Hi Marina,
I have a request for you. I know you prefer video requests but I am technically challenged.
Is it true that FLEA MARKET was first a market in France where they first sold only flea-infested old beds and matresses?
How disgusting! What do you think?
Warmest regards from Moscow,
Anna
-The practice in midieval Europe was that they would ring a bell at a fixed time to signal an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep.
- Kids don’t like curfews because they have to be in the house/bed at a certain time.
- Curfew comes from the Old French word “covrefeu” with “coverir” meaning ‘to cover’ and “feu” meaning ‘fire’. So to cover a fire, as in keeping it in their control, would be something a fireman would like.
- Take away the “e” and “w” and you get a Curf, which is basically composed of sandy cherts and shelly limestones, so in a way it IS a type of limestone.
I have the perfect geek word for you to define and provide origins for:
WIDGET
I saw an article in the business section today on tech companies with a picture of something on a screen of some sort (iPhone?) which the caption referred to as a widget. Not being a technogeek, I am obviously befuddled.
Please enlighten me, my dear teacher. Here, taste this ripe Gala apple.
Boy, I skipped class… tried to sign into the site with my Twitter ID … couldn’t do it… Whats with that? Been lookin’ into getting one of these. Foxbow & Bob could teach me how to stay alive in the air, wweeeee… I’d never make my curfew, ’cause I’d be scared to land it(I always seem to crash in “flight simulator”). Miss Cupcake’s country is in trouble…“Curfew”- austrailan for Beer?
Vampires drink people’s blood, zombies eat their brains, and cannibals eat their flesh, right? But if you think about it, a cannibal does all that… so why aren’t they more notorious than the rest?
(1) vampires and zombies are unnatural things (and factually, they do not exist). Cannibals are “ordinary” human beings who have chosen a certain way of life. So cannibals can be understood, dealt with and potentially defeated with natural means; vampires and zombies can’t.
(2) after a vampire or a zombie attacks a person, the person supposedly continues to exist in some unnatural manner — so the person supposedly has something to worry about after the attack. But after a cannibal gets a person, the person is dead — he doesn’t exist and so has “nothing to worry about” after the attack.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a morbid person, and have never before thought about such things. But once one recognizes that the cannibal is natural but the other two are not, the rest follows.
You could be right, but the funny thing is that we know where zombies and vampires come from, but cannibals are still an unsolved mystery. (as in, no lesson on them yet)
If she keeps up the pattern, we could find out that Marina is not only a vampire zombie, but a cannibalistic vampire zombie. ( that would mean that she could eat other vampires or zombies ) EWW!
OK, sorry, I even grossed myself out with this one… but she started it!
Do you remember the zombie and vampire lessons?
If so, why would you go and call Marina a whack job?
She is cursed, but she manages to control her hunger. (reminds me of Blade)
Request investigation of the word “blitz” as a football blitz, tank warfare or blitzkreig, or one of the reindeer on Santa’s sled is Blitzen! Thank you
Those from the military with experience in polishing brass with the Blitz (brand) treated polishing cloth will not associate quick or fast with the word.
2400 points in favor of DeFranco.
Guys that means if we up-vote Marina and down-vote him 1200 times, she will have the lead. PK, what are your approximations? When would this overtake happen?
I think if Marina were to mention one more time at the end of the next video, to vote for her, we’d be all set for the gold!
Just a few more clicks… how exciting.
Then in 2009, Marina could opt for a hat trick!
80/day? That’s pathetic… she has so many fans on YT, and that’s all the voters we get? Sheesh… She needs to mention the sexy geek contest at least one more time for things to go as we want them to go. (for her, of course)
But when she wins, we feel the win too… and that makes the effort all worth it
I know Chemikal, it doesn’t seem right. There are over 40,000 subscribers here at HFW, so one would think a much greater voter turnout. The Acceleration curve shows how many votes are being added on an ongoing basis.
The good news is that the lack of voters works across the board for all contestants, BUT, we are still more aggressive in our voting as can be seen by the advancing line of Marina’s votes.
But it really makes no difference if I mention it now, since last time you picked the first person that got it, instead of picking at randomn like you said.
(Sure was dangerously cold to even go out yesterday.)
Technical website question:
If I change my avatar at Gravatar.com, do all the little avatars by all my prior posts automatically update?
Reason being, if the wrong person figures out who “Evan Owen” really is, s/he could blackmail me with my posts.
Plus someone was razzing PK about his looks, and on reflection I can’t claim to be any prettier. Also, I’ve always rather fancied a jaunty little Welsh Red Dragon by my comments.
Hi Evan, yes, all your avatars update on all posts. Just keep in mind, in order for you to view the updated gravatar, make sure that you clear your cache 15 minutes after you make the change. It takes appx 5-15 min for the change to take effect.
You also don’t need to log in nor do you need to create a comment to see the change. Once the change has taken place, you’ll see the gravatar change everywhere for that email address.
By the way, they weren’t razzing me about my looks, they were missing my steadfast, long term, loyal knight.
Does clearing my cache involve a dust mask or rubber gloves? Last time I posed a technical question, CJ said something about my bowser, and cleaning up after HIM was REALLY disgusting!
I don’t think time is a factor in upgrading the image in the original scheme. Upgrading occurs only at avatar.com. Once it’s done there, then every time a HFW page loads, there is a HTML tag at the beginning of every comment to call the author’s avatar image, e.g. “<img alt=” src=’http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/fb80a290e483579bae3b8b8586be1012?s=48&d=monsterid&r=X’ class=’avatar avatar-48 photo’ height=’48′ width=’48′ /> “. The gobbledegook following “avatar/” is the code for my avatar image, so if I have, say, 10 comments in a blog, then it will call the image 10 times and whatever image is resident at avatar.com for me at the time will be sent out. So the instant it is updated there, it’s updated at every site that relies on them. That’s the basic plan.
However, there may be some tricks done to save time, i.e. HFW could cache my image and serve it up when called instead of taking the time to go to avatar.com for every comment. If so, there would be some rule about how often HFW checks for updates at avatar.com and that could lead to a delay when you update.
Finally, the image held in the client’s browser temp. files folder may be used to save time for the user regardless of what the rest of the world is doing. Once you fetch an image, the browser provides it for later uses depending on the browser’s settings, which you may alter. Clearing the temp. files is a crude but effective way of forcing the browser to fetch new images without changing the settings. Everyone should probably review their settings to see if they are what they want. If you change them and things slow down noticeably, you can always put the back. For example, if you say always go and get new files every time, this may cause a delay for loading Web pages, but if it doesn’t, why not do it?
WP deleted a space between two single quotes following the alt=, making it look like one double quote. If WP doesn’t like it, why is it used on the links to gravatar.com?
In the end, it really doesn’t “alt”ter what I was trying to say.
PS: I said avatar.com above, but of course it is gravatar.com.
WP admins have control on what html is allowed to maintain control of the look and feel of the site. For a list if what is offered, click on the Reply link and just look above the smilely faces and you’ll see “Allowed:…etc…etc.” Next to that is a link to the “learn/practice here” page. You can visit that page to experiment with the code.
Currently Marina has the site set up for Gravatar (which is now built into WP php code and that pluging is not longer needed) and some random avatar generator for those who have not set up Gravatar. The idea of Gravatar is you set u one avatar and it works with many sites that have them installed. Nice time saver.
Everything I know about computers I learned as a boy in Skykomish, Washington in the ’60s:
hard drive: taking the pickup truck up the old logging road to the top of Tonga Ridge to get firewood RAM: the male mountain goat who lived at the top of Tonga Ridge Upload and download: pitching the firewood onto and off of the pickup truck log on: part of the phrase, “Throw another log on the fire, it’s getting chilly.” mouse: the critter that made its nest behind the stack of firewood
I just had the urge to check and it’s warmer here right now than in Vegas! Blue skies, calm and the sun is shining. I am in shirt sleeves in the roll-up door cleaning out the car. It’s a good thing, too; I discovered the trunk gasket has a crack in it and some water from the last rain got some towels sopping wet and my tools were sprinkled.
My heart goes out to you poor sods up to your kneebows in snow and ice. I said my heart; my body is staying right here!
Why is it the “twelfth installment”? It’s the twelfth (or whatever number) game, is it not? They are not parts of one game, but separate games with separate words.
It’s not the 43rd installment of the Superbowl this year, is it?
Here’s a new word request: “Ditching”
The news program is talking about the pilot ditching the plane in the river; my wife (who is only two years younger but of a different generation) said it sounded like he was parachuting out and leaving the passengers.
hi marina
i woke up this morning with my alarm clock waking me up
and i hit the snooze button to turn it off
and after a few seconds the word snooze made me think
so where does the word snooze come from?
thank you
much love
aaron xx
There is something unclear to me.
Someone asked me today… Why do we pronounce the letter “i” differently in the words “six” and “nine”?
I didn’t know what to say. Do you know
Chemikal, James’ remark is a lewd and irrelevant sexual wisecrack, exactly what we’d expect from a horny young college student. I’m sorry you had to see that.
First, English spelling does not make sense.
BUT — there is a consistent rule for the case in your question.
When an English word ends in a silent “e”, the vowel before it (“i” in this case) becomes long. Example: short “i” in “din” becomes a long “i” in “dine” Another: short “o” in “con” becomes long “o” in “cone.”
BUT, the “o” in “gone” is short. Which brings me back to my first point.
Uv kors wee kood yuez fonetik Inglish speling, but wee’d hav tue ree-riet the hoel Inglish langwej!
They have a common French word as one of the roots.
Kerchief comes from the middle English curchef/kerchef or sometimes coverchef. And that came from the Anglo-French courchief.
Chief means head, so courchief (from the Fr. “couvre chief”) means to cover the head.
While a kerchief was a peice of cloth on woman’s head, a handkerchief would be a cloth that you use to cover your face, while holding it with your hand.
Source, hotforwords.
English coaching:
In America, the phrase is “warm and fuzzy.” If you were to use the phrase “warm and squishy” here, they’d question your gender or your masculinity.
Do let me know if these little lessons get tedious.
Evan
Good morning, Evan!
I am familiar with the phrase “warm and fuzzy”, but I wanted to avoid cliche, and I didn’t know that “squishy” carried a feminine load!
Tedious means long, boring, or uncomfortable, right? (according to my En-Ro dictionary)
You’re one of the reasons I like hanging out here so much, and just so you know… I’m happy you don’t charge me by the hour!
Thank you, coach, and I’m looking forward to your next reply.
wow i came up with nothing close to curfew i couldn’t figure out the whole kids don’t like it thing…. lol i came up with tuffet from the rest of her hints
Well if I weren’t dead already I’d probably be composing some excuse like “The struggle to survive intercedes social interaction.” But actually I’ve been very busy DEcomposing!
What do you think of the idea of E-mailing the answer to M instead of posting it? Then M could post the winner, the second, third and honorable mention entries.
The comments would be reserved as a place where the rest of us (read losers) could commiserate and collectively shake our heads. There, we could pretend we had sent in our E-mails like the smarty-pants set and, having soooooo much time left over, we created our own little games to occupy our idling minds while the less fortunate short out their keyboards with tears of frustration. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Game: Name a hit song whose name is spelled out in the lyrics and is spelled incorrectly according to the dictionary. (Of course, a song title cannot technically be misspelled by the author, because he is entitled to spell it any way he wishes.) It was sung by a group of brothers, was at the top of the charts and had wide radio play.
You have a good suggestion of emailing answers. That would encourage people to do the research and not copy off of everyone’s paper. I was totally lost on this one and I didn’t have any time to spend on it. So I looked at what everyone else had on their paper. I guess Marina would rather have everyone comment on the site to create some discussions. You know keep the activity going.
G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria??
(Mis-spelling of “glory”, maybe? )
Gee, maybe someone else can commiserate with me for not having a clue about CK’s song. “Those who can remember the ’60s were not part of them.”
If you looked up Gloria, it would be spelled correctly, so that’s not it. Besides, there is no bending or twisting of meanings or ideas here; it is flat out misspelled. Thanks for playing. Play soon and play often.
For a clue, I will say R. You will kick yourself when you hear the answer, because I know you have heard it a dozen times.
Up until a few years ago, several towns still sounded their curfew sirens at 9 PM. Anyone know of any towns that still do that? Of course the bells are more charming as the sirens had every dog howling for miles.
Off topic, but related to your interest in the etymology of place names:
Did you catch the exchange between Bob & me on Scottish place names?
Afterthought: I can still remember Mom in the ’60s yelling “Curfew!” at my brother at 9PM to get him to come in off the street. To which he replied, “Gesundheit!”
Curfew:
c.1320, from Anglo-Fr. coeverfu (1285), from O.Fr. covrefeu, lit. “cover fire,” from couvre, imper. of couvrir “to cover” + feu “fire.” The medieval practice of ringing a bell at fixed time in the evening as an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep (Why kids don’t like it). The original purpose was to prevent conflagrations from untended fires (Why firemen do like it). The modern extended sense of “periodic restriction of movement” had evolved by 1800s.
Curf:
“Sometimes called the “little roach”, curf is really a series of sandy chert beds and Shelly limestones. Curf from certain areas may weather rapidly (particularly when used externally in exposed locations) and it is not therefore, always suitable for use as masonry stone.” (http://www.m.godden.btinternet.co.uk/quarrying_info.htm)
A few times when I entered a link in the comment box, the link would disappear in the rendered entry albeit ( )the link’s name would be highlighted as though it were a link; when I went to re-edit, I would see just the ‘a’ and ‘/a’ tags but the href=… stuff would have disappeared. Sometimes the herf=… stuff would remain if I reentered two more times.
You are thinking of a kerf, which is the width of material removed when cutting due to the thickness of the blade. If it is done not for cutting, but to create a groove, it’s a dado (at least in woodworking). It is possilble that, in stonework, they use the term kerf to mean what dado means in woodworking.
Of course you should research this yourself and not take it for granite. (I wonder if M gets these?)
Good question, Scotty. Marina, many forums have polls where you can’t see the result of the poll until you have cast your vote.
Is it possible to do the same with the guess-the-word games, so that you can’t crib other people’s answers without first having posted your own final answer?
If Karnak the Magnificent had divined that from the envelope (hermetically sealed and kept in a #2 mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnells porch since noon today), would the question have been: What is the situation of not having many dogs? (sorry about that )
I’ll take your word for it on the spelling, but I do remember Ed M. saying “#2″ or perhaps “#3″ for the size of the jar.
And I don’t know which of his shows you watched, in the ’50’s or the ’70’s (I was too young in the ’50’s), but I recognize that bird call by “Steverino” Allen! Loved the episodes of “Klave Kounty!”
Marina, do you have Czech ancestry? I just discovered your Coat of Arms. Your heraldic shield looks preety impressive. Mine looks… well, I bet the designer wasn’t paid much:lol:
Czech this website out for an image: http://www.ngw.nl/int/cze/o/orlova.htm . My one seems to have Viking connection. A cousin of William the Conqueror call Odard, but the surname is a contraction of the name of the settlement.
Answer: Curfew – same reason as the others but have doubts because of the public hanging picture.
Great interpretation. Here’s a site to decode the meaning: http://www.fleurdelis.com/meanings.htm . There’s a link with Poland too, as well as Czech Republic. According to the wiki, Orlova is derived from Eagle.
Eagle : Person of noble nature, strength, bravery, and alertness; or one who is high-spirited, ingenious, quick-witted, and judicious; “True magnanimity and strength of mind” acc. to Guillim. If wings “displayed,” it signifies protection. Eagle with two heads signifies conjoining of two forces. (Splayed, Gold, crowned half-eagle with 7 feathers: ?)
Gold: Generosity and elevation of the mind.
Blue (Azure) Truth and loyalty.
Tree is difficult, red on white, 7 branches (7 again!). Tree (gen): Life and the mystical connection of the earth with heaven and the underworld. Palm Tree maybe: Righteousness and resurrection; victory. Nothing under crowned eagle but crown: Royal or seigniorial authority.
Red (Gules): Warrior or martyr; Military strength and magnanimity.
Silver or White (Argent) Peace and sincerity.
Crossed hammer & Pick: Management of works where these tools are used. Like a quarry! Limestone quarry mayhaps?
Black (Sable): Constancy or grief.
MARINA ORIGIN OF THE WORD SOLES OR TOES FOR FEET. PLZ ORGIGIN EVERYONE REQUEST IT EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NASCAR Word Request
The Daytona 500 is just a month away, and this word is used alot there: Draft
This word has several other meanings.
Drafting-to draw
Draft Beer
Drafty-breezy
Oh come off it. The planet doesn’t need saving. We do. Why? Because we are trying to kill our selfs off. The planet is doing just fine. I’ll will eradicate us and rebuild in hopes it can get it right the next time.
As for being green, I’m well on my way more than many. My next yacht will be 100% solar and wind powered. I’ll have a bio diesel generator for back up and when I find a good alternate electrical storage unit, I plan to remove the diesel engine and replace it with a high efficent eclectic motor. My life long goal was to build a 100% self sufficient – off the grid vessel.
I currently own an electric scooter, Four R/C electric helicopters, R/C electric truck. I’m going to buy a segway and maybe the Aptera Electric Car. I love the looks of that car. Remind me of a Piper Cherokee airplane I used to fly.
I met Al Gore in Seattle a few years ago in one of his Global Warming speeches. Funny I was more interested how he was using Apple’s Keynote presentation software.
i guess “curfew” because it came did come from the french word “couvre feu” which means cover the fire but in layman terms is just blow out the fire or candle. and later “couvre feu” became “curfeu” and then turned into “curfew” i do my homework
the word is tuffet (from Lil’ Ms. Muffet), basically a three-legged stool…the limestone is “tuff”…firefighters like stools to sit on outside ’cause they’re quicker to get back in the firehouse when the alarm rings…right, Mike?…
Yes Tom we also ways like to sit out side and watch the people go by the station and be friendly with them and wave, but we had a Gazebo with porch swings and a pick nick table and a grill under it. I would sometimes when it rained sit at the back door of the bay door and just relax to the sound and smell of the rain.
Thanks for that reference to the types of limestone, Don, I remember chert from my Geology classes (40 years ago) but don’t remember ever having heard of curf. (Spell check hasn’t heard of it either. )
I suppose I should have made a connection because if you have long sleeves on your chert then you would have two curfs, one at the end of each sleeve.
I just wanted to comment on how intriguingly fascinated I’ve become with watching your videos. I find them to be very enlightening and educational. I also thought to make a suggestion to consider a segment for the word “premonition”? I’ve personally found the concept of the word’s meaning to be unique but couldn’t understand how to describe a monition or if that is even a word? Take care.
Disclaimer: I have not read, and do not plan to read, anyone else’s comments on the GTW Game XII until the official answer is out.
For all the reasons provided below, my answer is: tuffet.
Background: This was tough — spent about 30 minutes at home, 2 hours at the library, 20 minutes commute, and 1 hr 30 minutes writing up my answer; and slightly burnt the pizza I was cooking for lunch. Before this research (in the unabridged OED) all I knew about tuffet was its use in the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffett” — I learnt everything else written below in the past few hours.
REASONS:
1) Preliminary conditions: Tuffet is indeed a noun with 6 letters, second letter is ‘u’, does not use ‘o’, ‘a’, ‘m’, or ‘n’.
2) French Roots: Touffe and Touffel.
3) Connection to Hanging Women: The word touse used to mean to yank or to pull a woman about roughly etc.
4) Limestone: Removing the last two letters gives “tuff”. Tuff and tufa used to be synonyms, and tufa is a form of limestone. The current tendency is to restrict tufa to the form of limestone and to use tuff to mean volcanic ash.
5) Children do not like it: The reference here is to the three legged stool on which children are made to sit in the corner for punishment.
6) Firefighters like it: This is an obscure clue. Perhaps, “tuffet” is a form of ash (derived from tuff or otherwise) that firefighter pour over flames. Or perhaps the connection is with “pouffe” or “douse” elaborated upon in Item 8 below. Or perhaps the connection is with the visual appearance of flames as golden tufts.
7) Ringing of a bell: Tuffing and tuftin refer to bell-ringing, or to the tufts of wool woven into a bell-rope that can be gripped easily.
Item 8 – Blowing out a candle: Two possible connections. First, Pouffe is a form of stool (tuffet), and puff refers to blowing. Second, tuff sounds like doff, doff means to take off and is related to douse, with one meaning of douse being to put out, extinguish. (While typhoon, the violent wind blowing out the candle, might sound like tuff…, I don’t think their roots are related and so typhoon is an unlikely connection.)
So there you have it — not a mere guess but work and a large amount of evidence to indicate that that the answer is tuffet.
. PS: One more connection with Firefighters: Could be that tuffet, perhaps via link with pouffe, is an inflatable landing area for people to jump onto from burning buildings.
I use MS Paint from Microsoft. I just hit print screen on the part of the video I want paste to MS Paint what ever picture I want and hit cut then new the paste again then save as.
Hey man how bout letting the rest of us get a shot, you won already You obviously have a bit of an edge with your willingness to go through all that just for research. Your an animal, man.
