Small Talk

Mel, you're definitely due for some good weather. We've been having rain for several days and that's depressing enough with the gray skies and no sunshine. At least it's making everything green.

Snow and mosquitoes. Now there's a combination you don't see every day.

 

Nice to see you all lovely people!

Melc I cannot believe the weather you described ; after all it’s May!
It has not been nice in London, lots of rain and temperatures around 55F. I know I can’t compete with you Melc

Have a very good Thursday Melc, Cheryl,Nathan and everyone else.

AnneT are you all right??

 

Marta
Hello yes I’m alive Marta! I’ve been mostly vertigo free for a month. When this happens, lovely as it is, I then get kind of anxious ptsd-style and don’t want to think about it. But I haven’t forgotten my wonderful fellow Menierians!

I see Dr Euna Hwang at the Neurovestibular Clinic May 21. I’m hoping she can do gentamicin soon or arrange a laby soon. But I’m kind in resigned mode... no easy forward.

MelC
Indeed what’s up with our weather?? Crazy town. Looks nice today in Cowtown.

 

Anne, so happy you have been vertigo free for a month. I am going to keep my fingers crossed for you on 21st May. Soon you will be vertigo free for good! In the meantime... do not give in. Leave the resign mode behind and look after yourself

 

Hello, Marta. Hello, Melc.

Hello loveable people.

 

Granting decid

Granting decidual

Deciduals

What's the plural form of that which is deciduous, if not "deciduals"? This may prompt confusion, I'm aware. Much the same way proper English grammar renders someone from Venus a Venereal, or plural Venereals.

The plural form of that which is deciduous isn't 'deciduouses', surely?

Granting deciduouses

Considering deciduous trees absciss, leaf-out, & alter pigments in response to hormones dictated by both the ecliptic & temperature, the mental model that comes to mind in reference to eccentric Canadian weather are Maples. Beautiful Maples. Maples being like ’Uh... wha... hey... wait... okay... go... stop… now… go back… go wait… now go stop!'

​

 

Great new words. I’m not indecisive, I’m indecidual.

 

Loved the gif, Nathan. Nailed it. The trees are still not fully leafed out. We are still experiencing below normal temps.

As for finding plurals for adjectives...it has never occurred to me to do that.

 

"And over here we have a bunch of deciduals ready to be planted elsewhere" said the horticulturalist as she gestured towards a group of 30 potted saplings comprised of 8 oaks, 12 maples, & 10 elms.

Or am I breaking all the rules?

 

Far be it from me to quibble with a horticulturist. In the sentence you quoted, Nathan I think deciduals is a noun. It’s a new word to me.

As for breaking rules I only have one rule.
Rule number one...there are no rules.

 

I looked the word up and that’s what I found:

The decidua is the modified mucosal lining of the uterus known as the endometrium that forms in preparation for pregnancy. It is formed in a process called decidualization under the influence of progesterone. Endometrial cells become highly characteristic.
And one more
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/decidual-cells

 

So there you go, I am indeed indecidual - post-menopause!

 

*nods… Cue reference to the Venus/venereal comparison in my initial post, as by substituting the last two letters of the noun Venus with "ereal", likewise the "ous" of deciduous with "al", directly or indirectly places both in the narrow arena of female anatomy, rather than botany & astrobiology.

Although it is true, etymologically speaking, that Venus holds female underpinnings: the goddess of beauty & love, loveliness, charm, beauty, sexual desire, the beloved, Aphrodite & what have you, hence it may not be the best comparison.

It's correct to refer to specific types of cells & tissue as decidual, likewise leaves & petals, however etymologically all we're really experimenting with is a noun that means to shed, & to fall off or down at certain stages.

Considering this I see no reason why it can't be used as a noun within botany contexts, rather than an adjective, & subsequently pluralised, a plural noun, to define multiple deciduous trees as deciduals. Much the same way it is acceptable to pluralise the noun annual as annuals.

That said, for work related reasons I've been both running on adrenalin & limited to arrhythmical 2 - 3 hour pockets of sleep for almost a fortnight now. So I may not be thinking as clearly as I otherwise would be, or could be.

 

Jesus jeans. Look out! We've got a badass over here!

(Happy to accompany your recalcitrance, if you can tolerate an Aussie)

 

Wait. Recalcitrance? Is it never ending?!

*Requests a frontal, temporal & parietal lobe update, pronto.

 

Ahh, Nathan.

You crack me up!

Changing the subject, I took the quiz on Mental Floss as to whether I would have been charged with witchcraft in the 17th century. It turns out that it didn’t take much to be accused.

 

This is going to make your day! Best starts at about 30th second.
Enjoy

 

When played in reverse, coatimundis look like little dinosaurs.

 

Love this kid! What’s wrong with all those boring normal children?? That poor girl beside her looks like she’s gone to another dimension to escape a panic attack!

 

Hahahaha! Awww...poor kid, I feel for her.