gibbous

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M. Henri Day
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gibbous

Postby M. Henri Day » Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:20 am

Thinking that that lovely (waning) gibbous moon shown to GWotD subscribers should not be denied fellow Agorists, I decided to post this GWotD from 30 July. Alas, I was unable to reproduce the original image, but I hope the one included here showing all the phases in succession will make up for my failure. While perhaps notas illustrative of the term «gibbous», it certainly merits the rubric «In Play» ! I should also like to ask if others also find the period «The woman's notably gibbous abdomen suggested that she had not overeaten but with a second soul.» strangely lacking in a second verbal in the subordinate clause ?...

Henri
• gibbous •

Pronunciation: gib-ês • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Convex, rounded, protuberant, bulging. 2. Bent, hunched, hunched-backed.

Notes: We are offering today's Good Word in preference to its less lovely synonyms, such as hump-backed, bulging, or convex. It may be used adverbially in the form of gibbously or as either of the nouns gibbosity or the default, gibbousness. I have always felt sorry for the humpback whale; now I think of them as gibbous leviathans of the deep.

In Play:
Image O, gibbous moon! You've saved a Good Word!Today's Good Word has been preserved by astronomers, who use it to refer to moons. A gibbous moon is one bet

ween half and fully lit, when the lit portion bulges across the shadow. However, anything that bulges attracts this word's attention: "The woman's notably gibbous abdomen suggested that she had not overeaten but with a second soul." It is also often used to refer to a back that is bowed, "His father, now gibbous with age, struggled with a cane along the street."

Word History: Today's Good Word takes us back to Late Latin gibbus "hump-backed", the adjective of the noun gibbus "hump". The root here is related to Russian gibet' "to bend" and gibkij "flexible". It also turns up in Greek kuphos and Sanskrit kubya, both of which mean "bowed, humpbacked". The word for "humpbacked" in Hebrew is, interestingly enough, gibben, related to gahbnon "peak, summit", Aramaic gibhind "eye-brow", and Arabic jabin "side of the forehead". However, we would not like to speculate that Greek borrowed the root from Hebrew, which belongs to an entirely different language family (Semitic).

Image
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:41 am

«The woman's notably gibbous abdomen suggested that she had not overeaten but with a second soul.»
I feel something is missing too, but I don't know what.

Brazilian dude
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M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:48 am

How about «The woman's notably gibbous abdomen suggested that she had not overeaten but rather was replete with a second soul.» ?...

Henri

PS : Not that I wish to take a stand on that vexed theological question of at which point during gestation the soul enters the body of the foetus (embryo ?), but by the time the abdomen of the mother becomes «notably gibbous», the brain of the foetus does seem to be exercising important functions....
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

Flaminius
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Postby Flaminius » Sun Aug 28, 2005 11:02 am

Is this word anyhow related to gebbeth? Actually I have been wanted to know what this word exactly mean and where it is come from.

Of the topic, off tangent.

Flam

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sun Aug 28, 2005 11:04 am

Yeah, looks better know, but I still don't quite understand the analogy between overeating and another soul. It's Sunday, I must be too slow.

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!

M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sun Aug 28, 2005 3:14 pm

Yeah, looks better know, but I still don't quite understand the analogy between overeating and another soul...
Don't worry, BD - it's just gas....

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

Brazilian dude
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Postby Brazilian dude » Sun Aug 28, 2005 5:05 pm

And here I was thinking it was spirit possession.

Brazilian dude
Languages rule!

tcward
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Postby tcward » Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:17 pm

The woman's notably gibbous abdomen suggested that she had not overeaten but with a second soul.

BD, I think the quote originally intended to use the verb had -- i.e., "The woman's notably gibbous abdomen suggested that she had not overeaten but rather had a second soul."

Overeating as the source of the gibbous effect in one's abdomen is rather more common these days, but I reckon spirit possession may also cause such an effect...?

-Tim


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