mikhail epstein's definitions

scientify

scientify verb transitive (science + suffix ify, from Latin -ficare and -facere, to make or do) - to make smth more scientific, to subject to scientific views, rules and concepts.

He has tried hard to scientify his paper, but it still remains a provocative essay rather than a consistent argument.

She has scientified her diet and as a result got a distaste for food.

by Mikhail Epstein November 9, 2003

webbiage

webbiage n (web + suffix iage, like in verbiage) Ð excessive use of web tools and design beyond those needed to present a certain content or achieve a certain goal.

Why do you need all this webbiage? Simplify, simplify!

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003

ignorement

ignorement n ignore + suffix ment; cf. treatment, excitement - a noun that signifies ignoring something or somebody, corresponding to the verb ignore, but different from ignorance (which is derived from ignore, but has a different meaning, "lack of knowledge").

I hoped to receive forgiveness but instead was met with suspicion and ignorement.

Your son's continuous ignorement of his civil duties needs to be noticed and reprimanded.

The government shows the same ignorement towards human lives as towards human rights.

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003

ride the edge

to be ahead in a certain skill or profession, to be on a cutting edge and take all the risks of being the first and leading the others

A recent graduate in quantum physics, Amalia now rides the edge of nanotechnology.

by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003

EGG

abbreviation for Electronically Generated Groups, such as smart mobs
or bookcrossing communities, that use the web to ferment their social
bonds in real space and time.

These EGGs are indeed the eggs of new, trans-electronic sociality.

Do you participate in any EGG? - Yes, I am a seasoned egger.

by Mikhail Epstein October 2, 2003

inventurer

inventurer n (invention+adventurer) - adventurer of thinking, seeker of intellectual adventures.

Inventurers know how much they donÕt know; like Socrates and Kant, they start their journey with the confessed Òignorance.Ó

by Mikhail Epstein November 6, 2003

humy

humy n (abbreviated and affectionate name of a human being implying smallness) - a human being as a partner or a pet of creatures with artificial intelligence. The term also resonates with "humiliated," the role humans might assume in a technosociety dominated by the humanoid machines.

For somebody as smart as this humy, you have to wonder why it cannot escape death.

by Mikhail Epstein November 2, 2003