#vocab is awesome

[pyreemo]

RARE WORDS <3

Acosmist: One who believes that nothing exists

Paralian: A person who lives near the sea

Aureate: Pertaining to the fancy or flowery words used by poets

Dwale: To wander about deliriously

Sabaism: The worship of stars

Dysphoria: An unwell feeling

Aubade: A love song which is sung at dawn

Eumoirous: Happiness due to being honest and wholesome

Mimp: To speak in a prissy manner usually with pursed lips

Adomania: The sense that the future is coming too quickly

Anecdoche: A conversation where no one is listening

Kairosclerosis: The moment when you realize you're happy

Monachopsis: The subtle persisting sense of being out of place

Opia: The ambiguous intensity from looking someone in the eye

Rubatosis: The unsettling awareness of your heartbeat

Vellichor: The strange wistfulness of used book stores

Zenosyne: The sense that time keeps going faster

Eccedentesiast: Someone who hides pain behind a smile

[canyourlawnmowerdothis]

really obsessed with my sibling's language learning technique called get on ao3 and filter by your target language and have a translator in another tab for new words. like slay

[cheekedupwhiteboy]

In a pre-print paper posted earlier this month, four researchers from Germany's University of Tubingen and Northwestern University said they were inspired by studies that measured the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by looking at excess deaths compared to the recent past. By taking a similar look at "excess word usage" after LLM writing tools became widely available in late 2022, the researchers found that "the appearance of LLMs led to an abrupt increase in the frequency of certain style words" that was "unprecedented in both quality and quantity." To measure these vocabulary changes, the researchers analyzed 14 million paper abstracts published on PubMed between 2010 and 2024, tracking the relative frequency of each word as it appeared across each year. They then compared the expected frequency of those words (based on the pre-2023 trendline) to the actual frequency of those words in abstracts from 2023 and 2024, when LLMs were in widespread use. The results found a number of words that were extremely uncommon in these scientific abstracts before 2023 that suddenly surged in popularity after LLMs were introduced. The word "delves," for instance, shows up in 25 times as many 2024 papers as the pre-LLM trend would expect; words like "showcasing" and "underscores" increased in usage by nine times as well. Other previously common words became notably more common in post-LLM abstracts: the frequency of "potential" increased 4.1 percentage points; "findings" by 2.7 percentage points; and "crucial" by 2.6 percentage points, for instance.

[weezerlvr228]

do u want me 2 kill that guy @ ur bfs party 4 u. guy sounds like literally the worst an I will have no issues doing it 4 u

thank you anon. i would love nothing more 💗

[ceebit]

also i’m filing for nctzenship. expeditiously. i already got my eye on two of them.

[f1orencesyndrome]

Dryasdust

A boring, pedantic speaker or writer.

Dull and boring.

While the definition of “dryasdust” is literally “dull and boring,” the story behind the word is not. Sir Walter Raleigh Scott was a 17th- and 18th-century writer, considered the inventor of the historical novel. “Ivanhoe,” a historical novel concerning the life and times of a Saxon knight, opens with a “dedicatory epistle to the Rev. Dr. Dryasdust.” This fictitious character served as the intensely dull, but extremely informative, book antiquarian who supplied Scott with the necessary details to write his book (and also featured in the introductions of some of Scott’s other works). The word “dryasdust” has persisted as both a noun and adjective for a boring, pedantic sort.

[futurewife]

speaking of cinema t.erminator judgement day was on tv last night and I remembered how the first time I saw it was about 9ish and it impacted me so much the next week I wrote about it in class (the plot, how awesome it was, my fave parts, how I watched it with my dad and stayed up late lol) as like a weekend reflection LOL

[theplatypusblue]

Bro I have never wanted to write a paper less than I do right now. I got 2 out of 5 pages written and it’s due tuesday at midnight. Ouuuhhhh my god dude. Philosophy hard :(

[writers-potion]

MASTERPOST (PT. 2)

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸

For romance writing prompts, plotting tips & more, check out: MASTERPOST PT. 1

⭐Dialogue

Writing Dialogue 101

Crying-Yelling Dialogue Prompts

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⛰️Words to Use Instead Of...

