WORDS

"methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl… At over 180,000 letters long, the chemical name of the protein titin is often said to technically be the longest English word. If spoken out loud, this word takes over three hours to say!"

 

That may well be the IUPAC name, but anybody working with it calls it titin.
IUPAC name for chlorophyll is Magnesium [methyl (3S,4S,21R)-14-ethyl-4,8,13,18-tetramethyl-20-oxo-3-(3-oxo-3-{[(2E,7R,11R)-3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-yl]oxy}propyl)-9-vinyl-21-phorbinecarboxylatato(2−)-κ2N,N′]
IUPAC names are notoriously prolix.

 

Ultracrepidation is a nice word both for its meaning - to talk with authority on a subject you know little about - and for its etymology.

In Ancient Greece, 4th century BCE, it was the custom for painters to display their works in public spaces and then loiter around in order to overhear others’ opinions of their work. The famous Court painter Apelles was taken aback when he heard a cobbler criticise the style in which he had painted a sandal.

However he had to accept that the cobbler’s criticism was valid and, overnight, adjusted his painting. Next day the shoemaker was back, somewhat full of himself because the painting had been altered and proceeded next to criticise the form of the subject’s leg. Apelles would not stand for this and lambasted his critic as, he said, he might know about shoes but not about legs.

Ultra means above, crepida means a sandal or sole of a shoe. The word is said to have been popularised by William Hazlitt.

 

In other words a politician, particularly a Government Minister.

 

@Selleri . I'm almost certain that news interviewers were playing that game. How else could so many have got Jeremy Hunt's name wrong?

 

New one: BBC Good Food magazine advises how to "dry-brine" a chicken.

If brine is salty water, surely "dry brine" is salt?

Anyways our Easter chicken got wet brined and I learnt something new. Adding tomato cut offs into brine turns the meat slightly pink , which is not very tempting with a chicken. (And yes, it is thoroughly cooked, falling off the bone. And very tender)

 

Dry "brine" is a rub isn't it?

I've tried brining pork belly and fillet but find the process is more effective with chicken which can be bland, even when free range and corn fed.

 

The thing with a ‘dry brine’ or rub is that the salts draw liquid out of the meat which then turns the salt into liquid … consequently it becomes a brine.

 

Susie Dent, from Countdown, produces interesting words on - I think - Twitter. Sorry, X. Don't use it, but my husband does; hence I know that a Snollygoster is a "shrewd, unprincipled person, particularly a politician".

This morning I had to look up "oneiric", a word which popped up in the Geoff Dyer book which is our next book club choice. I'm sure I should have come across it before, but I don't think I have. It means dreamy or dreamlike. But you probably all knew that already...

 

Not an unusual word, but I like the way 'egregious ' rolls off the tongue

 

On Monday the Earth, Moon and Sun will be in syzygy, resulting in a total solar eclipse in North America.

 

A great scrabble word - if only I can remember it

 

Geoff Dyer likes obscure words. The latest offering in his book (intriguingly titled "The last days of Roger Federer") is "chthonic" (=pertaining to the underworld). I'm a bit fed up with the book, but at least my vocabulary is increasing.

 

Bored to death, perchance? @Liriodendron