The Baboon Congress

Another Mother Tongue

51 Comments

The results of last weekend’s word collecting project are in! We are not interested in enforcing “official” language rules here or criticizing people just because we can’t understand them, but there is a certain tone to the comments on Trial Baboon that sometimes begs for an explanation.

So it is in an effort to be gracious and accommodating to everyone that certain members of our online community decided to assemble a Glossary Of Accepted Terms (GOAT), both as a guide for the uninitiated and a reminder for regulars whose brain function sometimes promotes the practice of “self hiding” critical information (see the glossary). Some of these terms were imported from other places because they felt appropriate. Others were created on the spot.

After today, this collection will reside permanently attached to a link off to the right side of the main entry for easy access, should one need clarification or wish to add a new term.

Since all this work was done by readers, it qualifies as a guest blog.

A group guest blog, organized and led by Jacque and Barbara in Robbinsdale.

Babawesome – Awesome in a Baboonish way.

Baboondipity – An interesting coincidence occurring in Baboonville.

Babooner – One who participates by writing and/or lurking on Dale Connelly’s Trail Baboon Blog, formerly known as Radio Heartland’s Trial Balloon Blog.

Babooninomics – This can be summarized as, “Don’t spend what you don’t have.”

Babooniquette – A fairly gracious set of manners adopted by Babooners that is related to, but different from, traditional “netiquette” (e.g., a tendency to avoid all caps when writing…or in tim’s case, any caps at all; an understanding of how to agree to disagree by simply being nonconflictious; etc.). Babooniquette does not require that you know which spoon to use at the dinner table (or that you use any spoon at all), but it may require that you at least hum along to “You Are My Sunshine” when it is played.

Bipartispasm–Against their willful desire, politicians suddenly find themselves experiencing muscle-like brain contractions that influence cooperating and compromising for the common good.

Blogosphere – The world of bloggery, perhaps including other blogs besides TBB.

Brace (of pets) – Two animals. “We have three cats… A brace… refers to a pair of objects, so I have one and half brace of cats.” Larger numbers may be spoken of as the number of “head”, as in “I asked an old Indian in cowboy land one time how many cats he had. He squinted a bit and said, ‘Oh, maybe 30 head!’ ”

Brain Fade – The moment characterized by the question “Why did I come in here?”

Cheapatude – Extreme thrift, as in “We have resorted, in our retired cheapatude, to making our own cards with Steve’s photos and just writing inside.”

Cleaver – Especially creative in a Baboonish way (not to be confused with the ordinary “clever”).

Cliffy – The TB way of saying someone has overdone it on the explanation of the facts. Other examples welcome.

Conflictious – 1. A cross between “litigious” and “conflictual”, possibly making you a candidate for a session with BMB (See acronyms). 2. A delicious conflict.

Credit Card Camping – Camping by staying in motels or B & B’s along the route, as in “I’m no camper! We did credit card camping.”

Delurk — To fully participate by writing on the blog after a period of lurkitude, as in “Nice of you to delurk, Connie.”

E-mail Pack Rattery – Hoarding of emails, as in: “I tend toward e-mail pack rattery … I have countless personal notes from friends that I can’t throw away.”

Fei da, Ish da – The Norwegian equivalent of Oy Vey, as in “I remember my grandfather talking about the progression from uff da to fei da to ish da based on milking cows – ish da being what [barb] experienced … * (though it hovers near a fei da, definitely an ish da if you got splashed).”
* “ …[when Sugar, the visiting goat,] was standing nicely. then i got complacent and BANG! goathoof in bucket. 2 quarts of milk ruined and bucket contaminated.”

Goatswaggled – Physically outwitted by a goat. See also Fei da and Ish da.

Huh? – “I am completely at sea. Please repeat or clarify the last several posts.”

Idiotology — Aberrant political thought, as in, “I am afraid that much of current political discourse has sunken to the point where a lot of it can be described as “idiotology.”

Idiotocracy – The type of politics practiced by MB (See Acronyms).

Interwinkled – associated or connected, as in “Dale [DC] said a while back, humor is what we humans do to get a grip, and we get the grippe to naturally cleanse our innards. It’s all relative. And interwinkled.”

Jimming – a dinosaur baboon word having to do with the practice of double posting (now defunct, as the new blog disallows it).

Joke-A-Sphere — Where all the good jokes that you can’t remember have gone.

Junk Thought – Thought at the most outrageous point, at the greatest amounts of decibels. (See MB in acronyms.)

Lurkitude — Reading the blog from one step back, but not writing and participating; giggling, chortling, guffawing, and belly laughs optional.

