DIALECT AND WORD MEANINGS

[Tripps]

Aren't words wonderful!

Amen to that, and thanks for 'dooket'

Now for a bit more pedantry - sorry. Uncle Bob used the word 'sophomorical' today. I knew that a sophomore was a second year university student, but didn't realise they had any common characteristics. Seems more correct would be 'sophomoric'. Before you ask - I'm not telling him.

1 : conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature a sophomoric argument. 2 : lacking in maturity, taste, or judgment sophomoric humor.

PS Having read the defintion again - I think I may have the ' late onset' version.

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I just came across someone showing off with the word 'sophomoric' on another site - where they think they're cleverer than they actually are. Had a quiet smug smile to myself.

[Stanley]

I think it was GBS who said that the US and the UK are two nations divided by a common language.
I wonder at many of the usages over there, perhaps the most striking is 'gubernatorial'. To my knowledge, never ever used here.
(Surely a good substitute for Bob's word would be immature. But like you I won't raise the matter..... )

[Tripps]

I came across this whilst looking at an analysis of the opening scene in Macbeth.

I can't really believe I just typed that. . .

"This is something I had to look up. Greymalkin and Paddock refer to the witches’ familiars or ‘guardian spirits’. The term stems from “grey” (the colour) plus “malkin”, an archaic term with several meanings (a low class woman, a weakling, a mop, or a name) derived from a hypocoristic form of the female name Maud. Scottish legend makes reference to the grimalkin as a faery cat that dwells in the highlands.

Paddock: Pad, pade derived from Old English pada (“toad”).

Therefore, the witches ‘familiars’ calling them away. Again, it is to the third witch to assertively instruct: anon!"

The word malkin jumpoed out at me - Isn't there a connection therewith the Pendle witches - where Malkin Tower features?
I will try and find my book by John A Clayton, and see what he has to say about it all.

Now I'll have to look up hypocoristic.

Seems it means "a pet name or diminutive form of a name". Bit of a disappointment actually.

[Stanley]

That's the sort of morass you get into if you start to do textual analysis of Macbeth David. My advice is to forget it! I don't think that will ruin your life.....

[plaques]

Shakespeare invented words as he went along so its not surprising that there is no traceable root to there meaning. Every sentence used to give me a headache. What does this mean, what's behind this. Will the real William Shakespeare please stand up.

[Tizer]

In his novels based on Christopher Marlowe M.J. Trow has great fun depicting Will Shakspear as stealing Marlowe's ideas and words and generally making a nuisance of himself around the Globe Theatre.

[Stanley]

I can get all the fun I want out of our genuine dialect words and their origins without having to make any up.
(Apart from 'nebbins' for weigh scales. I admit to making that up and have always been quite pleased with it!)
[Just looked it up in urban dictionary and was quite shocked to find it in there......]

[Tizer]

I use empty Ferro Rocher boxes to display some of my mineral specimens. They are/were made of strong crystal clear perspex and perfect for the job (with the bonus of having to eat the chocs, of course!). But, oh no, the company has replaced them with cloudy, bendy boxes to save money massage their ESG profile. In searching for a source of old sturdy boxes I landed on this YouTube video but found it interesting and I now know what a nemophilist is!
`How to make a Terrarium for free' YouTube

[Tripps]

Not just chocs. I find that Gold Label tea from Aldi which has been unobtainable for weeks is back, but not foil wrapped any more - just loose in a paper card box which collapsed during the excitement of competitive packing, under the usual Aldi pressure.

They think that if they eliminate plastic packaging the weather will change.

I hae me doots.

[Tripps]

Here comes 'spooky' again. Ferrero Rocher boxes twice in one day must qualify?

Make a paludarium from a Ferrero Rocher box.

Paludarium - no me neither - but we all have now.

[Cathy]

I use my Ferrero Rocher containers in my stationery drawer to keep everything neat and separated.

[Stanley]

I am happy to report I have never eaten a Ferrero Rocher or had a box.
Yes, I now know what nemophilist and paludarium mean. I can die without that nagging me.....

[Tripps]

The forthcomimg legal action agains 'The Donald' got me wondering about the origin of the phrase "trumped up charges". We all know what it means but where does it originate?

The best I can find however is

Trumped-up - From the past participle form of the phrasal verb to trump up,. From Wiktionary

I'm not a lot wiser.

