Words

From Ben's Writing

Introduction

Everyone and their cat seem to have a list of favorite quotes on their site (I include myself in this inlustrious group.... *sigh*). What I haven't seen much, if any, is lists of favorite words . This list is a work in progress (and always will be) but it is my attempt to document the words I find particularly appealing.

The List

• Bubbler — Wisonsinite slang for drinking fountain.
• Grok — First first used by Heinlein to mean: "Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because of our Earthly assumptions) as color means to a blind man." Or, how the Oxford English Dictionary defines it: "[T]o understand intuitively or by empathy; to establish rapport with".
• DWORD — is not a basic C or C++ data-type, but it has been found sprinkled throughout many a Windows program. Some of which I've written. Which makes me wonder sometimes if I'm writing a terrible rap song instead of code. You know—D’WORD, as in "That is d'word on the street." (The surrounding words have not been written in Ebonics, for expository purposes; which is to say, they serve to enhance the contrast and improve clarity of the the word's use.) But then I sigh, because that really isn't all that funny, and yet I took the time to make a record of it.