longficmod: Photo of a woman tying a running shoe (Default)
longficmod ([personal profile] longficmod) wrote in [community profile] pinchhits2025-06-29 10:13 am
sallymn: (words 6)
Sally M ([personal profile] sallymn) wrote in [community profile] 1word1day2025-06-29 07:51 pm

Sunday Word: Bagatelle

bagatelle [bag-uh-tel]

noun:
1 something of little value or importance; a trifle
2 a game played on a board having holes at one end into which balls are to be struck with a cue
3 a short literary or musical piece in light style

Examples:

If anything, the slowly accumulating final chord of the bagatelle could have set up the softly arpeggiated one at the start of 'Twilight Way', the first of the 'Poetic Tone Pictures.' (Joshua Barone, Review: Dvorak’s 'Poetic Tone Pictures’ Makes Its Carnegie Debut, New York Times, February 2023)

Pinball got its start in 18th-century France with the billiardslike tabletop game bagatelle, which used a springlike launcher. (World-ranked pinball wizard is reviving the game in San Antonio with a new startup, san Antonio Express-News, March 2020)

When you are caught in a web of conspiracies, the best of deeds becomes a mere bagatelle, as we find in the fall of Udensi. (Henry Akubuiro, Travails of a Good Samaritan , The Sun Nigeria, March 2021)

Among the most divisive issues in philosophy today is whether there is anything important to be said about the essential nature of truth. Bullshit, by contrast, might seem to be a mere bagatelle. (Jim Holt, Say Anything, The New Yorker, August 2005)

'Overdue; was the title he had decided for it, and its length he believed would not be more than sixty thousand words - a bagatelle for him with his splendid vigor of production. (Jack London, Martin Eden)

The betrayal of one's friends is a bagatelle in the stakes of love, but the betrayal of oneself is a lifelong regret. (Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love)

Then there were the bird cages, the iron hoops, the steel skates, the Queen Anne coal-scuttle, the bagatelle board, the hand organ - all gone, and jewels, too. (Virginia Woolf, 'The Mark on the Wall')

Origin:

1630s, 'a trifle, thing of no importance,' from French bagatelle 'knick-knack, bauble, trinket' (16c.), from Italian bagatella 'a trifle,' which is perhaps a diminutive of Latin baca 'berry,' or from one of the continental words (such as Old French bague 'bundle') from the same source as English bag. As 'a piece of light music,' it is attested from 1827. (Online Etymology Dictionary)

bluerosekatie: 3D render of a Bionicle character wearing a purple mask. (Default)
bluerosekatie ([personal profile] bluerosekatie) wrote in [community profile] smallfandomfest2025-06-28 05:06 pm

Fanfic, Bionicle - All Media Types, Nuju & Nixie, Learning to read the stars

Title: do you talk to the stars?
Author: bluerosekatie
Fandom: Bionicle - All Media Types
Pairing/Characters: Nuju & Nixie
Rating/Category: Gen
Prompt: Bionicle - All Media Types, Nuju & Nixie, Learning to read the stars
Spoilers: Nothing concrete but references to later arcs.
Summary: Nixie begins her journey of understanding the skies above Mata Nui.
Notes/Warnings: Archive-locked to avoid AI scraping.

Read it on Ao3 here!
casemod: Inspector Clawseau. (pic#17751565)
Commissioner Clawseau 🔎 ([personal profile] casemod) wrote in [community profile] pinchhits2025-06-29 08:40 am

Pinch hits at Casefic Exchange (Due Friday 18 July EDT).

Event: Casefic Exchange is a fanwork exchange focusing on investigations. These can be solving murders, retrieving stolen items, finding missing people, missions, and mysteries. As long as it has an investigation as its core theme, it fits with the exchange. We are an AO3 exchange; you must have an account and be 18+ to participate.

Minimum requirements: We allow three mediums: a minimum of 3,000 words for fanfiction, a minimum of 10 panels for a comic, or a recording of a completed fic of 3,000 words minimum with "casefic" as one of its tags. Works must include a fandom, character/ship and be of a medium that the recipient has requested.

Event link: [community profile] caseficexchange.
Pinch hit link: Current pinch hits.
Due date: Friday 18 July at 11:59pm EDT.

