this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2025
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xkcd

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It was great until my thumb slipped and I accidentally launched my telescope into the air at Mach 8.

https://explainxkcd.com/3047/

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 days ago (5 children)

"Sidereal" pronounced /saɪˈdɪəriəl, sə-/ sy-DEER-ee-əl, sə-

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 days ago (2 children)

meaning "of the stars" (from Latin, as opposed to Astral from the Greek)

used in modern English in "consider" (literally: with the stars, meaning to scrutinize the sky).

[–] Revan343 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

Nah, that's sub + scribere: "write under", as in signature. No relation to sidereal.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

What would the bird version of "consider" be?

Conavis?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I get I never learned phonetics but how tf do you pronounce upside down e

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It's the phonetic symbol for schwa, which is like a relaxed "uh" sound.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

Oh it's so obvious now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago