Round 3672: ONCETHMUS Results

[Daniel B. Widdis]

It's not often in this game that the definition is shorter than da woid, although that worked against me with five players guessing correctly.

Oncethmus is a hapax legomenon, a word that only appears once (pun intended) in a defined corpus.  Its lone occurrence at least carries some weight, used in 1656 by Thomas Hobbes, recognized as one of the founders of modern political philosophy. The quotation is indeed in the realm of political discourse: 

who bring no argument, but fall into a loud oncethmus (the special figure wherewith you grace your oratory).

Oncethmus derives from the Greek ὀγκηθμός, the braying of a donkey, and somewhat sums up the "oratory" that many of us hear (or read) from politicians.  No doubt many of us will find use for this word in the upcoming election season.

Since Mr. Hobbes is unavailable to deal, the next dealer is John Barrs, the highest in the rolling scores among the three 4-point scorers.   Nancy Shepherdson and Tim Lodge can enjoy their runner up honors.

*** ONCETHMUS ***

1. Hist. A horned whale that was fancifully described in bestiaries, but that is now identified with the narwhal, Monodon monoceros.
   Submitted by: Paul Keating, who voted for 2 & 3 and scored 2
   Votes from: Shani Naylor, Mike Shefler

2. A strip of land that was once an isthmus, but due to erosion or a rise in sea levels is now submerged some or all of the time.
   Submitted by: Tim Bourne, who voted for 8 & 10 and scored 3
   Submitted by: Eric Boxer, who voted for 10 & 11 and scored 3
   Votes from: Paul Keating, Debbie Embler, Shani Naylor

3. A rumbling noise produced by the movement of gas through the intestines.
   Submitted by: Judy Madnick, who voted for  &  and scored 3
   Votes from: Tim Lodge, Efrem Mallach, Paul Keating

4. a family of slugs (suborder Stylommatophora)
   Submitted by: Debbie Embler, who voted for 2 & 5 and scored 0
   No votes

5. The swim bladder of a fish.
   Submitted by: Tim Lodge, who voted for 3 & 6 and scored 2 + 2 = 4
   Votes from: Nancy Shepherdson, Debbie Embler

6. A bray.
   Submitted by: OED, and scored D5
   Votes from: John Barrs, Tony Abell, Tim Lodge, Mike Shefler, Nancy Shepherdson

7. Inflammation of the big toe.
   Submitted by: Shani Naylor, who voted for 1 & 2 and scored 1
   Votes from: Efrem Mallach

8. a tube connecting two bacteria enabling gene transfer during conjugation.
   Submitted by: Mike Shefler, who voted for 1 & 6 and scored 1 + 2 = 3
   Votes from: Tim Bourne

9. A Hungarian herbal liqueur made from over 40 herbs and spices, matured in oak barrels.
   Submitted by: Efrem Mallach, who voted for 3 & 7 and scored 0
   No votes

10. A medium-sized rodent adapted to life among rocky outcrops of the mountains and plateaus of Anatolia.
   Submitted by: Nancy Shepherdson, who voted for 5 & 6 and scored 2 + 2 = 4
   Votes from: Eric Boxer, Tim Bourne

11. a Greek slave in Ephesus who was the leader of those who caused the riot that led to Paul's imprisonment [See Acts 19 for the event, Oncethmus is named in the apocryphal book Didache]
   Submitted by: John Barrs, who voted for 6 & 11 and scored 2 + 2 = 4
   Votes from: Eric Boxer, John Barrs, Tony Abell

Tony Abell voted for 6 & 11 and scored 0 + 2 = 2

Def Submitter           Votes Guess Total
  6 OED                     5          D5
 11 John Barrs              2     2     4
 10 Nancy Shepherdson       2     2     4
  5 Tim Lodge               2     2     4
  3 Judy Madnick            3           3
  2 Eric Boxer              3           3
  2 Tim Bourne              3           3
  8 Mike Shefler            1     2     3
  1 Paul Keating            2           2
    Tony Abell              0     2     2
  7 Shani Naylor            1           1
  4 Debbie Embler           0           0
  9 Efrem Mallach           0           0

[Tim Lodge]

I've remembered the word for stomach rumbling (def 3). It's BORBORYGMUS, and Dan dealt it exactly 200 rounds ago.

--Tim L

  

[Stephen Dixon]

I thought that was the word for someone made stupid by overindulging in Bourbon Whiskey.

Steve 

On Wed, Aug 12, 2026 at 12:54 PM 'Tim Lodge' via Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I've remembered the word for stomach rumbling (def 3). It's BORBORYGMUS, and Dan dealt it exactly 200 rounds ago.

--Tim L

  

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[Tim Lodge]

I've just noticed that I voted for 6 and 8, not 3 and 6. That gives Mike Shefler one more point and Judy Madnick one less. I leave it to others to sort out whether that affects the winner.

-- Tim L

[Judy Madnick]

Oh, darn  🤣

Judy

On Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 1:03 PM 'Tim Lodge' via Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I've just noticed that I voted for 6 and 8, not 3 and 6. That gives Mike Shefler one more point and Judy Madnick one less. I leave it to others to sort out whether that affects the winner.

-- Tim L

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[Judy Madnick]

Judy

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[Judy Madnick]

You caught me!

Judy

[Daniel B. Widdis]

Oops!

You mentioned 3 and I somehow neglected to read the whole thing.

As far as the results, this moves John Barrs from the outright winner to the tied-in-rolling-scores with Mike Shefler.

I think the next tiebreaker is total score, which may make MIke the new dealer instead of John?

On Wed, Aug 12, 2026 at 10:03 AM 'Tim Lodge' via Dixonary <dixo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I've just noticed that I voted for 6 and 8, not 3 and 6. That gives Mike Shefler one more point and Judy Madnick one less. I leave it to others to sort out whether that affects the winner.

-- Tim L

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[Daniel B. Widdis]

Revised summary, which I think Mike has already accounted for:

Def Submitter           Votes Guess Total

  6 OED                     5           5
  8 Mike Shefler            2     2     4

 11 John Barrs              2     2     4
 10 Nancy Shepherdson       2     2     4
  5 Tim Lodge               2     2     4

  2 Eric Boxer              3           3
  2 Tim Bourne              3           3

  3 Judy Madnick            2           2

  1 Paul Keating            2           2
    Tony Abell              0     2     2
  7 Shani Naylor            1           1
  4 Debbie Embler           0           0
  9 Efrem Mallach           0           0