May

cube

Verb, two senses. --Connel MacKenzie 01:38, 18 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The "form into the shape of a cube" sense does exist, though it's rare, and more abstractly mathematical than our definition makes it sound; it's the analog of a similar sense of square. (Ever heard of "squaring the circle"? Well, "(cubed|cubes|cubing) the sphere" exists as well.) —Ruakh_TALK 03:46, 18 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

1590, Cyprian Lucar, quoted in John Aubrey and Andrew Clark, Brief Lives, Clarendon Press (1898), page 39,
[…] to change a figure of one forme into an equall figure of another appointed forme, to make a right line angle equall to a right line angle given, to draw a parallel to a right line given, and to cube any assigned sphere.

—Ruakh_TALK 03:58, 18 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well...OK. But there was some discussion recently about listing figurative verbal uses of nouns, particularly why other dictionaries don't do it. At any rate, does this have a bunch of references, or just the one? And is it (as it is worded now) redundant with the cooking sense? --Connel MacKenzie 15:18, 18 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'd estimate there to be about 15–20 cites on b.g.c. that are talking specifically about cubing the sphere; 12 may be found from the above link, plus the one I gave here, plus probably others that phrase it a bit differently. I have no thoughts on how to find uses of cube in this sense other than in the context of cubing spheres, but they may well exist. I don't think this is redundant with the "dicing" sense, because one is about molding into a single cube, and one is about cutting into many smaller cubes; I see the similarity, but I think they're sufficiently different that if the above-cited sense merits inclusion (and I think it probably does, though I'm open to arguments against), then it merits inclusion separate from the "dicing" sense.) —Ruakh_TALK 18:21, 18 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. (In cooking, dicing is similar to cubing, but much smaller, right? We don't seem to make that distinction very clear, right now.) --Connel MacKenzie 19:14, 18 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvfailed for cubist rfvpassed for cubing the sphere Cynewulf 21:22, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Acritic

OED hasn't heard of it. Perhaps there is a salvageable Greek entry here though? Dmcdevit·t 08:03, 19 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Probably. I've noted the entry at Wiktionary:Requested articles:Ancient Greek. --EncycloPetey 22:26, 20 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(Modern) Greek entry added (ακρίτης), the English term "acritic" is pretty specialized and deals with a certain type of epic literature and traditional song. It's usually capitalized in use. Not sure if it meets cfi. Example cite: [1] ArielGlenn 09:25, 17 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

RFV failed, but entry retained in case it can be used in creating the Ancient Greek entry. —Ruakh_TALK 03:45, 12 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

abortion

Sense 7 - A complete failure. This sense doesn't appear in any other dictionary of common usage or slang/idiom. The closest is Oxford which uses failure within the context of sense 8, like shorthand for an aborted mission. We could remove 7 and reword 8 as A failed project, mission, etc. Save us some wordiness and get rid of an unreferenced sense.--Halliburton Shill 16:36, 20 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Seems like an obvious figurative use to me, "clearly in widespread use." --Connel MacKenzie 17:14, 20 May 2007 (UTC) I have no objection to merging it with the subsequent sense, though. That seems to be the best approach. --Connel MacKenzie 17:17, 20 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

