according to jeff

Even though it’s only October 2009, I was reading the November 2009 issue of Macworld, which I still subscribe to in real paper form, earlier this morning. I ran across (aren’t English idioms funny?) a sidebar article titled Show Leopard’s Funny Math. (Read the similar but not identical online article here.)

The article introduced three new words to my vocabulary:

1. kibibyte (wiki article)
2. mebibyte (wiki article)
3. gibibyte (wiki article)

Even though these new units have been around for over 10 years, they still haven’t made it into the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, or into my vocabulary. I have little influence over the former, but let’s try to change the latter.

The kibibyte, mebibyte, and gibibyte were created to alleviate the confusion between the commonly used meanings and the actual meanings of kilobyte, megabyte and gigabyte. For instance, a kilobyte’s commonly used meaning is 1000 bytes, but this is an approximation of the actual meaning of 1024 bytes. (Bytes are cheap now-a-days, so being off by 24 isn’t that significant, I suppose.)

Kilobyte, megabyte, and gigabyte now need be confusing and/or ambiguous no longer. We’ve been misusing these words so long that the standards makers finally gave in. Now, it seems, the real meaning of kilobyte is 1000 bytes. This is consistent with the metric system, which, as we all know, the United States standardized on decades ago, making the time spent in elementary school learning both the English system and metric system of weights and measures a wise investment.

For old time sake, if you ever want to count by powers of two instead of powers of ten, you should use the new kibibyte, mebibyte and gigibyte.

From a recent crossword puzzle hint: “instance”.

trice : a brief space of time : instant — used chiefly in the phrase in a trice

From a recent crossword puzzle hint: “improve”.

emend — to correct usually by textual alterations

I learned a new expression today: “home slice”.

From Urban Dictionary:
home slice
synonomous to “homie”.
def 1: means good friend or buddy
def 2: means someone who seems like a little slice of home, thus home slice

I referred to a Dish Divver today, and more than a few people didn’t know what I was talking about.

While it’s not that uncommon for confused expressions to follow my comments, you too can add Dish Divver to your vocabulary.

This one tripped me up earlier today.

intercostal: pertaining to muscles, parts, or intervals between the ribs

intracoastal: within a coastline: occurring within or sited close to an area of coastline

I saw a phrase earlier today that got me thinking about code words. Code words are words we use that commonly communicate something other than what they literally mean. In fact, code words often communicate the exact opposite of the word’s original meaning. For instance, two words that can be code words are mild and gay. For example:

This film contains mild language.

• What it should mean: the language in the film is gentle and unobjectionable.
• What it does mean: the film contains some language that is slightly crude, slightly tacky, slightly offensive, slightly blasphemous (if slightly and blasphemous can be used together), or slightly objectionable in some other way.
• Why it is used: mild language is both more vague and easier to accept than objectionable language.

Marvin is gay.

• What it should mean: Marvin is a happy person.
• What it does mean: Marvin is a homosexual.
• Why it is used: it equates the homosexual lifestyle with happiness. Also, referring to a specific person as gay rather than as a homosexual or sodomite is considered less judgmental.

One could argue that gay is no longer even a code word. Its meaning has been usurped in such a way that it is rarely if ever used in any context other than homosexuality.

Here’s another example:

I’m fine. (In response to “How are you?”)

• What it should mean: I’m fine.
• What it does mean: I’ve answered your perfunctory question with my perfunctory answer, so let’s move on.
• Why is it used: because I don’t want to answer your question and you probably don’t want to know anyway.

So, here’s what I’ve been pondering: are code words an attempt to mask the truth? What do you think?

Also, do you know of other code words that we use today, and why we choose to use them?

Check out www.freerice.com, where you can test your vocabulary. For each word that you can correctly define, 10 grains of rice are ostensibly donated through the United Nations to help relieve hunger.

After just a little use today, I seem to topping out at level 42. Let me know how well you do.

So, here I am in Minnesota, where I’ve heard some new expressions, such as “ya sure, you betcha.”

ya (y-ah): yes

sure (shure): yes

you betcha (you betch-yuh): yes

So, decoding these Minnesota expressions, we find:

“you betcha” = yes

“ya sure” = yes, yes

“ya sure, you betcha” = yes, yes, yes

To test my new vocabulary, I’ve been using these expressions at every opportunity. Has it been a success? Ya sure, you betcha.

Composed on my iPhone.

I’ve recently begun reading A Theology for the Church, a book on systematic theology edited by Daniel L. Akin. Theologians often have (and use) a broad vocabulary, so I expect this book to be a treasure trove of new words. For instance, in the first few pages I found these.

• prolegomena
• prurient
• vicissitudes
• hermeneutical
• epistemology

While some of these words aren’t technically new to me, I was unsure of the precise definition of some. The meaning of other words eluded me entirely. For instance:

prolegomenon
plural prolegomena
: prefatory remarks; specifically a formal essay or critical discussion serving to introduce and interpret an extended work [1]

The title of the first chapter is “Prolegomena: Introduction to the Task of Theology”. Thus, this new word appears to be used entirely correctly!

1. Merriam-Webster OnLine