#77002
07/28/2002 5:21 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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erfume (2 syl.) means simply “from smoke” (Latin, per fumum), the first perfumes having been
obtained by the combustion of aromatic woods and gums. Their original use was in sacrifices, to
counteract the offensive odours of the burning flesh.
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#77003
07/29/2002 11:30 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Perfume = from smoke? Holy cow, that's almost too simple!  Does perchance, then mean from (by) sheer luck? What about perhaps: from happenstance?
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#77004
07/29/2002 11:48 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Good thinkin', Jackie.
wwh: Interesting that note about counteracting the smell of burning flesh. But from my reading of the Old Testament, it's stated somewhere in there that the sacrifices of the animals--their burning thereof--was to have been fragrant and pleasing to God.
I take it the "flesh" of your reference was not that of animals roasted, but perhaps (gasp) human?
Grotesque topic, but I must ask....
WW
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#77005
07/29/2002 1:06 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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The idea that God should enjoy the smell of burnt flesh seems
close to blasphemy to me. How stupid to think God eats flesh
or needs a nose or teeth,Or any other human attribute.
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#77006
07/29/2002 2:52 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Peripatetics Founder of the Peripatetics - Aristotle, who used to teach his disciples in the covered walk
of the Lyceum. This colonnade was called the peripatos, because it was a place for walking about (peri
pateo).
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#77007
07/29/2002 2:56 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Periwinkle The bind-around plant. (Anglo-Saxon, pinewincle; French, pervenche; Latin, pervincio, to
bind thoroughly.) In Italy it used to be wreathed round dead infants, and hence its Italian name, fior di
morto.
I wonder how in the world the same word refers to the very common small snails see at the seashore.
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#77008
07/29/2002 2:59 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Perk To perk oneself. To plume oneself on anything. (Welsh, percu, to smarten or plume feathers, perc,
neat.)
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#77009
07/29/2002 3:02 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Permian Strata So called from Perm, in Russia, where they are most distinctly developed.
Geology term. It can be very hard to discover how some of these terms arose.
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#77010
07/29/2002 3:07 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Perth is Celtic for a bush. The county of Perth is the county of bushes.
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#77011
07/29/2002 3:13 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Peruvian Bark called also Jesuit's Bark, because it was introduced into Spain by the Jesuits. “Quinine,”
from the same tree, is called by the Indians quinquina. (See Cinchona.)
Formerly a valuable botanical for treatment of malaria. Now of little use. A formerly popular
carbonated beverage, Moxie contained it. Horrid tasting. Once in a while "to have lots of
Mozie" meaning to be arrogant may still be heard in of troy's bailiwick.
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#77012
07/29/2002 3:17 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Petard' Hoist on his own petard. Caught in his own trap, involved in the danger he meant for others.
The petard was a conical instrument of war employed at one time for blowing open gates with
gunpowder. The engineers used to carry the petard to the place they intended to blow up, and fire it at the
small end by a fusee. Shakespeare spells the word petar. “'Tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with
his own petar.” (Hamlet, ii. 4.)
If externalized borborrymi amuse you, look up "Le Petomane"/
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#77013
07/29/2002 3:20 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Blue Peter:
Blue Peter A flag with a blue ground and white square in the centre, hoisted as a signal that the ship is
about to sail. Peter is a corruption of the French partir (leave or notice of departure). The flag is hoisted
to give notice to the town that any person having a money-claim may make it before the ship starts, and
that all about to sail are to come on board.
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#77014
07/29/2002 3:24 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Blue Stocking A female pedant. In 1400 a society of ladies and gentlemen was formed at Venice,
distinguished by the colour of their stockings, and called della calza. It lasted till 1590, when it appeared
in Paris and was the rage among the lady savantes. From France it came to England in 1780, when Mrs.
Montague displayed the badge of the Bas-bleu club at her evening assemblies. Mr. Benjamin Stillingfleet
was a constant attendant of the soirées. The last of the clique was Miss Monckton, afterwards Countess
of Cork, who died 1840.
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#77015
07/29/2002 3:26 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Blue Talk Indecent conversation, from the French, Bibliothèque Bleu. (Harlots are called “Blues” from
the blue gown they were once compelled to wear in the House of Correction.)
Blue movies is euphemism for pornographic movies.
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#77016
07/29/2002 3:29 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Blunderbuss A short gun with a large bore. (Dutch, donderbus, a thunder-tube.)
