Seldom-Used Words

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Good day, wordlovers. This one caught my attention;

pull up - vt 1. CHECK, REBUKE 2. to bring to a stop: HALT ~ vi 1.a. to check oneself b. to come to a halt: STOP 2. to draw even with others in a race

I don't think I have seen the first definition used before. Does anyone know of any examples of pull up used for checking oneself?

Yes. It was frequently used in my youth, but not now, for example by teachers - to pull up a student for doing something dangerous, unacceptable or just stupid. The idea is to get someone to think of the consequences of an action they are about to commit. I believe that its origin is from driving a carriage - to pull up the horse to bring it to a stop.

My New Oxford English Dictionary has:

pull someone up: cause someone to stop or pause; check someone: 'the shock of his words pulled her up short'; reprimand someone.

I understood that 'to pull someone up' was more preventative than disciplinary; to warn that an action or behaviour was not to continue. In many cases a raised eyebrow or a wagging finger was enough 'to pull someone up'.
 
Thanks, Og, I understand the term better now. Mothers have used raises eyebrows and wagging fingers to check their children from the beginning of time, I would surmise. I know I did. How can a word that sounds so terrible mean something so endearing;

pulchitrude - noun physical comeliness: BEAUTY
 
Thanks, Og, I understand the term better now. Mothers have used raises eyebrows and wagging fingers to check their children from the beginning of time, I would surmise. I know I did. How can a word that sounds so terrible mean something so endearing;

pulchitrude - noun physical comeliness: BEAUTY

You'll have to ask an ancient Roman next time you see one. The word comes from pulchritudo,
a Latin word meaning beauty or excellence. And pulchritudo itself comes from pulcher,
another Latin word; it means beautiful or handsome.

So see, I've finally used the Latin I took so many years ago…:)

All of which reminds me of an incident involving the word paucity, which derives from the Latin word paucus, meaning little or few. I've known this since I was in high school, many (too many) years ago.

A few years ago, a friend asked me, grumpily, "Have you noticed the paucity of beautiful women hereabouts?"

"Yes," I replied. "When I evaluate a woman for beauty, I always look directly at her paucity!"

It cheered him up.
 
Not in England. Chiropodist is the generally used term.

My local hospital is confused. The signs outside the hospital direct to the podiatry department. The signs inside direct to chiropody. Apparently inside and outside signs come from a different budget, and outside signs are expected to be replaced frequently and inside signs are 'permanent'.

A helpful person has added graffiti of walking feet to each sign.

They are also confusing for people wanting blood tests. Outside you are directed to 'blood tests'. Inside you need to look for 'haematology'.
 
Not in England. Chiropodist is the generally used term.

Chiropodist is the older term and dates back to the days of the barber-surgeons. It combines the Greek words for "hand" and "foot" and was applied to those who treated corns and callouses and hammertoes, things like that. Callouses were often removed by barbers in those days and were commonly shaved off with a straight razor. :eek:

As medicine became more organized and institutionalized, foot specialists especially in the US dropped chiropodist in favor of podiatrist, which has a more "medical" cachet.

I really wish I didn't know this stuff. :(
 
Greetings, fellow posters. I hope you had a lovely weekend.

pukka - adj (Hindi) GENUINE, AUTHENTIC; also: FIRST-CLASS, COMPLETE
 
Greetings, fellow posters. I hope you had a lovely weekend.

pukka - adj (Hindi) GENUINE, AUTHENTIC; also: FIRST-CLASS, COMPLETE

not to be confused with the Irish puca, or shape-shifting nature spirit, which may think it's perfect, but has never made a perect bowl of Hindi rice.
 
With pukka, I was wondering if a person could describe first-class accommodations on a oceanliner in such a way, like in a posh pukka suite?

puissance - noun STRENGTH, POWER
 
With pukka, I was wondering if a person could describe first-class accommodations on a oceanliner in such a way, like in a posh pukka suite?

puissance - noun STRENGTH, POWER

pukka - origin late 17th C: from Hindi pakka 'cooked, ripe, substantial'

posh - early 20th C: perhaps from slang posh, denoting a dandy. (Aside: from Historical Slang: 1. money specifically a halfpenny or other coin of low value [in use before, but not after 1839, obsolete] from Romany posh, a half, as in posh-horri, a halfpenny and posh-koorona, a half-crown. 2. A dandy. Society slang up to 1897 possibly from sense a moneyed person.)

There is no evidence to support the folk etymology that posh is formed from the initials of Port Out Starboard Home (referring to the practice of using the more comfortable accommodation, out of the heat of the sun, on ships between England and India).

Except for the Aside, from the New Oxford Dictionary of English.

