Seldom Used Words (Cont'd)

[AllardChardon]

Og, thank you for explaining the difference between the two words and what it meant socially to be labeled as such. Not a word to be used lightly.

The last two definitions of this word surprised me;

nick(2) - vt 1. to make a nick in: NOTCH, CHIP 2. to jot down: RECORD 3. to cut short 4. to catch at the right point or time 5. CHEAT, OVERCHARGE ~ vi 1. to make petty attacks: SNIPE 2. to complement one another genetically and produce superior offspring

 

[Handley_Page]

Og, thank you for explaining the difference between the two words and what it meant socially to be labeled as such. Not a word to be used lightly.

The last two definitions of this word surprised me;

nick(2) - vt
1. to make a nick in: NOTCH, CHIP
2. to jot down: RECORD
3. to cut short
4. to catch at the right point or time
5. CHEAT, OVERCHARGE
~ vi
1. to make petty attacks: SNIPE
2. to complement one another genetically and produce superior offspring

It's also a slang term meaning you've been caught by the Police or similar authority. ("You're nicked" or "I got nicked").

 

[AllardChardon]

Yes, Handley, I think that is what is implied in 4.

I use this word more often in the 2.a. definition sense and forgot completely about its first one;

niche - noun 1.a. a recess in a wall esp for a statue b. something that resembles a niche 2.a. a place, employment, or activity for which a person is best fitted b. a habitat supplying the factors necessary for the existence of an organism or species

 

[AllardChardon]

Hello everyone,

Here is another word that I seldom use with more meanings than I realized;

nicety - noun 1. the quality or state of being nice 2. an elegant or civilized feature 3. a fine point or distinction: SUBLETY 4. delicate exactness: PRECISION 5. FASTIDIOUSNESS

 

[AllardChardon]

Hello my fellow posters and a good day to you;

Here is a cute and unknown word to me;

nice-nelly - adj (often cap 2d N) 1. PRUDISH 2. EUPHEMISTIC

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Hello my fellow posters and a good day to you;

Here is a cute and unknown word to me;

nice-nelly - adj (often cap 2d N) 1. PRUDISH 2. EUPHEMISTIC

I think it was Robert Heinlein who observed (well... one of his characters observed) that such a person is probably the descendant of a long line of maiden aunts.

 

[AllardChardon]

Carlus, how can anyone descend from a maiden aunt, unless they were immaculately conceived? But that is the joke, isn't it? And one worthy of Heinlein's ingenious mind. Thanks for adding it. I may use that one in the future to describe a prude or two in my neighborhood.

nibs - noun (plural but sing or plural in construction) an important or self-important person - usually used in the phrase his nibs

 

[Tio_Narratore]

I was always under the impression that the term came from cribbage, where the dealer would score two points for "his nibs" if the starter card were a Jack. Perhaps, though, it's the other way around.
Let's not forget the candies, red and black licorice, called "Nibs;" there's also been a lot of strange things written about them.

 

[AllardChardon]

Tio, I am not sure which came first with "his nibs". It's a good question, though.

niblick - noun an iron golf club with a wide deeply slanted face - also called number nine iron

 

[AllardChardon]

It's Ground Hog's Day here in America and Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, saw his shadow and there will be another 6 weeks of winter. I hope California gets some more rain during the extended winter, because it has been brutally dry this year.

And it's Super Bowl Sunday. With the 49ers out of the running, I have mixed feeling about who to root for today.

I hope everyone has a pleasant Sunday, regardless.

Nibelung - noun 1. a member of a race of dwarves in Germanic legend owning a hoard and ring taken from them by Siegfried 2. any of the followers of Siegfried 3. any of the Burgundian kings in the medieval German Nibelungenlied

 

[Handley_Page]

Tio, I am not sure which came first with "his nibs". It's a good question, though.

niblick - noun an iron golf club with a wide deeply slanted face - also called number nine iron

Actually, I think it's a No 7.
See here.

 

[AllardChardon]

Handley, that is odd. My dictionary says it is a nine iron. I wonder if it changed from the seven to the nine at some point. Thanks for correcting my entry, but the link didn't work, for some reason.

nib - noun [prob. alter. of neb] 1. BILL, BEAK 2.a. the sharpened point of a quill pen b. a pen point 3. a small pointed or projecting part

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Handley, that is odd. My dictionary says it is a nine iron. I wonder if it changed from the seven to the nine at some point. Thanks for correcting my entry, but the link didn't work, for some reason.

nib - noun [prob. alter. of neb] 1. BILL, BEAK 2.a. the sharpened point of a quill pen b. a pen point 3. a small pointed or projecting part

Wikipedia gives mashie niblick for the seven-iron, niblick for the nine-iron:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsolete_golf_clubs

 

[Handley_Page]

Handley, that is odd. My dictionary says it is a nine iron. I wonder if it changed from the seven to the nine at some point. Thanks for correcting my entry, but the link didn't work, for some reason.

nib - noun [prob. alter. of neb] 1. BILL, BEAK 2.a. the sharpened point of a quill pen b. a pen point 3. a small pointed or projecting part

try here:

 

[AllardChardon]

Quite educational, gentlemen, and the part I like best on that link was;

Sabbath sticks:

Sunday or Sabbath sticks were the golf enthusiasts' answer to the Church of Scotland's discouraging golfing on Sundays. Clubs were disguised as walking sticks, the club head comfortably fitting in the palm of the golfer's hand, until feeling unobserved, the stick was reversed and a few strokes were played.

I will post another word in a little bit.

 

[AllardChardon]

The day got away from me, but here I am for another go-round;

next friend - noun a person admitted to or appointed by a court to act for the benefit of an infant, a married woman, or a person not sui juris

 

[oggbashan]

The day got away from me, but here I am for another go-round;

next friend - noun a person admitted to or appointed by a court to act for the benefit of an infant, a married woman, or a person not sui juris

The usual term is a Guardian Ad Litem.

What that person does varies according to the legal definition in the UK and US, and even varies within the UK with different laws in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

 

[AllardChardon]

Thanks, Og, for the explanation. We have a similar thing here, but the person is called an advocate, not a next friend.

I am going to post a word from the last entry and a companion word from the dictionary;

sui juris - adj having full legal rights or capacity

sui generis - adj constituting a class alone: UNIQUE, PECULIAR

 

[oggbashan]

A rank as an aside.

I recently won a Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on eBay, which is TWO volumes.

The seller, a secondhand bookshop, sent only Volume Two. When I protested, they refunded my PayPal payment including the postage cost.

They've LOST Volume One!!!

Not in transit - it's somewhere in their warehouse.

So now I have a 1930s Shorter Oxford (which was just one volume) and Volume 2 (which includes the Addendum) of the 1970s Shorter, and only Volume 1 of 4 of the Oxford Dictionary of American English on Historical Principals.

I have ordered another 2 Volume set of the 1970s Shorter, but the four volumes of American English would cost me over £100 plus about £25 postage. American English will have to wait...

 

[CarlusMagnus]

I recently won a Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on eBay, which is TWO volumes.

The seller, a secondhand bookshop, sent only Volume Two. When I protested, they refunded my PayPal payment including the postage cost.

They've LOST Volume One!!!

Not in transit - it's somewhere in their warehouse.

So now I have a 1930s Shorter Oxford (which was just one volume) and Volume 2 (which includes the Addendum) of the 1970s Shorter, and only Volume 1 of 4 of the Oxford Dictionary of American English on Historical Principals.

I have ordered another 2 Volume set of the 1970s Shorter, but the four volumes of American English would cost me over £100 plus about £25 postage. American English will have to wait...

Next time you upgrade your computer, get a Mac. It comes with the New Oxford American Dictionary installed---or, at least, my machines (three of them) all did.

 

[oggbashan]

Next time you upgrade your computer, get a Mac. It comes with the New Oxford American Dictionary installed---or, at least, my machines (three of them) all did.

Thanks, but that's not the same.

The four volume Oxford Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles details the first use of each word in print with quotations.

It is an academic work, not a dictionary of current American.

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Thanks, but that's not the same.

The four volume Oxford Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles details the first use of each word in print with quotations.

It is an academic work, not a dictionary of current American.

That is, indeed, a horse of another color.

 

[oggbashan]

That is, indeed, a horse of another color.

color- from the volume I have 'A- Cornpatch' - also colour, culler.

7 definitions and 10 sub-definitions

One example:
1 b. of a ship 1654 JOHNSON Wonder-w Prov 71 'All of a sudden they spy two tall Ships, whose colours shewed them to be some forrein Nation.' 1707 Boston News-Letter 21 July 2/2 'Captain Burton ... was Chased by a great Flyboat without any colours.' 1836 Diplom. Corr. Texas (1908) I. 115 'She is, to be sure, to sail under American Colors.'

 

[CarlusMagnus]

color- from the volume I have 'A- Cornpatch' - also colour, culler.

7 definitions and 10 sub-definitions

One example:
1 b. of a ship 1654 JOHNSON Wonder-w Prov 71 'All of a sudden they spy two tall Ships, whose colours shewed them to be some forrein Nation.' 1707 Boston News-Letter 21 July 2/2 'Captain Burton ... was Chased by a great Flyboat without any colours.' 1836 Diplom. Corr. Texas (1908) I. 115 'She is, to be sure, to sail under American Colors.'

No—a horse of another color. Not a horse under other colors. The latter might be, say, a mule.

 

[oggbashan]

No—a horse of another color. Not a horse under other colors. The latter might be, say, a mule.

Or a ringer - a horse substituted in a race for the one supposed to be running.

Edited for: I can't find the reference to horse of another color because that would be under 'horse' in Volume 2 - that I don't have.