SoD Glossary S

Glossary — S

salmontuna

large, hump-backed fish that spawns in the myriad fresh-water streams of southern Schirra with flesh like from-Pacifica salmon, but sized more like bluefin tuna (language=Yeibichai/native life)

Samoa

Malotuto'atasi o Samoa i Sisifo, aka Independent State of Western Samoa, or just Samoa, in the middle of the South Pacific (about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand) consists of two major islands, Upolu (1,119 square km) and Savai'i (1,707 square km), both high volcanic islands with fringing coral reefs and have numerous, swiftly flowing rivers with rapids and waterfalls, plus seven small islands, of which only Apolima and Manono are inhabited.

American Samoa, to the east, consists of seven volcanic islands and atolls, including the main island of Tutuila (135 square km), plus the three islands (100 km due east of Tutuila) of the Manu'a group, plus far to the east is the uninhabited Rose Atoll, and far to the north is another atoll, Swain's. It is thought the first Samoan inhabitants settled in the Manu'a Islands in about 1,300 BC. [Encyclopædia Britannica, cue/www=http://escapeartist.com/samoa/samoa.htm, cue/www=http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/countries/WSam.html]

sandkage

sand cake from-Danmark (language=Dansk)

sangoma

tribal healer/witch doctor (language=Swazi)

saola

spindlehorn, an ox from Vu Quang in Viet Nam, a shy, nocturnal animal discovered in 1992 (the sixth large mammal species found globally this century) by scientists from the World Wildlife Fund and the Viet Namese Ministry of Forestry (language=Tiê'ng Viê,t)

sapati ingera

the children are well (language=Maasai). The common response to kasserian ingera, saying that the children are well.

scatter-vert

an advertisement mailed indiscriminately to the membership of a meeting/will-be-heard (language=Yeibichai/slang)

schlemiel

fool (language=Deutsch)

schmetterling

butterfly (language=Deutsch); origin of the word "butterfly": in England centuries ago, most of the butterflies flitting around were yellow, looking just like little pats of butter flying through the air (according to Richard Cowan, entomologist at the Butterfly Pavilion & Insect Center, Westminster, Colorado)

schmooze

the dictionary says, "to converse informally," but I infer from this word an activity similar to "networking," where the conversations are intended to benefit the schmoozer (language=Yidish Daytsh)

scotchback

the space behind and above the throat of a chimney, especially important to making it draw well [The Foxfire Book] (language=American)

reflexive pronoun, which translates as "myself," "himself," "theirselves," and so on, but is not gender-specific, which makes it a very good pronoun to use for God, like The Tangent do (language=Latin)

sea-gull

a so-called "specialist" from consortium headquarters who flies into town on aloof wings, squawks corporate hype, drops shit on real people's lives, then soars away (language=American business slang)

sense poll

vote in will-hear discussion group about agreement with speaker-on-floor, on scale from 1 (complete disagreement) to 3 (neutral) to 5 (complete agreement) (language=Yeibichai/Em-Deh); denoted by:

speaker-name requests sense poll: number-of-participants active in Klatsch return rating-to-two-decimal-points rating =one of the following:

{mildly|strongly} in his favor
{mildly|strongly} against-his-position

See also pulse poll

sense-head

the fifth appendage of Yeibichai
    fauna took on the sensory organs and in some cases, fine motor control; see phylogeny
    on Yeibichai

serge de Nimes

literally "cloth of Nimes," original name for the cloth
    Americans called "denim" as early as 1864 (language=Français);
    the cloth was originally manufactured in Nimes, a town in southern France,
    where it was used for upholstery; also of interest, "jeans"
    derives from "genes" which derives from the denim pants worn by
    sailors from Genoa, Italia; and "dungaree" is a variation of a
    Hindi word to describe the pants worn by sailors from the port of Dungri in Bharat.
    [Francine Parnes, The Denver Post
    Fashion Editor, 03-Sep-98]

setripuu

cedar tree (language=Suomea)

Sevener

just short of three months on Gë,
    (115 days, 17 hours, 46 minutes, 40 seconds) (language=Yeibichai/telling
    time)

Shakespeareoke

similar to kareoke, only the performers read Shakespeare and the equipment
    projects them on an appropriate stage in appropriate costumes (language=Yeibichai/games)

shi-tang

short for gong-shi-tang
    (language=Zhongwen)

shichimencho

turkey (language=Kyotsu-go);
    means "Seven-faced birds" because of the baggy folds under their
    beaks

