Educated Guesswork

1. Quinquagesima — final Sunday before Lent, beginning of Carnival

The first appearance of Quinquagesima as a pre-Lenten feast (there is some evidence for the term being used for an anticipatory fast) cannot be found in Italy earlier than the 6th Century.

 

2. bimble — [British] to walk about in a meandering way with no fixed purpose

After we’d taken care of the luggage, we bimbled about the city, or at least the rather scruffy part of it surrounding the bus station.

 

3. holland blind (sometimes capitalized) — window shade consisting of heavy fabric around a roller which is lowered or raised to cover or uncover the window

He’d hidden the dangerous document by rolling it up inside the holland blind in the bedroom, but of course the agents found it almost immediately.

 

4. defilade — protection in a military position from observation or direct gunfire

The lieutenant had selected the site because of its excellent defilade, but he hadn’t figured on the Jerry artillery already having targeted our location because of just those same supposed advantages.

 

5. cafard — overwhelming depression

When she was seized by the cafard, he’d learned that there was nothing he could do to help her, no word or suggestion or action on his part would make her melancholy any less, or any less lengthy.

 

6. mistrustless — unsuspecting, trusting

Like all of his mistrustless race he was easy prey for these first emissaries of so-called civilization.

 

7. strangury — painful and frequent urge to urinate, even when bladder is empty

While it is true that strangury frequently accompanies gonorrhea, the social disease is by no means the only cause of that painful complaint.

 

8. appulse — forceful movement towards or against; apparent nearness between astronomical objects, conjunction

The close appulse of the lips required for the ‘m’ sound being almost impossible for several weeks after the accident, he could sound only a guttural ‘Aaargh!’ sound whenever he wish to call Margaret.

 

9. recalcitrant — stubbornly defiant; refractory, unmanageable

Somehow Mrs. Srimamsadeva had managed to turn the most recalcitrant 10th grader in the school into a model student, and all of the other teachers were anxious to learn her secret.

 

10. spindly — long and thin, esp. someone or something seeming weak or fragile

Chaz was a spindly thing leaning always against the wall by the door, his left boot hooked into a chair as if he feared a sudden gust of wind might blow him away.

 

Bonus Vocabulary

(slang, 1920s & 1930s, from popular brand of the time)

Merry Widow — condom

“Be sure to have a couple of Merry Widows handy, if you know what I mean.”

 

1. super — [informal] supernumerary

I thought those NPCs were just supers in the adventure after the opening, so I didn’t bring their characters sheets or figures with me for this session.

 

2. desuetude — disuse, discontinuance of practice

His words came croaking and halting, as if his very power of speech had fallen into desuetude during his long sojourn as a silent hermit.

 

3. bantling — [archaic] young child; bastard child

“Aye! Let the bantling lead the army, and watch his father’s hopes and plans fall into ruin as the lad’s untested steel shatters against Lord Henry’s battle-hardened soldiery!”

 

4. kalsomine — calcimine, whitewash

An attempt to spruce up the appearance of the hut by applying a thin layer of kalsomine had failed utterly.

 

5. lute — sticky clay

Jerry slathered lute at the joint to prevent another such accident from happening the next time the downstairs fireplace was used.

 

6. lute — to attach or to fix with lute

Of course each of these joints must be well luted or the apparatus will allow air into your mixture, likely ruining all your hard efforts.

 

7. divaricate — to spread apart, to diverge

Their focus upon these strange fancies caused their beliefs and rituals to divaricate farther and farther from the true faith.

 

8. concupiscence — overwhelming desire, esp. sexual

But for this concupiscence of his youth he had substituted a lust for fame, which, once it was gained, led him into the still greater sin of pride.

 

9. parure — jewelry set designed to be worn as an ensemble

This was good news indeed, but the most important piece of the parure, the large black diamond pendant originally the centerpiece of the necklace, still had not been found.