Non-Fiction Situation – An event in which it is not prudent to alter facts, i.e. a trip to the tax accountant, where you say, “I swear this information is true.”

O-T – Off Topic.

Pizzle Rot – An exclamation of a Babooner’s frustration, as in “Oh, pizzle rot, my italics didn’t shut off.”

Prumpers, or Pah-Rumpers — Singers of “The Little Drummer Boy.”

Rannygazoo – 1. The run-around, or nonsense, as in, “I had to pass as Canadian so I could avoid all ‘rannygazoo’ with my visa status.” 2. A prank or joke; semi-archaic, from the 1940’s and PG Wodehouse novels.

Scroogitude – Behaving like Ebenezer before he experienced the Three Spirits.

Self-Hiding – The ability to hide something from yourself, as in “I’m getting to the point where I can hide my own Easter Eggs.” See also Brain fade.

Semi-Colonoscopy — The study of the correct placement of semi-colons.

Suspension of Belief and/or Suspension of Disbelief – A fudging of facts used in many situations, particularly by theater people; or re: TV, movies, etc.

Thurgery – Any surgery taking place on a Thursday.

timism – An ambiguity in which you are not sure whether there was a typo, or an intentional misspelling, as in “My favorite timism of the week is ‘Talk snout dysfunctional’…” (See Dec. 23, 2010 TBB for rich, complete discussion.)

Uff da – Norwegian for “Oy”. See also Fei da and Ish da.

Vishnuverheer – A neo-religion practiced by vacationers and post card senders.

“Whobody” Mail – that mail from people you know and like, as contrasted with “anybody” mail, the junk and bulk mail which gets largely ignored.

Whumping – Sound of a Baboon in the process of losing a conflict over finite resources.

Willywacky – as in: “Then you can position your reply, hit paste and Post Comment. If something goes willywacky you still have your comment intact.”

ACRONYMS

BMB – Billy Marty Barry
BSOR – Bathtub Safety Officer Rafferty
DC – Dale Connelly
MB – Michele Bachmann
RH – Radio Heartland
TB – Trail Baboon
TBB – Trail Baboon Blog
TLGMS – The Late Great Morning Show

51 thoughts on “Another Mother Tongue”

  1. I call election fraud! Polldaddy has miscounted my vote, I did not cast a vote for Baboonish Glossary, and yet that is what has shown up.

    Where are the paper ballots, where the hanging chads!

    This is just the sort of thing we have come to expect from unscrupulous Glossarians!!!!

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    1. There! I have just compounded the fraud by re-voting on the computer at work-HA!

      I throw my lot in with those of the “other”camp, especially if other means GOAT.

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  2. Methinks thou dost protest too much! One vote and we already have an electoral crisis? Sheeesh! People are so chippy these days.

    I was gonna add another new rule of Baboon-speak. It is not polite to use the phrase “as ______ as an old goat,” as when I said my grandfather was as horny as an old goat. If the adjective is not purely complimentary, such an invidious phrase will spark a revolt among TB’s goatherd masses.

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    2. Hmmm, I suspect I might be offended by being called “chippy” if I actually knew what you meant by that, oh seer of St Paul.

      As it is, I will simply say that I am in solidarity with Ben, in that I seem to have a little sign on my personal cage that says “please feel free to poke, tease or annoy the Baboon”.

      I shall try to adjust my Baboonitude (attitude which one projects while on the Trail).

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  3. Morning–

    A sick child in our house so schedules are rearranged…

    On principle I can’t vote for ‘Red Rump Reference’ because that ties in with the hissy fit I was having yesterday about that totally unrelated subject that includes witty alliteration. But I like Red Rump Reference.

    I have learned a few acronyms from other blogs that are useful if not necessarily ‘Baboon’ related:
    DAMHIKIJK – Don’t ask me how I know I just know
    IMHO – In my humble opinion
    (IMNSHO) – In my not so humble opinion
    OT – Off topic

    Those are all I can remember right off hand…

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  5. Good morning to all:

    I haven’t voted. I could be persuaded to vote for other an have other be GOAT if Ben or someone else could explain this acronym. I supose the first two words are glossary of and I don’t what to put in for the A and the T

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    2. Okay. I didn’t do a good job of reeading Dale’s entry. I sse that he has GOAT and glossary of acceptable terms. I still haven’t voted. Would it be bad Babooniquette to withhold my vote for awhile?

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  6. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    Thanks to BiR for all her compiling. This is just so much fun.

    I voted for RRR, but also would prefer GOAT–it seems so Baboonishly, politely appropriate to the blog.

