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Seldom Used Words (Cont'd)

I would like to take a moment to wish the best to all the people struggling with global warming weather issues, here in the U.S. and across the globe, especially our friends in the U.K.

Welcome, McKenna, nice to have you with us. The word you posted sounds more like a disease than what it is, and I do hate that about some words. Thanks for pointing it out.

Excellent, Og, I was hoping there were some historical references to nerts besides the obvious ones. Thanks for taking the time to post them all. You know, I adore it, when you do.

neroli oil - noun a fragrant pale yellow essential oil obtained from orange flowers and used esp. in cologne and as a flavoring
 
oggbashan said:
I'm not sure which came first, but the River Ness, Loch Ness and Inverness are all derived from the Gaelic Nis, not the Germanic Nese for promontory e.g Dungeness. Inverness is named after the river.

Inverness, and the surrounding area were part of an enclave of Gaelic speakers and retaining Gaelic place names when many places in Scotland were renamed in English.
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Interesting Og. It might be worthwhile suggesting the derivation Nis to the OED because they don't consider it, at least not in the shorter OED Vol 2. as an origin of ness. (Inbir Nis = Inverness = Mouth of River Ness.)

I find it hard to let go because obviously River Headland or Mouth of the Headland sound daft but as Nis in Gaelic means Now, that doesn't seem to make much sense as a name either.

I played around with the notion that Nis might have been a gaelicisation of a Norn word given that a number of Norn words were picked up by Gaelic in the Hebrides and in far north eastern Scotland, but no evidence supports that theory.

There is always the attached folk tale but given that the bottom of the loch is 750 feet below sea level there never was a glen as described!

http://www.nessriver.co.uk/pages/nessriver/nessName.html
 
nepheligenous

producing clouds of tobacco smoke.

Who knew??

And being greedy, two words in one post:

nelipot

One who walks without shoes.

I like that one.
 
That is very interesting, Ishtat, and thank you for taking the time to find the link and post it here. The origin of words is wonderful.

Nice pair of words, matriarch, and don't worry about a little hijacking of this thread, it has been done before without much damage.

Here is a little more information on my last post;

Marie Anne de La Trémoille, princesse des Ursins, is credited as having introduced the essence of bitter orange tree as a fashionable fragrance by using it to perfume her gloves and her bath. Since then, the name of Neroli (she was princess of Nerola, Italy) has been used to describe this essence. Neroli has a refreshing and distinctive, spicy aroma with sweet and flowery notes.

It was quite interesting reading about this very powerful woman of late 16th century Spain.
 
Monday, already, that was a fast weekend;

neritic - adj of, relating to, or constituting the belt or region of shallow water adjoining the seacoast
 
Mythical Origin of Loch Ness (Loch Nis)

Once upon a time the area was a deep verdant valley in which there was a magical well. Anyone using the well had to recover it as soon as they had drawn their water.

But a woman had just drawn water when she head her child screaming. She ran to comfort the child, leaving the well uncovered. The well overflowed and filled the valley with water. People fled, shouting "Tha loch nis ann" - There is a loch now - and that is why it is called Loch Nis (Ness).

The river running from the foot of the Loch was named after the Loch so River Ness, and the town Inverness after the River - End of the (river) Ness.

So in English the place names should be Loch Now, River Now, and End of Now.

No mention of a Scots Noah.
 
Very nice, Og. End of Now is a great title for a story, conjures up all sorts of ideas, including living only in the past or future, after the end of now.

Nereid - noun any of the sea nymphs held in Greek mythology to be daughters of the sea-god Nereus
 
Numpty - A stupid or ineffectual person - That guy is a right numpty

Drekly (Local dialect from Cornwall, England but reasonably known in rest of country) - At an unspecified time, ranging from straight away to a short or long time in the future - I will do it drekly
 
HimOverthere said:
Numpty - A stupid or ineffectual person - That guy is a right numpty

Drekly (Local dialect from Cornwall, England but reasonably known in rest of country) - At an unspecified time, ranging from straight away to a short or long time in the future - I will do it drekly
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A contraction of "Directly".
 
Welcome, HimOverthere, those are neat slang words you posted, thanks for joining us.

