In the book I'm reading I came across the word gallimaufry today. A word I've not heard before and had to use the dictionary to discover the meaning.

What other (now) obscure words have you come across that have sent you scrambling for a dictionary?

PS. Gallimaufry is a confused jumble or a hodgepodge. From Old French galimafree meaning sauce or ragout. Early recordings of the word are a gallimaufry of nuts in 1591 and a gallimaufry of prophecies in 1668.



I quite like it!

I wonder if gallimaufry is more common in Scotland, I can't recall when I first encountered the word but I've come across it not just in a written context but as the name of more than one shop and as the title of anthologies and other collections. It may of course be the French culinary connection given we use words like gigot and ashet that are taken from French.

Quiddity - I came upon this word, through the word 'quiddony' whilst reading an old 17th century cookbook:

Quiddony - in cookery - is a preserve, literally preserving the essence, 'the quiddity' - OED, of something, typically fruit, strong flavoured herbs or spices etc. This cookery usage is a bit like 'essential' as used in essential oils... ie that which captures the essence of the plant (its smell/taste etc) ...which of course has absolutely nothing to do with it being 'essential/necessary' for health etc.

But going back to the root word, quiddity ... I like it in its more general sense, meaning the essence of something. OED gives several examples of its use, such as the quiddity, ie the nub, of an argument etc...

I like the word, quiddity, it rolls nicely off the tongue, and I will endeavour to use it more often.



EDIT : I wonder if the word, quiddity, is related to 'quintessence' , ie the essential meaning of something? I'm guessing a latin connection... so that question is probably for someone more learned in the classics than I am.

Quiddity is derived from "quidditas", a late Latin term meaning "whatness", as in "essence of". Quintessence, though also from Latin "quint essentia" has a more colourful origin. The Romans believed that everything was made from four elements, or "essences" - fire, water, air and earth. However the heavenly bodies, they reckoned, were made from a fifth essence, the "quint essentia", which though indefinable to them was surely the purest element of all.

Bloviate is a verb I've only recently come across. It means "to orate verbosely and windily".

A person who does this is a bloviator.

An Irish commentator during the Olympics one year was ridiculed for having several times used the word "saltate" when describing different high jumpers' efforts. Of course he was quite correct to do so - the word is derived simply and directly from the Latin "saltare" (to dance) which itself had been devolved from the root "salire" (to leap). In English therefore to leap in a style which combines height with some artistic merit is to saltate.

The same commentator, who is indeed probably over-fond of little used vocabulary, was once anchor man on a Saturday radio sports programme in which several reporters were ringing in with summaries of the football matches just ending. One young reporter explained that the match he saw was basically frustrating to watch, no player seemingly interested in retaining possession of the ball and therefore, as he put it, "everyone was all over the shop". "Ah," interjected our anchor, "so you are saying that it was a peripatetic game then?" "No, not all," replied the cub, "it was actually quite decent!"

But I'm, bloviating now. Hush, man!

Orotund is a delightfully round word, but it should not be confused with rotund, a mistake I made last week.

Orotund, with its succession of lovely vowels, describes *sound*, not shape: it means rich, deep, full, melodious, sonorous. Nicely onomatopoeic.

But it can also be used negatively of a speaking (or writing) style - to indicate pomposity.

Orotund comes from the Latin "ore rotundo" - with round mouth!

I also like caliginous - dark, murky, foggy. The noun is even better: caliginosity.

Several words have sent me to the dictionary, only to have been then surprised at their actual meaning.

Never, for example, be tempted to give in to "jalousie". It will mean that you have ceded victory to a louvred door with the panels slanting upwards and inwards. There is nothing worse than losing to a door hung upside down.

Nor, if you consider yourself "oblate" (a dedicated person) should you then feel justified in "oblatrating" to everyone around you, unless of course it is indeed your intention to snarl, growl or otherwise inveigh against them with angry animal noises.

When cooking confectioneries go easy on the "gelasin". Though if cooking brings a smile to your cheeks then you may already have two. They are the dimples formed there when one retracts the sides of the mouth into a grin.

A mantra amongst the europhobes is that soon "we will be all German". You can assure them that this is already the case, or at least amongst the europhobe and his or her siblings. "German" as an adjective means simply "of the same parents".

To "saccade" may sound like the sacking of a stockade, or even the manufacture of a fizzy drink from wine. However as you read this text your eyes have already saccaded several times. It means for the eye to move jerkily, just like when one reads.

