Godwin's law (singular only)

Godwin's law (singular only)

1. (usually humorous) The adage that any Usenet discussion will eventually mention the Nazis or Adolf Hitler.

[edit] Usage notes

Mentioning Godwin's law as having been fulfilled in a particular discussion is often deemed sufficient grounds for ending that discussion

Nn: Neophyte

n.

1. A recent convert to a belief; a proselyte.

2. A beginner or novice: a neophyte at politics.

3.

a. Roman Catholic Church A newly ordained priest.

b. A novice of a religious order or congregation.

---

[Middle English, from Late Latin neophytus, from Greek neophutos : neo-, neo- + -phutos, planted (from phuein, to bring forth; see bheu- in Indo-European roots).]

Thesauraus

	1.	neophyte - any new participant in some activity fledgeling, fledgling, newbie, newcomer, freshman, entrant, starter beginner, initiate, tiro, tyro, novice - someone new to a field or activity enlistee, recruit - any new member or supporter (as in the armed forces)
	2.	neophyte - a new convert being taught the principles of Christianity by a catechist catechumen educatee, pupil, student - a learner who is enrolled in an educational institution

A neophyte might have fancied that the ripples passing over it were dreadfully like faint changes of expression on a sightless face; but Gaffer was no neophyte and had no fancies.Our Mutual Friend by Dickens, Charles

Cc: Conduit

n

1. (Miscellaneous Technologies / Building) a pipe or channel for carrying a fluid

2. (Miscellaneous Technologies / Building) a rigid tube or duct for carrying and protecting electrical wires or cables

3. an agency or means of access, communication, etc.

4. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Botany) Botany a water-transporting element in a plant; a xylem vessel or a tracheid

5. a rare word for fountain

[from Old French, from Medieval Latin conductus channel, aqueduct, from Latin condūcere to lead, conduce]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 6th Edition 2003. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

Mm: Metaphysics

n.

1. (used with a sing. verb) Philosophy The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value.

2. (used with a pl. verb) The theoretical or first principles of a particular discipline: the metaphysics of law.

3. (used with a sing. verb) A priori speculation upon questions that are unanswerable to scientific observation, analysis, or experiment.

4. (used with a sing. verb) Excessively subtle or recondite reasoning.
5. Things that do not change over time. (Added by Gregory Rothbard)

---

[From pl. of Middle English methaphisik, from Medieval Latin metaphysica, from Medieval Greek (ta) metaphusika, from Greek (Ta) meta (ta) phusika, (the works) after the Physics, the title of Aristotle's treatise on first principles (so called because it followed his work on physics) : meta, after; see meta- + phusika, physics; see physics.]

In Context:
Granted this horrible picture you have drawn, yet you must confess that metaphysics was inherently potent in so far as it drew humanity out of this dark period and on into the illumination of the succeeding centuries.The Iron Heel by London, Jack



Links
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Ff: Fractions

n.

1. Mathematics An expression that indicates the quotient of two quantities, such as ¹/₃ .

2. A disconnected piece; a fragment.

3. A small part; a bit: moved a fraction of a step.

4. A chemical component separated by fractionation.

---

[Middle English fraccioun, a breaking, from Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin frcti, frctin-, from Latin frctus, past participle of frangere, to break; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: Our word fraction did not originally have a mathematical sense. It goes back ultimately to the Latin verb frangere, "to break." From the stem of the past participle frctus is derived Late Latin frcti (stem frctin-), "a breaking" or "a breaking in pieces," as in the breaking of the Eucharistic Host. In Medieval Latin the word frcti developed its mathematical sense, which was taken into Middle English along with the word. The earliest recorded sense of our word is "an aliquot part of a unit, a fraction or subdivision," found in a work by Chaucer written about 1400. One of the next recorded instances of the word recalls its origins, referring to the "brekying or fraccioun" of a bone.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Ff: Future Shock

Future Shock is a book written by the sociologist and futurologist Alvin Toffler in 1970. It grew out of an article "The Future as a Way of Life" in Horizon magazine, Summer 1965 issue.^[1][2][3][4] The book has sold over 6 million copies and has been widely translated.
Toffler's shortest definition of future shock is a personal perception of "too much change in too short a period of time".