Since, like Polonius in Hamlet, his speech seems to consist primarily of gnomes and clichés, I doubt he would be able to follow this play’s sustained allegory.
2. shirtwaist — tailored blouse for womenThe old-fashioned establishment did not allow Jane to dine in her dress, but insisted she wear a shirtwaist and skirt.
3. calash — light carriage seating two or four persons. In Canada, a two-wheeled vehicle with a single seat for two, and space for the driver to sit on the splashboard.“Never mind your carriage, sir, as my man stands ready with the calash just outside.”
4. oliguria — scanty production of urineWhile oliguria may be caused merely by insufficient fluid intake, it may also be a symptom of renal failure or other serious urinary tract issues.
5. minster — church of a monastery; also gen. any large churchThe crypt containing the abbot’s bones was directly beneath the chancel of the minster, but there was no entrance from within the church itself.
6. burin — engraving tool for use on metalOf course, many of the actual drawings of Pieter Brueghel are lost to us, but we still can enjoy them through the engravings made by the burins of such artists as the Dutch publisher Philip Galle.
7. osier — willow twigs much used in basket-workHer grandfather’s old creel turned out to be quite a fine handmade osier specimen, somewhat bleached by the sun but in very good shape overall.
8. misoneism — hatred of novelty or change“Do you really believe that the desire to preserve some ideas, ideals, and artifacts of the past is mere misoneism?”
9. pomology — study and praxis of fruit-cultureThough one could make the technical case that one is merely a subset of the other, do not confuse viticulture with pomology.
10. paludal — of or pertaining to marshesThe Nazis once planned to drain the Pripet Marshes in order to deny the Russian and Polish partisans a hideout among the vast paludal wetlands.