simming
n.—Gloss: From “simulating.” «It took a room full of networked computers called a “render farm” to do in about 14 months what would have taken a single machine 16 years: churn out digital scenes precisely modeled after real life, Mr. Weigert and Mr. Engel said. Artists positioned the sun in the virtual sky, and dictated how every surface—metal, glass, wood or stone—would reflect rays and cast shadows. Teams installed virtual hinges in lampposts and etched thousands of fault lines into skyscrapers and houses so when simulated tremors or winds or waves were applied, a process called “simming,” they’d crumble or buckle in natural-looking ways.» —“Destroying the Earth, Over and Over Again” by Tyler Gray New York Times Nov. 8, 2009. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...
David from Plymouth, Wisconsin, wonders about the expression a cord of wood. The phrase goes back to the 17th century and has to do with using a cord to measure a specific quantity of stacked wood. This is part of a complete episode.
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