Seldom-used words - M to A

[AllardChardon]

Thank you, Lori, for adding to the left-handed conversation. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the problems of being left-handed in an operating theatre, which never occurred to me in all my life.

Og, the history of your family's ambidextrous abilities was amazing and hilarious at the same. I wish I could have seen your brother do that party trick just once.

Handley, you have made light of such a serious subject and done it so well. My hat is off to you.

leech(1) - noun (before 12c) 1. archaic: PHYSICAL, SURGEON 2. [from its former use by physicians for bleeding patients]: any of numerous carnivorous or bloodsucking usually freshwater annelid worms (class Hirudinea) that have typically a flattened lanceolate segmented body with a sucker at each end 3. a hanger-on who seeks advantage or gain

 

[AllardChardon]

Hello, posters and readers.

This next entry was too good to pass up. I will always remember the first time I saw Peter Paul Rubens masterpiece, Leda and the Swan, in an art book my father borrowed from our local library.

Leda - noun (ca. 1527) the mother of Clytemnestra and Castro by her husband Tyndareus and of Helen and Pollux by Zeus who comes to her in the form of a swan

 

[Handley_Page]

Hello, posters and readers.

This next entry was too good to pass up. I will always remember the first time I saw Peter Paul Rubens masterpiece, Leda and the Swan, in an art book my father borrowed from our local library.

Leda - noun (ca. 1527) the mother of Clytemnestra and Castro by her husband Tyndareus and of Helen and Pollux by Zeus who comes to her in the form of a swan

So Castor and Pollux had different fathers ?
That's interesting, and sheds a shred of light on some puzzles.

 

[AllardChardon]

Greetings to everyone. Visiting family members kept me away. Happy to be back.

lectotype - noun (ca.1905) a specimen chosen as the type of a species or subspecies if the author of the name fails to designate a type

I found this confusing. What would be an example of this word?

 

[Handley_Page]

Greetings to everyone. Visiting family members kept me away. Happy to be back.

lectotype - noun (ca.1905) a specimen chosen as the type of a species or subspecies if the author of the name fails to designate a type

I found this confusing. What would be an example of this word?

See HERE

I guess that we might take an example of a 'new type of Dinosaur' ?

 

[Tio_Narratore]

See HERE

I guess that we might take an example of a 'new type of Dinosaur' ?

In biology, a species is defined ultimately, by an actual, single, male (if appropriate) specimen of the organisms being classed as a species. This is the holotype. Sometimes there isn't a complete enough single specimen to use for defining the species (common with fossils) or a single specimen that the classifiers feels exhibits the characteristics of the species well enough. In these cases, a number of specimens, or partial specimens, may serve as a sort of composite holotype. These are called syntypes. Later, one of them may be selected to serve as the defining specimen; this would be called a lectotype. So, in brief, a lectotype is a syntype that has been elevated to a holotype's position, but can't be a holotype since it wasn't designated as such in the initial description and classifcation of the species.

Help at all?

 

[AllardChardon]

Handley, I copied and pasted this list from the link you provided, because I found it especially interesting:

"The ICN provides a listing of the various kinds of type (article 9),[9] the most important of which is the holotype. These are:

holotype
lectotype
isotype
syntype
paratype
neotype
epitype

Note: The word "type" appears in botanical literature as a part of some older terms that have no status under the ICN: for example a clonotype."

Tio, your explanation was concise and easy to understand, thank you, always.

This is another interesting entry;

lebensraum - noun, often cap. (1905) 1. territory believed esp. by Nazis to be necessary for national existence or economic self-sufficiency 2. space required for life, growth, or activity

 

[oggbashan]

...

This is another interesting entry;

lebensraum - noun, often cap. (1905) 1. territory believed esp. by Nazis to be necessary for national existence or economic self-sufficiency 2. space required for life, growth, or activity

Literally it translates as 'living space' but has a long (1890s onwards) and worrying history in German politics. It originally started because Germany was late to develop an overseas Empire compared with Britain, France, Spain and even Belgium. What they did acquire in Africa they lost after the First World War.

