Apologies for the belated post, I've been having technical difficulties with my computer. Let's have a bit of a theme for the finale of the 2014 FIFA World Cup!

strik·er [ˈstraɪkə]:
origin: (1350–1400) Dutch; stryge/Finnish; strýkva= strike + -er

noun
In short, it means "one who strikes", but depending on the scenario that can mean very different things:

1. A person refusing to work in order to show support/solidarity for a cause.
2. The mechanism inside a clock or watch, marking the hours or sounding an alarm.
3. Navel, on-the-job special training (informal) with the prospect of rank promotion.
4. An assistant blacksmith, who swings the hammer.
5. Firing pin on a gun; the striking mechanism.
6. A "forward" in soccer, whose position is key to getting goals; jock, athlete.
7. Biblical; person prone to using physical assault as a method of negotiation/coercion: "For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no STRIKER, not given to filthy lucre." [Titus 1:7]

mann•schaft [ˈmanʃaft]:
origin: German; Mann= “man” + schaft= ship

noun
A German word meaning "team", though not exclusively their soccer team (as is sometimes thought), it refers to any sports team or the crew of a ship; crew; soldiers.

Grammatically speaking, it is not used beyond sports or sea: one would not refer to a group of scientists or artists as a mannschaft. However, it is often used as a shorthand to refer to the famous German soccer team: Die Deutsche Nationalmannschaft.

med_cat

#6: Snickersnee

Definition:

1 archaic : to engage in cut-and-thrust fighting with knives 2 : a large knife

Example:

"Oh, never shall I / Forget the cry, / Or the shriek that shrieked he, / As I gnashed my teeth, / When from its sheath / I drew my snickersnee!" — The Mikado by W. S. Gilbert

About the Word:

Snickersnee comes from the Dutch phrase steken of snijden, "to thrust or cut." Over time, snick and snee, snick-or-snee, and snickersnee followed.

Source: another one from Merriam-Webster's Top Ten List: Funny-sounding and interesting words.

Read more at http://www.merriam-webster.com/top-ten-lists/top-10-funny-sounding-and-interesting-words/snickersnee.html#Bye7110uqiEeyqKq.99

med_cat

Catkin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster, with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect pollinated (as in Salix). They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem which is often drooping. They are found in many plant families, including Betulaceae, Fagaceae, Moraceae, and Salicaceae. For some time, they were believed to be a key synapomorphy among the proposed Hamamelididae, but it is now believed that this flower arrangement has arisen independently by convergent evolution on a number of occasions.^{[citation needed]}

In many of these plants only the male flowers form catkins, and the female flowers are single (hazel, oak), a cone (alder) or other types (mulberry). In other plants (such as poplar) both male and female flowers are borne in catkins.

Catkin-bearing plants include many other trees or shrubs such as birch, willow, hickory, sweet chestnut and sweetfern (Comptonia), and also some herbaceous plants such as nettle.

The word catkin is a loanword from the Dutch katteken, meaning "kitten", on account of the resemblance to a kitten's tail.^[1] Ament is from the Latin amentum, meaning "thong" or "strap".^[2]

Young male catkin

Male catkins of Ostrya carpinifolia

( More photos: )

theidolhands.livejournal.com

In honor of this weekend being the last Queen's Day, and the first King in over a century...I present two recently acquired Dutch words!

Bor·rel (ˈbȯr-ˈrɛl):
origin: a uniquely corrupted word -- from French "burel" (coarse) → Latin "burrus" (reddish) → Greek "purros" (bright red)

noun
In the Netherlands, land of the Dutch, the word refers to an informal gathering of guests with alcoholic drinks; more strictly translated as "a bracer" or "nip" (specifically of gin). Modernly, it makes it an opportunity to hang-out, network, or catchup -- even if only soda pop is served.

English definition "A kind of light stuff, of silk and wool", though it's also defined: "coarse, woolen cloth" (presumably red in color, as explained in the origin above) or "ignorant, unlearned, unpolished; belonging to common people" (author: Chaucer).

So, the word has been reclaimed as a positive.
Then again, Dutch people are proud of their directness as well!

---

Spij·ker·poe·pen (ˈspīk-kûr-ˈpüpˈpen):
origin: The Netherlands & ancient drunken shenanigans, if I'm not mistaken.

noun
Literally "nail pooping"; non-literally = a Dutch family game!