[Stanley]

I went for a furtle....
""fabricate, devise," 1690s, from trump "deceive, cheat" (1510s), from Middle English trumpen (late 14c.), from Old French tromper "to deceive," of uncertain origin. Apparently from se tromper de "to mock," from Old French tromper "to blow a trumpet." Brachet explains this as "to play the horn, alluding to quacks and mountebanks, who attracted the public by blowing a horn, and then cheated them into buying ...." The Hindley Old French dictionary has baillier la trompe "blow the trumpet" as "act the fool," and Donkin connects it rather to trombe "waterspout," on the notion of turning (someone) around. Connection with triumph also has been proposed. Related: Trumped; trumping. Trumped up "false, concocted" first recorded 1728.
The reference to 'triumph' refers to explanations of 'trump' when referring to playing cards. Triumph was the name of a popular card game at the time and is thought to be the origin of this usage.
The connection to Old French tromper looks most plausible to me.....

[Tripps]

Top furtling

I suppose it is related to he art expression. Trompe L'oeil - deceive the eye.

[Stanley]

I'm enjoying re=reading Arthur Ransome's 'Racundra's First Cruise' and he uses a word I have only ever come across in his writing. It's 'wimpel' meaning the pennant at the masthead of a ship which is used to show the direction of the wind. I want for a furtle ans it's complicated......
kleine, meist dreieckige oder länglich trapezförmige Fahne (besonders als Kennzeichen eines Sportvereins, einer Jugendgruppe o. Ä. und als Signalflagge auf Schiffen)
This was the most direct reference to it in German language etymology.
wimpel m (plural wimpels, diminutive wimpeltje n). pennon, pennant
In Dutch etymology.
However in English etymology it seems to equate to 'wimple' which is a head covering or veil, often worn by nuns.
When Ransome used the word he was in the Baltic and so this might explain the use of the Germanic meaning.

[Stanley]

I had occasion to focus on the word 'graft' for which I know multiple meanings. I refer you to THIS Wiktionary article for an interesting read. In my case the origin I was looking for was Dutch but the others are interesting.

[Tripps]

I speak to many people whose first language is not English. We get on fine, but I modify my speech a little to avoid complications. I often wonder what some expressions mean to them. For instance I hear this morning that "charges have been levelled at Trump". Why levelled ? I'd say they've been poured all over him.

[Stanley]

Yes, it's a puzzling usage isn't it. I always assume it derives from 'aimed'....... You 'level' a gun to aim it don't you.

[Stanley]

Furtle is a word I use frequently but can find no reference to it or its origins no matter how much I search.
So it seems appropriate to reveal where I first heard it and what I believe to be it's roots. Those of you with long memories for trivia might remember a man called Blaster Bates. (LINK)
I first heard furtle when it was used by him and I believe it's a bit of Cheshire dialect.

[Tizer]

In the latest issue of Current Archaeology magazine Chris Catling mentions that the first known use of the word woke was `stay woke' in a song by the folk-blues singer Leadbelly (Huddie William Ledbetter) in the 1930s. Catling also mentions the American campaigners known by the name Stay Awake who supported poor people etc in the 1840s. This rang a bell for me because I've seen references to `stay awake' hats in historical novels. Brewer's states that the hats had a flat crown and narrow brim and were called a stay awake in a pun based on them not having a nap.

[Cathy]

I was watching an old interview with HRH today talking about one of his projects. He said at one point that they had to call the ‘Pantechnicon’ back.
What the?
Turns out it was just a large van for transporting furniture.

[Stanley]

The word 'swipe' crossed my path today. I went for a Furtle.....
swipe (n.) 1807, "a driving stroke made with the arms in full swing," perhaps a dialectal variant of sweep (n.), or in part from obsolete swip "a stroke, blow" (c. 1200), from Proto-Germanic *swip-, related to Old English swipu "a stick, whip; chastisement." Other possible sources or influences are Middle English swope "to sweep with broad movements" (in reference to brooms, swords, etc.), from Old English swapan; obsolete swaip "stroke, blow;" or obsolete swape "oar, pole." (sweep is the name given to a large oar.)
swipe (v.) 1825, "strike with a sweeping motion," from swipe (n.). The slang sense of "steal, pilfer" appeared 1885, American English; earliest use in prison jargon.
Meaning "run a credit card" is 1990s. Related: Swiped; swiper; swiping.
Like many other words, more to it than meets the eye.

[Stanley]

I used the word 'balk' this morning and looked up the etymology.....
Balk late Old English balc, from Old Norse bálkr ‘partition’. The original use was ‘unploughed ridge’, later ‘land left unploughed by mistake’, hence ‘blunder, omission’, giving rise to the verb use ‘miss (a chance)’. A late Middle English sense ‘obstacle’ gave rise to the verb senses ‘hesitate’ and ‘hinder’.

[Stanley]

I think this is the right place for this.
Brecon Beacons National Park has announced that it will use its Welsh language name only in future. The switch - to Bannau Brycheiniog National Park - takes effect on its 66th anniversary. Park bosses say the name change will help celebrate and promote the area's culture and heritage.
The Snowdonia syndrome once again. I hope you are keeping up!