Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Fox, are you not cullible or are you gullible.

Re: your latest koan

<cull

TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: culled, cull·ing, culls
1. To pick out from others; select. 2. To gather; collect. 3. To remove rejected members or parts from (a herd, for example).
NOUN: Something picked out from others, especially something rejected because of inferior quality.

ETYMOLOGY: cull - c.1330, originally "put through a strainer," from O.Fr. coillir "collect, gather, select," from L. colligere "gather together," originally "choose, select".

gull

NOUN: A person who is easily tricked or cheated; a dupe.
TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: gulled, gull·ing, gulls
To deceive or cheat.

ETYMOLOGY: gullible - 1793, of uncertain origin. Gull was a cant term for "dupe, sucker" (1594), perhaps from the bird, or from 16c. gull "to swallow" (from O.Fr. goule, from L. gula "throat"); in either case with a sense of "someone who will swallow anything thrown at him." Another possibility is 14c. dial. gull "newly hatched bird," perhaps from O.N. golr "yellow," from the hue of its down

Opinions vary to applicability of either word to me.

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A note to the fastidious: definitions are from the American Heritage Dictionary online at Bartleby.com; etymologies are from the Online Etymological Dictionary.

[Sorry, couldn't find "cullible", or its more likely form "cullable".]

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