Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
#74160 06/27/02 12:20 AM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Charing Cross Not from chère reine, in honour of Eleanor, the dear wife of Edward I., but la chère
reine (the Blessed Virgin). Hence, in the Close Roll, Richard II, part I (1382), we read that the custody of
the falcons at Charryng, near Westminster, was granted to Simon Burley, who was to receive 12d. a day
from the Wardrobe.


#74161 06/27/02 12:43 AM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Cheese Something choice (Anglo-Saxon, ceos-an, to choose; German, kiesen; French, choisir). Chaucer
says, “To cheese whether she wold him marry or no.”


#74162 06/27/02 02:03 AM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
I
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
I
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
A man may be an ass in whole
by nought but term of art
But be he but a fraction ass
whole, it's his most prominent part



#74163 06/27/02 03:34 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Chic Fashionable; comme il faut; the mode. This is an archaic French word in vogue in the seventeenth
century. It really is the Spanish chico, little, also a little boy, and chica, a little girl or darling. Similarly,
wee in Scotch is a loving term of admiration and pride. (Chic is an abbreviation of the German geschickt,
apt, clever.)

I haven't heard the word "chic" lately. It used to irritate me to hear it pronounced "chick".


#74164 06/27/02 03:43 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Child at one time, meant a female infant, and was the correlative of boy.

“Mercy on `s! A barne, a very pretty barne. A boy or a child, I wonder?”- Shakespeare:
Winter's Tale, iii. 3.


#74165 06/27/02 03:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Chiliasts [kiliasts]. Another word for Millenarians; those who believe that Christ will return to this earth
and reign a thousand years in the midst of His saints. (Greek, chilias, a thousand.)

Where have all the silly-assed chiliasts gone?


#74166 06/27/02 04:06 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Chios (Kios). The man of Chios. Homer, who lived at Chios, near the Ægean Sea. Seven cities claim to
be his place of birth-

“Smyrna, Rhodos, Colophon, Salamis, Chios, Argos, Athe'næ.”- Varro.

I know the word "colophon" meaning the publishers identifying emblem on title page of boods, I
did not know it was name of an island. I wonder how the emblem meaning arose.


#74167 06/28/02 04:44 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Cue (1 syl.). The tail of a sentence (French, queue), the catch-word which indicates when another actor
is to speak; a hint; the state of a person's temper, as “So-and-so is in a good cue (or) bad cue.”

I think this etymology makes more sense than the one given in my dictionary.


#74168 06/28/02 04:53 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Culverin properly means a serpent (Latin, colubrinus, the coluber), but is applied to a long, slender piece
of artillery employed in the sixteenth century to carry balls to a great distance. Queen Elizabeth's “Pocket
Pistol” in Dover Castle is a culverin.

I had a Tory ancestor who made them, but sold them to the British, and had to flee to Halifax and thence to England. When I was a boy, "Go to Halifax!" was a permissible euphemism for "go to Hell".



#74169 06/28/02 05:03 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Cur A fawning, mean-spirited fellow, a crop-tailed dog (Latin, curtus, crop-tailed. French, court; our
curt). According to forest laws, a man who had no right to the privilege of the chase was obliged to cut
off the tail of his dog. Hence, a degenerate dog or man is called a cur.

I have also read that nobles had peasants' dogs' toenails cut off so that they could not chase deer.


Page 2 of 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,580
Members9,187
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Karin, JeffMackwood, artguitar, Jim_W, Rdbuffalo
9,187 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 332 guests, and 0 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
wofahulicodoc 10,713
tsuwm 10,542
LukeJavan8 9,931
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5