google:"a+total+abortion"+-"a+total+abortion+ban"+-"a+total+abortion+rate" pulls up 242 hits, of which I'd estimate (based on the first two pages of hits) that 80% are in sense #7. This isn't to say that we don't need to find durably archived cites, but obviously the slang dictionaries you checked are out-of-date or incomplete. (Not shocking: no dictionary is perfectly up-to-date and complete.) And sense 8 is quite different. "Their abortion of the mission" doesn't mean that the mission was a failure; it could well mean that something came up that would have cause the mission to fail, or to go awry, had they not aborted it. So keep and don't merge, and I'll go looking for durably archived cites. —Ruakh_TALK 19:52, 20 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That said, it might make sense to merge it with sense #9 ("Something ugly, an artistic atrocity."), since it seems that the slang sense is a mostly figurative extension of such. —Ruakh_TALK 19:53, 20 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. I find the Oxford English Dictionary definition — Failure (of aim or promise) — significant, and see no reason to suppress it. ElinorD 10:44, 21 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Please note that inclusion in the OED (or in any other dictionary) is not a criterion for inclusion in Wiktionary; see Wiktionary:Criteria for inclusion. —Ruakh_TALK 15:40, 21 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Inclusion in the OED is not in itself a criterion for inclusion, but the fact that it meets the OED's criteria for inclusion means that it almost certainly also meets ours. (Or should, anyway.) --Ptcamn 04:10, 23 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Except that it doesn't meet OED's or any other dictionary's criteria for inclusion, and, so far, there is nothing that meets Wiktionary's own WT:CFI.--Halliburton Shill 18:44, 25 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There seems to be some confusion with regard to the OED reference. Consider the following:

No dictionary uses sense 7 and only OED used failure, but within a limited context. Namely, the context already provided by sense 8.
OED thesaurus: abortion is not listed under failure. It is listed under prevention.
You get 931 results for the phrase "successful abortion" on google.
You get 30,400 for the phrase "failed abortion".
If abortion has complete failure as an assumed denotation or connotation of the definition, why do people feel the need to add "failed" to it far more frequently than successful?
Regardless of inclusion in other dictionaries or thesauri, no verification WT:CFI for this sense has been provided.--Halliburton Shill 18:53, 25 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Re: "If abortion has complete failure as an assumed denotation or connotation of the definition, why do people feel the need to add 'failed' to it far more frequently than successful?": what a strange argument. No one is saying that "total failure" is a denotation or connotation of sense 1; rather, these are distinct senses. "Failed abortion" is a use of sense 1, not a phrase that means the same as whatever "failed total failure" might mean.

You're right, though, that we need to find CFI-qualifying cites. Obviously this sense gets plenty of Web hits, but those aren't durably archived.

—Ruakh_TALK 22:21, 25 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It is, however, not that difficult to tweak the search and find references, at least for the "obvious":

--Halliburton Shill 01:42, 26 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvfailed Cynewulf 21:20, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

chaser

The Harry Potter sense: another Harry Potter coinage without independent use. Dmcdevit·t 21:50, 22 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'd also dispute the third sense, A small, light, usually single-seated aeroplane of great speed and climbing power, used in repelling hostile aircraft. I've been reading aircraft books for thirty years, have several detailed aircraft encyclopedias, but have never heard this term. The definition described is usually called an interceptor or (dated) a pursuit aircraft. There is the term chase plane, but it has a different meaning. That is one that follows another in order to advise or photograph it in flight, typically on experimental flights. --Dmol 15:12, 23 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've tagged the rest of the dubious senses. I agree with Dmol; the aircraft definition is for chase plane, which I don't recall hearing called a "chaser."

Note on the other senses: while they seem plausible, they seem to be glommed directly from dictionary.com, with no indication that they are obsolete, archaic, British, or whatnot. Appearance in doctionary.com certainly doesn't imply that those other senses pass Wiktionary's CFI. But reviewing each of those senses individually, I don't recognize any of them as valid, normal uses in the English language. --Connel MacKenzie 16:37, 23 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(drugs uses) There are several google books hits that use chaser to refer to taking one drug immediately after a different sort. This is obviously related to sense 2 (A mild drink consumed immediately after another drink of hard liquor.), but I'm not certain if it is separate or not -

