http://ersatz-read.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] ersatz-read.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] 1word1day2016-06-06 10:12 pm

Monday words: blickey and patois

I missed last week, so I'll do two words this week.

blickey  (blĭk′ē), noun
1.
A tin dinner pail.
2. A hands-free container to assist with picking berries.

Both appear to be regional North American terms; not sure how much they're in use generally.  I ran across definition #2 in Samuel Thayer's The Forager's Harvest, then found definition #1 online.
A blickey for berries is easily fashioned from a gallon jug with the top cut off, or any similar container; a belt can be passed through the handle of the gallon jug, or holes can be made at the corners of the container, for a couple lengths of twine to tie around one's waist.

Etymology:  possibly diminutive of Dutch word blik, a can or tin.



patois (pă-twä′) noun
1. An unwritten regional dialect of a language; rural or provincial speech.
2.
The special jargon of a particular group.

Etymology:  possibly from old French patoier, to handle awkwardly.

"Stop shifting the crosshairs to my ironic urban patois just because your relationship with your father is to' up from the flo' up." - Rick and Morty, season 2 episode 3 ("Auto Erotic Assimilation")


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