Synonyms for "Walk"

Synonyms for “feeling like”

Words To Use Instead of "Look"

Words to Use Instead Of...(beautiful, interesting, good, awesome, cute, shy)

Said is dead

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🔠Vocab Lists

Nervous Tension Vocab

Kiss Scene Vocab

Fight Scene Vocab

Haunted House Inspo & Vocab

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👁️‍🗨️Setting & Description

Common Scenery Description Tips

2012 School Setting Vibes - follower question

Describing Food in Writing

Describing Cuts, Bruises and Scrapes

Using Description and Setting Meaningfully

How Different Types of Death Feel

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🗡️Weapons & Fighting Series:

Writing Swords

Writing knives and daggers

Writing Weapons (3): Staffs, Spears and Polearms

Writing Weapons (4): Clubs, Maces, Axes, Slings and Arrows

Writing Weapons (5): Improvised Weapons

Writing Weapons (6): Magical Weapons and Warfare

Writing Weapons (7): Unarmed Combat

Writing Female Fighters

Writing Male Fighters

Writing Armour

Writing Group Fights

Writing Battles At Sea

Erotic Tension in Fight Scenes

Pacing for Fight Scenes

Writing a Siege Warfare

Different Genres, Different Fight Scenes.

Making Fight Scenes Sound Nicer

Fight Scenes For Disabled Characters

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🌎Worldbuilding

Constructing a Fictional Economy

Homosexuality in Historical Fiction

Writing Nine Circles of Hell

Writing Seven Levels of Heaven

Master List of Superpowers

Magic System Ideas 

A Guide to Writing Cozy Fantasy

Dark Fantasy How-To

Dark Fantasy Writing Prompts

Dark, Twisted Fairytale Prompts

Fantasy World Cultural Quirks 

Fantasy Nobel Ranks: A List

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🌠Symbolism in Writing

Plant Symbolisms 

Weather Symbolisms

Symbols of Death

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🪄Writing Magic

Writing Magicians - the basics

Writing Magic Systems

Magical Training Options for Your Characters

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📋Other!

List of Fantasy Subgenres

Beauty is Terror: A List

The Pirate's Glossary

Storyediting Questions to Ask

Writing Multiple WIPs Simultaneously

Idea Generation Exercises for the Writer

Book Title Ideas

Picking the Right Story For You

What If God Dies in Your Story 

International Slang, Slang, Slang!

10 Great Love Opening Lines 

How to Insult Like Shakespeare

Serial Killer Escape Manual

Best Picrew Character Generators for Your Characters!

How to Write Faster

[widowsistersandfriends]

Giggly Quizzes

Request: hello! I’m currently in my exam finals and I’m really stressed about it. So I was wondering if you could do a fic where the reader is florence pugh’s younger sister (like age 17 aprox) and she notices that the reader is way to stressed about her final exams so she distracts reader with their studying giving them tons of tickles to relax them. Reading your fics really have been a distraction during this stressful weeks!

Note: Thank you so much for this awesome request!! I had so much fun writing this one, and I'm sorry I wasn't able to get it out earlier. I hope you did well on your finals and I hope you enjoy this fic!

Summary: Florence is your older sister and she helps you study and relax for your finals by tickling you for every question you get wrong. (ler!florence x lee!reader)

Word Count: 1641

---------------------------------------------------------

You were currently studying for finals, also known as the most stressful week of the year. You were holed up in your room once again, hunkered down over your books. The sun had started to set, so you turned on your room light and lamp to help you see better. 

Just then, you heard your sister calling you down for dinner. You hastily closed your books and went downstairs. Tonight you were having your favorite meal: chicken tenders and mashed potatoes. You eyed the food eagerly, scooping some broccoli onto your plate.

“How has studying been?” Florence asked, pouring you a glass of juice. 

“I’m really stressed if I’m being honest,” you admitted, eating a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

“I understand. Studying is hard, but you’re doing an amazing job,” Florence reassured you. 

“I just wish I could somehow be more efficient in my studying. I always feel like I’m reading the same word over and over again,” you said, taking a bite of a chicken tender.

“Maybe I could help you?” Florence offered.

“Oh I don’t know, I don’t want to stress you out too,” you said solemnly. 

“But I’ll be more stressed if you continue to stress and not let me help with the stress,” Florence said, now making you giggle from her ridiculous statement. 

“I guess you already helped by making me laugh,” you commented.

“Is that what I need to do? Make you laugh so you won’t stress as much?” Florence asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“You can try,” you said, challenging her.

After dinner, Florence came upstairs with you to help you study. 

“How about I quiz you on some flashcards or vocabulary or stuff like that?” Florence suggested.

“That’s a good idea. I’ll be able to see what I know and what I need to work on,” you agreed.

