Seldom-Used Words

[JackLuis]

Merkin-

A merkin (first use 1617)[1] is a pubic wig. Merkins were originally worn by prostitutes after shaving their genitalia, and are now used as decorative items, erotic devices or in film making by both men and women.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Merkinlight.jpg/250px-Merkinlight.jpg

 

[AllardChardon]

Welcome Virtual_Burlesque and thanks, gang, for keeping this thread going. It matters little to me if a word has been posted before, for posting will always take precedence.

This one I found disturbing, because I am the first entry and it got worse from there;

relict - noun 1. WIDOW 2. a persistent remnant of an otherwise extinct flora or fauna or kind of organism 3.a. a relief feature or rock remaining after other parts have disappeared b. something left unchanged in a process of change

 

[trysail]

bodmin • n., one who is daft or barmy.






I'm not having any success finding this word in my Compact Edition of the O.E.D. or in Partridge or in an on-line dictionary. I've heard it a couple of times ( most recently on the BBC television series "Doc Martin" ) and it is possible that I am misspelling it. The definition above is more a guess based on context; I have no confidence that my spelling or definition is accurate and welcome correction or emendation.

 

[mynameisben]

Merkin-

A merkin (first use 1617)[1] is a pubic wig. Merkins were originally worn by prostitutes after shaving their genitalia, and are now used as decorative items, erotic devices or in film making by both men and women.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Merkinlight.jpg/250px-Merkinlight.jpg

That merkin's got me smirkin'.

 

[AllardChardon]

You got me, Trysail, I have never seen that word. This follows the last one I posted;

reliction - noun 1. the gradual recession of water leaving permanently uncovered land 2. land uncovered by reliction

 

[elfin_odalisque]

That merkin's got me smirkin'.

My dad always giggled when Lyndon Johnson came on the TV to address 'My fellow merkins'. (Americans)

Took me years to work out the joke.

 

[AllardChardon]

Good one, Elfin. I remember LBJ saying that very thing.

BTW, a writ of replevin showed up in the dialog of True Grit and I knew what it meant.

reinsman - noun a harness driver: JOCKEY

 

[trysail]

bodmin • n., one who is daft or barmy.






I'm not having any success finding this word in my Compact Edition of the O.E.D. or in Partridge or in an on-line dictionary. I've heard it a couple of times ( most recently on the BBC television series "Doc Martin" ) and it is possible that I am misspelling it. The definition above is more a guess based on context; I have no confidence that my spelling or definition is accurate and welcome correction or emendation.

You got me, Trysail, I have never seen that word. This follows the last one I posted;

reliction - noun 1. the gradual recession of water leaving permanently uncovered land 2. land uncovered by reliction

It may be slang. Worse, it may be ( British ) English or Cornish ( regional ) slang. I'm hopeful that some of our English/Scots/Welsh brethren might recognize it or a variant spelling.

 

[Handley_Page]

It may be slang. Worse, it may be ( British ) English or Cornish ( regional ) slang. I'm hopeful that some of our English/Scots/Welsh brethren might recognize it or a variant spelling.

I think you may be right. It's certainly a dialect word and very local.

 

[bumblegrum]

ecdysiast - a stripper. Originally from a word meaning a snake shedding its skin

sciamachy - shadow boxing

uxorious - overly fond of one's wife

avuncular - having the characteristics of an uncle

autochthon - a high falutin' word for an original inhabitant or aborigine

yclept - called by the name of

oxter - armpit

sempiternal - lasting forever, eternal

weasand - oesophagus, gullet, trachea or windpipe. The throat generally

I notice there isn't a smilie for smartass

 

[AllardChardon]

Welcome, bumblegrum, that is quite a list of words, thanks for posting them. I like the first one best.

regisseur - noun a director responsible for staging a theatrical work (as a ballet)

 

[Handley_Page]

bogmon • n., one who is daft or barmy.


I'm not having any success finding this word in my Compact Edition of the O.E.D. or in Partridge or in an on-line dictionary. I've heard it a couple of times ( most recently on the BBC television series "Doc Martin" ) and it is possible that I am misspelling it. The definition above is more a guess based on context; I have no confidence that my spelling or definition is accurate and welcome correction or emendation.

I've heard from someone who indicates what sounds like a plausible answer:-

You mean Bodmin as in "he'm a bit Bodmin that one"

It is in reference to the mental hospital that used to be in the town of Bodmin and it's purely a fictional phrase made up for the program.


Bearing in mind the tricky nature of the Cornish accent (even to a natural-born Englishman) this sound likely to me.

Perhaps I should explain that like many English counties, facilities for the mentally challenged in Cornwall may be somewhat sparse.
So if a dedicated Mental Hospital (often dating back to he Victorian age) is available in the local market town, references to the mental capacity of a person as being a subject for treatment in that hospital might be shortened to just the name of the Town.
In this case, Bodmin. Round where I live, the name of the Hospital itself is used, and often not very kindly.

I hope this helps.

 

[oggbashan]

I've heard from someone who indicates what sounds like a plausible answer:-

You mean Bodmin as in "he'm a bit Bodmin that one"

It is in reference to the mental hospital that used to be in the town of Bodmin and it's purely a fictional phrase made up for the program.


Bearing in mind the tricky nature of the Cornish accent (even to a natural-born Englishman) this sound likely to me.

