Seldom-Used Words

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Carrying on with the clothing words found in the Ps;

pantaletes or pantalettes - noun long drawers with a ruffle at the bottom of each leg usually showing below the skirt and worn by women and children in the first half of the 19th century
 
Carrying on with the clothing words found in the Ps;

pantaletes or pantalettes - noun long drawers with a ruffle at the bottom of each leg usually showing below the skirt and worn by women and children in the first half of the 19th century

What most re-enactors of Victorian times don't realise is that pantalettes had no crotch. They let everything be open to the air...
 
My sisters and I came across this one in a coffee table book of archaic words. We had quite a time learning about the history and use of the item. Oooh, and a bonus here, in that there is a second archaic word, now obsolete, in the definition. :)


merkin (ˈmɜːkɪn)

— n
1. an artificial hairpiece for the pudendum; a pubic wig
2. obsolete the pudendum itself

Origin:
1610–20; origin uncertain

Also the name of the American President in 'Dr. Strangelove', President Merkin Muffley, played by Peter Sellers and btw, the lecturers at Univ College London St Georges School of Medicine (including myself) have no compunction about referring to the external female genitalia as Pudenda - the word is obscure, not obsolete
 
Welcome, Beachbum, nice to have you along for the ride. Is there any beach in particular you like to bum around? A favorite of mine is Hermosa Beach in Southern California.

Og, yes, indeed, drawers were originally crotchless. It was necessary, especially with all those petticoats and yards of material in the huge skirts. I can only imagine what relieving oneself must have been like in hoop skirts.

panoply - noun 1.a. a full suit of armor b. ceremonial attire 2. something forming a protective covering 3.a. a magnificent or impressive display b. a display of all appropriate appurtenances
 
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Og, yes, indeed, drawers were originally crotchless. It was necessary, especially with all those petticoats and yards of material in the huge skirts. I can only imagine what relieving oneself must have been like in hoop skirts.

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It wasn't/isn't so difficult with a hoop skirt. It was much more problematic with all the layers of stiffened petticoats before the hoop/crinoline.

One of the ahem! *advantages* of a crinoline or hoop skirt was the easy access for love making. :D

th
 
Carrying on with the clothing words found in the Ps;

pantaletes or pantalettes - noun long drawers with a ruffle at the bottom of each leg usually showing below the skirt and worn by women and children in the first half of the 19th century

Like so many types of clothes, these were a version of undergarment purloined by the female gender from the males, who wore 'panties'

Try 'robe'!
 
As a Civil War re-enactor, I have chosen not to wear a hoop, only because I have a small car and getting myself to the event is hard enough in crinoline. Once seated, I am surrounded by ruffles. Going to a public restroom is very difficult and port-a-potties are out of the question. I would rather squat in a thicket than endure that! I have started wearing crotchless tights underneath for that very reason. LOL

pannikin - noun Brit: a small pan or cup
 
I haven't seen this one too often, and I can't recollect ever having seen it here, though it seems perfectly suited for Literortica...

pansexual adj. exhibiting or implying many forms of sexual expression.
 
Welcome, Beachbum, nice to have you along for the ride. Is there any beach in particular you like to bum around? A favorite of mine is Hermosa Beach in Southern California.

Og, yes, indeed, drawers were originally crotchless. It was necessary, especially with all those petticoats and yards of material in the huge skirts. I can only imagine what relieving oneself must have been like in hoop skirts.

panoply - noun 1.a. a full suit of armor b. ceremonial attire 2. something forming a protective covering 3.a. a magnificent or impressive display b. a display of all appropriate appurtenances

Hi there, my fave beach? Chesil Beach in Dorset, part of the Jurassic Coast, it's where my wife and I like to take my 1973 Lancia Stratos HF for a real workout when we're practicing for an historic race at Silverstone or Brands Hatch - there's nothing like shingle for teaching you proper handling of a rally sportster!
 
Tio, there was no entry for pansexual in my dictionary. Thanks for adding it here. The only pans word in mine is;

pansy - noun 1. a garden plant derived chiefly from the wild pansy of Europe by hybridizing the latter with other wild violets; also: its flower 2.a. an effeminate youth b. a male homosexual
 
I must have been posting while you were posting, Beachbum. That sounds like a lot of fun to me. I went to my first drag races last Saturday night with modified cars on a short dirt track with a woman friend, who is a real Nascar fan. It was quite interesting and entertaining. I would love to see a picture of your rally sportster some time.

pannier or panier - noun 1. a large basket; esp: one often carried on the back of an animal or the shoulders of a person 2.a. one of a pair of hoops formerly used to expand women's skirts at the sides b. an overskirt draped at the sides
 
Welcome, innerpsychonaut. Yes, that word has been posted on here a couple of times, but it remains a word that does not sound at all like what it means. LOL

panne - noun 1. silk or rayon velvet with lustrous pile flattened in one direction 2. a heavy silk or rayon satin with high luster and waxy smoothness
 
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pannikin - noun Brit: a small pan or cup

As a Boy Scout I used to have an aluminium pannikin which had folding handles. It could be put on a camp fire to heat food or liquid. The close-fitting lid was either a smaller pannikin, or when fitted the whole item could carry liquids.
 