I love your logic, and I hope you’re right. As Curfew seemed too easy. Problem is, I still think Curfew is right. Curf is a type of Limestone, always was, still is, no change in meaning. Second, the breakdown of Curfew is this:
c.1320, from Anglo-Fr. coeverfu (1285), from O.Fr. covrefeu, lit. “cover fire,” from couvre, imper. of couvrir “to cover” + feu “fire.” The medieval practice of ringing a bell at fixed time in the evening as an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep. The original purpose was to prevent conflagrations from untended fires. The modern extended sense of “periodic restriction of movement” had evolved by 1800s.
She did have a ringing bell at the end of the clue, and this fits quite well. And kids would not know of a curfew, because they were all expected to be in bed by that time, as parents go to bed later than children, so they’d be the ones to bank for fire at the ringing of the bell.
While I can still be wrong, and you can again be right. I’m satisfied with my answer, and can sleep tonight without it preying on my brain. Good work though.
Oh, and finally. I think you stretched the word “Tuffet” far beyond meaning. A tuffet is simply a device; a footstool or hassock, like in “Little Miss Muffet” Saying that touse is for tossing about women is like saying that the word for Automobile is car, and that Bounce means something else. But what the heck does Automobile and bounce have to do with one another. (In other words, what does touffe and touse have to do with one another?) You have shown no causal relationship between the words.
If one assumes that the picture of the women being hanged is just a depiction of an everyday scene around the time when the word curfew was introduced — and is not a depiction of “the practice that occurred in Medieval Europe” — so that one need not find any other connection between that picture and the answer — then curfew is a valid answer. And in such a case I would be hung not only in the circa 1641 meaning of the word but also in the basketball meaning of the word (someone who went for a slam-dunk and missed).
Hey hs4mm Being a previous winner is a plus for you albeit
my two cents worth I believe the hangman(woman)
in loverly Marina’s video GWG X11 (& the previous one) takes after the
game HANGMAN & is for help by way of CLUES not as a clue itself
huhh Hope I am making myself understood B.B.
See the video at 0:53 seconds — 4 hanging women, 2 begging for mercy, and 1 despondant. What kind of life did people live for such things to happen and to have coined a word such as touse?
>In Eastern Canada, both gypsum and limestone have been used to increase yield and quality of certain crops such as Broccoli and Cauliflower.
>Children don’t like to eat it.
>In a NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter E-News.
Broccoli was listed as being a good source of calcium, potassium, folate and fiber, broccoli contains phytonutrients — a group of compounds that may help prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Broccoli is also a good source of vitamins A and C — antioxidants that protect your body’s cells from damage.
>Broccoli was used as a laxative in the 16th century in Italy, and its juice, mixed with honey, was used to treat coughs. In the 17th century, broccoli soup was a remedy for all respiratory ailments
What? That doesn’t work you say? I can’t use a noun with 8 letters? The second letter is ‘u’? ‘o’ is not one of the letters? Oh then what the spinach! I’m just trying to be a responsible green person.
I see that the right answer has been given so many times that I am opting out of this one. I want Chemikal to win. Me… I go make a spinach salad and “pump sum weights”.:smile:
Hey Spinachman never seen you here before. Welcome to the site. I think Chemikal is on to something, but you might want to check out hs4mm answer also.
YOU TOO! I had canned spinach last night for dinner and I think I’ll have the left overs tonight. It’s my favorite veggy. I can eat it raw in my salads or lightly cooked. I’ll let you know a little secret. Spinach and cottage cheese works wonders in lasagna. Every time my grand mother would decided to make some she would get out 5 oven pans. She would let the neighbors know she was making some and they would show up with oven mitts.
Curfew—-The word “curfew” comes from the French phrase “couvre feu” which means “cover the fire”. It was used to describe the time of blowing out all lamps and candles (the reason why children dont like it, means bedtime). It was later adopted by the Medieval English language as “curfeu”, which later became the modern “curfew”. Thank You
The answer is curfew. Curfew was originally a safety measure requiring that domestic fires be extinguished at bedtime – a wise precaution in the days when houses were highly combustible and a single spark might lead to the devastation of a whole community which would be why fireman enjoy this practice. Curfew was also the name given to the ringing of a bell to remind people that the regulation was in force. The word comes from the French words couvrir (cover) and feu (fire).
It’s not that bad…. Good to see you scaled it to HD….. I think its brilliant for a laptop camera… But there is one big difference I can see with this camera and you other one. On your macbook camera, your eyes look more blue than the HD one… Maybe it’s because your closer to the laptop. I don’t know. But if you look at this vid and another vid filmed on the HD cam you will see what I mean.
Hi James,
regarding: “On your macbook camera, your eyes look more blue than the HD one”
That was a common question last year when Marina was using her camera on the MacBook. Marina answered many times here and on YT stating that the MacBook camera’s saturation level is higher than other cameras.
Google HSL (Hue Saturation Lightness or Luminosity) settings.
HD isn’t all is cracked up to be, photographers have used the “soft focus” technique for a long time as an enhancement tool, albeit you need no enhancing… is nice. Who needs to see whether or not you still have your tonsils anyways?
Interesting, on your twitter pics, some are very clear & others a little, shall we say, “soft focus”. Do you use the same device?
BTW, John (my foreman mechanic) loved this vid & really wants a signed picture now, whoda’ thunk…
I’ll be danged, curf is a type of limestone , but how does M.O. know this? GTWg VII must be ‘curfew’, at least it seems to fit.
Word Request: Does pleas have anything to do with please, or to plead? Also, teacher, since we’re on the subject is chalk really, also, a type of limestone? All these limestones in the world and I didn’t even know!
The French words, “couvre” et “feu” became “curfew.” Kids don’t like going to bed, but firemen like covering the fire (with a metal pan or cover) to put the fire out. There is a type of limestone called “curf.”
Nice that you recorded this video in Las Vegas. The room is so large, I thought you might get an echo. There must be lots of nice carpeting and drapes to absorb sounds.
btw: After the Norman invasion of England in 1066, William the Conqueror required civilians to stay in after dark. Night patrols enforced this regulation by calling “Couvre feu!” “Cover the fire!” which became “curfew” in English.
I don’t know what context it was used in for the press conference, but why are you trying to waste Marina’s and all of our time with something so simple?
Answer: Some trains and subways run via electricity conducted through a third rail between the primary track rails. This rail is of a high enough voltage that it can kill rapidly, and so every child anywhere in which this type of train runs is told “Do not touch the third rail.” And jokes are made, such as “Don’t piss on the third rail.” Because such activities would result in traumatic injuries. This type of train is prevalent in NY and Chicago, while in the West coast, they have trolleys and such that have an overhead line that powers the vehicles. So, normally, anyone referring to a third rail is saying it in a form of “something to stay away from.” “We can’t do that, that’s a third rail situation.” Meaning, if it was attempted, it would lead to not only failure, but catastrophic failure.
I don’t mind answering questions. Not even if it takes a little time, so it’s not a waste. However, someone asking a question of something that you can find out via wikipedia, or a simple google search is a waste of my time in that IF Marina chooses to answer, I will not enjoy seeing it, as I already know the answer, and anyone that can Google or use Wikipedia (Or live in NY or Chicago) would know already. Yes, we’d still get to hear and see Marina, but as I’ve stated before, I like her for her brains more than her looks, and if I’m not learning from her, learning something I didn’t know, then her looks are wasted on me. And frankly, if she keeps answering questions of the type that anyone would know, I’ll probably unsubscribe for the reasons I just outlined.
So, as I DO want to stay subscribed, I choose to answer the simple questions myself, and let Marina choose those that might actually educate me. That makes it not a waste of time.
When it is assumed, or polite to answer something of “not-all-knowing” and my asking a regional associated comment; I hope it would not lead jindai to unscribe or unsubscribe. I enjoy everyones comments and to qoute jindai “but as I’ve stated before, I like her for her brains more than her looks, and if I’m not learning from her, learning something I didn’t know, then her looks are wasted on me…”
The Mythbusters proved failed to prove that it is possible to electrocute oneself that way. The stream breaks up into individual droplets which cannot conduct the current.
I saw that one, too. Uhhh… you go ahead, and I will watch. That is the kind of thing that shows “belief” vs. “belief.” Yeah, I believe I can piss on that rail, but will I do it?
ps I do have a friend that peed on an electrical fence as a kid, and yes, that one did conduct the current.
I’d like to know how the childs game “Hopscotch” came about. I understand the “Hop” part but what about the “Scotch”? And I’d like to see you play it Marina…
What does curfew have to do with the picture of the gallows? There are several women praying, some soldiers standing guard, the executioner making sure one of the condemned is uh, comfortable (I guess) and a guy on the right dispensing something to another (money?). (Notice that the condemned have their hands tied in front, which was the practice at one time.) So what is the relevance to the word?
Oh, wait. It’s hangman again, isn’t it? So now I guess we will be eternally treated to grisly hanging scenes of all types.
If I were a woman, it be curtsies to dear Marina. What geologic time period is curf formed from? An epoch glaciates into buidings of urbanity. My coxcomb cap was coverted to dunce. Now with the fire out of contol; I cowl aqua(royal water)…a 2 handel tub to drink fire water…better put limits on time to drink…fire alarm and bar time. adjunct and all faiths of love
When editing the previous msg, I got this error msg, which I have never seen before: Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘}’ in /home/hfw/public_html/wp-content/plugins/awsom-news-announcement/awsomnews.php on line 159
The edit failed by locking up on the error msg and I had to close out and start from the home page to re-edit.
I received the same error code. To fix it, I went to the galley and grabbed another cup of tea. Then returned back to my work station and hit the refresh button. No problem.
Who is this anyway? M is in Vegas and instead of her partying and seeing the sites, you want me to believe she is squirreled away in her hotel room remotely fidgeting with plugins during the dinner hour? Yeahhhhh….. I can just see it now…
{Mr. Pitt’s personal assistant is on the phone.}
PA: “Miss Orlova’s room please.”
PA: “It’s Brad Pitt’s personal assistant calling for Mr. Pitt.”
PA: “Oh, hi. I’m calling for Brad Pitt. Jolina is not in town and he would like you to accompany him to dinner this evening. He’s a big fan of yours, you know.”
PA: “No, no. It would definitely not be dutch treat. And, yes, he did see that lesson.”
PA: “Um-hmmm.”
PA: “Um-hmmm.”
PA: “You’re having electrical problems?”
PA: “Oh, not that kind of plug in.”
PA: “Um-hmmm.”
PA: “So you won’t be able to make it then?”
PA: “He will be so disappointed, I’m sure. Perhaps another time then.”
PA: “Yes, yes, I understand completely. Yes, I’ll tell him. Thank you for your time and good luck with the plug thingy.”
{The PA hangs up and then she picks it up and dials a new number.}
PA: “Hi, Mr. B. She can’t make it, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it if I were you.”