19992: Addiction Controversies By David M. Warburton (p.208)
"The method of use of free basing or the smoking of crack appear not to cause the same extended "hit" as may be seen with "chasing the dragon" with heroin users, and although the data are not yet available on the pharmacodynamics of smoking pasta as basuco, it might be expected that they would five the same rapid onset of effect, in that the cocaine will be absorbed across the lung mucosa (althoguh there may be a flattening of the curve similar to the heroin "chaser", given the more time-consuming nature of smoking a cirgarette"
1992: Capitol Secretsby Maureen *Dean (p.139)
"Just a little heroin with a cocaine chaser," Catsy said, opening a drawer beside the bed."
1978: Madwomen: Poems by Sutherland, Fraser (p.39)
"snort cocaine sifted from a giant sugar jar, with black hash as a chaser. ..."
1990: Public Secrets by Nora Roberts (p.229)
"He was flying high now, pumped full of top-grade cocaine with a heroin chaser."

This is most commonly used with reference to illegal drugs, but not always

2006: Neonatal Formulary: Drug Use in Pregnancy and the First Year of Life By Edmund Hey
"On the rare occasions when a small rapid bonus injection is' called for ... the drug infusion should be followed by a 2 ml 'chaser' of 0.9% sodium chloride..." (p.6, emphasis of "is" in the original)

"Other drugs should be diluted in, or followed by, a 2 ml 'chaser' of sterile water..."

Another drugs use is "one who chases (smokes) drugs, typically cocaine and/or heroin, as opposed to injecting them". You can chase marijuana as well, but someone who does so isn't typically described as a "chaser" from what I've found.

1993: Drug Use as a Social Ritual: Functionality, Symbolism and Determinants of Self-regulation, Jean-Paul Cornelis Grund copy at archive.org
(chapter 5) "During the 1980s cocaine became more and more available and cheaper in the heroin scene. An increasing number of heroin users added cocaine to their drug taking repertoire. Somewhat simultaneously the prevalence of basing seems to have decreased, not meaning that users stopped basing cocaine altogether, but that they combine it with their preferred administration ritual (18, 19). Thus, IDUs will normally inject cocaine and sometimes they may base the drug. Likewise, chasers will generally smoke cocaine from aluminum foil and now and then base the drug."
1995: AIDS: Safety, Sexuality and Risk by Peter Aggleton, Peter M. Davies, Graham Hart
""I was injecting and decided like, you know, it was too much messing around, messed up all my veins and that, so I started chasing" (Male heroin chaser) (p136)
'2005: Injecting Illicit Drugsby Richard Pates, Andrew McBride, Karin Arnold (p121)
"I was drug free for about 12 months after rehab but I missed heroin. I allow myself the trear of a boot [cockney rhyming slang: 'boot lace' to chase (chase the dragon)] once a fortnight when my shift pattern gives me a weekday off... (Male, 39, non-dependent heroin chaser, ex-injector)

I think this is a different sense from any of those listed currently, it should probably be added to chase as well (that entry is a mess atm).

Google books does have hits for sense 11 (A frequent user of crack cocaine.), but only mentions (dictionaries). I've not checked google groups.

(screw threads)

1894: Machinery (author(s) unknown) (Page 141)
"In Fig. i is shown one of the chasers in the position which it occupies in cutting a thread."
1918: Thread-cutting Methods: A Treatise on the Operation and Use of Various Tools and Machines for forming screw threads... by Franklin Day Jones (Page 32)
"Many screw threads are also finished completely with chasers of this type, although they are not adapted for extremely acurate work unless the teeth are ground after hardening, because the pitch of the chaser teeth is affected more or less by..."
1994: Handbook of Dimensional Measurement by Francis T. Farago, Mark A. Curtis (p.467)
"The category of thread cutting tools inlcudes both the single-point and multiple-point [chaser type] lathe cutters."

I've run out of time now, but it looks like sense 7 (a horse trained for steeplechasing) should be verifiable. [2] is the first book that looks to have something it - including a specific definition of distance (page 99) of "a winning margin of greater than 30 lengths" that should be easily verifiable to add to the distance entry. Thryduulf 10:41, 26 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cites for the horseracing usage and the screw cutting tool now added to the article. I've not added the drugs cites as I want a second opinion on whether they are independent senses or should be used to cite ones already in the article. Thryduulf 19:00, 27 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cites for the metalworking sense now added also. Thryduulf 20:12, 27 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cites now at chaser for the logging sense (someone who follows logs out of the forest) - this usage is now apparently obsolete (I've marked it as such). However the term is still used for one who unhooks the logs from the rigging used to haul them to where they're loaded onto lorries (presumably this was originally done by the same person who followed them out of the forrest), so I've added that as another sense. In doing this research I've found we need additional senses for choker, landing and turn, which I'll add when I get time. Thryduulf 11:46, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(a prison guard). I've been unable to verify a slang usage of "chaser" to mean "prison guard". I have however found and verified that "prison chaser" is a military term for a soldier assigned to guard prisoners on fatigue duty. I've added this as a separate entry and listed it as a derived term at chaser. I've not removed the slang sense though as someone else might be able to verify it. Thryduulf 12:35, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

(ships weapons) Although bow chaser, stern chaser and chase guns are all easily verifiable, I can't find any use of "chaser" or "chasers" to refer to them, other than on Wikipedia and mirrors. A link to them should be added from chaser, but I don't know whether it should be in the "derived terms" or "see also" setions?

I've also been completely unable to verify the "ram with only one testicle" use. Thryduulf 13:00, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sure that I've seen "chaser", used as a naval gun used when in a chase, in the Aubrey/Maturin books (but it would need a trip to the library to check). SemperBlotto 15:39, 28 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The OED [3] (free for 48 hours now, and for 48 hours from 6th July) has cites for the use of "chaser" in an aircraft sense (sense 6 on that page). I don't have time atm to copy them here. the Ram with only one testicle also gets one cite here. Thryduulf 22:08, 29 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

uncited senses removed Cynewulf 21:18, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

caseifaction

It pains me to nominate this for RFV, as it already has two citations. But the definition given is quite counter-intuitive, and doesn't seem to be in any dictionaries I have handy, nor on any of the usual on-line dictionaries. (No, not even ORO.) The Latin term it points to is also absent. The normal b.g.c. search produces only one of those references (do those sometimes get pulled?) Also, in that one single book-search, the capitalization is different (even though it appears to be intended as capitalization for emphasis, rather than correctness.)

I honestly thought this entry was a joke, until I saw who entered it. --Connel MacKenzie 14:13, 23 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There is an Italian word caseificazione which is 1) the first stage in the production of cheese in which the casein coagulates 2) some sort of necrosis that looks like cheese. If I had to translate it to a single word I would have to use this one I suppose. (or caseification) SemperBlotto 15:37, 23 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

We can easily cite caseification; it has multiple Google Books hits in both senses, and many Google Scholar hits as well. Caseifaction seems to be an error (or nonce) promulgated by Pynchon's Mason & Dixon. —Ruakh_TALK 18:59, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also the pronunciation seems wrong; shouldn't it should be something like [ˈkæ.sɪ.ə.ˈˈfæk.ʃən]? It's "case-ifaction" or "case-i-faction", not "casei-faction". —Ruakh_TALK 19:06, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A nonce? It's already got two cites! Error? Hardly - it's very clear what it means from the etymology. And it obviously wasn't promulgated by Pynchon since there is a Burgess quote from 20 years earlier. Maybe both authors invented the word independently, but I still think confused readers should be able to look it up. Widsith 11:37, 29 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see why having two cites and a transparent etymology means it's neither a nonce nor an error; and I don't see why the existence of one use before Pynchon means that Pynchon isn't responsible for the word's currently being known. —Ruakh_TALK 22:30, 29 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, because a nonce-word is one which has only been used once. The etymology certainly implies that the word is not a mistake, either that or it's a huge stroke of luck.. As for Pynchon, there are certainly a lot of websites around discussing his vocabulary, so you're probably right there. (When I came across it in both those books I assumed it was a term from cheese-making, but I can't seem to find any evidence of that.) Widsith 11:40, 30 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Re: "a nonce-word is one which has only been used once": Not necessarily. At least, there are plenty of words that the OED describes as nonce-words but for which it gives more than one quotation, such as "actor-manager" (in its entry for actor) and "adhocism" (in its entry for ad hoc). What makes them nonces is that their uses are considered unrelated; different people have come up with them at different times, not really intending for them to be thought of as "real words", but just inventing them on the spot because they're so natural. Re: "The etymology certainly implies that the word is not a mistake, either that or it's a huge stroke of luck": I disagree: eggcorns are errors, too. —Ruakh_TALK 18:59, 30 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The concern raised about the Latin word it pints to missing is now resolved. I've entered cāseus. --EncycloPetey 22:36, 29 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvfailed Cynewulf 21:16, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Dusty

