The Baboon Congress

Gloss – a – Rama

79 Comments

Today’s guest post comes from Barbara in Robbinsdale.

OK, Babooners, the now almost-annual addition to the Glossary of Accepted Terms is a bit overdue, as the last update was March 3, 2012. Here are some of the new terms we’ve come up with or accessed since then. I’ve left in the dates so you can see what prompted us to use some of these gems… As you can see, Baboons love word play.

Acacia Dentally – a tree of teeth, OR an alternative spelling by a creative Baboon of the adverb “accidentally”, brought about in reference to an ectopic post (see G.O.A.T.)
November 29, 2012 at 1:29 pm

Action-y – full of action, as in “If you want to see a movie at the theater, then just see one, since you want to feel action-y afterwards. If you see two, you will be too tired to be action-y.
November 9, 2012 at 9:31 am

All hat and no cattle – description of a person who is all talk and no substance; as in:
t: “maybe we could have tpaw become a north dakotan and wear boots and a gentlemans cowboy hat. chew a little copenhagen and visit the oil frackers. i think hed fit in no time.”
R: “People here would take one look and say ‘All hat and no cattle’
August 14, 2012 at 9:56 am

All y’all – Y’all is impervious to the normal rules of grammar… Y’all is plural, but “all y’all” comes in handy for emphasis in certain scenarios…                                                   
June 7, 2012 at 12:27 pm

Blogular verbosity – related to the frequency of a blogger’s comments, as in this comment from the Alpha Baboon, “Now that I’ve revealed the recent ranking, let me emphasize that there is no prize here for blogular verbosity .” (Dale) Also considered farther down on the page:
verbose blogularity
vorbose irblogularity
verbosious blogularium
verbo-a-blog d’baboon
April 25, 2012 at 12:40 pm

Cannardly ² – an alternate definition referring to diamonds or other gemstones that are so small you cannardly see them, i.e. “The center stone is so large that the ½ caret side stones look like cannardlies.”
September 13, 2012 at 1:10 pm

chipmonks – a variation on the name of a familiar mammal, living at tim’s place, “that calls to mind the image of a bucktoothed friar.” May 22, 2012 at 8:08 am Chocolate covered raisins – bioflavinoids wrapped in decadence. March 12, 2012 at 8:41 am 

Compassion fatigue – acquired PTSD for therapists from being around too many other people’s traumas
November 9, 2012 at 5:54 pm

Ethical polyhedron – the case that there are many points of view to consider, as in:
“one sees so many sides to an issue that it can be difficult to come down resolutely in one camp or another…there is ALWAYS another side–an ethical polyhedron, so to speak”
June 28, 2012 at 7:54 am 

Glossarization – what happens to a post or reply when it is being prepared the Glossary of Accepted Terms, as in: “Thank you for the glossarization … One of the things I loooove about this group is the mutual joy in wordplay.”
March 3, 2012 at 9:33 am

Gludge – a combination of snow and slush or sludge that accumulates only in late April, when the last thing one wants to do is remove it when we should be seeing buds pop out on our trees and shrubbery. Ex: “16 inches of gludge at the bottom of my driveway from the plows this morning.”
April 19, 2013 at 10:05 am

Golden Banana – an award given here on the Trail to a Babooner for particularly distignuished writing or idea. It was started by the Baboon named Jacque, an award “given … by whim and whimsy for achievements above and beyond the Baboon Call of Duty. If I feel like it.”
June 10, 2012 at 10:49 am


Googleholic – a Baboon addicted to doing very frequent searches on Google.com, as in: “It isn’t 10:30 AM yet, and I have done at least 15. Makes me a Googleholic, maybe.”
March 3, 2012 at 10:25 am

Holy Goat! – an exclamation used to express bewilderment, surprise, or astonishment, but in a more goatly manner than, for instance, “Holy Cow” or “Holy Batman.”
December 10, 2012 at 9:01 am 

Leucistic – an animal with a reduced pigmentation caused by a recessive gene…“Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment (Wikipedia)”, as in: “There is a small population of leucistic squirrels in Waterville. They’re not albinos because their eyes are black. “
April 18, 2012 at 10:55 am 

