Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Bracelet. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Bracelet. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday, November 24, 2023

Bracelet

Bracelet (pronounced breys-lit)

(1) An ornamental band or circlet for the wrist or arm or, sometimes, for the ankle.

(2) Slang in the criminal classes for a pair of handcuffs (almost always in the plural).

(3) In furniture design, types of collars.

(4) An expanding metal band for a wristwatch (usually used only as technical term within the industry).

(5) In law enforcement in some jurisdictions, as ankle bracelet (or tag), a device to monitor location or provide 24/7 real-time testing of drug or alcohol consumption (eg the SCRAM Bracelet (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor)).

(6) In the field of combinatorics, a cyclical sequence of symbols used in combinatorial mathematics.

(7) An identification tag used by medical institutions to contain allergy, clinical or identity data or for religious or cultural purposes.

(8) In the history of armory, a type of personal body armor worn on the upper arm.

1400–1450: From the late Middle English from the Middle French, from the Old French bracel (literally “a little arm”), diminutive of bracelet, from the Latin bracchium (an arm; a forearm); the Latin brāchiāle (armlet) was a noun use of the neuter of brāchiālis + -et (from the Middle English & Old French -et, the suffix used to form diminutives, loosely construed, from the Late Latin –ittus).  Latin gained the word from the Ancient Greek brakhion (an arm) whereas the usual Latin word for an armlet (metal band or ring worn around the upper arm) was armilla which, in Late Latin, (1530s) meant also "a small intrusion of the sea into the land".  The migration from wrist to ankle as anklet (ornamental ring for an ankle) dates from 1810.  Synonyms include ornament, trinket, bangle, manacle, circlet, wristlet & armlet; the related adjective is armillary. 

Bangle (an ornamental ring worn upon the arm or ankle), dating from 1787, was absorbed by English under the Raj, borrowed from the Hindi bangri (colored glass bracelet or anklet).  Bracelets and bangles are both worn predominately on the wrist, the difference being a bracelet is of free-form design, made often from links or other connecting components not molded to a particular shape.  Bangles tend to be ring-shaped (although need not be perfectly circular) and made from solid materials.

Electronic Surveillance Bracelets

Lindsay Lohan wearing court mandated alcohol monitoring bracelet (2007).

The ubiquity in urban spaces of the global positioning system (GPS) has made possible electronic tagging, a form of surveillance using a device affixed to a person, secured most often around the ankle.  Curiously, both the industry and the agencies of law enforcement involved refer to them most often as monitoring or surveillance bracelets, even though the jewelry business from which bracelet is borrowed, uses the word to refer to things worn on the wrist, adornments around the ankle known as anklets.  Indeed, so specific are jewelers that they categorize their products with a range of self-explanatory coordinate terms derived from bracelet: armlet, kneelet, leglet and anklet.  To this they also add the seemingly superfluous necklet & wristlet but these are used to distinguish the loose-hanging necklace and bracelet from creations more close-fitting.  There appears to be no fingerlet or toelet, presumably because of the anatomical constraints in designing anything loose as companion products to rings and toe-rings, nipplelets a similarly improbable challenge of engineering.  Anklet is used also in some markets to describe a very short sock.

There appears no reason why surveillance devices attached around the ankle tend to be called bracelets other than the imitative inertia of use based on the early products being so-labelled.  That was despite anklet hardly being a novel form, having existed since 1810 and more venerable still was "bangle", dating from 1787 as a borrowing under the Raj of the Hindi bangri where it described a colored glass bracelet worn either on the wrist of ankle.  The original patents appear to have referenced “bracelet” so this may have influenced the pattern of use.  The phrase surveillance anklet certainly exists and is used commercially but is rare by comparison.

Chanel Ankle Bags, Spring 2007 collection (left) and companion boot (right).

In one of several examples of the Lohanic influence on fashion and design, in their Spring 2007 collection, Chanel included a range of ankle bags.  Functional to the extent of affording the wearing a hands-free experience and storage for perhaps a lipstick, gloss and credit card (and the modern young spinster should seldom need more), the range was said quickly to "sell-out" although the concept hasn't been seen in subsequent collections so analysts of such things should make of that what they will.  Chanel offered the same idea in a boot, a design actually borrowed from the military although they tended to be more commodious and, being often used by aircrew, easily accessible while in a seated position, the sealable flap on the outer calf, close to the knee.

Friday, December 8, 2023

Armillary

Armillary (pronounced ahr-muh-ler-ee or ahr-mil-uh-ree)

(1) A shape, object or conception consisting wholly or substantially of hoops or rings.

(2) Something resembling an armlet or bracelet.

(3) Of or relating to bracelets.

