Spanish Word of the Day

Quote: Wizard

But not impossible. Almost every else has managed to switch to the metric system except us.

Almost. The fact is lots of things still employ Imperial measurements the wrold over. Screws, for example. Paint is sold almost exclusively by the gallon. Water and space heaters are rated in BTUs.

And what about latter measurements? A light year, a parsec, a barrel of oil?

Bonus points, what does "parsec" mean? The word, not the unit.

Speaking of parsec, the word "second" has up to six meanings in English

second (adjctive) "next after first," c.1300, from Latin secundus
second (noun 1a) "one-sixtieth of a minute of degree," also
second (noun 1b) "sixtieth part of a minute of time,"
second (verb) 1580s, "to support or represent in a duel, fight, etc.," from Latin secundare
second (noun 2) "assistant, supporter," 1580s, from second (verb)

Being a Latin word it has cognates in all languages secundus=>segundo=>second

Does it have all six meaning in Spanish as well?

Quote: Nareed

Bonus points, what does "parsec" mean? The word, not the unit.

Damn. Somebody please take away my astronomy merit badge and make me do 50 push-ups. First I think that Triton is a moon of Saturn and now this. I'm really ashamed of myself. Anyway, I know what a persec is, but I forgot what the "par" stood for. I just looked it up.

Quote: Pacomartin

Does it have all six meaning in Spanish as well?

I don't know about the last two.

Since everyone who might answer has given up already, I'll let it be known "parsec" is short for "parallax-second" or "parallax of one arc-second." It's used in astronomy to quickly determine distances in some cases. It's about 3.26 light years.

Quote: Nareed

I don't know about the last two.

DRAE provides this definition
segundo En el boxeo, persona que ayuda y atiende al púgil antes del combate o en las pausas dentro del cuadrilátero.



In English, the "second" is not just about boxing, but is also the man who attempts to first resolve the dispute, and if it cannot be resolved they help see that the duel is fair.

Quote: Wizard

Damn. Somebody please take away my astronomy merit badge and make me do 50 push-ups.

You know, I've half a mind to demand you do all those push-ups at WoVCon right before lunch ;)

Quote:

First I think that Triton is a moon of Saturn and now this.

That's where a little bit of Classical mythology comes in handy. While the naming of astronomical objects is haphazard and capricious in many ways, the planets are all anmed for old gods. Some of their satellites, though not nearly all, are named for other mythological persons or creatures related to them. Ergo Triton must be a moon of Neptune, god of the seas (though I could be wrong).

BTW Uranus is just visible to the naked eye, but it moves so slowly against the background stars that no one recognized it as a planet until the telescope came along. It was discovered, as a planet, by William herschell, the famed German-Brittish astronomer. He initially named it George's Sidum (George's Star) after King George <roll eyes>.

It's a good thing naming celestial objects after politicians never took off. Still, there's a crater on the Moon named after a Spaniard or Portuguese King Alphonse the Wise (oh, well).

Quote: Nareed

You know, I've half a mind to demand you do all those push-ups at WoVCon right before lunch ;)

How about if I do 200 over the course of the entire lunch to completely clear my debt? I'm sure I owe a lot more than 200. Maybe I can throw in a few Hail Marys or something. I can do only about 40 at a time so I'll need to space them apart?

Fecha: 10-1-14
Palabra: confabular

Today's SWD means to plot.

The assignment for the advanced readers is to confirm or deny a common etymology with other words that contain "fab" like fabulous and fabricate.

Ejemplo time.

Tienes cuidado, por miedo de que el Coronel Klink descubra que estamos confabulando una fuga. = Be careful, lest Colonel Klink discover we are plotting an escape.

Quote: Wizard

The assignment for the advanced readers is to confirm or deny a common etymology with other words that contain "fab" like fabulous and fabricate.

Yes to fabulous and fable in English.
No to fabricate.
Yes to haber in Spanish.

Quote: Wizard

Today's SWD means to plot.

It means to plot at an illicit activity only if used "refexively".
Se confabuló con Colonel Klink . (He plotted with Coronel Klink ).

I am not exactly sure what it means when used as an intransitive verb.
DRAE says when talking about two people "Tratar algo entre ellas"

"Tratar" is a difficult word to translate. I think the implication is that it is a some kind of deal between two people, but it might be a shared confidence. Nareed will have to help.

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Incidently, confabular in English means "Of or pertaining to confabulation"

Confabulation means
1) A casual conversation; a chat.
2) (psychology) A fabricated memory believed to be true.

It is one of those words that businessmen use in abbreviated form to make their simple activity sound more lofty. "The representatives are having a confab in the bar tonight."

Quote: Pacomartin

It means to plot at an illicit activity only if used "refexively".

Interesante.

Here is how I found the word. Try to guess the book it is from without searching.

Se decía tambien que last ratas, tan problemáticas durante el invierno, se habían confabulado con Bola de Nieve.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, how do people wearing monocles, like Klink above, keep them from falling off? And why do we never see people in real life wearing them?

Quote: Wizard

Try to guess the book it is from without searching.

Animal Farm.