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pannier or panier - noun 1. a large basket; esp: one often carried on the back of an animal or the shoulders of a person 2.a. one of a pair of hoops formerly used to expand women's skirts at the sides b. an overskirt draped at the sides

Panniers, plural, are fitted to pedal cycles or motorcycles to carry luggage evenly distributed. The leather studded panniers are an often-sold accessory for Harley-Davidsons.

When I used to travel on business I had a pair of panniers that fitted over my official briefcase, carrying my overnight things because it wasn't done to wear a back pack with my formal suit.

They were too small to be much use. I got rid of them and used a small suitcase instead.
 
Welcome, innerpsychonaut. Yes, that word has been posted on here a couple of times, but it remains a word that does not sound at all like what it means. LOL

panne - noun 1. silk or rayon velvet with lustrous pile flattened in one direction 2. a heavy silk or rayon satin with high luster and waxy smoothness


panne

noun
a soft, lustrous, lightweight velvet with flattened pile.
Origin:
1785–95; < French, Old French, variant of pen ( n ) e, equivalent to Medieval Latin panna, penna skin, fur, apparently special use of Latin penna feather; compare Middle High German federe kind of fur.

It is also sometimes used for the shallow depression used for harvesting sea-salt. But that is normally spelled 'pan' as in salt-pan.
 
I must have been posting while you were posting, Beachbum. That sounds like a lot of fun to me. I went to my first drag races last Saturday night with modified cars on a short dirt track with a woman friend, who is a real Nascar fan. It was quite interesting and entertaining. I would love to see a picture of your rally sportster some time.

pannier or panier - noun 1. a large basket; esp: one often carried on the back of an animal or the shoulders of a person 2.a. one of a pair of hoops formerly used to expand women's skirts at the sides b. an overskirt draped at the sides

I actually have a collection of rally and sport cars, ranging from an AC Ace (the forerunner of the AC Cobra) to a Lola T-70 S70 Spyder, by way of my Aston Martin DB5 to my grandfather's 1933 Bentley Speed 6 and a matched livery pair of Alpine Renault A110's. My Aston is currently on loan to the A-M museum in Newport Pagnell as it's a 'Thunderball' restoration replica - ordinarily, my wife Lori drives it, it's either that or I hand her the keys to the Lola,and I'm not prepared to go that far just yet...
All of the cars get driven, hard, they're for historic rallying and track days, not looking at, so I spend a lot of time testing, rebuilding and running-in
 
Thank you, Og, for all the additional information on the words I posted. I always find your posts interesting.

Beachbum, that sounds like quite an extensive collection and a fair amount of maintenance to keep them all going fast. Thanks for sharing what you love to do, in your spare time, I presume.

panjandrum - noun a powerful personage or pretentious official
 
More on panniers -

pannier or panier - noun 1. a large basket; esp: one often carried on the back of an animal or the shoulders of a person 2.a. one of a pair of hoops formerly used to expand women's skirts at the sides b. an overskirt draped at the sides[/QUOTE]

Also - a more formal term for the rear sidecases (saddle bags) on motorcycles. They usually come in pairs; a case on the rear rack is called a 'topcase'.
 
Welcome, innerpsychonaut. Yes, that word has been posted on here a couple of times, but it [pulchritudinous] remains a word that does not sound at all like what it means. LOL

You have to have an ear for Latin. It comes from pulcher, which means beautiful. It was one of the first Latin words whose meaning I was required to learn many moons ago.
 
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panjandrum - noun a powerful personage or pretentious official

The origin of panjandrum is interesting. http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-pan2.htm

But the experimental WW2 beach attack weapon was a failure:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panjandrum YouTube video and trial of Re-enactment #01 and Re-enactment 02

I think they were intending to make a Juggernaut but it was so ridiculous in action that they called it a Panjandrum.

However, since the later WW2 trials were conducted in full view of the public, the idea that it was only intended to convince the Germans that an attack on the Calais area was being planned, is not unreasonable.

Some other odd weapons were successfully used on the British and Canadian beaches on D-Day. The US commanders declined to have them.
 
That was very interesting, Og, and once again I am amazed at how much history certain words have and what transformations they make in the world of speech. Thanks very much for continuing to educate us all.

panegyric - noun a eulogistic oration or writing; also: formal or elaborate praise
 
The WW2 video of the Panjandrum has an interesting anecdote.

The man filming it was using a telephoto lens. He didn't realise just how close it was to him. He had to drop his camera and run...

The VIPs were well out of range, but not the dog.
 
Og, the camera story reminds me of one featuring my mother, a brownie camera, a big black bear, and our family in our station wagon in Yellowstone National Park. Mom was hanging her head out of the window with the camera up to her eye, trying to get a picture of the bear, and could not tell how close the bear was. Dad hit the gas at the last moment and saved Mom's neck. She tried complaining about her spoiled shot for an instant, until she saw how close the bear really was. We got a very nice blurry shot of a big black bear to remember it by. LOL

pandurate - adj resembling a fiddle in outline
 


rort n.,
1. a rowdy party or celebration
2. a dishonest scheme

v.,
3. to take unfair advantage of something

Origin:
[C20: back formation from rorty (in the sense: good, splendid)] adj.






I'd never seen nor heard of either rort or rorty 'til rorts popped up as a blog headline:
NASA’s Gavin Schmidt @ClimateOfGavin goes full emotional – rorts himself with an unsupportable claim, Gleick plays ‘me too’


http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/05/...h-an-unsupportable-claim-gleick-plays-me-too/



The words are, apparently, more commonly used in Britain and Australia.


 
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