1655–1665: From the New Latin armillaris, the construct being the Classical Latin arm (illa) (bracelet; armlet; arm ring; hoop) + -ill(a) (the diminutive suffix) + -ary.  The suffix -illa was an inflection of -illus (nominative/vocative feminine singular & nominative / accusative / vocative neuter plural).  The suffix -illā was the ablative feminine singular of -illus, itself a misinterpretation of the diminutive suffix -lus on such nouns as sigillum (signum + -lus) and used freely, the example set by medieval translators.  It was used to form adjectives from nouns.  The suffix –ary (of or pertaining to) was a back-formation from unary and similar, from the Latin adjectival suffixes -aris and -arius; appended to many words, often nouns, to make an adjective form and use was not restricted to words of Latin origin.  The Latin noun armilla dates from the early eighteenth century and was from armus (shoulder, upper arm) from the primitive Indo-European root ar- (to fit together) and came to be used in many specialized senses in anatomy, engineering etc.  Armillary is an adjective (although informally it has been used as a (non-standard) noun).

The armillary sphere.

Ptolemaic Armillary Sphere of the mid-twentieth century, believed to have been built in Italy or Spain, pasteboard with printed paper on an ebonized wood base.

Armillary spheres seem first to have been constructed by the astronomers of Antiquity and drawings and documents relating to one used by Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria (circa 100-170) who, in the way of the polymaths of the epoch was an astrologer, mathematician, musicologist and cartographer as well as an astronomer.  The devices were mathematical instruments used to demonstrate the movement of the celestial sphere about the unmoving earth which was the centre of all creation.  Although now understood fundamentally to be wrong, in the centuries from Antiquity, throughout the Middle Ages and into the Modern era, the armillary sphere remained the accepted model of orthodox understanding, despite the Ancient Greek mathematician & astronomer Aristarchus of Samos (circa 310-circa 230 BC) having proposed a heliocentric model (placing the Sun at the centre of the universe, the Earth revolving around the Sun once a year and rotating about its axis daily).  His ideas received little support and the geocentric model (with the Earth as the centre of the universe) prevailed, the Church coming to declare that to suggest otherwise was heresy.  It wasn’t until the Renaissance that advances in observational capacity and mathematical techniques that the heliocentric theory became compelling.

Wearing an array (the industry prefers “stacked”) of bracelets is called the “armillary effect”: Lindsay Lohan demonstrates.

However, as a model of a geocentric cosmos, the armillary sphere is a mechanical masterpiece.  At the centre sits static a small, brass sphere representing the Earth and about it rotate a set of rings representing the heavens, one complete revolution being the 24 hour day.  The classic spheres of the late medieval period were mounted at the celestial poles which defined the axis of rotation and they typically included an equatorial ring while parallel to this, two smaller rings representing the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn each midway to the poles sat north & south.  Of especial interest to astrologers (for centuries an respectable academic discipline), touching each of these circles, and crossing the celestial equator at points representing the equinoxes (equal hours of night and day) was placed the “ecliptic circle” or Zodiac ring.  This ring tracked the annual path of the Sun as (independently of the other stars), it made its unique journey through the constellations of the Zodiac.  The signs of the Zodiac were engraved upon the ecliptic ring which, being calibrated with a calendar scale, enabled the device to be used to model the apparent motion of the Sun and the stars at any time of the year and though of course conceptually flawed, it could be use not only to model the movements and relative geometry of the heavens, but accurately to carry out calculations such as the times of sunrise and sunset and the length of a day.  The spheres could be relative simple and build for a single purpose or intricate (some for example including the Moon) and the charm of the design was that it was scalable, only the dimensions ever needing to be increased to incorporate added complexity; the basic design never changed.

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Tamper

Tamper (pronounced tam-per)

(1) To meddle, especially for the purpose of altering, damaging, or misusing (usually followed by with).

(2) To make changes in something, especially in order to falsify (usually followed by with).

(3) Secretly or improperly to engage in something; to engage in underhand or corrupt dealings, especially in order to influence improperly (usually followed by with); to use corrupt practices such as bribery or blackmail.

(4) In the profession of blasting, an employee who tamps (to fill a hole containing an explosive with dirt or clay before blasting) or a device used to tamp.

(5) As “jury tampering”, an attempt by various means to influence a member or members of a jury.

(6) A device used to pack down tobacco in a pipe.

(7) In the construction of thermo-nuclear weapons, a casing around the core to increase specific efficiency by reflecting neutrons and delaying the expansion.

(8) In rail transport, a railway vehicle used to tamp down ballast.

(9) In law, to attempt to practice or administer something (especially medicine) without sufficient knowledge or qualifications (obsolete).

