The 30-day blogging challenge 2: Anoesis
Another day, another word. Today’s is: Anoesis In case, like me, you’re wondering how to pronounce that before you can even think about what it might mean, the answer is, roughly, anno-eesis. And...
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The 30-day blogging challenge 3: Car
Today’s word may seem very normal and dull: Car, ker or caur depending on how you spell it. But I’m not talking about an automobile or the dining car on a train. No, this is a Scots word for...
View ArticleThe 30-day blogging challenge 4: Capelet
Day 4, and I’m going to talk about three or four very similar words: Capelet, capelin, capeline, capellet. They look as though they should have something in common, don’t they? But, apart from all...
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The 30-day blogging challenge 5: Chryso-
Ok, so it’s a prefix, not a whole word. But it’s such a pretty one – or is it? Chrys- or chryso- means “gold”, from the Greek chrysos, gold. Hence King Croesus, who was granted a wish that everything...
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30-day blogging challenge 6: Columel
I could have said “column”, but that would have seemed dull, so I’ve gone for the diminutive: Columel. Actually, “column” isn’t dull at all. The basic “cylinder used as a support” idea has been...
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The 30-day blogging challenge 7: Consuetude
This is a comfortable word, smacking of a Victorian pater-familias warming himself at the fire as he holds forth to his dutiful wife. Consuetude means custom or familiarity. The adjective,...
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The 30-day blogging challenge 8: Defalcate
No, it’s not a rude word! Well, not quite; it’s a polite word for something not very nice. Defalcate means to deduct a part of, or to embezzle money held on trust. The “falc” bit comes from the Latin...
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The 30-day blogging challenge 9: Die
What a lot of meanings for three little letters: Die. “Die, you swine!” cried the swashbuckling heroes of Victorian and Edwardian novels, whose heroines never languished with die-away airs. Modern...
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The 30-day blogging challenge 10: Dispense
Today’s rather surprising word is Dispense. How did one word get to have apparently opposing meanings? According to Chambers Dictionary, the root is Latin: dis– meaning “not” or “separate” and...
View ArticleThe 30-day blogging challenge 12: Doup
A few Scots words for today, starting with Doup. Hands up if you knew it meant the bottom section of an eggshell? No, I didn’t either. It also means the buttocks or the bottom end of anything....
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