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SIALOQUENT

PRONUNCIATION: (sy-AHL-uh-kwuhnt)

MEANING: adjective: Spraying saliva when speaking.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek sialon (spit, saliva) + Latin loqui (to speak). Earliest documented use: 1656.
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DIALOQUENT - holding both sides of a conversation with yourself

SIALOQUEST - seeking saliva. As Randy Claggett said, "Mouth! Be Moist!" (see SPACE, by James MIchener)

SÍ! AMO QUENT! - "Yes, I love Quentin," said the Señorita

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MERCHANT PRINCE

PRONUNCIATION: (muhr-chunt PRINS)

MEANING: noun: A merchant or businessman with sufficient wealth to wield political power.

ETYMOLOGY: Alluding to someone who has acquired great wealth and behaves like a prince. From merchant, from Latin mercari (to trade), from merx (goods) and prince, from primus (prime) + capere (to seize). Earliest documented use: 1760.
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MERCHANT PRANCE - store-owner does capers after closing wonderful deal

MERE CHANT PRINCE - Gregory is the King; his son hasn't nearly the resonance

ME CHANT "PRINCE !" - 'cuz that's how he was formerly known

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JOURNEYMAN

PRONUNCIATION: (JUHR-nee-muhn)

MEANING: noun: A worker, athlete, performer, etc. who is competent and reliable, but undistinguished.

ETYMOLOGY: From Old French jornee (a day’s work or travel), from Latin diurnum (day), from dies (day). Ultimately from the Indo-European root dyeu- (to shine), which also gave us adjourn, diary, diet, circadian, journal, journey, quotidian, sojourn, diva, divine, Jupiter, Jove, July, Zeus, jovial, deify, and Sanskrit deva (god). Earliest documented use: 1463.
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TOURNEYMAN - a skilled player who participates only in high-level competition

JOURNEY PAN - thumbs-down review of a tour

JOURNEYMOAN - declaration of seasickness while on a cruise

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GOLD-DIGGER

OLD-di-guhr)

MEANING: noun: One who forms a romantic relationship with a rich person for money.

ETYMOLOGY: From the metaphorical use of the term for someone who digs for gold. Earliest documented use: 1826 in a literal sense, 1911 in a figurative sense.
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GOLD-DAGGER - King Midas' preferred weapon (of necessity)

GOLD-JIGGER - extremely classy and expensive whiskey

GOLF-DIGGER - a duffer who strews divots left and right

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ROUGHHOUSE

PRONUNCIATION: (RUF-haus)

MEANING: verb tr.: To handle roughly, but in a playful manner.
verb intr.: To engage in boisterous play.
noun: Boisterous play.

ETYMOLOGY: Originally, a rough house was the place where a brawl occurred. Over time, the term softened into a synonym for horseplay and became a verb as well. Earliest documented use: 1882.
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TROUGHHOUSE - the enclosure that protects the common water and feed supply

ROUGH TO USE - not easy to employ

POUGH HOUSE - the first building erected in Poughkeepsie, New York

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BODY BLOW

PRONUNCIATION: (BOD-ee bloh)

MEANING: noun: A severe setback or disappointment.

ETYMOLOGY: The term is from boxing, referring to a blow to the torso which can be incapacitating due to its proximity to internal organs. Earliest documented use: 1789.
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BODY BLOG - Charles Atlas' publicity channel, 75 years later

CODY BLOW - another name for Hurricane Buffalo Bill

BO DYE/BLOW - Ms Derek's standing order at the hairdresser's

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QUEENBOROUGH MAYOR

PRONUNCIATION: (KWEEN-buh-roh may-uhr)

MEANING: noun: A position involving pomp and show, but no real power or authority.

ETYMOLOGY: After Simon the tanner who becomes the mayor of Queenborough in Thomas Middleton’s 1620 play Hengist, King of Kent, or The Mayor of Quinborough. Queenborough is a small town in Kent, UK. Earliest documented use: 1668.
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QUEUE'N'BOROUGH MAYOR - informal chief of that funny pub

QUEEN BE ROUGH MAYOR - Freddy Mercury is a harsh governor

QUEENBOROUGH PAYOR - trying to pay the toll on the 59th Street bridge

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BORSTAL

PRONUNCIATION: (BOHR-stuhl)

MEANING: noun: A reformatory for young offenders.

ETYMOLOGY: After Borstal, a village in Kent, UK, where such an institution was first set up. Earliest documented use: 1907.
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FORSTAL - 1. to anticipate, so as to preclude; 2. a US aircraft carrier

BARSTAL - where cowboys' horses gather for a drink

BURST AL - why aluminum pipes never made any headway with plumbers

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POPLARISM

PRONUNCIATION: (POP-luh-riz-uhm)

MEANING: noun: The policy of giving generous compensation, benefits, unemployment relief, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: After Poplar, a district in London, where in 1921 the mayor, George Lansbury, and the council decided to use the tax money to provide relief to the poor instead of sending it to London. The mayor and councilors were imprisoned for contempt of court and the incident is known as the Poplar Rates Rebellion. Rate is the British term for property tax. Earliest documented use: 1922.
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POLARISM - the doctrine that the Earth is flat, with its center at the North Pole

P.O. PLANISM - a conspiracy spread only by mouth, to avoid leaving a paper trail

POPLEARISM - clearing your Eustachian tubes while in your private jet

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SHREWSBURY CLOCK


PRONUNCIATION: (SHROZ/SHROOZ-bree/ber-ee/buh-ree klok)

MEANING: noun: Something precise or exact.

ETYMOLOGY: After Shrewsbury, a town in west UK. Earliest documented use: 1598.

NOTES: In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 John Falstaff claims that he and Hotspur “fought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock” in the Battle of Shrewsbury. The term Shrewsbury clock here refers to a public clock as most people didn’t have clocks at the time. The idiom by a Shrewsbury clock has come to imply exactly or precisely, sometimes with a hint of exaggeration or irony.
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SHREWSBURY CLICK - welcoming the sunrise with an unusual single brief high-frequency cricket-like chirr, characteristic of a clock found in west UK.

SHREWSBURY COCK - a unique weathervane atop the clock tower in Shrewsbury, known for the atypical noise it makes at dawn welcoming the sunrise with an unusual single etc. (see SHREWSBURY CLICK above)

SHREWSBURN CLOCK - device for timing the roasting of unwelcome small voracious burrowing rodents

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