eloquent... exotic... esoteric... (please provide definitions)

[Ursa major]

(If such a potion only increased the likelihood of love in a person - or people thought that their chances of falling in love were increased - could that person be called philtre-tipped? )




meretricious** - a. (of ornament, literary style, etc.) showily but falsely attractive;

redact - v. put into literary form, arrange for publication, edit;

cribriform - a. (anatomical and botanical) having numerous small holes.




** - originally: a. Of or befitting a prostitute

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

And to suit, you have added several more which now (IMHO) require their own separate definitions; namely: bauble, bunkum, gimcrack, and geegaw.

Since you ask, I gladly oblige:

bauble a cheap piece of ornament, a trinket; also a jester's staff*

bunkum insincere talk or speechmaking; claptrap; humbug

grimcrack (n.) a cheap and showy but useless trifle; (adj.) gaudy

geegaw a decorative trinket


On another note:

mewl to cry like a baby or a young child; whimper

pule to cry in a thin voice; whine




*Purchasing my ticket in the "who's more archaic?" sweepstakes.

 

[Xelebes]

Machschnell - adj. to move at a speed nearing or exceding the speed of sound.

I drove down the highway machschnell, waking up every single highway cop along the way.

The tip of a whip, as it snaps, is moving machschnell to produce the sound.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

Interesting one, thanks Xelebes!

 

[HareBrain]

Machschnell - adj. to move at a speed nearing or exceding the speed of sound.

I drove down the highway machschnell, waking up every single highway cop along the way.

The tip of a whip, as it snaps, is moving machschnell to produce the sound.

Can you give a source for this? It just seems to be the German for "make haste", but where the "mach" has been interpreted as meaning the speed of sound, as in Mach1, Mach2 etc. I can't find anywhere, using Google, where it means what you say it does.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

It just seems to be the German for "make haste"

Yes, that's what I thought, too -- although my brief and unsatisfactory attempt at mastering the German language was a long time ago.



prognosticate prophesy, foresee, foretell

presage n. a presentiment or foreboding, something that portends or foreshadows; a token, sign, or portent v. to make a prediction, to have a presentiment

fellmonger a dealer in hides or skins of animals

 

[The Judge]

fellmonger a dealer in hides or skins of animals

That's interesting, Teresa. I knew 'fell' for an animal hide from Hopkins' poem ('I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day') but I'd never come across 'fellmonger'. I was going to ask if it was a US word, but having googled it (it wasn't in my dictionary) I see it described in one site at least as 'chiefly British' though there it is defined as a preparer of skins or hides, the word itself originating c1520.

The reason I say interesting is that one of my ancestors was in this business in the late 18th century and in none of the document I've seen is this word used. In the Apprentice Books he is described as being 'put' to 'Jno Cooke Whitawr' and that is the description of his occupation when he becomes a Burgess - a whittawer (spelling may vary I think) being a person who worked in leather. In his Will he is described as a 'skinner and leather dresser' and in an insurance certificate as an 'oil leather dresser' (and a glue maker). I wonder when 'fellmonger' dropped out of use and why. Or whether by then it had changed meaning and so he perhaps bought his skins from the fellmonger, though he was not himself one.

J

 

[Granfalloon]

That slovenly (Adj. Unclean or untidy; negligent or slipshod) rapscallion (Noun: A rascal; a scamp) hornswoggled* (Verb: To bamboozle; deceive.) me out of my wallet, and absquatulated (Verb: To depart in a hurry; abscond.) before my observation of it's dissappearance.


* (Free online dictionary) We do not know the origin of hornswoggle. We do know that it belongs to a group of "fancified" words that were particularly popular in the American West in the 19th century. Hornswoggle is one of the earliest, first appearing around 1829. It is possible that these words were invented to poke fun at the more "sophisticated" East. Some other words of this ilk are absquatulate, also first appearing in the 1820s, skedaddle, first attested in 1861 in Missouri, and discombobulate, first recorded in 1916.

 

[Ursa major]

That's interesting, Teresa. I knew 'fell' for an animal hide from Hopkins' poem ('I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day') but I'd never come across 'fellmonger'. I was going to ask if it was a US word, but having googled it (it wasn't in my dictionary) I see it described in one site at least as 'chiefly British' though there it is defined as a preparer of skins or hides, the word itself originating c1520.

The reason I say interesting is that one of my ancestors was in this business in the late 18th century and in none of the document I've seen is this word used. In the Apprentice Books he is described as being 'put' to 'Jno Cooke Whitawr' and that is the description of his occupation when he becomes a Burgess - a whittawer (spelling may vary I think) being a person who worked in leather. In his Will he is described as a 'skinner and leather dresser' and in an insurance certificate as an 'oil leather dresser' (and a glue maker). I wonder when 'fellmonger' dropped out of use and why. Or whether by then it had changed meaning and so he perhaps bought his skins from the fellmonger, though he was not himself one.

