"Word/Phrase of the Day"

[Gibbo2286]

Nepotism. Hillary Benn and Stephen Kinnock for a start.
I'm sure there are many more in the Commons so not just 'Hereditary peers' in politics.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Very rarely used

The Verb

To opine

Some opine that it's not been cold enough this winter etc

Nice use of the transitive verb opine there Jim. Close but not quite word of the day material, too close to the noun opinion, but a not too commonly used verb.

Only ever used 2 times on the forum. Once in 2014, and today in 2024. Yes it was your good self on both occasions.

I’ talked myself into it for its rarity. It will go to the ball, it is going on Word of the day

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Interestingly and maybe worth a post on the coincidence thread, it was used twice by today's witness in the Horizon enquiry!!

[CitroJim]

I'm very pleased I'm managing to come up with worthy contenders for "Word/Phrase of the Day" every now and again

I can imagine that word being used a lot in the Horizon enquiry Mick!

[myglaren]

Indefatigability

[mickthemaverick]

"spelunking"

Found lurking in Zel's blog this morning when he was referring to a loft search!

Not one I had heard of so I was delighted to discover it means 'exploring caves or tunnels''

[NewcastleFalcon]

"spelunking"

Found lurking in Zel's blog this morning when he was referring to a loft search!
Not one I had heard of so I was delighted to discover it means 'exploring caves or tunnels''

I know I definitely have a spare one of these up in the loft, but not having to go spelunking to find it would be a bonus.

Well spotted Mick. That one passed me by! Mentioned only once before today's posts back in 2022 from the "pen" once again of Zel.

I don't have the energy just now to go spelunking in the Box o' Cables (TM) to try to find an alternative 9V DC supply.

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

There will be other accounts of the derivation, and although "spelunking" as a term came into popular use in 1940's America, its derivation goes back to Latin and Greek words for Caves ac, and "speleology" the study of caves and cave systems, according to this...

https://www.myenglishlanguage.com/2018/ ... %20Origins

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89dou ... red_Martel

Édouard-Alfred Martel (1 July 1859, Pontoise, Val-d'Oise – 3 June 1938, Montbrison), the 'father of modern speleology', was a world pioneer of cave exploration, study, and documentation. Martel explored thousands of caves in his native France and many other countries, popularised the pursuit of cave exploration, introduced the concept of speleology as a distinct area of scientific study, maintained an extensive archive, and in 1895 founded Société de Spéléologie, the first organisation devoted to cave science in the world.

Who knew there was a "Marble Arch" in Ireland One of E.A. Martel's explorations


Underground River at Marble Arch, Ireland by E. A. Martel
E. A. Martel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Neil

[Gibbo2286]

"spelunking"

Found lurking in Zel's blog this morning when he was referring to a loft search!

Not one I had heard of so I was delighted to discover it means 'exploring caves or tunnels''

We have a lot of those here Mick, Clearwell Caves and the iron mines all around the area, https://clearwellcaves.com/ there's a caving club if you'd like to have a more serious go instead of the tourist stuff.

[bobins]

It'll be no surprise to the regulars on here to hear that I've done more than your average amount of spelunking in my time - although I'm not a fan of the word and just prefer 'underground exploration'. Only a small handful of near death experiences along the way, and a good time was had by all

[NewcastleFalcon]

A little bit of FCF gained knowledge could be a useful thing...

Having hopefully planted the words "Spelunking" or "Speleology" in every viewer's familiarity phenomenon storage area of their sub-conscious, be sure if those words crop up in the coming days, to note and post in the thread the FCF has for such things...

link Familiarity phenomenon and other unlikely coincidences
viewtopic.php?t=73189

The million pound question...could be??

Neil

[myglaren]

Today is Kristihimmelfärdsdagen. A wonderful word although it means little non-Swedish speakers.

I'm sure the indefatigable Mr Falcon will tease out some interesting points related to it.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Today is Kristihimmelfärdsdagen. A wonderful word although it means little non-Swedish speakers.

I'm sure the indefatigable Mr Falcon will tease out some interesting points related to it.

Just got "Microsoft Sofie" (Swedish) sent via bing to read your post aloud to hear the pronunciation . I normally have "Microsoft Christel" as my default when I accidentally hit the "read aloud this page" button, nice accent

Neil

[myglaren]

Never thought of having it as a soundfile. Don't have any Microsoft stuff but I'm sure there are alternatives.

It is particularly applicable today, which was the reason for posting today.

A curtailed version here. Not the same without the 'dagen' at the end.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Never thought of having it as a soundfile. Don't have any Microsoft stuff but I'm sure there are alternatives.

It is particularly applicable today, which was the reason for posting today.

A curtailed version here. Not the same without the 'dagen' at the end.

Snap! I foiund that on my delve...but then I came across this...good old-fashioned AI. and virtual reality Sophie...same as bing! but not microsoft.

Option to type in any text and have it read aloud.

Options come up in the "Add Files" selection and as well as Add text, you get read web page, add document or pdf, even add images.

https://www.naturalreaders.com/online/

Neil