Seldom-Used Words

[1sickbastard]

Dram-a unit of measure =1/16 of a fluid ounce avoirdupois
-a unit of apothecaries weight = 1/8 ounce
-a small drink of whiskey or brandy (I'll have a wee dram to quench me parched throat, if you dunna mind.)

[AllardChardon]

I like the way a word gains a suffix and morphs a bit, like this;

smarm - verb regional to spread with a greasy, sticky, or dirty substance

smarmy - adj affectedly and self-servingly earnest

[trysail]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

I like the way a word gains a suffix and morphs a bit, like this;

smarm - verb regional to spread with a greasy, sticky, or dirty substance

smarmy - adj affectedly and self-servingly earnest

oleaginous • adj. 1. Rich in, covered with, or producing oil; oily or greasy
2. Exaggeratedly and distastefully complimentary; obsequious.
■"Candidates made the usual oleaginous speeches in the debate."■


pinguid •adj., 1. Of the nature of or resembling fat; oily or greasy.


unctuous •adj. 1.(of a person) Excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily
■"He seemed anxious to please but not in an unctuous way."■
2.(chiefly of minerals) Having a greasy or soapy feel.




I apologize in advance, but smarmy always makes me think of oleaginous and pinguid and unctuous. It's almost Pavlovian. I think of Dickens' Uriah Heep and many of the snake oil salespeople and politicians it's been my misfortune to have encountered in the course of my travels; all I want to do is turn up my nose in disgust and get as far away from them as soon as possible.

[Weird Harold]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

I like the way a word gains a suffix and morphs a bit, like this;

smarm - verb regional to spread with a greasy, sticky, or dirty substance

smarmy - adj affectedly and self-servingly earnest

Interesting. Google doesn't turn up any reference to your definitionof Smarm -- attributing it to a back-fill from Smarmy:

Definitions of smarmy on the Web:

* buttery: unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech; "buttery praise"; "gave him a fulsome introduction"; "an oily sycophantic press agent"; "oleaginous hypocrisy"; "smarmy self-importance"; "the unctuous Uriah Heep"; "soapy compliments"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

* Falsely earnest, smug, or ingratiating
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smarmy

The same wordnetweb page also turns up for: buttery, fulsome, oily, oleaginous, smarmy, soapy, and unctuous

Strictly conjecture, here:

Your regional definiton refers to smearing grease, oil, etc on machinery; a dirty, nasty, job.

The worldnetweb page emphasizes the oily, unpleasant aspect of a personality or behavior.

So...

Smarmy, as an adjective, means something or someone who has been figuratively (and liberally) smeared with a nasty, smelly lubricant -- therefore "unpleasantly slick" (and probably unreliable since they need so much lubricant. )

[AllardChardon]

Yes, Harold, I came to the same conclusion. I just wish I knew which region smarm came from.

Here are three goodies in a row;

slug (3) - noun informal a self-indulgent person who spends time avoiding work or other useful activity

slugabed - noun same as above

sluggard - noun same as above

[1sickbastard]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Yes, Harold, I came to the same conclusion. I just wish I knew which region smarm came from.

Here are three goodies in a row;

slug (3) - noun informal a self-indulgent person who spends time avoiding work or other useful activity

slugabed - noun same as above

sluggard - noun same as above

in a similar vein-

Lolligagger

[MisterMuffin]

Bunkem...

[AllardChardon]

Morning, everyone. Here is one I have never encountered, but then I am not a sailor;

slue - verb to turn aside sharply from a straight course

[trysail]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Morning, everyone. Here is one I have never encountered, but then I am not a sailor;

slue - verb to turn aside sharply from a straight course

I've always heard it used in the second sense below, as in, "She'll slew about [ the mooring ]."

From the International Maritime Dictionary: An encyclopedic dictionary of useful maritime terms and phrases, together with equivalents in French and German ( 2nd edition ), compiled by Baron René de Kerchove ( New York, NY. 1961. 16th printing, 1983 ):

Slew. Also Slue. 1. To turn about a fixed point, as a spar, derrick, and so on.
2. To yaw from side to side while at anchor or being towed.

