Capice?
Main Entry:con·no·ta·tion
Pronunciation:\ˌkä-nə-ˈtā-shən\
Function:noun
Date:1532
1 a: the suggesting of a meaning by a word apart from the thing it explicitly names or describes b: something suggested by a word or thing : implication
2: the signification of something
3: an essential property or group of properties of a thing named by a term in logic — compare denotation
— con·no·ta·tion·al \-shnəl, -shə-nəl\ adjective
If I had the choice to live in either Dictionopolis or Digitopolis, I would without hesitation choose the land of letters. And my supporting argument is simple - numbers are Boooooooooor-ing, with a capital B! (Now see how much cooler that sounds than, "Letters are booooooooooor-ing with a capital 7?" Game, Set, Match.)
Ok, fine. If you need more to convince you...words are bendable; numbers are not. Words are colorful; numbers are not. Words are Arial and Lucinda and Batang, and numbers are open tag blech courier close tag blech.
I can hear the cogs turning in one irish Father's mind. He is likely to point out that numbers and words are kissing cousins, that every word is comprised of a certain number of consonants and vowels and total letters, that every letter has a numeric place in the alphabet, and that words are only as colorful as their corresponding RGB numbers and that ULTIMATELY it is dinkin' with those numbers that controls the shade and hue of those same colorful words.
Well, the good Father can take the number 4 and insert one of its six acute angles into that particularly sensitive spot where the soft undersides of his gluteus maximus curve inward to create a dark cavern where no person in their right mind would willingly venture. (How's that for bending your mind to a place it did not want to go, hm? You are all now picturing the irish lad with the number 4 protruding from his ass.)
See how much fun you can have with words? (and numbers, too, apparently, if you know how to abu...I mean, use them properly)
New words are constantly being created; old words fall into disuse and are retired, but they never truly go away. For instance, did you know that monkeyboy is sinistral and, I suspish, a tiny bit misopedic?
On the other hand, what can you do to increase the number of numbers except count to eleventy gazillion, then add 1 more?
Game, Set, Match - booyah!
posted by wood_song at 12:44 PM
4 Comments:
As the other Irish lass would say,
"7, 7, 7!".
I met a Sicilian mathematician the other day. He made me an offer I couldn't understand.
12:44 AM
Damn those were funny. (Oh sorry Father, I mean "darn.")
I especially liked Peter's response to expanding equations and the response to "Find x." Sometimes, like when I have to add up my tab on Wednesday nights, I feel a little like c is very much equal to a hanging.
10:33 AM
First off, I'm sure monkeyboy would resent the implication that he's an arrogant fascist with an inflated opinion of himself, or that he hates kids.
Secondly, there are a finite number of word, or word possibilities, in the English language. There can only be 26 one-letter words, 676 two-letter words, 17,576 three-letter words, 456,976 four-letter words, etc. etc. For every number that you supply, I will always be able to come up with a bigger number; can you say the same about words :-)?
1:21 PM
Well, SOMEone's got their Canadian/ukranian panties in a bunch....
I'll address your first and second points together. I said a tiny bit misopedic. You should know from experience that regardless of what you put in my mouth, I can make it bigger; this includes words, which are never more than a short portmanteau away from coming into being.
You present a good point, though – when provided with a number, any number, both you and I can easily create a bigger number. I am confident that at least one of us is capable of completing the second part of that challenge...to take a word the other provides and come up with a new, if not bigger, one.
You're a bit of a geek, you know? The fact that you took the time to attempt kicking my lexiconical ass is rather a turn-on. Shall we share a slice of pi?
3:37 PM
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