Seldom-used words - M to A

[AllardChardon]

Weekend greetings to all.

lied - noun, plural lieder (1852) a German art song esp. of the 19th century

 

[Handley_Page]

Weekend greetings to all.

lied - noun, plural lieder (1852) a German art song esp. of the 19th century

and very peculiar they are.

 

[oggbashan]

Weekend greetings to all.

lied - noun, plural lieder (1852) a German art song esp. of the 19th century

Some (42 minutes) of Schubert's Lieder:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8NtQtw6iHk

And the most famous - Die Schöne Müllerin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As4xojChTEQ

 

[AllardChardon]

Og, I was hoping you would post a link or two to further my education. You are the best, thank you.

lido - noun (1860) a fashionable beach resort

 

[beachbum1958]

Og, I was hoping you would post a link or two to further my education. You are the best, thank you.

lido - noun (1860) a fashionable beach resort

I'm not sure that the word 'Lido' is that seldom used; here in the UK it's a fairly common use for an open air public swimming or paddling pool, especially in the larger parks (The Serpentine Lido in Hyde Park, Mayfair, London is a good example), ditto Brockwell Park Lido, Tooting Bec Lido, Finchley Lido, Hampton Ponds Lido, Parliament Hill Lido and so on. Most Londoners are well aware of where their nearest Lido is, they make a good and affordable substitute for the beach on the hottest days; we even have the loonies who crack the ice to go swimming there on the coldest days of the year...

 

[oggbashan]

Og, I was hoping you would post a link or two to further my education. You are the best, thank you.

lido - noun (1860) a fashionable beach resort

Saltdean Lido, near Brighton, is a restoration project:

http://regencysociety.org/images/saltdean-lido_2_988848103.jpg

http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/images/uploaded/scaled/saltdean_lido.jpg

Cliftonville Lido, Margate, Kent is a sad relic of its former glory:

http://www.hungouttodry.co.uk/userimages/The%20Cliftonville%20Lido.jpg

http://legacymedia.localworld.co.uk/275787/Article/images/17047993/4197596.jpg

 

[CarlusMagnus]

Some (42 minutes) of Schubert's Lieder:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8NtQtw6iHk

And the most famous - Die Schöne Müllerin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As4xojChTEQ

Not all lieder are literally songs—songs, that is, in the musical sense.

For example, there is the Nibelungenlied.

 

[oggbashan]

Not all lieder are literally songs—songs, that is, in the musical sense.

For example, there is the Nibelungenlied.

It translates as the Song of the Nibelungs, in the sense that some poetry is a song. But it WAS "Nibelunge liet" not Lied.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibelungenlied

"hie hât daz mære ein ende: daz ist der Nibelunge liet" ("here the story takes an end: this is the lay of the Nibelungs"). Liet here means lay, tale or epic rather than simply song, as it would in Modern German.

 

[AllardChardon]

beachbum, my dictionary says lido comes from Lido, Italy. We use pool to describe man-made swimming pools. I have never heard of one called a lido.

Thanks for the great pictures of English lidos, Og, they are beautiful and interesting.

Carlus and Og, thanks for the further information about lieder.

An older word;

lictor - noun (14c) an ancient Roman officer who bore the fasces as the insignia of his office and whose duties included accompanying the chief magistrates in public appearances

 

[oggbashan]

...

An older word;

lictor - noun (14c) an ancient Roman officer who bore the fasces as the insignia of his office and whose duties included accompanying the chief magistrates in public appearances

A lictor was one of the few public offices open to the Plebs. They had the powers to arrest, whip with rods, or even execute Roman Citizens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lictor

The Fasces they carried was a bundle of rods, sometimes with an axe, as a symbol of their authority.


The Fasces became the emblem of the Italian Fascists Party (hence the party's name) and was displayed on many public buildings in Italy.

The Italian Fascists were the inspiration for the German Nazi Party and the Spanish Falangists, which were all known as Fascist parties.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-opuG8XQYZTs/UmDSkf8PXcI/AAAAAAAAAwU/gdONhRqw_Ic/w305-h612-no/Fasces_%2528PSF%2529.png

 

[AllardChardon]

Og, once again, I am amazed by the evolution of words. Thank you for the explanation of fasces and what it became.

