a Few more Words

Serfdom the state of a serf [which is] A member of the lowest feudal class, attached to the land owned by a lord and required to perform labor in return for certain legal or customary rights -  A person in bondage or servitude - [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin servus, slave.]


Sardonic  [adjective]characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; cynical; sneering: a sardonic grin. 


Hoi Polloi  (Ancient Greek: οἱ πολλοί, hoi polloi, “the many”), an expression meaning "the many", or in the strictest sense, "the majority" in Greek, is used in English to denote "the masses" or "the people", usually in a derogatory sense. Synonyms for "hoi polloi" include "... commoners, great unwashed, minions, multitude, plebeians, the plebs, rank and file, riff-raff, the common people, the herd, the many, the proletariat, the proles, the peons, the working class".^[1]


Vertiginous characterized by or suffering from vertigo or dizziness - inclined to frequent and often pointless change :inconstant - causing or tending to cause dizziness <the vertiginousheights> 


Gelotology (from the Greek gelos, meaning laughter) is the study of laughter and its effects on the body, from a psychological and physiological perspective.

What Scientists mean when they say...

The biggest misunderstanding I find when talking Scientific concepts with lay people is the notion of 'Theory'. In general every day usage people seem to unanimously treat the term 'Theory' as just an Idea (more closely related to the concept of Hypothesis in the realm of science) - As if Evolutionary theory is JUST a theory (Just an Idea) that somehow has no 'REAL' weight and could be disregarded If one chooses not to believe in it. Though Lesser known or understood by the general public, the 'Quantum theory' muddies the lay person's understanding of what a Theory is in a scientific context when it goes by alternative labels: Quantum Mechanics or Quantum Physics (which simultaneously muddies the definition of physics and mechanics) although most people never think that far along; in any case, without further ado here is a short yet concise list of common words used by scientists and their meanings. (Image source: no idea sorry)