Seldom Used Words (Cont'd)

Weird Harold

Opinionated Old Fart
Joined
Mar 1, 2000
Posts
23,768
The last post of the original thread is here

General "rules:"

Provide a definition.
Provide an example of usage, if available.


A word (possible) useful to Literotica Writers (if they want to delve int "Loving Wives"):

Uxorious is an adjective meaning 'very or excessively fond of your wife', e.g.: he was an almost perfect husband: uxorious, hard-working, and a good provider. It comes from the Latin uxor 'wife'.
 
May I suggest that we try and return to where Madam Allard left us; in the O's and work our way in her spirit ere she returns ?

Orotund:
A voice of clear and imposing character.
A writing style of an inflated or pretentious nature.
 
A very small irony but the last word discussed in the old thread was Ord which in the old phrase ord and end means beginning and the end, though in this instance perhaps reversed as the end and a (new) beginning.
 
A very small irony but the last word discussed in the old thread was Ord which in the old phrase ord and end means beginning and the end, though in this instance perhaps reversed as the end and a (new) beginning.

Hopefully it will survive until her return.
 
excoriate - noun. (formal) Criticize (someone) severely.

I don't hear it often in North America. Great SAT word!
 
May I suggest that we try and return to where Madam Allard left us; in the O's and work our way in her spirit ere she returns ?

She was the only one staying with that pattern; the rest of us were all over the alphabet. :p


orotund
adj
1. (of the voice) resonant; booming
2. (of speech or writing) bombastic; pompous
[from Latin phrase ore rotundo with rounded mouth]


Said of a character: "He was rotund and orotund."
 
Not really a word, as much as an English slang(?) term from the first quarter of the 20th century:

American cloth

n a glazed or waterproofed cotton cloth

Finding even that sparse definition was difficult -- although I found a newspaper article from 1913 in the NY Times lamenting a lack of definition on the American side of the Atlantic. :p
 
Not really a word, as much as an English slang(?) term from the first quarter of the 20th century:

American cloth

n a glazed or waterproofed cotton cloth

Finding even that sparse definition was difficult -- although I found a newspaper article from 1913 in the NY Times lamenting a lack of definition on the American side of the Atlantic. :p

I suspect that it is English to describe something else. I saw one reference to "American Cloth" but it illustrated what we call 'Webbing' (much used by the Military).
 
Not really a word, as much as an English slang(?) term from the first quarter of the 20th century:

American cloth

n a glazed or waterproofed cotton cloth

Finding even that sparse definition was difficult -- although I found a newspaper article from 1913 in the NY Times lamenting a lack of definition on the American side of the Atlantic. :p

I'm old enough (pushing 80) to remember my mother and Grandmother using this term. It was as stated, a waterproofed cotton cloth often used for table(particularly in kitchens) and occasionally chair covers. It was useful because when all tables were timber it was easy to wipe clean with a damp cloth. For some reason it was invariably in either a red blue or green check pattern with a white background. Not slang and it has an entry in the OED.

It was bought by the foot at a drapery (dry goods store)
 
I'm old enough (pushing 80) to remember my mother and Grandmother using this term. It was as stated, a waterproofed cotton cloth often used for table(particularly in kitchens) and occasionally chair covers. It was useful because when all tables were timber it was easy to wipe clean with a damp cloth. For some reason it was invariably in either a red blue or green check pattern with a white background. Not slang and it has an entry in the OED.

It was bought by the foot at a drapery (dry goods store)
the description made me think of the classic red or blue picnic-table tablecloths like this:

91BBUCH-i3L._SL1500_.jpg


Thanks for the clarification, though.
 
Not really a word, as much as an English slang(?) term from the first quarter of the 20th century:

American cloth

n a glazed or waterproofed cotton cloth

Finding even that sparse definition was difficult -- although I found a newspaper article from 1913 in the NY Times lamenting a lack of definition on the American side of the Atlantic. :p

Our local drapery shop sells it by the yard in a variety of designs and widths, including red and blue gingham. Their major sales are in the summer for people having barbecues. A length of that covers up a battered garden table and is easily cleaned.

I remember seeing it on elderly aunts' kitchen tables - a compromise when they were too old and frail to scrub the wood daily.

For years we have had a length of it covering the family dining table to protect the wood from small frys' spilled food but it was usually hidden under a tablecloth when the dining is for adults only. Since it is still there, it protects the table from spilled red wine.
 
Here's a new word for you to contemplate, TAQIYYA. Google it. I don't know how to pronounce it either.
 
I sent in Chapter 1 of a story a few weeks ago and haven't heard anything from anyone. It was of a Taboo subject. Will it not be concidered?
 
There's a story idea or 12 here...

Essayeurs:
men who were hired by bordellos to become sexual with women so that timid clients would follow their lead.
 
And if you get stuck with 2 letter o's in scarabble:

Oo = one.(middle English)

Oone = alone or only.

Oor = hoary, aged - like Og.

Oozling = hairy (northern dialect).

Oonryghttwyslye = unrighteously. And if you could get that into a scrabble game you really would be a genius.
 
Obnubilate - to darken, dim, or obscure something.

Ogdoad - a group or set of eight.

Omophagy - the eating of raw food, especially meat.

Onolatry - the worship of donkeys or asses (also the only of these words that my phone's predictive text recognises, odd).
 
Obnubilate - to darken, dim, or obscure something.

Ogdoad - a group or set of eight.

Omophagy - the eating of raw food, especially meat.

Onolatry - the worship of donkeys or asses (also the only of these words that my phone's predictive text recognises, odd).

Predictive text can cause confusion with the word QUICHE.
 
gasolier
Decorative gas lighting piece made in the latter half of 19thC of brass or other metal. It resembles a chandelier, with branches holding burners emanating from a central shaft, but is hollow to allow gas to be piped through.

At a guess, related to:

chandelier, a branched candleholder—or, in modern times, electric-light holder—suspended from the ceiling. Hanging candleholders made of wood or iron and simply shaped were used in Anglo-Saxon churches before the Norman Conquest (1066). In the 12th and 13th centuries huge openwork hoops of iron or bronze supported numerous prickets (spikes) for candles.

A Gasolier would be a Chandelier made for, or converted to use, gaslights instead of candles?
 
Oone again

It's unusual to hear a rare word mentioned on this thread within a couple of weeks.

I spoke yesterday to a near neighbour, woman from Scotland who, though she has lived here for 75 years hasn't lost a skerrick of her East coast English. She was recently widowed for a second time and I asked her how she was coping.

"No' so bad," she replied, "Being oone is no' so bad"
 
animadvert
vb (intr)
1. (usually foll by on or upon) to comment with strong criticism (upon); make censorious remarks (about)
2. to make an observation or comment
[from Latin animadvertere to notice, pay attention, from animus mind + advertere to turn to, from vertere to turn]

"a man . . . who animadverts on miserly patients, egocentric doctors, psychoanalysis and Lucky Luciano with evenhanded fervor" (Irwin Faust).
 
Back
Top