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Post by Etaoin Shrdlu on Oct 14, 2024 11:28:26 GMT
And to think I was going to delete, being sure it was wrong, and a bit embarrassing as a guess.
But it can't be a word. There are two components.
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Post by Pacifica on Oct 14, 2024 14:42:36 GMT
Perhaps we need to decide right now whether to allow phrases as well, and clarify the OP accordingly.
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Post by Pacifica on Oct 14, 2024 14:44:15 GMT
Perhaps only noun phrases. |
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Post by Pacifica on Oct 14, 2024 14:45:07 GMT
And phrasal verbs...?
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Post by Etaoin Shrdlu on Oct 14, 2024 15:42:04 GMT
This is definitely a word. It's also cheating, as the definition was lifted from elsewhere, and is well-known. So I'm hoping that you haven't come across it.
Any thing reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections.
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Oct 14, 2024 16:22:07 GMT
But it can't be a word. There are two components. I wouldn't spontaneously describe "John Doe" as a word, and I was a bit trolling when I said "what's a word anyway", but having two components isn't a good reason to say something isn't a word. For instance, what do you make of words or "words" that have spelling variants such as with a space or a hyphen, or neither? You could say that depending on the spelling they're not the same thing, syntactically, but it would seem like a stretch. Perhaps only noun phrases. Do you mean it in the standard sense, of in the sense of a phrase that is only composed of nouns, as the context would suggest? If the latter, I think it would be too limiting. For instance, I think things like "black sheep" should be fair game. Although the fact that it's figurative and idiomatic may make it off-limit... I think phrasal verbs should be allowed, at any rate. I don't know that word and looking it up might be spoiling. Could you provide a definition for it? Or maybe the fact that it's uncommon is part of the puzzle... |
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Post by kizolk on Oct 14, 2024 16:34:24 GMT
All that said, I messed up. I had forgotten about the rule that said it had to be a word. "John Doe" came to mind randomly, then like I said I checked Webster, and the fact that it listed it as a "noun" (not as a phrase, a name, an idiom, or what have you) encouraged me to try it, but had I remembered the wording of the OP, I most probably would have chosen something else.
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Post by Etaoin Shrdlu on Oct 14, 2024 18:17:52 GMT
Decussate: to cross or intersect to form an X.
In principle looking up definitions doesn't strike me as cheating. With this one the main danger would be stumbling on the example I've nicked. I've never come across the word elsewhere, to my recollection.
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Oct 14, 2024 18:20:46 GMT
Yeah but I have a bad history of spoiling myself by looking up definitions for another game  |
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Oct 14, 2024 18:29:36 GMT
You said you thought your guess was embarrassing. Out of solidarity, here's mine:
... a net. Or a network.
I mean, it might not be the answer you're expecting, but is it wrong, and if so, how? Although now that I think about it, a net(work) is itself more like a "reticulation" than a reticulated thing, but at this point I may be taking more than my fair share of embarrassment so I'll stop.
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Post by Pacifica on Oct 14, 2024 19:18:49 GMT
Do you mean it in the standard sense, of in the sense of a phrase that is only composed of nouns, as the context would suggest? If the latter, I think it would be too limiting. For instance, I think things like "black sheep" should be fair game. Although the fact that it's figurative and idiomatic may make it off-limit... I mean noun phrases of any composition, whether made up of two nouns or a noun and an adjective (or more of these components). But I would only allow set phrases like "black sheep" and "John Doe", not random phrases. I'm not sure why figurativeness and idiomaticness would make a phrase off limits. |
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Post by Etaoin Shrdlu on Oct 14, 2024 19:27:14 GMT
Not sure why you're embarrassed. It was Samuel Johnson's much mocked definition of 'network'.
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kizolk
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Post by kizolk on Oct 15, 2024 3:53:40 GMT
I'm not sure why figurativeness and idiomaticness would make a phrase off limits. I think it could add a layer of complexity that's not necessarily needed. After all that's the Definition Game, and definitions usually mention it when an acceptation is figurative or when a phrase is idiomatic and I could imagine cases where not having this bit of information could make the game more difficult. But maybe it would be fine in practice. Not sure why you're embarrassed. It was Samuel Johnson's much mocked definition of 'network'. Well, if the definition is mocked, proposing "network" as the term the definition applies to could be mocked as well. I thought it was too trivial an answer, and it made the definition tautological since "any reticulated thing" is pretty much a network, or shows the pattern of a network. Which I assume is one of the reasons why his definition is deservedly mocked. |
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Post by kizolk on Oct 15, 2024 10:29:07 GMT
A coded message, quiet signal, or the device that produces it.
(Several things that were recently mentioned apply. I think the rules haven't been updated yet, so you could consider this a test.)
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Post by Etaoin Shrdlu on Oct 15, 2024 16:15:35 GMT
Which I assume is one of the reasons why his definition is deservedly mocked. I took the mockery at the use of very long words to explain a very simple one (it's often said that this is the definition given for 'net', which is wrong but makes the point better). Anyone who didn't know what 'network' meant is highly unlikely to be familiar with words like 'reticulated', 'interstices', or 'decussated', in particular. As I said, I can't remember encountering that last one anywhere else. |
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