[1sickbastard]

If we're going nautical-

scupper- small openning in a ships bulwark allowing water to drain from the deck.
- on openning on a roof which allows ater to drain

[Weird Harold]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Morning, everyone. Here is one I have never encountered, but then I am not a sailor;

slue - verb to turn aside sharply from a straight course

Intersting turn of a search -- Related searches: Slue-foot Sue

From the Wikipedia page on Pecos Bill
After a courtship with Slue-Foot Sue where, among other things, Pecos Bill shoots all the stars from the sky, except for one which becomes the Lone Star, he proposes to Sue who insisted on riding Widow-Maker sometime before, during or after the wedding depending on variations in the story. Widow-Maker, jealous of no longer having Bill's undivided attention, bounces Sue off, who lands on her bustle which begins bouncing her higher and higher, eventually hitting her head on the moon following a failed attempt to lasso her because Window-Maker didn't want her on his back again. After Slue-Foot Sue had been bouncing for days, Pecos Bill realized that she would starve to death, so he lassoed her with the rattlesnake and brought her back down. Though it is said that Bill was married many times (but never liked them as much as Sue, and not even their relationships had worked out), Widow-Maker knew what he did to her was wrong so he apologized. Bowman's version of the story are more congenial, with Sue eventually recovering from the bounces, but so traumatized by the experience she flicks off cowboys and Bill.

That turn of search leads to:

Fakelore

Pseudo-folklore or Fakelore is inauthentic, manufactured folklore presented as if it were genuinely traditional. The term can refer to new stories or songs made up, or to folklore that is reworked and modified for modern tastes. The element of misrepresentation is central; artists who draw on traditional stories in their work are not producing fakelore unless they claim that their creations are real folklore.

[1sickbastard]

Originally Posted by Weird Harold

Intersting turn of a search -- Related searches: Slue-foot Sue



That turn of search leads to:

Fakelore

Pseudo-folklore or Fakelore is inauthentic, manufactured folklore presented as if it were genuinely traditional. The term can refer to new stories or songs made up, or to folklore that is reworked and modified for modern tastes. The element of misrepresentation is central; artists who draw on traditional stories in their work are not producing fakelore unless they claim that their creations are real folklore.

Yes, but can fakelore turn into real folklore?

[AllardChardon]

Harold, except for Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe, Pecos Bill has always occupied a special place in my heart along with Widow-maker and Slue Foot Sue. These two are my favorite Tall Tales that Walt Disney brought into my home through the wonders of early TV. Thanks for the trip down memory row!

I only knew of this next word as a disgusting food, which is not one of these entries;

slop - verb 1. to walk heavily, slowly and with difficulty 2. to take on or move with an awkward, slovenly posture 3. to hurl or scatter liquid upon

[Weird Harold]

Originally Posted by 1sickbastard

Yes, but can fakelore turn into real folklore?

No.

It can become popular and Disneyfied, but it will still only be a Tall Tale invented for profit, not true Folklore.

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

...my favorite Tall Tales that Walt Disney brought into my home through the wonders of early TV. Thanks for the trip down memory row!

Growing up in a Lumber town, I sort of knew about Paul Bunyan before Disney got to him, but Disney got to him whenI was so young it's hard to say for sure. IIRC, Paul Bunyan is one of those tall tales that include both folklore and fakelore in the whole package. The Folklore about Paul Bunyan pretty much stops at the Mississippi, most of the tales that take him west of the Mississippi are Fakelore (added to the legend in 1936 or so by Glen Rounds.)

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

I only knew of this next word as a disgusting food, which is not one of these entries;

slop - verb 1. to walk heavily, slowly and with difficulty 2. to take on or move with an awkward, slovenly posture 3. to hurl or scatter liquid upon

The bolded definitions below are (generally) rural usages, but probably predate the urban-ish definition you think of first.

slop 1 (slp)
n.
1. Spilled or splashed liquid.
2. Soft mud or slush.
3. Unappetizing watery food or soup.
4. Waste food used to feed pigs or other animals; swill. Often used in the plural.
5. Mash remaining after alcohol distillation. Often used in the plural.
6. Human excrement. Often used in the plural.
7. Repulsively effusive writing or speech; drivel.
v. slopped, slop·ping, slops
v.intr.
1. To be spilled or splashed: Suds slopped over the rim of the washtub.
2. To spill over; overflow.
3. To walk heavily or messily in or as if in mud; plod: "He slopped along in broken slippers, hands in pockets, whistling" (Alan Sillitoe).
4. To express oneself effusively; gush.
v.tr.
1. To spill (liquid).
2. To spill liquid on.
3. To serve unappetizingly or clumsily; dish out: slopped some lasagna onto his plate.
4. To feed slops to (animals): slopped the hogs.