Do not place personal items in a "sphacel" when venturing out of doors. Gangrenous infections are notoriously inefficient containers.

On the other hand there is no need to run to your doctor at the first sign of "dacrygelosis". It simply means the propensity to alternate quickly between laughing and crying, something that affects us all from time to time.

However if you suspect you are suffering from a "diseuse" then maybe a doctor might be required after all. It means a female reciter of poetry and removing a Pam Ayers from your person can indeed be a tricky business.

If in Arabia do not be surprised if you encounter "laurence". Or indeed out on any street on a hot day for that matter. It is the effect by which heat distorts the image of a hot surface and makes it seem to ripple.

"Lippitude" might appear to describe the manners of someone who is both mouthy and rude, though in fact such people may in fact end up suffering from a severe form of the term. It means soreness around the eyes.

"Adipsy" might indeed fall out of a pub. It means "lack of thirst" due to satiation.

When deciding upon some further education one could do worse than settling for the study of "aristology". It means the science or study of dining well. But for heaven's sake don't announce at the table that you're bloody "avenous". No one wants to share a meal with someone lacking veins.

A hard post to follow, but may I add crapulous to our list?

Crapulous (also crapulent) means given to, or characterized by, gross excess in eating or drinking.

Crapulence (sounds awful) is sickness caused by such unwise intemperance.

In a similar vein - "farding" in public is still frowned upon by some. However in the privacy of the ladies' facilities it is still quite a popular activity. To "fard" is to apply make-up to one's face.

And we all know what the end result of Crapulence is. I've never looked the word crap up, always assumed it was slang, but is it derived from crapulous, do you think Temp?

That's an impressive list there Nordmann.

"Crap" comes from Latin "crapinum" which in later Latin became "crappa" and then "crappe" in French. It arrived in England with William the Bastard, as did a lot of other crap at the same time. It meant "chaff" and therefore anything worthless or cast away. Its association with excrement can be attested to 1846 and from this usage it evolved into both an adjective and a verb denoting defacation.

Norwegians have an annoying habit of ... eehhh ... sticking totally ... mmmmm ..... unnecessary meaningless noises into ... eehhhhh ... the middle of their sentences, my own theory being that it is designed to discourage interruption while they think and let them hold the floor in a discussion even when their thoughts have obviously dried up. I was pleased to discover that there is a word for this - "embolalia" - and I have confused and startled many a one now by informing him that his hyperembolalicisms are quite impressive. They leave very chuffed with themselves, though I notice never bother me much afterwards.

There are a few on this link;

http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/unuwords.htm

That's cheating, Trike, but as there are so many excellent words there, we'll let you off!

I like "bombilate".

They must be wrong about 'vesthibitionism', showing off the vest cannot qualify as 'flirtatious'.
Now 'knichibitionism'.........

Trike, it seems, is no "flaneur".

But then life would be boring if we were all "tautoousious".

In a similar vein to crapulous is farctate, the state of being stuffed with food.

These food associated conditions are not the best sounding words.

On the other hand we have gambrinous, being full of beer which has a happier sound to it.

"Temulant", which also means full of booze, sounds however more like that infuriating tippler who hums and haws over whether he should in fact have "one for the road" or not, when everyone knows that he'll have about ten more anyway as he always does.

Speaking of which - a velleity in me has grown to viveuristic proportions so I am off out to honour Good King Gambrinus and do a bit of temulating of my own!

Islanddawn wrote:

In a similar vein to crapulous is farctate, the state of being stuffed with food.

These food associated conditions are not the best sounding words.

On the other hand we have gambrinous, being full of beer which has a happier sound to it.

We went to a pub in Bruges called Cambrinus. We were told it was the name of the god of beer.

John Locke would have told us all (after a good kench) to stop deliciating in perissology. All three words were ones he used and indeed were once common. In fact when it comes to kench one wonders why it ever disappeared?

Kench - (verb) suddenly burst out laughing, laugh so much it causes pain
Deliciate - (verb) Take extreme private delight in something
Perissology - (noun) use of too many words

Deliciate stuck a particular chord with me ...  I think it's a superb word, indeed I kenched on recollection of one occasion I particularly deliciated using it  .... but I'm not saying why!

