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Word of the day is 'podsnappery' (19th century, from Dickens): 'insular complacency and blinkered self-satisfaction'
Mon, 02/11/2020 - 3:36pm — CarolWord of the day is 'podsnappery' (19th century, from Dickens): 'insular complacency and blinkered self-satisfaction'.
Word of the day is ‘quockerwodger’
Fri, 09/10/2020 - 12:17pm — CarolWord(s) from other languages...
Thu, 03/10/2019 - 12:58pm — Carol
Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that you didn’t want to have them do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favour, and then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end social conventions required you to express gratitude
Backpfeifengesicht (German): A face badly in need of a slap
L’esprit de l’escalier (French): usually translated as "staircase wit" is the act of thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late to deliver it. UPDATE: the english equivalent is ‘tintiddle’.
Pochemuchka (Russian): a person who asks a lot of questions
Taarradhin (Arabic): implies a happy solution for everyone, or “I win. You win.” It’s a way of reconciling without anyone losing face. Arabic has no word for "compromise" in the sense of reaching an arrangement via struggle and disagreement
Word(s) of the day: "spring tide" - tide occurring around the time of a full or new moon
Wed, 30/05/2018 - 6:00pm — webmasterWord(s) of the day: "spring tide" - tide occurring around the time of a full or new moon, when there is the greatest difference between high & low tide due to the combined gravitational pull of sun & moon; also known as a "king tide" (Old English springan, to surge, rise, flow). pic.twitter.com/IckufVsiU3
— Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) May 30, 2018
Word(s) of the day: "rionnach maoim"...'the moving shadows cast by clouds on moorland on a sunny, windy day'. Such compressed el
Tue, 06/03/2018 - 12:00am — CarolFor anyone interested but not knowing how to pronounce it, here it is.
— Calum Maclean (@caldamac) March 6, 2018
(And of course various Hebridean dialects could pronounce it slightly differently ??) pic.twitter.com/GFYJKxWjQe
Winnol Weather....
Sun, 04/03/2018 - 9:51pm — Carol3rd March is the feast of Saint Winwallus, aka Winwaloe, abbot, the third person in the weather-rhyme:
First comes David, next come Chad
Then comes Winnal roaring mad [*]
White or black,
Or old house thack (i.e. bringing snow, rain, or heavy winds)
[* (or, “roaring like mad”, or “as if he was mad”, or “as though he was mad”, or “blowing mad”)]
A good Celtic name transplanted from one Celtic country (Wales) to another (Brittany) and back again (Cornwall, and points north), it is variously rendered as Bennoc, Guénolé, Onolaus, Valois, Winwalloe, Winwalve, and several other variations, and in the above weather-rhyme, “Winnold”, “Winneral”, “Whinwall”, “Winnel” and “Winnol”
Word(s) of the day: “scréachóg reilige” - ‘screecher of the cemetery’; Irish name for the barn owl. Also “cailleach-oidhche ghea
Thu, 08/02/2018 - 5:33pm — CarolWord(s) of the day: “scréachóg reilige” - ‘screecher of the cemetery’; Irish name for the barn owl. Also “cailleach-oidhche gheal” (white old woman of the night, Gaelic) & “Schleiereule” (veil-owl, German). To mark publication, today, of Owl Sense by https://twitter.com/MimDarling @MimDarling
Word(s) of the day: “scréachóg reilige” - ‘screecher of the cemetery’; Irish name for the barn owl. Also “cailleach-oidhche gheal” (white old woman of the night, Gaelic) & “Schleiereule” (veil-owl, German).
— Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) February 8, 2018
To mark publication, today, of Owl Sense by @MimDarling pic.twitter.com/iDQjZVmVXl
Word of the day: "clinkerbell" - icicle (Somerset; archaic). Other regional names for icicles include "aquabob" (Kent), "ickle"
Fri, 15/12/2017 - 4:22pm — CarolWord of the day: "clinkerbell" - icicle (Somerset; archaic). Other regional names for icicles include "aquabob" (Kent), "ickle" (Yorkshire), "tankle" (Durham), "shuckle" (Cumbria) & "conkerbill" (Newfoundland).
Cornish dialect: Conkerbell, Cockabell or Cockerbell………….. An icicle
according to The Ancient Language, and the Dialect of Cornwall, with an Enlarged Glossary By Frederick W. P. Jago
Cornish language:
English Words
kleghi
kleghi
n.coll
Word of the day: “Eisvogel” - German for kingfisher, literally “ice-bird”; in Russian Зимородок, lit. “winter-born”
Mon, 04/12/2017 - 11:20am — CarolWord of the day: “Eisvogel” - German for kingfisher, literally
“ice-bird”; in Russian Зимородок, lit. “winter-born”. Names possibly
given because kingfishers appear in new territories when their
established fishing grounds freeze in winter.
Robert Macfarlane
Word of the day: "chime" - collective noun for wrens; the wren is also known as "druid" (Welsh), "little king" (Dutch) & "jenny"
Thu, 28/09/2017 - 10:06am — CarolWord of the day: "chime" - collective noun for wrens; the wren is also
known as "druid" (Welsh), "little king" (Dutch) & "jenny" (English).