Florence started quizzing you on vocab and other facts for your Anatomy and Physiology finals. You found yourself getting frustrated, as the facts and definitions seemed to blur and confused you even more.

“Ughhh, I am never gonna get the hang of this,” you complained, putting your face into your hands.

Florence came over and patted your back comfortingly, knowing that you just needed to vent.

“It’s ridiculous that they make us memorize all these facts when we have access to the internet which can tell us in less than a second,” you stated with a huff, throwing your flashcards onto the table. 

“Here, why don’t we take a break and come back to this later. You need to take some time and rest those eyes. Let the material sink in,” Florence said.

“Alright,” you agreed, flopping onto your bed.

“Want a massage?” Florence asked. You nodded.

Florence began to massage your lower back and shoulders, as you tried to relax under her touch. She began to massage the muscles just next to your spine, which happened to be really tender. You jerked when she used her thumbs to massage that area.

“Oh I’m so sorry Y/N! I’ll be gentle,” Florence said. 

“Is this okay?” Florence asked after a bit.

“Hmm, you could be better,” you joked, and Florence knew you were beginning to relax into your goofy self again.

“What was that?” Florence asked, giving your sides a squeeze.

Ah! Florence nohohoho don’t do that!” You giggled out, unable to escape, as your sister was on top of you.

“Don’t do what? This?” Florence asked, as she gave your sides another squeeze, making you jump and yelp. You were glad that she couldn’t see your growing smile, as you were still face down.

“Don’t tell me you’re ticklish?” Florence asked, now poking your ribs.

“Ihihihm nohohot!” You declared, bringing your arms down to wrap over your torso.

“17 years and I just found out now?!? How dare you hide this from me!” Florence playfully scolded, as she reached under your shirt to spider over your sides.

“STAHAHAP,” you belly laughed, twisting and turning as much as you could.

“What? You said I could be better, right? What’s better than making you laugh and relax?” Florence teased, now moving her hands up to tickle your armpits. You let out a squeal, clamping your arms down and wheezing with laughter.

“You’re ticklish here too?” Florence said with a laugh, continuing her attack for a bit before giving you a break. 

“You’re so mean,” you said, turning to glare at her.

“Hey, it’s your fault for being ticklish,” Florence said with a shrug.

Before you could retort, you felt ten nails wiggling over the back of your thighs and knees.

You gasped and bucked against her, kicking around as you were once again broken down into hysterical giggles. 

“FLOREHEHENCE THIHIHIS IHIHSN’T FUHUHUNNY,” you shouted, reaching around to smack her to get her to stop. However, this left your armpits open, which Florence made sure to make you pay for.

You yelped and convulsed, shouting at her to stop. Florence obliged, laughing at your state of panic. 

“Here, I’ll give you a break and go back to massaging you,” Florence said, but instead of resuming on your back, she moved down towards your feet.

“W-what are you doing?” You asked fearfully.

“Helping you relax,” Florence said with an evil grin.

She began to lightly massage your feet, as you fought to not giggle.

“Is this relaxing?” Florence asked, as you shook your head while giggling. 

“Yohohou knohohow ihihit’s nohohohot,” you giggled, trying to kick her. 

“Actually, you just gave me a new idea,” Florence said, now going to your desk to pick up your stack of flashcards.

“I’m going to quiz you on these, and if you get it correct, I’ll put it in this pile. If you get it wrong, I’ll put it in another pile,” Florence explained, as you nodded.

“But, in addition, if you get it wrong, you will get tickled for 15 seconds,” Florence said, smirking at your wide eyes.

“That’s not fair!” You shouted.

“Do you want to ace your finals or not?” Florence said, giving you a look of warning. You huffed in annoyance, knowing that you were trapped. 

You were face up now, and Florence asked you the first question.

“What is the name of the test for your foot reflex, and what is the difference between infants and adults with this test?” 

“The Babinski reflex, and for adults the toes should curl while infants their toes fan out,” you stated confidently.

“That’s correct,” Florence said, putting it in the first pile.

You yelped, as you felt Florence run a nail down your foot. 

“Just testing to see if it works,” Florence said with a grin, as you rolled your eyes.

“What is corpus albicans?” Florence asked.

You thought for a bit, knowing it was on the tip of your tongue.

“Ugh, I just can’t think of it,” you said sadly.

“It’s the scarring that happens when the corpus luteum sheds every month. This is why women have a harder time getting pregnant when they are older. The scarring makes it harder,” Florence explained, as you nodded and made a mental note in your head. 

