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18-letter words containing h, o, g, m, a

  • lagrange's theorem — the theorem that the order of each subgroup of a finite group is a factor of the order of the group.
  • launching ceremony — a ceremony that celebrates the launch of a ship for the first time into the water
  • logarithmic spiral — log r = aθ
  • logarithmus dualis — (mathematics)   (ld) Latin for logarithm base two. More commonly written as "log" with a subscript "2". Roughly the number of bits required to represent an integer.
  • magic switch story — Some years ago, I was snooping around in the cabinets that housed the MIT AI Lab's PDP-10, and noticed a little switch glued to the frame of one cabinet. It was obviously a homebrew job, added by one of the lab's hardware hackers (no-one knows who). You don't touch an unknown switch on a computer without knowing what it does, because you might crash the computer. The switch was labelled in a most unhelpful way. It had two positions, and scrawled in pencil on the metal switch body were the words "magic" and "more magic". The switch was in the "more magic" position. I called another hacker over to look at it. He had never seen the switch before either. Closer examination revealed that the switch had only one wire running to it! The other end of the wire did disappear into the maze of wires inside the computer, but it's a basic fact of electricity that a switch can't do anything unless there are two wires connected to it. This switch had a wire connected on one side and no wire on its other side. It was clear that this switch was someone's idea of a silly joke. Convinced by our reasoning that the switch was inoperative, we flipped it. The computer instantly crashed. Imagine our utter astonishment. We wrote it off as coincidence, but nevertheless restored the switch to the "more magic" position before reviving the computer. A year later, I told this story to yet another hacker, David Moon as I recall. He clearly doubted my sanity, or suspected me of a supernatural belief in the power of this switch, or perhaps thought I was fooling him with a bogus saga. To prove it to him, I showed him the very switch, still glued to the cabinet frame with only one wire connected to it, still in the "more magic" position. We scrutinized the switch and its lone connection, and found that the other end of the wire, though connected to the computer wiring, was connected to a ground pin. That clearly made the switch doubly useless: not only was it electrically nonoperative, but it was connected to a place that couldn't affect anything anyway. So we flipped the switch. The computer promptly crashed. This time we ran for Richard Greenblatt, a long-time MIT hacker, who was close at hand. He had never noticed the switch before, either. He inspected it, concluded it was useless, got some diagonal cutters and diked it out. We then revived the computer and it has run fine ever since. We still don't know how the switch crashed the machine. There is a theory that some circuit near the ground pin was marginal, and flipping the switch changed the electrical capacitance enough to upset the circuit as millionth-of-a-second pulses went through it. But we'll never know for sure; all we can really say is that the switch was magic. I still have that switch in my basement. Maybe I'm silly, but I usually keep it set on "more magic".
  • magnetorheological — (physics) describing a substance whose rheological properties are modified by a magnetic field.
  • make a night of it — to cause an activity to last a night
  • marine archaeology — the branch of archaeology that deals with the recovery of ancient objects found beneath the sea, as shipwrecks or remains from submerged islands, and with the techniques of underwater exploration, excavation, and retrieval.
  • mathematical logic — symbolic logic.
  • medium of exchange — anything generally accepted as representing a standard of value and exchangeable for goods or services.
  • menthol cigarettes — cigarettes that are flavoured with menthol
  • mergui archipelago — a group of over 200 islands in the Andaman Sea, off the Tenasserim coast of S Myanmar: mountainous and forested
  • microsoft exchange — (messaging)   Microsoft's messaging and enterprise collaboration server. Exchange's primary role is as an electronic mail message store but it can also store calendars, task lists, contact details, and other data.
  • moccasin telegraph — the transmission of rumour or secret information; the grapevine
  • monographic series — a series of monographs issued in uniform style or format and related by subject or by issuing agency.
  • monophthongization — to change into or pronounce as a monophthong.
  • move the goalposts — to change the aims of an activity to ensure the desired results
  • neo-pythagoreanism — a philosophical system, established in Alexandria and Rome in the second century b.c., consisting mainly of revived Pythagorean doctrines with elements of Platonism and Stoicism.
  • neuroophthalmology — the branch of ophthalmology that deals with the optic nerve and other nervous system structures involved in vision.
  • nightmare scenario — If you describe a situation or event as a nightmare scenario, you mean that it is the worst possible thing that could happen.
  • no laughing matter — sth serious
  • nonpharmacological — Not pharmacological.
  • ophthalmologically — In an ophthalmological manner.
  • outreach programme — a programme designed to help and encourage disadvantaged members of the community
  • overnight telegram — a type of domestic telegram sent at a reduced rate with a minimum charge for 10 words or less and accepted until midnight for delivery the following day.
  • palmer archipelago — a group of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, off the NW coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.
  • pathologic anatomy — the branch of pathology dealing with the morphologic changes in tissues.
  • phantasmagorically — having a fantastic or deceptive appearance, as something in a dream or created by the imagination.
  • photochemical smog — air pollution containing ozone and other reactive chemical compounds formed by the action of sunlight on nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, especially those in automobile exhaust.
  • phytohemagglutinin — a lectin, obtained from the red kidney bean, that binds to the membranes of T cells and stimulates metabolic activity, cell division, etc.
  • pigmy hippopotamus — a related but smaller animal, Choeropsis liberiensis
  • programmer's cheer — (humour)   "Shift to the left! Shift to the right! Pop up, push down! Byte! Byte! Byte!" [Origin?]
  • propaganda machine — the group of people, publications, etc, such as of a government, country etc, responsible for the organized dissemination of information, allegations, etc, to assist or damage the cause of a government, movement, etc
  • psychogalvanometer — a type of galvanometer for detecting and measuring psychogalvanic currents.
  • psychopharmacology — the branch of pharmacology dealing with the psychological effects of drugs.
  • publishing company — a firm which publishes books
  • pygmy hippopotamus — a small hippopotamus, Choeropsis liberiensis, of forests and swamps in western Africa.
  • rhyming dictionary — a specialist dictionary organized by the final sounds of words, used to write poetry
  • runge-kutta method — a numerical method, involving successive approximations, used to solve differential equations.
  • segmental phonemes — phonemes consisting of sound segments; hence, the vowel, consonant, and semivowel sounds of a language
  • solemn (high) mass — a highly ceremonial Mass with parts of the text sung by the celebrant, with a deacon and subdeacon assisting at the ceremonies, and with choir singing and organ music
  • something to spare — a surplus of something
  • spherical geometry — the branch of geometry that deals with figures on spherical surfaces.
  • stinking chamomile — mayweed.
  • the damage is done — If you say 'the damage is done', you mean that it is too late now to prevent the harmful effects of something that has already happened.
  • the magnolia state — a nickname referring to Mississippi
  • the major rogation — April 25, observed by Christians as a day of solemn supplication for the harvest and marked by processions, special prayers, and blessing of the crops
  • thermogalvanometer — a thermoammeter for measuring small currents, consisting of a thermocouple connected to a direct-current galvanometer.
  • urban homesteading — homesteading (def 2).
  • watchdog committee — a committee responsible for monitoring standards of behaviour
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