issue 77

Fortean Mysteries SIG recent history issue 77 Newsletter of the Fortean Mysteries SIG of American Mensa

only 200,000 millicents per 3 issues Published irregularly since Undecember 1658 AC

A. C.: [Anno Confusionis, 74:4-5, Aug. 2000] Calendar based on 45 B. C.'s otherwise unique 15-month, 450-day year

AIQ: [AI + IQ portmanteau acronym, 50:7, July 1989] measurement of artificial intelligence, e. g., the results of a Turing test

astro-illogical: [astrological + illogical portmanteau, 40:5, Oct. 1986] demonstrating the logically extrapolated illogicalness of astrology

astro-numb-y: [numb + astronomy portmanteau, 62:7, Apr. 1996] mind-numbing gee-whiz astronomy

auric: [aura + -ic, 49:5, Mar. 1989] having to do with auras

Baker's gross: [dozen:gross::Baker's dozen:?, 74:5, Aug. 2000] 132 = 169

belbatsfry: [wordle, 71:5, May 1999] bats in belfry, crazy

b-est: [extrapolated from Aronson numbers, 64:2] number described in Latin statement, "B est prima littera in hic sententiam, non seconda, ... ."

biodbious: [from "believe it or don't believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] believing in both believing and disbelieving

bious: [from "believe it!" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] believing in other's believing

busines: [wordle, 71:5, May 1999] unfinished business

chetongueek: [wordle, 71:5, May 1999] tongue in cheek, humorously

circtalkles: [wordle, 71:5, May 1999] talk in circles

ciscendental: [trans-:cis-::transcendental:?, 68:1, Nov. 1998] number between non-transcendental and transcendental

cleapian: [C + leapian, 72:4, Oct. 1999] person born on Feb. 29, '00, including Feb. 29, 1900 O. S. (Mar. 14, 1900 N. S.)

deneaticity: [DENEAT, digits -- even, not even and total, 69:4] property of number indicated by number of steps DENEAT function transforms it to 123

dibious: [from "don't I believe it!" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] believing in believing

electrinology: [75:4, Oct. 2000] study of electrinos -- theoretical epignosticism: [from Col. 1:9, Tabletalk 1992] belief system based on knowledge beyond the pseudo-knowledge of the gnostics, based on knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding"

gammagon: [gamma + -gon, 64:2] polygon formed from gamma-like right angles, including two-gamma square, three-gamma triply-concave hexagon, four-gamma concave irregular hexagon, five-gamma stellated pentagon

great googol: [gross:great gross::googol:?, 74:5, Aug. 2000] 10 to the 1,000th = (to the 2nd 10) cubed

gwho: [A. B. Johnson in A Treatice on Language] term used to conceal the absurdity of the unobservable, e. g., the Oort cloud, the Big Bang, quarks, the subconscious, gravity

gigillion: [giga- + -illion, 62:3, Apr. 1996] 103,000,000,003

grueberry: [blue:grue::blueberry:?, 32:2, June 1984, from grue (Nelson Goodman, 1946)] still green, unripe blueberry, expected to turn blue

hierogamous: [as in Hierogamous Enterprises] having to due with the union of things not seemingly unitable, the holy union, one that makes a miraculous, synergistic new thing

ibebious: [from "I believe everyone believes it" acronym, acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving anyone disbelieves

ibibious: [from "I believe I believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] believing that you believe

ibidbious: [from "I don't believe it!" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] believing that you disbelieve

ibious: [from "I believe it!" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] believing

ibubious: [from "I believe you believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] believing that another believes

ibudbious: [from "I believe you don't believe" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] believing that another doesn't believes

idabious: [from "I don't believe anyone believes" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that anyone believes

idbibious: [from "I don't believe I believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that you believe

idbidbious: [from "I don't believe I don't believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that you disbelieve

idbious: [from "I don't believe it! acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving

idbubious: [from "I don't believe you believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another believes

idbudbious: [from "I don't believe you don't believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996]

ihp: [nverted phi, 68:1, Nov. 1998] ...,889,330,816.1

inary: [2:binary::i:?, 67:2, Sept. 1998] related to the number system based on i = square root of-1

insec: [Markov:marsec::inch:?, 36:2, Oct. 1985] unit of distance analogous to parsec (distance 1 astronomical unit subtends one second of arc) and marsec (distance Markov subtends one second of arc), 15.3 miles or 24.5 kilometers

ip = [pi ananym, 68:1, Nov. 1998] pi enverted into ...,356,295,141.3, a ciscendental

jootsy: [jump out of the system + -y, 72:11, Oct. 1999] system-jumping e. g., 2 + 2 = fi + ve = five = 5

lusionist: [backformed from illusionist, 40:4, Oct. 1986] user of artistic techniques to create a state of true perception of actual nature, to lead aright, cause to accept as true what is true

M1K: [3:1:M3K:?, 27:3, Dec. 1982] mystery of the first kind, former mystery now with one generally accepted explanation, e. g., rainbows, the aurora

M2K: [3:2::M3K:?, 27:3, Dec. 1982] mystery of the second kind, mystery with too many explanations, e. g., UFOs, monster sightings

M3K: [close encounters:mysteries:CE3K:?, 27:3, Dec. 1982] mystery of the third kind as defined by Arthur C. Clarke in "Mysterious World", mystery with no explanation or solid clues to one, only a name, e. g., spontaneous human combustion, spontaneous repetitive psychokinesis, miracles

