Thanks Neb!
My suggestion for a title was "Fiddling while it all burns" but this one is good too. Also I did not know that word before. I'm adding it to my list for double dactyls. (is it pronounced like that?)
Or, thanks Ben? I am confused about your nomenclature preferences. Change whatever you want.
Either is acceptable.
I would pronounce it "terATogenic" with secondary stress on "gen", but I suppose if you wanted to be Classically correct you'd put the stress on "ter".
That's how I was thinking of it. Have you heard someone trustworthy say it out loud?
No, nor have I heard anyone untrustworthy say it aloud.
Suspicious.
teraTOGenic would also work. Try to sneak the subject into some everyday conversations with biologists or geneticists and pay attention when the word comes up. (I assume you hang out with tons of biologists and geneticists all the time, so this should be an easy task.)
From now on, instead of saying "I'm sick" or "I'm not feeling well" I'm going to say "My teratogeny is bothering me."
Actually, the only context I know this word from is classical (warning: paper is far too pleased with itself), and the meaning alluded to in that paper's title isn't the modern one (of which I was actually unaware until tonight) of birth defects or mutations, but the classical one of monsters and prodigies. Because you're making monsters, see? Had I known its more current meaning, I wouldn't have used it, in fact.
Ha. That is a very unrealistic coincidence. I did think it was a little... something of you, to use that without asking me, but I also didn't mind it.
Pushy? Assumption-y?
Anyway don't change it. I like the confluence.
Hence also "prodigiously messy"; see, it's a pun.
(Given that a τέρας is a sign/marvel/wonder/portent/prodigy/monster, "teratogenic" in its current meaning strikes me as, at best, in pretty poor taste.
Nice try, neb, but now she's totally going to name one of the monsters "Nosflow."
But I had not thought of it being punitive. The monsters are cuddly!
Teofilo's a pretty good monster name, too.
I'm just going to use all the commenters' names.
"Robert Halford."
"Moby Hick"
"Unfoggetarian: "Pause endlessly, then go in." (9)"
There are indeed some good ones: LizardBreath, Chopper, Heebie-Geebie.
(To the linguistic part of the thread, I also interpreted the post title the way neb did and didn't realize there was a second meaning until the subsequent discussion about it.)
"Teratogen" would be an okay monster name
Someone might sue you for copyright infringement for Grendel. (That's partly a joke about people in general thinking copyright applies to things hundreds of years old, partly commentary on the fact that movie studios who reuse ideas hundreds of years old suddenly think they own the rights.)
The pronunciation in 3 in correct in the scientific field at least. The one I got wrong for a long time was virulence. Doesn't it look like it should sound virus?
4-6: I've always pronounced it with a stress on the first syllable and a secondary stress on the fourth: TERatoGENic. And I used to be a biologist, though it's not for me to say whether I was a trustworthy one.
"Cryptid" would also be a good name.
TERatoGENic sounds like a furrin' way of saying it, like al-u-MIN-i-um.
Messily's Etsy avatar is great. And monster Pearl would have scared the shit out of tiny me.
Aww, I sound monstrous. 25/28 are how I prounounce it, and yeah, the title was confusing to me. Messily wreaks damage to our DNA?
The monsters are very cute. I like the Unfogged naming theme. I am terrible at naming. Thanks goodness I'm only responsible for pets.
I am so getting one of those monsters.
OT: NW and Ume convinced me that I should include a daytrip to London while I'm across the pond, and so I think I'm going to go on Wednesday. Any locals interested in meeting up?
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Current employer is in process to purchase materials from vendor I know had looted cultural heritage property (from a major event in the wider region some hslf dozen years ago)because I had seen it (the stamps and evidence they had attempted removal of same) with my own eyes. This is stuff known to art crime divisions of several major national and international LEAs as well as reputable dealers. I warned about this vendor several times including last week when I heard he had paid us a visit and was harshly chastised for it and 'put in my place' and this from someone who has actually taught courses in cultural heritage and international property law! I feel physically ill and sick at heart.