Seriously though, deliciate and kench are fine words that have not been replaced by any modern equivalents that I can think of, and are still very relevant to modern society, so why did they die out?  In the same way there is no simple English expression for 'taking gleeful pleasure in someone else's misfortune' .... an idea that one can only express succinctly by using the German expression 'schadenfreude' ... a word that I admit I use quite a lot!

So do I, MM. I refer to Christmas as the Schadenfreudefest, but I'm not saying why!

Eructation was a word I didn't know - I read the expression "gassy eructation" somewhere recently - sounds dreadful. It means a belch. Typical example of a latinate word I suppose for a good Old English one!

Maggie Smith (the Dowager Countess) would enunciate eructation beautifully.

Now that, Schadenfreudefest, for a me, a 'culturally christian, yet staunch atheist' seems an absolutely superb word for Christmas. And while it may never have the same connotations for us both, I will deliciate using it. Temp, I think you may have started something there!

Meles meles wrote:

Now that, Schadenfreudefest, for a me, a 'culturally christian, yet staunch atheist' seems an absolutely superb word for Christmas. And while it may never have the same connotations for us both, I will deliciate using it. Temp, I think you may have started something there!

It could well "have the same connotations" for us both, MM. I have just sat through a "Pre-Advent" Christian course and have heard incredibly tactless remarks made about the joy of family at Christmas - made in front of several people who, for various reasons, could well be spending the so-called Festive Season quite alone. I am actually fuming. Besides all the expense and stress it entails for most people, it seems to me Christmas is an awful time for an awful lot of folk whose families are not quite so joyous as the lucky (smug?) speakers I've listened to today. Sorry, this should be on the rant thread.


I might go on a Buddhist retreat just to get away from Christians and Christmas. Grrr. I'm wobbling very badly at the moment, I'm afraid. Must think of a snail comment quick.


Sorry, badly off-topic, Will also try and come up with another weird word.

You are obviously quagswagging considerably, as Ben Jonson would have told you too.

Ah, was that in his 1600 cover version of Quagswagg Your Booty?

Sorry post in wrong place.

Binky wrote:

Islanddawn wrote:

In a similar vein to crapulous is farctate, the state of being stuffed with food.

These food associated conditions are not the best sounding words.

On the other hand we have gambrinous, being full of beer which has a happier  sound to it.

We went to a pub in Bruges called Cambrinus. We were told it was the name of the god of beer.

Binky, don't always trust what someone from Bruges tells to you.

http://www.cambrinus.eu/english.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambrinus 


Kind regards, Paul.

Temperance wrote:

A hard post to follow, but may I add crapulous to our list?

Crapulous (also crapulent) means given to, or characterized by, gross excess in eating or drinking.

Crapulence (sounds awful) is sickness caused by such unwise intemperance.

SST,

I have Always difficulties with foreign languages, where words resemble to equivalents in our language or in our French tainted Flemish dialect...
For instance: "crapuleux" (dialect: crapuleus) has quite another meaning:

Crapuleux


http://en#bab#la/dictionary/french-english/crapule#http://en#bab#la/dictionary/french-english/crapule]Crapule

In German I heard several times the word "Trauerfeier"

http://en#bab#la/dictionary/german-english/trauerfeier#http://en#bab#la/dictionary/german-english/trauerfeier]trauerfeier


"Feier" is also a "celebration" but we see more the concept of "feast" in it and by that it sounds a bit controversial for us##

https://www#google#be/search?q=feiern&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=V8VyUsKJGuaR7Aa-woHwDA&ved=0CFUQsAQ&biw=1231&bih=731#https://www#google#be/search?q=feiern&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=V8VyUsKJGuaR7Aa-woHwDA&ved=0CFUQsAQ&biw=1231&bih=73]Feier

Kind regards and with esteem,

Paul.

The term "old hat" might not send one scurrying to a dictionary to find its meaning. But maybe it should;

From the Online Etymology Dictionary:

Quote :

The "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" (1796) defines it as, "a woman's privities, because frequently felt."

Addendum to my previous message.

Thanks Nordmann, for putting the URL's in one message, but they don't work again???


http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/crapuleux 


http://en.bab.la/dictionary/french-english/crapule 


http://en.bab.la/dictionary/german-english/trauerfeier


https://www.google.be/search?q=feiern&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=V8VyUsKJGuaR7Aa-woHwDA&ved=0CFUQsAQ&biw=1231&bih=731 

Kind regards and with esteem,

Paul.