J

My OED says thet Fellmonger is "a dealer in slins or hides of animals, esp. sheep-skins., and in my edition it records the first written usage as being in 1530.

I think the clue is in the word, monger: a dealer, a trader.

As far as I can tell - I can't find the word in my OED - a whittawer works with leather (making saddles? gloves?) I think Shakespeare's father was a whittawer, so you're in good company, TJ.

And while I was looking, I found these words:

Wittol n. an acquiescent cuckhold;

Wittee n. (nonce word) A wife whose adultery was forced on her by her husband.


And to complete the link:

nonce word - coined for one occasion.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

As I've always understood it (OK, not always, just ever since I read a few biographies of Shakespeare, whose father was in the trade), whittawer is a craftsman who works in white leather -- hence, I suppose, the "whit" -- such as a glovemaker.

shagreen untanned leather with a granular surface, made of shark, seal, etc.

galloon a braid or trim of worsted, silk, gold, silver, etc.

ormolu a gilded metal such as brass or bronze, or a gold-colored copper alloy; generally used as ornamentation on furniture, clocks, etc.

buhl an elaborate inlaid work of woods, tortoise shell, ivory, metal, etc.

(Back when I was writing TQN, I was obsessed with materials and embellishments used in the 17th and 18th century.)

 

[Xelebes]

Can you give a source for this? It just seems to be the German for "make haste", but where the "mach" has been interpreted as meaning the speed of sound, as in Mach1, Mach2 etc. I can't find anywhere, using Google, where it means what you say it does.

In the instances I've seen it being employed in the English language, I've seen it used as "I can drive on the highway machschnell."

I may have it wrong with the whip example. *Shrug* I'm just going by context of where I have seen it. So it could just mean "make haste" or "make fast". Didn't use a dictionary because I don't think it is in an English dictionary (yet).

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I'm just going by context of where I have seen it. So it could just mean "make haste" or "make fast". Didn't use a dictionary because I don't think it is in an English dictionary (yet).

It's very easy to make mistakes when you've only seen a word used in one context. It can even happen if you've seen it in many. Which is why it's always a good idea (for any of us) to check a dictionary before using an unusual word -- and not make assumptions.

There are several online dictionaries that give English translations, by the way.

 

[Pyan]

Catalepsy - a trancelike state in which the body is rigid.

Orgulous - excessively proud; haughty; arrogant

Blatteroon - A senseless babbler or boaster.

Chronophobia - The fear of time..(not the fear of missing a day here!...)

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

"Orgulous" is a splendid word, thanks for bringing it to mind, pyan. And I've never seen "blatteroon" before.

salubrious favorable to health, wholesome

couth showing distinction or sophistication, smooth

 

[Xelebes]

It's very easy to make mistakes when you've only seen a word used in one context. It can even happen if you've seen it in many. Which is why it's always a good idea (for any of us) to check a dictionary before using an unusual word -- and not make assumptions.

There are several online dictionaries that give English translations, by the way.

I know there would be resources available for me to get the proper translation, but the way I've seen it used made it seem that the translation would have been useless. An error on my part.

 

[Xelebes]

couth showing distinction or sophistication, smooth

Always been fond of the antonym of the word, uncouth.

 

[The Judge]

Blatteroon - A senseless babbler or boaster.

Chronophobia - The fear of time..(not the fear of missing a day here!...)

I love that blatteroon! If only I could think of a way of dragging it into my writing...

I'm intrigued by the thought of the fear of time, though. What would the person be afraid of? The passing of each second? The thought of the future?

Xelebes, I quite understand how you made the mistake - the word feels as if that's what it should mean. I have the same difficulty with maven - which I think from memory has already been defined here (if not - it means an expert or connoisseur) but which I am convinced ought to mean something unpleasant, perhaps even a synonym for witch, particularly when in the phrase 'fashion mavens' - it conjures up images of stick-thin women in designer clothes being bitchy about each other. I may be sub-consciously associating it with raven which as a verb means to hunt or eat voraciously, especially of a predator in connection with prey, and from which we get the adjectives, which are more common nowadays than the verb, ravening (extremely hungry and hunting for prey) and ravenous (extremely hungry or voracious).

And while I'm thinking of words beginning with 'r':

rapprochement - the establishment of good relations especially between states or warring parties

rapine - the violent and illegal seizure of goods/property; as opposed to distraint, the lawful seizure of goods to recover payment of money owed. Rapine is virtually synonymous with ravin, which can also be the plunder itself, which has come from the same root as raven.

J

 

[Ursa major]

I'm intrigued by the thought of the fear of time, though. What would the person be afraid of? The passing of each second? The thought of the future?

They are not called deadlines for nothing....

 

[Pyan]

Paronomasiaphobia...

 

[Ursa major]

Now you'll be unsurprised to discover that I find that phobia impossible to understand, Py.