Seldom-used words - M to A

[CarlusMagnus]

Og, as soon as I read the word, I wondered if it had been rhymed with toil and maybe even boil, since they seemed to go together. Boil, boil, toil and trouble also came immediately to mind. Seems like the author missed adding moil to the mix.

In Appalachia, the word moil is likely to be pronounced mile, just as boil is pronounced bile, and poison is pronounced pie-zon, etc. The very interesting thing about this is than many of the people who routinely use such pronunciation, replacing the "oi" sound with "i", know that this pronunciation is wrong. Thus, when these people are trying to sound "educated," they are likely to speak of the "toil" on bathroom walls or floors, or even the British "Oils".

 

[Handley_Page]

In Appalachia, the word moil is likely to be pronounced mile, just as boil is pronounced bile, and poison is pronounced pie-zon, etc. The very interesting thing about this is than many of the people who routinely use such pronunciation, replacing the "oi" sound with "i", know that this pronunciation is wrong. Thus, when these people are trying to sound "educated," they are likely to speak of the "toil" on bathroom walls or floors, or even the British "Oils".

You mean, in the same way as we hear (?) a Bronx (?) Goil for Girl ?

 

[AllardChardon]

Carlus, that is most interesting and something I never knew, even though I drove through the Appalachians last November. British "Oils", how humorous, without trying to be.

Mohock - noun one of a gang of aristocratic ruffians who assaulted and otherwise maltreated people in London streets in the early 18th century

 

[Handley_Page]

Carlus, that is most interesting and something I never knew, even though I drove through the Appalachians last November. British "Oils", how humorous, without trying to be.

Mohock - noun one of a gang of aristocratic ruffians who assaulted and otherwise maltreated people in London streets in the early 18th century

I wonder if there's a connection between Mohock and Mohawk ?

 

[Handley_Page]

In Appalachia, the word moil is likely to be pronounced mile, just as boil is pronounced bile, and poison is pronounced pie-zon, etc. The very interesting thing about this is than many of the people who routinely use such pronunciation, replacing the "oi" sound with "i", know that this pronunciation is wrong. Thus, when these people are trying to sound "educated," they are likely to speak of the "toil" on bathroom walls or floors, or even the British "Oils".

How very Irish-sounding

 

[AllardChardon]

Yes, Handley, my dictionary says it is a variation of Mohawk.

Mohism - noun the teachings of Mo Ti characterized by an emphasis on egalitarian universal love and opposition to traditionalism and Confuscianism

 

[AllardChardon]

Good day, posters, it will be a long, busy one for me.

Another fabric word for Naoko, which happens to be one of my favs;

mohair - noun a fabric or yarn made wholly or in part of the long silky hair of the Angora goat; also: this hair

 

[ControllingKink]

mageira: A woman's sublimination of sexual desire through cooking.

I guess this gives new meaning to a multi-course meal. I'm not sure why this sublimination is restricted to women; perhaps men subliminate through eating.

 

[AllardChardon]

ControllingKink, finally someone tells me the reason why I love to cook so much. LOL But, really I think it has as much to do with loving to eat good food as anything else. Great word regardless.

mog - vi to move away; also: JOG

 

[Handley_Page]

ControllingKink, finally someone tells me the reason why I love to cook so much. LOL But, really I think it has as much to do with loving to eat good food as anything else. Great word regardless.

mog - vi to move away; also: JOG

Over here, the word Mog is an abbreviation of Moggy, meaning a Cat.

 

[oggbashan]

...

mog - vi to move away; also: JOG

Historical Slang

mog A lie 1848

moggy 1 An untidily dressed woman from circa 1880; 2. A cat Cockney late C19 onwards (also mog).

[It is my understanding that the words moggy or mog (for cat) are used to describe a cat of indeterminate parentage as distinct from a cat of pedigree. Our cats have always been recorded on our animal clinic's records as 'domestic moggy'.]

 

[AllardChardon]

Handley and Og, thanks for the additional information on mog/moggy for cat, which I have never heard before, of course.

I like the sound of this next word;

mofette or moffette - noun a vent in the earth from which carbon dioxide and some nitrogen and oxygen issue

Some time ago, Og posted the name of a well or spring, where oracles went to receive messages from the other side, I can't remember which one, but I think it was in Greece. I also remember that there were gases emitting from that cave that could have added to the fits of the oracles during the mediation. So, my thinking is, that cave might have been a mofette.

 

[Handley_Page]

Would that be the oracle at Delphi ?

 

[oggbashan]

Would that be the oracle at Delphi ?

Pythia, otherwise the Oracle at Delphi, is still exercising scholar's imaginations:

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

Pythia was not the only 'inspired' oracle of ancient times, but the most well known.

