Terms with unexpected meanings, part 6

Because my dictionary is dated 1971, I don't think many women were involved in writing/editing it. That probably partly explains the first term with "unexpected meanings" in today's blog post:

* "wife" = noun, "[ME wif, from OE wīf; akin to OHG wīb, woman, wife, ON vīf, woman; perhaps akin to ON veipr head covering--more at WIPE]...." Because "veipr" looks and sounds like viper, or snake, and there's no need to look for sources for "wife" other than the obvious "wif/wīf," this dictionary entry apparently contains an intentional slam on women. So I looked further and turned to the dictionary entry for the noun "wipe," the first definition of which is "1 a (1) BLOW, STRIKE, SWIPE (2) obs: a mark from or as if from a blow b: a harsh sarcastic remark: GIBE, JEER." None of the other definitions of the noun "wipe" mention head coverings. This really does look like someone was sneaking an insult to women into the dictionary.

* "shool": this word sounds just like "shul," which means synagogue. But this word has an "unknown origin" and is defined to be "to drag or scrape along: SHAMBLE, SHUFFLE; to loaf or idle about begging: LOITER, SAUNTER." Doesn't this look like a sneaky slam on religious Jewish people? After the insulting of Christians (see https://www.blogger.com/u/0/blog/post/edit/7919117044428850947/1488006919036740996) and wives (see above), I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to find anti-Jewish insults in this dictionary, too. Still, one hopes for more virtuous behavior on the part of everyone.

* "ovonics" = "a branch of electronics that deals with applications of the Ovshinky effect." And the "Ovshinsky effect" = "the change from an electrically nonconducting to a semiconducting state shown by glasses of special composition upon application of a certain minimum voltage." Glass can become a semiconductor, depending on its composition? That seems like something that should be more widely known in this era of sleek, glass-faced tech devices.

* "magnetostriction" = "the change in the dimensions of a ferromagnetic body caused by a change in its state of magnetization." "Ferromagnetic" = "of or relating to a class of substances characterized by abnormally high magnetic permeability, definite saturation point, and appreciable residual magnetism and hysteresis." Our human bodies are ferromagnetic bodies, so I would like more information about how changes in magnetic fields on and around our body surfaces could affect us internally. Could magnetostriction be used to help treat blood vessel-related issues? That would potentionally be a lot of issues!

* "Zener diode" = "[origin unknown]: a silicon semiconductor device used esp. as a voltage regulator." While the entry says the origin is unknown, there is a dictionary entry for "Zener cards," which are a set of cards with five distinct shapes used to test for extrasensory perception (ESP). If such testing is carried out by having subjects touch silicon buttons, it seems that the tests could be manipulated by using silicon buttons that can effect voltage alterations in the subjects' nerves. (Doesn't it make you think of the scene from Ghostbusters where Peter Venkman is doing ESP testing and shocking the test subject who is not a pretty young woman? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW8Ua49dCYk)

* "optoelectronic" = "being or relating to a device in which light energy and electrical energy are coupled." How are they coupled? Are they coupled in my cell phone and computer monitor screen? Because I spend far too long staring at them, and I'd like to know about all the types of energy being sent my way.

* "numerical control" = "automatic control (as of a machine tool) by a digital computer." "Automatic control...by a digital computer"? In this age of people-manipulating technological algorithms? Doesn't that seem too broad a definition for something that on the surface only seems to be talking about controlling numbers?

* "tylosin" = "[origin unknown]: an antibacterial antibiotic from an actinomycete (Streptomyces fradiae)." I never heard of this antibiotic before. In fact, this 1971 dictionary mentions many antibiotics that never seem to be used in medicine any more. Is that because they aren't patentable and so get crowded out by the revenue-producing formulations of pharmaceutical companies?

* "diacodion": this is listed as a medicine by the dictionary in connection with the prefix "dia-", but I couldn't find any description of what it is or what it is supposed to treat. Online dictionaries say it is merely another name for diacodium, an opiate, but "codium" is defined in this 1971 dictionary as a green algae. (The part of me that wonders whether there are some forgotten "treasures of knowledge" in my old dictionary hopes that this has to do with an obscured-by-time treatment for tuberculosis, since Robert Koch--pronounced "co-"--did a lot of research on tuberculosis and I've lived in places where this illness is still a big problem.)

* "Wankel engine" = "an internal combustion engine developed in Germany that has a rounded triangular rotor functioning as a piston and rotating in a space in the engine and that has only two major moving parts." Why isn't it used for vehicles? It sounds simpler that the internal combustion engines in use presently. Is it less efficient? Less robust? With only two major moving parts, it seems like it would be a more enduring type of motor, not less.

