@schoudaan@autistics.life
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

schoudaan

@schoudaan@autistics.life

Classicist, pianist, autist.
I love language and languages.
Nonnumquam Latine loquor.
I also enjoy tabletop games, not least of which Dungeons & Dragons.

Profile picture: Art of an African elephant, depicted from the front. Its skin is divided in various polygons, coloured in muted shades of blue, yellow and green.

Header: Photo of the evening sky from a train station platform across a small number of tracks. The far horizon is glowing with a band of fiery red sky.

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schoudaan, to random
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

As a young child I got a koosh ball from my parents. It's this ball made of rubber strands. I loved fidgeting with the thing, well before I knew what stimming was or even that I was . It's only in the past two years that I realised there might be a connection there. 😅

JeremyMallin, to Etymology
@JeremyMallin@autistics.life avatar

Funny. A character in this show who was declared by others to be disgruntled, argued that she used to be "perfectly gruntled".

Now I'm wondering if "gruntled" is a word that was ever commonly used.

#Etymology

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@JeremyMallin @Cassandra
I'm not a native speaker, but I assumed the "peel" is a metaphor for your eyelids. So keeping your eyes peeled is keeping them open. Does that make sense?

schoudaan, to random
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

I've been feeling a little tired and overstimulated over the last few days and I've been trying to find a way to decompress. It's quietly hilarious to me that simply sitting on the couch with a blanket over my head seems to be quite effective.

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@Cassandra Oh right! Thanks for reminding me! I did one of those as well, but I could do with some more. 😄

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

Being overstimulated makes me appreciate the things I have to mitigate it. I'm happy with my earplugs, stimming stuff, and even my sunglasses.

There was a time when I didn't have that kind of stuff, or didn't feel like I was allowed to use it. Now it's a great feeling to put on my sensory gear and take on the world. 😁

schoudaan, to Etymology
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

Have you ever wondered why recovery sounds like you're covering something again? It's just coincidence!

Recover goes back to Latin "recuperare", and is ultimately related to English "receive". Moreso than receive, however, recover retains the repetition sense of the re- prefix: it's about taking something back again, whether that is an object, or your health, or whatever. Covering things has nothing to do with it.

For me personally, that's quite a discovery.

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@Cassandra It wasn't even really on purpose 😅

schoudaan, to random
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

Cycling in the dark tonight, I felt a droplet of something falling on my leg. That's weird, I thought, it hasn't been raining. At the next traffic light I saw it was actually a slug. 😬

I guess it must have fallen from a tree branch?

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@DMakarios Never thought I'd be a slug rollercoaster 😄

ashleyspencer, to animals
@ashleyspencer@autistics.life avatar

I don’t know what kind of contortionist sleeping position this is 😄

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@ashleyspencer To be fair, it does seem to have a leg up on all the other options. 🤓

schoudaan, to Etymology
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

Weird #etymology: 'weird' originally meant fate or fortune. It got its modern meaning from the weird sisters, goddesses of fate. Because they were portrayed as uncanny, the word weird shifted its meaning.

Further back, it comes from a root *wer-, which means to turn. The idea of turning is often used for processes of becoming and the future: something turns into something, or turns out well.

The original meaning is still present in the suffix -ward, like backward and inward.

#language

JeremyMallin, to random
@JeremyMallin@autistics.life avatar

Do folks in other countries know where we are talking about when we refer to specific USA states (I'm in Michigan) or should we always include the country as well? (I'm in Michigan, USA)

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@JeremyMallin I would recognize the names as US states, but I wouldn't be able to place them all on a map. I do know where Michigan is, though! Kinda... 😅

ashleyspencer, to random
@ashleyspencer@autistics.life avatar

I got my blanket product sample today. The autistic design I made looks simple and pretty, but the blanket quality is awful. Towels are thicker than that blanket and it looks like it’s peeling. No way I’d sell that.

My old printer has a microfleece blanket so hopefully that one is better. Microfleece is one of my favorite types of bedding fabrics because of how soft it is. So hopefully round 2 from that printer is better!

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@ashleyspencer That's such a pity! Fingers crossed for round 2!

