{"id":2936,"date":"2020-07-07T07:55:34","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T14:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=2936"},"modified":"2020-07-07T07:55:34","modified_gmt":"2020-07-07T14:55:34","slug":"lexicographers-dozen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=2936","title":{"rendered":"Lexicographer’s Dozen"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. Desterham<\/strong> \u2014 Turkish minister of finance (variant of defterdar<\/strong>, apparently only used by Voltaire in his story Zadig<\/em>)<\/p>\n

The case was brought before the Grand <\/em>Desterham, who had both parties beaten soundly with knouts so that both would know the majesty of Babylonian justice.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. bizzie<\/strong> \u2014 (British slang<\/em>) policeman or policewoman; (pl.) the police (also busy<\/strong> or bizzard<\/strong>)<\/p>\n

No matter what sort of get-up he wore, you could tell right away he was just a <\/em>bizzie out of uniform\u2014something about the way he carried himself, I guess.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. totipotent<\/strong> \u2014 (biology<\/em>) capable of becoming anything (said of cells able to become any type of cell in an embryo)<\/p>\n

Perhaps the first grade teacher faces a class full of <\/em>totipotent human beings, but those opportunities are long gone by the time those students reach high school.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. hard lines<\/strong> \u2014 (British slang<\/em>) adversity, bad luck<\/p>\n

“<\/em>Hard lines Pete,” he said as they watched the golf ball stop almost at the very lip of the cup.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. psychomanteum<\/strong> \u2014 darkened room with angled mirror reflecting darkness, intended for communion with the dead<\/p>\n

Lily had never forsaken her widow’s weeds, which spoke to her laudable devotion to Chester, but when she rigged up the rear parlor as a <\/em>psychomanteum we realized that we had to intervene.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. feringhee<\/strong> \u2014 (Indian and Asian slang, usu. derogatory<\/em>) foreigner, European, white person<\/p>\n

Almost the entire village came out to watch the <\/em>feringhee struggle to impose his will upon the recalcitrant bactrian camel.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. yataghan<\/strong> \u2014 Ottoman doubly curved saber<\/p>\n

Had it not been for his keen eye and sure trigger finger, I would have perished beneath the sharp edge of an Albanian <\/em>yataghan twenty years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. munted<\/strong> \u2014 (British slang<\/em>) drunk; (Australian slang<\/em>) intoxicated; severely damaged; disgusting<\/p>\n

At this rate the world economy will be <\/em>munted for years to come.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. misandry<\/strong> \u2014 hatred of men<\/p>\n

After her self-realization, Paul was never allowed to stay overnight in his family home because of his mother’s <\/em>misandry.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10. allopathy<\/strong> \u2014 treatment of disease by producing effects opposite to the disease’s symptoms; derogatory term for traditional medicine<\/p>\n

An almost religious distrust of <\/em>allopathy led him to reject any and all substances branded as ‘chemicals’, and perhaps his gluten-free diet was merely an extension of this philosophy.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11. viga<\/strong> \u2014 large wooden beam used in adobe construction<\/p>\n

The shadows of the <\/em>vigas jutting out from the roof made it difficult to discern the rodent hiding alongside the pathway to the door.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12. orante<\/strong> \u2014 (also orans<\/strong> or orant<\/strong>) prayerful posture, in which one stands with hands held out to the side with the palms up, while the elbows are held close to the body<\/p>\n

Though the gesture was discarded when prayerful handholding became the vogue, more and more we see the <\/em>orante posture returned to the modern Christian church, especially among members too weak or too tired to keep their arms over their heads for hours and hours.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. Desterham \u2014 Turkish minister of finance (variant of defterdar, apparently only used by Voltaire in his story Zadig) The case was brought before the Grand Desterham, who had both parties beaten soundly with knouts so that both would know the majesty of Babylonian justice.   2. bizzie \u2014 (British slang) policeman or policewoman; (pl.) … <\/p>\n

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