(10) In North America, to discuss future contracts with a player, against the rules of various sanctioning bodies in professional sports.

1560–1570: From the Middle English tamper, From the Middle French temprer (to temper, mix, meddle) and a doublet of temper.  The word began in Middle English as a verb, a figurative use of tamper “to work in clay etc, mixing it thoroughly”, probably originally a variant of the verb temper (and that original spelling persisted in places as late as the late eighteenth century), the shift to “tamper” possibly influenced by the dialectal pronunciation of workmen engaged in the process.  The noun tamper (one employed to tamp) emerged circa 1865 as an agent noun from the verb and almost simultaneously was used also as a descriptor of devices used for tamping.  The adjective tamperproof (also tamper-proof) dates from 1886 and the related forms (anti-tampering, tamper-evident, tamper-resistant) were coined as technology evolved.  Tamper & tampering are nouns & verbs, tamperer is a noun, tamperproof is a noun & adjective and tampered & tamperest are verbs; the common noun plural is tamperers.

The (almost) tamper-proof SCRAM

Alcohol monitoring bracelets are claimed by the manufacturer to be tamper-proof (as opposed to the less confident “tamper-resistant” sometimes used) and on the basis of the findings of the last decade-odd they may be close to correct.  The devices used to be marketed as the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM) but SCRAM Systems re-branded as Alcohol Monitoring Systems Inc (AMS) and change the product name to AMS bracelets although in real-world use, both AMS SCRAM bracelets and the old SCRAM remain commonly heard.  Quite why they’ve always been called bracelets when, being attached around the ankle, they should properly be called anklets, is one of the mysteries of modern English.  One reason a SCRAM is so hard successfully to tamper with is its very simplicity: It keeps track of the wearer's alcohol intake by a sample of their sweat.  When someone drinks liquor, some 1% of it is emitted through the skin's pores and when these molecules are detected by a SCRAM’s sensors, the content is measured and recorded.  The sensors pass the data to an analysis chip which is calibrated to gauge exactly how much alcohol was consumed, this information transmitted wirelessly to an AMS server which hourly passes the findings to whichever court (or their agent) ordered the fitting of the SCRAM.

Lindsay Lohan in AMS SCRAM bracelet.

The simplicity of the process means that even if the wearer tampers with it by plunging their foot into cold water (thereby stopping the sweating), even that would flag a waring because the reading would be recorded as aberrant in the hourly data transmission and the inconsistency would trigger a response from the court.  Apparently, offenders are informed of the efficiency of the device when fitted but the manufacturer has noted some innovative attempts to bluff the booze box.  Some have tried to place cellophane, aluminium foil, animal membrane or condoms between skin sensor, others attempting to emulate human skin by using baloney, salami, sliced ham or even chicken skin.  All attempts have been defeated however because SCRAMs include other sensors including one which monitors temperature and another which triggers an alarm if the strap is stretched beyond a certain point.  Human skin has specific properties and if variations on an acceptable range of those parameters are detected, there’s an infrared beam which measures the volume of light reflected by the skin.  Cellophane, foil and other surfaces all trip the infrared alarm as they reflect differently than human skin.

Another popular attempt at tampering turned out to be known as “spiking the bracelet”, the preferred technique being liberally to spray the ankle with a perfume or other topical substance known to have a high alcohol content.  What this does is induce the sensor to report an impossibly high alcohol level and although it certainly masks any actual alcoholic intake, such tampering is itself a violation of the terms imposed by the court and an offender can be brought before a judge who may revoke the order imposing the use of the SCRAM (regarded as a privilege) and impose an immediate custodial sentence.

Sunday, November 26, 2023

Baguette

Baguette (pronounced ba-get)

(1) In ad-hoc application, a descriptor (based on baguette in the sense of “stick” , “rod” or “wand”) for an object with a narrow, relatively long rectangular shape (applied in the past as baguette magique (magic wand), baguettes chinoises (chopsticks) & baguette de direction (conductor's baton)).

(2) In jewelry design, a small gem-stone in a rectangular shape, achieved by cutting & polishing.

(3) A gem-stone in this shape (used especially for diamonds).

(4) In architecture, a small convex molding (a narrow, relatively long rectangular shape, especially one in a semi-circular section.

(5) In zoology, one of the minute bodies seen in the divided nucleoli of some infusoria after conjugation.

(6) As an ethnic slur (can be mildly offensive, but also used neutrally or affectionately as an alternative to “frog”), a French person, or a person of French descent.

(7) A type of French bread, actually defined in law by the ingredients and methods of production but most associated with the long, narrow shape.