No Paul, because they are not real URLs, just search results.

nordmann wrote:

The term "old hat" might not send one scurrying to a dictionary to find its meaning. But maybe it should;

From the Online Etymology Dictionary:

Quote :

The "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" (1796) defines it as, "a woman's privities, because frequently felt."

Presumably contained within her hambags.

The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was clearly the Urban Dictionary of its day. Some very interesting entries.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9103159/The-Dictionary-Of-The-Vulgar-Tongue-do-you-know-your-abbess-from-your-elbow-shaker.html

Greetings from Zedland.

PS  This Telegraph reader (grumpy 1) posted:

grumpy1
• 2 years ago  
You forgot Cob Dobblies.

I wonder what Cob Dobblies are/were. Perhaps I shouldn't ask.

I couldn't find cob dobblies anywhere in the Vulgar Tongue, but I did discover that "cob" or "cobb" was an old word for spider, hence, obviously, cobweb.

I also wondered about the Northern expression "to have a cob on", or "to have a right cob on", meaning to be annoyed. Cob can be a horse, a swan, a nut, a type of bread. I'm still baffled.

In certain northern dialects a spider is an attercop, from the Old English attorcoppa ("poison-head"), from ator = poison, cop = head.

Also while we're on the subject a snail in East Anglia is a dodman, or sometimes a hodmandod, or even a hoddymadoddy. Not sure what the etymology is - perhaps from doddering along, ie progressing slowly. I wonder if this has any relevance to the snails-and-knights thread? Probably not.

Meles meles wrote:

In certain northern dialects a spider is an attercop, from the Old English attorcoppa ("poison-head"), from ator = poison, cop = head.

Also while we're on the subject a snail in East Anglia is a dodman, or sometimes a hodmandod, or even a hoddymadoddy. Not sure what the etymolology is - perhaps from doddering along, ie progressing slowly. I wonder if this has any relevance to the snails-and-knights thread? Probably not.

In Flemish "kop" is a "head", in Dutch "kop" is a "cup" or a "head"
http://en.bab.la/dictionary/dutch-english/kop-op
In Dutch: "spider" is a "spin", in Flemish: "spider" is a "kobbe"

Kind regards and with esteem,

Paul.

Edderkopp is the Norse word, and still the Norwegian/Danish word for spider. I imagine it comes into the same group of words still found in Yorkshire dialect that can be attributable to Scandinavian influence. Even if it can be etymologically traced back to Old English its survival, I reckon, owes much to the Viking history of that part of England.

Mind you, it doesn't feature on this list of Yorkshire English derived from Norse:

Yorkshire Norse

Might belong to the "Four Marys" thread but since I only found out today I'll stick it here. Now, at an advanced age, I have finally found out what "Bunty" means. It's been an English form of Agnes all along!

That's funny, all the Buntys I've known have been Margarets, as were the Pegs and Peggys.  
Has Margaret more variants, which bear no obvious connection, than any other name, and why I wonder?

To quote Shaw's Pygmalion
"Eliza, Elizabeth, Betsy and Bess
Went to the wood to find a birds nest
They found a nest with four eggs in it
Took one each and left three in it."

I couldn't find any online source linking Bunty with Margaret, though several that cite it as an English term for a pet lamb.

However when it comes to Scotland I did find this interesting entry in Dr Jamieson's "An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, New Edition Volume I, 1808" (see link below)

BUNTY: "A hen without a rump." "Clipped arse, quoth Bunty" S. Prov. spoken —when a man upbraids us with what he himself is guilty of.

I'd say there are several Scottish Maggies should be rightly and doubly pissed off if they knew this!

University of Toronto: An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language

In the 16th century Europeans fell in love once more with mathematics, having for many centuries been encouraged by their religious leaders to regard the subject as the province of the heathen Moors and akin to necromancy. There was a resultant flurry of term-coinage in English and other languages, often mimicking the sounds of the Arabic words (which themselves often had mimicked those of the Greek). The result produced many words we still use today - however one of them, a word used to represent "to the power of eight" (much more poetically explained at the time as "a square squared squarely"), has for some reason not managed to make it into the modern schoolchild's maths primer. It's a pity, as just mouthing "zenzizenzizenzic" is a pure joy.

nordmann wrote:

An Irish commentator during the Olympics one year was ridiculed for having several times used the word "saltate" when describing different high jumpers' efforts. Of course he was quite correct to do so - the word is derived simply and directly from the Latin "saltare" (to dance) which itself had been devolved from the root "salire" (to leap). In English therefore to leap in a style which combines height with some artistic merit is to saltate.

