Seldom-used words - M to A

Hello, back again with a little Latin;

mutatis mutandis - adv with the necessary changes having been made

The phrase is not quite "seldom-used" in mathematics, where one sees, every now and then, a statement like "The second statement follows from the same argument as the first, mutatis mutandis." But it will probably disappear in another generation, since few now study Latin, which reminds me of an old poem about the language, whose author I don't know, but who was obviously a student of that tongue:

Dead are those who spoke it.
Dead are those who learned it.
Dead are those who wrote it.
Blessed death! They earned it.


Note the connection with the English words mutant, mutate, and mutation.
 
. . .

"The second statement follows from the same argument as the first, mutatis mutandis." But it will probably disappear in another generation, since few now study Latin . . .

Note the connection with the English words mutant, mutate, and mutation.


Strangely enough, there's a bit of a drive in the UK to teach a little Latin in our schools.
 
So nice to have you post to this thread, Carlus, I truly appreciate it, and thanks for the additional information on the Latin I posted. The connection to mutate is most interesting and I love the poem, of course.

In that vein;

mutafacient - adj capable of inducing biological mutation

as compared to;

mutagenic - adj capable of inducing mutation
 
So nice to have you post to this thread, Carlus, I truly appreciate it, and thanks for the additional information on the Latin I posted. The connection to mutate is most interesting and I love the poem, of course.

In that vein;

mutafacient - adj capable of inducing biological mutation

as compared to;

mutagenic - adj capable of inducing mutation

These words are rich with connections to other English words. Both are rooted, on the one hand, in the Latin verb mutare, to change. We've already noted some related English words. Transmute is another, meaning, literally, "to change across,"

The -facient comes from the Latin verb facere, to make or to do. That verb displays what a professor of mine once called "the Indo-European confusion between making and doing." Most Indo-European languages. he said, have only one word which subsumes the two meanings. Forms of this verb appear in many English words: the word fact itself, and many words that contain fac or fact as prefix, infix, or suffix.

The -genic comes, through the French word gène, from the Greek work genes, (there should be a dash over the second "e", but HTML doesn't seem to provide a way of putting it there) meaning "-born, of a specified kind." It is related to English words like gene, gender, generate, and, yes, genital.
 
Carlus, you really know your Latin and I am thankful that you post extra information here to make it even more interesting.

musth or must - noun a periodic state of frenzy of the bull elephant usually connected with the rutting season
 
Carlus, you really know your Latin and I am thankful that you post extra information here to make it even more interesting.

musth or must - noun a periodic state of frenzy of the bull elephant usually connected with the rutting season

See my story http://www.literotica.com/s/just-so-elephant , and don't give elephants doughnuts (nor donuts) during musth.

Before the Second World War, the British built a Naval Store Base on Sri Lanka then called Ceylon. They were told by the locals that it was on a site left clear because it was a route for male elephants to pursue females when in a state of musth.

The Naval authorities ignored the local advice. The elephants trampled down the fences and charged through the storehouses in their way.

The site was eventually built in two halves, with an elephant highway through the gap. :D
 
Very amusing story, Og, and very smart of the British to finally leave a passage for the rutting male elephants to chase their objects of desire. Thanks for sharing it.

mustachio - noun MOUSTACHE; esp: a large moustache
 
Very amusing story, Og, and very smart of the British to finally leave a passage for the rutting male elephants to chase their objects of desire. Thanks for sharing it.

The lesson has, to some extent, been learned.
There are tunnels under main roads for frogs, toads, badgers and all sorts of animals.
 
That is nice to know, Handley, especially for the creatures.

Here is an interesting entry;

music of the spheres - noun an ethereal harmony thought by the Pythagoreans to be produced by the vibration of the celestial spheres
 
We are all aware of the word mush and its meanings for food, mawkish amorousness and dog sledding, but this definition is new to me;

mush(2) - vt chiefly dial: to reduce to mush: CRUMBLE ~vi, of an airplane: to fly in a partly stalled condition with controls ineffective; also: to fail to gain altitude
 
A hearty hello to you,

musette - noun 1. a small bagpipe having a soft, sweet tone 2. a small knapsack with a shoulder strap used esp. by soldiers for carrying provisions and personal belongings - called also musette bag
 
A Note from the Redundancy Department of Redundancy

A hearty hello to you,

musette - noun 1. a small bagpipe having a soft, sweet tone 2. a small knapsack with a shoulder strap used esp. by soldiers for carrying provisions and personal belongings - called also musette bag

The phrase knapsack with a shoulder strap is an example of redundancy: knapsack a bag with shoulder straps...
 
A hearty hello to you,

musette - noun 1. a small bagpipe having a soft, sweet tone 2. a small knapsack with a shoulder strap used esp. by soldiers for carrying provisions and personal belongings - called also musette bag

Musette or Bal-Musette is also a style of French folk music native to some parts of Paris. It was seen as typically Parisian and featured on travel documentaries, or in movies to establish that the scene was set in Paris (like bagpipes for Scotland).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal-musette
 
That was fascinating, and, once again, I underestimated you, OG, as I thought the military aspect of musette bag would catch your eye, ... instead, the artistic side held sway. I love your many facets. Live long enough and one acquires facets almost imperceptibly, I have found.

