# Have you heard of this word? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2025, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988 "2025-04-13T10:06:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/21 "2025-04-13T17:37:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Would be surprised if it ended up as a curated Wordle answer, but here we are. FWIW, I have the original Wordle target wordlist (before the NYTimes got a hold of Wordle), and CODON is not in the list as a possible answer word (it is in the acceptable guess list). So that’s how popular the original creator thought it was, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/22 "2025-04-13T17:51:03Z")
And to finish off that primer, even though there are 64 possible “words”, there are only 20 different amino acids, plus one codon that doesn’t code for an amino acid, just tells it to stop. Most amino acids have multiple different “spellings”. Also notable, all life on Earth (or at least, all we’ve ever tested) uses the same codons for the same amino acids, which is extremely strong evidence that it’s all ultimately related. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/23 "2025-04-13T18:12:28Z")
There are three stop codons, but yes, there is start, stop, and lots of redundant words. There is a hypothesis that there were originally only two letters in a codon, which has only 16 possible words. Adding a third letter bumped that up to 64, which gave room to add more amino acid options, but it appears that there was no need for 60 amino acids so some words remained redundant. > **[The Standard Genetic Code can Evolve from a Two-Letter GC Code Without...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29959584/)** > > It is widely agreed that the standard genetic code must have been preceded by a simpler code that encoded fewer amino acids. How this simpler code could have expanded into the standard genetic code is not well understood because most changes to the... ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/24 "2025-04-13T18:14:32Z")
I was a pre med major for a couple years back in the late 1970s and remember the genetic classes but not this word in particular. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/25 "2025-04-13T18:25:28Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Yes, it’s a technical term in genetics. Although it’s not that obscure, many people are familiar with it. Ditto. But I’ve read a lot about genetics; I doubt I ever heard the word in school, and it’s unlikely I’d remember it if that was the only time I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/26 "2025-04-13T18:41:43Z")
I knew that the word had something to do with genetics but couldn’t say precisely what. I worked in medicines licensing, and so I assume that’s how I came across it. j ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/27 "2025-04-13T18:49:26Z")
I had some education on genetics and DNA in high school biology class, and in a college class (must have been chemistry, I never took a college biology class), I had to read a book about Crick and Watson and the discovery of DNA. But, that was over 40 years ago, and if I learned the word back then, it was no longer in my brain when I opened this thread. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/28 "2025-04-13T18:52:55Z")
A codon could also be a handbell or a trumpet bell ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/29 "2025-04-13T19:08:24Z")
Just remembered a relevant XKCD > **[Average Familiarity](https://xkcd.com/2501/)** ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/30 "2025-04-13T19:11:24Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I had to read a book about Crick and Watson and the discovery of DNA. Probably this one. > **[The Double Helix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double_Helix)** > > The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA is an autobiographical account of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA written by James D. Watson and published in 1968. It has earned both critical and public praise, along with continuing controversy about credit for the Nobel award and attitudes towards female scientists at the time of the discovery. > Watson is a U.S. molecular biologist, geneticist and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers... ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/31 "2025-04-13T19:16:11Z")
I know the word. Probably because i read a lot of science papers and stuff. But i would never have expected it to be a curated Wordle word, because it’s too obscure/technical. I would expect it to be a legal guess, though. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/32 "2025-04-13T19:30:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Also notable, all life on Earth (or at least, all we’ve ever tested) uses the same codons for the same amino acids, which is extremely strong evidence that it’s all ultimately related. Almost correct. There are a number of alternate genetic codes that use slightly different codons for various reasons. About 37 here: > **[List of genetic codes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genetic_codes)** > > While there is much commonality, different parts of the tree of life use slightly different genetic codes. When translating from genome to protein, the use of the correct genetic code is essential. The mitochondrial codes are the relatively well-known examples of variation. The translation table list below follows the numbering and designation by NCBI. Four novel alternative genetic codes were discovered in bacterial genomes by Shulgina and Eddy using their codon assignment software Codetta The... Significantly, mitochondrial codons are slightly different from the standard code, which suggests that Lynn Margulis was right to suggest they evolved separately. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/33 "2025-04-13T19:46:18Z")