Japan and Italy had similar concerns because all three countries wanted access to territory and particularly lands with natural resources that were in short supply in their countries. Germany always wanted to expand Eastwards. Italy wanted pieces of Africa, and Japan wanted large parts of mainland China.

lebensraum was presented as a natural desire to expand but what it really meant was Germany's 'manifest destiny' to control a large part of Europe.

 

[AllardChardon]

Og, I have studied 'manifest destiny' and its roots in America and so I know what you mean. Thanks for the additional information on such an interesting German word.

This entry made me laugh;

leather-lunged - adj (1846) having an inordinately loud voice <~ singers>

 

[Handley_Page]

Og, I have studied 'manifest destiny' and its roots in America and so I know what you mean. Thanks for the additional information on such an interesting German word.

This entry made me laugh;

leather-lunged - adj (1846) having an inordinately loud voice <~ singers>

Another word meaning the same is "Stentorian." Stentor was a Greek who was told to 'encourage the others to fight'. His voice was as powerful as 50 men, according to Homer.

 

[AllardChardon]

Very nice, Handley, I had heard of that one before.

Sorry to all for not being around much lately. Gardening is getting the better of me and tomorrow I am off to Lake Tahoe to attend a wedding. It will be next week before I return, but use this thread as you like in my absence.

There were some definitions included that were new to me;

leather(1) - noun (13c) 1. animal skin dressed for use 2. the flap of the ear of a dog 3. something wholly or partly made of leather

leather(2) - vt (13c) 1. to cover with leather 2. to beat with a strap: THRASH

 

[AllardChardon]

Well, while I was away, my second son decided to weed the back yard, using the weed-eater, and he managed to eat the internet cable at the same time. Nice to be back home and back online.

This word goes back a ways;

leash - noun (14c) 1.a. a line for leading or restraining an animal b. something that restrains: the state of being restrained <keeping spending on a tight ~> 2.a. a set of three animals (as greyhounds, foxes, bucks, or hares) b. a set of three

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

Well, while I was away, my second son decided to weed the back yard, using the weed-eater, and he managed to eat the internet cable at the same time. Nice to be back home and back online.

This word goes back a ways;

leash - noun (14c) 1.a. a line for leading or restraining an animal b. something that restrains: the state of being restrained <keeping spending on a tight ~> 2.a. a set of three animals (as greyhounds, foxes, bucks, or hares) b. a set of three

Hi, Lori here again. I was intrigued to learn that 'leash' means three animals, as my husband, a keen small-game sport-shooter, has gun-dogs, three of them, and he's always referred to them as a 'leash'. I always thought it was some obscure collective noun used solely by the rough-shooting fraternity, so it's interesting to know it actually has a more general meaning.

 

[Handley_Page]

Hi, Lori here again. I was intrigued to learn that 'leash' means three animals, as my husband, a keen small-game sport-shooter, has gun-dogs, three of them, and he's always referred to them as a 'leash'. I always thought it was some obscure collective noun used solely by the rough-shooting fraternity, so it's interesting to know it actually has a more general meaning.

Lori,
It's good to see you back on

 

[oggbashan]

Since this is Literotica, leash has another meaning.

As a verb, it can be used for turning someone into a sexual slave, or as a pretend pet - cat or dog.

As a noun, a leash is attached to a collar to lead the slave/pet around, or just to show their submission.

 

[AllardChardon]

Lori, that is exactly what I found so interesting about leash, that and its age. Thanks for bringing its proper use into the present.

Og, of course, LIT would have their own definitions of both the noun and verb forms of leash. Such a fun word!

I found this note in my Merriam-Webster and wanted to share it:

LEARN - USAGE: Learn in the sense of "teach" dates from the 13th century <made them drunk with true Hollands - and then learned them the art of making bargains - Washington Irving>. But by Mark Twain's time it was receding into speech form associated chiefly with the less educated <never done nothing for three months but set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump - Mark Twain>. The present-day status of learn has not risen. This use persists in speech, but in writing it appears mainly in the representation of such speech or its deliberate imitation for effect.

 

[Handley_Page]

Since this is Literotica, leash has another meaning.

As a verb, it can be used for turning someone into a sexual slave, or as a pretend pet - cat or dog.

As a noun, a leash is attached to a collar to lead the slave/pet around, or just to show their submission.

When I was growing up, we always had a dog of some sort.
My Mum always called it a "lead".

