True about Tallis, MM - and I think William Byrd died of natural causes despite changing from Protestantism to Catholicism.

Edited.

Byrd's contemporary, John Bull, did claim his reason for fleeing to Antwerp was "information had been laid against him that he was a Catholic", but it is far from clear that that was the case.

Gilgamesh, I'll take it that WB's religious persuasions were uncertain then.

I can't remember the exact context but I heard the word 'bloviation' on a podcast recently which I presume is the noun from the word (verb) to bloviate that Temperance mentioned upthread.  I doubt I'd have noticed the word if I hadn't read about its connected verb on this thread.

Sorry I don't have a new (to me) or overused word to add to the thread though if that occurs before the end of today I will come back to post one.

SKUNKWORKS

Downing Street today posted a civil service job advertisement for a £135,000-a-year data expert to head a new analytical unit. The job description says:
"The analytical unit, known as 10 ‘data science’ or ‘10ds’ is a pseudo startup within No 10 designed to drive forward the quantitative revolution. The current plan is to establish a data engineering team, data science team, a skunkworks and an analytical deep dive unit."

I'd never encountered the term before but apparently a skunkworks refers to a project developed by a relatively small, loosely structured group, often working in secret and generally often unencumbered by bureaucracy, who research and develop something primarily for the sake of radical innovation alone. The term originated with Lockheed's World War II 'Skunk Works', which was the official pseudonym for Lockheed's 'Advanced Development Projects' unit for aircraft design and which still operates today at Palmdale, California.  

According to Lockheed Martin the origin of the name supposedly comes from the satirical comic strip, "Li'l Abner", which was popular in the 1940s and 1950s. The cartoon repeatedly referred to the "Skonk Works" which was a dilapidated factory located on the remote outskirts of the fictional town of Dogpatch, in the backwoods of Kentucky. According to the strip, scores of locals were done in yearly by the toxic fumes of "skonk oil", which the factory brewed for some mysterious and unspecified purpose, from ground-up dead skunks and worn shoes.

That's got Cummings' fingerprints all over it.

My immediate thought on reading MM's post above was Skunkworks for Westminster - surely a nice alternative metonym for Her Majesty's Government these days; and Dogpatch for poor old England.

But I suppose I've been looking at too much ColdWar Steve stuff.


From two days ago:




Sorry if this is wrong thread to post a CWS image - but not sure anyone cares anymore. Was responding to a word - two words actually -  after all - that's my excuse!

PS Putin in the pic is interesting - remember what you and I wondered a bit ago about Cummings and Russia, MM? Is that the Order of Lenin I see pinned to Cummings' hoodie?

Temperance wrote:

That's got Cummings' fingerprints all over it.

Oh yes, hasn't it just!

And, especially given yesterday's news about the Cabinet Office suddenly awarding an £840,000 contract to research public opinion about government policies to a company owned by two long-term associates of Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings, but without putting the work out for tender ...  I wouldn't be at all surprised if the skunkworks job eventually went to Cumming's wife, his cousin, a close friend of the family, a business associate, a friend he knew from Russia, the son of a mate, or a long-standing donor of funds to the Conservative Party. Frankly it all stinks!

Unfortunately, failing something major like a vote of no confidence, the current government will be in post till December 2024 if I've done the maths correctly.  Did I mention before I decided to be tactful when a friend from London rang to check if I was okay and mentioned being really pleased that Bo-Jo had won a large majority.  I was nearly in tears the day after the election but I decided to keep a rein on my tongue and be non-commital.

Bit of an insult to skunks to compare them to the government though.  Temperance said:- "My immediate thought on reading MM's post above was Skunkworks for Westminster - surely a nice alternative metonym for Her Majesty's Government these days; and Dogpatch for poor old England ".

