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Dear Ww: snead? Remember famous golfer Sam Snead? A variant spelling of handle of scythe,
more usual spelling "snath".
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>is that how you pronounce any of those examples...
now we're getting into my area of nescience, but I'm sure Faldage will leap in to straighten me out: the way I understand this stuff is that since there were no standards, spellings varied wildly even though everyone pronounced things pretty much the same. so yeah, a theof was just a thief.
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Yeah, I got the snead-scythe connection on OneLook--but the one I was first questioning was geat, which wasn't included in lower case on my source at home, but I did find it lower case later on OneLook.
Amazing. That entire first line of words on this thread. And the idea that sanies is pus--yecch! Although still don't think we oughtta count infangtheof. I may take a crack at the second line. Seems you'd be safer saying they're all words!
It was cool learning the curved handle of the scythe is called the snead. That sounds like a term of art to me. Lewis Carroll, were he here, would enjoy playing around with snead and scythe.
Edit: Come to think of it, Bill, you old devil, you might have pulled all these words together, made up the entire abandoned webstie story, just to get us discussing a bunch of words! Ha! If so, it worked!
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Ain't listed in OneLook! No wlonk! I think wlonk is the only word there that's not a word. murnival turned out to be any set of set matching cards in the game of gleek, which is a word, too, but not on the list. Edit: zeme ain't in OneLook either.Edit 2: glusk ain't eitherA long wavelike ridge of snow, formed by the wind and found on the polar plains. That's sastruga. Wonder what a long wavelike ridge of snow would be called on plains not polar? A mop for sweeping ovens; a maulkin. = a scovel. I don't sweep my oven. Guess that's why I've never heard of a scovel. I suppose we're talkin' very large ovens here--perhaps one's fired up by Fish's phoenix. Another Edit: Cottobus is only listed on Onelook in a Britannica reference. There are two types of Cottobus, but the first is worth quoting here since it appears that this ancient game was a strange game--sinking saucers with wine. Now how was this done? Did the Greeks spit wine into the saucers or did they take handfuls and toss the wine at the saucers? I mean, I've heard of bobbing for apples, but sinking saucers with wine? Strange game. Here's from the Britannica link: "COTTABUS (Gr. i Various modifications of the original principle of the game were gradually introduced, but for practical purposes we may reckon two varieties. (I) In the Kbrra/3os & 6~vl36.4we shallow saucers (6~i,~3a4ia) were floated in a basin or mixing-bowl filled with water; the object was to sink the saucers by throwing the wine into them, and the competitor who sank the greatest number was considered victorious, and received the prize, which consisted of cakes or sweetmeats." http://17.1911encyclopedia.org/C/CO/COTTABUS.htm
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Come to think of it, Bill, you old devil, you might have pulled all these words together, made up the entire abandoned webstie story, just to get us discussing a bunch of words! Ha! If so, it worked!
I think you may be on to something (or on something), Ws.
zeme - obs. form of seam
glusk - [obs] To squint; implied in glusker, one who squints;
wlonk - [obs] 1. Proud, haughty.
Beowulf 341 Ellenrof+wlanc Wedera leod+heard under helme. c1175 Lamb. Hom. 35 He wes prud & wlonc. a1225 Leg. Kath. 844 Nawt wiš wit ah wiš wind of ane wlonke wordes. a1300 Cursor M. 6397 Žir Iuus žat o will war wlanck, Žai cund him ai ful litell thanck.
2. Rich, splendid, fine, magnificent: in later use esp. as a conventional epithet in alliterative verse.
Beowulf 2833 Mašmęhta wlonc. a1000 Phnix 100 Fu¼el fežrum wlonc. c1230 Hali Meid. (1922) 43 & tine wide wahes wlonke & welefulle. a1250 Owl & Night. 489 Sumeres tide is alto wlonc. c1325 Song of Merci 3 in E.E.P. (1862) 118 Wlanke deor on grounde gan glide. c1350 Will. Palerne 1634 A while wol i stinte of žis wlonke murže. 13+ E.E. Allit. P. A. 122 Wod & water & wlonk playnez. Ibid. 903, I schulde not tempte žy wyt so wlonc. a140050 Wars Alex. 5089 A worthi wedow & a wlonk. c1400 Anturs Arth. 347 Wlonkest in wede. c1450 Holland Howlat 553 Archebald the honorable+Weddit that wlonk wicht. 15+ Tayis Bank 118 (Bann. MS.) Joy wes within and joy without, Vnder that wlonkest waw.
b. Rich in moisture or sap; rank; lush.
1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xi. xi. (Tollem. MS.), Snow+norischež and fedež good herbes and makež hem wlonke [orig. impinguit; ed. 1495 cranke; ed. 1535 ranke]. c1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 449 The potters cley, the wlonk [uliginosa], or sondy lene,+nys nought.
B. as n. A fair or beautiful one.
?a1400 Morte Arth. 3338, I went to that wlonke, and wynly hire gretis. a1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 36 Of thir fair wlonkes,+Ane wes ane wedow. Ibid. 150 The wedo to the tothir wlonk warpit ther wordis.
all thanks to you know what.
edit: but then, it didn't really work; it mostly started a frenzy of LIU. ha!
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I'm sorry. The statute of limitations has kicked in on this word. Words in English do not start with wl. It's outta the language.
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that's the problem with this list: where do you draw the line? wlonk? geat?? infangtheof?!
if the game was to identify which words have become obsolete....
I think wof'doc had it right, "something smells, here."
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Well, I'm curious about wlonk. When was wlonk a word? And could Willie Wonker be in any way related to whatever wlonk may have meant, once upon a time?
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just going by the OED citations, from Beowulf trough early C. 16.
>Willie Wonker
careful.. it's but another short step from Wonka > Wonker > Wanker 8 )
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>I'm sorry. The statute of limitations has kicked in on this word. Words in English do not start with wl. It's outta the language.
how wlong has that been the case?
TEd
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