1720–1730: From the French baguette (or baguet) (a type of architectural ornament, based on the sixteenth century sense of the word as “a wand, rod, stick”), from the Italian bacchetta (literally “a small rod” and the diminutive of bacchio (rod), from the Latin baculum (a stick or walking-stick (and linked to the later bacillus)).  The construct was bacch(io) + -etta.  The –etta suffix (the feminine of –etto), as well as indicate the feminine was used also with inanimate nouns ending (usually ending in –a) to create a literal diminutive (such as with boteca (shop, store), rendering botechetta (small shop).  The term was first used in gem-stone cutting in 1926 and in countries where the French colonial history left some linguistic trace, baguette is applied to some items such as the gun-stick (the rod for forcing ammunition into the barrel of a gun and in Louisianan Cajun, it referred to the barrel itself).  Like English, Danish, German, Spanish and Swedish adopted the French spelling which in other languages the variations included the Czech bageta, the Greek μπαγκέτα (bagkéta), the Hebrew בגט‎ (bagét), the Norwegian (Bokmål & Nynorsk) bagett, the Portuguese baguete, the Romanian baghetă, the Russian баге́т (bagét) and the Turkish baget.  Baguette & baguet are nouns; the noun plurals are baguettes & baguets.

Beware of imitations: The baguette de tradition française.

In France, a true baguette (Baguette artisanale) is made from ingredients and with a method defined in law while the famous shape is a convention.  Typically, baguettes have a diameter between 50-75 mm (2-3 inches) and are some 610-710 mm (24-26 inches) in length although the 1 m (39 inch) baguette is not unusual, popular especially with the catering trade.  It’s a little misleading to suggest the baguette was invented because for centuries loaves in the shape existed in many places around the world and recipes for the mixing of dough were constantly subject to changes imposed by the success of harvests, economics, supply-chain disruptions and simple experimentation.  The baguette instead evolved and its popularity was a thing of natural selection; it survived because people preferred the taste, texture and convenience of form while other breads faded from use.  It seems clear that the long, stick-like direct ancestors of the baguette began to assume their recognizably modern form in French towns and cities in the eighteenth century although doubtless there was much variation between regions and probably even between bakers in the same place.  The daily bread being the classic market economy, bakers would be influenced by losing sales to a more popular shop and so would adjust their mixes or techniques to attract customers back.  In this way a standardized form would have emerged and, in the French way, by 1920 the assembly had passed a law codifying the critical parameters (weight, size and price), formalizing the popular name baguette.  In 2003, the jocular slang "freedom bread" emerged to describe the baguette, an allusion to the "Freedom Fries" which replaced "French Fries" in US government staff canteens while there was tension between the White House and the Élysée Palace over France's attitude to the proposed invasion of Iraq.   

Lindsay Lohan in promotion for @lilybakerjewels, 2020.  The Rainbow Baguette Ring (centre) using stones cut in a true “baguette” rectangle whereas the Rainbow Bracelet used squares.

Globalization and modern techniques of mass production however intruded on many aspects of French lives and bakeries weren’t immune from the challenge of the cheap “baguette” sold by supermarkets.  Even among the boulangerie (a French bakery in which the bread must, by law, be baked on-premises) there were some who resorted to less demanding methods of production to compete.  As a matter of cultural protection, the assembly in 1993 enacted Le Décret Pain (The Bread Decree) which stipulates that to be described as pain maison (homemade bread), a bread needs to be wholly kneaded, shaped, and baked at the place of sale.  To limit the scope of the supermarkets (some of which were importing frozen, pre-prepared dough), rules also defined what pain traditionnel français (traditional French bread) may be made from and banning any pre-made components from baguettes.  Also retained was the relevant provision of the 1920 labor legislation which prohibits the employment of people in bread and pastry making between ten in the evening and four in the morning.  So, when visiting a boulangerie, it’s recommended to ask for a baguette de tradition française (usually as baguette de tradition) which is made from wheat flour, water, yeast, and common salt (reflecting modern practice, one may contain up to 0.5% soya flour, up to 2% broad bean flour and up to 0.3% wheat malt flour) and the dough must rest between 15-20 hours at a temperature between 4-6o C (43-46o F).  The less exalted baguettes ordinaires, are made with baker's yeast and a less exacting specification.

The French Ministère de la Culture’s (Ministry of Culture) National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage included the baguette in its index in 2018 and in 2022, the artisanal know-how and culture of the baguette was added to UNESCO’s (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.  Already preserving the information about some 600 traditions from more than 130 countries, UNESCO noted the addition by saying it celebrated the French way of life, something of which the baguette, as a central part of the French diet for at least 100 years, was emblematic.  With some 16 million consumed in France every day, the “…the baguette is a daily ritual, a structuring element of the meal, synonymous with sharing and conviviality", a statement from UNESCO read, concluding it was “…important that these skills and social habits continue to exist in the future."

