Official New Word

[venta]

Well, now.

Prawn crackers. Extensive research has provided us, finally, with words to describe the texture of these ubiquitous snacks as they age.

As megamole pointed out, the scientific term is antiquocartonaceous. That is, however, too long for everyday.

Opinion seems exactly divided (yes, it is, Megamole voted in a comment rather than via the poll) between scrudgy and squnchy. I guess they're regional variations on the same word, or something.

Of course, this now means I owe pints to wechsler (nominator of scrudgy) and to both dmh and beckyl (nominators of squnchy). BeckyL, I'll see you down the pub sometime. Wechsler and DMH will probably have to wait til Whitby.

So, today's word is scrudgy/squnchy. Use it three times in conversation, and once in writing. When it makes it into the OED, remember you heard it here first.

In other news, I watched a kettle this morning.
It boiled.
So disappointing.

Comments

[verlaine.livejournal.com]

Is a kettle a pot, technically speaking?

And, on a different note, if you can boil a kettle just by watching it, are you or have you ever been the little girl from Stephen King's Firestarter?!

[wechsler.livejournal.com]

That, or Asok (http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20030916.html)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Is a kettle a pot, technically speaking?

Of course it is. A pot is any of several scombroid vessels (especially genera Tupperware and earthenware) intermediate between the smaller pillboxes and the larger vats.

have you ever been the little girl from Stephen King's Firestarter

Shhhhh!

<smoulders gently>

[mr-flay.livejournal.com]

The way to guarantee that a watched pot won't boil is by not applying the appropriate energy (electrical, gas, telepathic, whatever). That way, you can spend all day claiming that you're proving an adage safe in the knowledge that you won't be proven wrong.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Nah, I was feeling rebellious this morning, and likely to flout received wisdom and accepted proverbs.

Later I might run with scissors.

[mr-flay.livejournal.com]

You might want to try that while sucking a lollipop, just to be sure...

[thegreenman.livejournal.com]

argle

Casting vote?

[megamole.livejournal.com]

I cast the two winners, "scrudgy" or "squnchy", onto my local IRC channel for consideration.

The overwhelming winner was "scrudgy".

Just FYI.