 

[oggbashan]

When I was growing up, we always had a dog of some sort.
My Mum always called it a "lead".

That's British English. Leash in the sense of dog lead is US English.

 

[CarlusMagnus]

That's British English. Leash in the sense of dog lead is US English.

I'm not sure about that. People around here (Mountain West, USA) sometimes speak of a dog lead.

 

[oggbashan]

I'm not sure about that. People around here (Mountain West, USA) sometimes speak of a dog lead.

But leash for the attachment to a dog's collar is infrequent in British English. Many parks and beaches have signs "Dogs to be on a lead".

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Memories of Posts Gone By

Don't know if anyone's interested, but the phrase "pig in a poke" (which we discussed in this thread or one of its predecessors some time ago) appeared today, properly used, in a comment by 8letters on AwkwardMD's story "Violet Ch. 02":

https://www.literotica.com/s/violet-ch-02-3?page=3

The word "poke", long-time readers will recall, is a dialectal word for "bag" or "sack". Where I grew up, many of my farm-boy friends brought "lunch-pokes" with them on the school bus. (I lived in town, about two city blocks from school, so I didn't need to bring my lunch to school very often. And my parents had a bit more money than many of those farm folk; thus, when I did take it, I did so in a "lunch-pail".

 

[AllardChardon]

Handley, I looked up lead(2) and there is one definition in the middle of the lengthy entry that mentions leash (2.e.) and it is from the 15th century. Thanks for noting this.

Og, I do love the way you differentiate between British English and American English.

Carlus, I remember the "pig in a poke" discussion from a while back. Thanks for bringing it back. It's a goody.

leal - adj (14c) chiefly Scot: LOYAL, TRUE

 

[oggbashan]

...

Og, I do love the way you differentiate between British English and American English.

...

One of the difficulties of writing for a US-based site that is read by people all over the world is that some words have different meanings, not just between US and UK usage, but within each country.

When the word is obviously different sidewalk/pavement; gas/petrol; that is easy but when the word is the same but the meaning is very different it can cause confusion.

fanny-pack raises eyebrows in the UK. Fanny = Cunt.

We would never name a child Randy. Randy = constantly sexually aroused.

Madam/Ma'am is a British title of respect but can also be used in other contexts. 'A little Madam' is a woman who has too high an opinion of herself or is a demanding bitch (not in the sexual sense, more like a shopper who can't be satisfied with the products on offer). A brothel madam is a whorehouse keeper.

Ma'am is what Her Majesty The Queen, or other female nobility can be called after you have first addressed them with their correct title. Sir is the male equivalent. But as a mere commoner if you encounter Her Majesty or a senior person in the nobility it is safer to use the correct title for the whole of the short time they are talking to you. That usage would be slightly incorrect but better than being over familiar. If they think you should stop saying "Your Lordship" or whatever, they will tell you.

 

[Weird Harold]

When the word is obviously different sidewalk/pavement; gas/petrol; that is easy but when the word is the same but the meaning is very different it can cause confusion.

The worst language barrier I encountered in my many overseas tours was the three-plus years spent at RAF Bentwaters. If the locals don't speak English, it's obvious when you don't understand what they said. In England, I constantly thought I knew what they said but was wrong about half the time.

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

I've been married to an Englishman and living the last 19 years deep in the rural heart of England, and I have to say, the locals frequently stump me completely when they talk; it's partly to do with the accent (although it's nowhere near as maddening as the accent of the folks in his home town of Wellington, Somerset) and partly to do with their word use.

Local idiom contains a lot of archaic words and word combinations, and when my patients come to see me it's not unusual for me to go and get Will and ask him to reframe it in Queen's English - he can do that because he's a doctor too, so no patient confidentiality is breached. My poor secretary is German, so she has even less luck at deciphering what they're saying than I do.

To compound it, Will's daughter is adept at something called the 'Hant Tant Tothery', which is an archaic (probably Brythonic) counting language still prevalent in parts of the county, but especially in the West and South. When she was younger, she and her school friends used to use it around me deliberately, knowing I couldn't follow what they were saying, and I still hear it being used in the local village stores by some of the older residents. We have a place in Lincolnshire, near the East coast, and I hear the older locals speaking something very similar whenever I have to go up there.