Gori the Grey
The Poster
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 13,355
There are not really any synonyms for synonym.
Random Thoughts XIII - Radioenergopithecocracy
- Thread starter Takhisis
- Start date
- Status
Oh, but…
synonym (plural synonyms)
- (semantics, strictly) A word whose meaning is the same as that of another word.
Synonyms: equivalent, poecilonym
Antonyms: antonym, opposite - (semantics, loosely) A word or phrase with a meaning that is the same as, or very similar to, another word or phrase.
Synonym: metonym
“Happy” is a synonym of “glad”.
But a poecilonym is just something that has synonyms ^^
At least if taken etynomologically, it would be distinct from a synonym, since it explicitly defines the term itself (=term which has synonyms) and implicitly (ie secondarily, you might say) that it is a synonym to others.
For example, if the above is the definition, you would say that "analogous" is a synonym to "equivalent", and a poecilonym (without having to define meaning of itself or its synonyms).
I'd think that "synonym" implicitly requires the definition of the term to be linked to (eg by reference to a more commonly known synonym), while "poecilonym" only refers to the trait of having synonyms.
At least if taken etynomologically, it would be distinct from a synonym, since it explicitly defines the term itself (=term which has synonyms) and implicitly (ie secondarily, you might say) that it is a synonym to others.
For example, if the above is the definition, you would say that "analogous" is a synonym to "equivalent", and a poecilonym (without having to define meaning of itself or its synonyms).
I'd think that "synonym" implicitly requires the definition of the term to be linked to (eg by reference to a more commonly known synonym), while "poecilonym" only refers to the trait of having synonyms.
Last edited:
A Term for Fakery That’s Possibly Fake Itself
[ Fu g a z y ]
A COLORFUL WORD for phoniness keeps popping up in newsworthy contexts. As reported on the New York news site The City this past week, a lawsuit alleges that when a worker was seriously injured falling through a roof at a demolition site in Brooklyn, the contractor produced safety logs that were fabricated with forged signatures. The contractor, Joseph Bordone, denied that the safety logs were faked, saying, “Nothing was fugazy.” The word has also appeared recently online with the alternate spelling “fugazi.” In a thread on the social media site BlueSky, former assistant U.S. attorney Mitch-ell Epner called John Eastman, Donald Trump’s onetime personal lawyer (and alleged co-conspirator in seeking to undo the 2020 election), a “fugazi tough guy.” And last month, mixed martial artist Israel Adesanya posted an Instagram photo of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg training with him, with the caption, “No fugazi with Mark. This is serious business.” (The photo appears to allude to a proposed cage match between Zuckerberg and rival billionaire Elon Musk.)
As a word for something bogus or counterfeit, “fugazy” (which rhymes with “crazy”) gained prominence in the 1997 movie “Donnie Brasco,” in which Johnny Depp stars as an FBI agent working undercover as the titular jewel thief. When the mobster Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino) approaches Donnie to fence a diamond ring, he informs Lefty that the diamond is “a fugazy,” clarifying, “It’s a fake.” The movie was based on the 1987 memoir of the real-life federal agent Joseph D. Pistone, “Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia.” “Fugazy” appears several times in Pistone’s book as either a noun or an adjective (as in “fugazy diamonds” or “fugazy jewelry”). But where “fugazy” comes from is a little hazy.
While it might seem like an Italian word, there’s no evidence of an origin from Italy—at least not directly. New Yorkers may recall a limousine rental company known as Fugazy Continental that ran local television commercials in the 1970s and ’80s, with owner William Fugazy encouraging viewers to “Go Fugazy.”
The family business, which continues to operate in the transportation sector, dates back to William’s grandfather Luigi, who emigrated from Genoa. “His name was originally Fugazzi, but he wanted it to sound more American so he changed it to Fugazy,” William explained in a 1984 interview.
“The joke is that what he actually did was to make it Hungarian.” It isn’t Hungarian either, but according to the Dictionary of American Family Names, “Fugazzi” may come from “Fogazza,” a variant of the flatbread “focaccia,” suggesting a lineage of bakers.
Those Fugazy Continental ads may have suggested an ersatz kind of luxury to some. William Fugazy later pled guilty to perjury during bankruptcy proceedings, which could have reinforced connotations of falseness. Confusing matters further is an alternative history attached to the version spelled “fugazi,” evidently dating back to the Vietnam War. The word appears in “Nam,” a 1981 oral history of the war, defined in a glossary as “screwed up.” Post-punk musician Ian Mac-Kaye was inspired by the book to name his band Fugazi in 1987. MacKaye was later informed that “fugazi” was in fact an acronym along the lines of “fubar,” or “f— ed up beyond all recognition.” “Fugazi” reportedly stands for “f—ed up, got ambushed, zipped in” (referring to getting zipped in a body bag).
