10 words or phrases in Dickens' Christmas Carol

1. Bedight - Adorned (and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.)

2. Norfolk Biffins - Red apples ( there were Norfolk Biffins, squat and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons,)

3. Smoking Bishop - form of mulled wine (we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!)

4. Total abstinence principle - a phrase commonly associated with teetotalling, ie never drinking any alcohol or "spirits" - it's a pun (He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards;)

5. Apoplectic opulence - apoplexy involves becoming unconscious or incapacitated. Here it is due to opulence, wealth or luxury (tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence)

6. Retire to Bedlam -  Bedlam was a well known lunatic asylum in London where you would spend your final years if you were insane (There's another fellow, my clerk with fifteen shillings a week, and a wife and family, talking about a merry Christmas; I'll retire to Bedlam.)

7. Counting house - an office or building in which the accounts and money of a person or company were kept (eg on Christmas Eve - old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house)

8. Comforter -  a woollen scarf (eg Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle)

9. Forfeits - this is a parlour game where a piece of clothing or some personal belonging is put into a pile on the floor and can only be redeemed by doing something silly, as decided by a judge. (After a while they played at forfeits; for it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.)

10 The word scrooge originally meant to squeeze.

10 Words for Streams

1. Beck
2. Bourn or burn
3. Brook
4. Creek
5. Gill
6. Rill
7. Rivulet
8. Run or runnel
9. Stream
10. Watercourse
(The Welsh is Nant)

10 Arabic Proverbs

1. إذا تم العقل نقص الكلام

“The smarter you are, the less you speak.”

2. أقل الناس سروراً الحسود

“An envious person is the unhappiest.”

3. أول الغضب جنون وآخره ندم

“Anger begins with madness, but ends in regret.”

4. آفة العِلْم النسيان

“Forgetting is the plague of knowledge.”

5. تجوع الحرة ولا تأكل بثدييها التخطيط نصف المعيشة“Planning is half of living.”

6. “Arrogance diminishes wisdom.”

7. “A secret is like a dove: when it leaves my hand it takes wing.”

8. “Ask the experienced rather than the learned.”

9. “Every sun has to set.”

10. ربما أراد الأحمق نفعك فضرك

“The stupid might want to help you, but they just end up hurting you.”

10 Retronyms

Retronyms are new names given to things after something similar but newer has come into being.

1. Steam train (after diesel train)
2. Black and white television (after colour tv)
3. Corn on the cob (after canned corn became popular)
4. Hot chocolate (after chocolate in bars came in)
5. Live music (after recorded music became popular)
6. Hardback book (after paperback books came in)
7. Silent films (after talking films began to appear)
8. Asia Minor (after we began to call the continent Asia)
9. Acoustic guitar (after the electric guitar)
10. Handwritten (after typewritten became possible)

Uxorious and diegesis

I learned two new words recently. First, uxorious which means having or showing a great or excessive fondness for one's wife. "He had always impressed me as home-loving and uxorious". It is something that Obadiah Sedgwick's enemies accused him of. The word is from the Latin for wife. Can't see anything wrong with being excessively fond of your wife, myself.

Then there was diegesis which I learned through my son who is studying film and TV. The word means a narrative or plot, typically in a film and is lumped over straight from Greek. The word my son actually used was diegetic sound (in connection with Ingmar Bergman). Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from a source within the film's world. Diegetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound.

Words by Farrukh Dhondy

I was in a charity shop a few weeks back and I stumbled across a book called Words by Farrukh Dondhy. I recognised the name from wayback. When I trained as a teacher (yes, I trained as an English teacher many moons ago). I remember a book of short stories for young people he had back then (Come to Mecca). Anyway this little book was right up my street. A rambling sort of book, it consists of a series of musings on words and their meanings with special reference to the Indian subcontinent where Mr Dhondy lived before coming to England to study Kipling and so on. If I tell you that he has worked for Channel 4 you will nt be surprised to hear that he lets himself down badly on the language front at a certain points, which is a shame. The core of the book, however, is full of interest. There were several areas where my understanding of the whole matter advanced (for example I was aware that bungalow is Indian but I had not connected it to the word Bengali). A good find.