Cassandra, to random
@Cassandra@autistics.life avatar

I think it’s wrong that some things that meet all the rules for words are not considered words.

Not enough people use the adverbial form of a certain adjective so it's not in the dictionary so I shouldn't use it? Fuck you, it conveys the meaning I want.

Just because the masses haven't discovered it yet doesn’t mean it's not a word.

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@Cassandra I'm not bad at language, I'm ensuring that lexicographers are doing their job. 😎

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@Cassandra Ah yes, those things are tricky. Going for the easy route of serendipité is not an option? 😅 That only works if you then explain what the word means, I guess.

Cassandra, (edited ) to random
@Cassandra@autistics.life avatar

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@Cassandra I like quoot toot, especially because it gives you the option of shortening it to pithy quoot, and still having it be unambiguous what you're referring to.

ashleyspencer, to random
@ashleyspencer@autistics.life avatar

Those of us on https://autistics.life:

We had 7 spam accounts created today. Most while I was sleeping last night. I deleted the accounts when I woke up. We had one just now and I caught it immediately and deleted their account. I made this server manual approval needed and require a reason to join to ensure a real person is sending the request.

Just to keep you updated. :RedHearts:

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@ashleyspencer It's a pity that it's necessary, but I'm glad to hear there are ways to hopefully deal with that sort of accounts. And thank you for the update! 🙂

schoudaan, to latin
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

The word 'candere' is a verb meaning 'to shine'. It's where 'candle' comes from.

From the idea of shining, came the idea of purity and sincerity, which is where 'candid' comes from.

When ancient Romans ran for office, they would wear a shining bright toga. And that's why we call them candidates.

Cassandra, to random
@Cassandra@autistics.life avatar

Me: Before I fork over money for your service, I would appreciate confirmation that it will meet my slightly non-standard needs.

Customer service agent: [asks lots of questions, makes a recommendation that ignores both my answers and my stated slightly non-standard needs]

Me: That doesn't sound right for me. Could you give me an example of how my SSNSN would be met?

CSA: I'll transfer you.

/cont

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@Cassandra Their answer is so disappointing, but your answer is so satisfying.

In general, though, what kind of customer service tells you to just google stuff? Like, I can understand they might not have that specific information at hand, but you'd think they could at least suggest something constructive.

Cassandra, (edited ) to random
@Cassandra@autistics.life avatar

Last night a friend came over for nachos and an escape room in a box + app.

Given an option, I chose the time travel theme.

We bounced around in time and got a clue that depended on the current year. Ah, hmm.

We'd landed last in 1974, so that was the most recent current year. [Angry buzzer]

My ERIAB+A-savvy friend checked the box for its publication year. [Ibid.]

We couldn’t figure it out.

We consulted the internet.

The answer was 2023. The current year.

The literal words they used.

/…

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@Cassandra Oh wow, that does sound frustratingly confusing. I think my gaming group would need an entire post-game session to discuss the failings of that game design. 😅

schoudaan, to boardgames
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

I was introduced to The Night Cage a few days ago. I tend to like cooperative games, and I definitely want to try more of this one. I appreciate how the game's complexity grows as you play.

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@Cassandra The board disappearing actually came as a twist at the end for me, as most of us were learning the game as we played. 😅

schoudaan, to linguistics
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

Wonderful fact from @lingthusiasm.

Children learning can confuse pronouns, saying 'You're tired' when they mean 'I'm tired', for example.

Children learning American Sign Language do this too, even though the signs for 'me' and 'you' basically consist of a pointing gesture at yourself or someone else.

These children understand how pointing works. So the signs are truly grammatical pronouns, even though they look like pointing at someone.

schoudaan,
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

@Cassandra Hmm, that's interesting! Do any others, humans or otherwise, use the same buttons? Cause the issue for the children is that people use the same pronoun for different people. That is, the person referred to by 'you' or 'me' changes, depending on who says it.

schoudaan, to random
@schoudaan@autistics.life avatar

Walked up to the platform to catch my connecting train tonight. The train was on time, but I did stop in my own tracks when I looked up at the .

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