Lexiconolic – a Babooner addicted to doing very frequent use of a dictionary, as in: “10 times a day online; I’m a lexiconolic.”
March 3, 2012 at 6:58 am 

Todoplegia – a form of paralysis triggered by too many items on a Baboon’s “To Do” list.
March 19, 2012 at 10:56 am 

Truffle shuffle kerfuffle – Exemplified in the following Baboon conversation:
“I’m thinking that the next Blevins meeting could be a truffle exchange. Everybody bring a couple chocolate truffles and then we’d shuffle ‘em and eat ‘em…” (Steve)
“Then, if we got into a disagreement of how the truffles were to be allocated, we could have a truffle shuffle kerfuffle. (ba-dum-BUM)”
March 29, 2012 at 10:14 am

New Acronyms:

GLOTTMBD – Great Lists of Things That Must Be Done
May 23, 2012 at 7:20 am

LIFO – In inventory management, Last In First Out, as opposed to
FIFO (guess what that means). As in, “For Robin’s freezer contents to turn in a timely manner, she’d have to use FIFO.”
February 21, 2012 at 10:50 pm

OPT – On Previous Topic
March 28, 2012 at 10:54 am

SWMBA – She Who Must Be Adored
May 23, 2012 at 8:59 am

TRoUBLE – Team Responding on Unusually Big Lighting Events:
“I spent the whole day trying to come up with the words to fit ‘TROUBLE’ because I want to be in charge of that. All I could get was the end: _ _ _ _ Been Lighting Events”… “Team Responding on Unusually Big Lighting Events (TRoUBLE) maybe??”
Feb 3, 2012

S.L.A.P.D.A.S.H. – Slobs Leaving A Permanent Document About Sloppy History: a club for concerned people who don’t want to erase our story with reckless overuse of soap.
April 11, 2013

STW – Schuyler Tyler Wyler, Trail Baboon’s Rhyming Poet Laureate
April 12, 2013 at 10:27

What is your favorite word game?

79 thoughts on “Gloss – a – Rama”

  1. Good morning. Scrabble. I suppose scrabble is near the top or at the top of the list of the best liked word games. We have a large collection of board games which include some other word games. Scrabble is the only one that we use. I am not a great scrabble player. With luck I can win my share of games against the average player. I would need a lot of luck to win playing my brother who knows many words that I have never seen used in any place except scrabble. These are words that only very competitive scrabble players, like my brother, know and only use to win at scrabble.

    Like

    Reply

    2. Sometimes we put the Scrabble board on the dining room table, and the game is ongoing – you make your play as you pass by, come by again and see if there’s been a response… takes a while to finish, though, but there’s no-one hurrying you.

      Like

      Reply

      1. i will get back to you after the holiday with the ap my work mate uses to paly scrabble during the day with his online buddies. he gets his butt kicked but says he feels better wasting his time in this manner than playing poker.

        Like

        Reply

  2. Rise and Shine Baboons!

    Barbara, you have again out-done yourself. I wish I could have kept up with this, but some days I am lucky to just know my own name by the end of the day. This gave me many chuckles.

    Favorite wordgame–crossword puzzles (not related to pizzlerot a similar word, but different meaning entirely).

    Re: Raspberry diseases mentioned yesterday–my nephew says mine had a raspberry virus which made them overgrow themselves then die. He said “dig ’em up and replace them.” We will see if we get any new growth that is virus-free and any berries. I am ordering hardy new stock from Burpees.

    Like

    Reply

  3. Jacque, I’d never have kept it up if I wasn’t retired…

    I love whatever that crossword is in Sunday’s Strib UNDER the New York Times one…

    Like

    Reply

  4. Morning–
    I’m not very good at work games. I try to play along with The Puzzler on MPR Sunday Morning and sometimes I do OK.
    I play a mean Solitaire!

    Like

    Reply

        1. i knew i was feeling something special and i wasnt able to put my finger on it. i think being italicized is it.

