Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Phthisis
Phthisis isn't something you want. It's a progressive wasting disease. That said, we had some funny meanings added to the blog today and I enjoyed your contributions very much. Voting was close today but Magadelene came out tops with another great invented meaning. Keep up the great work M!
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9 comments:
Because of my occupation I actually know what this means! However, in true Word Imperfect form I shall let my imagination run wild and dream up another meaning. Hence, I staunchly believe phthisis is the definition for a word that has such a combination of vowels and consonants that it can't actually be a real word.
P.S. pronounced thigh-sis
Phthisis was a minor Ancient Egyptian deity who was believed to be responsible for the fraying of papyrus.
Phthisis is an affliction caused by drinking too much alcohol.
"How are you feeling now, you gorgeous, sexy lady?"
"Well, I'm absolutely phthisis'd!"
A phthisis is a small piece of soft plastic that fits into the roof of the mouth as an aid to speech alteration. They are mainly used in the film industry if actors are having trouble with their accents.
Similarly dental, a phthisis is the pool of drool that gathers at the side of your mouth when you are getting a filling at the dentist. The poor dental assistant's job is keeping the phthisis down to a bare minimum.
It's a legal term for those things that can't very well be quoted in court. If someone squints and thrusts his face toward you, how do you report that to a judge and jury? It's threatening, but not actionable. Other things that would be categorized as "phthisis" would be clucking gasping, rolling one's eyes, and any change of posture. Giving the finger is not phtisis, but facial gestures and unquotable mouth sounds are.
Phthisis is a condition caused by eating unripened fruit that leaves your mouth dry and astringent due to the high tannin content of immature fruit. "James' mouth drew up in phthisis after consuming entirely too many persimmons giving his family a break from his constant complaining about his wife not keeping the house picked up like his sainted mother had."
Oops...just read your intro WordImp...
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