Over the moon about collaboratinos

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Another day, another science typo: this time, I emailed a colleague to ask for a “letter of collaboratino”.
(Well, I almost did – previous experience caused me to activate Outlook’s “always check spelling before sending” option long, long ago).
I wonder what a collaboratino might look like. Clearly, it’s a subatomic particle that facilitates interactions between larger entities. But is it involved with weak or strong forces? Is it ever possible to simultaneously measure both its motivation and its benefits? How much spin is involved?
What I do know is that when a collaboratino meets an anti-collaboratino, the effects are sure to be more devastating than Dan Brown could ever imagine.
And what adjectives might one use to describe a collaboratino?
Drafting another letter for a different project, I started with the suggested phrase “I am delighted to collaborate with you on your grant application titled ‘really important science'”. It is indicative of the importance of measuring collaboratino spin that the word “delighted” cropped up again in the next paragraph. Unable to come up with an appropriate synonym on the spot, I hit shift-F7 for suggestions – but didn’t think that “charmed”, “enchanted”, “thrilled”, “elated”, or indeed “overjoyed” were quite suitable.
I was pleased to finish that draft and send it off for long-distance approval; a quantum of solace in a frantic and over-caffeinated week.

About Cath@VWXYNot?

"one of the sillier science bloggers [...] I thought I should give a warning to the more staid members of the community." - Bob O'Hara, December 2010
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20 Responses to Over the moon about collaboratinos

  1. Richard P. Grant says:
    September 10, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    I thought it sounded Italian

  2. Cath Ennis says:
    September 10, 2009 at 9:34 pm

    Not much blog fodder there, though

  3. Richard P. Grant says:
    September 10, 2009 at 9:52 pm

    Well, quite.

  4. Alyssa Gilbert says:
    September 10, 2009 at 10:32 pm

    I was thinking more along the lines of how Ned Flanders speaks (neighbor-ino), but yours is more fun to think about.

  5. Cath Ennis says:
    September 10, 2009 at 10:41 pm

    LOL-ily doodly!

  6. Sabbi Lall says:
    September 11, 2009 at 2:27 am

    Make mine a collaboratini, shaken not stirred. One olive. It cements the collaboratino!

  7. Cath Ennis says:
    September 11, 2009 at 3:53 am

    Ooh, there’s an idea.

  8. Bob O'Hara says:
    September 11, 2009 at 5:02 am

    How do collaboratinos interact with administratium, eh?

  9. Anna Vilborg says:
    September 11, 2009 at 6:42 am

    It does sound italian, and I instantly associated to a “small, cute and fluffy collaboration”. I’d go with the drink though, or the particle 🙂

  10. Frank Norman says:
    September 11, 2009 at 6:56 am

    Re. delighted, my favourite understated equivalent is delirious with glee. Seen once in a Saudi newspaper, along with awash with joy.

  11. Mike Fowler says:
    September 11, 2009 at 10:22 am

    Isn’t collaboratinos the collective term for the the decendents of the collaboratinadors who forcibly overtook science in the Americas during the hunt for a passage to Indium, centuries ago?

  12. Bora Zivkovic says:
    September 11, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    My first thought was that this was pasta – a special new kind that helps you get eaten instead of running away from your fork all around the plate!

  13. Cath Ennis says:
    September 11, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    Bob, I imagine it would be like an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.
    Anna, I now have the urge to insert the words “cute and fluffy collaboration” into the body of the grant. I do the final proofread and upload, so the PI would never know (JOKE!!!! just in case she reads this ;))
    Frank, in what context?! I love “awash with joy”.
    Mike, I think they got lost somewhere along the way…
    Bora, collaborative pasta?! Nice… reminds me of the cow in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe that had been raised to want to be eaten.

  14. Richard Wintle says:
    September 11, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    Mike – a passage to Indium – absolutely brilliant, well done. 🙂
    I also thought that a collaboratino was a small Italian collaborator. But I just finished writing a Letter of Collaboration for a gentleman whose first name is, I kid you not, Tino. If only I’d read this blog post first.

  15. Cath Ennis says:
    September 11, 2009 at 3:04 pm

    splort!
    Is he Italian? Small?

  16. Richard Wintle says:
    September 11, 2009 at 3:07 pm

    His name sounds Italian but he doesn’t. He is medium sized. 😉

  17. Cath Ennis says:
    September 11, 2009 at 6:19 pm

    “Medium-sized Italian-named collaborator” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as “small Italian collaborator” though.

  18. Brian Derby says:
    September 11, 2009 at 9:39 pm

    The trouble with collaboratinos is they are only influenced by weak interactions. I suggest you need to study quantum collabarodynamics in full detail to ensure that only strong interactions occur.

  19. Cath Ennis says:
    September 11, 2009 at 10:37 pm

    I’m not sure that I want strong interactions with all these people I’ve never met…

  20. Frank Norman says:
    September 12, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    Cath – those florid expressions go back to 1988. The Saudi government announced they would impose an income tax on expats. The expats started resigning in droves and four days later the King announced he had decided not to impose it. The local English-language papers, rather than writing about an embarrassing U-turn, had stories about how the expats appreciated the great generosity of the King and were all rejoicing – “delirious”, “awash” etc.

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