Word of the day

[Ajarn Philip]

hocus

• verb (hocusses, hocussing, hocussed or hocuses, hocusing, hocused) [with obj.] archaic
1. deceive (someone).
2. stupefy (someone) with drugs, typically for a criminal purpose.

— origin late 17th cent.: from an obsolete noun hocus ‘trickery’, from hocus-pocus.

... and I thought it was the fairy with a sexy twin sister named Pocus !

Oohhhh no they're not! They're called Topsy and Turvy, or Flip and Flop. Too many am dram pantos, JR!

[Euterpe13]

hypothecate

• verb [with obj.] pledge (money) by law to a specific purpose.

— derivatives
hypothecation noun.

— origin early 17th cent. : from medieval Latin hypothecat- ‘given as a pledge’, from the verb hypothecare, based on Greek hupotheke .

and a mortgage in french is a hypotheque (which is therefore not a disco for hippos)

[Richard Ruck]

A strange one today....

couvade

• noun [mass noun] - the custom in some cultures in which a man takes to his bed and goes through certain rituals when his child is being born, as though he were physically affected by the birth.

— origin mid 19th cent. : French, from couver ‘to hatch’, from Latin cubare ‘lie down’.

The adoption of the term in French was due to a misunderstanding of the phrase faire la couvade ‘sit doing nothing’, used by earlier writers.

[Ajarn Philip]

Latah: a condition of hyperstartling found in southeast Asia that is commonly considered a culture-specific syndrome. It is also the name for those with the condition, which is found mainly in adult women (OGs please note). The afflicted have a severe reaction to being surprised in which they lose control of their behavior, mimic the speech and actions of those around them and obey any commands given them. Latahs are generally not considered responsible for their actions during these episodes.


BOO!

[englishangel]

Latah: a condition of hyperstartling found in southeast Asia that is commonly considered a culture-specific syndrome. It is also the name for those with the condition, which is found mainly in adult women (OGs please note). The afflicted have a severe reaction to being surprised in which they lose control of their behavior, mimic the speech and actions of those around them and obey any commands given them. Latahs are generally not considered responsible for their actions during these episodes.


BOO!

I get this wehn my daughter winds me up, as she did this evening. We end up dancing around each other shouting.

[midget]

Latah: a condition of hyperstartling found in southeast Asia that is commonly considered a culture-specific syndrome. It is also the name for those with the condition, which is found mainly in adult women (OGs please note). The afflicted have a severe reaction to being surprised in which they lose control of their behavior, mimic the speech and actions of those around them and obey any commands given them. Latahs are generally not considered responsible for their actions during these episodes.


BOO!

Watch it,sonny!

Maggie

[Angela Woodford]

Latah: a condition of hyperstartling found in southeast Asia that is commonly considered a culture-specific syndrome. It is also the name for those with the condition, which is found mainly in adult women (OGs please note). The afflicted have a severe reaction to being surprised in which they lose control of their behavior, mimic the speech and actions of those around them and obey any commands given them. Latahs are generally not considered responsible for their actions during these episodes.


BOO!

Aaargh!

BOO! boo boo booboo boo boo boo Boo! BOO!

Just off to frighten someone else, O Master! And do some shoplifting.

[Richard Ruck]

praepostor

• noun Brit. - (at some public schools) a prefect or monitor.

— origin mid 18th cent. : from praepositor, alteration of Latin praepositus ‘head, chief’, past participle of praeponere ‘set over’, from prae ‘ahead’ + ponere ‘to place’.

[cj]

praepostor

• noun Brit. - (at some public schools) a prefect or monitor.

— origin mid 18th cent. : from praepositor, alteration of Latin praepositus ‘head, chief’, past participle of praeponere ‘set over’, from prae ‘ahead’ + ponere ‘to place’.

Praepostors can be preposterous in their prefectural posturing.

[Richard Ruck]

Sorry, must have been asleep yesterday.......


vigorish

• noun US informal

1. [in sing.] an excessive rate of interest on a loan, typically one from an illegal moneylender.

2. [mass noun] the percentage deducted from a gambler's winnings by the organizers of a game.

— origin early 20th cent. : probably from Yiddish, from Russian vyigrysh ‘gain, winnings’

[Ajarn Philip]

Kenspeckle

\Ken"spec`kle\, a. Having so marked an appearance as easily to be recognized. [Scot.]

[J.R.]

Sounds rather like the name of a strong pint of bitter to me !

[Ajarn Philip]

pilgarlic –noun 1. a person regarded with mild or pretended contempt or pity.
2. Obsolete. a baldheaded man.

[Origin: 1520–30; earlier pyllyd garleke lit., peeled garlic, orig. metaphor for a bald man, whose head is compared to a peeled garlic bulb.

[Angela Woodford]

What a wonderful word to describe a bald headed man! I love it!

Munch

[englishangel]

A pilgarlic (both sorts)