shmatte

literally, rag; by extension, "dress or garment; can be used as a
    compliment or insult" (language=Yidish Daytsh) (cue/www=http://www.asinine.com/essays/yiddish.html);
    but also, used herein as computerized outfit developed by Media
    Lab. "Brace yourself for what is being called the next revolution
    in technology — computers in your clothes. MIT's trendsetting Media Lab
    fired the first shot of the Wearable Computer future, where circuitry will
    be embedded in smart garments that can count calories, get heavier and
    lighter depeding on the climate, and change color according to your mood.
    What would you use them for? Just think of the various mobile gadgets we
    drag around: laptop computer, cellular phone, camcorder, blood-pressure
    monitor, pager, tape recorder, Walkman. One days, postulates Media
    Lab Prof. Alex Pentland, we might want to slip into a shmatte
    that handles all those tasks. Maybe the logic will be woven into the fabric
    itself. And get this: Computer clothes can be made washer-safe. 'Just be
    sure,' says Pentland, 'to unplug them first.' ... and never press
    'delete.'" With caption on picture of man in black togs and clear
    visor, "The Watchman outfit features a mini-camera in the visor that
    transmits images to a computer database. It takes the place of two eyes and
    a brain." [Newsweek excerpted by Parade]

shrye

shrill (verb, language=Yidish Daytsh: shrayik)

shuvuu

bird (language=Oyrat). Note on language: According to Encyclopædia
    Britannica, "The central Mongolian languages are usually divided into a
    western group, consisting of the closely related Oyrat (spoken in [Mongol
    Uls] and in the Sinkiang region of [Zhongguo])
    and Kalmyk ([Roosiya]), and an eastern group, consisting of the closely
    related Buryat ([Roossija])
    and Mongol ([Mongol Uls] and [Zhongguo])
    languages. Outlying languages— Moghol (spoken in Afghanistan), Daghur
    (Inner [Mongol Uls], [Zhongguo]),
    Yellow Uighur (Kansu province, [Zhongguo]),
    and the related groups of Monguor (Tu), Tung-hsiang, and Bao'an (Bonan),
    which are spoken on the border between the provinces of Kansu and Tsinghai—exhibit
    archaic features. All of the central, but none of the outlying, languages
    have written forms." Since my reference to this word implied ignorance
    of this subtleties, I used Oyrat as the "preferred" of Mongol Uls,
    aka Mongolia.

sikurluk

rotten "melting" ice floe (language=Inuit); cue/www=http://www.urbanlegends.com/language/eskimo_words_for_snow_derby.html

sinapu

wolf (language=Noochew)

situ

unique physical identifier
    for a device connected to and comprising the Mirnaya
    Direvnya (language=Yeibichai/technical
    jargon)

sleep-and-eat

see gong-she (language=Yeibichai/slang)

sodality

"1: a grouping, association, or joined together based on common
    purpose or interest : BROTHERHOOD, COMMUNITY <whether ape hordes are
    blood kin or mere territorial sodalities — Weston La Barre>
    <federal ~> <body of ardent and vocal supporters and a formidable ~
    of hostile critics — R.J.B. Sellar> 2: an organized society or
    fellowship : FRATERNITY, CLUB <endless ... sodalities into which
    people brigade themselves John Buchan>; specifically : a lay
    association of the Roman Catholic Church organized for devotional or
    charitable purposes 3: obs : a chapel used for sodality meetings
    and devotions" [Encyclopædia Britannica; see cue/www=britannica.com]
    (language=English)

Something-Roughly-in-the-Middle Pattern

From Center for Environmental Structure's A Pattern Language:
    "A public space without a middle is quite likely to stay empty. [a
    place to protect your back even in the middle; geometric power; mandala
    effect; use spots naturally untraversed] Therefore: Between the natural
    paths which cross a public square or courtyard or a piece of common land
    choose something to stand roughly in the middle: a fountain, a tree, a
    statue, a clock-tower with seats, a windmill, a bandstand. Make it something
    which gives a strong and steady pulse to the square, drawing people in
    toward the center. Leave it exactly where it falls between the paths; resist
    the impulse to put it exactly in the middle."

spurrey

a small white-flowered European weed (Spergula arvensis) of the pink
    family with whorled filiform leaves; also : any of several related and
    similar herbs [Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary; see cue/www=Merriam-Webster
    OnLine]

'stick

a constable because of the dreamsticks
    they carry for subduing culprits (language=Yeibichai/slang)

strategist

person responsible for developing and/or modifying the direction of a combine's
    future. In the late Twentieth Century, especially in the U.S.A., the same
    project manager (PM) tasked with tactical duties is also responsible for
    strategic thinking, and since today is more important than tomorrow, the PM
    seldom gets around to strategic thinking. In those cases where the project
    leader is the tactician, the
    PM is supposed to work on strategic issues, but most often spends her or his
    time handling the corporation's bureaucracy (language=Yeibichai/business)

superparamagnetic effect

that point at which discrete magnetic areas of a disk's surface will be so
    tiny that their magnetic orientation will be unstable at room temperature;
    the physical limit for
    miniaturization of computer disks [Rocky
    Mountain News, 30-Mar-98] (language=American technical jargon)

su-she

dormitory (language=Zhongwen);
    part of a gong-she

sympathize

to share or understand another's feelings; been there, done that; walk a
    mile in his moccasins; contrast with empathize