Seldom-Used Words

[oggbashan]

This is a perpend vent, to allow air to circulate inside a cavity wall.

[AllardChardon]

Very interesting, Og. Thanks for the link, of course. I remember seeing larger bricks stick out on both sides of a wall before, but never knew its name or purpose, other than decoration. So many features of architecture are essential, as well as beautiful. The arch has always held a certain level of fascination for me. I understand how it works, I am just amazed that it does.

perorate - vi 1. to deliver a long and grandiloquent oration: DECLAIM 2. to make a peroration

[NaokoSmith]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

But I knew that some Welsh beers were better than others.

Most Welsh beers are surprisingly awful. The one exception we've found is any Wye Valley ale. My fella is particularly badly affected by this since he's a Black Country lad, brought up on Banks's Mild and a tradition that means you don't just seek out the best beer but the pub that pulls a pint of it best.

We had one bottle of Brains S.A. Gold lying around the house for months, which even he wouldn't drink, even when he'd come home in the early hours with some mates and they'd already finished off my whisky on a previous occasion. My daughter and I tried to make a slug trap with it but the slugs also turned their slimy noses up at it.

Pindaric Ode - form of sung poem in the style of the 5th century BC Greek lyrist Pindar.

Pindar's odes.

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by NaokoSmith

Most Welsh beers are surprisingly awful. The one exception we've found is any Wye Valley ale. My fella is particularly badly affected by this since he's a Black Country lad, brought up on Banks's Mild and a tradition that means you don't just seek out the best beer but the pub that pulls a pint of it best.

We had one bottle of Brains S.A. Gold lying around the house for months, which even he wouldn't drink, even when he'd come home in the early hours with some mates and they'd already finished off my whisky on a previous occasion. My daughter and I tried to make a slug trap with it but the slugs also turned their slimy noses up at it.

...

During that fortnight in the early 1960s I and my colleagues found that the most important factor that decided whether a particular Welsh beer was worth drinking, was the skill of the landlord in storing the beer and pulling it correctly. The name of the brewer was less significant.

But I had an unfortunate experience one Christmas in Dorset. Almost every public house in Bridport was owned by one brewer whose bitter produced the dreaded runs in anyone not used to it. The few other pubs had very gassy beer with a strong metallic taste.

After a few days the runs subsided and the beer was palatable, but I wouldn't want to repeat the initiation.

One thing struck us on Christmas Eve. My cousin and I were in a crowded bar. I had gone to the bar to get refills when he decided he would like a packet of crisps. He shouted to me, I turned around and saw him clearly. The two of us, at over six feet tall, were at least a head taller than all the locals. In the London suburbs neither of us were remarkably tall. In Bridport that Christmas we were giants.

I still have the feeling that I'm a giant when I visit my big brother in rural Suffolk. I rarely walk through the village but when I do I am recognised as one of my brother's relations. He, his wife, their children and partners, and their grandchildren are the tallest family in the village by a considerable margin, so I must be a relative. My 'little' niece is only five feet ten in her bare feet. My nephews are six feet seven.

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by NaokoSmith

...

Pindaric Ode - form of sung poem in the style of the 5th century BC Greek lyrist Pindar.

Pindarics are supposed to be based on Pindar's Odes but are in fact a misunderstanding. Pindarics are irregular odes with a loose structure.

Pindar's Odes were actually very formal and precise.

[AllardChardon]

Og, your great height must be supported by rather large feet, as you have eluded to, and therefore very hard to find socks that fit, pervious or otherwise. LOL

pernicious - adj 1. highly injurious or destructive: DEADLY 2. archaic: WICKED

[CarlusMagnus]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

By the end of the evening the least drunk of us, usually me, had to drive us back to our hotel, which was also a public house. As residents, closing time didn't apply to us. We would stagger off to bed about 3 am and be back underground by 9am for another day's training

Sobriety being its own punishment, you got a double dose.

[Rapt_Attention]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Og, your great height must be supported by rather large feet, as you have eluded to, and therefore very hard to find socks that fit, pervious or otherwise. LOL

pernicious - adj 1. highly injurious or destructive: DEADLY 2. archaic: WICKED

I adore this word...don't ask why...

but my favorite word, sometimes used in science circles

endoplasmic reticulum

/ˌendōˈplazmik riˈtikyələm/
Noun
A network of membranous tubules within the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell, continuous with the nuclear membrane. It usually has ribosome...

I love the way the constants roll off the tongue...

[NaokoSmith]

Originally Posted by oggbashan

During that fortnight in the early 1960s I and my colleagues found that the most important factor that decided whether a particular Welsh beer was worth drinking, was the skill of the landlord in storing the beer and pulling it correctly. The name of the brewer was less significant.

Landlord skill is supreme, it is the truth!

Going on the thread asking for help with a term an incestuous Dad might use for bribing his daughter not to do tattoos, I was reminded of these local terms (which aren't in the proper alphabetical order, sorry! but you've already done S's and W's).

Slag tag - tattoo just below the trouser line on the back. TXRad informs me it's known as 'tramp stamp' in the States.
Wotsit - cheesy orange puffed corn snack, used in the Welsh Valleys to designate women with fake tan swanning about thinking alot of themselves

Rapt_Attention: my favorite word, sometimes used in science circles

endoplasmic reticulum

/ˌendōˈplazmik riˈtikyələm/

I love scientific sounding words too. I specialise in qualitative research methods and sometimes I think I don't develop my quantitative skills better because I love to not understand and hear someone say: Fish tail or

Pearson's correlation - "A Pearson's correlation is used when you want to find a linear relationship between two variables. It can be used in a causal as well as a associative research hypothesis but it can't be used with a attributive RH because it is univariate."

Oh excuse me, I have to go and lie down quietly now !

[Handley_Page]

If we are going to dabble in scientific stuff, I hereby commend the word Pentode.

It's a kind of electronic valve (that's 'tube' to the USA), with a variety of abilities, particularly 'amplification', and it features five components in the glass bottle.
See LINK.

[AllardChardon]

Hello, everyone. Thanks for the interesting posts. I do love to read and learn about new things on this thread.

per mensem - adv by the month

[NaokoSmith]

Out of alphabetical order but too fab to hold onto.

Gynotikolobomassophile

[Handley_Page]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Hello, everyone. Thanks for the interesting posts. I do love to read and learn about new things on this thread.

per mensem - adv by the month

in line with per diem (per day) and/or per annum [year], ?

[NaokoSmith]

May we also have perennial? As in the perennial pleasures provided by this thread?

I grew a biannual once from seed, a magnificent hollyhock. I was awfully proud of it.

[Handley_Page]

Originally Posted by NaokoSmith

May we also have perennial? As in the perennial pleasures provided by this thread?

I grew a biannual once from seed, a magnificent hollyhock. I was awfully proud of it.

you can send me some seeds; if you want to [I love these plants]

[NaokoSmith]

Originally Posted by Handley_Page

you can send me some seeds; if you want to [I love these plants]

I love them too! I wrote a blogpost on my not-naughty blog about them:
http://www.anthropologicalmum.blogsp...k-success.html

These are creme-de-cassis hollyhocks. I think I still have some seeds, although a bit old now, which I would be delighted to send you. I bought them from Thompson & Morgan's.

My friend wrote on my blogpost how much he loves geraniums, the seeds of which remind him of old men's testicles! Mind you, he is the sort of guy who likes men's testicles, not necessarily old men's. In a drunken fit I put up a post about my partner's mate and colleague, who is very good-looking but strangely unconfident and whom I have to give a kicking to every so often in my kitchen and tell to go out and find a good woman to love him. My geranium-loving pal saw his profile picture and snapped in a speedy comment - first time I've ever seen anyone make a pass at someone-else on Facebook! ROFL!

[AllardChardon]

Just for the record, I love the bulbs, all types. They are so designer-friendly. You dig them out in late spring/early summer and plant them again before the snow, and next spring, you just sit back and enjoy the show.

permanent magnet - noun a magnet that retains its magnetism after removal of the magnetizing force

[NaokoSmith]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Just for the record, I love the bulbs, all types. They are so designer-friendly. You dig them out in late spring/early summer and plant them again before the snow, and next spring, you just sit back and enjoy the show.

permanent magnet - noun a magnet that retains its magnetism after removal of the magnetizing force

Our bulbs are just starting to come up. I remembered to plant lots last autumn so I'm awaiting this year's display hopeful of a good show. My ambition is to do one of those big pots where you have three layers of different bulbs and they come up at different times: daffodils, tulips and something-else.

Pyrotechnics -
1. The art of manufacturing or setting off fireworks. Also called pyrotechny.
2. A fireworks display.
3. A brilliant display, as of rhetoric or wit, or of virtuosity in the performing arts.

I think we may fairly say we are all pyrotechnists on here.


(Banana exhibiting brilliant dancing display.)

[AllardChardon]

Naoko, I forgot to say that even though I love to have my earlobes nibbled, I sincerely doubt I will ever call the nibbler by the name you posted. That one is a mouthful and a half.

perk - vi 1.a to thrust up the head, stretch out hte neck, or carry the body in a bold or insolent manner b. to stick up or out jauntily 2. to gain in vigor or cheerfulness esp. after a period of weakness or depression - usu. used with up vt: 1. to make smart or spruce in appearance: FRESHEN 2. to thrust up quickly or impudently

[AllardChardon]

I did exactly the same kind of bulb planting last year. We have moles, gophers, and ground squirrels, who would love to dine on my bulbs during the winter, but container pots keep them out, thank goodness. I have found holes under my pots, though, to show their persistence.

peri-style - noun 1. a colonnade surrounding a building or court 2. an open space enclosed by a colonnade

[NaokoSmith]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Naoko, I forgot to say that even though I love to have my earlobes nibbled, I sincerely doubt I will ever call the nibbler by the name you posted. That one is a mouthful and a half.

perk - vi 1.a to thrust up the head, stretch out hte neck, or carry the body in a bold or insolent manner b. to stick up or out jauntily 2. to gain in vigor or cheerfulness esp. after a period of weakness or depression - usu. used with up vt: 1. to make smart or spruce in appearance: FRESHEN 2. to thrust up quickly or impudently

I'm sure your lovely little earlobes are not a mouthful and a half! whatever sweet things you call the lucky person who gets to nibble them.

I love to read the regular gardening column in the Financial Times Weekend. Robin Lane Fox complains on a regular basis about the pests in his garden, especially his badger. He's an Old Etonian fox-hunting Classics Don at an Oxford college who lives in a former rectory. I remember when he said a flower called Tory Blue was doing well just before the last election, I wrote afterwards to enquire if it still did well in a hanging basket but he didn't reply . Occasionally he says something so old-fashioned about the ladies that the editors have to rush down and slap his wrists with a dibber.

Peri-style, that's a super one!

Peridot - green stone with a hint of gold in it, perfect for your light summer wardrobe.

[trysail]

Originally Posted by NaokoSmith

...I love to read the regular gardening column in the Financial Times Weekend. Robin Lane Fox complains on a regular basis about the pests in his garden, especially his badger. He's an Old Etonian fox-hunting Classics Don at an Oxford college who lives in a former rectory. I remember when he said a flower called Tory Blue was doing well just before the last election, I wrote afterwards to enquire if it still did well in a hanging basket but he didn't reply . Occasionally he says something so old-fashioned about the ladies that the editors have to rush down and slap his wrists with a dibber.

I have a couple of Fox' books, including Alexander The Great and 1980's The Search For Alexander. I am a little surprised but delighted, of course, to learn that he's still alive.






dibber also dibble

1. n., a small, hand-held, pointed implement for making holes in soil for planting seedlings, bulbs, etc.

2. v., (used with object) to make a hole (in the ground) with or as if with a dibber.

3. to set (plants) in holes made with a dibber.

4. v. (used without object) to work with a dibber.



Origin:
1325–75; late Middle English, perhaps akin to dib

[NaokoSmith]

Originally Posted by trysail

I have a couple of Fox' books, including Alexander The Great and 1980's The Search For Alexander. I am a little surprised but delighted, of course, to learn that he's still alive.

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Oh absolutely! Alive and kicking. Quite a lot. He does a weekly article in the FT Weekend and is still in charge of the college gardens too. He often rants about the fox hunting ban, people who try to do organic gardening and his badger in the pink pages. Last week's was a surprisingly boring account of a mound of earth in the college gardens but he's usually very sound on planting advice.



PS Are you going to be Catwoman?

[AllardChardon]

Dibbler for planting seedlings is totally new to me. Thanks for the education.

perique - noun a strong-favored Louisiana tobacco used in smoking mixtures

[NaokoSmith]

Dibblers look really and gardenerish but I actually find it easier to dig out a small cone of earth with a long trowel for bulb-planting. I have a really great proper bulb planting trowel which I fight my daughter for when we do bulb planting, the loser ending up with the dibbler.

Pastiche
1. an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist, or period:
2. an artistic work consisting of a medley of pieces imitating various sources:
verb
[with object]
imitate the style of (an artist or work):
Origin: late 19th century: from French, from Italian pasticcio, based on late Latin pasta 'paste'

Sort of 19th century Cut and Paste.