hogging
Actually, hogging was indeed a problem in the days of sail, at least with wooden ships, in which context it means a warping or bowing upward of the keel, which causes the nails and spikes to start and the strakes to bow, eventually becoming catastrophic. This problem was detected a few years ago in the Constellation, the tourist centerpiece of Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Constellation was earlier thought to be the sister ship of Constitution, or "Old Ironsides", which is in Boston harbor, and thus of Revolutionary War vintage; but research about 10 years ago established definitively that the original Constellation was lost in the 1840's and the present ship is a newer ship built about 1855, carrying the same name, but very much like the original in appearance. Anyway, when it was discovered that she was hogging, a number of local businesses and persons gave money, as did the City and the State, for repairs, which came to several million dollars. She was towed from her berth in the inner harbor with emergency auxiliary boats alongside in case she sank en route, but she didn't. Most of the planking near the keel and all the lower decking etc. had to be removed so the keel could be straightened; then everything went back together. Took 2 years, but the old girl is back in her place and looking better than ever. Needless to say, in Baltimore we're as proud of her as Bostonians are of Constitution.
Back to words:
A favorite of mine, encountered in Horatio Hornblower novels, is "handsomely", which, I believe means "slowly" (or is it the opposite?) I checked the MW in my office and the on-line dictionaries and thesaurus, but they don't have this meaning listed.
