#definitions

[mapsontheweb]

Definitions of America.

#maps #americas #geography #definitions

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

#polls #incognito polls #anonymous #tumblr polls #tumblr users #questions #polls about language #submitted nov 20 #language #definitions #vocabulary

[yesterdaysprint]

The Austin American, Texas, September 21, 1934

#1930s #vintage #history #definitions #telephone

[wronghands1]

#autumn #phonics #fall #phonetics #definitions #language #pronounciation #speech #wronghands #webcomic #john atkinson

[gnc-culture-is]

Wait there's a neutral version of sir and ma'am?

Oh there are several! None are official yet, but I tend to prefer Sai as title and honorific because while it sounds authoritative, it doesn’t sound harsh.

Others include Tiz [1], Ind [2], Mir [3], and Mistrum[4], though I encourage anyone who sees this to add the variations they’ve seen over the years, and any they may have come up with themselves!

[1] derived from, and short for Citizen

[2] Derived from, and short for Individual

[3] Mixture of sir and madam

[4] From the “Mist” part of Mistress [what Mrs is long for] and Mister, with the Latin neutral ending “-trum”

#definitions #not gnc culture #mod rob

[pratchettquotes]

"Smeems says he keeps himself to himself. He says he thinks the boy is cunning."

"Oh, good," said Vetinari, still seeming to find something totally engrossing in the layout of playing pieces.

"Good?"

"We need cunning people in Ankh-Morpork. We have a Street of Cunning Artificers, do we not?"

"Well, yes, but--"

"Ah, then it is context that has power," said Vetinari, turning around with a look of unmasked delight. "Did I say that I am a politician? Cunning: artful, sly, deceptive, shrewd, astute, cute, on the ball, and, indeed, arch. A word for any praise and every prejudice. Cunning...is a cunning word."

Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals

#havelock vetinari #mustrum ridcully #nutt #natchbull smeems #character description #self awareness #cunning #intelligence #politics #word games #word play #definitions #etymology #context #street of cunning artificers #any praise and every prejudice #a cunning word

[thirdity]

The idea of “definition,” with its suggestion of the scientific, can be associated easily with the idea of “mastery” — which, in turn, can be easily associated with the idea of “origin” and “craft.” But the fact is, we do not master an art — and certainly we do not master it through knowing the “the proper definition” or “mastering” its “origins” or simply learning its “craft.” [...] The more we study and dwell on (and in) an art, the more the art masters us.

Samuel R. Delany, "The Politics of Paraliterary Criticism"

#language #words #definitions #meaning #art #practice #quotes #Delany #Samuel R. Delany #The Politics of Paraliterary Criticism

[j-nn-ly]

quaintrelle

(n.) a woman who emphasizes a life of passion, expressed through personal style, leisurely pastimes, charm, and cultivation of life's pleasures

#word #words #definitions #dictionary #literature #reading #vocabulary #vocab #education #quotes #books #quote #life #lifequotes #text #quaintrelle #woman #womanhood #feminine #cottagecore #homemaker #homemaking

[odinsblog]

#pele #brazil #soccer #language #exceptional #definitions #⚽️

[polyamorouscultureis]

What is a QPR and how is that different from friendship? Maybe it’s because I’m arospec, but I haven’t heard a definition that makes sense to me. Thanks!

People define QPRs in many ways! My understanding is that it is a deeper, more intimate type of friendship that is somewhere between a romantic and platonic relationship. From an outsider's perspective a QPR may seem like "more than friends" but the people involved don't feel romantic feelings for each other.

If any of my followers want to correct me/expand on this that would be so appreciated!

#polyam asks #definitions #polyamory #polyam #lgbtq #polyamorous #poly #polycule

[apenitentialprayer]

