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2016-05-05T10:58:53Z

In The Big Muddy: Added gobsprout

Follow links for a more in-depth look at each word's origins and images. (In-depth pages are in progress and still being added!)

A

[[absentshaping|absentshaping : the result of a lack of conditions needed to sustain the form of an established environmental element]]

[[act of man|act of man : an extraordinary weather event generated by the impact of human activity on the earth’s biosphere]]

anarboralgia : loss of concentration due to lack of exposure to views of trees through windows

anthropodenial : "the a priori rejection of humanlike traits in other animals or animallike traits in us." Frans de Vaal, NYTimes, April 2016

april dregs : garbage left behind after snow melt

arborphoria : the benficial effect of looking at trees on mood and mental performance

B

barge bums : barnacles living on the side of a boat

bitterchoke : damage done to vegetation by the invasive vine Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus)

C

cleat mulch : goose poop on an athletic playing field

[[crowdpathing|crowdpathing : extra paths that people make in parks]]

D

dauthus plasticus : death by plastic ingestion

digital jungle : the way in which nature is becoming more an engineered object and technology is becoming more complex, more like nature (Danny Hillis)

dove slop : trash eaten by pigeons

E

envirolexicide : the act of removing from a dictionary a word that describes something in nature

F

fence-burl : chunk of tree trunk or branches remaining on a chain link fence after the rest has been cut away

fishluv : the curiosity, affinity, and anxiety that seals and people have for each other when playing in the surf

floral confusion : when you mistake a real plant for a fake plant

[[florapportunist|florapportunist : weeds growing out of cracks in sidewalk, as in purslane or dandelion]]

[[frondlebath|frondlebath : the way the color of new leaves highlight the patina on a bronze statue in the spring]]

G

ghost hall : the structure left behind inside an abandoned mineshaft

gobsprout : to generate new words and otherwise fiddle with language

gold dust : coating of pollen on outdoor objects and infrastructure

H

[[heap what you throw|heap what you throw : creating mountains of garbage]]

high bunk : a bird's nest on a tall building

hominal conflagration: wild fires caused by matches

hoop sag : how car tires get flat when the weather gets colder

hubcap lap : the way an animal runs from car traffic, darting

human work : a structure you come across in the woods that could only have been made by a human

K

[[killit|killit : a group of wild turkeys walking around a city neighborhood at Thanksgiving time]]

L

log zap : a tree that has fallen on a power line

M

Mamalite : plastic synthesized from human breast milk

mary-ding : dent in a car made by hail

melt-down break : a genetic mutation in a plant or animal caused by nuclear power plant disaster

metrocones : stalagmites and stalactites in a subway system

Milkaline : plastic synthesized at home from milk (see Slow Plastic)

N

nutnick : dent in a car made by a falling acorn

O

[[other air|other air : air that arrives to your living or workspace inside inflatable packing material]]

P

pan-nature : all of nature including animals, plants, and humans and the objects and results of animal, plant, and human activity

petrol mortis : corpse of an animal killed by oil spill

plasmat : a mixture of garbage, leaves and dirt forming a mat on the ground

prismus lacu : rainbow sheen of oil on water

R

reanimalia : animals living in abandoned vehicles or buildings

roadwort : ivy on traffic lights and signs

[[root-kilter|root-kilter : a slab of sidewalk forced out of place by a growing tree root]]

rubbish kill : animal death from ingesting human garbage

S

saver culture : a lifestyle of conscious, sustainable use of materials and objects, in opposition to consumer culture

screenaxed : the way trees look on video

skreek : the sound made when a branch scrapes against the side of a building

solastalgia : "people's emotional distress when their home landscapes become unrecognizeable through environmental change"

Slow Plastic : a movement of people synthesizing plastic and plastic objects from food ingredients, to reclaim an awareness of and responsibility for plastic production and use

[[snowfelled|snowfelled : early spring garden flowers toppled by snow]]

sootwhistle : asthma caused by smog

spectrum of influence: the spectrum whose poles are: no human influence (untrammeled wilderness) to all human influence (fully manufactured cityscape)

station-weed : weeds growing in an underground subway station with minimal water and light sources

sticky rime : frost on a car windshield that's hard to wipe off

stuckwood: tree that has grown through a metal chain link fence

T

[[terramour|terramour : smelling moisture emanating up from the earth through mud and soft soil, meeting the wafts of fragrant first blossoms someplace about chest height, very subtle, augmented by very merry birdsong]]

the entanglement : the way in which nature and technology are becoming more and more entangled, the distinction between the two is becoming meaningless (Danny Hillis)

the murks : feeling of unwellness produced in city residents by high levels of smog

the whole anthill : the whole earth as a site of human activity

third-floor visitor : plastic bag stuck and billowing in the branches of a tree

timbercake : property squashed under a fallen tree in extreme weather

track-flaque : rain puddles in a road

transatmosphobia : worry about climate change

U

[[unsettling the veil|unsettling the veil : the way an airplane changes the shape of a cloud as it moves through it]]

Universal Declaration of Earth Rights : a resolution proposed for adoption by the United Nations General Assembly insuring the fundamental, inalienable rights of the earth and its resources

W

wet blaze : electrical fire caused by a rainstorm shorting the electricity in a building

Human Nature Dictionary - User contributions [en]

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