DIALECT AND WORD MEANINGS

[Stanley]

Yes, I have heard that usage. Also 'bait' as in bait tin......

[Tizer]

In Cornwall miners took their `crouse' (lunch) down the mine.

[Stanley]

That's a new word for me Peter. Thanks!

[Tripps]

From the Diamond Geezer

Sat 13: Well didn't Liverpool triumph at Eurovision? The city showcased itself perfectly for a full week, the BBC pulled out all the stops to deliver a nigh-flawless set of shows, Hannah Waddingham was a star, Finland were diddled, and we may never see any of that here in the UK again during our lifetime.

I haven't seen 'diddled' for a very long time.

[Cathy]

Have we had ‘Clever-clogs’ ? - someone who knows everything. First recorded in England in 1866. Presumably from Clever-boots, from the 17th century.

[Stanley]

There's something about the repeat of the 'cl' sound that's so satisfying.

[Tizer]

Yes, like clip clop for the sound of horses hooves.

[Stanley]

(I told you in another topic I was a simple soul..... )

[Cathy]

Or the Click-clack of high heels

Or the Clickety-clack of train wheels.

[Stanley]

Or the Clickety-clack of train wheels.

[Cathy]

I think he must have enjoyed making all those sounds. It was funny when he said ‘Turn the record over’

[Tizer]

I learnt a new word yesterday while reading a geology book explaining how erosion of rock occurs by flowing water containing sand and pebbles. It's `corrasion' (not to be confused with corrosion) derived from the Latin word for `scrape'. We are all familiar with abrasion and that is derived from Latin for `shave'. Water flowing over a rock bed abrades the rock surface; water flowing past river banks corrades the bank surface, removing pebbles, soil, silt etc.

[Stanley]

It gets complicated doesn't it.....
I don't think I will be using that one much.......

[Cathy]

The word Foist - to force someone to have or experience something they do not want.
First used probably in the 1540’s . Dutch - take in hand.
Apparently the word is obsolete now.

[Tripps]

Apparently the word is obsolete now.

I'd say not - I don't want that opinion foisted upon me.

[Stanley]

I agree with David Cathy. I suppose it's possible for some words to become obsolete if the thing they are associated dies out but they are far more likely to become archaic and I like to use them and perhaps breathe a bit of fresh life into them. An archaic word can sometimes have more impact than the modern equivalent because it makes people pause and think.

[Tizer]

I've just remembered something that was fermenting at the back of my brain after I saw the comments about `clever clogs' and `clip clop' above. It's this - `curzy wurzy' which is the Cornish name for walls made from slates in horizontal rows, alternating with a lean to the left then to the right then to the left etc. It gives a beautiful appearance.

[Cathy]

Curzy-wurzy walls… like this Tize?
.

98337C79-453F-4F82-9184-E6E13ED358DF.png

[Tizer]

That's it, Cathy, and the typical mounds of sea thrift flowers growing on it when it's near the sea. Coincidentally I've just posted a photo in the Wildlife topic showing thrift on the cliffs in Cornwall.

[Stanley]

Never come across curzy-wurzy walls before.... Nice one!

[Stanley]

My dad had a saying, "He hadn't a stuiver to his name".
I looked it up....
"The stuiver [stœy. vər] was a coin used in the Netherlands, worth one twentieth of a Dutch Guilder ( 16 penning or 8 duit, later 5 cents). It was also minted on the Lower Rhine region and the Dutch colonies."
Was this from his Aussie childhood or has anyone come across it here?

[Tripps]

Not a word I've ever heard of, but I see a variant is 'stoey'. Well Aunty Josie used to call sixpence (tanner) a 'joey' . Bit of a long shot to connect them though.

(PS - on reflection it might have been her name for a threepenny bit.)

I note that it seems to have been agreed in the press that the Kherson (Ukraine) dam disaster be described as a "collapse". I imagine that's because they cannot prove beyond doubt who actually blew it up.

[Tizer]

Well we do know that the Russians have been overfilling the dam beyond its safety level so perhaps it needed little or no extra help to collapse.

[Stanley]

David, 'Joey' was always my slang name for a threepenny bit. Looking back, would kids know what a Florin or a half-crown was? (Let alone a guinea!)

[PanBiker]

Half a dollar, where did that go, the dollar, more or less parity with the pound now.