Umpteen

My mother liked the term umpteen. She would say "If  I've told you once I've told you umpteen times".

The word is an early 20th century one they say (probably army slang) and, of course, means an indefinite number. The dash in Morse Code can be referred to as the umpty and that may be the source of this British informal term.

10 Nautical Terms from Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers

1. Davit - device for hoisting and lowering a boat

2. Taffrail - rail round the stern of a ship

3. Mizzen-mast - mast aft or next aft of the mainmast in a ship

4. Lee-boards - a lifting foil used by a sailboat, much like a centreboard, but located on the leeside

5. Bowsprit - spar that extends at bows of a ship

6. Jib - small triangular sail extending from the head of the foremast

7. Bumpkin - spar projecting from stern of ship

8. Schooner - a yacht with two masts of which the foremost is shorter than the mizzen (opposite of a ketch rig)

9. Yawl - ship’s small boat; sailboat carrying mainsail and one or more jibs

10. Ketch-rigged - this refers to how the sails are configured. A ketch is a two-masted sailing craft whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast. The name "ketch" is derived from "catch" or fishing boat

10 Devilish words for despots beginning with D

1. Despotic
2. Dictatorial
3. Draconian
4. Drastic
5. Dreadful
6. Dominating
7. Domineering
8. Dogmatic
9. Driving
10. Demanding

10 Tele words

1. Telescope
2. Telegraph
3. Telegram
4. Telephone
5. Television
6. Telephoto lens
7. Teleprinter
8. Teleport
9. Teleconference
10. Telephotometer

Two Birthdays

"I remember as a boy being told by my mother that the Queen of England was very special because she has two birthdays — an actual one and an official one. As a child the idea of two birthdays sounded very attractive.
If you are a Christian, you also, in a manner of speaking, have two birthdays. When the Kent martyr Alice Potkins was arrested in 1556, she was asked her age. She replied that she was 49 ‘according to her old age’ but only one ‘according to her young age, since she learned Christ’. Many could say something similar."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 102, 103

Preach to the dry bones; trust the Spirit

"It is as we preach God's word that people are born again. God is able to work when, where and how he chooses to work but we observe that where men go out and preach in his name people are born again but where they are not able to do that such things are much more scarce.

Like Ezekiel we are to preach to the dry bones and trust the Spirit of God to bring life. People need to accept ‘the word planted in you, which can save you’ not merely listening to the word but doing what it says (Jas 1:21, 22). Paul tells how he came to Thessalonica and preached successfully. What made the difference was that they accepted his preaching ‘not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe’. This is why they turned ‘to God from idols to serve the living and true God’ (2 Thess 2:13, 1 Thess 1:9).
When we ask what causes the new birth, we must say that it originates with God who transforms people by the Spirit and is possible because of what Christ has done on the cross. It usually happens as the Word of God is preached."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 100

10 Purrfect sentences unleashed

1. Look at this dog eared catalogue
2. Don't be dogmatic about eschatology
3. He worked his way doggedly through the catechism
4. McGonagall's poetry was often in the doggerel category
5. It's a doggone shame he was catatonic by the end
6. Is it good pedagogical practice to have children make catapults? (not quite a dog there)
7. The caterpillar crawled across the dogweed
8. Despite his hangdog expression, it was not a complete catastrophe
9. As general dogsbody it was his job to clear away debris and scatter disinfectant
10. What a cataclysmic boondoggle!

10 Final French Cooking Terms

1. Noisette

The word literally means "nut". It usually means nut brown in color. For example, beurre noisette is butter browned over heat until it becomes a nut brown color. It can also refer to boneless rack of lamb that is rolled, tied and cut into rounds. The word can also refer to hazelnuts.