A humorous word;

lickspittle - noun (1825) a fawning subordinate: TOADY

 

[AllardChardon]

Greetings, posters and readers.

Another humorous offering;

lickety-split - adv (ca.1859) at great speed

 

[oggbashan]

Greetings, posters and readers.

Another humorous offering;

lickety-split - adv (ca.1859) at great speed

My slang dictionary gives this as US origin. It is rarely used in British English.

That reminds me of the Lickey Incline - the steepest mainline railway section in the UK:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lickey_Incline

Going down the Lickey Incline could be lickety-split except for the speed restrictions.

Other lick from my latest Slang Dictionary:

lick-arse - Irish - a toady, a syncophant
lick-about - West Indies - to live an unsettled life
to lick a box - West Indies - perform cunnilingus
lickerish/likki-likki/likky-likky - West Indies/UK black teen - excessively greedy especially for food
lick-finger - early C17 - early C18 - a cook, a master cook

 

[AllardChardon]

Og, I find the word toad to describe a sycophant to be very interesting, but this is all I could find online, as to its use. Do you know more? Why a toad instead of a frog, for instance? I know the French are called frogs and I don't really understand that, either. Thanks for the info on the Lickey Incline.

toad - noun (1300) from late Old English tadige, tadie, of unknown origin and according to OED with no known cognates outside English. Applied to loathsome persons from 1560s.

 

[CarlusMagnus]

…to lick a box - West Indies - perform cunnilingus…

This would be understood in much of the United Stated today, box being a fairly common substitute for less acceptable words for the female external genitalia.

 

[oggbashan]

Og, I find the word toad to describe a sycophant to be very interesting, but this is all I could find online, as to its use. Do you know more? Why a toad instead of a frog, for instance? I know the French are called frogs and I don't really understand that, either. Thanks for the info on the Lickey Incline.

toad - noun (1300) from late Old English tadige, tadie, of unknown origin and according to OED with no known cognates outside English. Applied to loathsome persons from 1560s.

Frogs for the French? Because they eat frogs' legs of course! Something no Rosbif Englishman would contemplate. (Some French soldiers wore green leggings which made the comparison stronger.) The French even eat snails. How un-English is that?

Toad? Toads were supposed to be witch's familiars, and licking a toad was supposed to induce hallucinations. But the warty skin of a toad was thought to be like the human skin conditions produced by smallpox, leprosy and warts so looking like a toad was supremely ugly (and ancient crone-type witch).

Toady is different. Someone who is a toady is willing to debase themselves so far to earn commendation from a superior, that they are as low as a toad.

 

[AllardChardon]

Carlus, you are so right.

Og, thank you for the explanation of other word uses for frogs and toads. It was very helpful. I was never a big fan of frog legs or snails, even though my mother introduced me to both.

lickerish - adj (14c.)1. GREEDY, DESIROUS 2. obs: tempting to the appetite 3. LECHEROUS

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Back to toads...

Og, all toads have bufotenin in their skin. It is one of the hallucinogenic tryptamines; licking a toad can give you hallucinations. The Sonora toad, Bufo alvarius, also contains 5-MeO-DMT, and is highly psychoactive. Toads weren't only associated with witches for ugliness; their hallucinogenic qualities played a significant role in witchcraft. The Cane Toad, Bufo marinus, by the way, provides a significant ingredient for Voodoo Zombie Powder ( coupe poudre).

 

[beachbum1958]

My slang dictionary gives this as US origin. It is rarely used in British English.

That reminds me of the Lickey Incline - the steepest mainline railway section in the UK:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lickey_Incline

Going down the Lickey Incline could be lickety-split except for the speed restrictions.

