Seldom-Used Words

[AllardChardon]

Here is one I missed from the S section;

snook (2) - noun a gesture of derision consisting of a thumbing of the nose

 

[Handley_Page]

Here is one I missed from the S section;

snook (2) - noun a gesture of derision consisting of a thumbing of the nose

and a snook is "cocked".

it's also a type of fish (eaten during the War).

 

[AllardChardon]

Handley, what does "cocked" mean regarding snook? It seems to have no relevance to the next entry;

snooker - noun pool played with 15 red balls and 6 variously colored balls

 

[Handley_Page]

Handley, what does "cocked" mean regarding snook? It seems to have no relevance to the next entry;

snooker - noun pool played with 15 red balls and 6 variously colored balls

The expression most used is "he cocked a snook at her/him". It means "thumbing your nose" with fingers extended (goes back as far as 1791).

Snooker is NOT 'pool'. Similar idea, but UK snooker has slightly smaller pockets and the scoring is different.

 

[AllardChardon]

Thanks, Handley, I appreciate the clarification immensely. Yes, I knew snooker was different from pool, but really do not know how to play it. This is what started this entire snook affair;

robalo - noun (Spanish) a snook

 

[trysail]

cryonaut • n., a person who is cryogenically preserved with a view to being revived in the distant future.






As hard as it is to believe, this is a new addition to the Oxford English Dictionary (Third Edition).





Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈkrʌɪə(ʊ)nɔːt/ , U.S. /ˈkraɪəˌnɔt/ , /ˈkraɪəˌnɑt/

Etymology: < cryo- comb. form + -naut comb. form


1968 P. M. McGrady Youth Doctors ii. 29 To date, only one cryonaut has had a go, a former professor of psychology who died in 1967 of cancer.

1974 C. Ludlam Hot Ice Ii. ii, in Drama Rev. June 92/1 The cost of keeping a cryonaut frozen will be two thousand dollars a year, Mr Wunderlich, not taking into consideration future devaluations of the dollar.

1993 Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer (Nexis) 5 Dec. 6 h, Cooled to the temperature of dry ice, the cryonaut is wrapped in a dacron sleeping bag and hung by its feet in an aluminum capsule of liquid nitrogen.

2004 C. Milburn in N. K. Hayles Nanoculture 127 Freeze the body now and eventually nanotechnology will resurrect the subject‥maybe even building an entirely new body for the cryonaut.

 

[AllardChardon]

I think I will just take my chances with reincarnation over cryogenics;

road agents - noun a highwayman esp. on stage routes in unsettled districts

 

[AllardChardon]

Okay, we all know about the pesky insect called the roach, but these definitions have escaped me for my entire life;

(2) roach - noun 1. to cause to arch; specifically to brush the hair in a roach - often used with up 2. to cut (as a horse's mane) so the part left stands upright

(3) roach - noun 1. a curved cut in the edge of a sail to prevent chafing or secure a better fit 2. a roll of hair brushed straight back from the forehead or side of the head

These made me think of my son's Mohawk haircut and the Trump's comb-over! Hahahaha

 

[AllardChardon]

I don't see or hear this one very often;

rive - verb 1.a. to tear apart: REND b. SPLIT, CLEAVE 2.a. to divide into pieces: SHATTER b. FRACTURE

 

[oggbashan]

I don't see or hear this one very often;

rive - verb 1.a. to tear apart: REND b. SPLIT, CLEAVE 2.a. to divide into pieces: SHATTER b. FRACTURE

It is more commonly used as a past participle - riven - to describe stone, particularly slate, slabs that have been split by hand to provide an uneven surface.

 

[AllardChardon]

Thanks, Og, for that bit of knowledge. I simply had to add this one;

ritzy - adj 1. ostentatiously smart: FASHIONABLE 2. SNOBBISH

 

[Handley_Page]

Okay, we all know about the pesky insect called the roach, but these definitions have escaped me for my entire life;

(2) roach - noun 1. to cause to arch; specifically to brush the hair in a roach - often used with up 2. to cut (as a horse's mane) so the part left stands upright

(3) roach - noun 1. a curved cut in the edge of a sail to prevent chafing or secure a better fit 2. a roll of hair brushed straight back from the forehead or side of the head

These made me think of my son's Mohawk haircut and the Trump's comb-over! Hahahaha

It's also a fresh-water fish found in local waters.