There Is No Maternal Instinct In Humans

By definition, an instinct is a behavior that does not have to be learned, shows almost no variation between members of its species, and manifests in a rigid sequence of behaviors performed in response to stimulus. It's also called a fixed action pattern, or FAP. In bears and pigeons, hibernation and homing are instincts. In some species, caring for newborns is instinctive. [...] A rat has a maternal instinct. So, too, does the grayback goose, who immediately pushes any round object near her nest inside to incubate it, no matter if it is a billiard ball placed there by an impish ethologist or an actual egg. Round object (stimulus) produces rolling behavior (response). The less intelligent an animal, the more its survival depends on instinct. In contrast, almost every aspect of primate behavior is mediated by a larger and more developed brain. Evolution has equipped us with a neocortex that requires us to learn in order to survive. With a neocortex, biology remains relevant but is no longer determinant. Natural selection ultimately favored flexibility. Animals that can rapidly adapt to shifting conditions have an advantage over those that can survive only a narrow range of circumstances. [...] The neocortex allows flexibility, but the loss of instinct also comes at a cost. Charles Snowdon, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, has spent his career studying marmosets and tamarins, cooperatively breeding New World monkeys. In most groups of tamarins, the young help to take care of babies, while in a minority of groups, they do not have this opportunity. In a field study of tamarins without prior infant-care experience, Snowdon and his team discovered that babies born to first-time parents never survived. They guessed that naive mothers and fathers didn't know enough either to parent on their own or to accept help from more experienced kin. Later, from comparative data, his team discovered that the survival rate was much better in groups where young siblings helped out with babies. Across primates, infants born to inexperienced parents have higher risk of death. Snowdon explains, "When they don't have experience with infant-care skills, there's a very low breeding success rate. Parenting skills are learned. They're not innate, for males and females equally. Both are clumsy parents. [...] You have to learn to share care of your baby[...]"

- Darcy Lockman (All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers, and the Myth of Equal Partnership, pages 71, 71-72, 73-74). Slightly reformatted to avoid wall of text, bolded emphases added.

#biology #parenting #parenthood #feminism #definitions #human development #evolution

[poll-position]

#poll #polls #words #grammar #definitions

[emilywrites185]

10 Additional Words to Love

Here are ten more words I found to be helpful. May they help or inspire you on your writing adventures!

Abase (Verb)- To lower in esteem, degrade, to humble. To behave in a way that belittles or degrades someone or yourself.

Brazen (Adj)- Bold and without shame. Made of brass.

Chasten (Verb)- To have a restraining or moderating effect on.

Demure (Adj)- Sober or serious in manner. Reserved.

Flair (Noun)- A special or instinctive aptitude or ability for doing something well. Stylish and originality.

Harangue (Noun)- A lengthy and aggressive speech. (Verb)- To lecture someone in an aggressive and critical manner.

Lissome (Adj)- Thin, supple, graceful.

Morass (Noun)- An area of muddy or boggy ground. A complicated or confusion situation.

Opaque (Adj)- Not able to be seen through; not clear or lucid; dense, stupid.

Wily (Adj)- Skilled at gaining an advantage, especially through deceit. Sly, cunning

#vocabulary #writeblr #writers of tumblr #word choice #word list #list of vocab #list of words #adjectives #nouns #verbs #grammar #definitions #vocab #writeblur #words #writing community

[wronghands1]

#humor #wronghands #webcomic #john atkinson #wordplay #phonics #phonetics #speech #pronounciation #words #geology #definitions

[cheshirelibrary]

#cheshire library #definitions #reading #love of reading #love of books

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

The difference between "Ableism" and "Disablism"

(Summarized from Ableism vs. Disablism, on YouTube,* from Jessica Kellgren-Fozard)

"Ableism" is a bias (often unconscious and unconsidered) in favor of a socially constructed able-bodied and/or able-minded "norm."

"Disablism" is an active and deliberate discrimination against those classified as having a physical and/or intellectual disability.

So a rock band deciding to make flashing lights a key part of their stage show, and the concert venue failing to put a warning about that on the website when you go to buy tickets are both examples of (very dangerous) ableism, because they just don't consider the likelihood of an epileptic person or autistic person being in their audience.

And a school board making it a policy that any student with an Individual Education plan must ride in a segregated school bus and enter the school through a separate door, and eat lunch at a different time than the "mainstream" students (calls out the Chesapeake City Public School board) is an example of disablism, because that's a deliberate policy that excludes the students marked as "disabled" from the general society.

Also, you're also more likely to see "Disablism" used in the U.K. and the British Commonwealth countries, and "Ableism" is more likely to be used in the U.S..

Hope this was helpful.

*~17 minutes. Properly closed captioned. Eye contact. Sponsorship ad roll in the middle.

#Ableism #disablism #definitions #vocabulary #civil rights #YouTube channel recommendation