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Pro-ana

Pro-ana (pronounced pro-anna)

(1) Of or relating to the position that anorexia is a lifestyle choice.

(2) The on-line community advocating this view.  The most pure among the community actively deny anorexia nervosa is a clinical condition.

Circa 1998-2001:  The construct is pro + ana.  Pro was from the Classical Latin prō (in favor of, on behalf of), from the Proto-Italic por-, from the primitive Indo-European pr- & pro.  Ana is a clipping of of anorexia (an(orexi)a), a phonetic diminutive of the 1957 scientific term anorexia nervosa, the construct being the Ancient Greek ν (an) (without) + ρεξις (órexis) (appetite, desire) + the Latin nervōsa (nervous).  The clipping of "anorexia" was created both as verbal shorthand and coded language (so the matters of diet and related matters could be discussed without the risk of "outsiders" understanding.  "Ana" was thus a form of personification and a "cover", the outsiders hopefully assuming a young lady named Anna was being spoken of.  Ana in this context is thus obviously unrelated to the suffix -ana (familiar in forms such as "Victoriana", "Americana" etc) which originally was most associated with continental literature and derived from the neuter plural of Latin adjectives ending in -anus.  In his A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) defined the suffix thus: "Books so-called from the last syllables of their titles; a Scaligerara, Thuaniana; they are loose thoughts, or casual hints, dropped by eminent men, an collected by their friends."  The suffix -ana has since been subject to some mission-creep.

Etymologists are inclined insist the correct form can be only "pro-ana" and there are traditions in English which supports this but the community itself uses ana, pro ana and proana interchangeably, the most common form the short-form ana, following the practice with anorexia nervosa which is truncated to anorexia in all but formal academic or clinical work.  Over two-odd decades, pro-ana has also spawned words such as thinsperation and thinology, used to describe specialized editorial content of the calling; the much less-used term pro-mia refering to bulimia nervosa.  Pro-anas are purists who maintain high-standards; those who aspire to the anahood but in some way fail are dismissed as "wannarexics".

Lindsay Lohan wearing (non-ana) red wrist-string.

The ana's standard means of social identification is a simple, beaded red bracelet, the beading of some significance because variations of red bracelets, some as simple as a wrist-string, have long been used by many cultures, usually with some sort of link to the idea of a good-luck charm.  Famously, a חוט השני (the khutt hasheni, a thin scarlet or crimson string) is sometimes worn as Jewish folk custom as a way to seek protection from those misfortunes which may be aimed at one by the עין הרע (evil eye).  It's most associated with the Kabbalah sect and Kabbalic scholars say there's nothing in ancient Jewish texts about wrist-strings of any color and the "tradition" is a recent folk practice which seems to have begun in the north-eastern United States early in the twentieth century.  Anas thus need always to check for beading before reaching out.

Notes

Although at the time it never reached the critical-mass needed to coalesce into a movement, the pro-ana concept actually pre-dates the web.  Among the bulletin boards the nerdiest connected to with 1200 or 2400 baud modems in the 1980s and early 1990s were both anorexia support boards and those which celebrated the condition but it was the widespread adoption of the www by the mid-late 1990s which permitted pro-ana to become world-wide.

Pro-ana content tends to be (1) victim stories, (2) images & clips where ribcages & shoulder blades are often seen and clavicles much admired and (3), lists of helpful tricks and techniques.  Politically, the accepted world view is they are not suffering from an illness; ana is a human right, an essential part of their identity and just another lifestyle choice.  As pieces of design, the sites tend to use pre-defined templates and in that are unremarkable although the preponderance of monochromic imagery is noted.  The pro-ana sites began to attract wider attention early in the twenty-first century, the irony being that much of the criticism came from the very publications many suggest contribute to eating disorders.  Off and on since then, pressure from the public and anti-ana organizations has compelled many hosts to shut down pro-ana sites although these efforts are Sisyphean, the relocations usually quick.

Pro Ana Tips and Tricks for Beginners

(1) Keep track of your calories.  Set an absolute number and NEVER exceed it, while trying always, gradually to lower the number.  Within the calorie limit, aim for a diet which is 75% leafy-green vegetables & legumes, 20% tart fruit and 5% nuts. Sugar should be zero because enough is in the fruit but, if absolutely necessary, a daily barley-sugar boiled sweet is OK.  This diet mix can at the margins be varied but must stay vegan.