          Like

        2. Looks like there’s something in complete right after “Glossarization.”

          Like

        3. I’ve repaired the problem – a glitch behind the scenes that spread the italicization far and wide. Sorry if anyone feels diminished by the fix!

          Like

        5. PJ- I was out in the field when I read your comment and I laughed right out loud. Thanks for brightening my day.

          Like

      1. gonna miss new cartalk episodes. they are done this year. i guess retirement is part of the deal but i am going to mis them. tlgct can be added to the list

        Like

        Reply

  5. we have a family get together at christmas easter every now and agin for no reason and it has become an event to be looked forward to when we play charades. the little kids started out wondering what the heck was going on but over the years they have gotten their brains working correctly. the acting and direction or misdirection of the hints is a wonder to behold. i dont remember anything that comes close for laugh induced stomach aches with multiple people gasping for breath while watching grandma point at her crotch for the leave it to beaver clue.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Charades is a huge favorite of mine. It’s hard to find other enthusiasts, though. You might get one round or two and then it’s on to something else. Me, I could play for days.
      A related game that is my current favorite has the unfortunate name of “Poop Smoothie”. No one knows why except that it must have been a wrong answer in an early session of the game. I like to call it “Brain Song”. I’ll share the rules and then MY explanation:

      Everyone playing (and a big group is better than a small group (10-20) writes three clues on slips of paper. Original rules said a TWO word phrase like “security camera” or “galloping rhino” but we have expanded to have phrases of reasonable length.

      The slips of paper are thrown in a bucket and teams are formed. As with charades, the goal is to get your team to say what’s on the slip of paper. But there are 3 rounds with this game. The same clues are used each time (after scoring, they are thrown back in the bucket for the next round).
      1. Like Taboo – the clue giver can say anything as long as s/he doesn’t use any of the words on the paper
      2. Like Charades – the clue giver can do anything physically but no talking
      3. One Word – just say one word and then stand there while the team tries to figure it out
      The last round would never work except that the clues have been heard twice before.

      Play this with cleaver people and it is hysterical.
      My name for it “Brain Song” came from the first time I played. The clue giver worked very hard to get the team to say Brain Song. When she was done, we asked, “but what is Brain Song?” The person who had written the clue piped up and said “Brian’s Song, Brian’s Song!” But she had misspelled it and there it was.
      I think that Brain Song captures it very well.

      Like

      Reply

      1. That sounds like a hoot. Next time you have a Blevins book club meeting where you have exhausted discussing the book, I’d love to witness the ensuing hilarity, especially after a glass of wine or two.

        Like

        Reply

        2. That’s what I was thinking – if we have it just once in a while, I’ll be we’d get more takers…

          Like

  6. Considering that you’re not allowed to give verbal clues in Charades, I’ve never considered it a word game, but I agree, it’s usually a lot of fun. Wish I had been there for the episode with grandma you describe, tim.

    I love Scrabble, Boggle and crossword puzzles. I understand that you can play both Scrabble and Boggle on-line, but I’ve never tried it. Just what I need, another way to squander my time.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Had almost forgotten about Boggle, PJ – we used to play Big Boggle (5 x 5 grid instead of 4 x 4) a lot when nephew Vin was with us…

      Like

      Reply

  7. Bananagrams is my most recent favorite – it’s like playing Scrabble against yourself, but you also have to complete your scrabble before the other players. It gets quite silly as people yell out random things during the game like “peel” and “dump.” Then there is the justifications at the end of why a word should be allowable…

    I am off shortly to camp with Daughter’s Brownie troop. Hoping it doesn’t rain on us tonight. If you don’t hear from me by Monday send out the dogs…

    Like

    Reply

      1. Doesn’t a soggy weekend in a tent sound appealing? It’s probably a sure sign of old age, but it has lost all appeal to me. Happy 9th birthday to Ms. S.

        Like

        Reply

    2. We were only there for an overnight, and managed to avoid rain. Phew. All girls came home safely and only a few ticks were found on scouts in our 24 hours in the wilderness. Also: chocolate cake baked in orange peel cups cooked over a campfire is devilishly good.

