“Upshot” should not be the final outcome or solution of something. It should be the good parts of what happened:
Yes, Covid-19 has been terrible, but the upshot was that I got a $1,200 stimulus check!
"And these girl Marines have a wonderful esprit de corps. That’s their expression meaning,‘See if he has a brother.’ " – Bob Hope
You know, posts like this make me really bucolic.
j
In other news, who would have thought that you could have a whole thread on* Where I came across the word Palimpsest*?
My contribution is this: I first saw the word in an interview with David Bowie, where he used it to describe the song The Bewlay Brothers:
j
Everyone knows that when you first get a facebook account you find all your relatives, classmates, co-workers, pals, buddies and “friend” them.
Then later when they piss you off or annoy you you can “befriend” them.
We all need to get together for a rousing game of Balderdash. No, I’m not kidding, it’s an actual game. A card has a word, say “palimpsest”, and five possible definitions -say, old manuscript, ornate pillow, TV episode title, etc. Players have to guess the correct definition. It’s the ultimate word-nerd game and one of my favorites.
That reminds me of a good entry of this sort from Monty Python: Wainscotting sounds like a quaint Dorset village and not the strip of wood at the bottom of a wall. When I first heard that I couldn’t agree more with that observation.
Hoi polloi sounds like it should be society’s pompous elites, not the rabble.
*Sepulchral *is not derived from pulchra.
**sepulchral **(adj.)
1610s, “pertaining to a burial or place of burial,” from Latin **sepulcralis **“of a tomb, sepulchral,” from sepulcrum (see sepulchre) + -al (1).
Transferred sense of “gloomy” is from 1711.
I dunno, I always think of “wainscotting” as being some fortunately bygone aspect of uncomfortable women’s fashion. Something like those elaborate sculpted dresses that make it impossible to sit down.
Not to be confused with a different time travel novel called Palimpsests
Patriarchy is a system of government where political power is based on who is the most patriotic.
piquant sounds like a fruit, perhaps having the taste the word describes.
I now see Darren Garrison provided the same information well before I did. In my defense, I did do a word search for Stross and Valente before posting.
Yes, exactly. “Hoi polloi” = “high people.”
A Yellow Tamarillo is a tiny South American field rodent similar to the vole.
Cruciferous means crunchy. That’s why broccoli is cruciferous.
Don’t be silly.
It’s obviously a musical instrument in the harpsichord family.
I do medieval-style calligraphy, I can’t recall ever *not *knowing what a palimpsest is. They’re a great resource.
In a scribal/medieval vein…
An oubliette is some kind of paring knife not a prison.
An angstloch is a panic attack, not a trapdoor.
A misericord is a divorce agreement in which neither party is really satisfied, not a seat.
A refectory is another name for a hall of mirrors. Not a dining room.
A seminary is some kind of brothel, not a school.
Palimpsest sounds like it should have some sort of illicit sex definition. “Your honor, my client has been charged with palimpsest, but he never went near his friend while he was still on crutches.”
I think it sounds like a fancy type of fainting couch. You know, a welcoming piece of furniture for people who need to lie down.
A pal for the limp set, if you will.