Words You Have Taught Me — Feb 2022
№ 18 — a rebound listicle
Coming out of retirement, once again, I present you with a brand new WYHTM. The series now spans half a decade — I know, crazy — the first installment dating back to December of 2017.
As usual, with a sprinkling of slang, a few foreign terms, and nouns both proper and not so proper.
So, without further ado — here is the latest in literary lingo, journalist jargon, author’s argot and pencil pusher pidgin that I soaked up here since the last time we did this …
aphantasia
the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one’s mind, derived from the Ancient Greek word phantasia, meaning “imagination”, and the prefix a- meaning “without” [Wikipedia]
from Danielle Loewen
bauble
a small, showy trinket or decoration
from Laura Sheridan
bawbee
(Scottish) a coin of little value
from Laura Sheridan
bromeliad
a plant native to tropical and subtropical America, typically having short stems with rosettes of stiff, usually spiny, leaves
from JoAnn Ryan
catenary
a curve formed by a wire, rope, or chain hanging freely from two points and forming a U shape
from Stuart James
Dudelsack
(German) bagpipe
from Mary L. Holden
(se) faire une montagne d’une taupinière
(French, idiom) to make a mountain out of a molehill
from Gianina Buda, PhD
Fiador knot
(also Theodore knot) is a decorative, symmetrical knot used in equine applications to create items such as rope halters, hobbles, and components of the fiador
fiador — a cord fastened to a hackamore and acting as a throatlatch
from Zay Pareltheon
finking and narking
(slang) snitching
from Sarah Lofgren
Hanna Ruax
Finnish-born Bay-area designer who died in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, California
from Evelyn Jean Pine
hermeneutics
the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, especially of the Bible or literary texts
from E. Scott Alighieri
hyperacusis
a hearing condition that causes a heightened sensitivity to sound, making everyday noises, like running water, seem extremely loud
from John Ege
identitarian
a pan-European nationalist, far-right political ideology asserting the right of European ethnic groups and white peoples to Western culture and territories claimed to belong exclusively to them [Wikipedia]
from Comrade Morlock
Idiopathic Truncal Dystonia
a condition characterized by involuntary contractions and postures of the paraspinal, abdominal or chest muscles, typically due to neurological disease or a side effect of drug therapy
from Marcus aka Gregory
lachrymatory jar
a small, narrow-necked vase found in ancient Roman tombs, formerly thought to have been used to catch and keep the tears of bereavement
from Carlyn Beccia
LCBO
Liquor Control Board of Ontario
from Andrew Scott
leblouh
(Arabic) the practice of force-feeding girls from as young as five to nineteen, in countries where obesity was traditionally regarded as desirable; specially prevalent in rural areas and having its roots in Tuareg tradition, leblouh is practiced to increase chances of marriage in a society where high body volume used to be a sign of wealth … practiced in Mauritania, Niger, Uganda, Sudan, Tunisia, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa [Wikipedia]
from Alema Ljuca
Mirror (the boy band)
from Shirley Lee 🍟
prosopagnosia
a neurological condition characterized by the inability to recognize the faces of familiar people
from David B. Clear
Rotorua
a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand’s North Island; known for its geothermal activity, and features geysers — notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa — and hot mud pools [Wikipedia]
from Anne Harrison
San Dog
U.S. Navy slang for San Diego
from Barry Dawson Jr. IV, in his response to my response to
sassenach
(Scottish, derogatory) an English person
from Gus Gresham
Scheinstudierende
(German) literally “fake” or “sham” student
from Annika Wappelhorst
scry
foretell the future using a crystal ball
Every installment of WYHTM has a word that feels like I should have known it, but honestly I can’t say I did. This time around, scry is it.
from Roy Reichle
SweeTango
a type of apple — the brand designation of the cultivated apple ‘Minneiska’, which is a patented cross breed between the ‘Honeycrisp’ and the Zestar!, introduced in 2009 at the University of Minnesota
from Chris Drew
Tegran M. Samour
Tegran M. Samour (shortened from Samourkashian) invented the modern version of the pinwheel, originally titled “wind wheel,” in 1919 in Boston, Mass. Samour owned a toy store in Stoneham, Mass. [Wikipedia]
from Oscar Rhea
toque and toonie
toque (Canadian) — a knitted beanie style winter hat
toonie (Canadian)—a two-dollar coin
from proud Canuck Shira Packer
Ugrench
more accurately called Konye-Urgench, or Old Urgench, a city in Turkmenistan, destroyed in a bloody invasion in by the Mongols led by Genghis Khan
from Ryan Fan
wassailing
a British tradition of house-to-house caroling, often involving the consumption of “wassail”, spiced ale or mulled wine … from Old Norse “ves heill”
from Rashmee Roshan Lall
thanks for your continual patronage — keep ’em coming!
here is the previously latest episode of WHYTM — please go ahead and browse, there is some great stuff in there
