Speedog's definitions

Mocha Dick

Noun: an albino male sperm whale known to inhabit the Pacific Ocean near Mocha Island in the early 19th century, credited with sinking several whaling ships which were in pursuit of members of his pod. Considered the inspiration for Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick, or The Whale", published in 1851.

As the harpoon boats approached, Mocha Dick played dead, evidently to lure them in closer, until he could counter-attack.

by speedog June 13, 2010

white dwarf

Noun (astrophysics term): the small, highly-dense stellar body remaining after the nova detonation of a "main sequence" star, typically Earth-sized in overall dimension, but displacing a gravitational mass equivalent to that of the Earth's Sun.

Astrophysicists now calculate that white dwarf stars may account for as much as 6% of all the known stars in our quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy.

by speedog July 13, 2010

harpago

Noun (ancient Roman naval terminology): a catapult-launched grappling hook, invented in the 1st century BCE by Marcus Agrippa, and successfully employed by himself (as commander of Roman naval forces) during the Battle of Actium, against the forces of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII, and her ally, the Roman triumvir Marcus Antonius (a.k.a. Mark Anthony).

"When Antony's larger Egyptian ships had penetrated the Roman line, Agrippa's smaller galleys successfully reeled them in for close marine combat by using the harpago."

by speedog June 10, 2010

air-heel

Verb (high fashion slang): To walk barefoot on the ball of one's feet (or foot) with the heel elevated, as though one is wearing heeled shoes, most usually in the event that one or both shoes are lost during a fashion show; the object being to maintain balance and poise as best possible.

'When Karolina Kurkova lost her shoe during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, she had to air-heel it down the runway and back"

by Speedog December 1, 2009

Time barrier

Noun: the theoretical limit of real-time velocity in the known universe, at which point positive time halts, and the mass of any object traveling at that speed become infinite and incapable of any increase in velocity.

"In 1994, Dr. Miguel Alcubierre formulated a hypothetical propulsion system that could, in theory, break the time barrier."

by speedog June 25, 2010

causality

Noun (physics terminology): the natural sequential relation between any cause and its subsequent effect in the known universe, in which any effect is invariably preceded by the cause of that effect, and never the reverse.

"Newton's Third Law of Motion is essentially a confirmation of the principle of causality."

by speedog April 30, 2010

unintentionally hilarious

Adjective: description of any expression, statement or definition which, although originally intended in earnest, results adversely in humorous disdain.

"Wendy's attempt to explain how her underwear ended up in the frat house rec room was unintentionally hilarious."

by speedog April 28, 2010