Perhaps I should explain that like many English counties, facilities for the mentally challenged in Cornwall may be somewhat sparse.
So if a dedicated Mental Hospital (often dating back to he Victorian age) is available in the local market town, references to the mental capacity of a person as being a subject for treatment in that hospital might be shortened to just the name of the Town.
In this case, Bodmin. Round where I live, the name of the Hospital itself is used, and often not very kindly.

I hope this helps.

St Mary of Bethlehem Hospital (Bedlam) was the original Mental Hospital in England. Bedlam is the word derived from it. Noun: A scene of uproar and confusion.

People were encouraged (for a fee) to visit it and to use a stick (another fee) through the bars to stir up the disturbed patients.

A Bedlamite was originally a discharged inmate of that hospital; it eventually became a description for a type of beggar who pretended to be a discharged mental patient to get money from passer-by, often with menaces that he could excuse 'because I'm mad'.

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

ecdysiast - a stripper. Originally from a word meaning a snake shedding its skin

To be precise, the term ecdysiast was coined in 1940, by H. L. Mencken, in response to the déshabilleuse (stripper), Georgia Sothern’s request for a higher-tone word for stripper.

Mencken responded, "It might be a good idea to relate strip-teasing in some way to the ... zoological phenomenon of molting … which is ecdysis. This word produces ... ecdysiast."

In other words, someone who is an enthusiast at moulting.

Reference: http://*******.com/26rhjzk (Third paragraph.)


Gnathonic: an adjective which was coined to describe the actions of particular kind of parasite, a person who lives at the expense of another and repays him with flattery.

Based on the character Gnatho who appeared in the Roman play Eunuchus by Terence

Synonyms: sycophantic, toadying.

 

[trysail]

I've heard from someone who indicates what sounds like a plausible answer:-

You mean Bodmin as in "he'm a bit Bodmin that one"

It is in reference to the mental hospital that used to be in the town of Bodmin and it's purely a fictional phrase made up for the program.


Bearing in mind the tricky nature of the Cornish accent (even to a natural-born Englishman) this sound likely to me.

Perhaps I should explain that like many English counties, facilities for the mentally challenged in Cornwall may be somewhat sparse.
So if a dedicated Mental Hospital (often dating back to he Victorian age) is available in the local market town, references to the mental capacity of a person as being a subject for treatment in that hospital might be shortened to just the name of the Town.
In this case, Bodmin. Round where I live, the name of the Hospital itself is used, and often not very kindly.

I hope this helps.

Bingo !



HP,
Well done ! You're a life-saver !!!! You nailed it. It was driving ME nuts because I've either heard or seen the word used before. I hope it wasn't the same program(me) and I merely viewed a repeat. One of the local Public Broadcasting Stations airs "Doc Martin" and is now airing it for the second time.


In any event, you've got me fervent thanks for running this mystery to ground. I'm gobsmacked that the word is THAT obscure.

...Bodmin County Lunatic Asylum was designed by John Foulston and afterwards George Wightwick. William Robert Hicks the humorist was domestic superintendent in the mid-19th century...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodmin

 

[AllardChardon]

I love a good mystery, especially when it is solved so neatly. Thanks for an interesting read this morning.

regardant - adj looking backward over the shoulder - used of a heraldic animal

I really don't understand the latter part of this definition. Can someone explain what it means?

 

[Weird Harold]

regardant - adj looking backward over the shoulder - used of a heraldic animal

I really don't understand the latter part of this definition. Can someone explain what it means?

It is a descriptive term used in heraldry to describe the pose of animals depicted on a coat of arms. It is apparently little used in English outside of Heraldic descriptions.

 

[AllardChardon]

Thanks, Harold, for having the answer. Now the definition makes sense to me.

refringent - adj REFRACTIVE, REFRACTING

 

[CarlusMagnus]

I love a good mystery, especially when it is solved so neatly. Thanks for an interesting read this morning.

regardant - adj looking backward over the shoulder - used of a heraldic animal

I really don't understand the latter part of this definition. Can someone explain what it means?

The entry for rampant in most dictionaries usually contains a better explanation of heraldic use.

 

[oggbashan]

I love a good mystery, especially when it is solved so neatly. Thanks for an interesting read this morning.

regardant - adj looking backward over the shoulder - used of a heraldic animal

I really don't understand the latter part of this definition. Can someone explain what it means?

And passant can be used with regardant

 

[bumblegrum]

Formicate - to swarm, as of ants. Please be careful with the pronunciation

 

[sr71plt]

"Enervate" and "Noisome."

 

[Edward Teach]

I haven't read this whole thread yet.

Might I be defenestrated if I enter a word that has appeared before?

VB!!!!

Damn, it's good to see you. Where have you been??

Stup Dity missed you too!

 

[Handley_Page]

I love a good mystery, especially when it is solved so neatly. Thanks for an interesting read this morning.

regardant - adj looking backward over the shoulder - used of a heraldic animal

I really don't understand the latter part of this definition. Can someone explain what it means?

There's a lot of it on here:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_%28heraldry%29#Passant

 

[AllardChardon]

Thank you so much, Gentlemen, I learned something new today. That is one reason I like this thread, besides the wonderful company.

refocilate - vt REFRESH, REVIVE