(2) Drink lots of water; try to aim for seven litres a day but anything over five is OK.  Being hydrated is anyway healthy and drinking water before taking food helps fill your stomach faster so you’ll eat less.  Remember to not drink a lot of water at once; instead keep hydrated by drinking little amount after every few minutes.  Always drink it as cold as possible, it forces the burning of more calories to restore body temperature.  Unless operating in extreme conditions with high fluid loss, do not go over eight litres a day. 

(3) Place a full-length mirror in your bedroom and evaluate yourself on daily basis. This is one of the best ways to keep yourself motivated and remember, you’re there to be critical as well as admire.  If you can arrange multiple mirrors to provide for a 360view that's even better because it makes it easier to focus on problem areas.

(4) Have small meals.  It’s easier for the body to burn three 100 calorie meals than one of 300 and gives your body the illusion that you’re eating enough to keep the stomach full, whereas you’re eating less.  Always eat slowly and chew thoroughly, it will hasten the digestive process.  After every meal, brush teeth.  Not only is this good for dental hygiene but with freshly brushed teeth, you'll be less inclined to eat. 

(5) Find an ana-buddy.  The anorexic diet can be a harsh mistress so an ana-buddy with whom you can talk about your problems and diet related stuff can be helpful but only if they're a kindred spirit.  This works not only by keeping each other motivated but you'll find also you'll teach each other new tricks or exercise routines.  You both must be 100% committed to the diet and such noble souls are rare so, if need be, replace them with someone wholly committed.

(6) With the aggressive pro-ana diet, it’s very important to take vitamin pills.  Research suggests that for most people on what is the orthodox "balanced diet", vitamin supplements are probably unnecessary but because pro-ana doesn't include certain food groups, a daily multi-vitamin is recommended and usually adequate so take two only if you become light-headed or faint with any frequency; you may need specific additional supplements.  The most publicized deficiency associated with pro-ana is iron and it may thus be necessary greatly to increase the intake of leafy greens like spinach or peas, broccoli & string beans; seeds high in iron include pumpkin, sesame, hemp and flaxseeds.  One's family physician can obtain the tests to determine specific deficiencies and these should be dealt with by adjustment to the diet.  Remember though that doctors are apt to be dictatorial and the recommended technique to deal with their negativity is just to agree with whatever they say.  Try to appear sincere and be deferential; they like that.   

(7) Avoid butter and oils.  Treat them like sugar.

(8) Sleep at least eight hours a day, preferably more.  Less sleep means tiredness and hunger and you can’t eat while asleep.

(9) Keep setting a target weight.  Because of fluid retention and other cyclical variations, it’s probably counter-production to set daily targets and a weekly goal is better although true obsessives will monitor at least once a day and this is not discouraged.  To stay motivated buy some posters of your favorite slim model to observe while weighing-in.  Many non-ana diet sites suggest avoiding weighing-in daily or even more frequently and clinically they're probably right but they just don't understand the nature of obsessions.  Record the weigh-ins so you can chart progress over weeks and months; this requires nothing more demanding than the most basic open-source spreadsheet but math nerds can do it with pencil & paper which they find satisfying.   

(10) Wearing short clothes can be very motivating. When you wear short and revealing clothes and look at yourself in the mirror you will realize the parts where you need to lose weight and how important it is to you.  Wear in private clothes you'd never dare to wear in public and make it a goal to be able to wear them out without looking fat.

(11) Coffee and tea are good appetite suppressants.  Drink only black coffee or tea and NO milk or sugar.  Avoid caffeine drinks; either they’ll contain sugar or chemicals about which there exists no reliable research on how they affect the appetite.  Avoid the inherently sweet herbal teas; they do tend to stimulate the appetite in a way black tea and coffee don't.  Black tea and coffee are an important component in training the palette away from sweetness and towards the tart.  After a while, this will start to influence your choice of fruits and vegetables; as a general principle the darker and more bitter in taste, the better.

(12) Drink the juice of a squeezed lemon in hot water first thing each morning and last thing each evening; it has the general effect of adding to the stomach acids which break up food.  Because of this acid, always brush teeth afterwards.

(13) If you have to eat in company, wear baggy clothes with big pockets which can be lined with plastic bags.  Then, when no one is looking, you can dispose of food and people will think you eat normally.  It sounds a difficult thing surreptitiously to manage and to start with it will be but you’ll learn to adopt techniques like always sitting in a corner or at the end of the table and soon become an expert.  It's easier than it sounds.

(14) Exercise every day.  Gyms are optional because you can do even better with ana-specific routines such as running up stairs or hills, both of which have an extraordinary multiplier-effect on whatever distance is undertaken.  Unlike gyms, it's also free.  Never use elevators and escalators; always take stairs.  Wherever possible replace travel by cars, trains and busses with walking or biking.  This is also good for the planet which is the only one we have.