“You know what that means,” Florence said, wiggling her nails over your feet.

“HAHAHAHAAHA STAHAHAAHAP PLEHEHEASE,” you screamed, unable to kick as she sat on your shins. You continued to laugh and scream for the next 15 seconds until she finally stopped.

“Next question. What does ACL stand for and where is it located?” Your sister asked.

“Anterior cruciate ligament. It’s located in the knee,” you responded.

“Good job,” Florence said, patting you.

“Which muscle has more slow twitch muscle fibers, the soleus or gastrocnemius?” 

You debated for a bit, before choosing gastrocnemius.

“Get ready to get tickled,” Florence said.

“Which spot shall I pick?” Florence asked.

She eyed you for a bit before sticking her finger in your belly button, as you screamed and tried to push her away.

“Shouldn’t have gotten it wrong!” Florence teased. After she tormented your belly button, she explained the answer.

“The soleus has more slow twitch fibers because those muscles are used for endurance. For example, when you are standing for long periods of time, you are using your soleus muscle much more than the gastrocnemius. The gastrocnemius is used for when you sprint or run quickly for a short amount of time,” Florence said.

She quizzed you a bit more, finding more tickle spots on you as she went along. However, the tickling helped you remember the answers better.

“You know what? Now that you’ve mastered all of your cards, I think you deserve a reward,” Florence said.

“Really?” You said excitedly. 

“A full body wrecking,” Florence said, knowing that you had gotten some wrong on purpose just to get tickled.

“What!?! No!” You shouted, as Florence pinned your arms above your head and began scribbling over your stomach.

“FLOHOHO STAHAHAHAP,” you shouted, sucking your stomach in to avoid her hands.

She made sure to lean down and give you several raspberries to get you screaming with laughter. 

Her fingers ventured onto your sides, ribs, and armpits once again, before spidering around your neck and chin, making you snort and giggle hysterically. She then reached down to squeeze your hips and thighs, making you squeal with glee. She flipped you over once more and began to spider over your back, making you shriek and pound the bed desperately. 

“OHOHOKAHAHAY PLEHEHEASE IHIIVE HAD ENOHOUGH,” you screamed, as she finally let you up.

“That was awful,” you said breathlessly.

“Don’t lie, you loved it,” Florence said, poking you in the ribs.

“Ow!” You yelped. 

It was safe to say that you aced your anatomy and physiology finals that week thanks to the immense amount of tickling you faced from your sister. However, you held off on telling your sister because you knew your reward would be another wrecking ;)

[lettersfromaplatypus]

Sanders Sides lines that live rent free in my head in no particular order and for no reason

THAT’S what REPRESSION is?!

Time out for thee, and time out for thee, focus on issues or focus on me

FALSEHOOD

I can assure you, he’s not, YOU’RE JUST PARA— … expressing an unhealthy amount of concern. Thank you, for being on guard, but for now, you must listen. (Yeah it’s not funny like the others but seriously this made me reframe how I look at my anxiety disorder for forever)

I think I have a vocab card for this, uh, you good FAHM?

Ok, but have you seen the office bloopers? As a matter of fact I have seen them fifteen and a half times because I AM A PART OF YOU.

We have the same face!

Let’s leave the mothers out of this, ok? Especially considering the fact that neither of you HAVE A MOTHER.

Ugh, pintroverts

This would completely disregard the button/pin system!

So you’ve gone and called someone STUPID. And in response, THEY DAMAGED YOUR EYE.

If you really don’t want to know something, he… can keep our mouths shut! (the LORE this one line held)

I had this problem where I’d often hide my less-than-awesome feelings so when I would feel like sobbing I’d just smile and tell jokes! I thought that that was coping, only joking, never showing sadness, hoping it would go away. Did that work? NOPE.

*anguished Thomas/Side scream*

[kwillow]

Yo I tried to see if I could find it anywhere, but do you have like a timeline of events for your awesome unicorn guy/rabbit bastard story? I'm so invested but going into the archives is rough since so many comics jump around chronologically, I can't even find out how the rabbit guy survived into the future :(

Unfortunately we don't - Amaranthine is very much a work-in-progress illustrated in fits and spurts and we also never expected it to garner the attention it has.

But! @chocodile made a gorgeous webpage that summarizes major story beats and goes over the important characters, locations and magic fantasy vocab terms.