PA: “Why? She’s a raving lunatic. Hey, I hear Dolly is in town. Maybe she wants to grab a bite”
PA: “OK, I’ll call you right back.”
The End
To M: Be sure to visit nearby Hoover dam. I still remember as a kid, standing on the top of the dam and looking over the sweep of the rear down to the river. It was so far down the curve of concrete that my eyes would not focus; it was mind blowing. (You see things from great heights, but rarely do you see something that extends from from your nose to the bottom.) There is a great tour and you get to stand on the giant pipe carrying the Colorado river right beneath your feet. The generator room, etc. inside is kept neat as pin (after all, if there’s no leak, what else have they got to do but clean and polish things?). All the door and window trim, hand railings, etc. were done in art deco aluminum and although it was built 73 years ago, it looks like new (a rare occurrance of the government doing a job right). I went there the last time I went to Vegas and I recommend the trip. Oh, and watch out for tornados, believe it or not.
Marina, how come you named the video on You Tube Hate it in Vegas and on here it’s the Guess the word game? Didn’t you like going to Las Vegas? Or did you spend to much money
We may already have a winner!
Curf? This limestone, a type of calcarenite is finer grained and whiter than the oolites above and below. It is 0.43m thick and of fine-sand particle size.
Damn, that was quick
In the medieval period at a certain time a bell would ring, and everyone had to extinguish all the candles and lamps to prevent untended fires during the night.
“Couvre feu” means cover the fire in French, and the only three limestones that have the second letter U, that I could find, were Buxy, Jura and Curf.
Nice hints, you cooked up another very enjoyable game! Now, my curfew is getting near, and I need to get some rest. Tomorrow, exam 8:00 AM… the horror.
Thank you Cap, it’s in detriment of my school work, but I just like this better.
Yesterday I had my micro-economy exam, and I got the Bull and Bear markets as subjects. My analysis was complete, even from an etymological point of view!
The obvious winner!
It certainly had me stumped – I saw all the clues but couldn’t find the type of limestone which would have given me the breakthrough.
Well done!
Even during the Middle Ages, curfew also had the connotation of being a time to halt activities and retire to the safety of one´s home.
Outdoor lighting was ordinarily limited to the lanterns or fires kept by citizens serving on the nightwatch or by guards employed by the city or its ruler.
Thus, most (legitimate) activities halted at sunset because of difficulty of clearly seeing the work at hand and the consequent risk of producing inferior goods (though these regulations were also likely part of efforts to limit production to keep up prices and to prevent more industrious craftsmen from gaining too much of an advantage over the other guild members.)
Public health regulations routinely forbade the sale of foodstuffs at markets after sunset because of risk of spoiled foods being passed of as fit to eat under the cover of the growing darkness.
If I read the map right, Chemikal’s time is 10 hours ahead of the time stamp on his comments — just in case anyone was confused about his “curfew” time.
Seeing the first picture in the video again, got me thinking about the hanging seen.
I believe I found an answer for it. (the only thing that wasn’t so easy)
But let me try to tell the whole story. The Curfew Law, its intention was to prevent the rise of conflagrations. But it has also been regarded as a repressive measure, adopted by the tyrant Norman Conqueror, to prevent seditious meetings of the turbulent Saxons. Poets and writers of the time, also Voltaire, in his “Universal History”, ridicules the notion of the curfew being a badge of degradation.
It’s clear, the Curfew Law could be employed not only to protect the people’s wooden houses from the dreaded fires, but also as a method of control! (this form of manipulating the laws to the leader’s advantage is still present in modern Democracies)
Norman Conqueror has set upon himself to govern the people that he has overcome, so he used the Curfew Law as a form of national observance. He feared that the people would stream through the city to create riots, so he erected gibbets to frighten the masses. A gibbet was a device used for public executions of criminals and the deterrence of future crime. Thus the morbid picture of hanging women that Marina insisted of having on her video.
I could be wrong, since I’m not a genuine philologist, but in both cases, I know I had a lot of fun researching and writing the story.
Thank you PD, I’m just waiting for the answer to this week’s game, like everybody else. Now, if I win, that would be an added bonus, a very welcomed one!
Hi Marina,
I have a request for you. I know you prefer video requests but I am technically challenged.
Is it true that FLEA MARKET was first a market in France where they first sold only flea-infested old beds and matresses?
How disgusting! What do you think?
Warmest regards from Moscow,
Anna
A=quarto
B=quar=quarry
C=quarry=limestone
D=Shakespeare=Romeo & Juliet(This ties back to A.)
Quarter
Nope doesn’t fit.
The answer is ‘Quartz’ I think.
I also could have fitted Rudder into this answer, the thing that guides the coarse of a vessel.
word /phrase request: “red herring”
Word Request : hypochondriac
Marina
After much searching i found only curfew and or suitor. A the ringing of a bell to put out the fires.
A= Curfew= something the kids wouldn’t like because their not aware too the importance.
B= fireman= his realisation of the importance of fire prevention.
C=curf= a thin layer of limestone found in the Portland quarries of England.
And then there is Suitor
A.= suitior = a practice where by a man courts a woman (Lady) in the middle ages.
B.=Kid= wouldn’t understand “Mother/Father why is that man always coming over too see ******.”
C.=Fireman= a man whom always wears a suit when he goes to see his flame.
D.=flame= the person the suitor has a crush on= “a type of limestone” limestone crush a road construction material.
Afra Mall at curfew
is it JUMANGI?????
I believe it’s the word “curfew”
-The practice in midieval Europe was that they would ring a bell at a fixed time to signal an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep.
- Kids don’t like curfews because they have to be in the house/bed at a certain time.
- Curfew comes from the Old French word “covrefeu” with “coverir” meaning ‘to cover’ and “feu” meaning ‘fire’. So to cover a fire, as in keeping it in their control, would be something a fireman would like.
- Take away the “e” and “w” and you get a Curf, which is basically composed of sandy cherts and shelly limestones, so in a way it IS a type of limestone.
MARINA! MARINA! MARINA!
I have the perfect geek word for you to define and provide origins for:
WIDGET
I saw an article in the business section today on tech companies with a picture of something on a screen of some sort (iPhone?) which the caption referred to as a widget. Not being a technogeek, I am obviously befuddled.
Please enlighten me, my dear teacher. Here, taste this ripe Gala apple.
If you had asked for gizmo, whatsis, thingamajig, whatchacallit, doohickey, thingamabob, doodad, thingy, dingus, dojigger or gimmick I could help you.
But widget? I got nothin’.
Boy, I skipped class… tried to sign into the site with my Twitter ID
… couldn’t do it… Whats with that? Been lookin’ into getting one of these. Foxbow & Bob could teach me how to stay alive in the air, wweeeee… I’d never make my curfew, ’cause I’d be scared to land it(I always seem to crash in “flight simulator”).
Miss Cupcake’s country is in trouble…“Curfew”- austrailan for Beer?
It lands on water too, wow, I want one
Me too.
You could always get the pilot from the jet that landed in the Hudson river to fly it for you.
He seems to be a pretty safe pilot.
And he has experience of landing on water too.
has to be CURFEW ………but am not sure about the lime stone part
It’s jumangi!!!!
The word ” CURFEW ” comes from the French phrase “couvre feu” which means “cover the fire” ……… not sure about the limestone 4 letter word
Word request: cannibal
Vampires drink people’s blood, zombies eat their brains, and cannibals eat their flesh, right? But if you think about it, a cannibal does all that… so why aren’t they more notorious than the rest?
.
My take: There are two reasons:
(1) vampires and zombies are unnatural things (and factually, they do not exist). Cannibals are “ordinary” human beings who have chosen a certain way of life. So cannibals can be understood, dealt with and potentially defeated with natural means; vampires and zombies can’t.
(2) after a vampire or a zombie attacks a person, the person supposedly continues to exist in some unnatural manner — so the person supposedly has something to worry about after the attack. But after a cannibal gets a person, the person is dead — he doesn’t exist and so has “nothing to worry about” after the attack.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a morbid person, and have never before thought about such things. But once one recognizes that the cannibal is natural but the other two are not, the rest follows.
–Hs4Mm
.
You could be right, but the funny thing is that we know where zombies and vampires come from, but cannibals are still an unsolved mystery. (as in, no lesson on them yet)
If she keeps up the pattern, we could find out that Marina is not only a vampire zombie, but a cannibalistic vampire zombie. ( that would mean that she could eat other vampires or zombies ) EWW!
OK, sorry, I even grossed myself out with this one… but she started it!
A cannibal just enjoys “a different dining experience.” The others are whack jobs.
Do you remember the zombie and vampire lessons?
If so, why would you go and call Marina a whack job?
She is cursed, but she manages to control her hunger. (reminds me of Blade)
Request investigation of the word “blitz” as a football blitz, tank warfare or blitzkreig, or one of the reindeer on Santa’s sled is Blitzen! Thank you
blitz = lightning in German
Those from the military with experience in polishing brass with the Blitz (brand) treated polishing cloth will not associate quick or fast with the word.
2400 points in favor of DeFranco.

Guys that means if we up-vote Marina and down-vote him
1200 times, she will have the lead.
PK, what are your approximations? When would this overtake happen?
I think if Marina were to mention one more time at the end of the next video, to vote for her, we’d be all set for the gold!
Just a few more clicks… how exciting.
Then in 2009, Marina could opt for a hat trick!
Hi Chemikal, at the current rate of 80 votes per day, it would have Marina tie in the middle of Feb.
Here are my latest graphs.
80/day? That’s pathetic… she has so many fans on YT, and that’s all the voters we get? Sheesh… She needs to mention the sexy geek contest at least one more time for things to go as we want them to go. (for her, of course)
But when she wins, we feel the win too… and that makes the effort all worth it
I know Chemikal, it doesn’t seem right. There are over 40,000 subscribers here at HFW, so one would think a much greater voter turnout. The Acceleration curve shows how many votes are being added on an ongoing basis.
The good news is that the lack of voters works across the board for all contestants, BUT, we are still more aggressive in our voting as can be seen by the advancing line of Marina’s votes.
Curfew it is! “cover the fire”
request for word — Handsome.
Church is the word
No thats not it is it. Goddamnit!
VIRTUOSO ARTS
WORD REQUEST:
In poker the term “The Nuts” is used to express the best hand. Where did it come from?
Word request, actually idiom request – “cut it out”.
Origin Request also works. That’s what your looking for right? The origin?
Yes.
Well I guess the answer would have to be:
TUFFET
But it really makes no difference if I mention it now, since last time you picked the first person that got it, instead of picking at randomn like you said.
(Sure was dangerously cold to even go out yesterday.)
Okay, maybe the correct answer is CURFEW… but I really don’t give a shit.
How do firemen have curfew and children dont. It would be the opposite, no?