An entertaining activity that requires coordination and concentration. Standing backwards, the nail (or pencil) is tied to the rope, and the rope is attached to pants. The objective is to use nothing other than hip, waiste, and thigh movements to place the "nail" into a long-necked (beer) bottle. An excellent trick to attempt after a "borrel", I'm sure.

That's right, nothing like a bout of pooping nails to get everybody in a good mood.

See? Dutch: a language worth exploring!
Long live soon-to-be King Willem-Alexander!

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

laveer, verb. To sail against the wind; to tack.

Etymology: From the Dutch nautical term laveren, first known use in English is from the late 1500s. Tack (in the nautical sense) was first used in the mid 1500s, so the two words seem to have coexisted in English almost from the beginning.

"...to bend and turn about his own nature and laveer with every wind..."
(From Abraham Cowley, but apparently he was quoting Cicero's description of Roman politician Catiline, as a "general description of all ambitious men".)

How easy 'tis, when Destiny proves kind,
With full-spread sails to run before the wind!
But those that 'gainst stiff gales laveering go
Must be at once resolved and skilful too.
- John Dryden, from "Astraea Redux"

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

isinglass, noun.
1. A semi-transparent collagen prepared from the air bladders of fish, traditionally sturgeon although other fish are also used.
2. Thin sheets of transparent mica.
3. (colloquial) Sodium silicate ("water glass").

Etymology: from the Dutch word huizenblas (huus, sturgeon, + blase, bladder), first use in the 1500s.

The first definition is the main one, and the only one my childhood dictionary had. In a book I was reading at the time, people had isinglass windows; it was many years before I figured out those were mica windows and not fish windows. ;-)

Isinglass (the fish bladder version) is one of a list of products that can be used as a fining agent (a substance used to remove organic compounds such as yeast) to clarify beer and wine. Other possible fining agents include egg whites, milk powder, gelatin, bentonite, Irish moss, silicon dioxide, chitosan, and PVPP (polyvinylpolypyrolidone).

Not all alcoholic products are clarified, and not all fining agents are animal by-products. But since the fining agents are (completely or almost completely) removed from the end product, you can't always tell if a product is animal-derived just by reading the label.

Sodium silicate dissolved in water has been used to preserve eggs: fresh eggs in the shell are immersed in it to keep out bacteria. Sodium silicate, or the eggs stored in it, can also be used as a fining agent; this may have caused "water glass" to become confused with "isinglass".

ersatz-read.livejournal.com

fother (I see it pronounced both like "father" and like "feather")
noun. 1. a cartload or large quantity
2. (or fodder) an old unit of weight for lead, lime, coal, etc.
verb, transitive. 1. to cover (a sail) with oakum, rope, yarn, etc., for placing over and stopping a leak in a ship.
2. to stop (a leak) with a sail prepared in this way, by allowing the pressure of water to force it into the crack.

Etymology
In my dictionary, the noun form is listed as coming from Old English fother.
The verb form as listed as possibly coming from Middle Dutch voederen (to feed).

( this week's poem behind the cut... )

It's likely I won't be posting a word next Sunday - busy with family stuff.

nerdfury.livejournal.com

Hi guys! Hope everyone's awesome!

Today's word is:

Growlery [growl'er-ee]
noun

Means
A retreat for times of ill humour - a place to be alone and think. Similar (without the religious context!) to the Latin-derived sanctum sanctorum, with the added connotation that the individual in question is going to the place to be alone while upset.

Comes.from
English; cf. Dutch grollen, 'to grumble'

Read.it
Loki, the new Mistress of Nerdfury Manor, was quite upset with me when I came home quite late one night after work. She was quite hungry after a long day of laying about and watching traffic through the window! To show her ill humour, she had retreated to her growlery under the bed for a sulk.

All appeared to be forgiven, however, when she heard the familiar sound of a fresh tin of food being opened. At least forgiven, for now.

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Word of the Day!

Entries tagged with dutch

Striker & Mannschaft

(Late) Friday word: snickersnee

Friday word: Catkin

Catkin

Saturday & Sunday Word: Borrel & Spijkerpoepen

laveer

isinglass

fother

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