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Current employer is in process to purchase materials from vendor I know had looted cultural heritage property (from a major event in the wider region some hslf dozen years ago)because I had seen it (the stamps and evidence they had attempted removal of same) with my own eyes. This is stuff known to art crime divisions of several major national and international LEAs as well as reputable dealers. I warned about this vendor several times including last week when I heard he had paid us a visit and was harshly chastised for it and 'put in my place' and this from someone who has actually taught courses in cultural heritage and international property law! I feel physically ill and sick at heart.
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I mean, there's probably lots of looted cultural heritage property in Vienna, too, but i doubt much of it was from recent looting.
8: I thought part of the paper's being pleased with itself was related to a slight smugness in twisting the word from its standard modern usage, in fact.
They watch on, evil, incredibly stupid, enjoying my destruction. "Poor Grendel's been commodified," I whisper. "So may you all."
OT: NW and Ume convinced me that I should include a daytrip to London while I'm across the pond, and so I think I'm going to go on Wednesday. Any locals interested in meeting up?
Sure. This Wednesday? And whereabouts?
I mean, there's probably lots of looted cultural heritage property in Vienna, too, but i doubt much of it was from recent looting.
It does sound rather Third Manny.
For names, try rootling around in the Burgess Shale. You might be able to use some of the beasties as models, too.
Semi-seriously, Paul, can you use this to blackmail your shitty managers into being less shitty?
34: That's awful, but you knew they were awful. You'll leave as fast as you can, but until then, I'd start (not on a work computer!) documenting this the best you can (including your objection), with the eventual goal of exposing them later. I hope you can find a better position soon.
Re names I had my eye on a o de la renta skirt with pointy lace trimmed ham but when showed it to better half he said if I bought it would have to change my name to ydnew. I think he was right but still regret having let that one go.
There might already be somebody else named "Robert Halford".
Messily wreaks damage to our DNA?
No (hopefully not) but I have been wreaked havoc upon. Can I use this adjective in that way?
There might already be somebody else named "Robert Halford".
Seems unlikely.
Robert Halford was the guitarist for Van Halen.
His playing wasn't up to David Lee Roth's masterful vocals, so they fired him.
He was unwilling to join David Lee Roth's crusade of consciousness raising for gigolos.
31: a humourless and possibly untrustworthy biologist writes: teratogens don't alter DNA, just embryo development. That's the difference between teratogens and mutagens. For example, thalidomide is a teratogen, not a mutagen - the offspring of people with thalidomide-caused disabilities do not inherit their parents' problems.
Robert Halford quit Van Halen because David Lee Roth's constant misuse of the term teratogen.
(warning: paper is far too pleased with itself)
Well, its author can claim a rare level of expertise in monstrosity.
Is it just impressionistic or do the classics really attract more than their share of sleaze?
Yeah. To be incredibly selfish, learning about 53 made me really grateful I didn't take up my old mentor's suggestion to re-introduce me to him a year or two ago to see if there's some way I should get back into classics (which there really shouldn't be) and that I'm 2/2 on people I've met who end up in the paper with that sort of arrest that I'd found off-putting in a weird way when we did meet. So I can trust myself both on eschewing grad school and maybe on not falling in with pedophiles I suppose. This article about how scholars can address his personal history as well as his work struck me as good.
Possibly the problem is Ohio, not the classics. We need degrees of freedom.
43, 44 That would be a very dangerous game and I have no intention of blackmailing or exposing anyone*. OTOH they'd better not ask me to sign any procurement forms for the kinds of things for which I have curatorial responsibility. I would refuse even under threat of firing. I'm sure it won't come to that though. Hopefully in a few weeks this will become moot.
*That doesn't mean I won't accumulate evidence should I need it and repeat the tale.
Uh, maybe that was supposed to be from some other guy?
57 Would a FPP kindly re-pseudonymize that?
Oracular powers are confusing, sometimes.
So is commenting on two different devices.
I interpreted the title with the modern meaning and thought it was weirdly and irrelevantly mean. Glad there are the more classically-learned among the unfoggetariat to set me straight*.
* There's probably a decent Odysseus pun about "setting him strait" here, but I am, as stated, too ignorant to find it.
Wars of Assassins aside, the only classicist I've known I despised almost instantly, but seemed to me intellectually rather than personally sleazy.