At this point in the game, does it really matter?
Oh I see. I read the other comments. I thought she said Kids dont “get” it.
I guess she said like it.
Милая Марина,
Technical website question:
If I change my avatar at Gravatar.com, do all the little avatars by all my prior posts automatically update?
Reason being, if the wrong person figures out who “Evan Owen” really is, s/he could blackmail me with my posts.
Plus someone was razzing PK about his looks, and on reflection I can’t claim to be any prettier.
Also, I’ve always rather fancied a jaunty little Welsh Red Dragon by my comments.
Hi Evan, yes, all your avatars update on all posts. Just keep in mind, in order for you to view the updated gravatar, make sure that you clear your cache 15 minutes after you make the change. It takes appx 5-15 min for the change to take effect.
You also don’t need to log in nor do you need to create a comment to see the change. Once the change has taken place, you’ll see the gravatar change everywhere for that email address.
By the way, they weren’t razzing me about my looks, they were missing my steadfast, long term, loyal knight.
Thanks PK. You covered that much better than I.
Does clearing my cache involve a dust mask or rubber gloves? Last time I posed a technical question, CJ said something about my bowser, and cleaning up after HIM was REALLY disgusting!
Yes, they will change. It takes some time but it will eventually update all the older post. Gravatar is a bit slow.
I don’t think time is a factor in upgrading the image in the original scheme. Upgrading occurs only at avatar.com. Once it’s done there, then every time a HFW page loads, there is a HTML tag at the beginning of every comment to call the author’s avatar image, e.g. “<img alt=” src=’http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/fb80a290e483579bae3b8b8586be1012?s=48&d=monsterid&r=X’ class=’avatar avatar-48 photo’ height=’48′ width=’48′ /> “. The gobbledegook following “avatar/” is the code for my avatar image, so if I have, say, 10 comments in a blog, then it will call the image 10 times and whatever image is resident at avatar.com for me at the time will be sent out. So the instant it is updated there, it’s updated at every site that relies on them. That’s the basic plan.
However, there may be some tricks done to save time, i.e. HFW could cache my image and serve it up when called instead of taking the time to go to avatar.com for every comment. If so, there would be some rule about how often HFW checks for updates at avatar.com and that could lead to a delay when you update.
Finally, the image held in the client’s browser temp. files folder may be used to save time for the user regardless of what the rest of the world is doing. Once you fetch an image, the browser provides it for later uses depending on the browser’s settings, which you may alter. Clearing the temp. files is a crude but effective way of forcing the browser to fetch new images without changing the settings. Everyone should probably review their settings to see if they are what they want. If you change them and things slow down noticeably, you can always put the back. For example, if you say always go and get new files every time, this may cause a delay for loading Web pages, but if it doesn’t, why not do it?
CK, Sorry but HFW site does not allow alt attributes. Would you like for me to repair your last comment?
WP deleted a space between two single quotes following the alt=, making it look like one double quote. If WP doesn’t like it, why is it used on the links to gravatar.com?
In the end, it really doesn’t “alt”ter what I was trying to say.
PS: I said avatar.com above, but of course it is gravatar.com.
WP admins have control on what html is allowed to maintain control of the look and feel of the site. For a list if what is offered, click on the Reply link and just look above the smilely faces and you’ll see “Allowed:…etc…etc.” Next to that is a link to the “learn/practice here” page. You can visit that page to experiment with the code.
Currently Marina has the site set up for Gravatar (which is now built into WP php code and that pluging is not longer needed) and some random avatar generator for those who have not set up Gravatar. The idea of Gravatar is you set u one avatar and it works with many sites that have them installed. Nice time saver.
.
CJ & CK:
Everything I know about computers I learned as a boy in Skykomish, Washington in the ’60s:
hard drive: taking the pickup truck up the old logging road to the top of Tonga Ridge to get firewood
RAM: the male mountain goat who lived at the top of Tonga Ridge
Upload and download: pitching the firewood onto and off of the pickup truck
log on: part of the phrase, “Throw another log on the fire, it’s getting chilly.”
mouse: the critter that made its nest behind the stack of firewood
Well, some computers work better if you toss in some lumber for added power. While other computers run only if you work their crank!
I second that
I just had the urge to check and it’s warmer here right now than in Vegas! Blue skies, calm and the sun is shining. I am in shirt sleeves in the roll-up door cleaning out the car. It’s a good thing, too; I discovered the trunk gasket has a crack in it and some water from the last rain got some towels sopping wet and my tools were sprinkled.
My heart goes out to you poor sods up to your kneebows in snow and ice. I said my heart; my body is staying right here!
Oh CK just rub it in how warm it is there.
While we sit here in 32 % weather.
At least you have some feeling for us.
.
A Missive to Lady Orlova
May it please Your Ladyship,
***WORD REQUEST: Algebra, Chemistry, Sugar, and/or Cotton***
What do all these words have in common, and how did they get into English?
As-salaam alaikum!
Alaikum salaam, kif halak?
Alaykum As-Salaam!
Maybe if we find out more about their origins (Algebra&Chemistry), we will stop fearing them so much.
Ah’ll jabber ’bout that if’n y’all gimme a bit to study up!
(Chem, how’s your Dixie (Reb) English?)
Marina, shall we give these to LossForWords for a Fractured Philology lesson?
My Dixie is admirable, sublime, and missing completely!
(I hope you get the joke)
I’ll have to think on it.
Can i please request the word orgin and meaning of cleavage? thanks x
Where did the word “Wolf Whistle” come from, and come to mean what it does?
Why is it the “twelfth installment”? It’s the twelfth (or whatever number) game, is it not? They are not parts of one game, but separate games with separate words.
It’s not the 43rd installment of the Superbowl this year, is it?
tuffet
I hope it is OK to share this:Pelmeni
no twitpic for Marina’a favorite pelmeni
A Tasty History
By Josh Wilson reads tasty
That stuff is good! Especially with a mushroom sauce over it.
The Word would be Curfew.
I have a word Request also
Vis-a-vis
Where does it come from?
Here’s a new word request: “Ditching”
The news program is talking about the pilot ditching the plane in the river; my wife (who is only two years younger but of a different generation) said it sounded like he was parachuting out and leaving the passengers.
Someone (not I) made a ~9 min video of Marina http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD3PdLGSkTU&feature=rec-HM-r2 I have just seen about half of it; looks good so far.
It’s very well done. I wonderi if the author is on Marina’s payroll.
hi marina
i woke up this morning with my alarm clock waking me up
and i hit the snooze button to turn it off
and after a few seconds the word snooze made me think
so where does the word snooze come from?
thank you
much love
aaron xx
There is something unclear to me.
Someone asked me today… Why do we pronounce the letter “i” differently in the words “six” and “nine”?
I didn’t know what to say. Do you know
69
Chemikal, James’ remark is a lewd and irrelevant sexual wisecrack, exactly what we’d expect from a horny young college student. I’m sorry you had to see that.
It’s a faze, he’ll grow out of it.
If not, we’ll have to stage a family intervention soon.
Hi Chemikal,
First, English spelling does not make sense.
BUT — there is a consistent rule for the case in your question.
When an English word ends in a silent “e”, the vowel before it (“i” in this case) becomes long. Example: short “i” in “din” becomes a long “i” in “dine” Another: short “o” in “con” becomes long “o” in “cone.”
BUT, the “o” in “gone” is short.
Which brings me back to my first point.
Uv kors wee kood yuez fonetik Inglish speling, but wee’d hav tue ree-riet the hoel Inglish langwej!
When I got to “wee’d”, I was on the floor laughing in spasms! =))
But I got the idea, dim – dime… etc
Thenx!
Wraiting iz four pusiez, eniweigh! Ruait?
***BONUS QUESTION for HFW fans***
By my authority as Her Ladyship’s Teacher’s Pet
(well, one of several), I pose this question to see which students have been paying attention:
What is the etymological link between “curfew” and “handkerchief”? (Hint: they are NOT both onomatopoeia for “sneeze.”
)
Please click “Reply” to submit your answer.
They have a common French word as one of the roots.
Kerchief comes from the middle English curchef/kerchef or sometimes coverchef. And that came from the Anglo-French courchief.
Chief means head, so courchief (from the Fr. “couvre chief”) means to cover the head.
While a kerchief was a peice of cloth on woman’s head, a handkerchief would be a cloth that you use to cover your face, while holding it with your hand.
Source, hotforwords.
Ask Captain Jack to tell you about Einstein’s “hat”.
He mentioned it in a riddle he set for us … a long time ago.
Perhaps you are talking about the beer hat?
The answer is curfew. I’d like to request a word as well:
hitherto
Thanks!
test
don’t let sxephil be the sexiest geek, Vote for marina!!!
What tobs says.
Thank you tobs for reminding us to vote for Marina.
To continue to vote for Marina , click the link in the red dotted box above, or click my name.
Vote, and you’ll feel a lot better about yourself!
I did, and I feel all warm and squishy inside.
PK, do you think I can fit all that into my nickname? (just as you did) ^^
Hey Chemikal,
I think this would fit fine:
“Vote, and you’ll feel a lot better about yourself!”
Buna seara, Chemikal,
English coaching:
In America, the phrase is “warm and fuzzy.” If you were to use the phrase “warm and squishy” here, they’d question your gender or your masculinity.
Do let me know if these little lessons get tedious.
Evan
Good morning, Evan!
I am familiar with the phrase “warm and fuzzy”, but I wanted to avoid cliche, and I didn’t know that “squishy” carried a feminine load!
Tedious means long, boring, or uncomfortable, right? (according to my En-Ro dictionary)
You’re one of the reasons I like hanging out here so much, and just so you know… I’m happy you don’t charge me by the hour!
Thank you, coach, and I’m looking forward to your next reply.
Hmmmm. Warm and fuzzy. I have used that phrase before, but another connotation just occurred to me that I never thought of before.
Oh yeah since I’m the newest shmuck here how about This word for an early Valentine’s Day Adjective
Mellifluous
yes i just gave the teach a verbal apple lmao
I’ll second that. Anything to do with Spanish “miel” (honey) or Russian “милая”?
wow i came up with nothing close to curfew i couldn’t figure out the whole kids don’t like it thing…. lol i came up with tuffet from the rest of her hints
Hello! I’d like to request a word.How about the origin of the word “Hillbilly”.
Billy goats live on hills.
I represent that remark!
Long time no see pennsyltucky9
Well if I weren’t dead already I’d probably be composing some excuse like “The struggle to survive intercedes social interaction.” But actually I’ve been very busy DEcomposing!
I resemble that remark
What do you think of the idea of E-mailing the answer to M instead of posting it? Then M could post the winner, the second, third and honorable mention entries.
