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A late surge of plausibility brings Hutch's monk's hood definition
to the podium. It's all yours, Jeff!<br>
<br>
Jean-Joseph<br>
<br>
General comments and joke definitions:<br>
Pierre: I know what Cuculus is (a parasitic bird), but not
Cuculoris. You can't cross a cucu and a loris either.<br>
Hutch: Something to do with the bird "Cuckoo" ("cuculus" is the
Latin name for the bird and is the genus name) or with "cowls" or
"hoods"<br>
("cucullatus" is a part of the scientific name of a number of birds
and it means "cowled" or "hooded"). Well if that's not what it is,
I'll use it for my fictionition.<br>
Elliott: Finally, a scientific-sounding word!<br>
Fran: My first thought is that the cuculoris is that one loris in
the zoo exhibit that isn't slow, instead it races around like a cat
at midnight.<br>
but that would be silly. <br>
Joe: cuculoris (n.) - An animal sound, esp. a bird call, which
consists of a simple phrase repeated two or more times.
Actually, scratch that. It occurred to me just after sending that
def that I just recently did a def that was bird song. Don't want
to become too predictable.<br>
Eric: cuculoris, n. A rabid or otherwise demented strepsirrhine.
Treat with extreme caution.
<br>
Elliott: OK, I'll contribute a joke def: ``A long, green
prosimian''. (I take it back if anyone has contributed a similar
def as their real one.)
<br>
Jim: Wow, so much wackiness on a single ballot!
<br>
Elliott: This was a pretty good harvest. Aside from the baffling
(to me, anyway) dentistry theme (enamel filler, tongue membrane,
neotenous baby tooth), there was a lot of variety, which is good.
Deucedly difficult to decide which is the least implausible.<br>
Elliott: (After looking it up:) Wow. Where the heck does <b
class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>that<span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b> come from? The Wikipedia
article doesn't give an etymology, and not one of those spellings is
in the OED.
<br>
Joe: I'm only slightly later filing my cuculoris votes than I was
filing my taxes...
<br>
______________________<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - A catamite's concubine.<br>
From David. Eric 2 = 2 points<br>
Eric: Two points. For being funny in only three words. (Also for
showing that the operations are not commutative, as a catamite's
concubine does not equal a concubine's catamite.)
<br>
Linda: Oh, dear don't know what a catamite is.<br>
Joe: Nice alliteration. Not point-worthy, but nice.
<br>
Nick: What's a catamite?<br>
Pierre: Is a catamite old enough to have a concubine?<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - A transparent dental filler, primarily for enamel
reinforcement not replacement.<br>
from Fran. No points<br>
Hutch: Too modren<br>
Linda: Just had my apt for a small filling postponed, whew!<br>
Elliott: Baffling Dental Theme.
<br>
Nick: I'm never sure if I should be happy or sad that someone else
came up with a definition in the same field as me.<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - A small arborial primate of South Asia,
distinguished by its characteristic two-note song.<br>
from Ranjit. No points<br>
Jim: I've never seen the term 'song' applied to non-birds. Well, and
humpback whales...
<br>
Hutch: Primates have "song"s? Usually that would apply only to
birds?<br>
Fran: loris<br>
Linda: Cuckoo and loris? <br>
Elliott: CUCKOO plus LORIS?
<br>
Joe: Do primates have characteristic songs? I'm skeptical.
<br>
Nick: Loris seems too obvious.<br>
Pierre: Is Judith playing?<br>
[Yes, some primates have characteristic songs. Like Helen Kane, who
had the song "I Wanna Be Loved By You". - J-J]<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - 1. A working scale model of the solar system. 2. A
navigational device that tracks the motions of the moon and near
planets.<br>
from Pierre. Joe 2, guess 1 = 3 points<br>
Hutch: "orrery"<br>
Fran: orrery<br>
Linda: Wait a minute, the def sounds familiar.<br>
Elliott: CYCLE? It sounds medieval, so I might have been convinced
if the def had stopped with #1. But #2 sounds too technically
advanced to be medieval.
[Elliott, you should look up the "Antikythera Mechanism" - J-J]<br>
Joe: I'm sure there's a word for this, and I don't know what it is,
so 2 points to this one.
