The (Deeper) Meaning of Liff

[Angela]

I don't know if any of you have read Douglas Adams' and John Lloyd's 'The Meaning of Liff' or 'The Deeper Meaning of Liff' but I have been acronymising some of the words in it. Those of you who have one of the books could do some others, those of you who don't have one of the books should get them. I'll type out the preface of 'The Meaning of Liff' here for those of you who don't know the idea behind the books:

In life, there are many hundreds of common experiences, feelings, situations and even objects which we all know and recognize, but for which no words exist. On the other hand, the world is littered with thousands of spare words which spend their time doing nothing but loafing about on signposts pointing at places. Our job, as we see it, is to get these words down off the signposts and into the mouths of babes and sucklings and so on, where they can start earning their keep in everyday conversation and make a more positive contribution to society.

Here are some definitions from 'The Meaning of Liff' along with my expansions.

Ripon (vb.)
(Of literary critics.) To include all the best jokes from the book in the review to make it look as if the critic thought of them.

RIPON: Review Is Plagiarism Of Novel

Clathy (adj.)
Nervously indecisive about how to dispose of a dead lightbulb.

CLATHY: Clutching Lightbulb Anxiously, Thinking, "Here? Yonder?"

Affcot (n.)
The sort of fart you hope people will talk after.

AFFCOT: A Frightful Fart Cuts Off Talking.

There is also a definition/acronym for Liff itself, which is already in the stack and on the website, at http://acronyms.co.nz/gonym?LIFF. That uses the definition from 'The Meaning of Liff' which curiously is different from the definition in 'The Deeper Meaning of Liff', and not just shallower.

[Tony]

>>> On 01 November 2001 01:07:02 UTC, Angela wrote:

I don't know if any of you have read Douglas Adams' and John Lloyd's 'The Meaning of Liff' or 'The Deeper Meaning of Liff'

No, I haven't. It seems I must be a Liffless lump
LIFFLESS
Lacking In Funny & Frivolous Literature, Erase Smile Signs

[Angela]

>>> On 02 November 2001 11:00:13 UTC, Tony wrote:

No, I haven't. It seems I must be a Liffless lump
LIFFLESS
Lacking In Funny & Frivolous Literature, Erase Smile Signs

So I typed:

Never fear, many of them are listed at http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~nhughes/dna/stories/liff.html

[Jeff]

I am SO going to acronymize some of these.

WYOMING

When You Obviously Moan In Nerdy Gallop.

[Angela Brett]

You are Soon & Often going to? Or Spiritedly, Overenthusiastically?

Oh, I should point out to Tony and any other lurking HyperCardsters that the definitions we are discussing were stored in a HyperCard stack before being turned into books - so they could all be linked together with the index of meanings I guess. I can't recall exactly where I read that, though. Douglas Adams was a bit of a HyperCard fan.

>>> On 03 November 2001 03:18:36 UTC, Jeff wrote:

I am SO going to acronymize some of these.

[Tony]

>>> On 03 November 2001 03:18:36 UTC, Jeff wrote:

I am SO going to acronymize some of these.

WYOMING

When You Obviously Moan In Nerdy Gallop.

It's a place, so that should be

Where You Obviously.....

[Tony]

>>> On 03 November 2001 03:43:37 UTC, Angela Brett wrote:

You are Soon & Often going to? Or Spiritedly, Overenthusiastically?

Some Othertime?

[Angela]

Actually, Tony, according to 'The Meaning of Liff' it's a participial verb, meaning:

Moving in hurried desperation from one cubicle to another in a public lavatory trying to find one which has a lock on the door, a seat on the bowl, and no brown streaks on the seat.

I suggest that when one of us expands one of these, we should put the accompanying definition with the expansion so that people understand what is being expanded.


>>> On 03 November 2001 10:03:16 UTC, Tony wrote:

It's a place, so that should be

Where You Obviously.....

[Jeff Anonymous]

Poor Tony...thought I meant the square state to the west of the Nebraska panhandle.


Stupid Oexpander

((I should have not capitalized something I could not expand...goes against custom, and custom defines culture.  Ah, balderdash.  I'm nonsensical again))

[Angela]

Here are some more:

HASSOP (n.)

The pocket down the back of an armchair used for storing two-shilling bits and pieces of Lego.

Here Armchair Stores Shillings Or Plastic

I'm not completely happy with that one, it's been sitting on my hard disk unpublished for a while.

GLASSEL (n.)

A seaside pebble which was shiny and interesting when wet, and which is now a lump of rock, which children nevertheless insist on filing their suitcases with after the holiday.

Good-Looking At Sea Side, Elsewhere Lacklustre.

OSHKOSH (n., vb.)

The noise made by someone who has just been grossly flattered and is trying to make light of it.

Oh Shucks, How Kind... Oh, Stop! Hahaha

Well, I'm not too happy with the 'Hahaha' it fits the idea in my head but it doesn't look good in an acronym.

[Tony]

Angela wrote:

> HASSOP (n.)
> The pocket down the back of an armchair used for storing two-shilling bits and pieces of Lego.
> Here Armchair Stores Shillings Or Plastic
> I'm not completely happy with that one, it's been sitting on my hard disk unpublished for a while.

Try "Sterling" instead - as it is two-shilling bits which get stored, not shillings.


> OSHKOSH (n., vb.)
> The noise made by someone who has just been grossly flattered and is trying to make light of it.
> Oh Shucks, How Kind... Oh, Stop! Hahaha
> Well, I'm not too happy with the 'Hahaha' it fits the idea in my head but it doesn't look good in an acronym.

Try "Humbly" or "Humiliating-me" at the end instead.

[Angela]

Thanks Tony, they're good suggestions. I'm not sure which to use for the H in OSHKOSH though, I have a feeling there's something better which we haven't thought of yet. Perhaps there could be some Sincere Humility at the end.

I should have been more flattering about your suggestions, so I could have seen how you reacted and got ideas from it.

[Tony]

BOTUSFLEMING
(A small, long-handled steel trowel used by surgeons to remove the contents of a patient's nostrils prior to a sinus operation.)

Before Operation The Urbane Surgeon Feels Like Extracting Mucus (Including Nasal Gloop)



DUNTISH (adj.)
(Mentally incapacitated by severe hangover. )

Don't Udertake Numeracy Tests If Severely Hungover



FRING (n.)
(The noise made by light bulb which has just shone its last.)

Filament's Rattled - It's Not Glowing



LLANELLI (adj.)
(Descriptive of the waggling movement of a person's hands when shaking water from them or warming up for a piece of workshop theatre.)

Limp-Limbed After Natation - Essay Loosening Liquid Involuntarily

[Angela]

Great ones, Tony!

I have 81 new acronyms since the last update, which was only a few days ago - consequently I'll be updating the site again very soon!

[Gavin Lambert]

<<<<<
FRING (n.)
(The noise made by light bulb which has just shone its last.)

Filament's Rattled - It's Not Glowing
>>>>>

How about "Riven" - it means broken or split, as in "riven in two", which is what happens when a filament blows