Meant to be "a nickname for someone with the surname Miller". Is this about a particular person (w:Dusty Miller), or a more common nickname. I have friends called Miller whom I've never called Dusty. --Keene 22:35, 23 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It is very common in the UK for anyone with the surname Miller to have Dusty as a nickname. SemperBlotto 08:31, 24 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not in the U.S., though - this cries out for an etymology. Maybe because people working in mills were quickly covered in flour dust? bd2412 T 16:55, 26 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

And indeed, here's an old Scottish tune:

1829: Robert Chambers, The Scottish Songs p. 539:

HEY, the dusty miller,
And his dusty coat!
He will win a shilling,
Ere he spend a groat.
Dusty was the coat,
Dusty was the colour;
Dusty was the kiss,
That I gat frea the miller.

Hey, the dusty miller,
And his dusty sack!
Leeze me on the calling
Fills the dusty peck;
Fills the dusty peck,
Brings the dusty siller:
I wad gie my coatie
For the dusty miller.

"Dusty miller" is the common name for some species of plants as well. My mother used it that way. The plants all have a "dusty" appearance, from a powder that can be wiped off the leaves. The idea of "dusty miller" being a formulaic phrase for a miller (e.g., of flour), possibly even antedating the poem cited, seems so plausible. DCDuring 17:50, 13 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"The stereotypical image of the "dusty miller", as depicted in popular legend and some traditional literature, is a barrier, and milling is seen by younger people as low-status. There is an urgent need to change this perception through measures such as changing the designation to something like "grain and feed processing technician" and improving training provision and prospects." in CAB abstract of Baitinger, A "Miller - a job with promotion and opportunities for the future!" Mühle + Mischfutter, 2005 (Vol. 142) (No. 8) 233-272

For more on the "dusty miller" occupational stereotype, see the following document fragment:[4]. DCDuring 18:21, 13 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have used the material above to create an entry for dusty miller. In my Google Web and Scholar searches, I came across numerous articles by and about persons named "'Dusty' Miller". The occupational stereotype seems to be the derivation of the nickname. DCDuring 18:51, 13 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvpassed widespread in UK Cynewulf 21:13, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

fat-finger

Hm, looks dodgy to me for a number of reasons...

Multiple spellings offered, but the verb would be (by analogy with similarly formed words and phrases) "fat-finger" or "fatfinger", and the noun as "fat finger" or "fatfinger".
Wikipedia has "fat-finger" only.
Multiple definitions for a new word.
Wikipedia has the verb sense only, and implies only one sense.
No citations.
The POS was given as "Intransitive verb", but the second and third senses look as if they are intended to be transitive.

