Message from your Interthingy

John K. · Post by **John K.** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 3:50 pm

Good morning - This morning my inbox was 30% full, so I feel pretty comfortable that everyone's PM's came through. Every entrant should have received a PM from me acknowledging that their entry is in, if you didn't get a PM it means I didn't get your entry.

Apologies again to janj for my porky attitude over the weekend.

After I get a cup of coffee I'll be copying the stories into new PM's, labeling them, and sending them off to Laurie. Each story will be assigned a letter (such as Story A, Story B, etc.), and they will be sent in a random sort of order, and not in the order they were received.

I myself chose not to enter the contest after all. Being the curious person I am, I could not stop myself from reading entries as they came in, and I therefore felt it was unfair of me to write and enter. But, as per Joe's suggestion, I have been writing a song with a melody loosely based on "The Captain" (Various Positions) that describes my imaginary meeting with the master. I would promise the contest winner an autographed CD, except that would be more appropriate for the losers!

I'm glad I'm not a judge, I would have a hard time choosing a winner.

Good luck to everyone, and may the judging begin.

Your interthingy,

John K.

janj · Post by **janj** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:05 pm

I don't know the word "interthingy", in my dictionary it does not. But thank you for patience in your messages.

LaurieAK · Post by **LaurieAK** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:39 pm

Thanks John K.!!

I am in tne process of printing out the anonymous stories from my PM and copying the files for the other judges of on the jury (along with taking a shower and making coffee-multi-tasking is my middle name!).

Thanks for helping out and being so efficient.

Someone will get back with you when the judging is complete about putting names with the stories.
I do not have a timeline on when that is going to happen. I'd guess it would be a week at the most.

Thanks again.

Regards,
Laurie

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 4:58 pm

Hi janj ~

Just an FYI ["For Your Information"] ~ an "interthingy" is a fun word that Critic 2 [in this Member's Poetry section] 'coined' [devised, made up], so it cannot be found in anyone's dictionary

[save his own

] ~ yet

! But, new terms and words get invented every day, don't they

?

Anyway, an "interthingy" has been used here to represent the person who was the 'go-between' [from the 'root' word/section of "inter"], in this case, the one who took the short stories in through his Inbox, and then sent them on, anonymously, to the judge[s]. That way, confidentiality could be protected. He copied-and-pasted just the stories, without attaching anyone's name, in the interest of preserving the judges' objectivity.

It's just a word used strictly here on the Forum, but Critic 2 may already be using it in his private life [can't say it'll be bantied about in the courtroom any time soon, though]. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you started using it in your own private life, for your own purposes

. It's certainly fun to say, and though it may not sound particularly sophisticated, who gives a hoot

?

~ Lizzy

Fljotsdale · Post by **Fljotsdale** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 1:56 am

I love 'interthingy'. It should be in dictionaries.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 5:17 am

That's how I feel about it, too, Fljotsdale ~ I love it! So descriptive, with so many possibilities for application. Shall I write Webster, or would you prefer to? Either way, is fine with me. It really could hold a very respectable place amongst those thin pages

And, how long has it been since a word was so much fun to say

?

~ Lizzy

Fljotsdale · Post by **Fljotsdale** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:17 am

If enough people start using it, it'll eventually get into the dictionaries - about 20 years after it has fallen out of use!

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:27 am

- about 20 years after it has fallen out of use!

Great aside

Byron · Post by **Byron** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:15 am

interthingie
ovethingie
underthingie
roundathingie
upathingie
crossathingie
wheresmethingie
whatsathingie
passmethingie
squeezm......no don't even go there!

Fljotsdale · Post by **Fljotsdale** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 3:02 am

Ya know - I HOPE you win the shortstorythingie, Byron! Even though I've entered myself and want to win, lol! You make me laugh out loud!

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 3:26 am

I think we may want to come up with alternate spellings, too, with the preferred one indicated. Perhaps, some synonyms and antonyms, and a dash of its archaic spelling and usage. We'll probably want to keep track of its etymology, with every little change in nuance noted with date and usage in a sentence. Soon, quite soon, we'll have an interthingy salad.

Byron ~ you've obviously accepted the task of the root word, with its expansions. Do we label it as Greek, Latin, French, or what, at its root? Its origin was clearly in Great Britain, but not sure about its root. Does your ovethingy need an r, or is that going into the slang division, as is?

~ Lizzy

Byron · Post by **Byron** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 11:19 am

"Byron ~ you've obviously accepted the task of the root word, with its expansions. Do we label it as Greek, Latin, French, or what, at its root? Its origin was clearly in Great Britain, but not sure about its root. Does your ovethingy need an r, or is that going into the slang division, as is?"

ovethingie is a clear indication that my R's is not something I would want to overexpose in this Forum.
3 rs's is surely enough for any display of anyone's Rs.

However, if the people want to see all of my R's, then so be it.

throberthingie (Hardly Davison m/cycle) see Byronbay Oz.
No connection, but well worth a gander, if you have made the connection.

alliterthingie (lots of kittens, crying)
alternathingie (choices in current motivation) One for the drivers amongst us,

Byron · Post by **Byron** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 11:42 am

Once upon a time, in a land, far, far away, about 2 miles from here, I lived next door to a man who had difficulty in remembering nouns.

He would pepper his conversation with "whatsanames."

All attempts to try and keep track of what he was talking about failed miserably, either through total overload, or a strong desire not to giggle. T'was one or t'other.

"I was standing at the whatsaname for 30 minutes yesterday and not one whatsaname came. Then 3 of them came together. I put me whatsaname out to stop one and the first one went straight passed me. The second whatsaname stopped and it was full of whatsanames going to school. So I had to get the third one. And there was only one whatsaname to sit on."

And this would carry on through his whole conversation. When we'd had a few drinks in the pub, it was bloody impossible to understand what he meant and impossible to attempt to understand.

He was a psychiatric nurse!

Byron · Post by **Byron** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 11:46 am

Byron ~ you've obviously accepted the task of the root word, with its expansions. Do we label it as Greek, Latin, French, or what?

Ddutch.

mickey_one · Post by **mickey_one** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:53 pm

Byron, my dear friend- leave my interthingy alone! I will explain its origins and suggest how the world should properly approach its use etc when I have a bleedin' spare second in my life (11 girls here on a sleepover party tonight, oy!)

regards

michael

(inventor and originator of all things thingy)