* "worry beads" = "[so called fr. the belief that the fingering releases nervous tension]: a string of beads to be fingered so as to keep one's hands occupied." Yes, the 1970s had "fidgets"! I wonder if they were more effective (and less annoying, speaking as a teacher who sees them used as toys more often than not) than the modern version.

That's all for today!

Terms with unexpected meanings, part 5

Here are some more words that stood out to me as I looked through our big 1971 Webster's Dictionary:

* "patient" = (noun) "archaic: one that suffers, endures, or is victimized." Yes, that really is what is says in the first definition of patient--one that is victimized. I think most people in the health care field would be surprised to see a "patient" defined thus, as they work in health care to help others, not victimize them!

* "trephone" = (noun) "any of various blood substances in the blood serum and body fluids that promote the growth of cells." Why, when our global community researches cancer so diligently, is this word not part of our vocabulary?

* "trephocyte" = "a blood cell found in many invertebrates and concerned primarily with the transport of substances between the body cells." Invertebrates? We don't eat many of those, but we do eat some--squid, octopus, snails, clams, oysters, scallops, etc.--and I'd be interested in knowing what substances trephocytes transport and what health benefits could be obtained by the utilization of trephocyte-containing blood.

* "apoplex" = (transitive verb) "archaic: to strike with apoplexy." Apoplexy is defined as a stroke. A transitive verb is one that a person (or other agent) can do to a second person. If it's possible to strike someone down with a stroke-like illness--which the existence of this verb definition implies--how would one do such a thing? Shouldn't that be investigated?

* "appliance" = (noun) "2: something applied to a purpose or use: as a archaic : DEVICE, MEASURE, STRATAGEM b: a piece of equipment for adapting a tool or machine to a special purpose: ACCESSORY, FIXTURE, APPLIANCE." I never would have thought "stratagem" to be a definition of appliance. To me, appliances are clothes washers and such.

* "-tribe": as an ending, one definition of "-tribe" is "instrument for crushing, compressing, or rubbing." Because electricity can be generating by the use of such instruments (see "triboelectricity", which means the positive and negative charges caused by friction), I'd be interested in knowing whether such instruments are present in my kitchen, my footwear, and my apparel.

* "trifle": not just a British dessert or a small thing, a "trifle" can also be "a pewter of moderate hardness (as of 83 parts tin and 17 parts antimony) used esp. for small utensils." I have been looking at how antimony might get into our food and drinks, and kitchen utensils made with antimony could certainly contribute to that happening.

* "apostate" = "adj [ME, fr. apostate n.] 1: relating to or characterized by apostasy <the child of an ~ ... Catholic--Time> faithless to moral allegiance: RENEGADE <so spoke the ~ angel--John Milton> 2: abandoning or involving the abandonment of any form of allegiance <an ~ and unnatural connection with any foreign power--George Washington>." Why name-drop George Washington here? I didn't think the term apostate was used in connection with revolution, but if that makes George Washington an "apostate" in the eyes of some people in the British Commonwealth, he is still my hero. :)

* "hydromagnetic", introduced in the dictionary in 1971, has two definitions. One is "being a wave in an electrically conducting fluid in a magnetic field," and the other is "MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC," which was previously defined in the main text of the dictionary as "or or relating to phenomena arising from the motion of electrically conducting fluids in the presence of electric and magnetic fields." The second definition appears much broader than and inclusive of the narrower "hydromagnetic" term introduced in 1971; I don't see why it was deemed necessary to create a different, more narrow term. Also, how does magnetohydrodynamics intersect with human biology? After all, we have "electrically conducting fluids in the presence of electric and magnetic fields" throughout our bodies.

* "appendant" has definitions that appear contradictory. One says "annexed or belonging as a right--used in English law of certain ancient immemorial rights in land (as an advowson or common) that are annexed to the land of the person claiming them," while another says "attached as an appendage: ANNEXED." When I go to the definition of "to annex," one of them is "to appropriate esp. by highhanded or or ethically questionably methods: get hold of: make off with; often STEAL." Who knew that boring-sounding contract law terms sometimes are hiding theft underneath their layers of definitions?