Given that this form of “fugazi” is typically pronounced to rhyme with “Ozzie,” it’s possible that it developed independently from the “fugazy” of “Donnie Brasco.” But it’s not even clear if the term was genuinely used in Mafia circles before Pistone’s book and the movie adaptation.
On a DVD commentary track, “Donnie Brasco” director Mike Newell remarks, “‘Fugazy’ is a completely invented word. Every-body thought that it was real, kind of real mob speak. It’s not at all.” So “fugazy” may have been fugazy all along.
Johnny Depp (left) and Al Pacino in ‘Donnie Brasco.’
WORD ON THE STREET
BEN ZIMMER
[ Fu g a z y ]
A COLORFUL WORD for phoniness keeps popping up in newsworthy contexts. As reported on the New York news site The City this past week, a lawsuit alleges that when a worker was seriously injured falling through a roof at a demolition site in Brooklyn, the contractor produced safety logs that were fabricated with forged signatures. The contractor, Joseph Bordone, denied that the safety logs were faked, saying, “Nothing was fugazy.” The word has also appeared recently online with the alternate spelling “fugazi.” In a thread on the social media site BlueSky, former assistant U.S. attorney Mitch-ell Epner called John Eastman, Donald Trump’s onetime personal lawyer (and alleged co-conspirator in seeking to undo the 2020 election), a “fugazi tough guy.” And last month, mixed martial artist Israel Adesanya posted an Instagram photo of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg training with him, with the caption, “No fugazi with Mark. This is serious business.” (The photo appears to allude to a proposed cage match between Zuckerberg and rival billionaire Elon Musk.)
As a word for something bogus or counterfeit, “fugazy” (which rhymes with “crazy”) gained prominence in the 1997 movie “Donnie Brasco,” in which Johnny Depp stars as an FBI agent working undercover as the titular jewel thief. When the mobster Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino) approaches Donnie to fence a diamond ring, he informs Lefty that the diamond is “a fugazy,” clarifying, “It’s a fake.” The movie was based on the 1987 memoir of the real-life federal agent Joseph D. Pistone, “Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia.” “Fugazy” appears several times in Pistone’s book as either a noun or an adjective (as in “fugazy diamonds” or “fugazy jewelry”). But where “fugazy” comes from is a little hazy.
While it might seem like an Italian word, there’s no evidence of an origin from Italy—at least not directly. New Yorkers may recall a limousine rental company known as Fugazy Continental that ran local television commercials in the 1970s and ’80s, with owner William Fugazy encouraging viewers to “Go Fugazy.”
The family business, which continues to operate in the transportation sector, dates back to William’s grandfather Luigi, who emigrated from Genoa. “His name was originally Fugazzi, but he wanted it to sound more American so he changed it to Fugazy,” William explained in a 1984 interview.
“The joke is that what he actually did was to make it Hungarian.” It isn’t Hungarian either, but according to the Dictionary of American Family Names, “Fugazzi” may come from “Fogazza,” a variant of the flatbread “focaccia,” suggesting a lineage of bakers.
Those Fugazy Continental ads may have suggested an ersatz kind of luxury to some. William Fugazy later pled guilty to perjury during bankruptcy proceedings, which could have reinforced connotations of falseness. Confusing matters further is an alternative history attached to the version spelled “fugazi,” evidently dating back to the Vietnam War. The word appears in “Nam,” a 1981 oral history of the war, defined in a glossary as “screwed up.” Post-punk musician Ian Mac-Kaye was inspired by the book to name his band Fugazi in 1987. MacKaye was later informed that “fugazi” was in fact an acronym along the lines of “fubar,” or “f— ed up beyond all recognition.” “Fugazi” reportedly stands for “f—ed up, got ambushed, zipped in” (referring to getting zipped in a body bag).
Given that this form of “fugazi” is typically pronounced to rhyme with “Ozzie,” it’s possible that it developed independently from the “fugazy” of “Donnie Brasco.” But it’s not even clear if the term was genuinely used in Mafia circles before Pistone’s book and the movie adaptation.
On a DVD commentary track, “Donnie Brasco” director Mike Newell remarks, “‘Fugazy’ is a completely invented word. Every-body thought that it was real, kind of real mob speak. It’s not at all.” So “fugazy” may have been fugazy all along.
Johnny Depp (left) and Al Pacino in ‘Donnie Brasco.’