Whether seldom-used or not, I felt compelled to add the next entries;

muse(1) - vb 1. to become absorbed in thought: MEDITATE 2. archaic: WONDER, MARVEL

muse(2) - noun a state of deep thought or dreamy abstraction: BROWN STUDY

muse(3) - noun 1. cap: any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and poetry and the arts and sciences 2. a source of inspiration: esp. a guiding genius 3. POET
 
A hearty hello to you,

musette - noun 1. a small bagpipe having a soft, sweet tone 2. a small knapsack with a shoulder strap used esp. by soldiers for carrying provisions and personal belongings - called also musette bag
My first thought was the bags passed to cyclists at Tour De France (et al) feeding stations (which strongly resemble most of my reusable shopping bags)

The Musette - What Do Pro Cyclists Eat?

What's a Musette?

A Musette is a bag given to cyclists during a multi-stage race, like the Tour de France, as they pass through a feeding area. It contains a mixed bag of all the good things a cyclist needs in order to continue riding.
 
Thanks, Harold, for joining us and adding to my post with more information. That definition was not in my dictionary.

muscovado - noun unrefined sugar obtained from the juice of the sugarcane by evaporation and draining off the molasses
 
Whether seldom-used or not, I felt compelled to add the next entries;

muse(1) - vb 1. to become absorbed in thought: MEDITATE 2. archaic: WONDER, MARVEL

muse(2) - noun a state of deep thought or dreamy abstraction: BROWN STUDY

muse(3) - noun 1. cap: any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and poetry and the arts and sciences 2. a source of inspiration: esp. a guiding genius 3. POET

Shorter Oxford:

Muse 1. With Capital - Muse - one of nine sister goddesses, the offspring of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory) regarded as the inspirers of learning and the arts, especially of poetry and music, and represented as young and beautiful virgins. b. in classical poetry the muse is often invoked as if there was only one. 2. with or without capital a. chiefly with possessive: The inspiring goddess of a particular poet e.g. Byron's muse. b. The Muse - poetry personified, as an object of devotion. So The Muses: the liberal arts, polite literature.

It continues with the names of the Nine, stating that some, including Erato, are not usual in modern times. [Except in Literotica of course. ;)]

I invoked Apollo and the Muses for my poem http://www.literotica.com/p/the-garderobe

The Garderobe:

Invocation

Apollo strum your heavenly lyre
Send me some inspiring fire
Or better still the Muses nine
So that my poetry will rhyme.

But if you cannot spare the lot
I’ll make do with what you’ve got.
I rather not have Terpsichore
She needs a clear dance floor.

Erato would be really handy,
Her I’d buy a box of candy.
You can keep the other eight
Because my readers won’t wait.

If you won’t send the nine,
I’ll just lie and cry and whine.



You’ll grant my plea?
O praises be, now we’ll see
To what depths I can sink
In this chronicle of stink.

[Verses omitted]

Now heaven forfend
Seems I’ve got to the end
To Apollo the paean:
Thanks, Muses, for peeing.
 
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Yes, of course, Og, the real Muses inspired all the definitions of muse, and thank you for honoring them so nicely with your humorous poem.

Yesterday, I went to an annual eye exam for a new pair of glasses and we discussed the following, although the Doctor called them by their common name, "floaters";

muscae volintantes - noun pl spots before the eyes due to cells and cell fragments in the vitreous humor and lens
 
I have never heard of this one before, either;

murrain - noun a pestilence or plague affecting domestic animals and plants

The Irish Potato Famine was caused by a murrain, then?

murphy - noun POTATO

Were murphys murrained? Is that correct to say.
 
A Happy Sunday to you all. Here is an odd one;

murther - chiefly dial var of MURDER

THe Word "Murder" originates from the "Mudrum" fine imposed on a Ville in the 11-12th century, where a dead Norman was a very serious problem for the village, but a dead local was no real problem by comparison.
 
Thank you, Handley, for adding that information about murther. I had no idea it all started with a fine for killing a Norman.

I have been around these my whole life and never knew this name for them;

murid - noun any of a family (Muridae) of rodents, including the Old World rats and mice
 
Hello, fellow posters.

This one caught my eye, I am not sure whether it is seldom-used or not;

muniment - noun 1. pl: the evidences or writings that enable one to defend the title to an estate or a claim to right and privileges 2. archaic: a means of defense
 
Hello, fellow posters.

This one caught my eye, I am not sure whether it is seldom-used or not;

muniment - noun 1. pl: the evidences or writings that enable one to defend the title to an estate or a claim to right and privileges 2. archaic: a means of defense

Often found in a local Solicitor's offices (the muniments room), and maybe the local authority offices, but not many other places.
It strikes me that authors such as ourselves might welcome the provision of such a place.
 
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