PS. On 19th and early 20th Century ships people spent very little time in their cabins except to sleep. Later on, ships travelling to India had forced ventilation and air-conditioning - and people still spent very little day time in their cabins.

PPS. When I travelled by liner from England to Australia and back, via what is now Sri Lanka, POSH would have only worked North of the Equator, and half of each voyage was South of the Equator... But both ships had air conditioning and I spent as little time as possible in my cabin.
 
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Og, your wealth of knowledge never ceases to amaze me. Thanks so much for the explanation of posh. I have wondered about that one before. It makes perfect sense that sea voyagers would spend very little time in their cabin, except for sleeping. Bad weather could drive them indoors, but that would mean the common rooms would be full, not the cabins, I suppose.

puisne - adj chiefly British: inferior in rank [~ judge]
 
I hope everyone survived the full moon energy intact. The January full moon is the anniversary of my entrance into this world and it always makes me want to run off to the circus. I have just completed my sixth decade of life and am ready for the seventh.

pugnacious - adj having a belligerent nature: TRUCULENT, COMBATIVE
 
Full, maybe, of those the bad weather didn't make seasick.

On a long voyage by liner, not a fast trans-Atlantic crossing, most people recovered from sea-sickness after the first few days unless the ship ran into exceptionally bad weather.

If possible the ship's captain would avoid bad weather. That is much easier now with modern satellite weather forecasting. Modern cruise ships are not built as strongly or heavily as earlier passenger liners which would keep on course and on schedule despite foul weather. One reason that former liners were unsuccessful as cruise ships was that they were built for speed through almost anything (except icebergs!) and were uneconomical to run compared with lighter purpose-built cruise ships.

On my journey out to Australia we encountered Storm Force 9 in the Bay of Biscay on the first day out from England. That brought on seasickness for many passengers because the stabilisers had to be retracted. They couldn't take the rolling strains.

By the time we reached the Great Australian Bight and ran into a Force 10 most of the passengers were acclimatised and very few were seasick. But perhaps the entertainment staff shouldn't have tried to teach passengers the Highland Fling in such conditions. It became a reel as the ship rolled and pitched and the participants ended up in an untidy tangle of bodies.

That Force 10 was the only time I won a table-tennis tournament. I was better than my opponents at judging where the ship would be when the ball landed (or missed) the table.
 
Og, your stories are simply the best and because they are true, the tales are even sweeter. Thanks, again, for your contributions to this thread. I hope I have not come off with this entry;

puffery - noun flattering publicity or extravagant commendation
 
 …most of the passengers were acclimatised and very few were seasick. But perhaps the entertainment staff shouldn't have tried to teach passengers the Highland Fling in such conditions. It became a reel as the ship rolled and pitched and the participants ended up in an untidy tangle of bodies.

Reely!
 
Greetings, fellow posters. I hope you had a lovely weekend.

pukka - adj (Hindi) GENUINE, AUTHENTIC; also: FIRST-CLASS, COMPLETE

Strangely enough, in referring to a person, a Pukka Sahib was regarded as the real deal, an Officer or person who was respected for being good by all.

If he was on his way to promotion, he might be regarded as a "Chota Sahib" as in small, or junior.
 
I am 60 years of age and officially retired. Hooray! I am no longer fertile, but was in this condition four times over;

puerperium - noun the condition of a woman immediately following childbirth
 


stupa • n., (from Sanskrit: m., स्तूप, stūpa, Sinhalese: ස්ථූපය, Pāli: थुप "thūpa", literally meaning "heap") is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship.


250px-Sanchi_stupa.jpg




( the definition above comes from wikipedia )


I shouldn't be surprised to run across this word while reading Paul Theroux' Ghost Train To The Eastern Star: On The Tracks Of The Great Railway Bazaar.

Good wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupas


 
Trysail, a few years ago, the Tibetan monks brought the relics of several Buddhas to Mt. Shasta and I was invited to the ceremony. It was very interesting and the meditation was very powerful. The relics are what remains after the body is cremated. Often little pearl-like objects, some clear like amber, are the result. These relics are placed in a crystal bowl and displayed. There were several ornate portable stupas for transporting the relics from town to town.

Anyone know this one;

pudding stone - noun CONGLOMERATE
 
Trysail, a few years ago, the Tibetan monks brought the relics of several Buddhas to Mt. Shasta and I was invited to the ceremony. It was very interesting and the meditation was very powerful. The relics are what remains after the body is cremated. Often little pearl-like objects, some clear like amber, are the result. These relics are placed in a crystal bowl and displayed. There were several ornate portable stupas for transporting the relics from town to town.

Anyone know this one;

pudding stone - noun CONGLOMERATE

There's a Puddingstone recreation area near where I live. Now I am left to wonder.
 
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