Word-Wednesday for November 29, 2023

And here is the Wannaskan Almanac with Word-Wednesday for November 29, 2023, the forty-eighth Wednesday of the year, the tenth Wednesday of fall, and the three-hundred thirty-third day of the year, with thirty-two days remaining.

 
Wannaska Phenology Update for November 29, 2023
hibernate
/ˈhībərˌnāt/ v., (of an animal or plant) spend the winter in a dormant state; (of a person) remain inactive or indoors for an extended period, from 1660s, "action of passing the winter" (of plants, insect eggs, etc.), from Latin hibernationem (nominative hibernatio) "the action of passing the winter," noun of action from past participle stem of hibernare "to winter, pass the winter, occupy winter quarters;" related to hiems "winter," from Proto-Indo-European root gheim- "winter." Meaning "dormant condition of animals" is from 1789.

Besides Sven and Ula, Wannaskan hibernators include black bears, woodchucks, chipmunks, bats, turtles, snakes, lizards, frogs and toads, and countless insects, tics, and spiders. Non-human hibernating bodies bodies recycle waste, so they don't need to eat or drink throughout winter. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, black bears can consume 12,000-20,000 calories a day to prepare for their hibernation.

Looking up tonight:

Spot the Space Station: 

5:26 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 54°, Appears: 10° above WNW, Disappears: 14° above E 

 

November 29 Fickle Pickle Wednesday Menu Special: Potato Dumpling


November 29 Nordhem Wednesday Lunch: Updated daily by 11:00am, usually.


Earth/Moon Almanac for November 29, 2023
Sunrise: 7:53am; Sunset: 4:31pm; 1 minutes, 56 seconds less daylight today
Moonrise: 6:01pm; Moonset: 10:44am, waning gibbous, 95% illuminated.


Temperature Almanac for November 29, 2023
                Average            Record              Today
High            26                     52                     38
Low               9                   -30                     25

Wannaska Re-Zoned
2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

November 29 Celebrations from National Day Calendar

• National Package Protection Day
• International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People
• Electronic Greetings Day
• Feast Day of Brendan of Birr

November 29 Word Riddle
Where do hamburgers go to dance?*


November 29 Word Pun
Sven thought he broke his foot after accidentally kicking a box of Kleenex in his deer stand. Turns out it was only tissue damage.


November 29 The Devil’s Dictionary Word-Pram
GENDER, n., The sex of words.

A masculine wooed a feminine noun,
But his courting didn't suit her,
So he begged a verb his wishes to crown,
But the verb replied, with a frigid frown:
"What object have I? I'm neuter."

November 29 Etymology Word of the Week
work
/wərk/ n., activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result; a task or tasks to be undertaken; something a person or thing has to do, from Old English weorc, worc "something done, discrete act performed by someone, action (whether voluntary or required), proceeding, business; that which is made or manufactured, products of labor," also "physical labor, toil; skilled trade, craft, or occupation; opportunity of expending labor in some useful or remunerative way;" also "military fortification." This is from Proto-Germanic werka- "work" (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Dutch werk, Old Norse verk, Middle Dutch warc, Old High German werah, German Werk, Gothic gawaurki), from Proto-Indo-European werg-o-, a suffixed form of the root werg- "to do."

The meaning "physical effort, exertion" is from circa 1200; that of "scholarly labor" or its productions is from circa 1200; the meaning "artistic labor" or its productions is from circa 1200. The sense of "labor as a measurable commodity" is from circa 1300. The meaning "embroidery, stitchery, needlepoint" is from late 14th century.

Work of art attested by 1774 as "artistic creation," earlier (1728) "artifice, production of humans (as opposed to nature)." Work ethic recorded from 1959. To be out of work "unemployed" is from 1590s. To make clean work of is from circa 1300; to make short work of is from 1640s.

Proverbial expression many hands make light work is from circa 1300. To have (one's) work cut out for one is from 1610s; to have it prepared and prescribed, hence, to have all one can handle. Work in progress is from 1930 in a general sense, earlier as a specific term in accountancy and parliamentary procedure.

Work is less boring than amusing oneself. Baudelaire, Mon Coeur mis a nu, 1862.


November 29 Historic Events, Literary or Otherwise, from On This Day

• 1516 Treaty of Freiburg: French/Swiss "eternal" peace treaty.
• 1775 Sir James Jay invents invisible ink.
• 1870 Compulsory education proclaimed in England.
• 1926 W. Somerset Maugham's comedic play The Constant Wife premieres.
• 1935 Physicist Erwin Schrödinger publishes his famous thought experiment "Schrödinger's cat".

November 29 Author/Artist/Character Birthdays, from On This Day

• 1781 Andres Bello, Venezuela poet.
• 1797 Domenico Gaetano Donizetti, Italian opera composer.
• 1799 Amos Bronson Alcott, American poet.
• 1832 Louisa May Alcott, American author.
• 1894 Lucille Hegamin, American blues singer.
• 1898 C.S. Lewis, Irish author.
• 1906 Barbara C. Freeman, English writer and poet.
• 1909 Adolf Zábranský, Czech illustrator and painter.
• 1910 Máirtín Ó Direáin, Irish poet.
• 1915 Billy Strayhorn, American pianist.
• 1918 Madeleine L'Engle, American author and poet.
• 1919 Pearl Primus, Trinidad-born American dancer.
• 1933 David Reuben, American author.
• 1936 Gerti Tetzner, German writer.
• 1941 Denny Doherty, Canadian musician, singer, songwriter.
• 1943 Sue Miller, American author.
• 1950 Kevin O'Donnell Jr, American science fiction author.
• 1954 Joel Coen, American director, producer, and screenwriter.
• 1959 Neal Broten, American NHL center.
• 1971, Bill Weasley, from Harry Potter.
• 1973 Sarah Jones, American playwright.