For info about Snookers, start here:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker

 

[AllardChardon]

Handley, I did not see that definition of roach or have I heard of it. English and its territorial usage is to blame, I am sure. I like the definition of this one, as much as the word itself;

risque' - adj verging on impropriety or indecency: OFF-COLOR

 

[trysail]

Okay, we all know about the pesky insect called the roach, but these definitions have escaped me for my entire life;

(2) roach - noun 1. to cause to arch; specifically to brush the hair in a roach - often used with up 2. to cut (as a horse's mane) so the part left stands upright

(3) roach - noun 1. a curved cut in the edge of a sail to prevent chafing or secure a better fit 2. a roll of hair brushed straight back from the forehead or side of the head

These made me think of my son's Mohawk haircut and the Trump's comb-over! Hahahaha

Now wait a minute. There are enough former hippies around this joint ( hint, hint ) to know there is another well-known meaning for roach— even Oxford considers it a legitimate word ( i.e., not slang ).



I don't think we've heretofore quite gotten the correct definition of roach as it applies to a modern Bermuda-rig mainsail. Here's what wikipedia has to say:

...The shape of a sail is seldom a perfect triangle. It is common for sailmakers to add an arc of extra material on the leech, outside a line drawn from the head to the clew. This additional part of the sail is known as the roach; mainsails usually have roaches, but they are very occasionally found on specialized jibs as well. They provide additional power for a given mast/boom size.

Since it cannot be supported by tension in the sail material (applied from the corners), it would flap uselessly unless some other provision was made for it. It is therefore supported by battens, held in batten pockets, which extend into the main portion of the sail...

All good sailormen know that trimming a sail properly requires that attention be paid to its roach ( to ensure that the topping lift [if applicable ] and/or leechline [ if applicable ] and/or the running backstays [if applicable] and/or the checkstays [if applicable] and/or the sheet are appropriately adjusted ).

 

[patrick1]

Seems actually there are two kinds of fish known as roach, the member of the carp family that I know of, found in European waters - people fish for it in my local canal - and an American chub (Semotilus bullaris).

Its use as a marijuana stub is of long standing too, certainly way back in the early 20th century at least, though I was unaware of its extension in that meaning to the metaphor 'roached', of software, meaning destroyed - related to its being the unsmokeable part of the joint.

And blimey, seems like it's a also a street name for flunitrazepan, that's rohypnol to you and me.

So let's not rush past the humble roach too fast in the urge to be ritzy !

Patrick

 

[Goldie Munro]

Ululate

I first came across this word in a Norman MacCaig poem about New York - I can't for the life of me remember what it is called and can't find it on the interwebz.

The poem described the Empire State building as a 'dentist's drill' and the noises of the police and fire service sirens 'ululated'

I have since come across the word a few times but never such a western context.

 

[Weird Harold]

Ritzy is another word derives from a famous person's name:

César Ritz (23 February 1850 – 24 October 1918) was a Swiss hotelier and founder of several hotels, most famously the Hôtel Ritz, in Paris and The Ritz Hotel in London. His nickname was "king of hoteliers, and hotelier to kings," and it is from his name and that of his hotels that the term ritzy derives.

So let's not rush past the humble roach too fast in the urge to be ritzy !

Interestingly enough if one feels the urge to be Ritzy, you can actually go to college to learn how: University Centre César Ritz

 

[AllardChardon]

Yes, I omitted the definition for roach that I have used most often in my lifetime, as in, "Don't forget to hide the roaches," and how it got that name I will never know. I certainly did not realize how many ways roach was used. Thanks, contributors and welcome Goldie.

