Let's learn something.

[yudansha]

See that light bulb light up? I don't know if it's been posted, but there might be a need for this as curiosity might be running wild around here.

Official Dictionary. Let's start our compilation.

Word #1:

Era: a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.

Now let me stress something: Steven Seagal's release of Belly of the Beast is not an era. Belly of the Beast was released in 2003. The year of 2004 is not even over yet. Belly of the Beast did not mark the beginning of a "distinctive character" and did not translate into a "period" of time. There is no such a thing as Belly of the Beast era. Such misconceptions make people look foolish and make me laugh. Sounds like one saw a word that sounded new, exciting, and perhaps complicated and tried to use it in a sentence. Except, that the use of such a word made the sentence incomprehensible, but yet ignorance showed no such recognition from the creator of that sentence.

Now let's move on to another word. Any suggestions?

 

[tora]

Another word.
Cake:
1. A sweet baked food made of flour, liquid, eggs, and other ingredients, such as raising agents and flavorings.
2. A flat rounded mass of dough or batter, such as a pancake that is baked or fried.
3. A flat rounded mass of hashed or chopped food that is baked or fried; a patty.
4. A shaped or molded piece, as of soap or ice.
5. A layer or deposit of compacted matter: a cake of grime in the oven.


History of cakes.
Cakes are made from various combinations of refined flour, some form of shortening, sweetening, eggs, milk, leavening agent, and flavoring. There are literally thousands of cakes recipes (some are bread-like and some rich and elaborate) and many are centuries old. Cake making is no longer a complicated procedure. Baking utensils and directions have been so perfected and simplified that even the amateur cook may easily become and expert baker. There are five basic types of cake, depending on the substance used for leavening. The most primitive peoples in the world began making cakes shortly after they discovered flour. In medieval England, the cakes that were described in writings were not cakes in the conventional sense. They were described as flour-based sweet foods as opposed to the description of breads, which were just flour-based foods without sweetening. Bread and cake were somewhat interchangeable words with the term "cake" being used for smaller breads. The earliest examples were found among the remains of Neolithic villages where archaeologists discovered simple cakes made from crushed grains, moistened, compacted and probably cooked on a hot stone. Today's version of this early cake would be oatcakes, though now we think of them more as a biscuit or cookie. The Greeks called cakes plakous - coming from the word for "flat." Their cakes were usually combinations of nuts and honey. They also had a cake called satura, which was a flat heavy cake. During the Roman period, the name for cake (derived from the Greek term,) became "placenta." They were also called libum by the Romans, and were primarily used as an offering to their gods. Placenta was more like a cheesecake, baked on a pastry base, or sometimes inside a pastry case. As time went on, the terms "bread" and "cake" became interchangeable. The words themselves are of Anglo Saxon origin, and it's probable that initially the term cake was used for the smaller breads. Cakes were usually baked for special occasions because they were made with finest and most expensive ingredients available to the cook. The wealthier you were, the more likely you might consume cake on a more frequent basis. By the middle of the 18th century, yeast had fallen into disuse as a raising agent for cakes in favor of beaten eggs. Once as much air as possible had been beaten in, the mixture would be poured into molds, often very elaborate creations, but sometimes as simple as two tin hoops, set on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. It is from these cake hoops that our modern cake pans developed. Cakes were considered a symbol of well being by early American cooks on the east coast, with each region of the country having their own favorites. By the early 19th century, due to the Industrial Revolution, baking ingredients became more affordable and readily available because of mass production and the railroads. Modern leavening agents, such as baking soda and baking powder were invented. In 1835, pre-packaged "Royal Baking Powder" came into production combining bicarbonate of soda with cream of tartar.

 

[Serena]

Say it with me now.....

SAR·CASM ( P ) Pronunciation Key (särkzm)
n.
A cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound.
A form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule.
The use of sarcasm.

[Late Latin sarcasmus, from Greek sarkasmos, from sarkazein, to bite the lips in rage, from sarx, sark-, flesh.]

sarcasm

n : witty language used to convey insults or scorn; "he used sarcasm to upset his opponent"; "irony is wasted on the stupid"; "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"--Johathan Swift [syn: irony, satire, caustic remark]


In the dictationary next to this word, there was a picture of Bugs Bunny, me, and some other character I didn't know.

 

[yudansha]

Excellent contributions!

I'm so knowledgeble on cakes now that you wouldn't believe!

