Interesting that the root of this word is Latin for cave.
grotesque
adj.
5Fr < It grottesca (pittura), orig., (picture) in a cave < grotta, GROTTO: from resemblance to designs found in Roman caves6
1 in or of a style of painting, sculpture, etc. in which forms of persons and animals are intermingled as with foliage, flowers, or fruits in a fantastic or bizarre design
2 characterized by distortions or striking incongruities in appearance, shape, or manner; fantastic; bizarre
3 ludicrously eccentric or strange; ridiculous; absurd
n.
1 a grotesque painting, sculpture, design, etc.
2 a grotesque thing or quality
—SYN FANTASTIC
gro[tesque$ly
adv.
gro[tesque4ness
n.
I have only heard the last two meanings of this word.
grout
n.
5ME < OE grut, residue of malt liquor, fine meal, akin to greot, GRIT6
1 a) coarse meal b) [pl.] GROATS
2 [usually pl.] [Brit.] sediment; dregs
3 a thin mortar used to fill chinks, as between tiles
4 a fine plaster for finishing surfaces
vt.
to fill or finish with grout
grout$er
n.
Gryposis is a medical word meaning an abnormal curvature.
Curvature of the penis is called chordee. It is caused by a tight band of tissue
associated with the frenulum, the lower midline attachment of the foresking to glans of penis.
It may require pediatric urologic consult and surgery.
Associated with chordee, or without, may be hypospadias, and abnormal location of the
exterior opening of the utethra. It also may require pediatric urologic consultation.
Some poor little boys have mothers too finicky to pay attention to the foreskin, to be sure
it get stretched enough to retract and expose the glans, and the easily returns to cover
the glans. King Louis XVI had phimosis of foreskin, meaning it could not be retractracted.
When he got married, he was at first unable to have sexual intercourse, which caused severe
pain. Finally it had to be operated on, and considering ignorance of sterile technique, he was
lucky to have favorable result. Interesting to speculate effect this problem may have had on his
relatively poor adjustment as an adult.
One reason again for attention to boys' foreskin is that if not stretched early, it can be so tight
that when forcibly retracted, it can shut off venous return, but not arterial inflow long enough
for extremely painful swelling of end of penis, and a genuine emergency. Called paraphimosis.
However, it is a goddam stupid idea to circumcise males just because mother is too finicky to
take care of a structure valuable for its protection of the glans penis. I have seen kids die from
an un-necessary circumcision. Rare, but it can happen. Actually it was from nosocomial
Iacquired in hospital) infection. End of rant.
grunion
n.,
pl. 3ion or 3ions 5prob. < Sp gruO<n, grumbler < L grunnire, to grunt < IE *gru3, echoic6 a silverside fish (Leuresthes tenuis) of the California coast: it spawns on sandy beaches during high tides in the spring
I remember a wonderful TV nature program showing grunion by the thousands mating in the
shallows of a California beach.
We've had dozens of names of pasta, here's a different ethnic variant:
spaetzle
n.pl.
5Ger dial.6 egg noodles or dumplings usually made by pressing the dough through a colander or coarse sieve and cooking the resulting irregular pieces in boiling water Also sp9t[zle
gurry
n.
5<?6 fish offal, as from a fish cannery
No etymology was given. I wonder if it could be corruption of "gory" meaning bloody mess.
gusset
n.
5ME guschet < OFr gousset6
1 a piece of chain mail or a metal plate protecting the opening of a joint in a suit of armor
2 a triangular or diamond-shaped piece inserted in a garment, glove, etc. to make it stronger or roomier
3 a brace, usually triangular, for reinforcing a corner or angle in the framework of a structure
vt.
to furnish with a gusset
A small insectivorous mammal of Southeast Asia. No etymology of name given, but
I suspect may mean "naked tail", as that is mentioned in description.
From a NASA site about the Space Station:
"The station was hit very hard by the Progress. The guidance control
system that uses momentum wheels -- gyrodynes, as they're called -- to
spin and then, in reaction, control the orientation of the station, lost
control. They couldn't handle that kind of knock"
gyve the "g" is like "j"
n., vt.
gyved, gyv4ing 5ME give < Anglo-Fr gyves, pl. < ?6 [Archaic] fetter; shackle
Now commonly called handcuffs.
habanera My dictionary does not give "n tilda" sound, which is ignorant.
n.
5Sp, lit., of Habana, Havana6
1 a slow Cuban dance similar to the tango
habitus
n.,
pl. 3tus 73t!s8 5ModL < L, HABIT6
1 HABIT (n. 5 & 7)
2 general physical appearance and body build, sometimes related to a predisposition to certain diseases
So, you could have grunions having a go at it on the shore, and later having a little post-coital repast of grout, but, if not on the qui vive [cross-thread ref.] for fish nets, could end up as gurry at the cannery?
Hmmmm.....sounds grotesquely fishy to me.
*Edit: I will continue to edit this today, wwh, to work in all your g-words.
Dear WW: Thank you for your interest, but remember the words came from Scripps-Howard.
Dear wwh, I hadn't appreciated that grotesque stemmed from grotto. Thanks for that insight - it gives me a whole new feel for the word. It seems there is more of fear and less of fantastic there.
I have only heard the last two meanings of this word.
I agree, the second two meanings are everyday usage, but the first two must be very rare even though they are placed first. The OED gives a further meaning: of a pig - (vt) to turn up earth with the snout. Can't say I've come across that either!
When is a grotto not "grotesque"? When it's the famous blue grotto of Capri, where one
of the late Roman emperors had a hideaway, can't remember his name.
"The Blue Grotto is accessible only by sea and is known for
its incredible iridescent blue water and reflections on the
cave walls caused by refracted sunlight penetrating
through a large opening beneath the water. You may be
taken in by independently operated boats or swim in.
However, swimming in the Blue Grotto is only allowed
before or after the independently operated boat tours'
hours of operation.
Edit: I found the Emperor's name. Tiberius. Here is a advertisement that does have a lot
of descriptive material"
http://www.hotelolimpico.it/downcapri.htm
What Tiberius got up to on Capri doesn't bear recounting here, but it was certainly grotesque.
Maybe Tacitus fibbed about Tiberius.
http://www.incor.it/capri2002/venue/
Well I hope so. It is always pleasing to have calumny against leaders exposed for what it is. Leaders are very likely to suffer from people rewriting history for their own ends and it renews my faith in humanity when they turn out not to have been so bad after all.
And of course: The evil that men do lives after them;The good is oft interred with their bones.
Thanks for the link.
the first two must be very rare even though they are placed first
OED orders defintions historically. Some other dictionaries order by commonness, most common first.
Right. I did wonder about that even as I typed, but was too rushed to check. Thanks Faldage.