$20 Words

[stickygirl]

Context please! Not sure why you would use a term for the reflectivity of a surface to describe a mountain landscape, but I'll hold off my judgement (out loud). What was the sentence/paragraph/description?

My mate Robert MacFarlane again, Old Ways.
‘The world dwindled to the next step, then opened out at an upward glance. The sun gold in the sky, pouring down its heatless light; hard snow, high albedo.'
Grrr... he even knows how to use semi-colons *sulks*

 

[anthrodisiac]

My mate Robert MacFarlane again, Old Ways.
‘The world dwindled to the next step, then opened out at an upward glance. The sun gold in the sky, pouring down its heatless light; hard snow, high albedo.'
Grrr... he even knows how to use semi-colons *sulks*

It's just so weird to see it outside a scientific context. Albedo's a measurement of how much light a surface reflects, on a scale of 0 - 1, so to use it outside that feels more like "ah, I found a snazzy word, lemme show off" than an actual use case that makes sense if you actually understand the word.

 

[anthrodisiac]

My mate Robert MacFarlane again, Old Ways.
‘The world dwindled to the next step, then opened out at an upward glance. The sun gold in the sky, pouring down its heatless light; hard snow, high albedo.'
Grrr... he even knows how to use semi-colons *sulks*

The world dwindled to the next step, then opened out at an upward glance. The sun gold in the sky, pouring down its heatless light; hard snow, an albedo approaching 0.926 — maybe 0.931 once it started to melt and develop a nice sheen.'

 

[MK_Whimsy]

Right now my fav word is Villanelle

That sounds like it could be an ice cream flavor

 

[anthrodisiac]

That sounds like it could be an ice cream flavor

Vanilla's misunderstood twin.

 

[MK_Whimsy]

Vanilla's misunderstood twin.

The 20 dollar version that comes in a tiny cup

 

[stickygirl]

It's just so weird to see it outside a scientific context. Albedo's a measurement of how much light a surface reflects, on a scale of 0 - 1, so to use it outside that feels more like "ah, I found a snazzy word, lemme show off" than an actual use case that makes sense if you actually understand the word.

You’ve hit a nail on the head or at least an expression that falls with a z-score of 1.5.

I think our vocabulary should be expanded, but it needs to be done gently. I’ve been back to re-examine his use of albedo and I excuse it, if that’s a fair judgement. In the context of his chpater, he is fighting his way through thin air at 15k’, following an indistinct path, hearing the chimes of horse bells, gasping for breath and making brief glances up from his feet. Single thoughts, single words, drop into our conscious thought: parched, thin, metallic, cracked. So I’ll forgive his word in this instance, but…. don’t push your luck buddy.

 

[BeechLeaf]

her perfume, a subtle albedo with susurrations of villanelle...

Ooh, that reminds me, I must add 'susurrat*' to my list of only-once-per-story words.

 

[MK_Whimsy]

Albedo sounds like a sauce you put on pasta

 

[anthrodisiac]

Albedo sounds like a sauce you put on pasta

A white sauce.

 

[StillStunned]

Or an obscure variety of Italian wine.

White, of course.

 

[MK_Whimsy]

Or the thing that drives someone to read erotic stories

 

[TheLobster]

Thesaurus? Though i rarely see those in the wild anymore.

They all went extinct after the meteor incident.

 

[SmilingLez]

Paradelle - such a strange poetry form

 

[MK_Whimsy]

Paradelle - such a strange poetry form

Paradelle sounds like when you have a few computers from a particular manufacturer.