Thursday, June 22, 2006

Intractable

INTRACTABLE, adj. Stubbornly unwilling to adopt a course from which nothing can divert ourselves.

2006 Update: Attractive.

Answer key to yesterday: TLP found three of the quotes, Minka one, Puppytoes one. Village Idiot was able to name two of his and two of mine which leaves him a total of zero jester's bells. The others were "Like worms on an apple getting ready to jump off," which is a line from the film Brother John with Sidney Poitier and "The use of unnecessary violence in apprehending the Blues Brothers has been approved."

And a wedgie goes to O Ceallaigh who incorrectly corrected me. Unless I'm incorrectly correcting him. PhD in Biology, indeed! You're a Governor, aren't you, O Ceallaigh?

44 comments:

Jake said...

INTRACTABLE: adj. describing the behavior of the good girl falling for the bad guy.

Gosh, that was weak. Maybe I'll come up with something more attractive later.

TLP said...

(1) Intractable: This when your ballpoint pen refuses to go back into its base. Or when a turtle's head gets stuck out of its shell.

(2) An escaped convict who manages to swing from tree to tree instead of leaving a scent on the ground is intractable to you dawgs.

Anonymous said...

Intractable: my new writing task master who is already making me sweat and he hasn't even been on the job 24 hour. He scares me he does. A synopsis...by Sunday. One hour of playing on the internet. That's not just stubborn...that's cruel. Sigh. My morning 15 are almost up and I have other places to go. Beware the alpha males. That's all I'm saying. Beware. The. Alpha. Males. one hour!! I'm so screwed.

Ariel the Thief said...

I hope each American pays particular attention to the highly important speech the President of yours is making in Budapest today! his subject is going to be the wonderful Hungarians and the forever living American-Hungarian partnership.

paeftzk: repedtfazék

Anonymous said...

Intractable: to take a stand

for the record, i would like to state that i actually identified 2 quotes... the fact that i did not write them out was an oversight on my part. however, lest you forget, i *referenced* Monty Python & the Holy Grail (for "'twas only a flesh wound"), as well as The Princess Bride ("have fun storming the castle").

that said, i also recognized "do not dwell on our losses" , "...use of unnecessary (force)..." and that stupid worm/apple quote--none of which i could recall. (of course, i also incorrectly queried Doug regarding a particularly tasty line that *deserves* to be in a film, but i guess that, and $4.75, will get me a triple-grande-soy-no-whip-mocha.)

thank you. : P

Indeterminacy said...

Intractable: A faith so fanatical that it can't even be printed on tracts.

Sar said...

47 Alert! Puppytoes said $4.75!

Intractable - I'm afraid this stiletto refuses to acknowledge any knowledge pertaining to this word.

(TLP, LOL!)

Doug The Una said...

Brian, I hear you. Phenomenal quotes by the way.

Jake, about a 7. You've done better.

TLP, I have swinging dogs.

Jenna, we'll look forward to your next 15. How does it feel to be the one without the whip?

Ariel, to cement the eternal friendship, would you guys consider keeping the sonofabitch? I don't think he eats too much.

OK, Puppytoes, so I owe you five bells?

Joel, there's nothing worse than an intractable pain in your butt, excepting a tractable one.

Hey, neat, Indie.

Oh, Sar, it's like you and 47.

Mistress Anna said...

The result of nagging one's husband.:)

The amoeba said...

INTRACTABLE, adj. Immune to - or unavailable for - the blandishments of Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, children selling magazines, etc., etc.

Jeez Louise, Doug! That's my genes you're messing with. Go easy on the assets there bro, for Louise's sake! What Louise? Oh. Yeah. Right. :( Why don't you go practice on that guy Arnie over there? Kyahgirl! We need a ref!

Anonymous said...

Anti-social.

Kyahgirl said...

I'm scared to say anything. Dr. Minnie strator makes me nervous. Ever since I read Mrs. Weirsdo's novella, and checking into Pansi and the likes of Uncle Tom, I'm seeing pretend people everywhere.

anyway, I digress, O'C, I reffed you guys on the last post just now but I was too late to save you from a wedgie I guess. Sorry.

I like to today's word Doug. It perfectly describes the challenging people I work with on 'work processes'. The majority are '50 something' American men, intractable in their resistance to change. Not the least bit attractive.

And Ariel, I agree with Doug, please keep your guest indefinitely.

ok, I got all my stuff out of the way in one comment. :-)

Logophile said...

intractable~
something about a curmudgeon and
his comments tickles the psyche but instead...

Completely unwilling to live in tract housing regardless of convenience, distance, or food delivery. See also~ Mr. Logo

Anonymous said...

Intractable - Land where tract homes cannot be built. The antonym to McMansion Land.

The Village Idiot said...

Doug -- You may now address me as the Silent Jester(since you took away my bells )

Intractable -- The seeming ability of the Silent Jester to color within the lines

Doug -- I really need my bells back, life is just not the same without them

The amoeba said...

ms a. logo. snark.

The Village Idiot said...

INSERT DISCLAIMER HERE

yes this is in response to OC from yesterday. I promise to not hijack this blog upon the pain of propeller removal ...without anesthesia

END DISCLAIMER


OC -- remote sensing has lost its thrill but Synthetic Aperture Radar still shivers me timbers!

Or since we propeller heads loved acronyms S.A.R. for short

Unknown said...

i guess that nails it: i am intractable, and there's no going back on that. although attractive does sound better

mireille said...

Formula 500, greyhounds or Seattle Slew/Slough/Sloo: the few, the fleet, the raceable. In-tracked-able.

I haven't worked this hard in weeks. One wonders, was it worth it? Is Doug THAT attractive?

