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word of the day?

To save us all going to see Mr Google

it means 'a method of writing in which the lines run alternately from right to left and from left to right'.

There are several different forms of boustrophedonic writing. The words themselves can be written normally, but in a reversing order with each line (e.g., if the passage is "You say goodbye/I say hello," this would appear as "You say goodbye/hello say I," where the second line would be read from right to left); the letters can be written normally but with the letters reversing order (e.g. "You say goodbye/olleh yas I," where you read the second line letter-by-letter in reverse); or the letters themselves can be written in the opposite direction and in reverse order (which I can't represent here, but would involve the "e" opening to the left, the "h" with the ascender on the right, etc.).

Boustrophedon is usually used in reference to Ancient Greek, but it has been found in early inscriptions in many parts of the world, including northern Europe (in runic alphabets), Italy (in Etruscan and Italic languages), Asia Minor (Hittite), Central America, and India.

The word boustrophedon is a Greek adverb meaning 'like ox-turning', from the elements boûs 'ox' and -strophé 'turning', in reference to the way an ox ploughs a field. It is first found in the late seventeenth century. The derived adjectival form boustrophedonic, as in your example, is from the mid-nineteenth century.
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Taken from here
 
I think today's word should be psychedelic . I'm not sure why, in fact I'm not even sure I've spelt it right... :rolleyes:
 
can the word of this day be cookies? i don't exactly know why.. but that's the first word that popped into my head. strange.
 
sandra! said:
can the word of this day be cookies? i don't exactly know why.. but that's the first word that popped into my head. strange.
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An interesting one as it has a few completely different meanings.

From Dictionary.com

1. A small, usually flat and crisp cake made from sweetened dough.
2. Slang. A person, usually of a specified kind: a lawyer who was a tough cookie.
3. Computer Science. A collection of information, usually including a username and the current date and time, stored on the local computer of a person using the World Wide Web, used chiefly by websites to identify users who have previously registered or visited the site.
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Elaborating on the third one form webopedia.com

A message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages for them. When you enter a Web site using cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom Web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might see a welcome page with your name on it.

The name cookie derives from UNIX objects called magic cookies. These are tokens that are attached to a user or program and change depending on the areas entered by the user or program.
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How about Methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenyl-
alanylalanylglutaminylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysyglutamyl-
gycylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolylphenylalanylvalylthreonyl-
leucylglycylaspartylprolylglycyllisoleucylglutamylglutaminyl-
serylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucyl-
glutamylalanylglycylalanylaspartylalanylleucylglutamylleucyl-
glycylisoleucylprolylphenylalanylserylaspartylprolylleucyl-
alanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucylglutaminylasparaginyl-
alanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanyl-
glycylvalylthreonylprolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanyl-
glutamylmethionylleucylalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyl-
lysylhistidylprolylthreonylisoleucylprolylisoleucylglycylleucyl-
leucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylvalylphenylalanyl-
asparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanyl-
tyrosylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylvalyl-
aspartylsrylvalylleucylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalyl-
glutaminylglutamylserylalanylprolylphenylalanylarginylglutaminyl-
alanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylalanyl-
prolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartyl-
alanylaspartylaspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminyl-
isoleucylalanylseryltyrosylglycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyl-
tyrosylleucylleucylserylarginylalanylglycylvalylthreonylglycyl-
alanylglutamylasparaginylarginylalanylalanylleucylleucyllysyl-
glutamyltyrosylasparaginylalanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminyl-
glycylphenylalanylglysylisoleucylserylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminyl-
valyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanylglycylalanylalanyl-
glycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalyllysylisoleucyl-
isoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamyl-
prolylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenyl-
alanylvalylglutaminylprolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginy-
lserine. as the word of the day? :cool:
 
Yep that is a really long protein. Not generally used unless you are a biochemist or you are looking for a really (longest in English language) long word for word of the day:D
In short I always use C1289H2051N343O375S8 :)
 
But that's 267 amino acids. Surely if you wrote out titan it would be the longest word. That's got over 38,000 residues I do believe.
 
I don't agree that it counts as a word either. You could just write out the genome of an entire animal as a chemical name and call that a word too. And the word itself isn't very useful, you'd only really use the abbreviated form or the one letter codes to convey the sequence of a protein. I think the person who wrote it all out in their paper was just showing off. I know someone who was writing up his thesis on xanthine oxidase and included a ton of crap about meteors hitting the Earth in prehistoric times. He was a twat too. Hark at me digressing.

Anyhoo, I am a biochemist and I wouldn't count it as a word, so that must count for something surely?
 
SillyWabbit said:
pffft.

That's not even a word!

How about pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism ?

Regards
SillyWabbit
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blah blah blah, health disorders etc All of these type of words look good but in fact are quite boring.

I reckon chose words that can be used

eg. Truckle
 
NO! Medical words can be exciting. What about rabid? What about gangrene! Let's not forget about leprosy!

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
i suppose

Such was his hunger the glutton ate his lunch in a rabid frenzy

but pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism, err probably not
 
SillyWabbit said:
NO! Medical words can be exciting. What about rabid? What about gangrene! Let's not forget about leprosy!

Regards
SillyWabbit
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oohh... gangrene's better than cookies anyway.
 
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