If I posted this one before, please excuse me;

risible - adj 1.a. capable of laughing b. disposed to laugh 2. arousing or provoking laughter: FUNNY 3. associated with, relating to, or used in laughter (~ muscles)

 

[patrick1]

According to 'Carly Googles', the dope meaning of roach comes from Mexican slang, because tobacco adulterated with marijuana (or vice versa, depending on your view of adulteration) is known as cucaracha, or cockroach.

http://carlygoogles.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-is-last-little-part-of-joint-called.html

I hope this explanation does not seem too risible.

P

 

[AllardChardon]

La cucaracha, La cucaracha,
Marijuana por fumar...

That is how I remember it without searching for it.

Two good rip words;

rip-roaring - adj noisily excited or exciting: HILARIOUS

ripsnorter - noun something extraordinary: HUMDINGER

 

[JohnnyA]

I like these words or phrases

akin to

debaucherous

the dark bum-fuckery of the heart (love this phrase from Stephen King)

 

[Tio_Narratore]

La cucaracha, La cucaracha,
Marijuana por fumar...

That is how I remember it without searching for it.

Two good rip words;

rip-roaring - adj noisily excited or exciting: HILARIOUS

ripsnorter - noun something extraordinary: HUMDINGER

Alas, la pobre cucaracha no tienes marijuana que fumar...

 

[AllardChardon]

I must admit I am more fortunate in that regards than the cockroach, Tio, hehehe, puff, puff puff.

Welcome, Johnny A.

riprap - noun obsolete 1. a foundation or sustaining wall of stones thrown together without order (as in deep water or on an embankment slope to prevent erosion) 2. stone used for a riprap

 

[trysail]

fulsome • adj., 1. excessive but superficial compliments given with affected charm, flattering to an excessive degree;
2. of large size or quantity, generous or abundant.






This is a very, very tricky word. The two definitions are somewhat conflicting and it wouldn't be at all difficult to unintentionally give offense if one failed to be quite careful when using the word.

...Years ago the legendary writer George Plimpton was featured in an I Was Absent That Day magazine essay that was the inspiration for this article. A major corporation asked Plimpton to lay out instructions about how to give a speech. "In my first remarks on the dais," Plimpton confessed, "I used to thank people for their 'fulsome introduction,' until I discovered, to my dismay, that 'fulsome' means offensive and insincere."

He said, "Consult a dictionary for proper meanings and pronunciations."

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/04/137443123/i-was-absent-that-day

Fulsome Since the seventeenth century the word has meant "excessively flattering, unctuous," as in the manner of Charles Dickens' Pecksniff toward those with whom he wishes to ingratiate himself. In the last half century, however, it has been increasingly used, mainly by politicians and journalists, as if it meant simply "full, generous," as in "a fulsome apology" or "a fulsome tribute." Burchfield also notes its use by fashion writers to mean "full figured," perhaps by analogy with handsome or wholesome. The older meaning should be preserved, if only because it cannot be so easily be replaced.

-James Cochrane
Between You and I: A Little Book of Bad English
Naperville, IL (USA) 2004.​

 

[oggbashan]

I must admit I am more fortunate in that regards than the cockroach, Tio, hehehe, puff, puff puff.

Welcome, Johnny A.

riprap - noun obsolete 1. a foundation or sustaining wall of stones thrown together without order (as in deep water or on an embankment slope to prevent erosion) 2. stone used for a riprap

Riprap is not "obsolete" around Britain's sea coasts. It is frequently used for coastal protection to break up the force of the waves.

Because it is piled randomly instead of being cemented in place it will move when battered by large waves unlike a conventional concrete wall which could break. If riprap is really shifted by a severe storm it can be moved back into place.

Locally we have several lengths of riprap wave defences made of large granite boulders. An artist decided that she would use one of the boulders to create a sculpture for our seafront gardens. She intended to make it into a complete three-dimensional Turk's Head Knot. Unfortunately she had never worked with granite before. After eighteen months of work and breaking many power tools she produced a Turk's Head Knot emerging from a granite boulder. It is an attractive sculpture and has one significant advantage - it is vandal-proof (and immovable).