Conference thebay::joyoflex

I looked in Webster's Third New International Dictionary and it was not there.

I did find gelometer, which is defined as follows: n [ gel + -o- + meter]:  an
instrument for measuring jelly strength.

Since gelometer is as stated above, either you are on a wild goose chase, or
the word is not spelled with gel...  I thought about that and tried to look
under jol, as in jolly, since that is more closely related to laughter than is
gel, but there was nothing like jolology.
I hope you like wild goose.  I have always wanted to try goose, whether it
be wild or not...

My source is sure it begins with a soft g. If his earnest demeanor is
in fact covering a less-than-serious intent, I intend to teach him a
few words. But I have no reason to doubt his sincerity right now.

I'm glad you like goose, and glad I could give you the chance to take
a gander.

Rob

It's even better than 'gelology'.  It's 'gelotoscopy' (preferred form) or
'geloscopy', which means 'divination by laughter', according to the Shorter
Oxford.

I can't imagine what divination by laughter means, but I did see a sign in 
the Mill stating: 'Laughter is the sincerest form of rejection.'

The 'g' is soft.  I also find 'gelastic - serving the function of laughter'.
All these from the Greek 'gelos - laughter'.  There seems to be no relation
with 'gelatin'.

Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure, and Preposterous Words
gives us the following:

  geloscopy -- determining someone's character or future by the way
	       she laughs

  gelogenic -- laughter-provoking

  gelastic -- pertaining to or used in laughing


The last two are defined also in A Dictionary of Difficult Words.

Both of these books are available (as far as I know) in inexpensive
paperbacks.

I have a paperback edition of Mrs. B's Dictionary, published by Citadel
Press.  It cost $5.95.

I have never heard of the Dictionary of Difficult Words.  Who is the author?

							-- Nina

The Paper Store in Maynard has a paperback of Mrs. Byrne's
Dictionary for $3.50 or so -- different publisher.

A Dictionary of Difficult Words was first published in England
in 1938.  It was compiled by one Robert H. Hill.

I bought my copy considerably later than that, but have noticed it
occasionally in bookstores within the last three years or so.
Check for it in "Books in Print" at a bookstore or a DEC library.

Re .3, and relationships between gelatin and laughter - anyone remember
this commercial?

	"Jell-o wiggle, make baby giggle"?

-b

RE .6 -- Thanks, Don.  (It *is* you, isn't it?  You didn't sign your name...)

						-- Nina

It is indeed I, although I feel far more comfortable with
the idiomatic (but ungrammatical), "It is me."

				Don

I'm glad--I would've been so embarrassed if it had been SomeoneElse Bennett!

I get out of the "it is I/me" dilemma by saying "C'est moi" (a la Miss Piggy).

							-- Nina

    Re .3 and .7:
    
.3> All these from the Greek 'gelos - laughter'.  There seems to be no relation
    with 'gelatin'.

    According to my dictionary the derivation of gelatin, gelation, etc,
    is from the Latin 'gelu' - frost, and 'gelare' - to freeze.
    
    Strange .... I would have imagined that both came from the same root,
    with a common origin based on "shaking with laughter".   :^)

    Could someone explain the double letters as in Lloyd. (I also recently
    saw a movie called ``Ffolkes'').
    
    Are these words borrowed into English from Gaelic(sp?) or some other
    language? If so, what was the original pronounciation?
    
    Thanks, Wildrik 8-)

    There are two issues here. The Ll- at the beginning of Lloyd is
    a simple transliteration of the Welsh ll consonant (which is
    discussed at length in some other note). The Ff at the beginning of
    Ffolkes is something to do with orthography and capitalization
    rather than pronunciation.  I know too little about it (Ff) to
    try to piece together the whole story here; just an observation -
    some people still use both in lower case.
    
    b

    I've got no idea if it's related, but in calligraphy a gothic F can
    look like two F's pushed together.
    
    Mat.
    *:o)

    LL (for sure) and FF (I think) are Welsh. 
    
    "LL" represents a voiceless /l/, which sounds a lot like the "th"
    in "ether" to many English speakers.
    
    "FF" is /f/, as opposed to "F" which is mostly /v/.
    
    		-John Bishop

    >Could someone explain the double letters as in Lloyd. (I also recently
    >saw a movie called ``Ffolkes'').
    
    When the data entry person noticed the doubled letter, s/he switched
    the terminal from half-duplex to full-duplex.  This is the reason
    why the error only occurs in the first letter.

    There's a sign on 101A in Nashua with a painful misspelling.
    
    It says:
    
    			GADZUKES!
    
    Now, I know it should be spelled Gadzooks! and I know it's a
    contraction, but I can't remember what it's a contraction OF!
    
    			God's __what__?
    
    					andrew

    "gadzooks" <- "God's hooks" <- "The Ramones are God"
    
    No, just kidding.  The "hooks" were what Christ was hung up on.
    
    Ray

    Thanks!  I suspected "hooks" but couldn't imagine what they referred
    to.  Appreciated...
    
    					andrew

    Re .17: Well, if it were mid to late summer, "GADZUKES!" might be a
    rather clever pun instead of a painful misspelling. (But it's a long
    time 'til zucchini season...)
    
    [Hey, what a cool band name: "God's Zukes". See, they play hollowed-out
    vegetable marrows, and then smash them at the end of the set... Been
    done already? Bummer.]
    
    -b

    Nah, then it would be GAD! ZUKES! (Visions of crosses warding off
    evil vegetables, multiplying in the shade of broad green leaves...)

    It'd be GAD! ZUKES only if they weren't a gospel band...

    In a trivia quiz, I was asked: "What does a philatelist collect?"
    
    I correctly answered "Stamps."
    
    I then asked "What's the etymology of philately?"
    
    I received this response:
    
Philately- Gk. Philos, loving + Gk. Ateleia, exemption from payment.
    
    It didn't make sense to me, or my correspondent.  Any help?
    

    
    A tax stamp or a postage stamp is evidence that money has been paid to
    the government, and therefore the item is exempt from further payment.
    
    Just a guess.
    
    JP

    Could be -- is "exempt from payment" one of the definitions of stamp?
    
    I'd look it up, but my dictionary grew little feet and walked.

>   I'd look it up, but my dictionary grew little feet and walked.
        
        A neomicropodic dictionary?
        
        Dan

    .25
    
    > is "exempt from payment" one of the definitions of stamp?
    
    Yes.  W9NCD, (2)stamp, 5: a stamped or printed paper affixed in
    evidence that a tax has been paid

    So a stamp tax is an oxymoron?  After all, if you can show the stamp....

re:             <<< Note 40.28 by JIT081::DIAMOND "$ SET MIDNIGHT" >>>

>    So a stamp tax is an oxymoron?  After all, if you can show the stamp....

Not really.  It's a kind of tax enforced via stamps.

-Hal