<br>
Nick: Isn't this just an orrery?<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - (also cucoloris, kookaloris, cookaloris or
cucalorus) A device for casting shadows or silhouettes to produce
patterned illumination, in lighting for film, theatre and still
photography.<br>
real definition, see note at bottom. Jim 2, Hutch 2, Eric 1, Linda
1, Elliott 2, Nick 1, Pierre 1 = 10 points<br>
Jim: 2 points. I was lured in by the alternate spellings.
<br>
Hutch: I like ... and I don't know why: 2 points<br>
Fran: light<br>
Eric: This happens every round. I am amazed at how implausible
every definition is, and surprised every time. So one point, for
being less implausible.
Honestly, my definition seems the least implausible.
<br>
Linda: Neato, 1 point<br>
Elliott: I'm voting for this one because it's the <b
class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>only<span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b> one that I don't have a good
reason to vote against. Just like in a real election. Two points.
<br>
Nick: I suppose I could believe the implied Australian origin of
this. 1 point.<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - The part of the base of the flower to which the
petals attach.<br>
from JC. Hutch 1 = 1 point<br>
Linda: calyx? <br>
Elliott: Maybe, but ... this is awfully tame.
<br>
Nick: I never remember my plant biology... but I thought these were
the sepals.<br>
Pierre: Receptacle or hypanthium.<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - The membrane beneath the tongue which attaches it
to the gums.<br>
from Joe. No points<br>
Jim: How odd that both of these definitions (this and the flower
one) were proposed! Is there some cognate that has to do with
attaching?
<br>
Hutch: I think this is the "frenulum"<br>
Linda: I had this membrane cut at birth, as did one of my sons. He
had to go back for another trim. People have said that both of us
chatter too much and should have not had the operation. My husband
refused to let me kiss the Blarney stone.<br>
Elliott: Baffling Dental Theme. What <b class="moz-txt-star"><span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>is<span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b>
the medical name for the floor of the mouth?
<br>
Nick: Another mouth def... but I've already used my points.<br>
Pierre: Thrum or frenum.<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - The binding energy liberated when a dollar bill is
broken down into more massive change.<br>
from Elliott. Ranjit 2, guess 2 = 4 points<br>
Ranjit: 2 points in the form of two two-third-pointlets, a point and
an antipoint, and one clockwise and one anticlockwise
third-pointino.<br>
Jim: Of the several silly definitions, this gets my vote as
silliest.
<br>
Hutch: <b>*LOL*</b><br>
Fran: hahahahaha<br>
Linda: What a wonderful concept! <br>
Nick: This wasn't one of the joke definitions? :oD<br>
Elliott: That would be a lot. A dollar bill masses about one gram,
while post-1982 pennies weigh 2.5 grams, so the mass defect is 249
grams, or 6.3 gigawatt-hours. Are there any U.S. currency units
which can be exchanged for an equal value of <b
class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>less<span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b>-massive change? [Elliott, you
have it backwards, when you're making change like that, you don't
get energy, you have to pump a ton of energy in, because the
resulting coins are heavier. But to answer your question, I will
pose another, that was in a book of brain-teasers that I has when I
was a kid: "Which is worth more, a quart of half-dollars or a quart
of dimes?" - J-J]<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - The bristles or bumps on members of the squash
family, such as crooked neck and zucchini, not to mention cucumbers.<br>
from Linda. Ranjit 1, Fran 1, guess 1 = 3 points<br>
Ranjit: 1 point that doesn't mention cucumbers.<br>
Fran: ooh, nice one! I wish I'd thought of it! 1 point<br>
Linda: I suspect the "not to mention" saved me from lots of points.<br>
Elliott: But it <b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>did<span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b> mention cucumbers! I saw it!
Did you see it? Did you see what they did?
<br>
Nick: Icky.<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - The featherdown pheasant aloft in a gale, who has
to be careful to tie up his tail (from <i>The Unfamiliar Fowls</i>
by Doctor Seuss).<br>
from Jim. Linda 2, guess 2 = 4 points<br>
Linda: Loved this book, or I would have had it been real. Or maybe
it is. 2 points.<br>
Elliott: LORAX, maybe? (Another Seuss character.)