MOUNTWEAZEL

Today I was reading a reveiw of the novel 'The Liar's Dictionary' by Eley Williams, in which the word mountweazel cropped up, a word I'd never encountered before. A mountweazel is, so have have now discovered, a deliberately fake or incorrect entry in a reference work, such as a dictionary, encyclopedia, or directory, put there either as a humorous hoax or as a copyright trap to reveal subsequent plagiarism or copyright infringement. The word was apparently coined by Henry Alford, a writer for 'The New Yorker' weekly magazine, in an article that mentioned a fictitious biographical entry placed as a copyright trap in the 1975 'New Columbia Encyclopedia'. This involved the entirely ficticious biography of one Lillian Virginia Mountweazel, a fountain designer turned photographer, who supposedly died in an explosion while on assignment for 'Combustibles' magazine. Allegedly she was widely known for her photo-essays of unusual subject matter, including New York City buses, the cemeteries of Paris, and rural American mailboxes. The lady's surname was thus coined by Henry Alford to mean all such trivial pieces of fake information put into reference works to trap competitors for plagiarism, or simply to give light-hearted amusement to the work's readers.

Other example include:
'The New Oxford American Dictionary' which in In August 2005, gained media coverage when it was leaked that the second edition contained at least one fictional entry intended as a copyright trap, as the text of the book was distributed electronically and thus very easy to copy. This ficticious entry was later determined to be the word "esquivalience", defined as "the wilful avoidance of one's official responsibilities", which had been added to the edition published in 2001.

David Pogue, author of several books offering tips and tricks for computer users, deliberately placed a bogus tip in one of his books as a way of catching competing writers who were re-publishing information from his works without permission. The fake tip, which purported to make a rabbit appear on the computer screen when certain keys were pressed, did indeed appear in other books shortly after Pogue published it.

Fred L. Worth, author of 'The Trivia Encyclopedia', filed a $300 million lawsuit against the distributors of the Trivial Pursuit board game. He claimed that more than a quarter of the questions in the game's Genus Edition had been taken from his books, including his own fictitious entries that he had added to his book to catch anyone who wanted to violate his copyright. However, the case was thrown out by the district court judge as the Trivial Pursuit inventors argued that facts are not protected by copyright.

However more common are the mountweazels which are simply entries in otherwise serious works, which are intended as humorous, practical jokes or literary puzzles, such as in the serious German-language encyclopedia, 'Der neue Pauly. Enzyklopaedie der Antike', edited by H. Cancik and H. Schneider, vol. 1 (Stuttgart, 1996, ISBN 3-476-01470-3) which includes a fictitious entry with a deadpan description of an entirely fictional Roman sport, apopudobalia, which closely resembles modern association football.

Anyway I think we could do with some mountweazels here, partly because I like the word, but also to deter others from plagiarising the collective wisdom of us reshistorians?

"Mountweasel" is a new word to me also, though I recall a younger work colleague in the 2000s telling me that a fellow student of hers had been expelled (is that the right word in a university setting) from her law degree course for plagiarism.  That student had been caught out because of some software the educational establishment had whose function was to check for plagiarism.  I remember thinking it was perhaps harsh to throw the girl off the course - maybe I would have given her a stern talking to.  Then, I didn't know the exact circumstances. Had the student done something similar on a previous occasion?

MM, I wanted to write something (though not for monetary reward) about seagoing females.  I'd thought - if I did a list of about 5 - of using Artemisia of Halicarnassus and Isabel Barreto on the list but I'd try to use some less well known ones as well.   Everybody and their auntie Martha knows about Grace O'Malley (English version of name) I think so I'd leave them off. Of course it's difficult to research anything at present - under normal circumstances I could go into the reference room at the library in my hometown.

It wasn't a mountweazel but I fell for a jape someone on this website pulled once about the spirals on snails' shells twisting the opposite way on the shells in the Southern Hemisphere to north of the Equator.  Of course I'm not so low as to name the fellow Res Historian but the person might have a badger in theiravatar!

LadyinRetirement wrote:

It wasn't a mountweazel but I fell for a jape someone on this website pulled once about the spirals on snails' shells twisting the opposite way on the shells in the Southern Hemisphere to north of the Equator. 

You fell for a phenakism, in fact, LiR - if one is going to be luculent (if a little over-sesquipedalian) about it.

I don't know if foreign words are accepted in this thread Priscilla?

First word: "salonfähig"

The German word "salonfähig" I thought was also used in English. First I read that it was borrowed from German in English, but after research it comes not in the 76 top loanwords in English from German origin.

https://www.thelocal.de/20181023/word-of-the-day-salonfhig
From the site:
Salonfähig is a compound adjective made up of ‘salon’ and ‘fähig’ (able, capable, competent), and translates roughly as ‘socially acceptable’.
It stems from the 18th Century trend for salons, which began in France as groups of liberal middle and upper class women met to discuss topics including literature and politics.
If something is salonfähig, it is ‘salon-able’. In other words, it is deemed suitable for the salon and therefore socially acceptable.
German women also began to attend salons in the 18th Century, with one of the most well known figures being Henriette Herz who set up literary salons with a group of emancipated Jews in Prussia. She established the tradition of salons amongst the Berlin bourgeoisie.

In fact it is used in Dutch in the same meaning as in English and is accepted as Dutch in the official list of the Dutch language union. As the French we have a list of official accepted words...

Second word: "selbstverständlich" (understandable from itself). I suppose this one will certainly not be used in English?

They translate by: of course, obviously...
We have in Dutch the equivalent: "vanzelfsprekend" (speaking from itself).

PS: old remembrances from the beginning of the BBC board in 2002 and still ashamed about it...
I wrote for "of course": "of cause" and then saw by the writing of "lolbeeble" that he used "of course"

Paul.

Paul,

Re "salonfähig," this was/is used by the better educated classed in Denmark as well.

Could try her - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-50659117 for a modern seafarer of the female persuasion.

Thanks for the link Gilgamesh and nordmann made sure I consulted the dictionary yesterday.

Does anyone recall the TV quiz Call My Bluff where the object of the game was to decide which of three meanings given for an obscure or archaic word was correct?  It was (to me) good fun and I don't always like quiz shows.

CACOETHES


Derived from the Greek kak ( bad) and ethos (character), it can refer to any uncontrollable impulse, but almost always harmful.

Words beginning CAC or KAK often mean something bad, such as Cacophony, a discordant din, or Kakistocracy, government by the worst citizens.

Caca is infantile/slang French for shit, while kaki is the French for the persimmon fruit (Diospyros kaki) which, while not harmful, tastes fairly meh in my opinion, although the dog likes them  ... but then he'll happily eat caca de cheval.

Meles meles wrote:

Caca is infantile/slang French for shit, while kaki is the French for the persimmon fruit (Diospyros kaki) which, while not harmful, tastes fairly meh in my opinion, although the dog likes them  ... but then he'll happily eat caca de cheval.

MM, I know I have already the name overhere of talking about that stuff and this time I...
But only an exception on that promise: in Southern Dutch we say "kaka" (for the more genteel people). Commons as we however say "stront" (shit). The French say "merde" in certain difficult situations or "merde alors", we overhere say just "merde" tout court and the anglicized youngsters now say "shit"...

But with the term "meh" I had more problems. As I had never heard about it...
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/meh
But now I see that it exists also in official Dutch:
https://www.vandale.nl/gratis-woordenboek/engels-nederlands/vertaling/meh#.XxGb8VUzYdU
Even in French it seems to exist as equivalent of "bof"
I found even in French on a dictionary "de la rue" the term "meh", if between a couple the available "instruments" don't work as it has to be, as if for instance the expected stand is not obtained...

Hmm, what would we say in our Southern Dutch for "tastes fairly meh"?
"het smaakt naar niets" (it tastes like nothing)
"het heeft 'n stomme smaak (it has a stupid taste)
And I agree with your taste MM, but the partner likes kakis, so I have to buy it for one of our two...

