Wednesday 4 May 2016

Words, words, words

It is a long time since I did a posting about words so here is a scheduled one of words I have recently come across or of new meanings I have found for words I already knew…



Consecotaleohobia  (n)
Fear of using chopsticks..

Smutched  (adj)
A synonym for smudged; with a dirty mark or marks.
“…her hair tied back against the wind and her face smutched with dirt, as she dug in French bean plants.” Rachel Joyce “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry”

Fluffhead  (n)
Dandelion seedhead; Dandelion clock.

Pintle  (n.)
Pintle is a vulgar or dialect name for the penis.  It is also a pin or bolt on which a rudder or hinge turns.  (I’m not sure what it says about me that I knew the first of these meanings a long time ago but only just learned the second one.)

Alphonsin  (n.)
A surgical appliance designed to remove bullets.

Taghairm  (n. Scots)
Inspiration sought by lying in a bullock’s hide behind a waterfall.  Sir Walter Scott “The Lady of the Lake”.


Blue  (n.)
The word blue has many meanings and interpretations but one I only came across recently was a nickname for a red-headed person.

Exultation  (n)
A feeling of triumphant elation or jubilation.
“Overall, the library held a hushed exultation, as though the cherished volumes were all singing soundlessly within their covers.”  Diana Gabaldon, “Outlander”.

Delope  (v.)
In a duel, to allow the opponent to fire first and then fire your pistol wide.

Niddick  (n)
The nape of the neck.

Stravaig  (v. Scots)
To wander aimlessly.
“I’d rather not be stravaiging about the countryside with three bairns, two pregnant women, and nay money.” Diana Gabaldon, “Written in my Own Heart’s Blood”

Borborygmus  (n)
A noisy grumbling or growling in the bowels.
“Denny’s stomach echoed mine, rumbling with a series of great borborygmi.”  Diana Gabaldon. “An Echo in the Bone”

Acnestis  (n.)
The point on a mammal’s back where it cannot reach to scratch itself.

Flink  (n.)
A collective noun for a group of 12 or more cows.

Young Echidna
Puggle  (n)

The Echidna is a small Australian marsupial. 
  Its baby, prior to growing any spines, is called a Puggle.

Puggle

5 comments:

  1. John, I have always enjoyed the word BORBORYGMI. As a Clinical Teacher some years ago at Clatterbridge, I used to give my students a new word each day to guess the meaning of. This was always a favourite and often had them stumped.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great words, and the Scots certainly have a way of putting things, don't they!

    ReplyDelete
  3. "Puggle" My new most favourite word.
    Lovely to see you back in print.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well I knew not a single one of those. Interestingly one thing I definitely do not have is consecotaleohobia: in fact it's one of the few things I can do equally well with both hands (or either hand).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy to see a "Words" post from you after such a long time - you know how I like these!
    Some (but not all) new words here for me, thank you!
    Had I come across the word "smutched" in a book, I simply would have thought it's a typesetting error.

    ReplyDelete

Hello - thanks for dropping by to leave a comment. Your comments are much appreciated even if I don't always reply. They will appear as soon as they have been moderated.

Blog Archive