TheBanyanTree: Helpful information rides sidesaddle

[Peter Macinnis]

Ibid.  An ancient philosopher, poet and author, who had an opinion on
almost anything.  Not to be confused with ibid.

ibid.  Pretty much the same.

icosahedron.  The ruling party in Athens, for several years after the
time of Pericles.  The word appears to be cognate with the Hebrew word
Sanhedrin.

id.  A word coined by Sigmund Freud, who was, under a pseudonym, the
inventor of the Times crossword.  It has no particular meaning in
psychology, but the term solved several pressing problems for Freud.
To avoid any risk of being found out, he arranged for a friend to
later take the credit for the word.  There is no truth in the legend
that he invented the id to save his ego being left on the self.

ideal gas.  One which wipes its shoes before entering the gas retort.

idealist.  Somebody who is willing to stand by and accept it when
being told 'I deal, you accept what is dealt out to you'.  There are
very few idealists left alive.

ideologically sound.  One hand clapping.

idiograph.  A politician's autograph (etymology uncertain).

Immanuel Kant.  Now superseded by an automatic version.

impale.  An amber fluid regularly secreted by the impalas of the
African veldt, and drunk by the dust devils of the veldt.  The best
impale is made by an impala called Vlad.

impartial.  The opposite of partial.  An impartial person can see both
sides of the picture at the same time, although why anybody would wish
to do that thing, when no artist in history has painted both sides of
the canvas, nobody can say.

impediment.  A spine which sticks into the foot.  The same spine,
poked into the eye, is called an inoculation, or worse.

improbable.  In spite of all the best efforts of mathematicians over
the centuries, in nine out of ten cases, something improbable will
still happen.  This being so, there seems little point in trying to
pin this word down on the printed page.

incommunicado.  The ancient Roman British fortified town of
Communicadum is the modern-day city of Coventry.  As a consequence,
this term is no more than an ancient form of 'sent to Coventry'.

indecision.  We are still trying to agree about this.

infinity.  I may have time to cover this next week.

influenza.  The first person form of the only disease in the English
language which is conjugated.  For the second and third person forms,
see common cold.

inglenook.  A small warm corner by a fireplace.  In ancient times, the
best of these corners were much favoured by witches, who would often
huddle together there for warmth after dancing unclad on a hilltop.
Today, one should not judge a nook by its coven.

insurance.  A sort of bet that something will happen, but void in the
case of an act of God.  This is why most insurance claims relate to
impacts.

interconnected.  There is probably a link to be made here, but
philosophers are still looking for it.

internal combustion.  A form of powering engines which involves
setting up a series of small and potentially lethal explosions which
successively jerk the engine through part of a rotation.  The rest of
the industry is devoted to trying to make it possible to have a smooth
ride on a series of largely uncontrolled explosions.

interpenetration.  What happens when one sets out to sit on one's bum
and twiddle one's thumbs, and one gets it wrong way around.

inundated.  Sitting around on a Saturday night, hoping the phone will
ring.

Inverse Square Law.  When your back is turned upon any given square of
concrete, the bears are able to peer out from between the cracks where
they are lurking.

Invisigoths.

irrational numbers.  Songs which appear to have no beginning, no end,
no middle and no sides.  In modern times, these appear to have become
more common.

irredentists.  A group of 19th century revolting Italians.  Rather
than crying 'first let's kill all the lawyers', these ruffians had
their sights set on the world's tooth-pullers.

Isosceles.  A famous Greek geometer and philosopher in his day,
Isosceles is now little known, except for his triangle, still studied
in mathematics courses, all over the world.

isomer.  The same sea or body of water as seen from the two sides: the
English Channel and La Manche, for example.  The Tasman Sea is a
special case, being an autoisomer.

isotope.  A line drawn on a bar graph, joining people who drink the
same amount.