Seldom-used words - M to A

[CarlusMagnus]

Calling a sausage a 'mystery' during the time of severe meat rationing was probably accurate.]

I'm not convinced that it isn't still accurate!

The difference between then and now is that we could probably find out. But after doing so, we'd give up sausage.

 

[AllardChardon]

Og, so very interesting, the history of the sausage in Europe. A year ago, I did a lot of research into ancient sausages in Italy and found that very interesting, as well. The earliest ones were intestine casings stuffed with cooked meat and other things. It is the "other things" that gives one pause, I suppose. So, mystery bag is an apt term, indeed.

A fun word;

mishmash - noun HODGEPODGE, JUMBLE

 

[oggbashan]

Og, so very interesting, the history of the sausage in Europe. A year ago, I did a lot of research into ancient sausages in Italy and found that very interesting, as well. The earliest ones were intestine casings stuffed with cooked meat and other things. It is the "other things" that gives one pause, I suppose. So, mystery bag is an apt term, indeed.
...

They were cased in intestine even in my lifetime. Some still are.

Just don't ask how to make a haggis...

 

[AllardChardon]

Og, I know that they still use intestines for casings, the part I meant to note was that they used cooked meat, as in leftover meat mixed with spices, to make the earliest sausages, not fresh meat that required cooking. The aged sausages were then sliced and added to pasta or rice for another meal. The preparation and utilization of every bit of food, back in the days without excess or refrigeration, has always intrigued me, a woman who only knows what it is like to have grocery stores, refrigerators and freezers.

mishanter - noun chiefly Scot MISADVENTURE

 

[Handley_Page]

Og, I know that they still use intestines for casings, the part I meant to note was that they used cooked meat, as in leftover meat mixed with spices, to make the earliest sausages, not fresh meat that required cooking.
. . . has always intrigued me, a woman who only knows what it is like to have grocery stores, refrigerators and freezers.

mishanter - noun chiefly Scot MISADVENTURE

Well, actually, they no longer do that.
EU standards and all that. Mind you, in some places . . . .

 

[AllardChardon]

Thanks, Handley, for straightening me out on sausage casings. Because the meat was stuffed into the casing, they were often called stuffings. When large birds or other meats were later stuffed, the chefs wanted a different term, so dressing was selected to distinguish the two.

mise-en-scène - noun 1.a. a process of arranging actors and scenery on a stage for a theatrical production b. stage setting 2.a. the physical setting of an action b. ENVIRONMENT, MILIEU

 

[AllardChardon]

A pleasant Monday to you all. Even though the next words are not seldom-used, they are too good to pass up;

miscreant(1) - adj 1. UNBELIEVING, HERETICAL 2. DEPRAVED, VILLANOUS

miscreant(2) - noun 1. INFIDEL, HERETIC 2. one who behaves criminally or viciously

 

[Handley_Page]

A pleasant Monday to you all. Even though the next words are not seldom-used, they are too good to pass up;

miscreant(1) - adj 1. UNBELIEVING, HERETICAL 2. DEPRAVED, VILLANOUS

miscreant(2) - noun 1. INFIDEL, HERETIC 2. one who behaves criminally or viciously

It's still used round here, if only to describe a criminal.

 

[AllardChardon]

Yes, Handley, it seems that is the most common usage now.

minx - noun 1. a pert girl 2. obs: a wanton woman

 

[AllardChardon]

Hello, everyone.

This word has two entries and I only knew of one;

minuscule(1) - noun 1.a. one of the several ancient and medieval writing styles developed from cursive and having simplified and small forms b. a letter in this style 2. a lowercase letter

minuscule(2) - adj 1. written in or in the size or style of minuscules 2. very small

 

[Handley_Page]

Hello, everyone.

This word has two entries and I only knew of one;

minuscule(2) - 2. very small

Round here, that second one is more usual, unless you are discussing typographical history.

 

[AllardChardon]

Same over here, Handley, it seems that the definition of very small is the only one used for minuscule anymore.

The third definition is the reason I listed this word;

minstrel - noun 1. one of a class of medieval musical entertainers; esp: a singer of verses to the accompaniment of a harp 2.a. MUSICIAN b. POET 3.a. one of a troupe of performers typically giving a program of Negro melodies, jokes, and impersonations and usually blacked in imitation of Negroes b. a performance by a troupe of minstrels

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Hello, everyone.

This word has two entries and I only knew of one;

minuscule(1) - noun 1.a. one of the several ancient and medieval writing styles developed from cursive and having simplified and small forms b. a letter in this style 2. a lowercase letter

minuscule(2) - adj 1. written in or in the size or style of minuscules 2. very small

You will shortly find, in your backward journey through the dictionary, this word's companion majuscule, large lettering, either capital or uncial, in which all the letters are usually the same height.