(15) Eat ice; ice can be an alternative to a meal, it really works.  Shaved ice is best because it avoids dental damage and there are many things to consider when eating ice and curiously, sometimes it's advantageous to take more, sometimes less.  For a discussion on the mechanics of ice-eating: The eating of ice

Anorexia nervosa was included in the (1952) first edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as a psycho-physiological reaction. The DSM-II (1968) moved it to Special Symptoms–Feeding Disturbances and in 1980, a new eating disorders section was created for the DSM-III.  The most significant structural change probably came in 1994 when in DSM-IV the condition was afforded its own section.  The DSM-5 (2013) relaxed some of the diagnostic criteria including, for the first time, rendering it all entirely gender-neutral, a gesture to conform with practices elsewhere rather than anything suggestion clinical experience was noting a greater gender-spread in the patient count.  Announcing DSM-5, the board noted it wished to reduce the number of patients in the former EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) category, now reclassified as the OSFED (Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder) group.  Thus the psychiatrists staked their claim in this low-cal demarcation dispute by claiming the wannarexics.

Monday, March 27, 2023

Jelly

Jelly (pronounced jel-ee)

(1) A food preparation of a soft, elastic consistency due to the presence of gelatin, pectin etc, especially fruit juice boiled down with sugar and used as a sweet spread for bread and toast, as a filling for cakes or doughnuts etc.

(2) A preserve made from the juice of fruit boiled with sugar and used as jam (jam the preferred term in much of the English-speaking world outside North America).

(3) Any object or substance having a jelly-like consistency.

(4) A fruit-flavored gelatin dessert (in the English–speaking world but less common in North America where “jello” or “jell-o” are preferred).

(5) A “jelly shoe”, a plastic sandal or shoe, often brightly colored.

(6) To bring or come to the consistency of jelly.

(7) In theatre, film & television production, the informal term for a colored gelatin filter which can be fitted in front of a stage or studio light.

(8) A slang term for the explosive gelignite.

(9) In Caribbean (Jamaica) English, a clipping of jelly coconut.

(10) A savory substance, derived from meat, with a similar texture to the sweet dessert (the gelatinous meat product also known as aspic).

(11) In the slang of zoology, a jellyfish.

(12) In slang (underworld & pathology), blood, especially in its congealed state.

(13) In slang, an attractive young woman; one’s girlfriend (US, probably extinct).

(14) The large backside of a woman (US, now rare).

(15) In internet slang, a clipping of jealous (rare).

(16) In Indian use, a vitrified brick refuse used as metal in road construction.

(17) As “royal jelly”, a substance secreted by honey bees to aid in the development of immature or young bees, supplied in extra measure to those young destined to become queen bees.

1350–1400: From the Middle English jelyf, gelly, gelye, gelle, gelee, gele & gely (semisolid substance from animal or vegetable material, spiced and used in cooking; chopped meat or fish served in such a jelly), from the Old French gelee (frost; frozen jelly), a noun use of feminine past participle of geler (to set hard; to congeal), from the Medieval Latin gelāta (frozen), from gelu (frost), the construct being gel- (freeze) + -āta (a noun-forming suffix).  The Classical Latin verb gelō (present infinitive gelāre, perfect active gelāvī, supine gelātum) (I freeze, cause to congeal; I frighten, petrify, cause to become rigid with fright) was from gelū (frost), from the primitive Indo-European gel- (cold) and was cognate with the Ancient Greek γελανδρόν (gelandrón).  Originally quite specific, by the early fifteenth century jelly was used of any jellied or coagulated substance and by the 1700s it came to mean also "thickened juice of a fruit prepared as food" which was both a form of preserving fruit and a substance used by chefs for flavoring and decorative purposes.  The adjective jellied (past-participle from the verb jelly) emerged in the 1590s with the sense of “of the consistency of jelly” and by the late nineteenth century this had been extended to include “sweetened with jelly”.  Because of the close historical association with foods, the preferred adjectival form for other purposes is jelly-like.  As a modifier jelly has proved productive, the forms including jelly baby, jelly bag, jellybean, jelly coat, jelly doughnut, comb jelly, jelly bracelet, jelly plant & royal jelly.  Jelly is a noun & verb, jellify & jellification are nouns, jellified & jellied are verbs & adjectives and jellying is a verb; the noun plural is jellies.

Aunger "jelly bean" aluminium wheels, magazine advertisement, 1974.  A design popular in the 1970s, different manufacturers used their own brand-names but colloquially the style was known as the “jellybean”, “slotted” or “beanhole”.