I took a high school physiology class in 1967. What I remember from the genetics portion was the Mendelian boxes, and how it suggested my parents should have had three out of four kids brown-eyed. But none were. The teacher said they would have needed to have at least 100 kids for the percentages to be close to the predictions. _That_ was never gonna happen. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/34 "2025-04-13T20:21:14Z")
Etymonline put the coining of codon as 1962. The first hit I found on Google Books was a scientific paper from 1963. Virtually every other hit before 1970 was also a specialist document. I’m sure I didn’t know the word in high school and I took biology in 1963-4. I must it learned in later in popular science books or mags. Some words are suited only for puzzles. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/35 "2025-04-13T20:30:54Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > A codon could also be a handbell or a trumpet bell Wiktionary says that, but if you dig into the sources, they seem to be citing a book from 1608. Codon is also a genus of a South African plant. You should have hit us with that one. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/36 "2025-04-13T20:42:56Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Apparently there is a word CODON … have you heard of it?! Nope. And i did take upper division Life sciences, getting a degree in ecology. But that was a loooooong time ago, admittedly. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > If you are significantly older than me (born in 1972) your education may have been effected by how rapidly understanding of genetics was moving in the mid twentieth century: codons weren’t even discovered until 1961. Yep, significantly older. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/37 "2025-04-13T20:44:15Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > they seem to be citing a book from 1608 Sure, but they’re still citing it in 1899 and 1914, so it’s not like Wiktionary made it up. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Codon is also a genus of a South African plant. You should have hit us with that one. I don’t consider scientific names suitable for that kind of word game. But you know why the genus has that name? Because the flowers of _heuningbos_ are _bell_-shaped. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/38 "2025-04-13T20:52:05Z")
I was unfamiliar with CODON. My standard test for whether a word is widely known uses [onelook.com](https://onelook.com/?w=codon). When you enter a word in the Onelook search box, it provides the results from about 30 general online dictionaries, as well as from various specialty dictionaries. An everyday word, such as BIRD or FRIGHT will get 26-30 “general” dictionary hits. CODON gets just 17, but including scientific and specialty dictionaries gets over 40 hits (which is very high). I’ll use this test regularly when decidIng what word to guess in Wordle. I’ll also use it when I’m outraged that I can’t play LIGNIN in Spelling Bee. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/39 "2025-04-13T21:33:11Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Sure, but they’re still citing it in 1899 and 1914, so it’s not like Wiktionary made it up. What are words and what words should be in a dictionary, even an unabridged one, have been screamingly debated probably since 1608. Are linnaean descriptors words? No standard dictionary contains more than a tiny fraction. Some in common use do make it into crossword puzzles, though. Same with name of chemicals and other scientific terms. Obsolete words do get culled regularly no matter the size of the dictionary. I clicked on a number of links from onelook. Wiktionary was the only one to include the older definitions. If a word hasn’t been cited for more than a century it’s fair to say that the usage is obsolete. Obsolete words usually are banned even from crossword puzzles, so they are unlikely to be used in Wordle. I believe that every person has a unique set of what they consider “words”, dictionaries notwithstanding. That’s why standard references are the final arbitrator in Wordle, Scrabble, and many other places. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988/40 "2025-04-13T22:33:15Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I believe that every person has a unique set of what they consider “words”, dictionaries notwithstanding. Informal Scrabble games played according to my house rules allow any word that everyone at the table agrees is a word. I used to play with a friend (she died a few years ago, I miss her) who insisted on using the official Scrabble dictionary. I found it both limiting and confusing – why on earth is it allowing _this_ word and not _that_ one? And why is it allowing all these odd unusual abbreviations? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-of-this-word/1016988.md?page=3)