Building Vocabulary

[Fenril]

WORDS. GOD I LOVE BOOKS WORDS.
I really like weird words, and I really like seeing how they're used!
So post a bunch of nifty weird words, and use them in a sentence too!

Today, mine will be kerfuffle, since it's just so fun to say.
If someone else had wanted to use that one, I hope it won't cause a kerfuffle. :3c

[Clockwork Pyrite]

Word of the day thread huh?

Alright, mine would be Enchiridion.

It means a reference text carried in one's hand, especially if said text relates to music or theology.

[Forte]

Forte's word of the day is "Halation".

Defined as (noun) "The action of light surrounding an object as if to make a halo", or as "The blurring of light around a bright area of a photographic image, or on a television screen."

As used in a sentence, "The old CRT television set was nearing its end, as evidenced by the halation on the right half of the screen."

[c0mp1337]

c0mp's word of the day: Swashbuckler
The word "swashbuckler", generally describes a protagonist who is heroic and idealistic to the bone and who rescues damsels in distress

[MegaRock35]

Dastard, noun. [das-terd]
A mean, sneaking coward; the noun form of dastardly.
Example: Instead of fighting fair, that dastard threw glass dust in the eyes of his opponents, rendering them blind.

And because vocabulary is fun, here's another, slightly less obscure word.

Thrice, adverb. [thrahys]
Three times, as in succession; on three occasions or in three ways.
Example: Thrice is such a lovely word ,and because it is underutilized, thrice shall be used in this sentence thrice.

[lern]

schadenfreude

happiness at the misfortune of others

[Fenril]

Yaaay words! . u .

Cogent, adjective.
Clear, logical, and convincing.

Paradigm, noun.
A typical example or pattern of something; a model.

"It's a difficult concept, so let me see if I can present you with a cogent paradigm."

[Death Dark]

Determinism means different things depending on where you're talking about it, but the end idea is the same.

To give you the first idea, let's take a State Machine.  On input, the machine changes to a particular "state."  This can be represented as what's stored in memory, indicator lights, or anything that can be measured.  There are a few types of these, but one of the categories is Deterministic (or, alternatively, Non-Deterministic).

Deterministic State Machines (or Finite Automata) have a very straightforward representation.  From their diagrams, you can easily judge, based on input, what the output (state) will be.  Given the string "010010101," you can say exactly which state it will be.

Non-Deterministic State Machines have a similar representation, but if there is any state for whom a given input may have two or more results, then the machine is Non-Deterministic, as its final state can't be determined before running it.

In Philosophy, Determinism refers to the universe.  If the universe is Non-Deterministic, then events can't be determined beforehand or aren't already determined.  These are the two ways of looking at it, though they have the same end implications.

The issue comes when we ask "Is the Universe Deterministic?"  If yes, then given the exact state of Everything, and the input of Everything, what happens next can be determined.  This translates down to the small scale, and allows the future to be predicted based on understanding relevant data.  It also rules out the concept of free-will..

Even if the universe is non-deterministic, the problem isn't solved.  Simply because there are parts that cannot be determined, this has no bearing on Everything.  Only one transition has to be unpredictable for the whole mechanism to be classified as non-deterministic.

[MegaRock35]

Platitudinous, noun. [plat-i-tood-n-uhs]
Flat, dull, or trite; boring.
Example: I would enjoy math class more if it weren't so platitudinous.

[Death Dark]

Theory (science) -- a hypothesis that has undergone incredible scrutiny and is supported by a large amount of evidence either by observation or experimentation.  Many times, the theory is vastly different from the hypothesis that originally was created, as the hypothesis would have been adjusted to better describe the outcome.

Theorem (math) -- a conjecture that has been proven to be true in all cases.

A Theory can never be said to be absolutely true, and a Theorem can only be said to be absolutely true.  A Theory, however, is developed and tested such that the probability that it's correct (true) approaches and is mostly indistinguishable from 1 (100%, for those who don't know percentages).

[Fenril]

Superfluous, adjective
Excessive, extravagant, obsolete; spending or possessing more than is sufficient or required

"Deedee-kins offers superfluous explanations, but they're usually interesting."

[Super Ultra Shroom]

Colloquium

A group of scholars.

[MegaRock35]

I am quite fond of this word, though I've pronounced it wrong for the longest time:

Cacophony, noun. [kuh-kof-uh-nee]
A discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds.
Example: The conductor hushed the cacophony emanating from the crowd before the orchestra began playing.

[Clockwork Pyrite]

Prophylactics 1: A medicine or course of action used to prevent disease
2: A condom

Trattoria - An Italian style eating establishment.

[Death Dark]

I am quite fond of this word, though I've pronounced it wrong for the longest time:

Cacophony, noun. [kuh-kof-uh-nee]
A discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds.
Example: The conductor hushed the cacophony emanating from the crowd before the orchestra began playing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1G5BkzzfT4


Pantheon n. - a collection of gods, generally in mythology.  The Greek gods taken as a whole would be a Pantheon (i.e. the Greek Pantheon).  Sometimes refers to more than just gods, so that there's a Christian and Jewish Pantheon as well.