# What's the word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 8, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188 "2010-02-08T20:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/21 "2010-02-08T22:52:29Z")
Why do the circles have to be rotating? ---
**Author:** ![RhapsodyInBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RhapsodyInBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RhapsodyInBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/22 "2010-02-08T22:59:19Z")
Gyroscopic? ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/23 "2010-02-08T23:01:08Z")
Meh. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/24 "2010-02-08T23:04:41Z")
onomatopoeia! ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/25 "2010-02-08T23:10:16Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Wine, car, Native American legend or email program? All four, in that order! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/26 "2010-02-08T23:10:29Z")
> [@Cort](#): > > My God it’s _impossible!_ Have the boys in the lab confirm this. Sir, our calculations indicate that the bird is equal to, or _greater than,_ the word. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/27 "2010-02-08T23:48:56Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Why do the circles have to be rotating? They don’t _have_ to be, but they were … sometimes in the same direction, sometimes not. You can see why I’d be so confused. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/28 "2010-02-08T23:50:29Z")
But what about grease? ---
**Author:** ![Cort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/77aa72/32.png) [@Cort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cort)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/29 "2010-02-09T00:12:41Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > sir, our calculations indicate that the bird is equal to, or greater than, the word. _CHECK IT AGAIN!!_ i ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/30 "2010-02-09T00:31:09Z")
Congruent? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/31 "2010-02-09T00:45:17Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > But what about grease? That, sir, is also the word. It’s got mood. It’s got meaning. It’s also the way we are feeling. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/32 "2010-02-09T00:47:18Z")
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/33 "2010-02-09T00:49:36Z")
Logos. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/34 "2010-02-09T00:56:00Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Senility is upon me. > > There are two circles, each rotating independently, one within the other. > > They’re not intersecting, they are \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. > > Help! > [@twickster](#): > > Concentric. > > :smack: Concentric doesn’t mean that they are rotating, just that they are inside of each other. I am not sure there is a word for exactly what you described in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/35 "2010-02-09T01:07:44Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Concentric doesn’t mean that they are rotating, just that they are inside of each other. I am not sure there is a word for exactly what you described in the OP. Literally, it means that they have the same center, or focus, like the rings of a bullseye. The OP didn’t even specifically state that, although I took it to be implied. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/36 "2010-02-09T01:30:07Z")
They are one-inside-the-other circles. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/37 "2010-02-09T01:38:15Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Concentric doesn’t mean that they are rotating, just that they are inside of each other. I am not sure there is a word for exactly what you described in the OP. > [@Lumpy](#): > > Literally, it means that they have the same center, or focus, like the rings of a bullseye. The OP didn’t even specifically state that, although I took it to be implied. Yup, you are both correct. What I needed was a word to describe the relative position of the circles – I used a separate series of words to describe their respective movements. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/38 "2010-02-09T01:47:13Z")
Tangential, then? Or are they not touching? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/39 "2010-02-09T01:59:49Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Tangential, then? Or are they not touching? See post #2. ---
**Author:** ![Kingspades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@Kingspades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingspades)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188/40 "2010-02-09T21:28:59Z")
Y’all hush, now! _Mum_’s the word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word/528188.md?page=3)