I am somewhat late in stating this but Nordmann's post makes me think of something during the 1976 Olympics.  One paper printed a list of "bloopers" and one - which may be slightly paraphrased as I'm going from a 38 year old memory -  quoted a sports reporter as saying "And here comes Nellie Kim, vaulting over the satellite".

I signed up to an online dictionary to have a word a day sent to me - I think it's finished now.  I started off very virtuous intending to increase my vocabulary. It also happens that I try to keep my shorthand ticking over [again my virtue at practising that skill fluctuates from time to time] and sometimes take dictation from internet sites.  Once I took some notes from a TED talk which mentioned the outmoded word "snollygoster" for a dishonest politican - another day that same word ended up in my inbox from the online dictionary.  Sadly "snollygosters" have not died out even if we don't call them by that term anymore.

PaulRyckier wrote:

Meles meles wrote:

In certain northern dialects a spider is an attercop, from the Old English attorcoppa ("poison-head"), from ator = poison, cop = head. ...

In Flemish "kop" is a "head", in Dutch "kop" is a "cup" or a "head"
http://en.bab.la/dictionary/dutch-english/kop-op
In Dutch: "spider" is a "spin", in Flemish: "spider" is a "kobbe"

Kind regards and with esteem,

Paul.

Even if delayed somewhat, I couldn't resist these.

MM,

Attercop may origine from the Danish word 'edderkop', meaning a head - 'kop' - with poison, apparently even the old ones in the Danelaw acknowledged that spiders might be poisonous.

Paul,

As an aside, the word 'spider' as pronounced in English does in current days Danish and perhaps Norwegian mean a scout.

As always kind regards and with esteem to you two, too.

Nielsen

A posse of spiders walking nonchalantly backwards having cleaned out the old-folks' home at Christmas. Backwards theft (breaking and exiting) was considered Norway's national pastime until the advent of lutefisk-slinging in the inter-ear years.

Nielsen wrote:

PaulRyckier wrote:

Meles meles wrote:

In certain northern dialects a spider is an attercop, from the Old English attorcoppa ("poison-head"), from ator = poison, cop = head. ...

In Flemish "kop" is a "head", in Dutch "kop" is a "cup" or a "head"
http://en.bab.la/dictionary/dutch-english/kop-op
In Dutch: "spider" is a "spin", in Flemish: "spider" is a "kobbe"

Kind regards and with esteem,

Paul.

Even if delayed somewhat, I couldn't resist these.

MM,

Attercop may origine from the Danish word 'edderkop', meaning a head - 'kop' - with poison, apparently even the old ones in the Danelaw acknowledged that spiders might be poisonous.

Paul,

As an aside, the word 'spider' as pronounced in English does in current days Danish and perhaps Norwegian mean a scout.

As always kind regards and with esteem to you two, too.

Nielsen

Nielsen,


also in Old Dutch "eitir" is poison, but in Middle Dutch already as now "etter" (pus) English pus from Latin "p~us".

For "poison" (from French "poison"), we say in Dutch "vergif" or "gif" from the older meaning "poison" of the verb "vergeven" (donate)  or the past participle "poisoned"

Kind regards and with esteem,

Paul.

Ever get frustrated at knowing there is just the right word out there to describe something you wish to convey but just can't think of it? Or worse - not even able to think of the word to describe just this feeling either?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary you can now relax - you are simply having an onomatomanic moment.

Onomatomania (n.) Vexation at having difficulty in finding the right word.

Nordmann,


not exactly the same but as frustrating.


I speak two close related Southern Dutch dialects. I have the word in mind which exactly expresses what I want to say. Many times a French word as we have in our dialects, as in English many French related words, but also a Southern Dutch word which completely differs from the Northen Dutch one, which is mostly mentioned in Dutch dictionaries. As I can't remember the Northern Dutch word, while I don't use those words in my daily conversation I am not able to seek for a translation in dictionaries from Dutch to whatever language I want to translate...then I have to seek on the internet with "my" word to see if there isn't a link to the "official" Dutch.

I haven't that difficulty with foreign languages...as I only know the "official" versions  ...
Or it has to be a "slang" word that I picked up on these boards...  


Kind regards and with high esteem for all the erudite thoughts you offer here on the boards.

Regards from Paul.