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Posted By: wwh I met a few words - 02/08/03 07:56 PM
I found an edu site with a long list of unusual words. I'll put a sampling of them here each day.
aba: garment of camel or goat hair; camel or goat-hair fabric
abditive: remote; secret; hidden
ablepsia: blindness
aboideau: tide gate
abraid: to awaken or rouse
abthane: monastic region of the old Irish church
aby: to make amends; atone; pay a penalty
acatour: provisioner; quartermaster
accentor: songbird


Posted By: Wordwind Re: I met a few words - 02/08/03 08:47 PM
These are lovely words, wwh...some of them.

What would the purpose of a tide gate be...the 'aboideau'?

And the songbird, the 'accentor'--that's lovely. It makes me think of the verb 'to record' in one use: to practice a song, as in a songbird recording its song

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: abraid - 02/08/03 08:48 PM
abraid: to awaken or rouse

Related to and/or a milder form of upbraid?

upbraid: 1. to criticize severely; find fault with 2. to reproach severely; scold vehemently


Posted By: wwh Re: abraid - 02/08/03 09:27 PM
Dear WO'N: :Upbraid is to address abrasively.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: abraid - 02/08/03 09:34 PM
Dear Dr. Bill: That's right out of Webster's:

Main Entry: up·braid
Pronunciation: "&p-'brAd
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English upbreyden, from Old English upbregdan, probably from up up + bregdan to snatch, move suddenly -- more at BRAID
Date: 14th century
1 : to criticize severely : find fault with
2 : to reproach severely : scold vehemently
synonym see SCOLD
- up·braid·er noun

Posted By: wwh Re: abraid - 02/08/03 10:16 PM
Dear WO'N: to "upbraid" is to dress down.

Posted By: wwh Re: meet a few more - 02/08/03 10:17 PM
accidie: sloth; physical torpor
accite: to cite; to summon
accosted: in heraldry, two figures placed side by side
accrementition: increase or growth by adding similar material
aceldama: site or scene of violence or bloodshed
acersecomic: one whose hair has never been cut
acinaceous: full of kernels
acock: defiantly
acoria: pathologically great appetite
acre-breadth: old unit of length of 22 yards
acromegaly: glandular disorder causing gigantism of extremities
actinism: action of solar radiation causing chemical change
aculeiform: shaped like a thorn


Posted By: Wordwind Re: abraid - 02/08/03 10:51 PM
From J-u-a-n's paste:

bregdan to snatch, move suddenly -- more at BRAID


I'll tell you one thing. Wheb my mother used to braid my hair, she sure as hell snatched it horribly--nearly pulled it out by the roots. Felt like unbraiding her for braiding me so harshly, but, hey, she was my mom and I loved her.

Posted By: wwh Re: aboideau - 02/08/03 10:58 PM
Dear WW: I finally found "aboideau" in forthright's phrontistery. It means "tide gate".
Venice for instance has spent millions for a tide gate to minimize destructive effects of
extra high tides. In some places in France, they now have gates to hold high tide from
going out, to make it generate electricity. Original meaning was "dike", but somehow
different from usual dikes, couldn't find details.
Today we have Watergates, to flush out rascals.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: upbraid - 02/08/03 11:58 PM
Dear WO'N: to "upbraid" is to dress down.

Pretty cool, Dr. Bill. I think you may have created a new form here! 'Cause it's not actually a pun, although it plays off the word in a like manner with a twinkle of humor. BUT, it is also a spot-on definition. A tough dichotomy to pull off. Is there a term for this, tsuwm? Or should we christen it a Dr.Billonym?

Posted By: wwh Re: upbraid - 02/09/03 12:10 AM
Dear WO'N: actually "dress down" strikes me as peculiar. Except it reminds me of the guy
who when he got angry with his wife, would lay her across his knees, preparatory to
spanking her. But when he got her dress up, he couldn't remember what he was angry about.

Posted By: wofahulicodoc Re: aboideau - 02/09/03 12:31 AM
Sounds like a contraction of some sort - "a` bois d'eau" coming from "wood for the water" (or something like that) to keep the water out.

How far off am I? And did they have Hogwash in medieval France?

Posted By: wwh Re: aboideau - 02/09/03 01:22 AM
Dear wofahulicodoc: I searched diligently, but could find nothing about etymology.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: upbraid - 02/09/03 03:21 AM
Dear WO'N: actually "dress down" strikes me as peculiar. Except it reminds me of the guy who when he got angry with his wife, would lay her across his knees, preparatory tospanking her. But when he got her dress up, he couldn't remember what he was angry about.

bada-BOOM, bada-BING!



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