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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:12 pm
by Ajarn Philip
J.R. wrote:Richard Ruck wrote: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!
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:31 pm
by Euterpe13
Richard Ruck wrote: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)
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:30 am
by 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.
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 9:09 am
by 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!
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:38 pm
by englishangel
Ajarn Philip wrote: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.
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:10 pm
by midget
Ajarn Philip wrote: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
The Latah Experience
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 5:49 am
by Angela Woodford
Ajarn Philip wrote: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.
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:02 am
by 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’.
Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:25 am
by cj
Richard Ruck wrote: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.
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:43 am
by 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’
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:54 pm
by Ajarn Philip
Kenspeckle
\Ken"spec`kle\, a. Having so marked an appearance as easily to be recognized. [Scot.]
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:05 am
by J.R.
Sounds rather like the name of a strong pint of bitter to me !
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:48 pm
by 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.
Slaphead!
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 4:36 pm
by Angela Woodford
What a wonderful word to describe a bald headed man! I love it!
Munch
Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 10:59 am
by englishangel
A pilgarlic (both sorts)