2. Nouvelle Cuisine

A term that refers to the style of cooking that features lighter dishes with lighter sauces and very fresh ingredients

3. Parisienne

Refers to potatoes molded into balls with a melon scoop and fried or roasted

4. Pâte

A basic mixture or paste. Often refers to uncooked dough or pastry.

5. Pâté

A paste made of liver, pork or game.

6. Poussin

A young chicken.

7. Quenelle

Minced fish or meat mixture that is formed into small shapes and poached. It also refers to a shape that the minced mixture is made into.

8. Ragoût A stew

9. Roux

Melted butter to which flour has been added. Used as a thickener for sauces or soups.

10. Sauté

To cook in a small amount of fat over high heat, making sure that the food doesn't stick to the pan by making it "jump" in and out of the heat. The French word sauter means to jump.

10 More French Cooking Terms

1. Croustade
Bread piece dipped in butter and baked until it is crisp
2. Croûtons
Small cubes of bread used as a garnish is salads and soups.
3. Entrecôte
Sirloin steak.
4. Entrée
The term used to refer to something served before the main course but is used now to refer to the actual main course.
5. Escalops
A thin slice of meat that is often pounded out to make it thinner.
6. Flamber or Flambé
To set alcohol on fire
7. Frappé
Something that is iced or set on or in a bed of ice.
8. Fricassé
A stew made from poultry, meat or rabbit that has a white sauce.
9. Hors d'Oeuvres
First course or appetizer
10. Marmite
French word for a covered earthenware container for soup. The soup is both cooked and served in it.

10 French Cooking Terms

1. Bain-marie

A roasting pan or baking dish partially filled with water to allow food to cook more slowly and be protected from direct high heat. Used for custards and terrines.

2. Bouillon

Broth or stock

3. Bavarois

Creamy pudding that is made with cream and eggs, then set with gelatin

4. Bisque

A shellfish soup that has been thickened 

5. Bouquet Garni

A mixture of fresh herbs tied together with string and used to flavor stews, soups etc. It refers to a mix of parsley, bay leaf, thyme (and sometimes celery stalk). The bouquet is removed before serving

6. Canapé An appetizer consisting of a small bread or biscuit base covered with a flavored topping. Chine To remove the backbone from a rack of ribs

7. Consommé

Broth that has been made clear

8. Coulis A thick sauce usually made from one main ingredient, such as raspberry coulis

9. Crêpes

Very thin pancakes

10. Croquettes

A mixture of potato with ground cooked meat, fish or poultry formed into balls, patties or other shapes and coated with a breading before frying

Schadenfreude

The Sun newspaper took opportunity today to teach its readers a new loan word from the German language, following the exit of Germany from the World Cup.

Wise words

A wise man does something before he speaks. He considers. He makes sure that the clutch of his reason is engaged before he employs the gear of his mouth and pours out words.

(Based on: A wise man has something to do before he speaks, and besides speaking; namely, to consider, and let down the bucket of his tongue into the well of his reason before he pour forth words. Thomas Manton on James)

God's omniscience

God may be hidden from my sight but I am never hidden from God's sight.

10 words that have rather lost their meaning

1. Literally. It is hard to imagine this word being used correctly as it is often placed next to words that are being used figuratively. You did not literally die. You figuratively died. The reason that you used literally is that you were grasping for a qualifier or intensifier but wentfor the wrong one.

2. Basically. This is so often redundant in a sentence. Let's save these three (or four syllables for the next generation.

3. Very. Too often this word is alos doing nothing much beyond padding out the sentence.

4. Totally. This intensifier is okay bt is getting over used. Totally.

5. Interesting. Too often, we are lazy and use the word in vague and guarded comments.

6. Obviously. Only use this word if it is obvious.

7. Actually. Spectacularly overused,

8. Really. Again rather a weak modifier.

9. Kind of. Another wishy washy term. Meghan Markle's dad has said in interview that  "Having the press at my door and following me at my door, yeah that kind of becomes an invasion a bit".

10. Awesome. This is the case of a good word gone to waste dueto over use. I was ina  bankl once and someone was openinga  new account. Told they would be sent a debit card ina few days they replied "Awesome"!

