The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[udosuk]

"Ambisinistrous" is in the dictionary?!

The Internet is the best dictionary you've got. Try google ambisinistrous wikipedia...

[Bigtone53]

It being in wikipedia doesn't make it correct

1. The 'opposite' to ambidextrous is ambilaevous or ambilevous, meaning having two left hands, as opposed to two right hands. It also means clumsy

2. There is a town in Ireland called Londonderry, although the locals prefer to call it Derry. If you look up Derry on Wikipedia, there is a lot of stuff about whether Londonderry or Derry is the appropriate name. The discussion is spoilt by the fact that someone has changed Londonderry to Derry thoughout, so it reads a bit like the 'I say tomato, you say tomato' song.

[udosuk]

I agree that wikipedia is not a 100% reliable research tool, I won't recommend students to use it for homework, projects, essays, etc... But it's free and easy to use, and 95%+ accurate (debatable)... Like in this case I just want to know what people could mean when they say "ambisinistrous"... A few clicks on the browser is definitely less stressful than digging out a 2000+ pages huge book and flipping and scanning through the tiny fonts...

If you drop the "wikipedia" and just google the word, you might find it in this so called "medical dictionary" in here... But something tells me it's not as authoritative as the more prestigious dictionaries in the field...

Any evidence "ambisinistrous" being a synonym of ambilevous is an incorrect usage?

[MCC]

I've found "ambisinistrous" on this web site.

http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd/


Re udosuk's web link, here's a link to what they say about themselves:

http://www.medilexicon.com/index.php?page=aboutus&title=About+Us


And some of the sites who are using their search facility:

http://www.medilexicon.com/thankyoulist.php


Whether "ambisinistrous" is a new word or not, so long as it's being used or cited, then it will eventually enter everyday usage.


MCC

[Bigtone53]

Spot on MCC. Ain't nothing static about English and while there may be misunderstandings when a new word first appears, with usage it will become part of the language. I still have to think twice when my teenage boy tells me something is 'really bad'. It means very good apparently

Accordingly, it is difficult to say that a new word is wrong or incorrect.

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that's all.'

[emm]

Widely recognised great dictionary site is Onelook.com. Enter a word and it will list every major dictionary reference including medical, scientific, computing, sports, obscure and slang dictionaries.

It also has a reverse dictionary - type a colon followed by what you think the word means eg : she pretends to know the meaning of big words but secretly looks them up in the dictionary and you'll get macroverbumsciolist.

Another great feature for would be poets - enter a word fragment with an asterisk in place of the missing letters and it will list all words of that configuration eg *oku gives 251 possibilities. Easy!

[mikejapan]

Emm
What? You mean you don't actually know words like"fugacious"? Your poems are all written by computer? Next you'll be telling me there's no Santa, the moon landings were hoaxes and there isn't a sky pixie.

[underquark]

Whether "ambisinistrous" is a new word or not, so long as it's being used or cited, then it will eventually enter everyday usage.

Unfortunately I can't remember where I first read the word but I believe it to have possibly been in existence for a few centuries. If I recall, it was when I was reading the biography of a famous surgeon or anatomist c 17th or 18th century. Said surgeon was reputed to be as good with his left hand as he was with his right. One of his pupils attempted to emulate his mentor by performing a procedure with his left hand and this apparently attracted the observation “I see… sir that you are ambisinistrous”.

Although I can't remember the name of the famous surgeon/anatomist it was most likely a man, was almost certainly prior to 20th century, most likely prior to 19th century and he was most likely British (or at least speaking in English). Ring any bells, anyone?

[MCC]

Not British but:

Leonardo da Vinci - Ambidrextrous - Anatomist.




MCC

[Hud]

This is so funny (to me) that I have to share it. My wife just noticed that it's Ash Wednesday and asked me if we had to eat pancakes for luck today. I thought whe was right, but wouldn't say one way or another. I looked it up and apparently, yesterday was Pancake Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday). Now I think I smell pancakes cooking in the other end of the house.

[MCC]

The reason that pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs can be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, sugar and flour are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes were therefore the perfect way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself.

Shrove Tuesday.


MCC

[emm]

So, it's Lent. I hope you're all abstaining.

Anyone in need of a little mid-Lent levity? This should help. I luurrve that baby!

[MCC]

How about a few optical illusions from wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilac_chaser

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_phenomenon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_illusion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barberpole_illusion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cafe_wall_illusion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraser_spiral_illusion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jastrow_illusion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanizsa_triangle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_square_puzzle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same_color

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zollner_illusion


MCC

[mikejapan]

Keeping the optical illusion theme going, here's one of my old puzzles. It's an optical illusion of two robots dancing. (It's a Zero X killer)

[Hud]

Some of these I hadn't seen:

----- The Value of a Drink

'Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink
I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think
about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes
and dreams . If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out
of work and their dreams would be shattered.
Then I say to myself, 'It is better that I drink this wine and let their
dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.'
~ Jack Handy

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell
happened to your bra and panties.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they
wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're
going to feel all day. '
~Dean Martin

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.'
~ Henny Youngman

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not.'
~ Stephen Wright

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk,
we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all
get drunk and go to heaven!'
~ Brian O'Rourke

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.'
~ Benjamin Franklin

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a fool.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Without question, the greatest invention in the
history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the
wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does
not go nearly as well with pizza.'
~ Dave Barry

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To some ! it's a six-pack, to me it's a Support Group. Salvation in a can!
~ Dave Howell

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers.
One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm.
Here's how it went:

'Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers.'

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.