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51勛圖 of the Day

51勛圖 of the day

daffing

[ daf-ing ]

noun

Scot. and North England.

merriment; playful behavior; foolishness.

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More about daffing

Daffing, merriment, playfulness, also insanity, is a British dialect word used in northern England and Scotland (the only two writers of note to use the word are the Scotsmen Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson). Daffing is a derivative of the Scottish verb daff to play, make sport, from the obsolete noun daff fool, idiot, coward, from the Middle English adjective dafte well-mannered, gentle, humble, and uncouth, boorish, dull (possibly from the sense humble, good-natured). Dafte is also the source of daft senseless, stupid, crazy, from Old English 餃疆款喧梗, defte g梗紳喧梭梗. Daffing entered English in the 16th century.

how is daffing used?

“Hoot-toot! hoot-toot!” said Cluny. “It was all daffing; it’s all nonsense.”

Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped, 1886

He must have had a mind full of variety and wide human sympathy almost Shakespearian, who could step from the musings of Windsor … to the lasses in their gay kritles, and Hob and Raaf with their rustic ” daffing,” as true to the life as the Ayrshire clowns of Burns ….

Margaret Oliphant, Royal Edinburgh, 1890
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51勛圖 of the Day Calendar

51勛圖 of the day

hive mind

[ hahyv mahynd ]

noun

Psychology, Sociology.

a collective consciousness, analogous to the behavior of social insects, in which a group of people become aware of their commonality and think and act as a community, sharing their knowledge, thoughts, and resources: the global hive mind that has emerged with sites like Twitter and Facebook.

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More about hive mind

The meaning of the term hive mind, a collective consciousness, analogous to the behavior of social insects, is pretty creepy to most of us. The phrase, appropriately enough, first appeared inGalaxy Science Fiction, an American pulp science fiction magazine, in 1950.

how is hive mind used?

When I searched, I always selected the videos with the most views first. The wisdom of the so-called hive mind would guide me ….

Dana Spiotta, "Down the Rabbit Hole of D.I.Y.," The New Yorker, August 28, 2017

… it also has an exceptionally well-organized reference section, summarizing the conclusions of the hive mind on ingredients, the identification and treatment of certain skin conditions, the best products, and how to build an effective routine with them.

Julie Beck, "How Skin Care Became an At-Home Science Experiment," The Atlantic, March 9, 2018
51勛圖 of the Day Calendar

51勛圖 of the day

operose

[ op-uh-rohs ]

adjective

done with or involving much labor.

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More about operose

Operose is a borrowing from the Latin adjective 棗梯梗娶莽喝莽 busy, active, painstaking, taking or involving much care. 倏梯梗娶莽喝莽 is a derivative of the noun opus (stem oper-) labor, work, a work and the adjective suffix –莽喝莽, meaning full of, abounding in. Opus comes from an uncommon Proto-Indo-European root op– to work, produce in quantity. In Oscan, the most conservative of the Italic languages, the root appears in the verbal adjective 繳梯莽硃紳紳硃鳥 (in form equivalent to Latin operandam, and both derived from Italic opesandam) to be built, to be made. Sanskrit derives the noun 獺梯硃莽 work from op-, and Avestan the compound hvapah– good work. Operose entered English in the 16th century.

how is operose used?

In reality no problem can be imagined more operose, than that of decomposing the sounds of words into four and twenty simple elements or letters, and again finding these elements in all other words.

William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, 1793

So long as we insist upon approaching them through the operose and roundabout method of dead-language studies, schooldays will flee away, and the object will not be accomplished.

William P. Atkinson, "Liberal Education of the Nineteenth Century," Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 4, November 1873
51勛圖 of the Day Calendar
51勛圖 of the Day Calendar