      Like

      Reply

    3. We were only there for an overnight, and managed to avoid rain. Phew. All girls came home safely and only a few ticks were found on scouts in our 24 hours in the wilderness. Also: chocolate cake baked in orange peel cups cooked over a campfire is devilishly good.

      Like

      Reply

  8. Thanks, Dale, for all the help with this post. Dale has also inserted these entries AND the previous GOAT update into the Glossary link at the top of our TBB page. I’m sure it was time consuming, as was the process of connecting the links to the blogs from which each new “baboonword” came…

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thanks, but lets not forget that BiR gets credit for doing most of the work on this. Her devoted reading of the comments and saving of Glossary-worthy pearls is the most essential piece of the puzzle.
      It was a learning experience for me to expand the links to their source comments. I’m still amazed that clicking on the link will take you to the exact comment BiR referenced!

      Like

      Reply

  10. What Would You Do If (not sure it’s technically a word game, but since it involves writing, let’s say it is). Boggle.

    Like

    Reply

      1. Are you saying that I look older than I would have if I had been a teenager in 2001? Humph!

        Well, you’re right, I was not a teenager in 2001. So I played this game much longer ago than 2001. Here’s what I remember about the game, which needs at least 3 people to play.

        Everyone starts with a piece of paper and at the top writes the words “What would you do if.” Then you make up some scenario – realistic, ordinary, unrealistic, exciting, whatever you want. So it could read “What would you do if, on your way to Blevins Book Club, you had put your bowl of potato salad on top of your car while you put your other stuff in the car, and then you drove off with the bowl still on top of your car and as you picked up speed, the bowl flew off and the potato salad went flying onto several cars’ windshields and one of those drivers got mad and rammed your car in the rear?”

        Then everyone folds the paper to hide what you just wrote and everyone passes their paper to the left or right. That person reads the question and writes his or her response, preferably making it somewhat ridiculous, and writes “Why?” at the end. The papers are folded down so the first question is hidden, but the response and Why? are showing. Again, pass the papers to the left or right. The third person then reads the response and answers the “Why?” Then all the papers are collected and read aloud. If you have enough clever people who can write enough absurd things, and everyone has a sense of humor, it can get very, very funny.

        Like

        Reply

  11. I am competitively challenged. By that, I mean that winning holds no value for me. Because of that, most games strike me as a pointless waste of time, as opposed to, for example, a conversation. We have an assortment of board games, most of which we never use and none of which get used more than once or twice a year. My complete lack of appreciation of arbitrary and pointless competition extends to the competitions of others- professional sports, for example. I just don’t get it.

    Like

    Reply

    1. On the other hand, some games can be used as a sort of ritual… Husband and I have played cribbage off and on for decades, and have found that sometimes in times of extreme stress, a game of cribbage is just the thing – can be a bridge to something else. It’s also very portable and useful to pass time in, say, an airport. (Not a word game, though.)

      Like

      Reply

    2. I never really think of word games as being “competitive” as such (but then, I am not a devoted Scrabble player either)- I think a lot of those are more of a celebration of the “cleaver” than they are about winners and losers.

      That said, we are big fans of the Possum Lodge Word Game for its sheer silliness.

      Like

      Reply

    4. Most competitive games leave me cold, too, Bill. Maybe that’s a lingering effect of playing Monopoly with two older sisters who would cheat and thus I would always be the first one out and they would go on playing for hours and hours while I moped around by myself (this usually happened on a rainy or cold day when it wasn’t as pleasant to spend as many hours outside by myself as I usually did). I like Boggle because 1) it’s short, 2) I can actually win sometimes, but even if I don’t, it’s fun to look for words, and 3) when the game is over, it’s over for everybody, none of this eliminating people one at a time. I’m not good at playing competitive, fast-paced games that require quick thinking, in a large group. I can think (sort of), but not quickly, especially when everybody is looking at me. It reminds me of that moment in a job interview when I’m asked a question and my mind goes completely blank…

      I learned What Would You Do If as a teenager; it is noncompetitive, no winners or losers, the goal as we played it was to see how high the level of hilarity could rise (a bonus side-effect of this was to drive any adults within earshot bonkers from our loud, side-splitting laughter).