[Middle English sloppe, a muddy place, perhaps from Old English *sloppe, dung, slime; see sleubh- in Indo-European roots.]
slop 2 (slp)
n.
1. slops Articles of clothing and bedding issued or sold to sailors.
2. slops Short full trousers worn in the 16th century.
3. A loose outer garment, such as a smock or overalls.
4. slops Chiefly British Cheap, ready-made garments.
[Middle English sloppe, a kind of garment, from Old English -slop (in oferslop, surplice; see sleubh- in Indo-European roots).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Slop is an amazingly versatile word.

[oggbashan]

Originally Posted by Weird Harold

...

That turn of search leads to:

Fakelore

Pseudo-folklore or Fakelore is inauthentic, manufactured folklore presented as if it were genuinely traditional. The term can refer to new stories or songs made up, or to folklore that is reworked and modified for modern tastes. The element of misrepresentation is central; artists who draw on traditional stories in their work are not producing fakelore unless they claim that their creations are real folklore.

Urban Myths are Fakelore.

So is most modern Witchcraft, having been invented during my lifetime.

When Og was young, witches knew their stuff and didn't have to invent it.

Og

[AllardChardon]

Thank you, Harold, for all the information on slop, an amazing little word that means so much.

This one reminds me of the Old West;

slipshod - adj 1. indifferent to correctness, accuracy or neatness 2. marked by an absence of cleanliness and order

[AllardChardon]

Sorry

[1sickbastard]

ergatocracy-rule by the workers

[Weird Harold]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

Thank you, Harold, for all the information on slop, an amazing little word that means so much.

This one reminds me of the Old West;

slipshod - adj 1. indifferent to correctness, accuracy or neatness 2. marked by an absence of cleanliness and order

If you were thinking of poorly made horseshoes, you'd be wrong:

slipshod Look up slipshod at Dictionary.com
1570s, "wearing slippers or loose shoes," from slip (v.) + shod "wearing shoes." Sense of "slovenly, careless" is from 1815.

[SlickTony]

Niggardly



[nig-erd-lee] Show IPA
–adjective
1.
reluctant to give or spend; stingy; miserly.
2.
meanly or ungenerously small or scanty: a niggardly tip to a waiter.
–adverb
3.
in the manner of a niggard.
Origin:
1520–30; niggard + -ly

—Related forms
nig·gard·li·ness, noun

—Synonyms
1. penurious, miserly, mean, tight, avaricious, mercenary, illiberal, close. 2. poor.

—Antonyms
1. generous.

A word frequently encountered in old books, but nowadays, hardly used at all, especially since a few years ago some black person encountered it and made all kinds of fuss, even though there is no etymological relationship between this word and the N word. People tried and tried and tried to 'splain it to her.

[Xelebes]

Ryse or Rise = a mountain troll.

[Xelebes]

Hypostyle - the pillars that support the floor above.

On a souring hypostyle means that what is being propped up is about to fall, I guess.

[SlickTony]

hy·po·caust   
[hahy-puh-kawst, hip-uh-] Show IPA
–noun

a hollow space or system of channels in the floor or walls of some ancient Roman buildings that provided a central heating system by receiving and distributing the heat from a furnace.

Origin:
1670–80; < L hypocaustum < Gk hypókauston room heated from below, equiv. to hypo- hypo- + kaustón, neut. of kaustós (verbal adj.) heated, burned; see caustic

[AllardChardon]

Harold, I did think slipshod had to do with horse shoes. Thanks for clearing that up.

SlickTony, I have a radiant heating system in my home that works the same way as the Roman version, I am sure. And thanks for posting niggardly with the true definition. I thought it was related to the N word myself, even though I don't use it in speech for that very reason.

sliddery - adj so smooth and glassy as to offer insecure hold or footing

Black ice is sliddery.

[Weird Harold]

Originally Posted by AllardChardon

sliddery - adj so smooth and glassy as to offer insecure hold or footing

Black ice is sliddery.

I'm not sure Scottish dialect counts as an English word.

The only references I could find for Sliddery == Slippery (and not a place name) was in Scottish Literature, like:

The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott