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Seldom-Used Words

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Cruel2BKind said:
'Fewmets'

Dragon shit
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my Dragon does not shit fewmets; that's for Deer.


fewmet /fjumt/ n. Also fumet. LME.
[(f. AN var. of) OFr. fumees (pl.), f. fumer (repr. L fimare) to dung.]

The excrement of a deer.

---------------------------------------------------------
Excerpted from Oxford Talking Dictionary
Copyright © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 
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Welcome, Cruel2BKind. I looked in my dictionary and there was no entry for fewmets, deer or dragon droppings. Prairie chips for buffalo turds always amused me. Oddly enough, even turd is not in my dictionary.

prest(1) - adj obs READY

prest(2) - noun 1. obs: a loan of money 2. obs: an advance on wages or on the cost of an undertaking
 
AllardChardon said:
Welcome, Cruel2BKind. I looked in my dictionary and there was no entry for fewmets, deer or dragon droppings. Prairie chips for buffalo turds always amused me. Oddly enough, even turd is not in my dictionary.

prest(1) - adj obs READY

prest(2) - noun 1. obs: a loan of money 2. obs: an advance on wages or on the cost of an undertaking
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Again, my darling unspouse, my dictionary has "turd" and, though not "prairie chip," it does have "cow pat." I definitely must find a new dictionary for you, perhaps as an unanniversary present.
 
Tio, that would be lovely. A new dictionary, I mean, but do not feel obligated. I always seem to have enough money for new lingerie, I suppose I could spring for a new dictionary at some point. How about cow pie? Is that in your dictionary? It is not in mine, of course.

press of sail - the fullest amount of sail that a ship can crowd on - called also press of canvas
 
AllardChardon said:
Og, so why the mistreatment of any troops, army or navy? Was it such a normal occurrence that no one complained until the 1930s?
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Army and Navy recruits were from the lowest of the low, those who had failed at anything else. They were illiterate and lacked basic skills. They were also recruited from prisons. Except for specialist units such as gunners and engineers it wasn't until the mass enlistments of the First World War that any kind of quality recruits were normal. After WW1, soldiers began to recruited as professionals and the improved intake became disillusioned with the terms and conditions.

The increased technology of warfare made the former recruits unsuitable. Troops had to educated, literate and technically competent. Those that met the new requirements were also articulate and less inclined to accept the role of their predecessors.

AllardChardon said:
Prester John - noun a legendary medieval Christian priest and king
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John Buchan wrote a good novel about Prester John.
 
Thanks, Og, I suspected as much. It seems the dregs of society were used for hard labor, no matter where, and lack of education was preferred. Soldiers and sailors in my lifetime have been people to look up to, to admire, actually. The American WWII forces had the most respect, and the Viet Nam Vets the least, but that was political in nature and not performance related. In my reading last night, the word infantry came up. Why infant I thought. So I looked it up in the etymology dictionary online.

infantry - 1570s, from French infantrie, from older Italain, Spanish infanteria "foot soldiers, force composed of those too inexperienced or low in rank for cavalry," from infante "foot soldier," originally "a youth," from Latin infantem (see infant). Meaning "infants collectively" is recorded from 1610s.

Once again, a word I have used without thinking about its origin or root. Infants in uniforms is the vision I see now, like the boys, who enlisted in the Civil War and killed someone, before they even had pubic hair.
 
AllardChardon said:
Thanks, Og, I suspected as much. It seems the dregs of society were used for hard labor, no matter where, and lack of education was preferred. Soldiers and sailors in my lifetime have been people to look up to, to admire, actually. The American WWII forces had the most respect, and the Viet Nam Vets the least, but that was political in nature and not performance related. In my reading last night, the word infantry came up. Why infant I thought. So I looked it up in the etymology dictionary online.

infantry - 1570s, from French infantrie, from older Italain, Spanish infanteria "foot soldiers, force composed of those too inexperienced or low in rank for cavalry," from infante "foot soldier," originally "a youth," from Latin infantem (see infant). Meaning "infants collectively" is recorded from 1610s.

Once again, a word I have used without thinking about its origin or root. Infants in uniforms is the vision I see now, like the boys, who enlisted in the Civil War and killed someone, before they even had pubic hair.
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Or, just as commonly, were killed by someone before they even had pubic hair...
 
Respected author - John Buchan

Og said it:


"John Buchan wrote a good novel about Prester John.[/QUOTE]"

He wrote several other good stories - "The Thirty-nine Steps" was my first encounter; I believe that I've read 'em all - several more than once." His character: John (?) Hannay was a favorite of mine.
 
oggbashan said:
Army and Navy recruits were from the lowest of the low, those who had failed at anything else. They were illiterate and lacked basic skills. They were also recruited from prisons. Except for specialist units such as gunners and engineers it wasn't until the mass enlistments of the First World War that any kind of quality recruits were normal. After WW1, soldiers began to recruited as professionals and the improved intake became disillusioned with the terms and conditions.

The increased technology of warfare made the former recruits unsuitable. Troops had to educated, literate and technically competent. Those that met the new requirements were also articulate and less inclined to accept the role of their predecessors.

.
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Reform took a long time Og. The Cardwell reforms of 1868-1874 banned flogging of soldiers as a punishment and banned the purchase of commissions..

My great uncle was at Invergordon during the navy mutiny (1931), though not directly involved he described the senior officers as criminally incompetant for the remainder of his life. He had just returned from 10 years continuous service in China during the Chinese civil war and thought the home admiralty completely out of touch.

Then later in 1942 another uncle, a private soldier in the Hussars was asked to apply for officer training. He was asked one question at his interview: "What is the source of your private income?"( It was assumed that any cavalry officer must have a substantial private income to be equal to his social tasks- winning the war was of lesser importance!) - His answer was unsatisfactory and he was sent back back to being a private soldier.

I think that the Flashman novels of George Macdonald Fraser capture the essence of the unreformed British Army.
 
ishtat said:
Reform took a long time Og...
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I know. My father was in the Admiralty. Progression in the Royal Navy from seaman to officer (aft through the hausehole) had been possible if difficult for hundreds of years. But the Navy needed professionals not gentlemen even if they preferred professionals who were also gentlemen (or who could be polished into an approximation of a gentleman).

The Army, particularly the cavalry and the Guards, wanted gentlemen of independent means. They were horrified by the uncouthness of the temporary officers of the First World War, and tried hard to eliminate them between the wars.

When I was interviewed for an officer post in the Civil Service, I had to attend a formal meal in evening wear. My behaviour was under observation. If I didn't know which implements to use and how to treat the mess staff - I'd have failed. But I'd grown up with that kind of thing, handing around nibbles at cocktail parties before I was ten; knowing when to stand for the loyal toast (always for the Army and RAF), never on board ship for the Navy); and of course how to give a loyal toast...

In the 1960s things began to change. Army non-commissioned officers' messes became more like officers' messes. Even army privates were taught how to handle a knife and fork.

The attitudes still persist. "Behaviour unfitting an officer and gentleman" is still heinous and ignorance is not an excuse. But now in Iraq and Afghanistan even ordinary soldiers and sailors are expected to behave in ways that do not offend local customs. That can be taught, but is hard for youngsters who had never known politeness and courtesy at home.

The modern UK soldier and sailor is nothing like the rough ignorant louts of earlier 19th C wars. But the authorities took far too long to recognise that as warfare became more technical, the troops changed too, and educated intelligent troops resent being treated like near-criminal peasantry.
 
That was very interesting, Ishtat and Og. I love learning new things, right here on this thread. Thank you for posting. One question, was it a usual practice for cavalry to have their own financial means? Did they have to provide their own horses, as well? I am curious about this because of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the noted cavalry officer of the Civil War. He was a very wealthy self-made man from humble beginnings.

press-gang - noun a detachment of men under command of an officer empowered to force men into military or naval service
 
When you get to the Cs, Allard, you should find this related and seldom-used word.

corvée noun. 1. (Originally feudal) A vassal's obligation to perform certain services for the lord or sovereign; 2. Unpaid labour performed as a tax obligation. Also called corvée labour.
 
AllardChardon said:
That was very interesting, Ishtat and Og. I love learning new things, right here on this thread. Thank you for posting. One question, was it a usual practice for cavalry to have their own financial means? Did they have to provide their own horses, as well? I am curious about this because of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the noted cavalry officer of the Civil War. He was a very wealthy self-made man from humble beginnings.

press-gang - noun a detachment of men under command of an officer empowered to force men into military or naval service
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Oh, my. Your time in Tennessee is showing.


There was a certain "romance" and "snobbery" attaching to the cavalry arm that tended to be reflected in its attraction for those who could supply their own horses and accoutrements. Wade Hampton and George Patton are examples of the phenomena in the U.S.


Patton hunted with a local pack between the World Wars.


 
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blue streak • n. (informal),
1. Something moving very fast.
2. A rapid and seemingly interminable stream of words: curse a blue streak.

As the Mexican guns began to fire the Americans noticed a curious phenomenon. Owing most probably to a combination of poor Mexican gunpowder and the rarefied mountain atmosphere, the enemy cannonballs left a blue streak behind them, often allowing Doniphan's men to dodge the danger. It struck the men as being so remarkable that afterward they began using the phrase "blue streak" to describe anything that had great speed or intensity, thus introducing a new expression into the common lexicon.
-Winston Groom
Kearney's March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847
New York, NY 2011​
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You never know what you're going to stumble into when reading. By the way, do you recognize the author?



 
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Thanks, Tio and Trysail for the info. Yes, between my anti-bellum tale and the historical sites I visited in Franklin, TN, I have become very interested in the Civil War. In learning more about John Singleton Mosby of Mosby's Raiders, I found out that he and the young Patton enjoyed re-enacting battles at his home in California, when Mosby worked for Patton's father in the Southern Pacific Railroad as a lawyer.

presentiment - noun a feeling that something will or is about to happen: PREMONITION
 
AllardChardon said:
press-gang - noun a detachment of men under command of an officer empowered to force men into military or naval service
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If you want to know more about naval press-gangs, see The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore, by J. R. Hutchinson. There is a free Kindle edition---and there is free Kindle software to read it on your computer with.

It's also available on-line from the Gutenberg Project.
 
oggbashan said:
I

The attitudes still persist. "Behaviour unfitting an officer and gentleman" is still heinous and ignorance is not an excuse. But now in Iraq and Afghanistan even ordinary soldiers and sailors are expected to behave in ways that do not offend local customs. That can be taught, but is hard for youngsters who had never known politeness and courtesy at home.
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I thought it was "Conduct unbecoming of an Officer and Gentleman"
 
Trysail, I just noticed your question about Winston Groom and no I have not heard of him. Kearney, yes. Was there some reason you asked?

Thanks Carlus for the tips.

presence of mind - self-control so maintained in an emergency or in an embarrassing situation that one can say and do the right thing
 
AllardChardon said:
Trysail, I just noticed your question about Winston Groom and no I have not heard of him. Kearney, yes. Was there some reason you asked?...
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Winston Groom may be the most famous author nobody's heard of.


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He was the author of Forrest Gump. When I picked up the book Kearney's March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847, it never occurred to me that's who the author was. It wasn't until I read the dust jacket notes that I remembered his name and recalled making the conscious effort a decade ago to find out who had come up with the unusual story that was the basis for that wonderful film.


It's always interesting to see a successful writer of fiction is capable of writing a most interesting work of non-fiction.


 
Trysail, thanks for that interesting bit of information about Winston Groom. That is something. Forrest Gump is so well-known and the creator, obscure. I have been watching Ken Burns' Civil War and became fascinated with Shelby Foote. In his case, his non-fiction narrative of the war was much more popular than his fiction.

presence chamber - noun the room where a great personage receives those entitled to come into his presence
 
A jolly weekend wish for you all;

prescind - verb to detach for purposes of thought ~ vi: to abstract or detach oneself
 
AllardChardon said:
press-gang - noun a detachment of men under command of an officer empowered to force men into military or naval service
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A related term, shanghai, of course refers as a verb to a similar practice in the West Coast ports of the USA. A few years ago I went on an interesting tour of cellars and underground passages in Portland Oregon used to shanghai drunken sailors to their destiny aboard ship.
 
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