I hope it's helpful! We plan on continuing to refine the information here, including adding things like a timeline, something that sorts the comics we've posted into chronological order, and a system to find information we've posted more easily. That's something that will take a while, but will hopefully make this all easier to understand once we're done.

Also... we just haven't posted some character beats yet, hence why some information might be missing - like how exactly Hyden survived as a wizard popsicle for 300 years. Everything is still very much a WIP and there are holes and gaps because it was never meant to be a complete narrative, just a for-fun side project while we work on our game Wishbone.

Perhaps one day it will exist in a more complete state, but for now we're still making things up as we go and illustrating scenes whenever the urge strikes! Thank you for being interested in this patchwork puzzle regardless. xP

[aquaquadrant]

Popping in to say that I’ve been following ur htp au since like,,, October last year? I’ve left some asks before about how much I love it (I was that anon who was needing out about tango and bravo’s names and the international flag code from several months ago + a few other asks)

The ending was the most beautiful and SATISFYING piece of literature I’ve ever written. Genuinely. Wtf. And I’ve read a lot of books. I’m an English/creative writing major and your work is so beautiful, the story arcs, every loose end was tied up, you’re like the new standard for awesomeness. Seriously.

every loose end was wrapped up so well, all the closure and follow up we wanted, explanations of things like Scáil, hels meanings, their admin, even other hermits at the end there that were mentioned about in asks before but I never thought would be relevant in the main story. Things we didn’t even need to know like bX I was not expecting at all, I was content with just what we knew about him but you made it even better.

also the callbacks to earlier chapters, earlier moments and little jokes, bravo and Timmy’s not a builder moment was awesome, the way you portrayed bravo and tangos mindsets was phenomenal and with such intricacies. Stunning. And you didn’t force a reconciliation between bravo and timmy either, so natural.

Everything had a reason, an explanation, even the intricacies of herobrine? wasnt expecting that at all. Or Alex???! You didn’t need to include that detail BUT YOU DID AND I LOVE IT

the way you explained the greater player universe learning about hels, also the pausing on the red stone tutorial!! Loved that part. The pov switches and pacing of the last chapter p 1 and 2 were perfect. Well executed to keep the reader able to understand but still enough suspense. Not to mention once again your way of capturing each persons way of talking. Bravo having similar vocab to tango especially really drives home their similarities.

The way atlas breaks. It’s so hard to make an ending with someone like him SATISFYING because man I’ve read so many stories where it’s just not it. But you did it so fucking well. And subjected to retail salesman lifestyle on top of that? Wonderful. His damn glasses finally broken. Good. Or The watchers and listeners in the background too! Loved that. You explained things that were talked about in asks so well that even those who don’t read the asks could understand.

Most of all emotional and moral nuance. So perfectly explained. As someone who used to have a hard time with moral ocd I relate a lot to the obsession with good vs evil that I’ve had to come to terms with in my own journey and I can really see that mirrored in this fic, just like the characters learn.

And in addition to it all, I loved the ending with the Minecraft credits end message. You not only made it interesting and beautiful story and awareness of the player’s existence without being too confusing, but perfectly replicated the voices of the end credits characters. The tone and language that the original has. Last week I beat the enderdragon for the first time. I used to only play on public servers or private worlds with friends, even in single player I was a big coward and hated fighting mobs even with keep inventory and no mob griefing, they just stress me out!! But I did it for the first time and I read through the entire end credits of a game I’ve loved for so long for the first time and it made me cry. And you replicated it perfectly which is SO hard to do. The benevolence of the universe, no plot holes to be found about the logic of hels, the voices of the two people and their storytelling and acknowledging of the story. The universe is described so similarly in cannon about the good and bad that it’s like the au fits perfectly. The “why them?” Beautiful. It was like deja vu scrolling through like the end credits with the same benevolent warmth that envelops you like a wordless, comforting presence from this fictional universe. A touching moral about games and stories and people. And just like the end credits of both the game and this fic said, there will be another game and another story. The universe still loves the player just as it did before. This was such a special story to read and I am so glad I did. Genuinely, this will stay with me for a long time, we can learn a lot not just about writing and storytelling techniques, but about ourselves and eachother too.

Thank you.

