Definitions by bill m.

bass 

Short for either the bass guitar (also known as the "electric" bass) or the upright bass (also known as "bass fiddle", "double bass", "contrabass", "string bass", or "acoustic bass"). Although different in design, both of these musical instruments essentially serve the same role: providing a low bottom-end to the music and a link between the rhythm and lead sections of a band. Though plenty of exceptional players have shown that the bass can additionally be a versatile lead instrument in its own right.

"At night I could hear the bass reverberate through the neighborhood. The guitars and drums were muffled, but the bass traveled everywhere. I loved that, and wanted to have the power to shake buildings. Also, the bass was big and manly; guitars were little and wimpy, with these thin little strings that looked like Velveeta cheese cutters." - Billy Sheehan

bass by Bill M. August 30, 2004

Wendsday 

The phonetically accurate, yet incorrect spelling of "Wednesday"

Why do we pronounce that day as "wendsday" and not "WED - nes - day"?

Wendsday by Bill M. August 27, 2004

jehovahs witness 

"Jehovah's Witness" without an apostrophe

Somebody else here added a definition for "jehovahs witness", thus creating this new page, instead of adding to the already existing "Jehovah's Witness" or "Jehovah's Witnesses" definitions.

jehovahs witness by Bill M. August 27, 2004

redundancy 

A set of words in common usage that includes a needless modifier. Not to be confused with an oxymoron (where two terms of the same phrase literally contradict each other) or euphamism (a phrase used to change the emotional charge of a a word or phrase).

Examples of actual redundancies:

- ATM machine ("Automatic teller machine machine"? Just say "ATM".)
- PIN number ("Personal identification number number"?)
- "Call now for your FREE GIFT!" (well of course it's free, otherwise it wouldn't be a gift!)
- end result
- bare naked
- past experience

redundancy by Bill M. August 27, 2004

anagram 

One or more words created by rearranging all the letters of a given word or phrase. All the letters have to be used, and only used once. The resulting anagram will usually have nothing to do with the original word or phrase, but it's amusing when it does.

Anagrams are not to be confused with palindromes (though "straw" is both a palindrome and anagram of "warts"), spoonerisms, acronyms, or other word plays.

- "earth" is an anagram of "heart"
- An anagram for "Alice Cooper" is "A cool recipe"
- "General", "enlarge", and "Al Green" are all anagrams of each other
- "Axl Rose" is an anagram of "Oral Sex"
- "Dormitory" becomes "Dirty Room"
- "Santa" becomes "Satan"

anagram by Bill M. August 27, 2004

spoonerism 

A word or phrase created by swapping the initial letters (or first consonant sounds) of two words or syllables to get a new word word or phrase. The spelling doesn't have to be correct, only the pronounciation is important. The term "spoonerism" was named after Reverend W.A. Spooner (1844-1930).

Not to be confused with anagrams, palindromes, and other word games.

- "Peas and carrots" is a spoonerism of "keys and parrots"
- "tea bags" becomes "bee tags"
- "trail mix" becomes "mail tricks"
- "Save the whales" becomes "wave the sails"
- "forearm" becomes "oar farm"

spoonerism by Bill M. August 27, 2004

reverb 

A special effect applied to an audio signal to make it sound as if you're now hearing that sound in a tunnel or some other different room, with some depth and a bit of echo.

Many guitar amplifiers have a "reverb" knob.

reverb by Bill M. August 27, 2004