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Mon 30 Jan, 2012 07:44 pm
Context:
Sometimes experiments fail for a reason. Sometimes experiments fail for no reason.
As anyone who works in a lab knows, things that work perfectly for months or years can suddenly stop working, offering no explanation for the change. (In this way, lab experiments are like Internet Explorer®.) This abrupt and inexplicable failure changes your work to meta-work, as you stop asking questions about science and start asking questions about the consistency of your technique. You can waste years saying things like, “When I created the sample that worked, I flared my nostril in a weird way. So this week, I’ll try to repeat what I did last week but with more nostrils flarin’!”
@oristarA,
It means make your nostrils/nose holes open wider. Think of a horse that is frightened, short of breath - the nostrils flare open/the circle [nostril] widens.
@JTT,
JTT wrote:
It means make your nostrils/nose holes open wider. Think of a horse that is frightened, short of breath - the nostrils flare open/the circle [nostril] widens.
So "with more nostrils flarin" implies "with more exciting successes"?
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
JTT wrote:
It means make your nostrils/nose holes open wider. Think of a horse that is frightened, short of breath - the nostrils flare open/the circle [nostril] widens.
So "with more nostrils flarin" implies "with more exciting successes"?
That's pretty much it. It's a difficult passage: the writer is using a kind of personal slang with little regard for normal usage.
@oristarA,
Quote:So "with more nostrils flarin" implies "with more exciting successes"?
No. In the context you've given, it seems like the writer is making a joke. A certain lab experiment worked because of how the nostrils were flared. It could have been anything - the way I extended my pinkie finger; the way I touched my tongue to my top lip right at the moment I added the NaCl; when Ori walked into the lab; when I pulled my right ear lobe; ... .
This abrupt and inexplicable failure changes your work to meta-work, as you stop asking questions about science and start asking questions about the consistency of your technique. You can waste years saying things like,
JTT got it. He's talking about failures and not being able to explain what's going wrong, which is frustrating. So when something goes right, you try to replicate all the factors that went into it, and you might very well think something that happened when you succeeded, but really had no connection with it, was the cause of the success. Like if you flared your nostrils at the same time, or wore a particular shirt. Wearing that same shirt the next time you try it is probably not going to make it succeed again. Nor will flaring your nostrils. It's superstition, not science. Humans are good at seeing the connections between things and seeing patterns, but sometimes we make the wrong connection, or see a pattern when there really isn't one there.
Thank you.
The superstitious usage seems cool. Why use "but with (more nostrils flarin) "? Why not just use "with" there? "But" here seems silly because it seems the researcher does it purposely.
@oristarA,
Quote: Why use "but with (more nostrils flarin) "? Why not just use "with" there? "But" here seems silly because it seems the researcher does it purposely.
Precisely, Ori. It was done purposefully. If a little nostril flaring helped, then more nostril flaring would/should do even better/help more.
“When I created the sample that worked, I flared my nostril in a weird way. So this week, I’ll try to repeat what I did last week but with more nostrils flarin’!”
@JTT,
Oristar you know how to flare your nostrils and whistle, don't you?
I'd be somewhat impressed if the scientist could flare just one nostril and astonished at what more nostrils flarin' might imply ergo I'd suggest a slight change to:
When I created the sample that worked, I flared my
NOSTRILS in a weird way. So this week, I’ll try to repeat what I did last week but with more
NOSTRILflarin’!”
@oristarA,
"nostril flarin and flared my nostril" - excitement or with a mad excitement. Think of it this way, when we get mad, our nostril flares.
@shampoo,
shampoo wrote:
"nostril flarin and flared my nostril" - excitement or with a mad excitement. Think of it this way, when we get mad, our nostril flares.
Now it has made things crystal clear.
Thx.
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