 

[AllardChardon]

Oh yes, Og, thanks for the refresher. Such a famous oracle, I am amazed she slipped my mind. I only remembered the picture of the female oracle (Pythia) surrounded by the rising pneuma (gases). The article does not say whether the place is a moffette or not, unfortunately.

Two good ones;

modus operandi - noun a method of procedure

modus vivendi - noun a feasible arrangement or practical compromise; esp: one that bypasses difficulties

 

[oggbashan]

More M from the Dictionary of Historical Slang

Mohair - A civilian, a tradesman. Military slang 1785. Obsolete by 1870. From the mohair buttons worn by civilians: soldiers have metal buttons.

moiety - a wife from about 1735 (from pun for 'the better half')[of the marriage]

moko - a pheasant accidently shot before the start of the shooting season. From 1860

mole - the penis. Whence mole-catcher, the female vagina.C19 and 20.

mollesher or mollisher - a thief's mistress.

moll's three misfortunes - In the 1st edition of the Slang dictionary it was given as "[She] Broke the [chamber] pot; beshat the bed and cut her arse." It was removed from later editions.

Miss Molly - A milksop, an effeminate man from circa 1750. from -

molly[also molly-mop] - 1. An effeminate man, a milksop current 1879 and possibly a century earlier. 2. A sodomite [male homosexual] from 1709 but from 1895-1914 a merely effeminate fellow was called a Gussie, in C20 the sodomite was a Nancy.

Molly's hole - the vagina.

molrower - a wencher, especially a whoremonger [pimp] from circa 1860 - very obsolete.

molrowing - 1. Whoring from 1860. 2. Caterwauling from circa 1858.

 

[AllardChardon]

Og, what a wonderful group of slang M words you have posted. I must admit I find milksop to be a most amusing word to describe an effeminate man. Thanks for everything you do.

I am going to add this next word to remind me of the correct spelling, I thought it was Mordred all this time. It made sense to me, Mor and dred, or as I heard it, More Dread.

Modred - noun a knight of the Round Table and rebellious nephew of King Arthur

As you know, different versions of this tale have Modred as Arthur's son, conceived by his half sister, Morgana, a sorceress.

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Og, what a wonderful group of slang M words you have posted. I must admit I find milksop to be a most amusing word to describe an effeminate man. Thanks for everything you do.

I am going to add this next word to remind me of the correct spelling, I thought it was Mordred all this time. It made sense to me, Mor and dred, or as I heard it, More Dread.

Modred - noun a knight of the Round Table and rebellious nephew of King Arthur

As you know, different versions of this tale have Modred as Arthur's son, conceived by his half sister, Morgana, a sorceress.

Mordred is an alternate, possibly even more common, spelling. I've always thought it the "correct" spelling.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordred

 

[AllardChardon]

Thank you, Carlus, for clearing up my confusion, obviously I am not the only one.

Here is an interesting grouping;

mod - noun Modern; esp: bold, free and unconventional in style, behavior, or dress

modish - adj FASHIONABLE, STYLISH

modiste - noun a fashionable dressmaker

 

[oggbashan]

Historical Slang:

mods or Mods - The first public examination for B.A. degrees at Oxford University 1858 from 'Moderations'.

modsman - A candidate for Mods,

Quote from J C Thompson "Between 'little-go' and 'mods' he learns nothing new".

"little-go" - the first examination to be passed for a B.A. degree (Oxford 1820) hence 2. One's first imprisonment.

[Failing little-go means the end of a degree study.]

 

[Weird Harold]

mod - noun Modern; esp: bold, free and unconventional in style, behavior, or dress

Mod is also a short form of "Modification" or "Modified;" a change from the original design.

 

[Handley_Page]

Mod is also a short form of "Modification" or "Modified;" a change from the original design.

The "Mod plate" is to be found on much military equipment, telling the user what, if any, are the changes to the unit.

 

[Weird Harold]

The "Mod plate" is to be found on much military equipment, telling the user what, if any, are the changes to the unit.

True, and on larger, more complex bits, like airplanes, there cn be dozens of the stupid things.

 

[AllardChardon]

Thank you, Og, Handley and Harold, for adding to my "mod" entry. I always love to learn more about words.

I must add this one for my father, who used this word often;

modicum - noun a small portion

 

[Tio_Narratore]

A bit late in the alphabet, but I didn't notice if you had covered the three forensic "mortises."

Everyone is familiar with "rigor mortis," the Stiffness of death," but fewer know or use "livor mortis," the purple of death, referring to the settling of deoxygenated blood after death, or "algor mortis," the cold of death, referring to the usual lowering of body temperature subsequent to death. (Bodies actually move towards ambient temperature after death; in a place like Las Vegas, this could mean the body actually gets warmer).

We used to joke, of course, about "Al Gore Mortis," since he was noted as a somewhat "cold" person.