Category Archives: Word of the Day

Word of the Day: Chiaroscuro (Painting and Photography)

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Les Jones

I’m getting ready to do a portrait at work, so I’m neck deep in lighting. This is one of the best things that the Internet had to give. Wikipedia: Chiaroscuro (English pronunciation: /kiˌɑrəˈskjʊəroʊ/, Italian: [kjarosˈkuːro] “light-dark”) in art is characterized … Continue reading →

Posted in A&E, Photos, Word of the Day | Comments Off

Word of the Day – Pokerwork or Pyrography

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Les Jones

Wikipedia: Pyrography is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulting from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker. It is also known as pokerwork or wood burning. Pyrography means “writing with … Continue reading →

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Word of the Day – German Chocolate Cake

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Les Jones

I figured German chocolate cake was named for its place of origin. Sort of like French fries or the Texas titty twister. Nope. Contrary to popular belief, German chocolate cake did not originate in Germany. Its roots can be traced … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Drink, Word of the Day | Comments Off

Word of the Day: Micromort

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Les Jones

Wikipedia – A micromort is a unit of risk measuring a one-in-a-million probability of death (from micro- and mortality). Micromorts can be used to measure riskiness of various day-to-day activities. A microprobability is a one-in-a million chance of some event; … Continue reading →

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Word of the Day: Jevons Paradox

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Les Jones

This throws a monkeywrench into the quest for fuel-efficient cars and other machinery. Wikipedia: In economics, the Jevons paradox, sometimes called the Jevons effect, is the proposition that technological progress that increases the efficiency with which a resource is used … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Environment, Word of the Day | Comments Off

Word of the Day: Blockwort/Blockwart/Blockleiter

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Les Jones

From Wikipedia: In Nazi Germany, a Blockleiter (block leader) was the lowest official of the NSDAP, responsible for the political supervision of a neighborhood or city block and formed the link between the NSDAP and the general population. Also colloquially … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc, Word of the Day | 2 Comments

Word of the Day: Easterlin Paradox

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Les Jones

Daily Mail – Scientists prove money does NOT buy you happiness (unless you have more than your neighbour): This implies that what matters is earning more than others, not the actual amount earned, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Word of the Day | 1 Comment

Word of the Day: Sous Vide (Food)

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Les Jones

I had seen sous vide cooking on TV and wanted to try it, but didn’t know where to go. When I took my wife to dinner at Foothills Milling Company for her birthday last night I was thrilled to see … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Drink, Word of the Day | 5 Comments

Word of the Day: Hauser’s Law (Economics)

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Les Jones

W. Kurt Hauser in the Wall Street Journal – There’s No Escaping Hauser’s Law: Tax revenues as a share of GDP have averaged just under 19%, whether tax rates are cut or raised. Better to cut rates and get 19% … Continue reading →

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Word of the Day Twofer: Toby Jug and “Knock Into a Cocked Hat”

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Les Jones

I haven’t linked to Gary Martin’s Phrase of the Week in years. This week it’s especially good: Of course, ‘knocked into a cocked hat’ only makes any sense if you know what cocked hats are. These were hats, popular at … Continue reading →

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Word of the Day: Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureacracy

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Les Jones

Jerry Pournelle: Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Survival Kit, Word of the Day | Comments Off

Word of the Day: Winerlinks

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Les Jones

From Rex Hammock: What are those hashtags at the end of paragraphs? Recently, I added the “WinerLinks plugin” to the WordPress software I use to publish RexBlog. (Plugins are snippets of code that add additional features or utility to WordPress.) … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Word of the Day | 3 Comments

Mystery Word of the Day: BIF (Photography)

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Les Jones

I was reading the forums on Digital Photography Review. In a couple of places people mentioned BIF. “A lens that’s good for BIF.” “Oh, yes, that lens has a good autofocus system for BIF.” That was a new one on … Continue reading →

Posted in Photos, Word of the Day | 2 Comments

Cameras – MILC is the New EVIL

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Les Jones

It’s a sure thing at this point that Nikon is working on their own version of a camera with interchangeable lenses and an electronic viewfinder instead of a mirror. Instead of calling it EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) Nikon prefers … Continue reading →

Posted in Photos, Word of the Day | Tagged | Comments Off

Word of the Day: Consumer Spending

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Les Jones

Now there’s a term that doesn’t mean at all what you’d think. From Business Week: I opened up this morning’s NYT and see the big headline “Retailers See Slowing Sales in a Key Season.” And I just know that we … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Word of the Day | Comments Off

Word of the Day – Euphemism Treadmill

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Les Jones

From Wikipedia: The common names of illicit drugs, and the plants used to obtain them, often undergo a process similar to taboo deformation, because new terms are devised in order to discuss them secretly in the presence of others. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Word of the Day | 1 Comment

Word of the Day: Backhoe

Posted on October 1, 2010 by Les Jones

From Dave Foulk’s Facebook: “Backhoe (noun) A mechanized digging machine used to find gas and water lines.” I love Dave Foulk. From another status update this morning: “Horse walking down the middle of Tazewell Pike near Ridgeview Road.” Previous WOTD … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc, Word of the Day | 2 Comments

Word of the Day – Sokushinbutsu

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Les Jones

Wikipedia: Sokushinbutsu (???) were Buddhist monks or priests who caused their own deaths in a way that resulted in their mummification. This practice reportedly took place almost exclusively in northern Japan around the Yamagata Prefecture. It is believed that many … Continue reading →

Posted in Word of the Day | 2 Comments

Word of the Day – Balut (Edibles)

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Les Jones

Wikipedia: A balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by … Continue reading →

Posted in Food & Drink, Word of the Day | 2 Comments

Word of the Day – Aglet

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Les Jones

Aglet – An aglet (or aiglet) is a small plastic or metal sheath typically found on each end of a shoelace, cord or drawstring. An aglet keeps the fibers of the lace or cord from unraveling, plus its firmness and … Continue reading →

Posted in Word of the Day | 3 Comments