I'm off to install my cordless mouse. xoxo

mireille said...

Of course he is. Attractively intractable. xoxo

Doug The Una said...

Mistress Anna the two toughest lessons in life seem to be that nagging causes intractability and that intractability causes nagging. Vive la difference!

O Ceallaigh, take it as a compliment. Like my statistics debate with VI on Sar's site, the thrill comes from dueling with my betters. I'll go tell Arnie what for now, whoever he may be.

So it's a good thing, Dr. Strator?

Absolutely, Brian. You're a good man.

Kyahgirl, you are correct. Dr. Strator is the stand in for real University administrators. Kyahgirl, I find that in administrators regardless of gender, but that maybe because in my field the women are the men as opposed to your field where the boys are.

Logo, I said that right up until the day I closed on my tract house. Actually, I still do but I found an inner flexibility in my lack of options.

Sounds like Oakland, Whinger.

VI, you just didn't get new shiny ones, and it serves you right for solving your own puzzle. Incontheivable!

Karma, that's long past nailed.

Slew, Mireille. I don't have to guess why he's the triple crown winner you remember. Holeless cheese might help.

Evil Minx said...

Intractable: a cheap biro with a clickie button thingie that is no longer effective.

Heh.

Sar said...

VI - S.A.R. shivers your timbers? Just remember, don't look directly at the stiletto and you'll be fine. ;)

lol, my verifier is yvixesy: You think you're sexy, Village Idiot?

(sorry Doug, it was prime for the picking)

Anonymous said...

I'm playing hooky. Shhh. The whip, Doug, should be in my hands. Mine!!!

I now have two...TWO!!! intractable task masters. *whimpers*. One I could maybe handle. Okay not handle... tolerate. No, not tolerate, cope with. No... survive. Yes, survive. But two? It was because there was sweet talking and bribes then shazaam! He turned into another intractable T/M in an email. Just like *snap* that. A girl deserves a warning or something. Butter me up with sweet talk. Harrumph.

I like today's word. I like it...a lot. Your words have been good ones this week, Doug. Are you reading my mind? Spoooooky.

Okay...time is up. I must away to synop some more because I never quite know where T.B. (Tough Bastard) could be hiding, lurking...and I'm feeling massively guilty.

Jamie Dawn said...

Cowgirl: Mules have some good qualities.

Doug: Intractable reminds me of the movie Fatal Attraction when Glenn Close says to a bedraggled Michael Douglas, "I won't be ig-NORED!"
That psycho lady was intractable for sure!!

(Hooray!!! My high speed interenet was repaired this morning - a day earlier than expected!! I was intractably stuck in the doldrums, but now I am free!)

Anonymous said...

Doug: We're trying to get away from intractable concepts like "good" and "bad."
My clan is not limited to universities, by any means!
Mrs. Weirsdo wants to know if you got her e-mail yet.

Doug The Una said...

Minxie, what's a biro?

Cowgirl, the sun's been accused of rising in the East.

No trouble, Stiletto.

Jenna, I like this side of you.

Jamie Dawn, brrrrr.

Dr. Strator, administrators can be impressively multicultural and open-minded when being inspected.

Anonymous said...

Intractable: a toddler in a candy store.

what can i say? i find myself preoccupied with the recent actions of my intractable 22 year-old, which causes me to yearn for those kinder, gentler days... when tantrums were thrown over gummy bears.

Anonymous said...

Oh you just like the fact that I have two men telling me what to do. Don't say it's not making you grin.

Minka said...

Number 35, it is only downhill from here.

and also...I´ve got nothin´! And even if I had, I wouldn´t tell you guys about it! :)

Kyahgirl said...

oooh Minka, you're very intractable in your disgruntlement, aren't you?
:-)

Mikki Marshall said...

intractable, n. difficult to manage or mold

dried playdoh and confirmed bachelors

Mikki Marshall said...

actually, that should be an adjective

yet my examples are nouns...oh heck...

Minka said...

kyahgirl, I try :)

Sar said...

Trouble? Moi? Surely you have me confused with someone else, curmudgeon one. ;)

Jamie Dawn said...

Intractable sounds like a medical term. It sounds painful.

Doug The Una said...

Puppytoes, it sounds like you and your 22-year-old should have a heart-to-heart IM session.

Jenna, did I say it wasn't making me grin?

Minka, you make a glorious malcontent.

Kyahgirl, yeah.

Still Life, who're you calling dried playdough? Your definition is perfect, adjectival with examples. This satirical lexicographer can find no fault with it.

Nope, I meant you, heel.

Jamie Dawn, it does have a kind of catheteresque feel, doesn't it?

G said...

Intractable: N: a retractable awning with a nest of baby sparrows - hope they learn to fly soon.

Alana said...

Squares can be pretty intractable and believe me, not EVERYONE finds that attractive.

"Village Idiot was able to name two of his (quotes)..."

Um, Congratulations?

Karen said...

"Stubbornly unwilling to adopt a course from which nothing can divert ourselves"...

...hey, that's me! :-)

Doug The Una said...

Me too, G. You got a cat?

Squaregirl, that's kind of what I thought.

Karen, welcome back. I thought it sounded familiar.

Hurray! Actonbell has DSL!

TLP said...

"dried playdoh and confirmed bachelors" Oh, I wish I had written that! (first)

Anonymous said...

Intractable: - well certainly we should never elect another government with those qualities. Once, oops, or twice was enough.

Doug The Una said...

TLP, wasn't that awesome? If Bierce had been born a woman, she would have written that. Maybe.

Cooper, we won't get fooled again. I just bet ya.