Shawn ([info]startled) wrote,
@ 2005-08-25 14:22:00
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I suppose I’ve been a bit quiet here for a while, either out of laziness, or because I’m living life so fast that writing about it only slows me down. I prefer to believe the latter despite available evidence, but today I’m taking the time to publish a phrase that I coined a few minutes ago. As of right now, a Google search for the string "vegetarian industrial complex" yields zero results. By next year, I expect it to be on at least six web pages. Even if I have to write the other five.

Things that are in the Vegetarian Industrial Complex:
Jamba Juice, Whole Foods, &c.
Hybrid vehicles, though mostly the Toyota Prius.
Pilates, whatever they are. Also acupuncture.

There, I’ve exposed the big conspiracy. All of these companies and services have a similar target demographic. And while I have nothing against smoothies, efficient energy use, or even vegetarians, it’s important to remember that there may be some sort of capitalist conspiracy at work behind the scenes. Now it has a name.

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[info]quick_impulses
2005-08-26 12:25 am UTC (link)
I actually agree, with the chain ones that is. Make it hip to be a hippie.



So, a. welcome back. and b. look up the etymology and usage of "quoin".

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[info]startled
2005-08-26 01:36 am UTC (link)
A quoin is a stone that forms the exterior angle of a building, or that angle on the building itself, and is also apparently the transitive verb for supplying a building with quoins. It is also a printing term, the little metal wedges that you tighten with that key thingy to lock down all of your furniture and type. Don’t leave the key thingy on the bed of the press, or you’ll hit the cylinder and damage the tympan. Quoin is derived from the word “coin,” the one that means corner or cornerstone, and has other absurdly spelled variants “coign” and “coigne.” Now to find the name of the key thingy, I’m sure [info]bembo knows.

The transitive verb “coin” means to mint new pieces of money or to devise a new word or phrase. It is pleasing to me that making words and making money share a verb, even if it’s a little harder to make them the same thing in reality.

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[info]quick_impulses
2005-08-26 08:04 am UTC (link)
Hmm, I was told by this old fart design teacher that "quoin", the printing term, was the original, from which to "quoin a phrase" was derived, and to "coin" a phrase is entirely incorrect.

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thingy
[info]bembo
2005-08-27 12:01 am UTC (link)
I think they're just called quoin keys.

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