied legs"]
>
True definition. Eric 2, Pierre 2 = 4 points.
Eric:  I don't care whether this is right, it is lovely. Two points.
Pierre:  Two points. There are five languages called Yaka, all Bantu, so
it's possible to find a Yaka-Yaka interpreter who doesn't know Yaka.
Nick: This could be real...


> konzo - n. - [Port. konzo, agreement; from the legendary "O Konzo" between
> several Alani and Hasdingi chieftains who agreed that the last of them
> alive would take command of all their tribes; credited with forming the
> central group of the Vandal invasion and conquest of North Africa in 428]
> An agreement, similar to the French *tontine*, where the last survivor
> takes ownership of the entire value of the investment.
>
by Hutch. David 2 = 2 points.
David:  2 points for the gonzo konzo.
Pierre: 'k' is a foreign letter in Portuguese.
Nick: Hmm wouldn't Vandals have a more Germanic language origin?
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