Other lick from my latest Slang Dictionary:

lick-arse - Irish - a toady, a syncophant
lick-about - West Indies - to live an unsettled life
to lick a box - West Indies - perform cunnilingus
lickerish/likki-likki/likky-likky - West Indies/UK black teen - excessively greedy especially for food
lick-finger - early C17 - early C18 - a cook, a master cook

It's probably not related to Black slang at all, but when I was at boarding school back in the 1970's, the term the older boys and prefects used for the more attractive bedders and housekeeping staff was 'Lickerish', as in 'she's a bit lickerish all right.' (We had a lot of very strange words, almost an argot, that are peculiar to my school, as was the case with the other boy's schools, particularly Winchester and Charterhouse; when we played them at rugby or hockey, it was sometimes a bit of a chore to work out just what exactly they were saying...)

We also used the same term at my college in Cambridge for pretty students, possibly because some or all of the dons and scholars came from my school, although when I was there recently for a dinner and used it, the Undergrads looked blankly at me, so it has obviously fallen out of use in the 30 years since I graduated, no doubt replaced by some equally unlikely and outlandish word.

 

[AllardChardon]

Tio, thanks for the information on toad's skin secretions and the uses for it, especially the coupe poudre. I intend to use that in my writings.

beachbum, a very interesting bit of your personal history, there, thanks so much for sharing it. We had certain words, used as code, when I was in High School to throw off the adults and I loved getting away with it. Pig Latin was also big in the 50s, for some reason.

liberty cap - noun (1803) a close-fitting conical cap used as a symbol of liberty by the French revolutionists and in the U.S. before 1800

 

[Handley_Page]

Tio, thanks for the information on toad's skin secretions and the uses for it, especially the coupe poudre. I intend to use that in my writings.

beachbum, a very interesting bit of your personal history, there, thanks so much for sharing it. We had certain words, used as code, when I was in High School to throw off the adults and I loved getting away with it. Pig Latin was also big in the 50s, for some reason.

liberty cap - noun (1803) a close-fitting conical cap used as a symbol of liberty by the French revolutionists and in the U.S. before 1800

It's a great deal older than that. See HERE.

 

[AllardChardon]

Very enlightening, Handley, thanks for taking the time to educate me about Phrygian caps.

I thought I knew this word, but not entirely;

libation - noun (14c) 1.a. an act of pouring a liquid as a sacrifice (as to a deity) b. a liquid (as wine) used in a libation 2.a. an act or instance of drinking often ceremoniously b. BEVERAGE; esp: a drink containing alcohol

 

[Handley_Page]

Very enlightening, Handley, thanks for taking the time to educate me about Phrygian caps.

I thought I knew this word, but not entirely;

libation - noun (14c) 1.a. an act of pouring a liquid as a sacrifice (as to a deity) b. a liquid (as wine) used in a libation 2.a. an act or instance of drinking often ceremoniously b. BEVERAGE; esp: a drink containing alcohol

I think that the word usually makes reference to Homer, where libation to the gods was a frequent event.

 

[oggbashan]

I thought I knew this word, but not entirely;

libation - noun (14c) 1.a. an act of pouring a liquid as a sacrifice (as to a deity) b. a liquid (as wine) used in a libation 2.a. an act or instance of drinking often ceremoniously b. BEVERAGE; esp: a drink containing alcohol

Libation features in my recent story Nibbling Fortuna's Toes.

It predates Christianity and some think that the Last Supper instruction was Jesus' way of taking a previous religious rite and turning it into what has now become Holy Communion.

Socrates, 469-399 BC, on being given hemlock to drink:

'What do you say about pouring a libation to some god from this cup? Is it allowed or not?' 'We only prepare just the right amount to drink, Socrates,' he [the jailer] said. 'I understand,' he went on; 'but it is allowed and necessary to pray to the gods, that my moving from hence to there may be blessed; thus I pray, and so be it'. [Plato Phaedo 117b]

 

[AllardChardon]

Thank you, Handley and Og, for the information on the ancient use of libation. It makes a lot more sense, now.

This one caught my eye, along with all the other words associated with it;

lexeme - noun (1938) a meaningful linguistic unit that is an item in the vocabulary of a language