As I already said I don't envy Comic Monster's translations from English to Spanish or indeed from any language into any language...

Kind regards, Paul.

Well cachu is Welsh for the same substance.

Green George wrote:

Well cachu is Welsh for the same substance.

 
Well Gil, cachu is pronounced the same way as in our East Flemish dialect "cachu" (meaning the French "caoutchou"), just that the emphasis is on the second syllable: cachú instead of cáchu.
And in West Flemish it is "caútchu". With the "ú" as in the French "dur" (c'est dur, mon vieux)
https://www.howtopronounce.com/cachu

I repeat my warning to Comic Monster. One has a lot to make up from the context and the kind of dialect. If you mix cachú with cáchu...in a East Flemish-Welsh translation...

Kind regards, Paul.

I've come across 'meh' as meaning mediocre or insipid as an adjective among young people sometimes.

I can't offer a word which rolls off the tongue as impressively as those mentioned by my fellow Res Historians, but I recently encountered 'Wexit' - it's from Canada and there are some in that country in provinces such as Alberta who want to secede from the rest of Canada.  It is only a part of the population that wants to break away if my understanding is correct.

SNOLLYGOSTER

A shrewd, unprincipled person especially a politician. A ruthless individual without morals.

In the state of Maryland in the mid 19th century, a "snallygaster" was a half reptile, half bird which was said to devour chickens and naughty children.
In German, "schneller Geister" means "quick spirit" and it is believed snollygoster derives from this.

I love that word, Trike!

THROTTLEBOTTOM

Another excellent word for a politician - at least I think it is a good one. A throttlebottom is not so much a shrewd operator as an incompetent one, but incompetent in a harmless, bumbling sort of way. The day of the lovable throttlebottom is long gone, and we now surely find ourselves living in the heyday of his more sinister counterpart, the snollygoster. Certainly here in the UK snollygosters rule supreme. Throttlebottom is a newish word, dating back to the 1930s. The original was a character in some musical or other.

Oddly enough, I had heard of 'snollygoster' before and remember thinking we had a few in Parliament (this was back in about 2012).  I came across it in a TED talk (TED talks having been recommended as a suitable practice vehicle for shorthand - I used to practise more attentively back then and am trying to get into the habit of practising regularly again.  I was never fast like court reporters were though).  Here is the video about the word but I don't think it goes into the etymology of the word like Trike does.  

Temperance, throttlebottom is indeed a splendid word for its purpose.

The word "kave" for "chimney"


As a Flemish one from the former county of Flanders, we have quite other words than our neighbours in Brabant.

Take now the word "kave", although we speak a kind of Dutch with each other, my Brabant friend with whom I regularly have to discuss technical problems, I said once without thinking: and you have to  look for the "kave". In fact they seem to use in Brabant the nowadays Dutch "schoorsteen" and perhaps "schouw" too. (German: Schornstein, Kamin)

http://www.etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/kaaf
Early Dutch: 1392 : "kaaf" from Latin "cavus" "cava"(cavity)

In English it is "chimney"
https://etymologeek.com/eng/chimney
κάμινοςgrccaminuslatκάμῑνοςgrccaminātaLLcaminataLLchemineefrochimney
From the French "cheminée" and the Greek "kamino" hence the German:"Kamin"
"le chemin des fumées?" camino: chemin...

http://etymologiebank.ivdnt.org/trefwoord/schoorsteen
Schoorsteen (Schornstein) (chimney) comes from the stone to support (schoren) the chimney

And yes: in French the word "cave"is then a "cellar" 
"cellar" (Dutch kelder; German "Keller"), (cellar, kelder, Keller) from Latin "cellarium"

And the French "cave" also from the Latin "cavus" "cava" (cavity)
https://www.lalanguefrancaise.com/dictionnaire/definition-cave/
(Adjectif, nom 1) Du latin cavus (« creux »)[1], cava (« cavité »).