 

10. dindle — to tingle; to tremble

My left leg had ‘fallen asleep’ (as they say) from being folded beneath the other for so long, and as we staggered through the darksome woods it began to ‘wake up’, and the strange aching and dindling running down my calves into my ankle so plagued me that I almost (almost!) forgot our loathsome pursuers.

 

Bonus Vocabulary

(psychology)

hyperekplexia — condition characterized by overlarge startle response to unexpected stimuli

His anxious overreacting to everything—which he claims is diagnosed hyperekplexia and I think is simply histrionics—means that you have to ever so gently enter the room and murmur his name in a bare whisper until he deigns to respond to your mild call.

 

1. crupper — strap looped around horse’s tail attached to saddle to prevent the saddle or harness from moving forward

Sir Lee was unsaddled by the black knight’s lance, sent right over the crupper by the mighty blow.

 

2. Very light — flares used for signaling or illumination, fired from a special pistol

Now the Very lights showed the entire field and the robbers could hide no more.

 

3. homologate — to ratify, confirm, approve; to register a car model for international racing

The appeals court determined that in signing over his rights to the mill, the young Lord Jeremy, despite his minor status, had indeed homologated the transfer of his interest even in the absence of his guardian’s approval.

 

4. debile — [obsolete] feeble

Here again we see the paradoxical nature of these beliefs, by which the conspirators are adjudged to be all-puissant and yet in the next instant so debile that they must utilize the most hidden and underhand means of effecting any action at all.

 

5. whyever — why; for what reason

“Whyever would you want to substitute margarine for real butter?”

 

6. tortuous — twisty

Following the caretaker on a tortuous path through the warehouse filled with the detritus of a lifetime of bad business deals and failed inventions, we finally arrived at the garishly painted ice cream wagon, looking more like an exploded hurdy-gurdy than a treats cart, in which we now believed the missing carbuncle had been hidden.

 

7. torturous — excruciating

His days were filled with boredom and endless minutes of inactivity at the dying office, while his evenings were disturbed by the torturous attempts of his upstairs neighbor to teach himself the violin.

 

8. puckerbrush — scrubland

Beau nearly lost most of this land when it got entangled in some scheme to make paper out of all the puckerbrush lying between the church and the creek.

 

9. charlotte — sweet or savory dish contained in bread, consisting of custard or fruit or other filling

Jenny cleverly reused the leftover ratatouille by making a small charlotte for Aunt Selma’s visit the Saturday after.

 

10. belap — to enfold, to surround

She sat there, lonely amidst the crowd, belapped in ribbons and the hideous dress and the pinafores her mother insisted were fashionable, and she kept her gloved hands in her lap, trying not to too obviously watch the clock’s hands make their slow way around the dial.

 

Bonus Vocabulary

(UK, Australian, New Zealand slang or baby talk)

biccy — biscuit (i.e., cookie)

“She treats him like he was six years old, instead of a grown man; ‘Fancy a biccy, Barry?’ indeed!”

 

1. hythe (also hithe) — [British] river landing spot, small port or harbor

Originally, Jackson’s Inn had been a rude hythe on the river, and there are some who still say it was smuggling which gave him the ready cash to build his first hostelry.

 

2. opopanax — gum resin made from various plants, some used for medicine and others for perfume

The pungent scent of Lili’s opopanax hung in the air like the memory of a much regretted evening.

 

3. windlestraw — [British] grass used for plaiting or making ropes

Duncan made Molly a sort of sun hat with some windlestraw growing by the stream, so as to keep the bright sun off of her fair complexion.

 

4. impropriate — to transfer Church property to a layperson; to take or claim for private use

Of course the revenues for these Andalusian fields had long ago been impropriated by bankers and tax farmers, though usually from the same families as the prelates themselves.

 

5. falchion — slightly curved broadsword

He pulled his falchion up over his head and yelled, “For the last time, man, yield or die!”

