Word: Timbre

 

timbre

[ tam-ber, tim-; French tan-bruh ]

noun

1. Acoustics, Phonetics. the characteristic quality of a sound, independent of pitch and loudness, from which its source or manner of production can be inferred. Timbre depends on the relative strengths of the components of different frequencies, which are determined by resonance.
2. Music. the characteristic quality of sound produced by a particular instrument or voice; tone color.
3. characteristic tone of expression:

   the masterful rhythm and timbre of his writing.

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               The door slammed shut. The room’s darkness was banished by light stones embedded in the walls. Dozens of identical crystals rose into the air, suspended by the magical power of the room. The three people who entered looked around, trying to find the trial’s rules for this chamber. It was easy to see. A plaque attached to the wall near the door told them what they needed to know.

               “Okay, let’s see.” Said the party’s warrior, Cole. “Blah blah blah, flowery language. It pretty much boils down to finding the one crystal that’s different than the others and using it to unlock the door.”

               The other two party members, Alicia the mage and Jackson, the bard, nodded. They had done various puzzle challenges before and knew basically what to do. They just needed to find the theme of the room and go from there.

               “Okay, nice and easy.” Alicia said. “It sucks that there’s so many, but let’s see what they’ve got.”

               She approached a crystal and reached towards it. Once she did, it let out a clear, steady note. The mage closed her eyes and focused her magic, trying to identify something. The other two looked on.

               “Sound based, obviously.” She said after a few moments. “So just listen for the one that has a different note or something? Shouldn’t be too hard.”

               She headed for the next crystal. It activated, emitting the sound of a similar, but not quite the same, instrument. Cole and Alicia looked at each other in confusion. Jackson had his eyes closed, listening intently.

               “So…” Cole began. “Do you think one of those two is the key, or is there a different trick?”

               Alicia went to a third crystal. It sounded the same as the second. Her brow furrowed. “Okay, it can’t be that easy, can it?”

               Cole shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care. The first one was different enough.”

               The warrior reached out to grab the first crystal.

               “Hold it.” Jackson said. The other two froze. The bard headed to a different crystal. The note was different that the others. He tested several. Each produced a similar but slightly different note. “Hm, I think I got it. It’s not the note, it’s the timbre.”

               The other two looked at him confused. Jackson looked at them for a moment, like he was expecting them to react somehow. A small grin crossed his face.

               “Hey, Alicia, is this what it feels like to be you? Considering how much you have to explain about magic, it feels nice to be the expert here.”

               “It is nice.” She said with a nod. “Although it can be a bit frustrating too. You two really need to brush up on your basic magic theory.”

               “Okay, we can talk about this later.” Cole said. “The point is you know what the trick is?”

               “I do. It’s not the note itself that matters. Timbre is…” He paused and mulled the words over. “The quality, I guess? Like a higher quality instrument being used, or a more skilled musician using it. There’s more to it, but that’s the basics. So far the notes have been different, but the timbres have been the same. Don’t worry, I got this.”

               The other two could only shrug. They went from crystal to crystal, letting Jackson listen to each note, often several at once. It was an hour later that he finally declared and end.

               “Got it. It’s this one.” He said, plucking a crystal out of the air. To the other two, it sounded no different than the others.

               Even so, neither stopped the bard as he went to the far door and inserted the crystal. The runes around it glowed and the crystal vanished. A second passed before the door slid open with a muted rumble.

               “Great. Onto the next one.” Cole said.

               “Yup. Let’s just hope the rest are that easy.” Jackson said as the trio headed on to their next challenge.

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Just a little something to do on the weekend, I suppose. Nothing much to say about it, really.

Word: Incontrovertible

 

incontrovertible

[ in-kon-truh-vur-tuh-buhl, in-kon- ]

adjective

1. not controvertible; not open to question or dispute; indisputable:

   absolute and incontrovertible truth.

   Synonyms: unquestionable, undeniable, incontestable

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               Nick could not believe he was having this conversation. It was utterly ridiculous. There was no way a reasonable person could believe such an insane idea. And yet, his roommate, Steve, was arguing for it.

               “Look,” Nick said with a sigh. “It’s not something you can argue with. It’s like trying to say the sky isn’t blue or the grass isn’t green.”

               “I have yet to hear one single piece of evidence that supports the Earth being round.” Steve said firmly.

               Nick wanted to slam his head into something. Maybe a bit of temporary amnesia would make him feel better. As it was, he had to deal with this utter insanity.

               “No, you haven’t heard any evidence you’ll accept. There’s a difference.”

               “If it was valid, I’d accept it.”

               “I doubt that.” There was so much he could say. But it was useless. Steve was determined to die on his incredibly stupid hill, and there was nothing Nick could say to change that. He had tried. Many, many times.

               “Look, all I’m saying is show me water sticking to the outside of a ball spinning at a thousand miles and hour. Just show me that, and then we can really talk.”

