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THE WORD MUSEUM: THE MOST REMARKABLE ENGLISH WORDS EVER FORGOTTEN PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Jeffrey Kacirk | 240 pages | 15 Jan 2001 | SIMON & SCHUSTER | 9780684857619 | English | New York, NY, United States The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten PDF Book More information about this seller Contact this seller 7. Playing cards have fascinating and less than clear histories and meanings in themselves, for which Brewer's provides an interesting and in my view largely reliable explanation: In Spain's early medieval playing cards , spades were columbines a plant whose flower resembles five clustered bird-like symbols, usually associated with doves or pigeons - the pointed spade shape resembles a single petal , later changing by s to swords espados in Spanish - meaning sword - not spade in case you are wondering ; clubs were rabbits later changing to cudgels bastos in Spanish, meaning a stick-like club ; diamonds were pinks relating to the flowers, so called because of their notched petal edges, as if cut with pinking shears - associated with the sharpness of the diamond shape - the same root that gave us punch and pungent and puncture later changing to dineros square money pieces ; and hearts were roses later to be chalices cups. Did you ever play that, where you pick an obscure word, and the other players choose from among the two or three fake definitions you make up along with the real one? Former Library book. When you get your clothes all grass-stained from hooking up in the fields. But it's just right for me, because I like words. More information about this seller Contact this seller See also stereotype. Average rating 3. It's another example of the tendency for language to become abbreviated for more efficient and stylised communications. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. See also 'pipped at the post' the black ball was called a pip - after the pip of a fruit, in turn from earlier similar words which meant the fruit itself, eg pippin, and the Greek, pepe for melon - so pipped became another way or saying blackballed or defeated. About Me Zeno I teach math at a large community college in northern California. Frustratingly however, official reference books state that the black market term was first recorded very much later, around The origin of that saying is not proven but widely believed to originate from the Jewish 'hazloche un broche' which means 'luck and blessing', and itself derives from the Hebrew 'hazlacha we bracha', with the same meaning. Seller Rating:. I have also worked as a legislative aide, a journalist, and a state civil servant. It's a very old word: Reafian meaning rob appears in Beowulf Two weeks ago , we updated you on the state of the puzzle industry as it pertains to crossword tournaments. Puzzle 4: Water Picks by Amanda Rafkin. The author did a great job of finding interesting words and then making a dictionary format for them. After the Great War, dispersion became the main means of fighing, with much looser units linking side to side to protect each others flanks, which became the WWII paradigm. The symbol has provided font designers more scope for artistic impression than any other character, and ironically while it evolved from hand-written script, few people use it in modern hand- writing, which means that most of us have difficulty in reproducing a good-looking ampersand by hand without having practised first. During the early s, when duty per pack was an incredible two shillings and sixpence half-a-crown - equivalent to one eigth of a pound - see the money expressions and history page , the the card makers were not permitted to make the Ace of Spades cards - instead they were printed by the tax office stamp-makers. In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, and keep puzzling! This would naturally have extended as a metaphor to the notion favoured by Brewer of a conjuror preparing a trick with hands above the 'board' table , rather than below it, where the trickery could be concealed, 'under-hand' see also underhand. Some words could use a more detailed or clearer definition: Special-bastard : A child born of parents before marriage, the parties afterwards intermarrying. There are very few words which can be spelled in so many different ways, and it's oddly appropriate that any of the longer variants will inevitably be the very first entry in any dictionary. More information about this seller Contact this seller 4. Chinese fire drill - chaotic situation, especially one involving a group's incompetence in carrying out instructions or a plan more recently the term also describes a student prank where a car-full of students stops at red traffic lights, all occupants leap out, run around the car, return to their seats and drive off as the lights turn green - Usage of this wonderful expression in either situation now seems confined to USA; although it is supposed to have UK origins, and various sources state it being in use on both sides of the Atlantic after World War 1. Spooning : Spooning, in rowing, is dipping the oars so little in the water as merely to skim the surface. Didn't enjoy. Italians instead use the expression 'In bocca al lupo', which literally means 'Into the wolf's mouth' Spoops : At Harvard College, a weak, silly fellow, or one who is disliked on account of his foolish actions is called spoops, or spoopsy. Cliches and expressions give us many wonderful figures of speech and words in the English language, as they evolve via use and mis-use alike. The giver an individual or a group is in a position of dominance or authority, and the recipient of the bone is seeking help, approval, agreement, or some other positive response. Brewer tells of the tradition in USA slavery states when slaves or free descendents would walk in a procession in pairs around a cake at a social gathering or party, the most graceful pair being awarded the cake as a prize. Escape the Present with These 24 Historical Romances. What ended the practice was the invention of magazine-fed weapons and especially machine guns, which meant that an opposing line could be rapidly killed. Many English southerners, for example, do not have a very keen appreciation for the geographical and cultural differences between Birmingham and Coventry, or Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Like the author, I had never thought about life pre-alarm clocks before reading this entry. See also the derivation of the racial term 'Gringo', which has similar origins. The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten Writer At the time of originally writing this entry April Google's count for Argh has now trebled from 3 million in to 9. Rowdy aristocrats were called 'Bloods' after the term for a thoroughbred horse, a 'blood-horse' as in today's 'bloodstock' term, meaning thoroughbred horses. As for the 'court' cards, so called because of their heraldic devices, debate continues as to the real identity of the characters and the extent to which French characters are reflected in English cards. Constructing an unfamiliar puzzle for the first time can be overwhelming, and this book can help get you going. The 'black Irish' expression will no doubt continue to be open to widely varying interpretations and folklore. No good either would have been any creatures not possessing a suitably impressive and symbolic tail, which interestingly would effectively have ruled out virtually all the major animal images like cow, elephant, pig, bear, dog, rabbit, lion, tiger, and most of the B-list like rhino, giraffe, deer, not to mention C-listers like hamster, badger, tortoise, all birds, all fish and all insects. This is not to say of course that the expression dates back to that age, although it is interesting to note that the custom on which the saying is based in the US is probably very ancient indeed. The Canadian origins are said by Partridge to allude to a type of tin of worms typically purchased by week-end fishermen. I wonder if he bru Jeoparty-trot. I wish the author would have gone more into depth about what these words and their exclusion from the present day vernacular say about society. This mocks the false flattery and acknowledges that that stage can be perilous to someone with their head in the clouds. Whenever I need food-related clues or theme entries, this is my first stop. It's a very old word: Reafian meaning rob appears in Beowulf Thanks Ben for suggesting the specific biblical quote. Bear in mind that a wind is described according to where it comes from not where it's going to. I see you had a question on 'Break a leg,' and as a theatre person This proverb was applied to speculators in the South Sea Bubble scheme, c. I try to catch it whenever I can, since it appeals to my nerdy side. These and other cognates similar words from the same root can be traced back to very ancient Indo-European roots, all originating from a seminal meaning of rob. Brass is also an old 19thC word for a prostitute. There is it seems no stopping this one.. In the 19th century the term beak also referred to a sherif's officer English or a policeman, and later beak was adopted as slang also by schoolchildren for a schoolmaster. If you need a starter guide or just a handy resource to remind you of the essentials for any puzzle you might be rusty on, Puzzlecraft is a self- contained masterclass in puzzle creation.