Word of the day

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 9:18 am

trebuchet

â€¢ noun a machine used in medieval siege warfare for hurling large stones or other missiles.
â€” origin Middle English: from Old French, from trebucher â€˜overthrowâ€™.

Great Plum · Post by **Great Plum** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 9:34 am

I've heard of that word...

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 9:34 am

Richard Ruck wrote:trebuchet

â€¢ noun a machine used in medieval siege warfare for hurling large stones or other missiles.
â€” origin Middle English: from Old French, from trebucher â€˜overthrowâ€™.

We sometimes have their modern day counterparts repairing the Cob at Porthmadog. I sometimes wonder whether their drivers have the same malevolent intent as their medieval forebears!!

Richard Ruck · Post by **Richard Ruck** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 10:12 am

OK, here's a question for you - why 'Cob'?

The one you mention seems to be some sort of sea defence, and of course there is the famous 'Cob' at Lyme Regis, which forms the main harbour wall.

Any ideas?

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 3:14 pm

As son is a fiend for all sorts of warfare stuff I too have heard of a trebuchet.

A cob is a roundish lump, so presumably these sea defences are made of roundish lumps of stone. Can you not also get a cob cottage, made of roundish lumps of mud?

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 3:29 pm

Richard Ruck wrote:OK, here's a question for you - why 'Cob'?

The one you mention seems to be some sort of sea defence, and of course there is the famous 'Cob' at Lyme Regis, which forms the main harbour wall.

Any ideas?

Can't say why it is called that. My husband may know but he's out at a Ffestiniog Railway Society Board meeting - the Cob at Porthmadog may be best known to many as the start of the ride on the Ffestiniog Railway, from Porthmadog. It wasn't so much a sea defence as land reclamation for part of the Glaslyn estuary. It was built in the early 19th century. For many years the road traffic was subject to a toll, but that stopped a few years' back.

I now work for the railway myself, and my office looks out onto the estuary and the Cob, a truly magnificent view!

ben ashton · Post by **ben ashton** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 4:16 pm

leicester people claim a cob is a roll/bun type thing.
but they are strange. and deluded

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 4:29 pm

ben ashton wrote:leicester people claim a cob is a roll/bun type thing.
but they are strange. and deluded

Cob;
1) Roundish lump.
2) domed loaf
3) corn-cob
4) large hazelnut
5) sturdy riding horse with short legs
6) male swan

OED

surely the word with the most meanings.

Unless of course you know different?

ben ashton · Post by **ben ashton** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:05 pm

im going to ask for a cheese male swan at the next opportunity, purely for comedy value..

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:23 pm

englishangel wrote:Cob;
1) Roundish lump.
2) domed loaf
3) corn-cob
4) large hazelnut
5) sturdy riding horse with short legs
6) male swan

OED

surely the word with the most meanings.

Unless of course you know different?

How about set?

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:27 pm

Katharine wrote:
englishangel wrote:Cob;
1) Roundish lump.
2) domed loaf
3) corn-cob
4) large hazelnut
5) sturdy riding horse with short legs
6) male swan

OED

surely the word with the most meanings.

Unless of course you know different?
How about set?

Erm....... yes

32 meanings for set, plus all the meanings where it is the prefix.

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:34 pm

englishangel wrote:
Katharine wrote: How about set?
Erm....... yes

32 meanings for set, plus all the meanings where it is the prefix.

That's why I didn't list them!! I think I got it from a pub quiz or similar that it was the single word in the English language with the most meanings.

englishangel · Post by **englishangel** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:36 pm

A girl after my own heart.

Katharine · Post by **Katharine** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:28 pm

Katharine wrote:
Richard Ruck wrote:OK, here's a question for you - why 'Cob'?

The one you mention seems to be some sort of sea defence, and of course there is the famous 'Cob' at Lyme Regis, which forms the main harbour wall.

Any ideas?
Can't say why it is called that. My husband may know but he's out at a Ffestiniog Railway Society Board meeting -

He's come home now, and says that Cob means an embankment, so that's another meaning to add to Mary's list. There's another one nearby at Pwllheli (I first came across that name as an anagram of will help while learning to solve the Times Crossword with my father).

Mrs C. · Post by **Mrs C.** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:42 pm

Katharine wrote:
Katharine wrote:
Richard Ruck wrote:OK, here's a question for you - why 'Cob'?

The one you mention seems to be some sort of sea defence, and of course there is the famous 'Cob' at Lyme Regis, which forms the main harbour wall.

Any ideas?
Can't say why it is called that. My husband may know but he's out at a Ffestiniog Railway Society Board meeting -
He's come home now, and says that Cob means an embankment, so that's another meaning to add to Mary's list. There's another one nearby at Pwllheli (I first came across that name as an anagram of will help while learning to solve the Times Crossword with my father).

Memories of Pwllheli - childhood hols spent in Abersoch and the treat of the hols was fish and chips on the seafront at Pwllheli! They were good!!