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OP I'm reading "The Professor and t;he Madman" by Simon Winchester. On p. 7:
"Lambeth Marsh was also as it happened, just beyond the
legal jurisdiction of both the Cities of London and Westminster.
It belonged administratively - at least until 1888 - to the
County of Surrey - meaning that the relatively strict laws that
applied to the capital's citizens did not apply to anyone who
ventured, via one of the new bridges,like Waterloo, Blackfriars,
Westminster, of Hungerford, into the wen of Lambeth.
None of the usual meanings of wen seem to fit this passage.
If it were meant in the ususal sense of blemish, it seems too weak.
A wen in the sense of a wart or sebaceous cyst does not suggest
an ugly blemish. Lambeth is described as "lubricious" with illicit sex and
veneral disease rampant pollution from primitive industrial enterprises,
including tanneries dependent on collection of dog feces as tanning agent.
It sounds more like a carbuncle than a wen. Unless Winchester has some special
definition of "wen" more loathesome than any in my dictionary.
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted wen wwh 08/25/02 05:40 PM Re: wen tsuwm 08/25/02 08:11 PM Re: laudable pus wwh 08/26/02 01:29 AM Re:nostalgie de la boue wwh 08/26/02 05:08 PM Re:vade mecum wwh 08/26/02 05:51 PM Re:vade mecum tsuwm 08/26/02 05:57 PM Re:crib wwh 08/26/02 06:41 PM Re:Prof & Madman AnnaStrophic 08/26/02 06:50 PM Re:crib Faldage 08/26/02 06:57 PM Re:crib wwh 08/26/02 07:03 PM Re:crib Faldage 08/26/02 07:09 PM Re:pudicity wwh 08/26/02 07:48 PM Re:pudicity tsuwm 08/26/02 10:31 PM Re:pudicity wwh 08/26/02 11:41 PM Re:nostalgie de la boue tsuwm 08/26/02 05:56 PM Re: aa wwh 08/27/02 05:06 PM Re: aa Wordwind 08/27/02 06:06 PM Re: aa wwh 08/27/02 06:42 PM Re: buggers' grips wwh 08/27/02 07:49 PM Re: peotomy wwh 08/27/02 09:19 PM Since you asked me specifically! Fiberbabe 08/28/02 10:45 AM Re: Since you asked me specifically! wwh 08/28/02 12:33 PM Re: Since you asked me specifically! TEd Remington 08/28/02 01:25 PM Re: Since you asked me specifically! wwh 08/28/02 01:30 PM
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