10 Marrying or mixing words beginning with M

1. Monogamy
2. Matrimony
3. Marry
4. Match
5. Mate
6. Merge
7. Meld
8. Mix
9. Mingle
10. Mash

Marriage

When you marry,
Life's not ordin-ary

Don't disparage marriage

When you marry
Each for the other tarry

Don't let matrimony
End in acrimony

Real Christians

See, to have a Christian name
That cannot be the same
As to be a Christian true,
A Christian through and through.

Flattery

Flattery like flatulence is a mere matter of odorous air,
Flattery like shaken lemonade will soon leave you flat.

Born to give them second birth

"More broadly, Jesus was

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give them second birth.

His (Christ's) birth led to his atoning death and resurrection. We think of the atonement most readily in connection with justification and link the resurrection with the new birth. The atonement, was necessary, however, for both. Without it, there would be no basis for regeneration. Because of all that Christ has done, God is willing to grant rebirth to his own that they may receive the full benefit of Christ’s redemption."

From my book What the Bible teaches about being born again, p 96

Valedictory

I grew up in a street in South Wales on a housing estate built in the fifties. If you walked around the corner from where we lived along another part of the same street you came upon what was to me always quite an impressive sight - a Baptist chapel that had been raised over a hundred years before (in 1836) and was surrounded with a graveyard.

As a young child I never went there on my own but as I grew older and was allowed to roam a bit more, I would go with friends to look at it. I have a vivid memory of a summer's day, a Saturday in 1969 when I was 10 and being there with a friend or two. There were obviously some big meetings going on in the chapel that day and we wondered what it was all about.

Apparently, it was a valedictory service, what ever that meant. I cannot remember who our informant was exactly (although I have an idea). I rememebr him with a leaflet in his hand and pointing me to the word valedictory and asking if I knew what it meant. I don't know if he exolained it well but it means serving as a farewell, which was appropriate as a man was about to leave for Peru to work with churches there.

10 Unusual words from Thank You Jeeves

In recent weeks I have been reading P G Wodehouse's novel Thank you, Jeeves and I have found several words unfamiliar to me hitherto.

1. Dementia Praecox (Ch 1 p 6)

... the germ of dementia praecox

Nowadays the term dementia is used to describe an irreversible deterioration in brain function, the result of various medical conditions (senile dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc.). Dementia praecox (premature dementia) was the 19th century term for the severe personality disorders that we now call schizophrenia. Eugen Bleuler established (1908) that these illnesses were not linked to an irreversible brain deterioration and introduced the new term schizophrenia to describe them more accurately. It is unlikely that Sir Roderick, in the 1930s, would use the term. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence of the existence of a schizophrenia germ – modern science seems to lean more towards the idea of a schizophrenia gene.

2. Truckling (Ch 1 p 10)

Do I mean truckling?

A truckle-bed is a low bed on castors that can be rolled under another bed when not in use. The verb “truckle,” which originally simply meant to sleep on such a bed, had taken on a figurative sense of “lying down unworthily” or “cowering” by the late 17th century.

3. Sussuration (Ch.14; page 138)

a regular susurration of domestics

Susurration, in modern use, most often refers to the gentle murmur of a breeze. However, it can also mean whispering, and used to have an implication of malicious gossip. Bertie is using it here as though it were a collective noun (cf. “a pride of lions”)

4. Stearic matter (Ch.14 p 144)

a pretty eloquent plea from the stearic matter

A more general term than just butter; it refers to a usually solid compound found in most animal and some vegetable fats; suet and lard contain high proportions of it, and it is used in the manufacture of soaps, candles and many other products

5. Parasang (Ch 16 p 160)

about ten parasangs

The parasang is a Persian unit of measure, approximately equal to three miles (5km). (The example in the Shorter OED for the figurative sense of parasang is taken from another Wodehouse story)

6. Zareba (Ch 18 p 182)

I wedged myself a little tighter behin the old Zareba

A thorn stockade protecting a village or cattle pen. Mainly used in Somalia and the Sudan (from Arabic)

7. Roopy (Ch 18 p 183)

His voice ... it was harsh and roopy

Roopy means hoarse and is from a word meaning to shout

8. Mulct (Ch 18 p 185)

Mulct in substantial damages

To mulct is to penalise by means of a fine. Damages are normally a reparation, not a penalty, so this is not a standard legal expression.