Paul.

Paul, you are making a linguist study of rather ordinary words in this thread. Chimney is not of the sort that is of particular note - not in a decent context, anyway, I venture to suppose. Start a linguistic thread to explore the evolution of assorted languages but please keep this one for  new,  over worked or interesting words; chimney, if you will forgive me, is not one of those. Chimney fire is  mildly interesting in this house as it brought out a rush of noisy neighbours and verbose local firemen when I managed one and is also a place where daft birds explore.I doubt at my age I shall never need t know what it is in Flemish, either. I have got by so far without knowing, too. oh dear that all sounds bitchy..... now that is an interesting word.......

This has been a Temperance rant, albeit a controlled one. I have not had anything to drink except tea.


THEIST/THEISM

In addition to being a believer in a divine being/beings, a Theist also describes a person addicted to Tea.

Theism is a medical condition caused by an over consumption of said beverage.


Wiktionary:

Etymology

Borrowing from New Latin thea (“tea”, noun) + English -ism

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtiɪzəm/
  

I would have you know, sir, that, like Dr Johnson, I am proud to call myself a "hardened and shameless tea-drinker". The good doctor noted:

“Tea's proper use is to amuse the idle, and relax the studious, and dilute the full meals of those who cannot use exercise, and will not use abstinence."

Tea, like the judicious use of religion, is not injurious: it is a habit beneficial both to the individual and to the nation. I shall now have my second cup of the morning...


Official Blog of the English Tea Store


The document from which that somewhat famous quote is taken is a review Johnson wrote for The Literary Magazine in 1757. The work under consideration was "A Journal of Eight Days Journey from Portsmouth to Kingston upon Thames, With Miscellaneous Thoughts, Moral and Religious, in a Series of Letters". It was a travelogue, of sorts, that had been published the previous year by one Jonas Hanway.

Also contained in this tome was what Hanway called “an essay on tea.” It should be noted that said author was not exactly a keen admirer of tea   , which was not exactly an unusual position to take in this particular day and age. Johnson, the “hardened and shameless tea-drinker,” not surprisingly, took exception to Hanway’s assertion that “the consumption of tea is injurious to the interest of our country”.

All in all, the esteemed Mr. Johnson spent more than four thousand words examining and attempting to refute Hanway’s claims for the “injurious” nature of tea, while pretty much ignoring the rest of the book.

But let us not divert the thread, lest we bring down the wrath of the management upon our heads...

I thought at first "Is this Trike having a joke, but no, there 'theism' is in Wiktionary (meaning 2 for anyone bothering to click on the link)  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/theism  I've heard a couple of podcasts where people were said to 'bloviate' or words from 'bloviate' such as 'bloviation' or 'bloviating'. I knew what they meant because I'd seen the word here first.

Your humour is appreciated, Trike.

It can be assumed that Trike's posts are to the point and not misleading jests. I assume, Trike that there are similar words for other beverage-indulgent types? Or come to that, food. Lotus eaters come to mind - must look that up now as chewing on  a water lily has no appeal

A large feast can be described as a

Spreadation (19th century)

Waffle-frolic (18th century American)

Belly cheer (16th century England)

or

Tarnisher (Scots/Irish)

if it is greedily wolfed down, then that is a Gut Gullie (Scots)

while the last person to finish the meal is a Linnard (SW England 18th century)

Once the repast is concluded there may well be a feeling of sleepiness, Abbiocco (Italian) or the extra poundage may result in the French expression une saignee d'Allemand, "German bleeding", the act of loosening one's clothing to accommodate a full stomach.

Algorithms   Cropping up all over the place -and  often in connection with explaining a perceived muddle -( Uk Style muddle is all I know..... unsure of others' muddles.) The  definition of it  states that  Algorithms are always unambiguous.   That's me lost in understanding then.  However, it also confirms that I am a true born British citizen with total muddle through anything with algorithmic rights. So.

