1. wally — [British slang] fool, doofus
Brett always acted the wally but I suspected there was more going on behind those blue eyes than any of us ever knew.
2. chough — birds belonging to a genus within the crow family
The choughs of Iona seemed to resent our presence, their dark forms wheeling about us and croaking out a warning which grew louder as we approached the lightning-struck tree.
3. gompa — imposing religious building similar to Christian monastery in which religious writings are protected and monks work as devotees of Tibetan Buddhism
The producers spent many hours speaking with head lama of the mountain gompa, inveigling the leader to allow our team to film the relics which were supposedly the forearm and brain pan of an ancient Yeti.
4. simon-pure — entirely pure, authentic, clean
He really was as simon-pure as his brother had said, following the written law with a maddening consistency, insisting on paying his full share of all taxes, driving at precisely the posted speed limits, and hence his remodeling project was doomed to failure, as the San Francisco regulations were entirely inconsistent.
5. swainmote (also sweinmote) — [British] one of the courts of the royal forest, with power over rights of agistment and pannage as well as ability to try offenders by a jury of forest swains
All we knew of this Gilley was that he was a verderer, so Pauncey and I decided we might find him at the swainmote meeting at the beginning of June, two weeks before the Feast of John the Baptist.
6. cumber — to hinder or hamper, to burden
Cumbered as we were by this awkward mass of stuffed ferrets, we were unable to set off quickly in pursuit when we realized this strange figure in yellow top hat and tails was the malefactor we sought.
7. stratosphere — second layer of the earth’s atmosphere, in which temperature increases in stratified zones as altitude increases
Jets are more efficient in the stratosphere, as less oxygen is necessary for combustion at those altitudes because of the lower air pressure and temperature.
8. bam — to cozen or cheat
So there I was, bammed again, and this time because of my suspicious rather than my trusting nature.
9. raise hob — [informal] raise hell
The Legion was less a political project and more an excuse for shiftless men to run amuck and raise hob.
10. play hob with — [idiom] to derange, to upset
The switch to decaffeinated coffee was playing hob with my work, and I found myself unable to concentrate on any intricate projects until after lunch.
Bonus Vocabulary
(commercial law, generally as applied to transshipment contracts; also used as relating to archiving and preserving art etc.)
inherent vice — tendency of an item to degrade due to poor manufacturing or materials used or other factors
The drayage contracts all had the standard clause indemnifying the company against inherent vice, but it was galling to see this applied in this case where our product had sat in a Mexican warehouse for some sixteen years during the legal disputes.