1word1day | Entries tagged with anglo-saxon

theidolhands.livejournal.com

ban·janx·ed (ˈbændʒækst):
origin: 1930's, Anglo-Irish

adjective
1. Broken, ruined, shattered; confounded.
2. Tired, sleepy, cream crackered.

“Don't overdo or you'll feel knackered or banjaxed.”
- Out of Ireland (8): Nixers, Gurriers and Eejits

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med_cat

One of those words that turns up on the SAT...;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lionize: to treat as an object of great interest or importance

"to treat (someone) as a celebrity," used by Scott, 1809, and preserves lion in the sense of "person of note who is much sought-after" (1715), originally in reference to the lions formerly kept in the Tower of London (referred to thus from late 16c.), objects of general curiosity

Example:

"There, of course, I stumbled against Lady Brandon. 'You are not going to run away so soon, Mr. Hallward?' she screamed out. You know her curiously shrill voice?"

"Yes; she is a peacock in everything but beauty," said Lord Henry, pulling the daisy to bits with his long nervous fingers.

"I could not get rid of her. She brought me up to royalties, and people with stars and garters, and elderly ladies with gigantic tiaras and parrot noses. She spoke of me as her dearest friend. I had only met her once before, but she took it into her head to lionize me. I believe some picture of mine had made a great success at the time, at least had been chattered about in the penny newspapers, which is the nineteenth-century standard of immortality.

(Oscar Wilde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, 1890)

med_cat

Continuing on the Shakespearean Wednesdays theme by

uniquepov, here is a word not by Shakespeare but very much connected to Shakespeare. It is one of those words with a story behind it, a word derived from a person's name:

Bowdlerize: 1: to expurgate (as a book) by omitting or modifying parts considered vulgar

2: to modify by abridging, simplifying, or distorting in style or content

Etymology: Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), English editor

First Known Use: 1836

Thomas Bowdler was the editor of The Family Shakespeare, first published in four volumes in 1807. It was edited by Mr. Bowdler's sister; he himself edited the 1818 edition. There were several subsequent editions and reprints; this "version" of Shakespeare was quite popular.

“I acknowledge Shakespeare to be the world's greatest dramatic poet, but regret that no parent could place the uncorrected book in the hands of his daughter, and therefore I have prepared the Family Shakespeare." (Thomas Bowdler)

It is famous as THE "expurgated" Shakespeare, "in which nothing is added to the original; but those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read in a family." The word "bowderlize" was invented in 1836 carrying a pejorative sense, meaning to edit out offensive content prudishly.

Example "bowdlerizations":

Ophelia's death in Hamlet is referred to as an accidental drowning, not a possible suicide.
Lady Macbeth's "Out, Damned spot." is changed to "Out, Crimson spot."
Mercutio's "the bawdy hand of the dial is now upon the prick of noon” is changed to "the hand of the dial is now upon the point of noon"

You can read more about the topic in this excellent essay, which contains more examples, Bowdler's own explanation of the reasons for his editing, historical information, and links to full text of several of the bowdlerized plays.

theidolhands.livejournal.com

Jab·ber·wock·y (ˈdʒæbəˌwɒkɪ):
origin: coined by Lewis Carroll in "Jabberwocky", a poem in Through the Looking Glass (1871)

noun
1. a playful imitation of language consisting of invented, meaningless words; nonsense; gibberish.
2. an example of writing or speech consisting of or containing meaningless words.
adjective
3. consisting of or comparable to Jabberwocky; meaningless; senseless.

However, I feel it is worthy to mention Mr. Carroll's own definition, or understanding, of the word. Found in response to The Girls' Latin School of Boston, who asked permission to name their school newspaper, "The Jabberwocky" (1888).

( ~his reply~ )

Now, that's not nonsense!

prettygoodword.livejournal.com

taw¹ (TAW) - n., a large marble used as a shooter in a game of marbles; a specific game of marbles, also called ringer; the line from which marbles are shot. v., to shoot a marble.

taw² (TAW) - v., to prepare a skin, esp. to convert it to white leather; (arch.) to flog, thrash.

Plus also several other minor meanings, including an alternate spelling of the Hebrew letter tav. In the US, for taw¹ usually only the shooter sense is used, with the others more north England and Scotland usages -- but then, they also call all the marbles taws up there. I don't know how widespread those meanings are in the rest of the Anglosphere -- anyone care to add data? Assuming anyone here has played marbles, what with various card games having taken the place of the playing-for-keeps impulse. Taw² dates back to Old English, from a PIE root meaning to make; taw¹ dates to c. 1710, origin unknown.

Then he shyly showed me his prized possession: a large white taw shot through with clear swirls.

---L.

mars-as-a-girl.livejournal.com

Ahoight adj.
Definition: Elevated; in good spirits.

from Anglo-Saxon a, on, and heahdhu, height.

Reference: Edward Lloyd's Encyclopaedic Dictionary, 1895

She was ahoight whenever she thought about Michael C. Hall.

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Word of the Day!

Entries tagged with anglo-saxon

Saturday Word: Banjanxed

Friday word: Lionize

Thursday word: Bowdlerize

Sunday Word: Jabberwocky

taw

Ahoight

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