The comments would be reserved as a place where the rest of us (read losers) could commiserate and collectively shake our heads. There, we could pretend we had sent in our E-mails like the smarty-pants set and, having soooooo much time left over, we created our own little games to occupy our idling minds while the less fortunate short out their keyboards with tears of frustration. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Game: Name a hit song whose name is spelled out in the lyrics and is spelled incorrectly according to the dictionary. (Of course, a song title cannot technically be misspelled by the author, because he is entitled to spell it any way he wishes.) It was sung by a group of brothers, was at the top of the charts and had wide radio play.
You have a good suggestion of emailing answers. That would encourage people to do the research and not copy off of everyone’s paper. I was totally lost on this one and I didn’t have any time to spend on it. So I looked at what everyone else had on their paper. I guess Marina would rather have everyone comment on the site to create some discussions. You know keep the activity going.
See my suggestion below.
G-L-O-R-I-A Gloria??
)
(Mis-spelling of “glory”, maybe?
Gee, maybe someone else can commiserate with me for not having a clue about CK’s song. “Those who can remember the ’60s were not part of them.”
If you looked up Gloria, it would be spelled correctly, so that’s not it. Besides, there is no bending or twisting of meanings or ideas here; it is flat out misspelled. Thanks for playing. Play soon and play often.
For a clue, I will say R. You will kick yourself when you hear the answer, because I know you have heard it a dozen times.
The answer would have to be curfew. Keep the great work teacher.
Curfew.
curfew
I’m going to have to say Curfew. As a kid I hated it when I had to be home before my friends.
Yeah, that will happen.
Up until a few years ago, several towns still sounded their curfew sirens at 9 PM. Anyone know of any towns that still do that? Of course the bells are more charming as the sirens had every dog howling for miles.
Hi, PK
Off topic, but related to your interest in the etymology of place names:
Did you catch the exchange between Bob & me on Scottish place names?
Afterthought: I can still remember Mom in the ’60s yelling “Curfew!” at my brother at 9PM to get him to come in off the street. To which he replied, “Gesundheit!”
That’s funny Evan.
Yes, I’ve been following you and Bob on the Scottish names.
Can you please do a video on the word “beautiful” or “beauty” I think would be very interesting for many people. Thank you Marina.
Curfew:
c.1320, from Anglo-Fr. coeverfu (1285), from O.Fr. covrefeu, lit. “cover fire,” from couvre, imper. of couvrir “to cover” + feu “fire.” The medieval practice of ringing a bell at fixed time in the evening as an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep (Why kids don’t like it). The original purpose was to prevent conflagrations from untended fires (Why firemen do like it). The modern extended sense of “periodic restriction of movement” had evolved by 1800s.
Curf:
“Sometimes called the “little roach”, curf is really a series of sandy chert beds and Shelly limestones. Curf from certain areas may weather rapidly (particularly when used externally in exposed locations) and it is not therefore, always suitable for use as masonry stone.” (http://www.m.godden.btinternet.co.uk/quarrying_info.htm)
curfew
my guess is turf or surf
I don’t know how accurate this is … but from the impression I get from this book (page 135), that a curf is a type of groove that is cut on stone.
I could be wrong though
What book? You forgot the link
Oh, sorry about that. The link worked when i first posted.
Here is the link anyways …
(You might need to copy and paste all that text, on the safe side)
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=K7oKtdhBfuAC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=curf+
A few times when I entered a link in the comment box, the link would disappear in the rendered entry albeit (
)the link’s name would be highlighted as though it were a link; when I went to re-edit, I would see just the ‘a’ and ‘/a’ tags but the href=… stuff would have disappeared. Sometimes the herf=… stuff would remain if I reentered two more times.
–Hs4Mm
You are thinking of a kerf, which is the width of material removed when cutting due to the thickness of the blade. If it is done not for cutting, but to create a groove, it’s a dado (at least in woodworking). It is possilble that, in stonework, they use the term kerf to mean what dado means in woodworking.
Of course you should research this yourself and not take it for granite.
(I wonder if M gets these?)
Even if she doesn’t, we lava her anyway!
I will guess curfew
No kids like a curfew
I think is CURFEW (in Argentina “toque de queda”)
When I was in the military service, it was an order to be going to sleep. Is it correct?
Chau!
To hang
A stool
a Lime
and ash for fire fighting
or so im told
what I want to know is, how she picks the winner? Does she pick the person to get it first or just one random person with the right answer?
.
.
first …..
Good question, Scotty.
Marina, many forums have polls where you can’t see the result of the poll until you have cast your vote.
Is it possible to do the same with the guess-the-word games, so that you can’t crib other people’s answers without first having posted your own final answer?
Didn’t she say in game XI it is random?
Curfew…don’t be late !!!
hmmm, thinking hard; could it be…CURFEW?
If Karnak the Magnificent had divined that from the envelope (hermetically sealed and kept in a #2 mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnells porch since noon today), would the question have been: What is the situation of not having many dogs?
(sorry about that
)
It was spelled Carnac, Carson’s take off on Egypt’s Karnac. The size of the mayonnaise jar was never specified.
Just to show you how far back I go: Smock! Smock!
I’ll take your word for it on the spelling, but I do remember Ed M. saying “#2″ or perhaps “#3″ for the size of the jar.
And I don’t know which of his shows you watched, in the ’50’s or the ’70’s (I was too young in the ’50’s), but I recognize that bird call by “Steverino” Allen! Loved the episodes of “Klave Kounty!”
Marina, do you have Czech ancestry? I just discovered your Coat of Arms. Your heraldic shield looks preety impressive. Mine looks… well, I bet the designer wasn’t paid much:lol:
Czech this website out for an image: http://www.ngw.nl/int/cze/o/orlova.htm . My one seems to have Viking connection. A cousin of William the Conqueror call Odard, but the surname is a contraction of the name of the settlement.
Answer: Curfew – same reason as the others but have doubts because of the public hanging picture.
What an appropriate coat of arms; The crowned eagle for her noble intentions, the tree of knowledge and the hammer and pick for her work ethic.
Eagle : Person of noble nature, strength, bravery, and alertness; or one who is high-spirited, ingenious, quick-witted, and judicious; “True magnanimity and strength of mind” acc. to Guillim. If wings “displayed,” it signifies protection. Eagle with two heads signifies conjoining of two forces. (Splayed, Gold, crowned half-eagle with 7 feathers: ?)
Gold: Generosity and elevation of the mind.
Blue (Azure) Truth and loyalty.
Tree is difficult, red on white, 7 branches (7 again!). Tree (gen): Life and the mystical connection of the earth with heaven and the underworld. Palm Tree maybe: Righteousness and resurrection; victory. Nothing under crowned eagle but crown: Royal or seigniorial authority.
Red (Gules): Warrior or martyr; Military strength and magnanimity.
Silver or White (Argent) Peace and sincerity.
Crossed hammer & Pick: Management of works where these tools are used. Like a quarry! Limestone quarry mayhaps?
Black (Sable): Constancy or grief.
MARINA ORIGIN OF THE WORD SOLES OR TOES FOR FEET. PLZ ORGIGIN EVERYONE REQUEST IT EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess the word is curfew
I believe the word is Curfew…
It comes from the french word, Couvre Feu…
i believe the word is curfew, my cousin is always complaining about his curfew lol
NASCAR Word Request
The Daytona 500 is just a month away, and this word is used alot there:
Draft
This word has several other meanings.
Drafting-to draw
Draft Beer
Drafty-breezy
Wow! It’s that time again? 30 days, 11 hours, 12 minutes, 32 seconds according to http://nascar.com at the time of this post.
Gentlemen! (sorry no ladies this year) Please start your engines!
I love the rumble of a throaty engine.
Carbon footprint!
Carbon footprint!
Shame on you.
Shame on you.
And all the racers will run on solar cells when we’re through.
Oh come off it. The planet doesn’t need saving. We do. Why? Because we are trying to kill our selfs off. The planet is doing just fine. I’ll will eradicate us and rebuild in hopes it can get it right the next time.
As for being green, I’m well on my way more than many. My next yacht will be 100% solar and wind powered. I’ll have a bio diesel generator for back up and when I find a good alternate electrical storage unit, I plan to remove the diesel engine and replace it with a high efficent eclectic motor. My life long goal was to build a 100% self sufficient – off the grid vessel.
I currently own an electric scooter, Four R/C electric helicopters, R/C electric truck. I’m going to buy a segway and maybe the Aptera Electric Car. I love the looks of that car. Remind me of a Piper Cherokee airplane I used to fly.
> “The planet doesn’t need saving.”
It depends on whose al is being gored, doesn’t it?
I met Al Gore in Seattle a few years ago in one of his Global Warming speeches. Funny I was more interested how he was using Apple’s Keynote presentation software.
“BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY! LET”S GO RACIN” BOYS!!!!!!” Darrell Waltrip
Curfew,
Dear hotforwords I really love you. Could you tell me where the word in·sid·i·ous originated from.
i guess “curfew” because it came did come from the french word “couvre feu” which means cover the fire but in layman terms is just blow out the fire or candle. and later “couvre feu” became “curfeu” and then turned into “curfew”
i do my homework
Answer to Guess the Word Game XII: Curfew
Word Request: “Masturbation”…I’m surprised this word is not covered yet.
Its Curfew teacher!
the word is tuffet (from Lil’ Ms. Muffet), basically a three-legged stool…the limestone is “tuff”…firefighters like stools to sit on outside ’cause they’re quicker to get back in the firehouse when the alarm rings…right, Mike?…
Yes Tom we also ways like to sit out side and watch the people go by the station and be friendly with them and wave, but we had a Gazebo with porch swings and a pick nick table and a grill under it. I would sometimes when it rained sit at the back door of the bay door and just relax to the sound and smell of the rain.
Pick nick? How soon they forget!
Don’t know what it would have to do with firefighters though, even though I should considering I am one.
Is it CURFEW?
t’s CURFEW. I found a reference to “curf” as a feature in limestone. Look at this:
http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/gif/wsucce.gif
Thanks Marina,
Don
Obviously I meant to say “It’s CURFEW”.
So, you forgot to dot your I, but you did remember to cross your T. One out of two ain’t bad.
Thanks for that reference to the types of limestone, Don, I remember chert from my Geology classes (40 years ago) but don’t remember ever having heard of curf. (Spell check hasn’t heard of it either.
)
I suppose I should have made a connection because if you have long sleeves on your chert then you would have two curfs, one at the end of each sleeve.
These GTW games never go “swimmingly” for me…
Just hold me under till the bubbles stop please…
I am curious to know the origin of the word biddy or bitty. As in referring to a girl.
One theory: it’s an Irish nickname for “Bridget.”