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  7. Please excuse my excessive amount of typos today. My computer has lost it’s audio and I can’t listen to Radio Heatland. With no Radio Hartland and a lack of sleep, I am more disoriented than usual which puts me fairly far into dysfunction land.

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  8. I, too , just voted for Other, in the hopes of Glossary Of Accepted Terms (snort). Any opinions on how we would define “Snort”? which I thought of just now…

    There is a typo under timism, so ambituity should be ambiguity, a meta-ambiguity, as it were.

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    2. BiR, I will join you in voting other and I would like this to be considered a vote for GOAT (snort, snort). In my disoriented state I will not try to define snort. I’m sure there is a Babooner who can give us a good definition of snort.

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  11. I think GOAT is fine – but in the interest of being welcoming to new Baboons, we may want to spell it out (or add a sub-title) so as not to confuse newcomers.

    I admit to having a little “baggage” with this from another group I was involved with for awhile that used their internal language as a badge of exclusivity – if you didn’t know what something meant, you weren’t “one of them”…made me nuts. Free the memes! Free the memes I say!

    Plus, being a sometime tech writer, I can’t help myself – I want to make things clear for all users…you can take the girl out of the tech writing, but you can’t take the tech writing out of the girl, I guess. 🙂

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    2. back from…. Hubber’s colonoscopy! sheesh try to keep it a secret, ok?
      gotta get out there and play a bit – they’ve been cooped up in the barn since a 5:30 a.m. milking – fei da!
      love the terms, names are all good. voted for RRR but you know me and GOATS!
      ‘bye now

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  14. I’m thinking snort began as short for snorting coffee or snorting tea, which was what happens when you’ve just taken a mouthful and you read something that makes you laugh out loud…

    I’m headed down to Iowa for a couple of days, will check in when I can. Great fun, Babooners.

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  15. I assume it was understood that my comment yesterday about giving a warning about racey comments was an attempt at humor. I don’t mind seeing racey comments.

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      2. I understood that Jim. But tim, either in defense of Steve or to my credit, it was I who typed that word yesterday. But then who, may I ask, added the word “pizzlerot” to the list? Huh?

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  17. Here’s a word we could consider adding, if that is not offensive to those who struggled on this so far: “Baboonish.” It is just the adjectival use of baboon. I think I’ve used this in posts already, as in “This is a baboonish movie, full of sweet insights and moments of inspiration.”

    So what is “baboonish?” It is the essence of being a baboon: clever, liberal, sensitive, caring, smart.

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    1. Are “baboonish” and “baboonesque” redundant or are there nuances of meaning that should earn each an entry in the GOAT/Red Rump Reference/??? (whichever moniker is ultimately selected as the definitive title for the collection of terms baboon)?

      And remember Steve, a baboon is more often cleaver than merely clever.

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    1. Thanks for the FYI about Dale’s new article. I think Dale did a very good job of covering an interesting event. I think tim or Donna should think about giving Ingnite 4 a try as Babooner represenatives. A slower talker, like me, wouldn’t dare try giving one of those high energy 5 minute talks.

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    2. great article. but as i read i was aware of a dull ache – deep in my stomach – developing as poor Nathan forgot his talk. gosh. talk about things that would be out of character. in a million years i’d never dream of doing Ignite. but the article about it, Dale, was fabulous! wow.

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      1. Thanks all for the nice comments about the article in The Line.
        And don’t worry about Nathan. I traded some e-mails with him today and I think he is fine with how it all played out. I believe he’ll try again and it will go more smoothly the second time!

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  20. I grew up with a lot of Dutch people, and Vishnuverheer sounds it could be a name-that nice boy the Verheers adopted!

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  21. Hi all… I’m finally back in the land of the living. Flu at our house – and nasty flu too!

    I also would like to change from vote from RRR to GOAT!

    And here is “Snort”, since I use it quite a bit (here and in my real world)

    Snort: “Oh, please… I can’t even believe you had to ask that!”

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  22. I’ve been running errands today and replacing the WiFi router at home, so I’m just getting back online.
    It appears we have a groundswell for GOAT as the name of the glossary.
    I’ll take that under serious, sober consideration.
    Well, maybe not sober.
    Polling is open until later this evening, in case you haven’t voted yet. I’ll consider votes for “other” as votes for GOAT unless I receive specific instructions!

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  23. I like the name “Goat,” but should not the title of it off to the right (now called “Another Mother Tongue”) but something definitively obvious, so the slang terms are not used to shut out new guests? A point Anna raised early today.

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  24. Pingback: G.O.A.T. Notes | Trail Baboon

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