WORD ON THE STREET
BEN ZIMMER
Gori the Grey
The Poster
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 13,355
1) if you can sell it as having a particular meaning, and people pick it up and use it that way, it is as real a word as any other word.
2) reminds me of that scene in the Fugitive where one of the agents calls something "hinky" (from context, "suspicious" of "sketchy") and the Tommy Lee Jones character gets annoyed and says "don't use words that don't mean anything"
1b) I think such coinages are often like this, meant to capture a particular dialect or slang or argot, and they just end up sounding "right" for that purpose to everyone, this one in part because it sounds Italian-derived.
2) reminds me of that scene in the Fugitive where one of the agents calls something "hinky" (from context, "suspicious" of "sketchy") and the Tommy Lee Jones character gets annoyed and says "don't use words that don't mean anything"
1b) I think such coinages are often like this, meant to capture a particular dialect or slang or argot, and they just end up sounding "right" for that purpose to everyone, this one in part because it sounds Italian-derived.
Some will remember the talk about how sycophant acquired a very different meaning, from ancient (and current) greek to (current) english.
Empathy is another case of that, perhaps even more glaring, given the english meaning is generally the opposite to the (ancient and current) greek one.
In greek, empathy means having partiality. A synonym in english would be "bias", though formally if it is explicitly based on passion. It is always negatively connoted.
So feel content that you always show empathy; either in the original greek meaning, or the barbaric one ^^
Empathy is another case of that, perhaps even more glaring, given the english meaning is generally the opposite to the (ancient and current) greek one.
In greek, empathy means having partiality. A synonym in english would be "bias", though formally if it is explicitly based on passion. It is always negatively connoted.
So feel content that you always show empathy; either in the original greek meaning, or the barbaric one ^^
Zardnaar
Deity
Moderator Action: Moved from War News thread. Birdjaguar
Putin ffs it's a parody
Kinda like your arnes forces.
Putin ffs it's a parody
Kinda like your arnes forces.
Last edited by a moderator:
Random mystery irl:
When I returned to the building, I saw a bill hanging out of the box for mail to my apartment. Turns out it was the (opened) bill for water. But the issue wasn't just that it was opened, but that the bill should have been in my room, since I had already taken it there and opened it myself.
Solution:
Or, you know, someone has access to my apartment and decided to show me that they do, either for intimidation or so as to prepare me for an attack he/she doesn't approve of
When I returned to the building, I saw a bill hanging out of the box for mail to my apartment. Turns out it was the (opened) bill for water. But the issue wasn't just that it was opened, but that the bill should have been in my room, since I had already taken it there and opened it myself.
Solution:
Spoiler :
Or, you know, someone has access to my apartment and decided to show me that they do, either for intimidation or so as to prepare me for an attack he/she doesn't approve of
r16
not deity
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
- Messages
- 12,142
yeah , being friendly with the enemy and whatnot .
and yes , Russians have as much as right as Western navies to conduct searches . Like , they were doing it in Istanbul when the grain deal was on . A lot of BS , but , kinda sorta stop advising so that the supposed American profiteering can go on .
and yes , Russians have as much as right as Western navies to conduct searches . Like , they were doing it in Istanbul when the grain deal was on . A lot of BS , but , kinda sorta stop advising so that the supposed American profiteering can go on .
This is kind of neat. (Sorry if this was posted before)
en.wikipedia.org
It is estimated that 7.3% of every human that has ever existed is alive right now.
So there is a small but decent chance you can in theory walk out the door and right now go meet the most beautiful human who ever lived, or the smartest human who ever lived.
Ugh.., hopefully they are not sleeping in the crib or playing shuffleboard in a retirement community.
Estimates of historical world population - Wikipedia
It is estimated that 7.3% of every human that has ever existed is alive right now.
So there is a small but decent chance you can in theory walk out the door and right now go meet the most beautiful human who ever lived, or the smartest human who ever lived.
Ugh.., hopefully they are not sleeping in the crib or playing shuffleboard in a retirement community.
Gori the Grey
The Poster
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 13,355
Peak stoopid! You know I'm in.
Here's my recent random thought. Conceivably (maybe even likely) Smith can get a conviction against Trump, and then, (conceivably, though not very likely) go back to his old job prosecuting war criminals at the Hague, and in that other role be able to get a conviction against Putin.
I'm now hoping for this.
amadeus
Bishop of Bio-Dome
Take that, Malthus!
Bonyduck Campersang
Staring into the distance
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2022
- Messages
- 4,673
I never will understand artists
)
Bonyduck Campersang
Staring into the distance
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2022
- Messages
- 4,673
Steven Pinker on the right? The bloke on left looks familiar, but I can't place him
- Status
Similar threads
