Lexicon of common terms ...and other things heard round the rockpile.
Avant Gardener's note: A self-proclaimed word-nerd and a manipulator of things natural, I have come up with a vocabulary -- often of four-letter words but many others as well -- of my own. Here are a few.
archable — (a:ʈʃˈəb(ə)l) 1. (n) A rock featuring opposite surfaces of an angle that might aid in the construction of an arch.
bustass — (bʌstˌæs) 1. (n) That slimy, slippery stuff found on rocks in the River that can cause even the most careful person to slip and get hurt. 2. An accident involving falling on one's hindquarters: Walking across a rock covered in bustass, Jill felt like a bustass looking for a place to happen.
deadender — (dedˌendə(r)) 1. (n) A rock upon which absolutely no one -- not even the great rock handlers of the 1950s -- could balance another rock of substance.
dependent balance — (dɪ:ˈpend(ɢ:)nt ˈbæləns) 1. (n) An upright stack of rocks in which one or more of the rocks would not be standing if not for the weight of the rock(s) above it.
drop rocks — (drɐp rɐks) 1. (v) For something so drastic to happen that a manipulator might actually drop the rocks (or other materials) currently in use, and attend to it. 2. A compliment to give someone: I'd drop rocks to talk to you.
flat earth — (flæt ɜθ) 1. (n) Any part of the avant gardener's life that is not of the avant garden, such as work and suburbia. 2. (adj) said of a person who just doesn't get it: My friend James told me I am wasting my time. He is really flat earth. 3. (adj) used to describe the simplest of rock stacks; i.e. one rock on top of another.
footprint — (ˈfʊtprɪnt) 1. (n) The surface on the bottom of a rock that will sit upon the top of the rock below it, if the rock will be taller than wider in that configuration: Sam saw that the rock's footprint offered at least three possible points of contact and would probably stand with ease.
grippy — (grɪpi:) 1. (adj) term used to describe rocks which have surfaces that adhere and work well with others. A good example would be chunks of coral or freshly quarried granite.
hanging sheet — (ɤhæŋɪŋ ʃi:t) 1. (v) When a rock puts more face into the wind than it will have footprint to handle: "You're hanging a lot of sheet," he told the rock proudly standing atop another, facing the fierce wind, "but I'll give you a chance."
pedestal — (ˈpedɪst(ə)l) 1. A rock or stack of rocks that will support a larger or more intricate entity.
philistine — (ˈfɪlɪˌstaɪn) 1. (n) A flat earth person who not only doesn't "get it," but who throws rocks or otherwise vandalizes things others have put together.
stander — (stændə(r)) 1. (n) A rock that is proportionally much taller than its footprint is large.