               “You want to know what the really sad part about this is? It’s that you don’t know why that’s a stupid argument, and you won’t even accept the reason it’s a stupid argument.”

               “Try me.” Steve said, crossing his arms with complete confidence. Nick sighed. He knew he was going to regret this.

               “First of all, rotational velocity is not measured in miles per hour. It’s measured in revolutions per second. Or minute. Or hour. Or whatever unit of time is relevant to the rotating object. Earth’s linear speed is roughly 1,000 miles and hour, but that translates to one full rotation in slightly less than 24 hours. In other words, once per day. That’s really not that fast. You only think it is because you find big numbers scary.

               “Second of all, the reason we don’t see water sticking to a small ball is the very, very, very big ball directly under us. I won’t say the ‘g’ word, because you’ll immediately poo-poo it, but it’s there and it’s the reason why you won’t see what you think you’d see. I can keep going, but I can tell you’re about to give me a resounding rebuttal.”

               “Pff. Where’d you learn all that, NASA?”

               “School. NASA has nothing to do with it.”

               “That’s what you think. NASA has infiltrated all walks of life, just to perpetuate the globe lie.”

               Nick was once more reminded of Mark Twain’s words on the futility of arguing with stupid people. If he kept going, all he would get out of it is a headache. But if he could just leave one lasting remark that could maybe get through Steve’s thick skull, there might be some hope for the day yet. The problem was actually doing that.

               “Look, it’s obvious you’re too far gone to learn anything. But I’ll leave you with this one thing to think about: what causes the tides on a flat earth?”

               And with that, he left, heading back to his room. He knew that would not do anything. Steve would simply go to other flat earthers and find some excuse that would sound kind of right to the scientifically illiterate. But at the very least, it got Nick out of the argument. And for now, that was good enough.

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Yes, flat earthers really are that dumb. They have routinely been proven wrong, and yet stubbornly refuse to learn anything. It's like they're intellectual black holes.  

Word: Glabrous

 

glabrous

[ gley-bruhs ]

adjective

 Zoology, Botany.

1. having a surface devoid of hair or pubescence.

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                  “Honey, are you okay?” Jill asked.

                  Ryan had still not come out of his room. And he had no intention of doing so. Even his wife couldn’t get him to move. In fact, he had locked himself away in their bedroom, just so he could avoid the inevitable confrontation.

                  “I’ll be fine.” He called. “I’m just…just a bit sick right now. You’d best stay in the spare bedroom for a few days. Don’t worry about me, I’ll fend for myself until I’ve recovered.”

                  It was a flimsy excuse, and he knew it. Jill would never shy away from someone sick. It was why she had become a doctor.

                  “Sick? Sick how? Let me check you out and I’ll see what I can do.” She said, immediately entering Doctor Jill mode. “I should be able to find out what it is and get you the right medicine to help.”

                  “No! No, I…I’ll be fine without that. It’s probably just a cold.”

                  “Just a cold. Just a cold?! Do you know how many people I’ve seen die because they thought they had ‘just a cold’? Open this door right this minute and let me find out what you actually have!”

                  Ryan heard her rattling the doorknob. Then she stopped. He heard her running off and he knew the jig was up. She was getting the skeleton key for the door. He cursed his own lack of imagination. There were so many other excuses he could have used, so why did he use the worst one?

                  A few minutes later, and there was a rattling at the doorknob.

                  “Come on, honey, don’t come in! Please.” Ryan begged.

                  “No can do. I need to make sure you actually have a cold.”

                  The lock clicked open, and the door opened just a moment later. Jill came in, with a stethoscope around her neck. Her eyes were hard and her mouth set into a  firm line. He could tell she even had latex gloves at the ready. She was ready. Then she saw him. Her look changed from one of determination and observation to one of shock and surprise. Then it further changed into one of complete and total amusement. She covered her mouth to suppress the laughter that was threatening her.

                  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.” Ryan said. He crossed his arms in an attempt to look serious.

                  The complete and total lack of hair hurt this attempt.

                  “S-sorry, but…this is…I…” She said, trying her best not to laugh at his plight.

                  “Oh just get it out of your system.”

                  “Okay…Cueball.” And with that, she burst out laughing.

                  Ryan sat on the bed and huffed. He rubbed his completely smooth arms. He had no idea he would miss arm hair, but here he was. And his wife laughing uproariously was not helping his mood.

                  Eventually, she stopped. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she seemed to have gotten herself mostly under control. Mostly.

                  “Are you finished?”

                  “I think so. For now…Baldy.”

                  He sighed as she started laughing again. He rubbed his forehead, trying not to think about how even his eyebrows were missing. He watched Jill as she struggled to get herself under control enough to actually hold a conversation. He could already tell it was going to take a while.

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   It's a bigger problem than most people know. Well, normal hair loss anyway. I'm not so sure about total body hair loss though.  Is that even a thing?