[Fictionary] harling results

[Joshua Randall]

Does the group know klatch?

On Wed, Nov 5, 2025 at 6:49 PM Joshua Randall <joshuarandall.nyc at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi all!
>
> I will send out a word candidate in the next few days.
>
> Joshua
>
> On Mon, Nov 3, 2025 at 11:18 PM E <e2836 at gmx.com> wrote:
>
>> Looks like this word wasn't so mysterious, the real definition -- lime
>> applied to the exterior of a building -- got plenty of votes. The big
>> winner, though, is Joshua with his very popular hat ornament as well as
>> two points for the real def.
>>
>>
>> General comments:
>>
>> David: joke definition: harling - n. - a language that doesn't have a /z/.
>>
>> Pierre: Some defs imply /'haɹliŋ/, others /'haɹlɪŋ/.
>>
>> --------
>>
>> Hutch
>>
>> harling, n. A hiking activity consisting of traveling from one place to
>> another via the highest (or lowest) possible route, regardless of
>> difficulty or danger. Named for an early participant, Stephen Harl, who
>> died in 1931 while attempting a traverse in the Grampians.
>>
>> 6 = 1 for real, 2 Elliott, 2 Wesley, 1 Ranjit
>>
>> Eric: extra credit for "Grampians".
>>
>> Pierre: I give this an imaginary tiebreaker point. Several days ago, the
>> next-door neighbor to the lot I'm surveying led me to the back irons,
>> and I had to take the high route while going from one to the other. I'm
>> planning to traverse to both irons today from the nearby field.
>>
>> Elliott: Sounds like something hiking enthusiasts would have a word for,
>> but would it be this word, with this origin story?  It would be like
>> saying, "Let's go hindenburging" to propose a transatlantic airship
>> flight.  People might feel like if they took you up on it, they'd be
>> tempting fate. ... Enh, two points.
>>
>> Ranjit: I'll give this one a point because I've been enjoying videos of
>> people doing "straight line missions" in which they attempt to cross a
>> rural region - or a city - in as close to a straight line as possible,
>> regardless of what they have to climb over or wade through."
>>
>> --------
>>
>> Pierre
>>
>> harling, n. In eighth-century Lombardy, an official appointed by a
>> gastald to lead a police force.
>>
>> Nicolas: This one tempted me but region sounds off.
>>
>> --------
>>
>> Wesley
>>
>> harling, n. Derogatory slur from the 1600s referring to someone’s
>> appearance resembling that of a harpy. Also denotes that their
>> temperament is very tumultuous like a storm.
>>
>> Hutch: Harpies, in legend, have extremely foul (fowl?) tempers. One
>> hardly needs to say that someone who resembles a harpy has a "stormy"
>> temperament. Sorry, don't believe it.
>>
>> --------
>>
>> real definition
>>
>> harling, n. A rough-textured wall finish of lime and small pebbles or
>> shells, generally applied to exterior walls to protect against moisture.
>>
>> 6 = 1 Nicolas, 1 Jean-Joseph, 1 Hutch, 2 Joshua, 1 David
>>
>> Elliott: The word does have a mass-noun sound to it, but there's
>> something suspicious about that ``generally''.
>>
>> Eric: Yes, but you have to remember that I'm smooshing together defs
>> from Wikipedia and elsewhere, and might not do it so well.
>>
>> Ranjit: This sounds so believable that I refuse to believe it. I'll
>> include a non-negotiable bonus point, though!"
>>
>> --------
>>
>> David
>>
>> harling, n. (fr. Damon Runyon) A young moll resembling Jean Harlow.
>>
>> 3 = 2 for real, 1 Elliott
>>
>> Nicolas: 😆
>>
>> Pierre: Don't know either of them.
>>
>> Hutch: I've read a fair bit of Runyon. I just don't believe it.
>>
>> Elliott: All right, sounds like 1940s humor.  One point.
>>
>> --------
>>
>> Joshua
>>
>> harling, n. A garland of decorative flowers pinned around the band of a
>> wide-brimmed hat.
>>
>> 10 = 2 for real, 2 Nicolas, 2 Jean-Joseph, 2 Hutch, 2 Ranjit
>>
>> Elliott: Maybe inspired by "garland"?
>>
>> --------
>>
>> Jean-Joseph
>>
>> harling, n. A geriatric wallaby.
>>
>> 2 = 1 for real, 1 Wesley
>>
>> Nicolas: Awwww
>>
>> Hutch:
>>      Let me wallaby be, sport.
>>      Let me wallaby be
>>      If ya don't then he'll come after me, sport.
>>      So let me wallaby be.
>>      Yes, tie me kangaroo down, sport ...
>>
>> --------
>>
>> Nicolas
>>
>> harling, n. Any child of a clan leader, other than the firstborn and heir.
>>
>> 3 = 1 for real, 2 Pierre
>>
>> --------
>>
>> Ranjit
>>
>> harling, n. A 19c decorative style for furniture and interior finish in
>> the northeastern United States, making frequent use of vertical fluting
>> combined with circular medallions
>>
>> 2 = 2 David
>>
>> Elliott: Sounds like something in Eric's ministerial portfolio, but
>> "19c" doesn't sound like him.
>>
>> --------
>>
>> Elliott
>>
>> harling, n. Vibration of an object placed in a wind tunnel at an
>> antinode of one of the tunnel's natural frequencies.
>>
>> 2 = 1 Pierre, 1 Joshua
>>
>> Nicolas: I think I would have encountered this in engineering curriculum
>> at some point.
>>
>> Elliott: I really should have specified that this meant a velocity
>> antinode, not a pressure antinode.
>>
>>
>>
>> -- Eric
>>
>>
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