      Like

      Reply

      1. I don’t like it when people are being excessively competitive. Sometimes it is fun to play games where there are no winners or losers because scores are not kept. I must admit I like watching some of the top athletes who can make outstanding winning plays.

        Like

        Reply

  12. And then there are radio word games, like Ask Me Another, which I’ve just discovered on MPR right after Garrison on Saturday nights –
    “NPR’s exciting new show featuring puzzles, word games and trivia played in front of a live audience. Ask Me Another is a co-production of NPR and WNYC.”

    Like

    Reply

  15. I like word games, but I’m not generally very good at them. Games of logic are easier for me to master.

    There are some word puzzles called frame games that can be fun – you’ll get something like –

    HABIRDND = BU2SH

    which translates as “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” – I can usually get those.

    Like

    Reply

    2. When I first read this Linda, I read (in my sleep-deprived state): Hairbrained – Bush 2. Also a good answer, but not the correct one to the brain teaser…

      Like

      Reply

  16. we uses to paly a simple drinking game when i was a kid. simply start with a and say apple and be would be baloney sandwich. then you would come up with a new word for the next slot that would be a fun one to plug in. the words usually painted a good picture but you could mess it up by putting in a bland unmemorable one although sometimes that stood out like such a sore thumb it became memorable for not being memorable. you would get all the way through the alphabet and have a good 45 minutes of laughing and downing shots of whatever along the way. much more challanging was singing the limerick song which always required shots of tequilla as the consequence for an error in limmerick construction, the problem with the drinking games thends to be that if one poor slob gets nailed tow or three times quick he /she tends to have a difficult time back on track as their brain begins the process of acclamation to shitfaceisticsm.

    Like

    Reply

    1. It’s tempting to put “shitfaceisticsm” in the glossary, but I’m going to resist…

      Like

      Reply

  17. remember the car games where you would find an a on the billboards and roadside signs a’s and b’s ad race the others in the car to complete the alphabet? then the lull while having to wait forever for the q and x and z to show up? we used to play a game where the next car going was worth a certain number of points based on the color of the car. white 5 points black 10 points blue 15 points green 20, red 25, and the anticipation and laughter at the good or bad result made the achievement of 250 or 500 points a goal that was not always celebrated, getting to the end was far more fun than geting there. my dads family was in fargo and the long flat roadtrips with small towns full of mysterious enticing places should have been enough to pass the time but… i cant tell you how disappointed i was at age 20 when i finally stopped at treasure island on the way to brainard only to discover it was exactly what my dad had always told us it was. a shop full of stupid tourist junk that was way too expensive and junky to ever consider. i used to love looking at the maps and figuring out all the ways there were ot get to a place instead of haveing 94 be the only logical way. i look at the map today and see in pre freway days when the trip often carried us through the exotic communities of littel falls, motley and new york mills en route to old familiars in fergus, detroit lakes and wahpeton as we droned on in a monotone westward motion where the telephone poles clicked by in a syncopated rhythm that played its tune in time with the tik tik tik as the tires ran over the sections of road where tar acted as the divider being pushed up by the sweltering heat of a 4th of july vacation about to begin. we had the station wagon with the way back and a quiet brother a dramatic sister and an angry one in that order with me as the oldest trail blazing needy passanger who couldnt sit quietly looking out the window without thinking of a game we need to start next that would be ok for all the age groups represented. i spy with my little eye, im thinking of a number, 20 questions about a man who is not dead, or a book tv show or movie. my kids were sitting n the couch wth their grandma yesterday and all of them had the iphone on their laps searching their facebook connections (grandma led the way) instead of talking. we did get up a family card game around the never used kitchen nook where 31 up and down the river, crazy 8s and others i didnt know ruled the day. the laughter at the simple interaction of people sharing an experience is what makes games , families, friends and blogs so wonderful.

