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SUBDUCTION
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 2:12 pm
by Slava
• subduction •
Pronunciation: sêb-
dêk-shên •
Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun, mass
Meaning: The application of duct tape to the bottom of something, usually to hold it up but also for decoration.
Notes: Today's ducky little word for the first day in April comes from a large family of duct tape derivations. Superduction refers to placing duct tape over something, as the duck to the left demonstrates, while circumduction refers to running duct tape all the way around something, as in, "Victoria's wardrobe emphasizes circumduction." (Click
here for an explanation.) Abduction, of course, means binding someone's hands with duct tape and carting them off. Seduction, of course, leads to little ductlings.
In Play: This word, more than anything else, proves that duct tape is duct tape and not duck tape, an issue that has plagued linguists for decades: "When Marvin threw the duct tape to Eldridge, the latter yelled to Benito, 'Duck! Tape!'" This is probably how the misnomer "duck tape" arose. (Click
here for an alternative explication.) The normal use of today's goodly word, of course, goes something like this: "The light fixture was held to the ceiling by subduction."
Word History: Part of the duck tape-duct tape confusion comes from the history of this term. This word comes from Latin subductio(n-) "the sticky stuff under ducks", based on sub "an underwater vessel" + duct "duck, stickiness" + ion "tape". The root, duct- comes from Latin ductus, ducdu- "ducky, sticky". Anyone who has tasted the sauce on Peking Duck knows how sticky these birds can be when prepared for consumption. The suffix -ion comes from Latin ionere "to iron on tape" from ion "iron tape". When you put the three together, you get—well, you know. (Our gratitude to a newcomer, April Phule, of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, for today's controversial word.
Click here before contacting us about any errors you might have caught in today's word.)
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 6:05 pm
by LukeJavan8
Oh, they are out in force.
One I received from a science source today had
a rabbit/squirrel 'new species' found, called Squabbit,
in England.
Another really got me. An ornithology site which
sends 'a bird for the day' had the
Delirium, which summers over that aberration called
Mt. Rushmore, and winters on Delirium Promontory
a rocky outburst of island between New Zealand
and Chile in the South Pacific. I've been to Rushmore
many times, so was leery, but it really got me going
for about a half hour searching Google Earth for the
South Pacific Island. The problem was the list of
seven birds for the day arrives a week early and I was
not ready for April fool's last week.
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:40 pm
by gailr
An excellent word for the day!
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 9:40 pm
by LukeJavan8
YUK,yuk, Let there be peeps on earth.
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:00 pm
by Perry Lassiter
My wife's mission on earth is to feed people in all sorts of ways, with a slight preference for feeding chilluns. One year at Easter, she found very few Peeps had been eaten or merely crunched in half. So the next year she bought other candy instead. OHH the uprising, the cauterwailing, the depression! Since then, always...Peeps.
Why Peeps?
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:19 pm
by Slava
Here is a re-issue of an article on why we eat
Peeps.
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:35 pm
by Dr. Goodword
Eat all the Peeps you can--they are produced in Pennsylvania and the company that makes them is celebrating its 60th birthday this year.
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 3:00 am
by Philip Hudson
I have been reading the Good Word for years. Never have I seen the Good Doctor go off on such a hilarious tack. Subduction indeed! Now that we have had our fun, Dr. Goodword, you might want the real subduction to stand up. It is a very interesting word in its own right.
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 3:04 am
by Philip Hudson
Peeps haven't yet made it into my Texas hinterland. Perhaps next year. I tremble in awe at their arrival.
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 7:05 am
by call_copse
Never mind geology!
I had never heard of Peeps either. Our shores appear to be relatively undisturbed by such imports.
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 11:20 am
by LukeJavan8
Never mind geology!
I had never heard of Peeps either. Our shores appear to be relatively undisturbed by such imports.
Consider you and Philip lucky. But Philip I had peeps
in my Easter basket as a kid many decades ago, I cannot
believe they have not hit Texas, I am only 3 states north
of you. And I do not let them pass my lips, I almost
gag. Someone gives them to me every year for some
reason, and they are quickly 'regifted'.
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 2:14 pm
by gailr
One may Google for amusing "scientific testing of peeps" sites wherein chemistry or pre-med students examine the disturbing essence of this US Easter staple. Some testers have subjected them to a series of acids, bases, alcohols, flame, etc. in an attempt to trigger some reaction, but the "glycodermis" (sugar coating) remains impermeable and the unknown substance(s) inside intact.
I am pleased to announce that the domestic housecat is able to permeate the glycodermis and will hunt up the pics to prove it tonight...
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 3:01 pm
by Perry Lassiter
This series of posts should be enshrined in the Goodword Hall of Fame, which will establish said edifice. Or rolled up, shredded, and fed down a memory hole!
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:24 pm
by gailr
PEEP CARNAGE!
Link is to an image of *actual*
Felis domesticus-perpetrated peep carnage. Not for young children or the faint of heart...
Re: SUBDUCTION
Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:29 am
by LukeJavan8
Should be XXX rated. Poor peep.