Words-I-Looked-Up-This-Week Writer's Challenge
Write a story or pram from the following words:

• assart: /ə-ˈsärt/ n., a piece of land cleared; v., to grub up trees and brushes to make land arable.
• currente calamo: /kuh-ren-tay-KAL-uh-moh/ adv., with reference to the act of writing something: without careful thought or deliberation, without stopping.
• easse: /eess/ n., an earthworm.
• farkle: /FAHR-kuhl/ n., a combination of fart and chuckle, an involuntary fart caused by laughter; a red-headed person with pale skin and freckles; modification to a motorcycle that satisfies the following criteria: creates “bling,” serves a purpose (the usefulness of which is in the eyes of the farkler) and is most likely expensive; a dice game similar to or synonymous with 1000/5000/10000, Cosmic Wimpout, Greed, Hot Dice, Squelch, Zilch, or Zonk.
• isolato: /īs-ə-ˈlā-tō/ n., a person who is physically or spiritually isolated from others.
• logomachy: /lō-ˈɡäm-ə-kē/ n., an argument about words.
• mantic: /ˈman-(t)ik/ adj., relating to divination or prophecy.
• nidor: /ˈnī-dȯ(ə)r/ n., a strong smell.
• plumbeous: /ˈpləm-bē-əs/ adj. of the dull gray color of lead.
• rhadamanthus: /rad-uh-MAN-thuss/ n., a stern, inflexible, or incorruptible judge; a rigorous or severe ruler or master.

November 29, 2023 Word-Wednesday Feature
2023 Words of the Year Update
In an annual Word-Wednesday tradition, today we review the current status for Word of the Year for 2023, as designated by any entity that cares to choose one. The two finalists so far include:

Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

authentic: /ô-ˈTHen(t)ik/ adj., of undisputed origin; genuine. Merriam-Webster bases it's Word-of-the-Year choice on the word most frequently looked up by people on its dictionary web site. Chat GPT, a certain New York congressman, beauty filters, and whatever a member of Elon Musk's latest name for his social media platform are speculated to be but a few of the reasons that people wonder about the actual meaning of this word. Runner up words on Merriam-Webster's list included rizz, deadname, deepfake, and covenant.

Cambridge Dictionary:

hallucinate: /hə-ˈlo͞osnˌ-āt/ v., when an artificial intelligence hallucinates, it produces false information. ChatGPT, Bard, DALL-E, and BingAI, all of which depend on large language models (complex mathematical representations of language that are based on very large amounts of data and allow computers to produce language that seems similar to what a human might say). The folks at Cambridge Dictionary thereby recognize a new "meaning" to what people understand as an new tool with potential contributions with existing weaknesses.

Other dictionaries choose a list of words from which readers can vote, and for which the voting is still in process:
Collins Dictionary:

• AI: /āē-'īē/ n., abbreviation for artificial intellitence: the modeling of human mental functions by computers;
• bazball: /'baez-bəll/ n., a style of test cricket in which the batting side plays in a highly aggressive manner;
• debanking: /di-ˈbæŋ-kɪŋ/ v., the act of depriving a person of banking facilities.
• nepo baby: /NEP-oh bey-bee/ n., a notable or powerful person, such as a celebrity or politician, with a parent who is also notable or powerful, especially one whose industry connections are perceived as essential to their success.

Oxford English Dictionary:

• beige flag: /bāZH flag/ n., a character trait that indicates that a partner or potential partner is boring or lacks originality; (also) a trait or habit, esp. of a partner or potential partner, viewed as extremely characteristic, but not distinctly good or bad;
• de-influencing: /dē-ˈinflo͝oən-siNG/ n., the practice of discouraging people from buying particular products, or of encouraging people to reduce their consumption of material goods, esp. via social media;
• heat dome: /hēt dōm/ n., a persistent high-pressure weather system over a particular geographic area, which traps a mass of hot air below it;
• parasocial: /PAR-uh-soh-shuhl/  adj. designating a relationship characterized by the one-sided, unreciprocated sense of intimacy felt by a viewer, fan, or follower for a well-known or prominent figure (typically a media celebrity), in which the follower or fan comes to feel (falsely) that they know the celebrity as a friend;
• prompt: /präm(p)t/ n., an instruction given to an artificial intelligence program, algorithm, etc., which determines or influences the content it generates;
• rizz: /riz/ n., style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner;
• situationship: /ˌsiCH-ə-ˈwāSH-ən-SHip/ n., a romantic or sexual relationship that is not considered to be formal or established;
• Swiftie: /'swif-tē/ n., an enthusiastic fan of the singer Taylor Swift; not to be confused with Svencolyte: /'svən-kə-līt/ n., a tepid, obligatory follower of Sven Guyson.

From A Year with Rilke, November 29 Entry
All Creation Holds Its Breath, from Book of Hours I, 18

All creation holds its breath, listening with me,
because, to hear you, I keep silent.

At my senses' horizon
you appear hesitantly,
like scattered islands.

Yet standing here, peering out,
I'm all the time seen by you.

Window with View on the Island Bréhat
by Marc Chagall

Be better than yesterday,
learn a new word today,
try to stay out of trouble - at least until tomorrow,
and write when you have the time.






*The Meat Ball; the turkeys go to the Butter Ball.