    Like

    Reply

    2. tim, I was about to suggest that you develop a smart phone or iPad app that would bring these games into the digital age. But someone already got there! Here’s the description of a game called “Road Trip Scavenger”.
      “As another “spot it” game, Road Trip Scavenger Hunt delivers a true multiplayer game. You can fill out the names of all the passengers playing and it keeps track of their individual scores. It’s very similar to the old fashioned “I Spy” game where someone calls out an object and everyone tried to be the first to spot it. You can choose to look for objects or words, or a combination of both. Just tap the name of the first person to spot the random item and their score is updated. Then a new object or word pops up and the game continues. Play as long as you like and Road Trip Scavenger Hunt will tally the scores to determine the winner.”

      Like

      Reply

      1. thats a great idea dale , now we have to put a twist on the baboon hunt. what cold our variations be that would set it apart and create a following? there are 400 flashlights on the ipod ap list, insert your favorite music? dress your goat mascot in theater attire? report your findings in haiku? ask dr baboon what this all means and get a serie like response. this could be big,big,big!

        Like

        Reply

        1. ive started a file and will be taking suggestions that we will send to bir to put in a file until we have found the web developer who will run with this for us for a percentage of the game revenue. we can sell advertising by asking people to find a coca cola product. we can offer bonus points for driving past a dominos pizza or chick fil a without stopping. prius is worth +100 points… hummer – 100. this could come out in tree hugger edition, red neck version, 20 points if you see a tv sitting on top of a tv, or a you have your name on your belt buckle. geek version do you have on horn rimmed glasses, +20 pocket protector +20 white sox +40.
          big big big im telling you. music to accompany each theme would be huge.

          Like

      2. We play “I Spy” while we’re waiting at restaurants. Although the rules are kinda fluid with daughter and sometimes it doesn’t matter what I say because only Mom can have the right answers. It keeps us amused while we wait for the food and we have a good time.

        Like

        Reply

    3. “we had the station wagon with the way back” – in our VW camper, we would travel with the bed down, and sometimes let Joel and Vin (nephew who lived with us for a while) play back there (horrors – no seat belts…), and we called it the “way back”. They both had fond memories of that.

      Like

      Reply

  18. nascar for the redneck
    oxycotten perscription for a rush limbaugh edition
    disney theme park edition selling tinkerbell sweatshirts coupons to be redeemed at particular gift shop outside of the park (or better yet inside the park)
    if disney doesnt go (or even if they do) universal and sea world editions.
    joke editions. elephant joke edition, poolack joke edition yo mamas so fat edition, selling advertising for every one where the add asks you to buy the product appropriate for the audience.
    pirate puzzle looking for argyles and and a hook
    shes so ugly when they went to the zoo the guard said thanks for bringing her back. when she was born the doctor slapped her mama.

    divorce edition find a person you hate and ask if you can just give them a house instead of going through all the anxiety and pain.
    birdfeeder edition pts for woodpeckers finches cardinals orioles or whatever is nearby.

    get strangers on the street to pose for you forming different letters,
    find people to fit a description and take their picture and submit it. for example someone who looks like a librarian, someone who looks like a bodybuilder someone who looks like a grandma or an old hippy or a mcdonalds employee. first one to complete wins. one who gets best people wins. one who has picture of people requested along with self gets bonus points. this goes on and on and on. it is gonna be big, big, big.

    Like

    Reply

    1. I get dizzy just contemplating the possibilities, tim. As I own neither an iPhone nor an iPad, it doesn’t matter, I’m safe for now.

      Like

      Reply

      1. you will just be involved with the management team overseeing the ipod and ipad develpoment team. baboon delegation advisory board chair i think will be a good title for you.

        Like

        Reply

      2. just tell em thats a good idea, thats a good idea. nope dont like that one, maybe we can set it up as an interactive word press blogsite where others can come in and suggest things fo rhe scavanger hunt. wouldnt that be fun??!!

        Like

        Reply

        2. I don’t think you move you just open an account. But then again someone has to look after the baboon board room on the westwrn beach there on grand Bahamas island

          Like

  19. What a lively day on the trail! Daughter is graduated. I wish I could have played some of the wonderful games mentioned here instead of listening to boring graduation speeches. It only lasted an hour, though. Now we are kicking back and making Korean barbeque for supper.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Jim in Clarks Grove Cancel reply