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!
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