M0K: [3:0::M3K:?, 27:3, Dec. 1982] mystery of the zeroth kind, pseudo-mystery, e. g. those used as evidence of significance of Bermuda Triangle disappearances, Ancient Astronaut evidence, pyrimidology measurements

mammothicle: [mammoth + icicle portmanteau, 42:10, Mar. 1987] frozen mammoth, used as evidence for catastrophism

megillion: [mega- + -illion, 62:3, Apr. 1996] 103,000,0003

mpossible: [pronounced em-poss-i-buhl, 77:3, Feb. 2001] between possible and impossible

neontology: [antonym of paleontology, 56:7, Apr. 1992] study of young-earth fossils

n-est: [extrapolated from Aronson numbers, 64:2] number described by Latin sentence, "N est prima, ... quinta ab ultimum littera in hic sententiam."

nfinite: [pronounced en-fi-night, between finite and infinite, 68:1, Nov. 1998] surreal numbers that seem partly finite, partly infinite, represented by using backslash, e. g., 5\1 = ...0002 = 1000 + 2

nrational: [pronounced en-ra-shun-al, between unrational and rational, 68:1, Nov. 1998] of the set of numbers nverted from unrationals, e. g., (3/2 - square root of 2) 1 = ...,734,687,580

nugon: [nu + -gon] polygon formed from N-like triple line segments

nvert: [pronounced en-vert, between vert and invert, 68:1, Nov. 1998] to transform a frontslash quotient into a backslash nfinite or rrational or ciscendental number by rotating the digits 180o around the decimal point, e. g., ip = ...,356,295,141.3

oogology: [74:1] transfinite surreal number theory based on 10 to the 00

oulipiana: [72:3, Oct. 1999] examples of oulipian literature as done by OuLiPo or Ouvroir de Litterature Potentielle (Workshop of Potential Literature)

paleodontics: [75:1, Oct. 2000] study of ancient teeth

pale-eontology: [pale + paleontology, 39:1, Aug. 1986] study of fossils recognizing how woefully meager they are

papaphysics: [metaphysics:pataphysics::pataphysics:?, 68:4, Nov. 1998] science of the unobservable, unthinkable, unimaginable, e. g., God the Father (Papa)

paradoxy: [paradox + orthodoxy, 50:5, July 1989] belief system based upon paradoxes

p-est: [extrapolated from Aronson numbers, 64, p.3] number mentioned in Latin sentence, "P est prima, quinta, ... littera in hic sententiam."

phi-osophy: [37:7, Mar. 1986] the study of the beauty and truth in the golden ratio, phi

phiplex: [41:6, Dec. 1986] 10-to-the-phi = 41.4986519...

piplex: [41:6, Dec. 1986] 10-to-the-pi = 1385.455731367...

plexing: [backformed from googolplex, 41:6, Dec. 1986] raising ten to a given number

polythink: [2:n::doublethink:?, 71:4, May 1999] to hold many thoughts, particularly contradictory ones, simultaneously

Poulter's gross: [dozen:gross::Poulter's dozen:?, 74:5, Aug. 2000] 14 squared = 196

rrational: [pronounced ar-rash-un-al, interpolation between rational and irrational, 68:1, Nov. 1998] surreal number represented using backslash, seemingly partly rational and partly irrational, e. g., 2\10 = ...999.4 = 00 - 0.6

Saganalysis: [20:1, Jan. 1981] analysis of Carl Sagan's writings

s-ain't: [extrapolation from Aronson numbers, 61:1, Feb. 1996] number mentioned in the statement, "S ain't the second, third, ..., eighth, tenth, ..., letter in this sentence."

sigmagon: [sigma + -gon, 64:3] polygon formed from sigma-like quintuple line segment

technillogical: [illogical + technological, 10:3, Sept. 1978] having to do with illogical technology like the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction, environmentally destructive

telligence: [backformed from intelligence, 37:8, Dec. 1985] inability to learn

terillion: [tera- + million portmanteau, 62:3, Apr. 1996] 10-to-the-3,000,000,000,003th

theorious: [theory + serious portmanteau, 56:5, Apr. 1992] having to do with theories, taken seriously and not-so seriously

TOSCOD: [triple-or-sum-cubes-of-digits, 67:2, Sept. 1998] function transforming any number into 153 in n steps

ubebious: [from "you believe everyone believes it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another that disbelieves anyone disbelieves

ubibious: [from "you believe I believe it!" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another believes you believe it

ubidbious: [from "you believe I don't believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another believes that you disbelieve

ubious: [from "you believe it!" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another believes

ubidbious: [from "you believe I don't believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another believes you disbelieve

udbabious: [from "you don't believe anyone believes it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another disbelieves anyone believes

udbidbious: [from "you don't believe I don't believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another disbelieves you disbelieve

udbious: [from "you don't believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another disbelieves

udbibious: [from "you don't believe I believe it" acronym, 62:6, Apr. 1996] disbelieving that another disbelieves you believe

unrational: [un- + rational, 64, p.4, ] of the set of numbers able to transform a rational number into an irrational one or vice versa, e. g., p/q - square root of [(p/q) squared]

UMO: [imitative of IFO, UFO, 39:3, Aug. 1986] unaccountably moving objects, like moving statues, walking trees, productive bureaucrats

zygophrenia: [20:9, Jan. 1981] personality disorder, opposite to schizophrenia, as in the case of the Chaplin twins of York, Eng., described by Dr. David Westbury as one person in two bodies, evidenced to a lesser degree in the telepathy-like twin effect