I just wanted to comment on how intriguingly fascinated I’ve become with watching your videos. I find them to be very enlightening and educational. I also thought to make a suggestion to consider a segment for the word “premonition”? I’ve personally found the concept of the word’s meaning to be unique but couldn’t understand how to describe a monition or if that is even a word? Take care.
I’d like to know where the word Bacon came from. Because bacon is delicious.
I dont now¨Its to hard!
Maybe you should talk to hfwgiapanta (see above).
Who is hfwgiapanta?
I cant find him on this site?
actualy, what he said?
.
Hello Miss Orlova,
Disclaimer: I have not read, and do not plan to read, anyone else’s comments on the GTW Game XII until the official answer is out.
For all the reasons provided below, my answer is: tuffet.
Background: This was tough — spent about 30 minutes at home, 2 hours at the library, 20 minutes commute, and 1 hr 30 minutes writing up my answer; and slightly burnt the pizza I was cooking for lunch. Before this research (in the unabridged OED) all I knew about tuffet was its use in the nursery rhyme “Little Miss Muffett” — I learnt everything else written below in the past few hours.
REASONS:
1) Preliminary conditions: Tuffet is indeed a noun with 6 letters, second letter is ‘u’, does not use ‘o’, ‘a’, ‘m’, or ‘n’.
2) French Roots: Touffe and Touffel.
3) Connection to Hanging Women: The word touse used to mean to yank or to pull a woman about roughly etc.
4) Limestone: Removing the last two letters gives “tuff”. Tuff and tufa used to be synonyms, and tufa is a form of limestone. The current tendency is to restrict tufa to the form of limestone and to use tuff to mean volcanic ash.
5) Children do not like it: The reference here is to the three legged stool on which children are made to sit in the corner for punishment.
6) Firefighters like it: This is an obscure clue. Perhaps, “tuffet” is a form of ash (derived from tuff or otherwise) that firefighter pour over flames. Or perhaps the connection is with “pouffe” or “douse” elaborated upon in Item 8 below. Or perhaps the connection is with the visual appearance of flames as golden tufts.
7) Ringing of a bell: Tuffing and tuftin refer to bell-ringing, or to the tufts of wool woven into a bell-rope that can be gripped easily.
Item 8 – Blowing out a candle: Two possible connections. First, Pouffe is a form of stool (tuffet), and puff refers to blowing. Second, tuff sounds like doff, doff means to take off and is related to douse, with one meaning of douse being to put out, extinguish. (While typhoon, the violent wind blowing out the candle, might sound like tuff…, I don’t think their roots are related and so typhoon is an unlikely connection.)
So there you have it — not a mere guess but work and a large amount of evidence to indicate that that the answer is tuffet.
–Hs4Mm
.
.
PS: One more connection with Firefighters: Could be that tuffet, perhaps via link with pouffe, is an inflatable landing area for people to jump onto from burning buildings.
–Hs4Mm
.
Hey hs4mm another little keep sake for winning game Xl.
http://i41.tinypic.com/2cmohed.jpg
Thanks — what software did you use?
I use MS Paint from Microsoft. I just hit print screen on the part of the video I want paste to MS Paint what ever picture I want and hit cut then new the paste again then save as.
Hey man how bout letting the rest of us get a shot, you won already
You obviously have a bit of an edge with your willingness to go through all that just for research. Your an animal, man.
See the second sentence at http://www.hotforwords.com/2009/01/15/guess-the-word-game-xii/#comment-103782
I love your logic, and I hope you’re right. As Curfew seemed too easy. Problem is, I still think Curfew is right. Curf is a type of Limestone, always was, still is, no change in meaning. Second, the breakdown of Curfew is this:
c.1320, from Anglo-Fr. coeverfu (1285), from O.Fr. covrefeu, lit. “cover fire,” from couvre, imper. of couvrir “to cover” + feu “fire.” The medieval practice of ringing a bell at fixed time in the evening as an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep. The original purpose was to prevent conflagrations from untended fires. The modern extended sense of “periodic restriction of movement” had evolved by 1800s.
She did have a ringing bell at the end of the clue, and this fits quite well. And kids would not know of a curfew, because they were all expected to be in bed by that time, as parents go to bed later than children, so they’d be the ones to bank for fire at the ringing of the bell.
While I can still be wrong, and you can again be right. I’m satisfied with my answer, and can sleep tonight without it preying on my brain. Good work though.
Oh, and finally. I think you stretched the word “Tuffet” far beyond meaning. A tuffet is simply a device; a footstool or hassock, like in “Little Miss Muffet” Saying that touse is for tossing about women is like saying that the word for Automobile is car, and that Bounce means something else. But what the heck does Automobile and bounce have to do with one another. (In other words, what does touffe and touse have to do with one another?) You have shown no causal relationship between the words.
They sound similar.
If one assumes that the picture of the women being hanged is just a depiction of an everyday scene around the time when the word curfew was introduced — and is not a depiction of “the practice that occurred in Medieval Europe” — so that one need not find any other connection between that picture and the answer — then curfew is a valid answer. And in such a case I would be hung not only in the circa 1641 meaning of the word but also in the basketball meaning of the word (someone who went for a slam-dunk and missed).
Hey hs4mm
Being a previous winner is a plus for you albeit 
I believe the hangman(woman) 
not as a clue itself 
Hope I am making myself understood
B.B.
my two cents worth
in loverly Marina’s video GWG X11 (& the previous one) takes after the
game HANGMAN & is for help by way of CLUES
huhh
See the video at 0:53 seconds — 4 hanging women, 2 begging for mercy, and 1 despondant. What kind of life did people live for such things to happen and to have coined a word such as touse?
My choice is ‘Broccoli’. Here’s why.
>In Eastern Canada, both gypsum and limestone have been used to increase yield and quality of certain crops such as Broccoli and Cauliflower.
>Children don’t like to eat it.
>In a NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter E-News.
Broccoli was listed as being a good source of calcium, potassium, folate and fiber, broccoli contains phytonutrients — a group of compounds that may help prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. Broccoli is also a good source of vitamins A and C — antioxidants that protect your body’s cells from damage.
>Broccoli was used as a laxative in the 16th century in Italy, and its juice, mixed with honey, was used to treat coughs. In the 17th century, broccoli soup was a remedy for all respiratory ailments
What? That doesn’t work you say? I can’t use a noun with 8 letters? The second letter is ‘u’? ‘o’ is not one of the letters? Oh then what the spinach! I’m just trying to be a responsible green person.
.
Touche.
–Hs4Mm
.
uh uh uh no no no
Its Lady Orlova now
It is “Cutter”
Curfew<===== i hope its correct
I see that the right answer has been given so many times that I am opting out of this one. I want Chemikal to win. Me… I go make a spinach salad and “pump sum weights”.:smile:
Hey Spinachman never seen you here before. Welcome to the site. I think Chemikal is on to something, but you might want to check out hs4mm answer also.
http://www.hotforwords.com/2009/01/15/guess-the-word-game-xii/#comment-103708
YOU TOO!
I had canned spinach last night for dinner and I think I’ll have the left overs tonight. It’s my favorite veggy. I can eat it raw in my salads or lightly cooked. I’ll let you know a little secret. Spinach and cottage cheese works wonders in lasagna. Every time my grand mother would decided to make some she would get out 5 oven pans. She would let the neighbors know she was making some and they would show up with oven mitts.
Thanks a lot Spinachman, for your support.
Next round of spinach is on me!
Oh! It’s Curfew!
Curfew—-The word “curfew” comes from the French phrase “couvre feu” which means “cover the fire”. It was used to describe the time of blowing out all lamps and candles (the reason why children dont like it, means bedtime). It was later adopted by the Medieval English language as “curfeu”, which later became the modern “curfew”.
Thank You
obtw:
MO you have a lot of real intellectual students of Philology out there!
the word is curfew
The answer is curfew. Curfew was originally a safety measure requiring that domestic fires be extinguished at bedtime – a wise precaution in the days when houses were highly combustible and a single spark might lead to the devastation of a whole community which would be why fireman enjoy this practice. Curfew was also the name given to the ringing of a bell to remind people that the regulation was in force. The word comes from the French words couvrir (cover) and feu (fire).
Marina, What camera did you film this on?
Macbook.. I know.. horrible when compared to the regular camera!
It’s not that bad…. Good to see you scaled it to HD….. I think its brilliant for a laptop camera… But there is one big difference I can see with this camera and you other one. On your macbook camera, your eyes look more blue than the HD one… Maybe it’s because your closer to the laptop. I don’t know. But if you look at this vid and another vid filmed on the HD cam you will see what I mean.
Hi James,
regarding: “On your macbook camera, your eyes look more blue than the HD one”
That was a common question last year when Marina was using her camera on the MacBook. Marina answered many times here and on YT stating that the MacBook camera’s saturation level is higher than other cameras.
Google HSL (Hue Saturation Lightness or Luminosity) settings.
One of Marina’s answers
Last time I heard, blind people don’t think it’s not to horrible.
HD isn’t all is cracked up to be, photographers have used the “soft focus” technique for a long time as an enhancement tool, albeit you need no enhancing… is nice. Who needs to see whether or not you still have your tonsils anyways?
Interesting, on your twitter pics, some are very clear & others a little, shall we say, “soft focus”. Do you use the same device?
BTW, John (my foreman mechanic) loved this vid & really wants a signed picture now, whoda’ thunk…
Curfew
That was random Marina
*ding* gotta go
*blows out a candle*
Maybe not random but used as a fire/curfew reference.
I don’t know…
ouch , why so fast ?
curfew
I’ll be danged, curf is a type of limestone
, but how does M.O. know this? GTWg VII must be ‘curfew’, at least it seems to fit.
Word Request: Does pleas have anything to do with please, or to plead? Also, teacher, since we’re on the subject is chalk really, also, a type of limestone? All these limestones in the world and I didn’t even know!
WORD REQUEST I would like to know the meaning of or information on the word/phrase “up to snuff”
The French words, “couvre” et “feu” became “curfew.” Kids don’t like going to bed, but firemen like covering the fire (with a metal pan or cover) to put the fire out. There is a type of limestone called “curf.”
Nice that you recorded this video in Las Vegas. The room is so large, I thought you might get an echo. There must be lots of nice carpeting and drapes to absorb sounds.
btw: After the Norman invasion of England in 1066, William the Conqueror required civilians to stay in after dark. Night patrols enforced this regulation by calling “Couvre feu!” “Cover the fire!” which became “curfew” in English.
curfew,R.Pryor Word Request…THIRD RAIL…President Bush used the description the other day in his press re-lease
I don’t know what context it was used in for the press conference, but why are you trying to waste Marina’s and all of our time with something so simple?