Gongoozlers

With VF spending some of his time onboard a narrow boat, "Gongoozlers" are people who like to spend time sitting on the banks of a canal and watch the passing vessels.

A similar expression is Bang-a-bonking, an old Gloucestershire phrase for sitting idly on a river bank.

BUNKUM

Meaning nonsense.
Derived from North Carolina delegate, Felix Walker, who started a long winded speech just prior to the vote on Missouri being a free or slave-holding state. Walker claimed to be speaking to and for the electorate of Buncombe County NC. He was shouted down.

POPPYCOCK

Meaning the same as "bunkum", and even more innocent a term ....

.... but don't be fooled.

The word seems to have entered English from Dutch settlers in the USA in the 19th century, but enjoyed a much longer history as "pappekak" in its original dialect back in the Netherlands. Its phonetic similarity to the humble and non-offensive "pepper cake" is probably why it snuck under the radar into the vernacular so that even prim matrons of upstanding morals were attracted to its use as a mild admonition of foolish talk.

Had they known it originated as a combination of "pap" (soft food) and "kak" (shit) - indicating a person who is so dumb they eat excrement thinking it an easily digestible morsel - they might have had second thoughts before adding it their vocabulary.

BARBECUE

Originating from the Spanish, barbacoa, itself derived from Taino,original inhabitants of the Caribbean, a barbecue meant a wooden frame used for curing meat over an open flame.

This type of cooking framework was also called a BOUCAN by French settlers in the Caribbean, from which hunters were described as boucaniers, subsequently Buccaneers.

Thanks for the explanation of the word Barbecue.
As I saw the name Weinstein in the generic of the Buccaneers I thought perhaps the nowadays well known Weinstein the son of...
But no there are many Weinsteins in the US...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weinstein
And it was Hannah's name of her husband, which was Weinstein.

And Hannah a figure head of the struggle with McCarthy the witch hunt on the so called Communists...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Weinstein
And yes what a woman...

I wonder if she could exist in the nowadays Trump climate and its crusade against the so called far-left and the troubles from that band of nearly terrorists...and perhaps he will still win with that rethoric among most Americans, not only the rednecks...

Kind regards, Paul.

Whilst looking up the word 'Ramble' I came across 'maunder' which I have not seen for an age but intend coining mentally at least. In fact there are many synonyms for ramble in that context - one was  'mag' that was new to me.

TARTLE

An old Scots word for that moment when you fail to recognise someone / remember their name.

MUBBLE FUBBLES

A felling of melancholy or depression, similar to that experienced on a Sunday night with the prospect of going to work the next day.

MULLIGRUBS another word to describe sulkiness or depression. May result in having a HUMDUDGEON, an imaginary illness.

Ah good stuff, Trike - ice breaking for one thing. is there a word for the Guasimodo effect.....  as in 'Getting the Hump.' Perhaps we need a thread of phrases. There are many quaint ones still in use. I do not know where that one came from but my mother often had it.

Priscilla wrote:

Ah good stuff, Trike - ice breaking for one thing.

Breaking the Ice, I had assumed was derived from the classic age of Polar Exploration in the mid to late 1800s, however the expression appears in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew;Act1 Scene2

TRANIO (to PETRUCIO)

(as LUCENTIO) If it be so, sir, that you are the man

Must stead us all, and me amongst the rest,

And if you break the ice and do this feat.

The expression is also used by Samuel Butler in his poem Hudibras, 1678:
"The Oratour - At last broke silence, and the Ice."

Get(ting) the Hump

Seems a reasonable explanation:
GET (ONE'S) HUMP UP - "to become touchy or combative. 1860 Hotten 'Slang Dict.' (ed. 2): 'To have one's hump up,' to become cross or ill-tempered - like a cat with its back set up.