So I have no problem with the first verb sense, but the others are suspect. — Paul G 06:51, 26 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have only seen fat-fingered, as in "We will always be fat-fingered when we attempt to explore and understand quantum physics." —Stephen 16:42, 29 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It does seem unlikely that the technique of checking for misspellings has entered common use. OTOH, I think that most web squatters use precisely this method to find most of their domain names. Usenet may be a better place to look for citations, I guess. --Connel MacKenzie 22:13, 14 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvfailed Cynewulf 21:11, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

NYFM

Any takers? SemperBlotto 07:12, 26 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Does seem to be real — google:NYFM "New York Foreign Mail" — but I can only find two non-independent, clearly-relevant b.g.c. hits, all snippet view; see the first two hits of e.g. google:books:NYFM stamp. (The other searches I tried pulled up the same two relevant hits.) —Ruakh_TALK 17:00, 26 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvpassed Cynewulf 21:08, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

interleave

These senses:

(computing) To allocate (successive segments of memory) to different tasks

"Interleaved memory" and "memory interleaving" are used in computing, but is "interleave" used separately in this sense? If so, is it transitive or intransitive?

In clinical studies, the term is used to describe an overlapping sequence of test protocols

This is a definition of a noun. Should it be a definition of a verb, or does it belong somewhere else? — Paul G 08:22, 28 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

passed/failed respectively Cynewulf 21:08, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

line

Can anybody verify the sense (poetic) A verse, or the words which form a certain number of feet, according to the measure. I think that a line of poetry is only — well — a line, eg

this is a line of text

and this is another line of text

and because this does not rhyme, it must be a modernist poem

I do not believe that it can refer to an entire verse, spread over multiple lines. — Beobach972 18:39, 28 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, when Webster's 1913 above says "verse", it means a line, as per the definition at http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?action=search&word=verse&resource=Webster%27s&quicksearch=on. I don't think that particular circular, archaic definition is helpful though. That is, seeing "verse" used to mean a single line, I'd assume poetic license on the part of the writer; I was unaware of the historic definition for verse given at W1913. FWIW, I think line would make an excellent collaboration of the week. --Connel MacKenzie 18:39, 29 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It would if people participated in the WT:COW, but all too often I'm the only person who edits the weekly "collaborations". The problems with line also make it a very large editing task. Having it up for multiple editors simultaneously is probably a bad idea with so many items per section. When I choose COW selections, I usually stick with under 12 definitions per part of speech. :) --EncycloPetey 18:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, not such a good idea, perhaps. Ruakh and I (or I did, anyway) already had a little bit of a mess mass-archiving RFV at the same time recently :-p — Beobach972 03:20, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm surprised to hear that verse doesn't necessarily refer to an individual line; that's how I've always used it, and while I've encountered it used the other way, I always took that to be an error. (I'd complain about the deterioration of the language, but if it's Webster 1913, then it's at least seventy years older than I am, so I guess I must consider it grandfathered in.) That said, I think some sort of special poetry sense should be retained, because I'd still use the term "line" even when the poetry is quoted inline in prose text, with solidi (/) to indicate line breaks; that is, a "line" of poetry is slightly abstract relative to the more literal concept of a line of text on a page. Regardless, this seems to be a problem not of verification, but of phrasing the definition in a way that means the same thing to different people. —Ruakh_TALK 22:20, 29 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ruakh: that interests me, as I have an opposite understanding. Prior to this discussion, if I had seen ‘verse’ used to mean ‘a single line’, I'd not have even (as Connel MacKenzie says) assumed ‘poetic license’ or error, I'd frankly have not understood it at all... quite interesting that each of us missed, until now, what seem to be major definitions of the word! — Beobach972 03:20, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Given Webster's circular meaning of ‘verse’ (and, per Ruakh, the circular meaning of ‘line’), I agree that this needs to be rephrased so as not to use those words. — Beobach972 03:27, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I believe this still is an issue of verification, unless I am misunderstanding the above discussion (which I very well may be). If ‘line’ means ‘verse (defined as "one row of text")’, that is circular and silly, and should be removed — we could list ‘verse’ as a synonym, with some kind of usage note, but not as a definition — and then we can strike this from RFV. On the other hand, if anybody is asserting that ‘line’ means ‘verse (defined as "multiple rows of text, cf ‘stanza’")’, verification must be provided in addition to the rephrasing/clarification of the definition. — Beobach972 03:45, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvpassed widespread use Cynewulf 21:06, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