Answer: Some trains and subways run via electricity conducted through a third rail between the primary track rails. This rail is of a high enough voltage that it can kill rapidly, and so every child anywhere in which this type of train runs is told “Do not touch the third rail.” And jokes are made, such as “Don’t piss on the third rail.” Because such activities would result in traumatic injuries. This type of train is prevalent in NY and Chicago, while in the West coast, they have trolleys and such that have an overhead line that powers the vehicles. So, normally, anyone referring to a third rail is saying it in a form of “something to stay away from.” “We can’t do that, that’s a third rail situation.” Meaning, if it was attempted, it would lead to not only failure, but catastrophic failure.
With respect, jindai,
If you take this much time to write a response, is it leonard wasting your time or is it…
Actually, I like your answer, and it was worth my time reading it!
I don’t mind answering questions. Not even if it takes a little time, so it’s not a waste. However, someone asking a question of something that you can find out via wikipedia, or a simple google search is a waste of my time in that IF Marina chooses to answer, I will not enjoy seeing it, as I already know the answer, and anyone that can Google or use Wikipedia (Or live in NY or Chicago) would know already. Yes, we’d still get to hear and see Marina, but as I’ve stated before, I like her for her brains more than her looks, and if I’m not learning from her, learning something I didn’t know, then her looks are wasted on me. And frankly, if she keeps answering questions of the type that anyone would know, I’ll probably unsubscribe for the reasons I just outlined.
So, as I DO want to stay subscribed, I choose to answer the simple questions myself, and let Marina choose those that might actually educate me. That makes it not a waste of time.
When it is assumed, or polite to answer something of “not-all-knowing” and my asking a regional associated comment; I hope it would not lead jindai to unscribe or unsubscribe. I enjoy everyones comments and to qoute jindai “but as I’ve stated before, I like her for her brains more than her looks, and if I’m not learning from her, learning something I didn’t know, then her looks are wasted on me…”
I’m sorry
“Don’t piss on the third rail.”
The Mythbusters
provedfailed to prove that it is possible to electrocute oneself that way. The stream breaks up into individual droplets which cannot conduct the current.Reminds me of putting a cigarette out in can of gas.
I saw that one, too. Uhhh… you go ahead, and I will watch. That is the kind of thing that shows “belief” vs. “belief.” Yeah, I believe I can piss on that rail, but will I do it?
ps I do have a friend that peed on an electrical fence as a kid, and yes, that one did conduct the current.
I’d like to know how the childs game “Hopscotch” came about. I understand the “Hop” part but what about the “Scotch”? And I’d like to see you play it Marina…
Definitely curfew. Well done, Chemikal.
I tend to look down there, too, Marina.
My word request for today is “jargon”.
As always, thank you for your consideration.
What does curfew have to do with the picture of the gallows? There are several women praying, some soldiers standing guard, the executioner making sure one of the condemned is uh, comfortable (I guess) and a guy on the right dispensing something to another (money?). (Notice that the condemned have their hands tied in front, which was the practice at one time.) So what is the relevance to the word?
Oh, wait. It’s hangman again, isn’t it? So now I guess we will be eternally treated to grisly hanging scenes of all types.
If I were a woman, it be curtsies to dear Marina. What geologic time period is curf formed from? An epoch glaciates into buidings of urbanity.
My coxcomb cap was coverted to dunce.
Now with the fire out of contol; I cowl aqua(royal water)…a 2 handel tub to drink fire water…better put limits on time to drink…fire alarm and bar time.
adjunct and all faiths of love
I’m going with curfew!
I’ve seen the blue polkadot outfit before.
When editing the previous msg, I got this error msg, which I have never seen before: Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘}’ in /home/hfw/public_html/wp-content/plugins/awsom-news-announcement/awsomnews.php on line 159
The edit failed by locking up on the error msg and I had to close out and start from the home page to re-edit.
I received the same error code. To fix it, I went to the galley and grabbed another cup of tea. Then returned back to my work station and hit the refresh button. No problem.
I got a problem and had to reboot my computer. It was telling me it couldn’t find the server.Now all seems to be fine.
I was fixing something with the news plugin and I broke it temporarily! Sorry about that!
Butter fingers!
awww sorry i distracted you sweetie hehe see what happens when i’m on your mind hehe
Who is this anyway? M is in Vegas and instead of her partying and seeing the sites, you want me to believe she is squirreled away in her hotel room remotely fidgeting with plugins during the dinner hour? Yeahhhhh….. I can just see it now…
{Mr. Pitt’s personal assistant is on the phone.}
PA: “Miss Orlova’s room please.”
PA: “It’s Brad Pitt’s personal assistant calling for Mr. Pitt.”
PA: “Oh, hi. I’m calling for Brad Pitt. Jolina is not in town and he would like you to accompany him to dinner this evening. He’s a big fan of yours, you know.”
PA: “No, no. It would definitely not be dutch treat. And, yes, he did see that lesson.”
PA: “Um-hmmm.”
PA: “Um-hmmm.”
PA: “You’re having electrical problems?”
PA: “Oh, not that kind of plug in.”
PA: “Um-hmmm.”
PA: “So you won’t be able to make it then?”
PA: “He will be so disappointed, I’m sure. Perhaps another time then.”
PA: “Yes, yes, I understand completely. Yes, I’ll tell him. Thank you for your time and good luck with the plug thingy.”
{The PA hangs up and then she picks it up and dials a new number.}
PA: “Hi, Mr. B. She can’t make it, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it if I were you.”
PA: “Why? She’s a raving lunatic. Hey, I hear Dolly is in town. Maybe she wants to grab a bite”
PA: “OK, I’ll call you right back.”
The End
To M: Be sure to visit nearby Hoover dam. I still remember as a kid, standing on the top of the dam and looking over the sweep of the rear down to the river. It was so far down the curve of concrete that my eyes would not focus; it was mind blowing. (You see things from great heights, but rarely do you see something that extends from from your nose to the bottom.) There is a great tour and you get to stand on the giant pipe carrying the Colorado river right beneath your feet. The generator room, etc. inside is kept neat as pin (after all, if there’s no leak, what else have they got to do but clean and polish things?). All the door and window trim, hand railings, etc. were done in art deco aluminum and although it was built 73 years ago, it looks like new (a rare occurrance of the government doing a job right). I went there the last time I went to Vegas and I recommend the trip. Oh, and watch out for tornados, believe it or not.
Good One, CampKohler – Sacramento CA
iiiiiiit’s….
Curfew
it has to be it…
Marina, how come you named the video on You Tube Hate it in Vegas and on here it’s the Guess the word game? Didn’t you like going to Las Vegas? Or did you spend to much money
She didn’t like having a curfew in Vegas because she was having so much fun, is my guess.
hey capman if i was with her in Vegas
she would go back again and again
I hear you pal.
I am going to exclude myself from the game as I was a firefighter. So good luck every one
.
SUFFER…love
We may already have a winner!
Curf? This limestone, a type of calcarenite is finer grained and whiter than the oolites above and below. It is 0.43m thick and of fine-sand particle size.
Damn, that was quick
ya, its gotta be curfew
MUZZLE
Since feu in French translates to ‘fire’ in English
and cura is translated to ‘cleaned out’ it means to
clean out fire so the word would be curfew
i.e. after you made the fire safe it’s time for bed
More fun fun fun!
curfew
I’ll get back to you on that.
This may sound Stupid, but this Australian (being me) would like to know the origions of ‘Dictionary’.
Thanks.
Curfew
hey i would like to requested the word Innuendo
Curfew?
That fits really well, except the limestone part.
hmm… These are always tough. I dunno why, but I am better with number puzzles than with word puzzles, and math is definately not my thing.
hello
punish
Punish is a verb, she said noun.
Interesting…
In the medieval period at a certain time a bell would ring, and everyone had to extinguish all the candles and lamps to prevent untended fires during the night.
Now, my curfew is getting near, and I need to get some rest. Tomorrow, exam 8:00 AM… the horror.
“Couvre feu” means cover the fire in French, and the only three limestones that have the second letter U, that I could find, were Buxy, Jura and Curf.
Nice hints, you cooked up another very enjoyable game!
Good job Chemikal. You did your homework on that one.
Thank you Cap, it’s in detriment of my school work, but I just like this better.
Yesterday I had my micro-economy exam, and I got the Bull and Bear markets as subjects. My analysis was complete, even from an etymological point of view!
The obvious winner!
It certainly had me stumped – I saw all the clues but couldn’t find the type of limestone which would have given me the breakthrough.
Well done!
Thank you, Bob… I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
..more and more and…
Even during the Middle Ages, curfew also had the connotation of being a time to halt activities and retire to the safety of one´s home.
Outdoor lighting was ordinarily limited to the lanterns or fires kept by citizens serving on the nightwatch or by guards employed by the city or its ruler.
Thus, most (legitimate) activities halted at sunset because of difficulty of clearly seeing the work at hand and the consequent risk of producing inferior goods (though these regulations were also likely part of efforts to limit production to keep up prices and to prevent more industrious craftsmen from gaining too much of an advantage over the other guild members.)
Public health regulations routinely forbade the sale of foodstuffs at markets after sunset because of risk of spoiled foods being passed of as fit to eat under the cover of the growing darkness.
Good luck!
If I read the map right, Chemikal’s time is 10 hours ahead of the time stamp on his comments — just in case anyone was confused about his “curfew” time.
Seeing the first picture in the video again, got me thinking about the hanging seen.
I believe I found an answer for it. (the only thing that wasn’t so easy)
But let me try to tell the whole story.
The Curfew Law, its intention was to prevent the rise of conflagrations. But it has also been regarded as a repressive measure, adopted by the tyrant Norman Conqueror, to prevent seditious meetings of the turbulent Saxons. Poets and writers of the time, also Voltaire, in his “Universal History”, ridicules the notion of the curfew being a badge of degradation.
It’s clear, the Curfew Law could be employed not only to protect the people’s wooden houses from the dreaded fires, but also as a method of control! (this form of manipulating the laws to the leader’s advantage is still present in modern Democracies)
Norman Conqueror has set upon himself to govern the people that he has overcome, so he used the Curfew Law as a form of national observance. He feared that the people would stream through the city to create riots, so he erected gibbets to frighten the masses. A gibbet was a device used for public executions of criminals and the deterrence of future crime. Thus the morbid picture of hanging women that Marina insisted of having on her video.
I could be wrong, since I’m not a genuine philologist, but in both cases, I know I had a lot of fun researching and writing the story.
Well done Chem!
If you don’t win I’m filing a protest!
Thank you PD, I’m just waiting for the answer to this week’s game, like everybody else. Now, if I win, that would be an added bonus, a very welcomed one!
Weeeeeeeee!
Are you jumping a dune?
ok
Here we go again!
Here We Go Again
hear it goes…nice jags in the video…adjourn to adherence…soul music…riot curfew Capman911…Richard Pryor at 8.08