1. plonker — [UK slang] fool; penis; [outdated] item of unusually large size or girth
“He’s nice enough to his friends, I suppose, but he’s a right plonker with the ladies.”
2. Dannert wire — concertina wire, coiled barbed or razor wire
The village had shown their preparedness by removing all the street and road signs, and by the long coils of Dannert wire some alert alderman had had strewn all about the beach, which surprisingly made that destination no less inviting.
3. parp — [UK informal] horn sound; fart sound
This quiet interlude is suddenly interrupted by a trombone parp that hearkens back to the band’s beginnings as a novelty act.
4. didact — pedant, person inclined to teach others
Jones was a natural didact, meaning that you could hardly teach him a damn thing as he knew it all already.
5. introit — psalm read or sung at beginning of the Mass (particularly as the celebrant approaches the Eucharist); introduction
The choir took up the solemn introit specified for this holy day and I was moved in spite of myself.
6. antihelminthic (also anthelminthic) — of or related to destruction or expulsion of parasitic intestinal worms
In this region it is possible that the antihelminthic properties of ayahuasca are not among its least important.
7. barmkin — [Scots] protective wall built around castles, towers, and fortified farmhouses
But there was a weak point in the barmkin near the mill race where stones had been taken for needed repairs, the hope being that the narrow water might be enough should the reivers return.
8. lalochezia — using vulgar words to palliate stress or pain
At times my neighbor would go out to his car in street and merely sit in it, not going anywhere, and he would scream f-bombs and other curse words for several minutes, perhaps not realizing that the closed doors and windows couldn’t keep us neighbors from hearing his angry imprecations, and then, hopefully with this lalochezia providing some relief, he would quietly exit the vehicle, and just as silently re-enter his house to attend to whatever unknown incident had been the impetus for this bizarre ritual.
9. czardas — Hungarian dance with slow start and frenetic finish
At Kis-Körös we were entertained (if that is the word) by solemn men in red fezzes dancing a czardas while the train engineers attended to some mechanical issue which was never satisfactorily explained.
10. cantref — land division in medieval Wales
Each of these cantrefi had their own independent court, although in the case of Powys some of the commotes took on this role.
Bonus Vocabulary
(US slang 1930s)
strictly from hunger (sometimes simply from hunger) — terrible, really bad, of poor quality; only acceptable faute de mieux, of a poor choice driven by imperious necessity
The little blonde singer was strictly from hunger, and I supposed that either Bill was tone deaf or he was getting a little something on the side. Maybe both, I don’t know.