9. Dipsomaniac (Ch 21 p 222)

... the melancholy dipsomaniac and socialist revolutionary, Brinkley

An alcoholic

10. Tumbril (Ch 22 p 227)
… the old aristocrat mounting the tumbril.
An open cart that tilted backwards to empty out its load, in particular one used to convey condemned prisoners to the guillotine during the French Revolution. A third reference in the book to A Tale of Two Cities

Death and dying expressions from Wikipedia 2

Expression Definition Context (Remarks)

Genocide

To completely exterminate all of a kind

Formal

Give up the ghost

To die

Neutral

Soul leaving the body

Glue factory

To die

Neutral

Usually refers to a horse

Gone to a better place

To die

Euphemistic

Heaven

Go over the Big Ridge

To die

Unknown

Go bung

To die

Informal

Australian. Can =fail, go bankrupt

Go for a Burton

To die / break irreparably

Informal

Brit WWII ad (Gone for a Burton)

Go to Davy Jones's locker

To drown or die at sea otherwise

Euphemistic

Peregrine Pickle describes Davy Jones as'the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep

Go to the big [place] in the sky

To die and go to heaven

Informal

Place in the afterlife paralleling  deceased's life eg Big ranch in sky

Go home in a box

To be shipped to one's birthplace, dead

Slang, euphemistic

Go out with one's boots on/with a bang/in style

To die while doing something enjoyed

Informal

Go to/head for the last round up

To die

Euphemistic

Associated with dying cowboys. Cf Going to that big ranch in the sky

Go to one's reward

To die

Euphemistic

Final reckoning, just desserts after death

Go to one's watery grave

To die of drowning

Literary

Go to a Texas cakewalk

To be hanged

Unknown

Go the way of all flesh

To die

Neutral

Go west

To be killed or lost

Informal

Refers to the sun setting

The Grim Reaper

Personification of death

Cultural

Skeleton with scythe, often cloaked

Hand in one's dinner pail

To die

Informal

No longer required at workmen's canteen

Happy hunting ground

Dead

Informal

Used to describe the afterlife according to Native Americans

Hara-kiri

(Ritual) suicide disembowelment

Japanese

See Seppuku. Often misspelt as Hari-kari.

Have one foot in the grave

To be close to death because of illness or age

Informal, sometimes humorous

Hop on the last rattler

To die

Euphemistic

"Rattler" is a slang expression for a freight train.

Hop the twig

To die

Informal

Also 'to hop the stick'. Pagan belief that to jump a stick on the ground leads to the Afterworld.

In Abraham's bosom

In heaven

Neutral

Cf Luke 16:22

Join the choir invisible

To die

Neutral

George Eliot poem 1867

Join the great majority

To die

Euphemistic

First used Edward Young but the phrase 'the majority' is extremely old

Justifiable Homicide

Homicide

Formal

Murder of lesser culpability attracting a lighter penalty

Kick the bucket

To die

Informal

Suicidal hanging Also 'kick off' (US)

Kick the calendar

To die

Slang, informal

Polish saying. 'Calendar' implies somebody's time of death (kicking at     particular moment of time)

Killed In Action (KIA)

Death of military personnel due to enemy action

Military language, official and informal use

King of Terrors

Personification of death

Neutral

Also refers to death itself

Kiss one's arse goodbye

Prepare to die

Slang

Live on a farm (upstate)

To die

Euphemism

Usually referring to death of pet, esp parents to children The dog went to live on a farm

Lose one's life

To die in an accident or violent event

Neutral

Make the ultimate sacrifice

To die fighting for a cause

Formal

'make the supreme sacrifice'