The verb jell (assume the consistence of jelly) is documented since 1869 and was a coining of US English, doubtlessly as a back-formation from the noun of jelly.  The figurative use (organizations, ideas, design etc) emerged circa 1908 but with the spelling gel, a echo of the Middle English gelen (congeal) which was extinct by the late fifteenth century.  The jellyfish (also jelly-fish) was in the late eighteenth century a popular name of the medusa and similar sea-creatures, the name derived from the soft structure.  Figuratively, jellyfish was used from the 1880s for “a person of weak character” although publications from 1707 use the name for an actual vertebrate fish.  

The jelly roll.

The jellyroll (also jelly-roll) was a “cylindrical cake containing jelly or jam” which dates from 1873 and in some markets (notably Australia & New Zealand) it is sold as a “jam roll” or “Swiss Jam Roll”.  The use of jelly roll as slang for both the vagina and the act of sexual intercourse was of African-American origin circa 1914 and was mentioned several times in blues music.  The jellybean (also (rarely) jelly-bean) (small bean-shaped, multi-colored sugar candy with a firm shell and a thick gel interior) was introduced in 1905, the name obviously from the shape.  It entered US slang in the 1910s with the sense of “someone stupid; a half-wit which was apparently the source of the slang sense of bean as “head”.  In the 1990s, jellybean was the (usually disparaging) term often applied to the depressingly similarly-shaped cars which were the product of wind-tunnels.  While aerodynamically efficient, few found the lines attractive.

1996 Ford Taurus Ghia (left) and 1996 Ford EF Falcon XR8 (right).

In 1996, Ford Australia put the US-sourced Taurus into the showrooms alongside the locally-built and well-received EF Falcon.  As well as carrying the stigma of front wheel drive (FWD), the “jellybean” styling alienated buyers, some of whom suggested the Taurus looked as if it had already been in an accident.  The Taurus was withdrawn from the Australian market after two years of dismal sales, dealers managing to clear to unsold stock only after a further year of heavy discounting.

Champagne Jelly

Champagne Jelly was served at the coronation banquet of Edward VII (1841–1910; King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India 1901-1910) in 1902 and has since been a popular “nostalgia” dish, seen often at weddings or seasonal celebrations.

Ingredients (to serve 6)

1 bottle 750 ml bottle of Champagne
2 sachets (2½ tsp each) powdered gelatin (or 8 gelatin sheets)
2 tablespoons water (if using powdered gelatin)
115g (4oz) white sugar
Berries and/or edible flowers (optional)
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Instructions

(1) Place Champagne bottle in a freezer 30 minutes before beginning (this will ensure jelly will retain the bubbles

(2) In a small bowl, sprinkle the powdered gelatin, if using, over the water and let stand until softened (typically 3-5 minutes).  If using gelatin sheets, put sheets into a bowl and cover with cold water, soaking until floppy (typically 5-10 minutes).

(3) Open Champagne and pour 120ml into a small pan.  Return the Champagne to the freezer, ensuring bottle remains upright.  If this is not possible, put bottle into fridge in upright position.

(4) Add the sugar to the pan, place over a medium heat, and heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves at which point, removed from the heat.  Liquefy the powdered gelatin by setting the bowl of softened gelatin into a larger bowl of very hot tap water (do not use boiling water).

(5) If using gelatin sheets, lift the sheets from the water, wring to release excess water, then put them into a bowl and liquefy as for the powdered gelatin.  Add the liquefied gelatin to the Champagne mixture and stir until the gelatin dissolves.

(6) Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl or pitcher, then allow it cool to room temperature.

(7) Add 480ml of chilled Champagne to the cooled gelatin mixture and stir well.  If adding berries or edible flowers, pour half of the gelatin mixture into a 600ml (1pint) mould and chill until almost set (typically 30-45 minutes).  Arrange the embellishments on top, then add the remaining gelatin mixture.

(8) If serving the jelly without embellishments, pour all the gelatin mixture into the mould.  Cover and refrigerate until fully set (at least 12 hours and preferably longer).  At this point drink remaining Champagne.  If need be, open a second bottle.

(9) To serve, fill a bowl with hot water.  Dip the bottom of the mould into the hot water for a few seconds to loosen the jelly from the mould, then place on a serving plate and garnish with mint.

Lindsay Lohan in outfit inspired by Champagne Jelly, ABC’s Good Morning America, November 2022.  The suit was from Law Roach’s (b 1978) Akris’ fall 2022 ready-to-wear collection, the ensemble including a wide-lapelled jacket, turtleneck and boot cut pants fabricated in a green, yellow, red & orange Drei Teile print in an irregular geometric pattern.  The distinctive look was paired with a similarly eclectic combination of accessories, chunky gold hoop earrings, a cross-body Anouk envelope handbag, and Giuseppe Zanotti platform heels.