 

6. dross — worthless matter, refuse

Gresham’s Law seems to indicate that the dross will take over money if it is not removed from circulation, which bodes ill, perhaps, for cryptocurrencies and that ilk.

 

7. tintamarre — ruckus, brouhaha; Acadian tradition of marching through village while using noisemakers and voices to make a stir

Gone are the days when political conventions decided anything save things that aren’t fit for TV nor print, and even the ‘spontaneous’ tintamarres which ‘break out’ on the convention floor are fully scripted events worthy of a Stalin or a Mao.

 

8. lustrine — glossy fabric of silk; lutestring

This quarter saw a sharp increase in the amount of lustrine imported from the Orient, doubtless because of the late changes in Paris fashion.

 

9. temerity — overconfidence, recklessness

“First you have the temerity to go ahead with your scheme after I’ve given you specific instructions not to, and now I find you’ve involved my daughter in this foolish and possibly actionable ploy.”

 

10. tignon — woman’s headcovering using a cloth to make a sort of turban, first worn by Creoles in Louisiana

From the folds of her tignon she pulled a very small card of thick blue paper, and handed it to me.

 

Bonus Vocabulary

(Christian)

Eutychus — youth who fell asleep (from boredom?) during one of Paul’s long sermons, fell out a 3rd-story window, died, and was brought back to life by Paul [Acts 20:7-12]

During Fidel Castro’s lengthy homilies, many a Eutychus struggled to stay awake, or at least to appear so, lest eternal rest be given as a fatal reward.

 

1. vestryman — council member of the local parish

Caught in flagrante delicto, as it were, Humber cooly placed the rubber balls in his trouser pockets and wished the vestrymen a good day.

 

2. ghyll — [UK] ravine, gully

Few go to Piers Ghyll now for the hiking, though once this was an important stop in the ‘English Switzerland’.

 

3. mereological — of or related to the study of relations between the whole and its component parts

This sort of mereological analysis can be useful in limited cases, as when the dissected parts reveal the paucity of ideas which gave rise to a movement such as that we have been considering.

 

4. bromide — chemical compound based upon bromine; medicament from such a compound, esp. lithium bromide, formerly used as antidepressant at beginning of 20th C.; platitude; dullard

But these are just the bromides of our modern age, on everyone’s lips and meaning almost nothing.

 

5. lenify — to soothe; to soften

Thus a kind word gently offered may lenify the searing pain of loss and mollify the injured heart.

 

6. foreland — headland, promontory; land adjacent to mountains where material has been deposited from the peaks by action of plate tectonics

His first major contract was for the construction of warning lights to be placed upon the foreland of the Presompter Peninsula, twenty miles south of Barnhumble.

 

7. chouse — [obsolete] to cheat, to swindle

It’s all very well and good to say that the whole rigamarole was jolly fun, but the fact remains that I’ve been choused out of two horses, a rooster, and a pot of my best marmalade.

 

8. scammony — bindweed of eastern Mediterranean; resin made from its root, used as a purgative

Though of course scammony can be dangerous in high doses, it is singularly effective against roundworm, exhibiting anthelmintic powers against tapeworm as well.

 

9. rorqual — baleen whale of the largest taxonomic family

A stately rorqual—a blue whale—swam unconcernedly next to the ice shoals, unaffected by the freezing water that had nearly ended the life of our clumsy cabin boy.

 

10. haviour (also haveour) — [obsolete] countenance, demeanor

Show not the haviour of your desperate need, but resolve right well to unconcerned appear.

 

11. venifice — [obsolete] poisoning

Because the murder was attempted by venefice it was felt to be particularly heinous.

 

Bonus Vocabulary

(Latin)

deus otiosus — deity which no longer interacts at all with humans after once creating the world and starting it in motion

But Staney’s argument is merely the same idea of a deus otiosus who has left the field for other, lesser divinities—’divinities’ which may, as he expresses it, merely be human-created facets of hopes for the divine, rather than any overarching power itself.