Available pinch hits:

    PH 8 (fic) - Severance (TV), The West Wing

    PH 10 (fic, podfic) - Gilmore Girls (TV 2000)

    PH 11 (comic, fic) - Tokyo Babylon, 崩坏:星穹铁道 | Honkai: Star Rail (Video Game), 恋与深空 | Love and Deepspace (Video Game)

    PH 13 (comic, fic) - 終ノ空 remake | Tsui no Sora Remake, A Girl Corrupted by the Internet is the Summoned Hero?!, Tsukihime (Visual Novel & Anime)

    PH 19 (comic, fic) - Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)

    PH 20 (comic, fic) - Bones (TV), DC's Arrowverse, Constantine (TV), Lucifer (TV), Buffyverse (TV), Supernatural (TV 2005)

    PH 21 (comic, fic) - The Defenders (Marvel TV), Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV 2016), Crossover Fandom (The Defenders TV/MCU)


Thank you for considering!
tarlanx: Alan in foreground with Billy behind him (Film - Jurassic Park 2 - alan-billy)
TARLAN (tarlanx) ([personal profile] tarlanx) wrote in [community profile] smallfandomfest2025-06-28 11:28 pm

Fanfic, Jurassic Park (movies), Alan/Billy, 3 times Alan wasn’t able to tell Billy how he feels abou

Title: Conflicting Thoughts
Author: Tarlan ([personal profile] tarlanx)
Fandom: Jurassic Park (movies)
Pairing/Characters: Alan/Billy
Rating/Category: PG/Slash
Prompt: 3 times Alan wasn’t able to tell Billy how he feels about him, and 1 time he finally told him
Word Count: 2789
Spoilers: None
Summary: Several times Alan had an opportunity to tell Billy how he felt about him but each time slipped away with the words unsaid until it too late. A miracle gives him another chance.
Content Notes: None

On AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66986050
 
eller: iron ball (Default)
eller ([personal profile] eller) wrote2025-06-27 10:49 pm
Entry tags:

Knife tip geometry!

First things first: no, this is not a comprehensive list of knife tip geometries! There are so many of them - and most of them so highly specialized - that, if you need one of them, you know... XD So, in order to give a "beginner-friendly" overview, I've narrowed it down to four types that are common enough you may actually encounter them in real life without having to look for them in a specialized store.

blade-tip-geometries-kl

Let's look at these in some detail! (With the caveat that, of course, tip geometry is not the only thing that determines a knife's overall function. Material matters. Blade thickness matters. Grind matters. Handle design matters. Size matters. XD And so on. Really, this can only serve as a rule-of-thumb - but we have to start somewhere when trying to determine what a knife is for, right?)

Explanations of these four knife tips. )

Anyway... This (grossly over-simplified, I know) entry will hopefully help you identify what kind of blade you are dealing with, what its strengths and weaknesses are, and what tasks people will likely use it for. (None of this is intended as legal or professional advice; don't sue me, yadda, yadda. If you do dangerous shit with sharp objects, I'm not responsible.)
simplyn2deep: (Scott Caan::writing)
simplyn2deep ([personal profile] simplyn2deep) wrote in [community profile] 1word1day2025-06-24 11:23 am

Tuesday word: Hornswoggle

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Hornswoggle (verb)
hornswoggle [hawrn-swog-uhl]


verb (used with object), Slang., hornswoggled, hornswoggling
1. to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com

When To Use
Where does hornswoggle come from?

Hornswoggle, as noted in our definition above, means "to swindle, cheat, or hoax." But, it would be cheating for us to say we know where hornswoggle comes from exactly. Its earliest known appearance so far is in the U.S. around 1815–25. Is hornswoggle supposed to sound like some hullabaloo from some sort of trumpet? Did a hog get all washed up? Well, sometimes nonsense words are just that—nonsense. Ultimately, hornswoggle is probably just a fanciful, funny formation.

Origin: 1815–25 origin uncertain

Example Sentences
He continues: “Down the road, it’ll be just one more instance when voters thought they were doing the right thing and they were hornswoggled. It fuels cynicism and bitterness and mistrust in government.”
From Los Angeles Times

His ability to hornswoggle tens of millions of voters is no laughing matter.
From Washington Post

Or, had President Trump hornswoggled multiple Congressional leaders, hundreds of Congressional Republicans and key players in his administration into believing he would sign this particular package?
From Fox News

Here are some things you can do afterward to see if you’ve been hornswoggled: Check the font of the logo.
From Golf Digest

The only sensible conclusion from all of this is that the superrich will settle, plead or hornswoggle their way out of any attempt to cancel their status.
From Washington Post