* "Sanctified" and "sanctimonious" have somehow been made equivalent in this dictionary, even though they are opposites in the minds of most English speakers. Here's the entry for "sanctimonious": adj [L sanctimonia sanctimony + E -ous] 1: affecting piousness: hypocritically devout: displaying high-mindedness with intent to impress <easy to be ~ about loyalty--C.P. Curtis> <a woman who was religious without being ~ --G.S.Stokes> 2: archaic: possessing sanctity: HOLY, SACRED [synonym] see DEVOUT." (Keep in mind that archaic merely means old, not invalid.) And here is the entry for "sanctified": adj [ME, fr. past part. of sanctifien to sanctify] 1 a: made holy: made free of sin or from the bondage of sin b: set apart to sacred duty or use 2: made to have the air of sanctity: SANCTIMONIOUS." Isn't that odd? 

The last two words in today's post have me wondering--after the dictionary entry I found earlier on "cretin" (see https://petticoatgovernment.blogspot.com/2023/01/terms-with-unexpected-meanings-part-2.html)--who were the 1971 Webster's dictionary editors with a deep dislike for religious people?

Science secrets, Jesus, and the leaders who didn't want to share

This week, the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are all studying John 2-4 from the Bible. Chapter 3 contains a very interesting account of the visit of Nicodemus, one of the Jewish rulers, to Jesus. Nicodemus came by night, even though Jesus was teaching in the open by day, and basically said to Jesus, "We know you are sent from God because of the miracles you do." Some of the Jewish leaders of his time recognized that Jesus was sent from God and even admitted it to him, but only when no one else was around. Why? Why would they keep quiet their knowledge of a prophet of God?

I encourage everyone to read deeply in John 3, for it reveals that the Jewish elders contemporary with Jesus were keeping valuable science-related secrets for themselves. John 3:8 records Jesus saying to Nicodemus:

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

What meaning of wind is Jesus using here? Readers generally assume it means the movement of wind currents, but wind has many meanings. Usually, we can tell where movements of air come from and are going to, so this definition of wind doesn't fit what Jesus is saying. Another meaning of wind, per my big 1971 dictionary, is "a force or agency that carries along or influences." A "force...that...influences" and that makes sounds--I think this is a description of electromagetism. 

Archaeologists have found evidence that people as long ago as the Olmecs in southern Mexico have apparently been aware of the interesting and useful properties of magnets and purposely sought out rocks magnetized by lightning. See this 2019 article from the Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mesoamerican-sculptures-reveal-early-knowledge-magnetism-180972820/. Combining magnetism with movement and iron rods results in the presence of electrical currents, and the Old Testament contains significant references to iron rod-shaped objects, such as King Saul's javelin. 

The conversation between Jesus and the Jewish ruler goes on in the next few verses:

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

Jesus was talking about earthly things, i.e., what we think of as science, when he described the force that made sounds and didn't have an ascertainable source or terminus. Our technology now allows us to use electromagnetism to produce music, move muscles, and affect our neural networks in both positive and negative ways. Did the Jewish rulers of Jesus' time also have ways in which they used electromagnetism, uses which they preferred to keep hidden? I think so, for in verses 19-21, Jesus says to the Jewish ruler, 

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

In a previous blog post of mine, I mention how Jesus also talked openly about the Jewish leaders having the ability to heal some kinds of mental illness and how they reacted with anger at him. The interactions between Jesus and the Jewish rulers of his time make much more sense when viewed in the context of leaders desperate to keep science-related secrets from the people they controlled.

Terms with unexpected meanings, part 4

Here are some more unexpected or unusual word definitions out of the 1971 Webster's Third New International Dictionary:

* "Situation ethics" = introduced to the dictionary as a new English word in 1971 and defined as "a system of ethics which is based on love and by which acts are judged within their contexts instead of by categorical principles." I typically hear this term used negatively in the sense of moral relativism, but it was originally meant to be a formulation of ethics based on the New Testament commandments to love God and our neighbor.

* "patterning" = "a technique designed to improve damaged neural controls by means of feedback from forced muscular activity imposed in physical therapy." If this was something done in 1971, was it stopped? I know of two young men with brain injuries who could really benefit from less-known techniques to improved damaged neural controls.

* "paralanguage" = "optional vocal effects (as tone of voice) that accompany or modify the phonemes of an utterance and may communicate meaning." What are these optional vocal effects, and can they be produced and manipulated with today's computers in order to add artificial enhancements conveying sincerity or alarm? Do cable news networks, inspirational speakers, and radio programs use them?

* "pemoline" = "a synthetic organic drug that is usually mixed with magnesium hydroxide, is a mild stimulant of the central nervous system, and is used experimentally to improve memory." The definitions I saw on the internet just now said nothing about memory improvement, just that pemoline is no longer used due to "a link" to liver failure; correlation isn't causation, so this brief mention of a link doesn't seem enough reason to completely drop a medication. Given the number of people we have in the world now dealing with dementia, I'd expect to see a little more attention given to a memory enhancer.

