[FRIAM] flattening -isms

Sun Nov 17 12:01:49 EST 2019

Steve, 

Apparently the modern definition of apocryphal is “widely circulated though probably untrue” .  Nothing that we have said about Hywel (so far) is untrue.  We need a word for “widely circulated and true”.  Notorious?  

As you know, I love etymology.  Here from etymology on line: 

apocrypha (n.)

late 14c., Apocrifa, in reference to the apocryphal books of the Bible, from Late Latin apocrypha (scripta), from neuter plural of apocryphus "secret, not approved for public reading," from Greek apokryphos "hidden; obscure, hard to understand," thus "(books) of unknown authorship" (especially those included in the Septuagint and Vulgate but not originally written in Hebrew and not counted as genuine by the Jews), from apo "off, away" (see apo- <https://www.etymonline.com/word/apo-?ref=etymonline_crossreference> ) + kryptein "to hide" (see crypt <https://www.etymonline.com/word/crypt?ref=etymonline_crossreference> ). 

Non-Biblical sense "writing of doubtful authorship or authenticity" is from 1735. Properly plural (the single would be Apocryphon or apocryphum), but commonly treated as a collective singular.

Nick

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

 <http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

From: Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] On Behalf Of Steven A Smith
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2019 8:56 AM
To: friam at redfish.com
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] flattening -isms

I never met Hywel myself, but the stories of him are always apocryphal...  someday I expect all of the stories referencing Mulla Nasruden to reappear with Hywel as the central character.

On 11/17/19 8:40 AM, Frank Wimberly wrote:

Hywel was an experimental particle physicist and a regular Friam attendee.  He had been a professor at Penn and Cornell and a group leader at Los Alamos.  Once he said to me, "the number one does not exist".  He meant that there is nothing that is precisely one centimeter long, for example.  I asked him, "How many biological mothers did you have?"  I don't have enough time to repeat his answer.

Frank 

-----------------------------------
Frank Wimberly

My memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly

My scientific publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2

Phone (505) 670-9918

On Sun, Nov 17, 2019, 8:31 AM Frank Wimberly <wimberly3 at gmail.com <mailto:wimberly3 at gmail.com> > wrote:

Yes, I meant to say including the types type.

-----------------------------------
Frank Wimberly

My memoir:
https://www.amazon.com/author/frankwimberly

My scientific publications:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Frank_Wimberly2

Phone (505) 670-9918

On Sun, Nov 17, 2019, 8:02 AM glen∈ℂ <gepropella at gmail.com <mailto:gepropella at gmail.com> > wrote:

I don't know this Hywel person. But number of things of a type is different from number of types of thing. 8^) Unless types of a thing are also things of a type. Channeling a modern teenager: That's so meta, dude.

On 11/17/19 6:55 AM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
> Channeling Hywel, I hope accurately: There is no irrational number of
> things of any type in the Universe

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