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Thursday, June 25, 2020

In other words, Simon Pure and puredee

  • amour fou, noun. Uncontrollable or obsessive passion or infatuation, esp. as a theme of drama or literature; an instance of this.
  • Barney’s bull, noun. Used in various proverbial expressions and similes, as a type of someone or something in a very bad state or condition.
  • bibliognost, noun. A well-read individual; a person with wide knowledge of books; one that has comprehensive knowledge of books and bibliography.
  • cow-tongued, adjective. Having a tongue like a cow, smooth one way and rough the other; and hence, one who gives fair or foul language as may suit his purpose.
  • delenda, noun (with plural agreement). Words, sentences, etc., which are to be deleted from a text; (also) such deletions in the form of a list printed with a text.
  • hench, adjective. Of a person: having a powerful, muscular physique; fit, strong.
  • imperturbable, adjective. Not capable of being, or not liable to be, mentally perturbed or agitated; unexcitable; calm, composed.
  • johndarm, noun (British). A police officer (a borrowing from French gendarme).
  • mondegreen, noun. A word or phrase resulting from a mishearing of another word or phrase, especially in a song or poem.
  • nipe, verb, intransitive. To bow the head; to bow down, bend, droop; to descend, sink low.
  • oronym, noun. Phrases that differ in meaning and spelling, yet share a similar pronunciation (for example, “ice cream” and “I scream”).
  • puredee, adjective. Thoroughgoing, out-and-out, complete, real, the real thing. (Also as adverb: very, totally, completely.)
  • quank, verb, intransitive. Of a bird or animal: to utter a harsh croaking or honking cry.
  • shivviness, noun. The uncomfortable rough feeling caused by the wearing of new underwear.
  • Simon Pure, noun and adjective. A person resembling or reminiscent of the fictional character Simon Pure (the name of a Quaker character in Susanna Centlivre’s comedy “A Bold Stroke for a Wife”); esp. (a) a person of irreproachable virtue or integrity; (b) a person of uncompromising (esp. religious or political) principles, a zealot, a diehard.
  • summum jus, noun. The highest law or right; the utmost rigour or strictness of the law; extreme severity.
  • uliginous, adjective. Growing in wet or swampy ground.

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