JARGON TRANSLATOR THREAD--post words here you don't know, or can explain to folks. thanks!

Ludger Merkens wrote:I like the idea, but i wonder, why not use the Permaculture Wiki for this?

Caleb Worner wrote:
The great Ben "Vermont Rice" Falk has had a very professional glossary on his site for years that would be a great resource:

http://www.wholesystemsdesign.com/design-vocabulary

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A last thought. If this were taken seriously it could contribute largely to creating a global basic permaculture vocabulary. I'm passionate about language and would eventually like to do a published project like this, potentially illustrated to better communicate forms from earthworks, botany, hydrology, fluid dynamics, and natural building.

Why not both?

Ludger Merkens wrote:
Go ahead, do both, but it is double workload to put it in place. If not done properly it is also 2 places you need to know to find the results.
A Thread like this, is likely to go dead over some time

Burra Maluca wrote:
There are ways to keep a thread here alive, and organised.

It could be a locked thread, so that it's essentially one post which can be updated.
It could be listed in the how permies.com works thread, which is regularly bumped up so people keep finding it.

We could list the link above the most appropriate forum, like we do with, for instance, the links to feed the empire . publishing standards . promote your stuff . about the staff . how permies.com works in the tinkering forum.

Julia Winter wrote:Can we add to the black locust definition:

black locust: a highly rot resistant wood, traditionally used for fence posts. Able to withstand direct soil contact for years without rotting.

(I'd say it's not a particularly good choice for a hugel bed).

Chad Sentman wrote:As I was reading throughout this a moment ago, I thought it would be good to add internal referencing.

The list is alphabetical order which is good but related terms are not seen to have any connection.

For example, Starting from the top, I come across "brown permaculture" which is a fine thing, but loses meaning if it is not contrasted with "purple permaculture" and by the time I got down to the P section to find "purple permaculture" it was no longer a relevant questioning my mind. I think it would be a nice addition if conceptually related terms had "see also: X" added after the definition.

Burra Maluca wrote:
Meadows - I understood that meadows were cut for hay, while pasture was just grazed. But that might just be my own interpretation, or a UK thing...

Joshua Myrvaagnes wrote:
what is a meadow really? what causes a naturally-occurring meadow (assuming they really do occur in nature)? is it the regrowth of a forest-fire-affected area, or is it a dynamic thing? how can there be plants that grow at the edges of forest and meadow if there aren't naturally-occurring meadows? what causes a naturally-occurring forest fire, if nature's amazing balance supposedly covers teh soil and keeps it so moist and fertile and trees are such a great slower-downer of storms and capturers of rain? OK, this kind of extended beyond the term itself, but I'd love to know what a permaculturist's definition of things are, what a permaculturist sees that an ecologist or other natural scientist may have missed seeing. May or may not be appropriate to the glossary, I guess at least a basic definition will work for people: a meadow's a big open space that has grassy-type things instead of trees growing in it.

Cassie Langstraat wrote:bone yard

Caleb Worner wrote:
aspect (of land)

Will Meginley wrote:

Joshua Myrvaagnes wrote:
S.O.M.

What's S.O.M. stand for?

Soil organic matter (SOM) is the organic matter component of soil, consisting of plant and animal residues at various stages of decomposition, cells and tissues of soil organisms, and substances synthesized by soil organisms.

Joshua Myrvaagnes wrote:Thanks, been wondering about gappers for ages!

DE - diatomaceous earth.  

Jenny Wright wrote:What is a woofer? I don't know if I got all the letters in that acronym... Is it an acronym?

Rachel Lindsay wrote:

Jenny Wright wrote:What is a woofer? I don't know if I got all the letters in that acronym... Is it an acronym?

"Willing Worker on an Organic Farm" is the meaning I learned behind that term!