from the Go Figure Dept.

I had occasion to wonder at the the provenance of petrophile* (rock-lover) and find that it's one of those words that dictionaries don't deign to gloss. but in looking at OED(online) I noticed, in the expected vicinitude, this gem: petsywetsy

1879 T. H. SAYRE Strategist II. 20 He called her pet names, his sweetsie, sweetsie, petsie-wetsie, get up and getsie, and then the immoral cuss kissed her. 1928 D. H. LAWRENCE Lady Chatterley's Lover xvii. 305 I'm not content to be any man's little petsywetsy. 1994 A. CAMERON Wedding Cakes, Rats & Rodeo Queens I. iv. 38 Nyah-nyah, SmartyPants, forgot about 'cha, didn't they?..Har-de-har-har, little PetsyWetsy. [originally listed as nonce-wd from Lawrence in OED2]



*"The Chinese are the world's greatest petrophiles. They plant stones were[sic] others might choose an herbaceous border." - Stanley Stewart, Frontiers of Heaven (2004)

-joe (stone cold sober) friday