 

[AllardChardon]

Thanks, Carlus, for the heads up that makes total sense. Now, that is a word I have never heard before, and thanks to you, I don't need to post it.

minster - noun 1. a church attached to a monastery 2. a large or important church

 

[oggbashan]

Thanks, Carlus, for the heads up that makes total sense. Now, that is a word I have never heard before, and thanks to you, I don't need to post it.

minster - noun 1. a church attached to a monastery 2. a large or important church

Some examples: York Minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York; Westminster Abbey - is the church next to the Palace of Westminster, which is named after the church "west minister" as opposed to the "east minster" which is St Paul's Cathedral.

Note: Westminster Cathedral is a much more modern building and is the seat of the Head of the Roman Catholic Church in the UK.

In Kent there are two towns called Minster. Both were built around religious houses. Minster (Sheppey) is built on the highest point of the Isle of Sheppey. Minster (Thanet) is built on the South side of the Isle of Thanet, close to the then navigable River Stour. Minster (Thanet)'s religious house is now occupied by Nuns.

 

[AllardChardon]

Og, when I posted minster, I immediately thought of Westminster and finally understood the name. There are so many interesting things about England that I have learned through the dictionary, I am glad I started this thread, long ago. You, of course, have been of great assistance in teaching me the finer points, thank you so much.

I decided to post these two together;

Minos - noun a king and lawgiver of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa, and after death a judge in Hades

Minotaur - noun a monster shaped half like a man and half like a bull, confined in the labyrinth built by Daedalus for Minos, and given a periodical tribute of seven youths and seven maidens until slain by Theseus

 

[oggbashan]

Back to Minster

This evening, Miss Minster (Thanet) and her princesses were in a local carnival.

Minster (Sheppey) were represented by Miss Sheppey. One of her princesses comes form Minster (Sheppey).

 

[Handley_Page]

This evening, Miss Minster (Thanet) and her princesses were in a local carnival.

Minster (Sheppey) were represented by Miss Sheppey. One of her princesses comes form Minster (Sheppey).

How very confusing

 

[AllardChardon]

Handley, that was my thinking exactly. Thanks, Og, for the current uses of minster, confusing or not.

Minorite - noun FRANCISCAN

I would have thought this entry would mean something quite different, but there it is.

 

[Handley_Page]

Handley, that was my thinking exactly. Thanks, Og, for the current uses of minster, confusing or not.

Minorite - noun FRANCISCAN

I would have thought this entry would mean something quite different, but there it is.

This may make it a bit clearer:
Minorite
A: Of the order of Friars Minor, Franciscan.
B: 1 A Friar Minor, a Franciscan.
2 A person of minor rank or concerned with minor matters.

---------------------------------------------------------
Excerpted from Oxford Talking Dictionary
Copyright © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

It is worth noting that when the Ministers were going up,some folks thought that as they did not necessarily agree with the Rule (of whatever religious order), they could found one of their own. In time this led to a variety of Religious Houses owing allegiance to one Order or another.
I suspect that Thanet & Sheppey were different orders (Franciscan & Benedictine, for example ?)
They might have been Godly, but that does not stop them each trying to get favour (money, etc.,) from the local Gentry.

 

[CarlusMagnus]

They might have been Godly, but that does not stop them each trying to get favour (money, etc.,) from the local Gentry.

What could be more Godly (Except maybe cleanliness, I suppose!) than trying to get favour (money, in particular)?

 

[Handley_Page]

What could be more Godly (Except maybe cleanliness, I suppose!) than trying to get favour (money, in particular)?

Cleanliness was a foreign prospect in them days, I fear.

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Cleanliness was a foreign prospect in them days, I fear.

That's probably where the saying "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" came from: Both were based on fantasies.

 

[oggbashan]

...
It is worth noting that when the Ministers were going up,some folks thought that as they did not necessarily agree with the Rule (of whatever religious order), they could found one of their own. In time this led to a variety of Religious Houses owing allegiance to one Order or another.
I suspect that Thanet & Sheppey were different orders (Franciscan & Benedictine, for example ?)
They might have been Godly, but that does not stop them each trying to get favour (money, etc.,) from the local Gentry.

Minster (Thanet) was founded by a Saxon King's granddaughter who became the first Abbess. It is now used by Catholic Benedictine Nuns.

Minster (Sheppey) was also Benedictine nuns, but was destroyed by Henry VIII.

Franciscans did not build Minsters. They believed in the vow of poverty and were 'mendicant' i.e. begging Friars.

Dominicans and Benedictines built large communal buildings.

 

[oggbashan]

I decided to post these two together;

Minos - noun a king and lawgiver of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa, and after death a judge in Hades

Minotaur - noun a monster shaped half like a man and half like a bull, confined in the labyrinth built by Daedalus for Minos, and given a periodical tribute of seven youths and seven maidens until slain by Theseus

Minos gave his name to the Minoan Civilisation based on Crete. The Minotaur, which was confined in a labyrinth, was killed by a labrys, a double-headed axe, which was the symbol of the Goddess.

According to Sir Arthur Evans, the archaeologist who excavated Knossos, the Palace of Minos was called the House of the Double Axe (labrys) but the labrys was common throughout Crete and elsewhere.

The labrys also has been used since the 1970s as a lesbian, feminist, and goddess movement symbol to represent women's strength and self-sufficiency.