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Transmitted from the wwftd
"Some called her a gilflurt, a proud minks. You had no
more chance than a cat.. without claws if you entered
into a dispute with her."
- Susan Sayer, Xanthippe (fr. Car Maintenance.. (1997))
Gilflurt is obvious to me, but I would gladly also know what 'proud minks' means. Just someone wearing those little
animals's hides? The fur?
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Carpal Tunnel
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It's actually spelled minx.
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Carpal Tunnel
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It's actually spelled minx.Probably spelled that way, because they looked up the definition of gilflurt in Grose's dictionary: "A proud minks, a vain capricious woman," ( link)
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Initially I thought gilflurt was girlflurt and a misspelling of girlflirt with the obvious meaning. I just now noticed the missing R in gil- so now I'm not so sure.
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Carpal Tunnel
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here's the whole entry, for those who didn't see it; make of it what you will..
the worthless word for the day is: gilflurt
[see also flirt-gills, Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet]
obs. a proud minks, a vain capricious woman
{Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue}
"Some called her a gilflurt, a proud minks. You had no
more chance than a cat.. without claws if you entered
into a dispute with her."
- Susan Sayer, Xanthippe (fr. Car Maintenance.. (1997))
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old hand
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old hand
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My first thought was to link gilflurt with gill-flower (or gilly-flower) which is an old name for the wallflower, erysimum
No idea if I'm right or way off!
I'm immortal until proven otherwise
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Carpal Tunnel
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Gil ìs girl, at least in the days of Grose.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
. Every jack has his gill; i.e. every jack has his gillian, or female mate.
What makes me laugh in this definition is " figuratively used for woman". What is a gillian??
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Carpal Tunnel
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Gillian is a girl's name (soft g), a variant of Julian(a); it's like every Jack has his Jill. and speaking of Shakespeare, I am none of his flurt-gils, I am none of his skaines mates.. I won't define these usages here, as I would probly get moderated, but YCLIU. you can do that here
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Carpal Tunnel
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Ah, that makes sense, thanks.
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