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#77017
07/29/2002 3:36 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Peter the Great of Russia built St. Petersburg, and gave Russia a place among the nations of Europe. He
laid aside his crown and sceptre, came to England, and worked as a common labourer in our dockyards,
that he might teach his subjects how to build ships.
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#77018
07/29/2002 3:39 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Petitio Principii (A). A begging of the question, or assuming in the premises the question you undertake
to prove. Thus, if a person undertook to prove the infallibility of the pope, and were to take for his
premises- (1) Jesus Christ promised to keep the apostles and their successors in all the truth; (2) the popes
are the regular successors of the apostles, and therefore the popes are infallible- it would be a vicious
syllogism from a petitio principii.
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#77019
07/29/2002 3:41 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Petrel The stormy petrel. So named, according to tradition, from the Italian Petrello (little Peter), in
allusion to St. Peter, who walked on the sea. Our sailors call them “Mother Carey's chickens.” They are
called stormy because in a gale they surround a ship to catch small animals which rise to the surface of the
rough sea; when the gale ceases they are no longer seen.
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#77020
07/29/2002 3:43 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Petto It petto. In secrecy, in reserve (Italian, in the breast). The pope creates cardinals in petto - i.e. in
his own mind- and keeps the appointment to himself till he thinks proper to announce it.
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#77021
07/29/2002 3:54 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Why Mother Carey's chickens? I have heard this but never understood it.
dxb
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#77023
07/29/2002 9:42 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
Hey, Dr Bill - not just in of troy's neighborhood! The local coffee chain providing competition to the insurgent Starbucks cult in Boise, Idaho was called Moxie Java, and they made a mean mocha.  Additionally, I've mentioned the Canadian band Moxy Fruvous here before... besides, it's one of those words I like to *work* at getting into conversation!
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#77024
07/29/2002 9:48 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
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Posts: 771 |
And in the theatre, the color blue takes on two meanings... "going blue" is used to mean speaking profanity on stage, depending on the perceived receptivity of the audience. Not advisable to go blue if you've got an elementary school group in attendance, or a bunch of nuns. Neither is it a good idea to go blue if it's a Sunday matinee show, typically the "blue-hair crowd".
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#77025
07/29/2002 9:52 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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Neither is it a good idea to go blue if it's a Sunday matinee show, typically the
"blue-hair crowd".
Not even if they wear blue merkins.
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#77026
07/30/2002 4:14 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Phalanx The close order of battle in which the heavy-armed troops of a Grecian army were usually
drawn up. Hence, any number of people distinguished for firmness and solidity of union.
I have read that Philip of Macedon devised special tactic of equipping phalanx with extra
length heavy spears, so that when they charged enemy with only shields and swords
could not withstand their charge.
Anatomy: bones beneath palm, between wrist and fingers. Pl. phalanges.
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#77027
07/30/2002 4:20 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Pharisees means “separatists” (Heb. parash, to separate), men who looked upon themselves as holier
than other men, and therefore refused to hold social intercourse with them.
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#77028
07/30/2002 4:21 PM
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Posts: 13,858
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Pharos A lighthouse; so called from the lighthouse built by Sostratus Cnidius in the island of Pharos, near
the port of Alexandria, in Egypt. It was 450 feet high, and could be seen at the distance of 100 miles. Part
was blown down in 793. This Pharos was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
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#77029
07/30/2002 4:23 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Pharsalia An epic in Latin hexameters by Lucan. The battle of Pharsalia was between Pompey and
Cæsar. Pompey had 45,000 legionaries, 7,000 cavalry, and a large number of auxiliaries; Cæsar had
22,000 legionaries and 1,000 cavalry. Pompey's battle-cry was “Hercules invictus; ” that of Cæsar was
“Venus victrix. ” On this occasion Cæsar won the battle.
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#77030
07/30/2002 4:25 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Pheasant So called from Phasis, a stream of the Black Sea.
“There was formerly at the fort of Poti a preserve of pheasants, which birds derive their
European name from the river Phasis (the present Rion).”- Lieut-General Monteith.
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#77031
07/30/2002 4:29 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Phebe (2 syl.). A shepherdess.
Also "phoebe" a bird's name, and also a girl's name. I think the bird was so named
because of its cry.
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#77032
07/30/2002 4:31 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Phenomenon (plural, phenomena) means simply what has appeared (Greek, phainomai, to appear). It is
used in science to express the visible result of an experiment. In popular language it means a prodigy.
(Greek, phainomenon.)
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#77033
07/30/2002 4:36 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Philippic A severs scolding; an invective. So called from the orations of Demosthenes against Philip of
Macedon, to rouse the Athenians to resist his encroachments. The orations of Cicero against Anthony are
called “Philippies.”
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#77034
07/30/2002 4:38 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Philistines meaning the ill-behaved and ignorant. The word so applied arose in Germany from the
Charlies or Philisters, who were in everlasting collision with the students; and in these “town and gown
rows” identified themselves with the town, called in our universities “the snobs.” Matthew Arnold, in the
Cornhill Magazine, applied the term Philistine to the middle class, which he says is “ignorant,
narrow-minded, and deficient in great ideas,” insomuch that the middle-class English are objects of
contempt in the eyes of foreigners.
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#77035
07/30/2002 4:41 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Philosopher's Stone The way to wealth. The ancient alchemists thought there was a substance which
would convert all baser metals into gold. This substance they called the philosopher's stone. Here the
word stone is about equal to the word substratum, which is compounded of the Latin sub and stratus
(spread-under), the latter being related to the verb stand, stood, and meaning something on which the
experiment stands. It was, in fact, a red powder or amalgam to drive off the impurities of baser metals.
(Stone, Saxon, stán.)
Philosopher's stone. According to legend, Noah was commanded to hang up the true and genuine
philosopher's stone in the ark, to give light to every living creature therein.
Inventions discovered in searching for the philosopher's stone. It was in searching for this treasure
that Boticher stumbled on the invention of Dresden porcelain manufacture; Roger Bacon on the
composition of gunpowder; Geber on the properties of acids; Van Helmont on the nature of gas; and Dr.
Glauber on the “salts” which bear his name.
And now we have Harry Potter.
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#77036
07/30/2002 4:48 PM
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Philter (A). A draught or charm to incite in another the passion of love. The Thessalian philters were the
most renowned, but both the Greeks and Romans used these dangerous potions, which sometimes
produced insanity. Lucretius is said to have been driven mad by a love-potion, and Caligula's death is
attributed to some philters
More Harry Potter.
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#77037
07/30/2002 4:51 PM
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Phoenix Said to live a certain number of years, when it makes in Arabia a nest of spices, sings a
melodious dirge, flaps his wings to set fire to the pile, burns itself to ashes, and comes forth with new life,
to repeat the former one
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#77038
07/30/2002 4:55 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Phylactery A charm or amulet. The Jews wore on their wrist or forehead a slip of parchment bearing a
text of Scripture. Strictly speaking, a phylactery consisted of four pieces of parchment, enclosed in two
black leather cases, and fastened to the forehead or wrist of the left hand. One case contained Ex. xiii.
1-10, 11-16; and the other case Deut. vi. 4-9, xi. 13-21. The idea arose from the command of Moses,
“Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart ... and bind them for a sign upon your hand ... as
frontlets between your eyes” (Deut. xi. 18). (Greek, phylacterion, from the verb phylasso to watch.)
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#77039
07/30/2002 4:58 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Pic-nic Dr. John Anthony derives it from the Italian piccola nicchia (a small task), each person being set
a small task towards the general entertainment. (French, pique-nique.)
The modern custom dates from 1802, but picnics, called eranot, where each person contributed
something, and one was appointed “master of the feast,” are mentioned by Homer, in his Odyssey, i. 226.
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#77040
07/30/2002 5:00 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Picador (Spanish). A horseman; one who in bull fights is armed with a gilt spear (pica-dorada), with
which he pricks the bull to madden him for the combat.
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#77041
07/30/2002 5:03 PM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Piccadilly (London). So called from Piccadilla Hall, the chief depôt of a certain sort of lace, much in
vogue during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The lace was called piccadilly lace, from its little spear-points
(a diminutive of pica, a pike or spear). In the reign of James I. the high ruff was called a piccadilly,
though divested of its lace edging. Barnaby Rice, speaking of the piccadillies, says- “He that some forty
years sithen should have asked after a piccadilly, I wonder who would have understood him, and would
have told him whether it was fish or flesh” (1614). Another derivation is given in the Glossographia
(1681). Piccadilly, we are there told, was named from Higgins' famous ordinary near St. James's, called
Higgins's Pickadilly, “because he made his money by selling piccadillies” (p. 495). (See also Hone:
Everyday Book, vol. ii. p. 381.)
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