14-letter words containing t, h, y
- scratch monkey — (humour) As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always mount a scratch monkey", a proverb used to advise caution when dealing with irreplaceable data or devices. Used to refer to any scratch volume hooked to a computer during any risky operation as a replacement for some precious resource or data that might otherwise get trashed. This term preserves the memory of Mabel, the Swimming Wonder Monkey, star of a biological research program at the University of Toronto. Mabel was not (so the legend goes) your ordinary monkey; the university had spent years teaching her how to swim, breathing through a regulator, in order to study the effects of different gas mixtures on her physiology. Mabel suffered an untimely demise one day when a DEC engineer troubleshooting a crash on the program's VAX inadvertently interfered with some custom hardware that was wired to Mabel. It is reported that, after calming down an understandably irate customer sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the matter, a DEC troubleshooter called up the field circus manager responsible and asked him sweetly, "Can you swim?" Not all the consequences to humans were so amusing; the sysop of the machine in question was nearly thrown in jail at the behest of certain clueless droids at the local "humane" society. The moral is clear: When in doubt, always mount a scratch monkey. A corespondent adds: The details you give are somewhat consistent with the version I recall from the Digital "War Stories" notesfile, but the name "Mabel" and the swimming bit were not mentioned, IIRC. Also, there's a very detailed account that claims that three monkies died in the incident, not just one. I believe Eric Postpischil wrote the original story at DEC, so his coming back with a different version leads me to wonder whether there ever was a real Scratch Monkey incident.
- secret history — a version of historical events which differs from the official or commonly accepted record and purports to be the true version
- security check — the process of checking that a person is not armed, or carrying something dangerous
- seventy-eighth — next after the seventy-seventh; being the ordinal number for 78.
- seventy-fourth — next after the seventy-third; being the ordinal number for 74.
- shabby-genteel — trying to maintain dignity and self-respect despite shabbiness.
- shifty-looking — having the appearance of being dishonest
- shirley temple — Shirley (Shirley Temple Black) 1928–2014, U.S. film actress, famous for child roles during the 1930s, and diplomat.
- shoo-fly plant — apple of Peru.
- shooting party — a social gathering when people shoot game together
- shrove tuesday — the last day of Shrovetide, long observed as a season of merrymaking before Lent.
- slaughterously — murderously
- sobriety coach — a person who is employed to help another to refrain from drinking alcohol
- social history — a view of historical events seen in terms of social trends
- sorority house — a house occupied by a college or university sorority.
- south ayrshire — a council area of SW Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde: comprises the S part of the historical county of Ayrshire; formerly part of Strathclyde Region (1975–96): chiefly agricultural, with fishing and tourism. Administrative centre: Ayr. Pop: 111 580 (2003 est). Area: 1202 sq km (464 sq miles)
- south tyneside — a unitary authority of NE England, in Tyne and Wear. Pop: 151 700 (2003 est). Area: 64 sq km (25 sq miles)
- south-easterly — A south-easterly point, area, or direction is to the south-east or towards the south-east.
- south-westerly — A south-westerly point, area, or direction is to the south-west or towards the south-west.
- southern yemen — a former name of Yemen (def 1).
- speech therapy — treatment for speaking disorders
- sphaerocrystal — a spherical crystalline mass
- spy-in-the-sky — of or relating to a surveillance camera mounted on an aircraft or orbiting satellite
- st. john's day — the saint's day of St. John the Baptist, celebrated on June 24, being one of the four quarter days in England.
- staphylococcus — any of several spherical bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus, occurring in pairs, tetrads, and irregular clusters, certain species of which, as S. aureus, can be pathogenic for humans.
- staphyloplasty — plastic surgery or surgical repair involving the soft palate or the uvula
- stay stitching — a line of stitches made in the seam allowance to prevent the edges from stretching
- stay the night — If you stay the night in a place, you sleep there for one night.
- steely-hearted — hard-hearted
- stretchability — to draw out or extend (oneself, a body, limbs, wings, etc.) to the full length or extent (often followed by out): to stretch oneself out on the ground.
- supply teacher — A supply teacher is a teacher whose job is to take the place of other teachers at different schools when they are unable to be there.
- sycophantishly — in a sycophantish manner
- symmetrophobia — an avoidance of symmetry, esp in Japanese art and Egyptian temples
- synoptic chart — a chart showing the distribution of meteorological conditions over a wide region at a given moment.
- synthesization — to form (a material or abstract entity) by combining parts or elements (opposed to analyze): to synthesize a statement.
- synthetic fuel — fuel in the form of liquid or gas (synthetic natural gas) manufactured from coal or in the form of oil extracted from shale or tar sands.
- syrian hamster — golden hamster.
- systems theory — an approach to industrial relations which likens the enterprise to an organism with interdependent parts, each with its own specific function and interrelated responsibilities
- tachygraphical — characteristic of tachygraphy
- tachyphylactic — Medicine/Medical. immediate, temporary immunization against the effects of injection of a toxic extract owing to previous small injections of the same extract.
- telegraph buoy — a buoy placed over an underwater telegraph cable.
- telepathically — communication between minds by some means other than sensory perception.
- telephonically — of, relating to, or happening by means of a telephone system.
- terotechnology — a branch of technology that utilizes management, financial, and engineering expertise in the installation and efficient operation and maintenance of equipment and machinery
- terpin hydrate — a white, crystalline powder, C 10 H 20 O 2 ⋅H 2 O, usually used in combination with codeine, as an expectorant.
- tetraethyllead — a colorless, oily, water-insoluble, poisonous liquid, (C 2 H 5) 4 Pb, used as an antiknock agent in gasoline.
- thalassography — oceanography, especially that branch dealing with smaller bodies of water, as bays, sounds, and gulfs.
- that is to say — in other words
- thaumatography — a treatise or description of the wonders of the natural world
- the cryptozoic — the Cryptozoic era