Classists are way to into SWPL stuff.
Yelrahc isn't the worst monster name out there.
51- Correct! The mechanism by which thalidomide causes birth defects was identified relatively recently, it causes the improper degradation of development-related proteins, has nothing to do with altering DNA sequences. That mechanism is now being harnessed to specifically target the degradation of undesired proteins that cause disease, potentially resulting in a new class of therapeutics.
Is there a head science office where I can object to the word "therapeutics"? "Biologics" was bad enough.
You're way way way too late on 69, Moby. (There's no way this comment isn't going to be misconstrued, is there? Oh well.)
I don't really see how one person can, individually, be late on 69.
The worst monster name out there is "Frankenstein's Monster".
72: It's so archaic. Nowadays it'd be
Monstrosus frankensteinii.
I should probably call one Frank, though.
It's just so possessive. Sure, Frankenstein made the monster, but that doesn't mean the monster has no agency. If he'd have thought about giving the monster some identity of his own, maybe things would have worked out better.
Of the ones that are up there and already have names, Jane (of Redfox and Snarkout) named two, I named four, and some other 3-year-olds named the rest. Going forward I will also ask any small children I encounter what a good name for a monster would be.
I thought the idea of naming them was silly and I was very resistant, but then like 5 people independently told me I should so I caved. Now I'm having a lot of fun with it. And learning a lot about mythical creatures.
Um, "Wry Cooter" is still available.
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My brother just said on Facebook "Seeking archaeologists experienced in archaeobotanical work (floats) as well as geoarchaeology/geomorphology that might be interested in working in Mongolia this summer"
If that very specific set of people includes anyone here, let me know.
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Must have own fedora, pistol, and bullwhip.
Shorter 71: There's no "i" in 69.
Therapeutics (or pharmaceuticals) is used to avoid the connotations of "drugs". When I had to explain in another language what I do for work, I initially used a phrase meaning search for/look for drugs which had people thinking I was either a narc or doing various illegal things.
Biologic has a specific meaning separate from the generic term drug or medicine.
People who turn adjectives into nouns are the real monsters.
I'm with Moby, his wrinkled brow and crooked jaw notwithstanding.
"Biologic therapy" would be perfectly fine.
It's because people suck at languaging.
"Contact your doctor if you have an erection lasting more than four hours. Unless you're the last person alive who can use 'erection' to mean 'a structure that was erected'. In that case, contact an architect if you have an erection lasting less than four hours."
People in old books are always ejaculating all over the place. What a mess the Olden Days must have been!
Women had to wear like six layers of skirts to avoid getting pregnant from the ambient sperms.
If you get good at naming monsters, maybe you should trying naming medications for drug companies. They could really use some help.
Showing ankle was a big thing for a reason.
In an amazing coincidence I learned the word teratogenic from an employer who was unethical (if not criminal), much like Atreides', and I remember very well the queasiness and adrenaline and the fact that I quit within 24 hours of getting the picture. I hope you get your revenge on these creeps.
If you take the advice in 91, stay out of the shop in 93.
Or give them the really monstrous names.
For the SF geeks, "teratogen" is used correctly throughout the Miles Vorkosigan novels by Bujold to describe the agent that impacted the main character's health. It's where I learned the word, and why I only knew it in it's modern scientific form until today.
Also, those are some really cute monsters.
While "Chopper" lacks the euphony of some of the other suggestions, I love the idea of there being a so-monikered monster out there, and am tempted to commission a custom one just so it could come into being. Alas, I am flat-ass broke at the moment--but please hold the name until I do have the requisite cash!
If you get good at naming monsters, maybe you should trying naming medications for drug companies. They could really use some help.
I think this is because they have pretty much exhausted all possible combinations of syllables that sound like Iain M. Banks characters ("Ask your doctor about Elethiomel today. Side effects can include identity changes, centuries-long vendettas and innovative furniture design").
The solution is for them to switch to picking cod-mediaeval/Jack Vance/patent medicine type names instead. "So, Mr Character, we had you on 500mg daily of Bracewell's Infallible Laryngeal Vademecum. But since you're still feeling some pain and congestion in your sinuses, I'm going to write you a prescription for a Compact of Transfixing Clarity."
Side effects can include SPOILERS, good heavens. Haemorrhage should be on there.
evitanigaminu would be a fine monster name. Even an internal almost-rhyme!
Can I modestly suggest PONARKE NANAMA.
Oh, yes. That's definitely going on the list.
I am struggling to imagine Rob Halford fronting Van Halen. (I know he was the guitarist, but little know fact: he also occasionally sings.) Somehow I think his version of "Ice Cream Man" would manage to be even dirtier than DLR's.
I once named a stuffed dinosaur, Hygelac. I've always been partial to that name. I'd forgotten where I got it from, until I googled it now.
102: fantastic. Small God-Daughter is probably a bit old for stuffed animals now, but I am set to acquire another even Smaller God-Daughter next month, and a handmade Ponarke Nanama might be just the thing.
I would say they are appropriate for ages 2 or 3 and up. They're safe for babies, but babies seem like they would mainly vomit on the fake fur and fail to appreciate the artistry.
People keep buying them for babies, though, so more power to you!
Smaller God-Daughter isn't that small; due in part to the rise of ISIS, her christening has been delayed several times and she's now 2 1/2 years old.
I'm just going to assume 108 means Smaller God-Daughter is a Kurdish-fluent JTAC.
109: my desire to buy her nice presents is therefore not affection but simple self-preservation.
77: Maybe disguise it, something like: Rykuter
If it were just smart bombs or Kurdish friends one might take a chance, but the conjunction of the two makes for an offer one really can't refuse.
I interpreted 108 to mean that ajay was buying dolls for Ishtar.
IANAMythographer, but christening Ishtar strikes me as unwise.
OP: Quinotaur, the (or one of whom was the?) rapey father of Merovech.
79
I know some people who might fit that description, except one I've never really talked to (FAIK he might be your brother), and the other is the woman who slept with my ex husband and then accused me of being anti-feminist and anti-sex because I was offended. I now pretend like she doesn't exist.
I bet she can't rock a fedora like you do.
Therapeutics (or pharmaceuticals) is used to avoid the connotations of "drugs".
I get that as a marketing thing, but it's still bullshit lexically, no?
OED, "drug":
In later use: spec. a natural or synthetic substance used in the prevention or treatment of disease, a medicine; (also) a substance that has a physiological effect on a living organism.
Quinoataur: an ordinary plush toy cow on the outside, but the stuffing is hipster grains.
Nothing is less hip than quinoa. It is the Coldplay of grains.
Some of the scroll names in Nethack might work! Also, som weird origins in there.
I find myself eating more corn (maize), wheat, rice, oats, rye. and barley (counting beer) than quinoa. I think I'm so hip I'm post-hipster.
I'm so post-hipster, I king of enjoy Coldplay. If I also liked Radiohead, that would just mean I have bad taste.
I read "teratogenic" in its medical sense and I was very confused. Also squeeeeebabymonsters!
"Cala" is a good name for a floral baby monster.
Ameriflora: The monster that ate Columbus.
These monsters are the best! Dare I suggest that heebie-geebie lends itself to a monster name?
There's such a thing as "too on the nose" in naming.
37: I was at the Leopoldmuseum the other day and it is just incredible how many works have an explanatory text detailing how they were stolen, how Dr Leopold bought them, the extensive litigation, and how Leopold's heirs paid them off.
|| nm, not going to London. One of the friends I'm visiting had a cardio event. Thankfully his dad, who is a physician, is also visiting from the US and was able to do compressions while we waited for the ambulance. Looks like I'll be hanging out at the hospital for the next few days. Please send any good thoughts, prayers, warm fuzzies, etc |>
Oh, wow. Good luck to your friend, and I am so sorry your life has turned into an unending stream of medical emergencies.
Oh, bloody hell, [hospital]. I have to be there tomorrow afternoon, so if you want anything from town, ask me. The food is not bad for a hospital, but still ...
...and then accused me of being anti-feminist and anti-sex because I was offended.
[Boggling.] Do you live in a low-viewership-but-high-critical-regard streaming-service dramedy?