* "phytochrome" = "a chromoprotein present in traces in many plants that when activated by red to far-red radiation plays a role in initiating floral and developmental processes." As noted in a previous blog post (https://petticoatgovernment.blogspot.com/2023/01/terms-with-unexpected-meanings-part-2.html), "far-red" has contradictory definitions, so "phytochrome" is also going to have different definitions depending on which definition of "far-red" is used.

* "poor-mouth" = (intransitive verb) "to plead poverty as a defense or excuse"; (transitive verb) "to speak disparagingly of." I never heard the first definition before. I think poverty is a perfectly valid defense or excuse in many situations, so I am surprised this term doesn't get used more often.

* "programming" = "the process of instructing or learning by means of an instructional program." Or learning? Who uses the word programming so broadly? Instructing and learning are almost considered antonyms.

* "muti" = "[Zulu umu ti tree, shrub, herb, medicine] Africa: MEDICINE." As a German speaker, this  looks like "mommy" ("Mutti") to me. Since the Zulus lived in areas where Afrikaans, a language similar to German is spoken now, I don't think this is an unfair connection to make. But mommies, great as they are, aren't medicine. They're much better. :)

* "pherentasin" = "a pressor amine present in the blood in severe hypertension." I've never heard of this before, and there seems to be almost no research on it, which is odd considering the number of people on medication for hypertension.

* "mutica" = from Latin, neuter plural of muticus docked "syn[onym] of CETACEA." Why would a Latin word for "being cut off" be a synonym for whales and related aquatic mammals?

Terms with unexpected meanings, part 3

This is ending up being a longer series of posts than I anticipated. Dictionaries are very interesting books that contain more partisanship than we in US society have been taught. Here are some more dictionary terms from a 1971 Webster's dictionary that are surprising to me here in 2023:

* "euphenics" = "a science that deals with the biological improvement of human beings after birth." Eugenics is nowadays discussed disapprovingly, but no one seems to discuss the term euphenics. I think we should be paying a lot more attention to explicitly optimizing the biological outcomes of everyone on the planet by providing the conditions that will promote the best phenotypes possible for each person's genotype.

* "michurinism" is defined as "Lysenkoism"in this dictionary, even though it is named after Ivan V. Michurin, a Russian horticulturalist who died in 1935. This is a big error. It is untrue that Lysenko and Michurin had the same ideas. Lysenko's ideas are now rejected as mostly nonsense; Michurin, on the other hand, put forth the idea that external circumstances can cause a change in the genotype, an idea which we now research in fields like epigenetics.

* "pump": one of the definitions given for "pump" is "electromagnetic radiation for pumping atoms or molecules." That seems like it is saying that electromagnetic radiation can be used to move atoms and molecules around. Atoms, not surprising. Molecules....now that is surprising to me, for molecules are much larger, our bodies are full of molecules, and we live surrounded by sources of electromagnetic radiation.

* "rolamite" = "a nearly frictionless elementary mechanism consisting of two or more rollers inserted in the loops of a flexible metal or plastic band with the band acting to turn the rollers whose movement can be directed to perform various functions." I've never heard of such a mechanism. It looks to me as though it would be useful in explaining earth crust movement and earthquakes. 

* "holidic" = "having the actual constituents chemically defined < ~ diets>." Wouldn't it be great if we could obtain holidic descriptions of what is in our food and water? These days, the ingredients lists are very uninformative. Stating that "artificial flavor" and "spices" are in the ingredients tells me nothing about what I'm being sold.

* "hype": one of the given definitions of the noun "hype" is "deception, put-on." I knew "hype" was used for exaggerated advertisements, but it is news to me that "hype" can also be outright "deception."

* "IUD" = "intrauterine device" = "a device (as a spiral of plastic or a ring of stainless steel) inserted and left in the uterus to prevent effective conception." I include this one because I didn't know that IUDs used to be made of stainless steel.

* "melatonin" = "a substance produced in the pineal body that plays a role in sexual development and maturation." Sexual development and maturation? Parents have been blithely giving this to their children to help them sleep. That seems hazardous if melatonin affects their sexual development and maturation.

* "proxemics" = "a branch of study dealing with the personal and cultural spatial needs of man and his interaction with his environing space." I am curious who engages in this kind of study and what exactly they think are the actual "spatial needs of man."