preggers

More of a request for translation verification. I can understand how Saint Anne could in theory be a verlan translation, but it seems this is not the case. Any contributions from native French speakers appreciated - Is Saint Anne a slang for enceinte? Or a Wonderfoolism? --Keene 01:06, 30 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If it does exist, it should be "Sainte Anne", not *"Saint Anne". I've never heard it before, but it would make a lot of sense: in addition to satisfying the normal verlan pattern, it has the added nicety that St. Anne is the patron saint, among other things, of pregnancy and the pregnant. —Ruakh_TALK 02:59, 30 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What a beautiful coincidence! Was she patron saint before verlan came about, or is this acually not a coincidence at all and actually from the verlan usage? — Paul G 15:30, 5 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvfailed Cynewulf 21:04, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

assassin

I know "one who eats hashish" may be the origin of the word in Arabic, but I have not heard it used with this meaning in English. Also, I think senses one and four ought to be merged. Pistachio 15:59, 30 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvfailed Cynewulf 21:02, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Cheddaring

Any takers? --EncycloPetey 02:05, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Plenty of examples in google books. [5] Kappa 03:22, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Google News also brings up a result from last week [6], in addition to the 163 older news stories [7]. A general web search [8] gets 615 hits (many, although not all, relevant), including MSN Encarta dictionary [9], Washington State University [10], the US National Dairy Council [11]. Thryduulf 10:49, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A quick browse through these suggests that it can be spelled either with or without an initial capital, with the lowercase accounting for (very roughly) two thirds. I don't know how Wikitionary handles this though. Thryduulf 10:59, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It is interesting to note that the French won their case in the European courts that 'cheddaring' is a manufacturing process rather than a place name. Thus allowing French Cheddar cheese to be marketed, despite the strong fight put up by the English Cheddar cheese manufacturers based in the town of Cheddar. The courts upheld that the word 'cheddar' referred to the process of 'cheddaring'. I'll try to find supportive evidence now. :-) Algrif 17:44, 31 May 2007 (UTC) Also interesting that www.cheddargorgecheeseco.co.uk/history.php states :- Made and cheddared by hand using the cheesemaker's skill and experience rather than a mechanised process. Indicating that the verd 'to cheddar' is used in the industry. Algrif 17:59, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In which case should the verb sense be added to wiktionary - probably at cheddar (linking to Cheddar with reciprocal {{see}}s)? Also, as a resident of Cheddar (albeit one who is allergic to cheese) I feel it important to stress that the settlment is a village, not a town - see w:Cheddar#Village or town?. Thryduulf 21:32, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I agree entirely. There is enough evidence for the use of the verb 'to cheddar'. I believe the redirect should be removed allowing for a verb entry and, as you suggest, a 'see' reciprocal link to 'Cheddar' the (apologies) village. Algrif 10:29, 1 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Link to official patent which talks about cheddaring using the word as a verb. [12]

Could someone please remove the redirect so that the verb to cheddar (lower case) can be entered? Algrif 15:57, 5 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvpassed common Cynewulf 21:01, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Gyproc

Apparently is a brand of something DIY-related. Wikipedia has no article on it, so it can't be that important, lesser still important enough to be recognised as household words. --Keene 17:15, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A misspelling of "Gyprock," I think. -- WikiPedant 17:44, 31 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If registered trademarks are allowed at all in Wiktionary, Gyproc probably deserves to remain. It is a world-wide trademark of the French firm St. Gobain and the Gyproc gypsum-based construction boards can be found in millions and millions of homes. Hekaheka 13:30, 24 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

rfvfailed Cynewulf 21:00, 27 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wiktionary:Requests for verification archive/May 2007

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