“Grawlixes” is the word for asterisks used instead of letters in swear words. “Maledicta” is the word for lines of nonsense symbols used in place of a swear word.
Has the usage changed *that* much in less than 40 years? (Or is this usage specific to a particular field?) (NB: *not* trying to dispute; it's the first I've heard of this distinction and I absolutely would love to know more!)
(Per Merriam-Webster)
I like the words "legerdemain" and "prestidigitation", both of which are terms for sleight-of-hand, but the first one is more strongly associated with deception and the second so strongly associated with stage magic that it's the name of an iconic D&D spell for doing trivial bits of magic.
to glass, as a verb, or glassing, as an adj/gerund?
whereas water would usually crystallize (and expand) when freezing, you can add a glassing agent (like DMSO or glycerol) to get it to glass instead, and not expand
Good for, for example, freezing living cells that need to be revived later.
SEE ALSO:
Common in British English, to "glass someone" means to violently hit them with a bottle, pint glass, or other object made of glass, causing the object to shatter and cause serious wounds.
Common in the context of pub brawls.
Yeah, I can see that.
I actually interviewed for a (much more benign) federal job in New Mexico a month or so ago. Was asked to submit references, so was probably a finalist. Then they abruptly canceled the whole thing without warning or explanation, though; no moving to New Mexico for me.
Fittingly, I learned a lot of that stuff about glassing/agents from a biophysicist I collaborate with. I had only frozen cells and assumed how it worked. He does really cool spectroscopy. 2D-IR. Don’t really know how any of that works.
In the late 80s, I read about a New Development that was going to Revolutionize Frozen Foods (sorry about the capitalization, I was just trying to capture the spirit): infusing fresh e.g. strawberries with a glassing sugar so they'd stay soft while frozen.
No clue what happened to that idea.
I remember, even at the time, thinking that it might not be a great idea; the fact that frozen fruit is hard/crunchy probably prevents an awful lot of oral frostbite and dental injuries. Imagine being able to sink your teeth into a strawberry at -40°...
