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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I love this word! Saw it in this definition: Purlieu (Page: 1165)
Pur"lieu (?), n. [Corrupted (by influence of lieu place) fr. OF. puralée, poralée (equiv. to LL. perambulatio a survey of boundaries, originally, a going through); por (L. pro, confused, however, with L. per through) + alée. See Pro-, and Alley.] [Written also pourlieu.]
1. Originally, the ground near a royal forest, which, having been unlawfully added to the forest, was afterwards severed from it, and disafforested so as to remit to the former owners their rights.
Then as a tiger, who by chance hath spied In some purlieu two gentle fawns at play. Milton.
2. Hence, the outer portion of any place; an adjacent district; environs; neighborhood. The purlieus of St. James."
brokers had been incessantly plying for custom in the purlieus of the court. Macaulay. Webster Dictionary, 1913
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773 |
Jackie, I felt you were being ignored
purlieu is evidently a Type-3 for which the Type-2 might be "venue" or "habitat"
The former deserves a thread of its own, is an interesting case where everyone everywhere suddenly began using it in all manner of peripheral ways to where it's pushing Type-1 Status with "haunts" or "turf"
Join me in my quest to propagate the Type-2
dalehileman
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
Parbleu! a curious word indeed.
1. Originally, the ground near a royal forest, which, having been unlawfully added to the forest, was afterwards severed from it, and disafforested so as to remit to the former owners their rights.
Never seen it before.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Thanks, Dale. I figured when I made the post that there wouldn't a whole lot to be said; but I still thought it was interesting enough to post about.
Like Branshea, I had never seen the word before, and was charmed by how...old...it sounded.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
Jackie, I came across purlieus this morning in a book I am reading ( The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning): As he watched the skittish jig of its pelvis, a tear came into Yakimov's eyes, but he was not weeping for the horse. He was weeping for himself. He was retreating, most unwillingly from the heart of Bucharest life to its seedy, unprofitable purlieus. After looking the word up my first thought was Hogwash! but then a search turned up this thread from 2008, thus dashing my hopes of successful porcine lavation. Manning's book is great, by the way. I sort of stumbled across it. Anyone else here ever read Olivia Manning? 
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
I think both habitat or venue are a bit off as synonyms for purlieu as they mean the place itself. Outskirts would be the more negative version and neighbourhood the positive. Environs sounds neutral to me perhaps because it is more formal or at least less common.
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