Guess the Definition

yes. your turn!

Interesting etymology.

Etymology
petr(o)- + ichor

Note: The word was introduced by the Australian mineral chemists Isabel Joy Bear (born 1927) and Richard Grenfell Thomas (†1974) in "Nature of argillaceous odour," Nature, vol. 201, No. 4923 (March 7, 1964), pp. 993-95. According to the authors, "The diverse nature of the host material has led us to propose the name 'petrichor' for this apparently unique odour which can be regarded as an 'ichor' or 'tenuous essence' derived from rock or stone."

yeah, whenever it rains, I always feel it as if it came from a rock, it's probably the most distinguished smell of rain

All right, I have it! Up next, the word in play is...

Tarn.

A lake...not very big... I most recently came across the word in the Ray Bradbury short story "Usher II".
IIRC it was a "dark tarn" or a "black tarn".

Indeed. Do you know how it is formed? (Part of the definition extends to this.)

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

Indeed. Do you know how it is formed? (Part of the definition extends to this.)

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No.. the RB short story didn't mention that (altho' maybe Poe's --the "original" short story-- does).
However , since you use the word "formed" I will guess and say tarns were formed (cut out) by glaciers.

Give yourself a pat on the back! That is indeed correct! ☺️

The official definition of  tarn is "a small mountain lake/pond/pool formed in a bowl-shaped depression excavated by a retreating glacier".

Funnily enough, I discovered the word similarly through reading a short story. This one being "Xeethra" by Clark Ashton Smith from a compilation of fantasy stories by Tom Shippey. (Actually, a story by Ray Bradbury is in here, too. But I've not gotten to it yet.)

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

Give yourself a pat on the back! That is indeed correct! ☺️

The official definition of  tarn is "a small mountain lake/pond/pool formed in a bowl-shaped depression excavated by a retreating glacier".

Funnily enough, I discovered the word similarly through reading a short story. This one being "Xeethra" by Clark Ashton Smith from a compilation of fantasy stories by Tom Shippey. (Actually, a story by Ray Bradbury is in here, too. But I've not gotten to it yet.)

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Oh! Which one?

Deimos said:

Oh! Which one?

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"Homecoming".

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

"Homecoming".

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Pretty good... I've read it a few times 🙂

OK... now, the word.... pale
Not the color, or anything having to with color or shade or tone .
It's a noun... a thing.

Great choice. I know it, but no one else is here, so I'm going to spectate and let others have a chance.

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

Great choice. I know it, but no one else is here, so I'm going to spectate and let others have a chance.

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Yeah... almost everyone recognizes the phrase that it is used in without knowing why that word is used.
I know I didn't, for a long time.

The noun has to do with death, as I understand it.
"Beyond the pale" is perhaps the famous phrase, one which I believe has something to do with, "beyond the cold, soft, grasp of death".

🫠

I look forward to guessing the actual definition of this word.

WatcherWraith said:

The noun has to do with death, as I understand it.
"Beyond the pale" is perhaps the famous phrase, one which I believe has something to do with, "beyond the cold, soft, grasp of death".

🫠

I look forward to guessing the actual definition of this word.

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Not quite... in fact pretty much just plain "Not". 😉
If it has come to be used that way, it is as incorrect as , say, using "imply" when the word you should be using is "infer".
That is. the misuse of it has become "normalized", such that the true meaning has been been kicked into the basement and is now gathering dust.
However, abusus non tollit usum. The abuse of something does not take away the [proper] use of that thing.
You did correctly guess the phrase where it most commonly appears; in fact where it appears about 99% of the time.
Yet I can see why the definition you posted seems correct, which is due to conflation of phrases and also that some words can be "false friends".

OK, a clue (or two) ... the word "pale" has two totally disparate meanings because it really is two different words that happen to be spelled the same way.

Pale: washed out wan look relating to the appearance of something is a variation of our word pallid, which closely resembles the original Latin word pallidus (adj, -a-um) meaning...pale!
Now, the phrases "deathly pale" or "pale as death" are common enough. Also Death is portrayed riding Pale horse, the imagery coming directly from the Bible's Book of Revelation, (with its Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse).

Pale: a pointed piece of wood used in making a fence (not a "picket" but it does serve the same purpose).
Pale also comes from to us via Latin: palus (noun), a stake, post
A bunch of pales attached together is a paling and so serves as a fence; that is, a boundary.



So there are your clues... jettison one meaning of pale and you will be left with real meaning of the phrase "beyond the pale."

So, if I'm following your clues correctly, "beyond the pale" may instead means something like, "beyond the border/boundary"? Since 'paling' is not what you used, but since the word does not have to do with death, as I initially surmised?

WatcherWraith said:

So, if I'm following your clues correctly, "beyond the pale" may instead means something like, "beyond the border/boundary"? Since 'paling' is not what you used, but since the word does not have to do with death, as I initially surmised?

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Right..."Beyond the pale" means "beyond the boundaries". It used to mean any boundaries but over time the expression was applied more and more frequently to "social situations" and it became a pejorative expression;, that is, one used to express disapproval.
You might read or hear it used like this: "Oh those clothes he wore were beyond the pale." Or "What they spent on a 3 year old's birthday party was beyond the pale."
In both cases what is being expressed is not a little bit of disapproval: the man had exceeded established social boundaries in dress, the parents in an ostentatious celebration for a toddler.
So that is how you will most often see/hear "pale" (the noun) being used. **
But it is still used as a stand alone word for the upright stick part of a fence, tho' just as often that part may be called a "paling".

** To reiterate, tho' ... it isn't always a pejorative.....

The alternative definition for 'pale' that I was aware of was this:


Here, 'the Pale' is a specific area with a boundary.

Server Room Gremlin said:

The alternative definition for 'pale' that I was aware of was this:

View attachment 48649
Here, 'the Pale' is a specific area with a boundary.

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Probably moved, over time, from the specific use to the general use.