rhopalic

rhopalic adj (of a verse) having each word a syllable longer than the one before n rhopalism [Origin from Greek rhopalikos clublike, rhopalon a club] Chambers, 1998

This pesky syllable experiment
is rather dismally problematic.
It's also acutely irritating.

Enough of that nonsense. Nice sounding word, though.

tripudium

A quick celebrational dancing word for the weekend. The best meaning is the second one though:

tripudium n an ancient Roman religious dance in triple time, or dance generally; divination from the hopping of birds feeding, or from the dropping of scraps from their bills. adj tripudiary vi tripudiate to dance for joy; to exult; to stamp n tripudiation. [Origin from Latin tripudium, probably from tres three, and pes, pedis foot.

Divination from the hopping of birds? Mustn't tell my mum about this or she'll start using it to pick lottery numbers.

paxwax

Ooh, I love this word!

paxwax n the strong tendon in an animal's neck. [Origin from Old English (Anglian) faex (Western Saxon feax) hair, and weaxan to grow] Chambers, 1998

An extremely old word then, and you can tell from the sound. It'd be a lovely little scorer in scrabble if only there was more than one "X" tile.

fuscous

I predict this word will be needed once the snow melts away to reveal the earth beneath:

fuscous adj brown; dingy [Origin from Latin fuscus] Chambers, 1998

Mmmm. Lovely brown.

kippage

Another grand Scottish word:

kippage (Scot) n a state of displeasure or anger. [Origin from French équipage, probably from Old Norse skipa to set in order, and skip a ship; partly influenced by confusion with Latin equus a horse] Chambers, 1998

I'd say this snow's putting everyone into a right kippage at the moment. We should be rumbustious instead while it lasts!

EDIT: The noble gentleman @simonholmes has tweeted his disappointment that kippage is nothing to do with having a kip. I agree, actually, so have suggested to twitter that we change its meaning to "nap" permanently. Oh dear. This has all the makings of a dysfunctional Facebook group.

phlogiston

The lovely people at the 100 Days blog have thrown down the gauntlet in response to Matt Sheret's note: “If You’ve Got Something Interesting To Say Then Say It. But Don’t Say It In Glitter.” I've found a great word that's therefore vaguely on topic. Bear with me.

Captain Thesaurus helped me find synonyms for glitter, and somewhere down the bottom of the list (after the flashy, glistering, shimmery words) I found "phlogiston". I dutifully looked it up as I'd never heard of it before. It is an awesome word:

phlogiston n an imaginary element, believed in the 18c to separate from every combustible body in burning. adj phlogistic of, like or containing phlogiston (chem); combustible (archaic); inflammatory (med); fiery.

There's also a verb:

phlogisticate vt to combine with phlogiston [Origins from Greek neuter of verbal adj phlogistos burnt, inflammable, from phlogizein to set on fire] Chambers, 1998

18th century means it's slightly later than the Salem Witch Trials in the 1690s, but burnings were still in full swing as capital punishment in many countries. (They only stopped in England after a bill was passed in 1790). Phlogiston was in fact thought to be the element largely responsible for combustion in all flammable materials, and the origins of this theory are tied up with alchemy in the 1600s. I like to call it the Crazy Science. Captain Wikipedia has a bit more random information about it.

Returning to the task in hand though, it's a brilliant word and I imagine it would sparkle like glitter if phlogiston was real; sort of a cross between fireworks and a Star Trek transporter beam. Phlogiston: Energize!

humdudgeon

A quickie this morning:

humdudgeon n an unnecessary outcry (Scot); low spirits (dialect). Chambers, 1998

This leads us to another word of unknown origin:

dudgeon n resentment; offended indignation, esp as in in high dudgeon. [Origin unknown] (second meaning: n the haft of a dagger) Chambers, 1998

If it's unknown, then where did we/the Scots get it from? I demand answers, dictionary!

eccoproctic

I realise I havn't picked any "e" words yet, so on a quick flick here is:

eccoproctic adj laxative, mildly cathartic n a laxative [Origin from Greek ekkoprotikos, from ek out of, and kopros dung] Chambers, 1998

There's three things I like about this word. Firstly, the odd, pseudo-scientific sound of it. Secondly, I think it could be widely applicable to non-dung-related situations (for example, I suspect that completing my tax return will have a fairly eccoproctic effect). Thirdly, it taught me that "kopros" is the Greek word for dung. Hooray!

pigsney

In honour of the many friends who have recently announced either engagements or pregnancies (no one's announced both together) I give you the delightfully ambiguous:

pigsney, pigsny or pigsnie (archaic) n a term of endearment (sometimes contempt), esp to a woman; an eye (playfully; obs) [Origin from pig's eye, with prosthetic n (from an eye, mine eye)] Chambers, 1998

Must confess I don't fully understand the origin description, however I know pig comes from Middle English so I'll guess this is a fairly old word. I think it's brilliant that it can be used with both love and contempt.

While we're here though, I must also introduce the delightful:

pigsconce n a pigheaded person Chambers, 1998

Does the English language have too many words for pigheadedness? Internet says: no.

amanuensis

Let's start the new year with another word I feel sure I should have heard before but can't seem to recall:

amanuensis n (pl amanuenses) somebody employed to write from dictation or to copy a manuscript

This is a profession that must have fallen out of favour a long time ago, particularly in terms of the secondary definition. I have someone I occasionally employ to copy my manuscripts, but I call him HP Deskjet.

Happy New Year, everybody.