131: If it was going to happen, I'm glad I was there. He's in an induced coma right now, but otherwise his vitals are strong.
132: They have spent a lot of time there over the past couple of years, so at least it's familiar. I'll probably head back to my rooms for a shower and change of clothes before then, but will let you know--thanks!
Good thoughts and warm fuzzies sent. I'm sure NW and Ume will step up when you need some time out.
Oh jeez! Good thoughts and warm fuzzies by all means.
We went home for the night, as the doctors are going to keep him under sedation for the time being. They don't know what specifically caused this, but the guess is that it was one of his meds because his heart has been checked regularly and it's been doing fine. It's crazy--we had lunch at his college just this afternoon, and the only thing that was odd was that his hands *weren't* hurting him (they have been, due to his latest chemo).
Our hope is that he pulls through this, obviously, but also that he doesn't have any neurological damage. I'll head back to the hospital with everyone in the morning.
36 fucking years old. And the main reason I made this side trip in the first place was because I was worried it'd be my last chance to spend time with his wife...
I am feeling very overwhelmed.
138
Oh my god I don't know why you are so cursed. You seem to be connected to every well-educated middle class 30-something year old with serious health problems in the US and possibly abroad. I don't know if being told you're dealing with a uniquely difficult situation helps or if being told that people have survived worse helps, so pick whichever form of sympathy is better for you. And get some self care, even if it's just a long hard cry.
133
I'm kind of worried I'm so ridiculous people will think I'm making myself up.
138: Hang in there. I'm so sorry this is happening on your fun, exciting trip, of all things.
139: It certainly seems to be the case. I have to wonder if we somehow pissed off the fates during a night of heavy drinking in grad school or something.
47: Not sure whether you'll see this and the thread has moved on, but really, you wouldn't report an institution purchasing looted cultural artifacts? I wasn't suggesting you do it to shame your employer or out of malice, more as the right thing to do. I have literally no idea how it would work in your field, but it would be a shame to ignore it.
130. Oh for crying out loud! This is rotten all around.
101: Wait, what's a Nekranop?
Yikes! Sorry to hear about that, JR.
129 You'd be amazed at how many times the existence of previously looted materials in historical collections is used to justify current practices. Or maybe not.
Thoughts and sympathies are with you J,Robot, that's really terrible to have to go through.
142 I'll make sure it's known they used such a vendor and if I'm still around when the material arrives I will personally inspect it for stamps and any evidence they had been removed (stamps themselves don't necessarily mean anything, institutions frequently deaccession items but in this case I know exactly which stamps to look for, the institution in question did not deaccession these items). If I find the stamps I suspect and/or the specific items I know to have been looted then yes, I will collect the evidence and see it gets to the relevant authorities.
So sorry, J.Robot. Sympathy, compassion, and solidarity with the jumped-the-shark tragedy lifestyle.
My friend is awake and talking coherently!!!
Also, CPR quite literally saved his life. I'm getting certified the minute I get home.
Btw, people who take Celexa/lexapro/citalopram/ecitalopram should be aware of possible cardiac problems.
Related to 150, can I take a moment to plug Citizenaid:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.citizenaid.theapp
Free app, developed by various medical organisations in the UK, that walks you through how to handle medical care for mass casualty situations. Most of it works for any country except things like the emergency services number. Very worth having.
I used to be CPR certified. I think the skills went away before the date on the card was up. It's hard to remember that stuff, for me. Like whether to put butter or margarine on a burn.
Anyway, very glad to hear your friend is up.
151. There seems to be a US version too.
He's eating and breathing on his own. Everyone is using words like "miraculous recovery." Guess it's a good thing we went to Evensong last night after all!
Wouldn't have worked if it had been evensong in The Other Place, of course
Wow, glad to hear that there is positive news. I was worried yesterday.
Me, too.
I was present for my grandfather's death, but it was expected, and quiet. I miss him terribly, but he was ready to let go and move on.
This time, for the 30-40 minute my friend's father and the three paramedic teams were working on my friend at his house, it was gut wrenching and terrifying and overwhelming on a whole other level. We didn't think he'd even make it to the hospital.
I'm an emotional wreck right now, but an incredibly relieved and thankful emotional wreck.