Matricide

Mother murdered

Formal

Meet one's maker

To die

Euphemistic

According to Christian belief, soul meets God for final judgement

Murder Death Kill (MDK)

Homicide

TV/Movie

From 1993 film Demolition Man

Night

The state of death

Euphemism

From the Dylan Thomas poem Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Not long for this world

Will die soon; have little time left to live

Old-fashioned

Not with us any more

Dead

Euphemistic

Off on a boat

To die

Euphemistic

Viking expression, in fashion nowadays

Off the hooks

Dead

Informal

Brit Do not confuse with off the hook

On one's deathbed

Dying

Neutral

On one's last legs

About to die

Informal

One's hour has come

About to die

Literary

One's number is up

One is going to die

Slang

Pass away

To die

Euphemism; Polite

Also 'to pass on'

Pass in one's alley

To die

Informal

Australian

Patricide

Murders father

Formal

Pay the ultimate price

Die for a cause or principle

Neutral

Cf "To make the ultimate sacrifice"

Peg out

To die

Slang

British. Also means 'to stop working'

Pop one's clogs

To die

Humorous, Informal

Brit. "Pop"English slang for pawn. A C19th workman might tell his family to take his clothes to the pawn shop to pay for his funeral, his clogs being among the most valuable items

Promoted to Glory

Death of a Salvationist

Formal

Salvation Army terminology

Push up daisies

To have died and be under the ground

Humorous, Euphemistic

Early C20th. Also under the daisies and turn one's toes up to the daisies which date back to the Cmid-19th. Cf to turn up one's toes below.

Put down/put to sleep

To be euthanised

Euphemism

Euthanasia of an animal

Put one to the sword

To kill someone

Literary

Rainbow Bridge

Dead

Euphemism

Usually referring to death of a pet, ie "Crossing the Rainbow Bridge."

Ride the pale horse

To die

Euphemistic

Rev 6:8, a pale horse ridden by Death is one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Expression Behold a pale horse is the title of 1964 Fred Zinnemann film & 1991 book by ufologist William Milton Cooper

Send one to Eternity or to the Promised Land

To kill someone

Literary

Send (or go) to the farm

To die

Euphemism

Usually ref to death of a pet, esp if the owners are parents of young children ie The dog was sent to a farm

Shade

The state of death

Euphemism

From poem, "Invictus," by William Ernest Henley: Beyond this place of wrath and tears, Looms but the horror of the shade

Shuffle off this mortal coil

To die

Humorous, Literary

Cf Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Six feet under

Dead

Informal

6' is the trad depth of a grave

Sleeping with the fishes

Murdered, then disposed of in water.

Slang

Popularised by The Godfather

Snuffed out

Murdered

Literary

As in extinguishing a candle, or simply "snuff it"

Step off

To die

Informal, euphemistic

Character Ron Birdwell in The Late Show (1977) I'm always sorry to hear any of God's creatures stepping off

Struck down

To be killed by an illness

Neutral

Usually passive

Suicide

To take one's own life

Formal

Swim with concrete shoes

Gangster murder

Slang

Take a dirt nap

To die and be buried

Slang

Take a last bow

To die

Slang

Take the last train to glory

To die

Euphemism

Uplifting Christian take on destination heaven

Tango Uniform

Dead, irreversibly broken

Military slang

This is "T.U." in the ICAO spelling alphabet, an abbreviation for Tits Up     (aeroplane crashed)

Terminate; esp Terminate with Extreme Prejudice

To kill; esp when carrying out an assassination as part of covert operation

Euphemism; Military slang

Orig during Vietnam War; later popularised by film Apocalypse Now

Top yourself

Commit suicide

Slang

Turn up one's toes

To die

Slang

Alternative to turn one's toes up to the daisies (See push up daisies)

Up and die

Unexpected death, leaving loose ends

Euphemistic

Wearing a pine overcoat (ie a wooden coffin)

Dead

Slang

Idiom of US gangsters C 20th

Wiped out ... way up ....

Dead, usually multiple individuals

Neutral