A little more Latin;

ne plus ultra - noun 1. the highest point capable of being achieved: ACME 2. the most profound degree of a quality or state
 
HimOverthere said:
Numpty - A stupid or ineffectual person - That guy is a right numpty

Drekly (Local dialect from Cornwall, England but reasonably known in rest of country) - At an unspecified time, ranging from straight away to a short or long time in the future - I will do it drekly
Click to expand...

Handley_Page said:
A contraction of "Directly".
Click to expand...

Of course, though, with Yiddish "drek" = "crap, feces," drekly could take on a whole new meaning.

Hello Allard...:rose::kiss:
 
AllardChardon said:
Welcome, HimOverthere, those are neat slang words you posted, thanks for joining us.

A little more Latin;

ne plus ultra - noun 1. the highest point capable of being achieved: ACME 2. the most profound degree of a quality or state
Click to expand...

ne plus ultra, nothing more beyond,
 
Handley, I thought it was "not more beyond" as in go no further.

nephelometer - noun an instrument for measuring cloudiness; specif: an instrument for determining the concentration or particle size of suspensions by means of transmitted or reflected light

nephoscope - noun an instrument for observing the direction and velocity of clouds
 
Carlus, so it would translate to "no more beyond", which makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up.

This next word is quite interesting to me;

nepenthe - noun 1. a potion used by the ancients to dull pain and sorrow 2. something capable of causing oblivion of suffering

Most probably a concoction made with opium, I would presume.
 


Bezique n., a card game for two or more players with tricks similar to whist but with additional points scored for honors and sequences, a card game similar to pinochle that is played with a pack of 64 cards . Origin: French bésique. First Known Use: 1861





In the third volume of William Manchester's magnificent biography of Winston Churchill (completed by co-author Paul Reid after Manchester's health failed), I learned that Churchill was a frequent player of a card game I'd never heard of previously.



-William Manchester and Paul Reid
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Defender of The Realm 1940-1965
New York, N.Y. 2012.




​
 
Trysail, that is a game I also have never heard of, thanks for posting it.

neoteric - adj recent in origin: MODERN
 
Here is an interesting pair;

neologism - noun 1. a new word, usage, or expression 2. a meaningless word coined by a psychotic

neology - noun the use of a new word or expression or of an established word in a new or different sense
 
oggbashan said:
There is a small article in today's The Times about a research project that 'proves' that people who use longer words are less attractive.
The research was carried out in California...

The study:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0088616

The complex language of the study suggests that the researchers are VERY unattractive. :D
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I get the impression that there is a particular 'type' of prose used in these reports, which deliberately plays down the extremes of conclusion.

One could wonder about them . . . .
 
oggbashan said:
There is a small article in today's The Times about a research project that 'proves' that people who use longer words are less attractive.

The research was carried out in California...

The study:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0088616

The complex language of the study suggests that the researchers are VERY unattractive. :D
Click to expand...

I think that's an unwarranted conclusion from this study of vocal attractiveness—unless they read it to you out loud.
 
Og, that is a small article? I would hate to see what you call a long one. I was a switchboard operator in my late teens and was told I had a melodious voice, so a study of voice attractiveness makes sense.

negus(2) - noun a beverage of wine, hot water, sugar, lemon juice, and nutmeg
 
AllardChardon said:
Og, that is a small article? I would hate to see what you call a long one. I was a switchboard operator in my late teens and was told I had a melodious voice, so a study of voice attractiveness makes sense...
Click to expand...

The ARTICLE was small, a couple of paragraphs at the end of a column. But I searched and found the study that was referenced. As usual, the journalistic headline bore little relationship with the actual study.

The British General Post Office used to hold competitions for the voice of their Speaking Clock accessed by telephone. The winner had to have attractive but clear enunication that could be understood in all parts of the United Kingdom. The recording of the winner took a day, but could be used for 30 years or more.
 
AllardChardon said:
...

negus(2) - noun a beverage of wine, hot water, sugar, lemon juice, and nutmeg
Click to expand...

Georgette Heyer's heroines' parents, elderly aunts etc. were often revived from nervous prostration with a glass of negus. Even in Georgian times it was considered old-fashioned and only suitable for elderly ladies.
 
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