<br>
Nick: Pretty sure I've read every Dr. Seuss, and this wasn't one.<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - The doubled diagonal bandoliers introduced into the
uniform of the British Grenadier Guards in 1726 by the regiment's
colonel, William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan.<br>
from Eric. David 2, Elliott 1, Joe 1, guess 1 = 5 points<br>
Linda: Great def.<br>
Elliott: Are bandoliers ever not diagonal? Nonetheless, I'm going
to give it one point to reward the upstream swimmer: When everyone
else parsed it as singular, they parsed it as plural, and in such a
way as to imply a singular that everyone else <b
class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag">*</span>would<span
class="moz-txt-tag">*</span></b> have parsed as a plural!
<br>
Joe: 1 point for creative specificity.
<br>
Nick: I imagine this having a more British-sounding name.<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - [Lat. cucullum, hood] The distinctive dark maroon
cowl worn by monks (and, during the late 13th through mid-16th
Centuries, knights) belonging to the Order of Saint George the
Great.<br>
from Hutch. Nick 2, JC 2, Pierre 2, guess 2 = 8 points<br>
Linda: Another great def. <br>
Elliott: I could believe cucullum, but how's it supposed to have
turned into cuculoris?
<br>
Joe: Honorable mention.
<br>
Nick: Sure, I'll fall for the Latin trap. 2 points.<br>
<br>
cuculoris - n. - In human dentistry, a "baby" tooth that has never
been replaced by an adult tooth.<br>
from Nick. David 1, Jim 1, Fran 2, JC 1, guess 1 = 6 points<br>
Jim: 1 point, because it specifies 'human'.<br>
Fran: Ah, this MUST be it because I made a dentistry definition too,
but mine is fake so this must be real! 2 points<br>
Linda: More dentistry!<br>
Elliott: Baffling Dental Theme. Does this ever happen? It sounds
like it might, and if it did it would need a name. But the scare
quotes around ``baby'' scare me.<br>
Joe: I wish I knew what the word for this was, since I had two of
these until very recently, but I feel like this isn't it.
<br>
Pierre: Mummery award.<br>
______________________<br>
<br>
So, I don't own a TV, but I recently decided to watch an entire TV
series, in episode order, on my computer. I had done this once
before, with "My Mother The Car", and this time it was the sci-fi
western "Firefly", including the feature film "Serenity" that
wrapped up the story after the show got cancelled mid-season. I
watched the movie a second time, with the director's commentary from
Joss Whedon. He spends a lot of time praising the various people
involved in the production, and a lot of time talking about what the
focal length was of the lens used in a particular shot, or
explaining how the lighting was done. In one scene, when the ship
is sneaking through the Reaver fleet on the way to Miranda, the
lighting is such that it looks like they're moving past some light
source and the light coming through the window sweeps through the
room. He explained that this was done by having a lighting
technician walk by carrying a cuculoris, and that he had no idea why
it was called that.<br>
<br>
It's reportedly often just referred to as a "cookie". You can also
just use a tree branch in front of the lights if you want it to look
like the light is coming down through the trees, and that's called a
"brancholoris" or a "dingle". The etymology is apparently obscure.
I found this:<br>
<span class="smallbody"><span class="smallbody"><b class="reg">Etymological
Note</b>: A claimed etymology is that <i> kukaloris</i> is
Greek for “breaking of light,” but there seems to be no evidence
to support this, nor can the etymological claims in the 2001
cite below be verified. Another claim is that it is named after
its inventor, a Mr. Cucoloris; however, this, too, lacks
supporting evidence.<br>
2001 cite: </span></span><span class="smallbody"> Also called
coo-koos, or cucaloris, these metal or wood templates are placed
in front of instruments to create shadow patterns, often of clouds
or leaves. The word “cucaloris” comes from the Greek for shadow
play.<br>
Another theory is that "cookie" came first, from "cookie cutter",
and that cuculoris was invented later, but there's no evidence to
support that either.<br>
</span>
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