Triceratops wrote:

Breaking the Ice

My understanding is that it referred to the first riser in a household during the Little Ice Age (c.1400 to 1800). On cold winter mornings, water jugs and washing bowls were likely to have a film of ice form over the water in them and whoever rose first would be tasked with breaking the ice and thus symbolically starting the day for the whole household. Another interpretation sees a similar film of ice sealing the door or window frames of a house caused by condensation from the nightly exhalations of the sleepers inside. The force needed to open a door or window by the first person to leave the building would again symbolise a deed performed for all.

That sounds quite good.
..............................................................................
Found this:
Break the Ice

Trikes's Link wrote:

The earliest known use of "to break the ice" is from A treatis contayninge the lyfe and maner of death of that most holy prelat and constant martyr of Christ John Fysher Byshop of Rochester and Cardinall of the holy Church of Rome composed from 1567 to 1577; this extract is about the opposition of John Fisher (1469-1535) to the divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon:


There are verie fewe that can saye they have cleane escaped without feeling some part of the smart, so this reverend father tasted plentifully thereof, whom it chanced in the verie beginninge to be one of the first that brake the yse, and to open and shewe the inconvenient that followed therby: no doubt to his immortall fame and glorie, and no lesse to the reproach and ignominie of all such as were his persecutors, as by the sequell of this historie shall well appeare. I meane here of the divorce betweene kinge Henrie and queen Katherin his wife.

Gosh, that's all so interesting, Trike. I now have a mental image of the redoubtable Bishop Fisher metaphorically aiming an ice pick at Henry's head!

MOONSHOT

The most obvious explanation for this is a term for launching a spacecraft to the Moon. However, the term also appears in baseball in reference to LA Dodgers hitter, Wally Moon, who hit home runs by hammering the ball at a high angle over the boundary fence.
Used more commonly today to describe an ambitious idea or plan.

The related phrase, SHOOT THE MOON predates space exploration and professional baseball by quite away:
To shoot the moon originally meant "depart by night with ones goods to escape back rent" (1829).

O, 'tis cash makes such crowds to the gin shops roam,
And 'tis cash often causes a rumpus at home;
'Tis when short of cash people oft shoot the moon;
And 'tis cash always keeps our pipes in tune.
Cash! cash! &c.

["The Melodist and Mirthful Olio, An Elegant Collection of the Most Popular Songs," vol. IV, London, 1829]

I first heard the phrase 'Shoot The Moon,' used by a 12 yr old Amercian girl - and card sharp - who taught us to play a game called Sevens.  This was in the freezing cold August nights high in the foothills of the Himalayas before a roaring wood fire - one head load of forest wood a day permitted. (Find a local with a big strong head to get this sorted.)

The words implied that she was about to chance her luck... it also suggested we would lose a packet of counters. She went on the be an armed front line nurse in the Gulf War and later a  district nurse in Alaska with a 1000 square mile territory to tend. I ramble but sometimes old memory stirs when thus prompted.

I must admit to never having heard of that game, Priscilla:

Sevens

"Shoot the moon" means winning a clean sweep in Hearts. ( All the Hearts plus the Queen of Spades)

Old memory betrayed me.... it probably was Hearts where she used the expression.... Sevens was another cut throat game this lass played... dealing fast with one hand. I wish I had gone to a Mission School.

BUNDOOK

A word you may have come across P, Bundook slang term used by the British Army for a rifle. Often used by troops on the North West Frontier.

I have never heard that, Trike - apart from a similar sounding word that my mother used to describe a rough quarter from which ignorant types emerged. And she had little knowledge of the subcontinent save for army picked up words that had crept into English. And whenever i saw gun toting characters in such regions, my first thought would be to wonder what the intent to use it was and not what it may have been called in any language. Not that every male in the north where i went toted a gun. I did see one  chasing another along a deserted road with a  large axe but did not stop to ask what  was going on nor what either called  the weapon. How deplorable for someone interested in History but there it is. Pragamtic selection of the facts to explore is my lot.