AUUGHHHH…. genuinely one of the loveliest reviews i’ve ever gotten… your reaction to the finale is everything i could’ve hoped to achieve. thank you thank you THANK YOU <333

[charlott2n]

hi another accounting anon, im not even done with my 2 year degree but I already have a job and I can balance class and work AND still have time to fart around on the Internet. my job is at a medium sized company and most of it is filling out some forms to get a bill paid and hollering at salespeople to turn in their receipts and stop spending money on dumb shit. i have actual insurance now and I don't have to work retail ever again. I tell people irl what I'm doing and they act like it's impressive but literally it's so easy if you're not squeamish about repetition and looking at spreadsheets. If you can learn the vocab, do some basic arithmetic, and can write instructions in an email for other people to follow, you're golden.

ouuuggggghhhhhhhhhh. awesome 👍😎

[thearcaneuniversity]

what apps do you use for language learning

hello anon! thank you so much for the ask <3

when it comes to the "basics":

duolingo - i use it mostly as a motivator for systematic learning (via keeping my streak); and mostly to learn and revise different writing scripts: arabic, korean, greek, cyrillic, etc. sometimes i'll do a lesson in one of my target languages.

ngl though, i’m mostly sticking to it because i have a premium account and don’t want to lose my already spend money.

busuu - also a big motivator for keeping up with every day learning, no matter how small it may be. i used to enjoy it more with the premium account where i could do some revisions (vocab and grammar), but even without it, it’s a fun app. i've gotten quite far with my spanish here, so i often switch to french and korean when the material gets too advanced too quickly.

teuida - an app for learning korean, japanese and spanish through conversation. i’m sticking strictly to korean. i’ve only been using it for a month, but i really love it. it truly makes me think in a way that the previous apps don’t, and it focuses solely on speaking.

and etutor - it’s a polish site/app. i won a free course in one language, and so i chose spanish. it’s one of the best courses i've taken, really professional and interesting, though the lessons do get repetitive in their format (though it’s true of most, if not all, language learning apps/sites, i suppose). they add interesting cultural aspects to their lessons.

i also won a free british council course, though i recently haven't had the time to do any lessons there...

so these four apps/sites are what i'm sticking to for now and try to do every day. i've reached a one year streak on busuu today and have nearly one year on duolingo. apart from that, i've tried many other different resources (such as drops, mango, mondly, lingopie - this one is awesome and i have to return to it one day), but i don't plan to add more to my language learning at the moment... maybe after i finish my degree.

+ before i returned to working on my thesis i also always tried to add more to my learning schedule. the lessons i do on these apps are useful and helpful, sure, but i don't think they're enough... so i try to supplement this knowledge with immersion: watching tv, movies, youtube videos; reading books, articles, fics or browsing some foreign sites; listening to music or podcasts; using physical textbooks, etc.

if i'll ever have the time, i'd also love to someday try eggbun (for korean, japanese, chinese), lingodeer (many languages) or lengo (many languages). i also found interesting apps such as infinite korean, reword (many languages) or the todaii series (learning via reading the news - also a few languages to choose from)...

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

omg haha, i saw your post about the saw-scaled viper and got interested, please please please tell me more about those cuties!!!

With pleasure!! Saw-scaled vipers are some of my very favorite snakes in the world.

They're called "saw-scaled" because their scales have these little serrated edges, and their threat display is to coil up into an overlapping C shape and rub the scales together. It makes a really cool sort of sizzling noise. A cool vocab word for you: this is called "stridulation!" Check it out, this video from the BBC has a good example of what it sounds like:

The saw-scaled threat display is theorized to be to eliminate water loss that might happen as a result of hissing. These are desert snakes, after all!

Indian saw-scaled vipers are one of the "big four," the species responsible for the greatest number of medically-significant snake bites on humans in the Indian continent. The other three are the Russell's viper, the common krait, and the Indian cobra.

They're easily the smallest of the big four! They average about two feet long, and smaller individuals are common.

Saw-scaled vipers are crazy cute, but they're actually super challenging to work with, even when compared to other venomous snakes. They tend to be very nervous and jumpy, and they have a habit of striking so enthusiastically they can move towards you without meaning to.

Their venom is also unusually potent for such small snakes; before antivenin, about 20% of bites were fatal. That's very powerful by viper standards!

Now, their venom has very useful medical applications! Saw-scaled viper venom has elements that make it a useful ingredient in medical procedures designed to test blood clotting factors. It's also used in anticonvulsant medications.

At my lab, we have several saw-scaled vipers, but my favorite is a little spitfire named Trigger. He's pretty calm by saw-scaled viper standards but he can still be a little menace. He's an Egyptian saw-scaled viper, here's the best picture I have of him (hook for scale):

I just love saw-scaled vipers. They're such awesome snakes!