Oh and Serena, without that Latin definition, I don't know how in the world I would ever have understood the meaning. (that was me trying to sound 'sarcastic' as learned from Serena's contribution to the thread)

One more thing, Serena, could you reference your material there? I'd like to get the dictionary that has pictures supplying the definitions. If you could point me into the direction of the store where I could get it, I'd be very greatful.

Great job gals! (and I'm not being sarcastic here )

 

[Serena]

Thanks, yudansha!

......One more thing, Serena, could you reference your material there? I'd like to get the dictionary that has pictures supplying the definitions. If you could point me into the direction of the store where I could get it, I'd be very greatful.

Great job gals! (and I'm not being sarcastic here )

I would, yudansha, but then everyone would know what we both look like.
(And I'm not being sarcastic here either. )

 

[Amos Stevens]

Snow definitions

[n] a narcotic (alkaloid) extracted from coca leaves; used as a surface anesthetic or taken for pleasure; can become addictive
[n] English writer of novels about moral dilemmas in academe (1905-1980)
[n] precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
[n] a layer of snowflakes (white crystals of frozen water) covering the ground
[v] conceal one's true motives from esp. by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end; "He bamboozled his professors into thinking that he knew the subject well"
[v] fall as snow; "It was snowing all night"

 

[Serena]

Amos, you are TOOOOO funny! Good one!

 

[yudansha]

LOOOL Amos! A narcotic and a writer ... what a snow!

Serena, yeah no sarcasm noted ... but maybe you could still tell us ... you can whisper so that not everybody hears.

 

[Jules]

Addiction: the quality or state of being addicted; esp: compulsive need for habit-forming drugs.

cold turkey....break my computer!

 

[tora]

LOOOOOOOOL Amos...you're sure being sarcastic.I want some snow now too

 

[Amos Stevens]

Me sarcastic? hee hee

Me just want the white cold stuff that falls everywhere but phx!

 

[tora]

It doesn't fall in Estonia though.But rain does.Do I sense some sarcasm here?

 

[Serena]

This was inspired by some really wise man in chat the other night.
Or would that be wiseguy?

SUCKER:

1. One that sucks.
2. Informal: One who is easily deceived; a dupe.
3. Slang: An unspecified thing.
4. A person. Used as a generalized term of reference, often as an intensive: He's a mean sucker.
5. Lollipop. (I can't believe this is #5. )
6. A piston or piston valve, as in a suction pump or syringe.
7. A tube or pipe, such as a siphon, through which something is sucked.
8. Zoology. An organ or other structure adapted for sucking nourishment or for clinging to objects by suction.
9. Botany. A secondary shoot produced from the base or roots of a woody plant that gives rise to a new plant.

 

[Isa Marie]

Hey Yudansha !!!

Nice thread you created here, eh? I guess more days, less days..this will be hot !!! I realize how lots of things we will learn here !! All sort of them !!LOL Thanks, creative !!

 

[Serena]

It doesn't fall in Estonia though.But rain does.Do I sense some sarcasm here?

Sarcasm? Here?
See post #3 if you're still not sure.

 

[yudansha]

This thread turned out to be very educational!

Serena, was that dedicated to Lollipop?


"SUCKER: 1. One that sucks."
What a good way to start defining things!

Now that makes me wonder about the word "layer" (one that gets laid? )


And thanks, Isa.

 

[Serena]

No, not dedicated to Lollipop.

This thread turned out to be very educational!
Serena, was that dedicated to Lollipop?

"SUCKER: 1. One that sucks."
What a good way to start defining things!

Now that makes me wonder about the word "layer" (one that gets laid? )....

Educational? Again, see post #3.

And you know I had to rush right out and look up layer. I was rather disappointed.

LAYER:

1. One that lays: a tile layer. A hen kept for laying eggs.
2. A single thickness of a material covering a surface or forming an overlying part or segment: a layer of dust on the windowsill; a cake with four layers.
A usually horizontal deposit or expanse; a stratum: layers of sedimentary rock; a layer of warm air.
3. A depth or level: a poem with several layers of meaning.
Botany. A stem that is covered with soil for rooting while still part of the living plant.
4. An item of clothing worn over or under another.

 

[yudansha]

Not educational?

Are you kidding me? I'm learning so much here! (and now, see post #3 )

See, and if it wasn't for you, I'd think that layer meant something else.

 

[Isa Marie]

Are you kidding me? I'm learning so much here!

Me too, just enjoying! Great Yudansha !!

 

[Serena]

.....See, and if it wasn't for you, I'd think that layer meant something else.

I know, but come on, admit it--aren't you just a wee bit disappointed too?