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BISH-BOSH NOUN nonsense, rubbish, foolish talk ...1937 colloq. rare INT. 1. nonsense! ...1922 colloq. rare 2. indicating something accomplished or completed quickly, simply, or expediently ...1989 Brit. colloq. ETYMOLOGY possibly a reduplication, with vowel variation, of bosh (n. contemptible nonsense, foolish talk or opinions) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1922 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "... It will not suffice for Mr. MacMonnies to meet Mayor Hylan's assault upon Civic Virtue with ‘Hell's bells!’ ‘Bish-bosh!’ and ‘Cackle-gabble!..." From: The New York Times March 21, 1922 Flapperism
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TOL-LOL also TOLL-LOLL ADJ. 1. tolerable, bearable, pretty good, pretty well, passable; in fairly good health ...1797 sl. 2. overbearing ...1849 Aust. sl. 3. intoxicated ...Bk1897 Eng. dial. sl. 4. foppish ...1902 Aust. & US sl. ETYMOLOGY from the first syllable of tolerable (adj.), with rhyming extension FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1797 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...for my part, I think there's reason in roasting of eggs; and the butler ses too, as out lady did nothen' in the world but stare at you all supper-time; and he ses you looked very toll-loll; and so, I dare say, you did; but I beg of all love you wont think of calling me Betty..." From: The Beggar Girl and Her Benefactors - Agnes Maria Bennett NOGHEAD NOUN a foolish or stupid person ...1800 ETYMOLOGY from nog (n. a peg, pin, or cylindrical piece of wood, serving any of various purposes) + head (n.) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1800 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...'Zounds! what a noghead and a fool!' says Tap, 'To mend old crocks, and candlesticks, and kittles - Thy hammer always going, rap, rap, rap - And all to git, forseth, a bit o' vittels!..." From: Horrors of Bribery - John Wolcot ('Peter Pindar') SUFFERANT ADJ. long-suffering, patient, tolerant, enduring ...c1330 obs. NOUN a person who is patient or long-suffering ...c1374 obs. ETYMOLOGY from Anglo-Norman suffrant, Old French soffrant , present participle of suffrir , soffrir (to suffer) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE c1330 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...And ȝif þe falleþ trauail on honde, Or pine of bodi, or shame in londe, Off al þis þu most suffraunt be, Þouh þe þinke hit greue þe. Þenk hou Ihesu into erþe cam, And þolede pine and shame for man, And foule was þerto misseid, And many a skorn on him leid..." From: Speculum Gy de Warewyke (Speculum of Guy of Warwick) FUBBY ADJ. of the figure, limbs, etc.: fat and squat; chubby, plump ...1790 rare ETYMOLOGY from fub (n. a small chubby person) + -y FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1790 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...While touch'd by Extacy we madd'ning lay, With raging, rav'nous energy fatigu'd, Th' Idalian urchin and his fubby crew, Guarded the passes of the blest retreat, Circling its precincts; odoriferous bloom'd The modest Violet and Cowslip sweet, Dew-wash'd Primroses and Carnations gay, And round a Cedar's fragrant trung uprear'd, Plants of high import or in scent or taste!..." From: Shrove Tuesday: A Satiric Rhapsody - John Williams ('Anthony Pasquin') ITINERARIAN ADJ. pertaining to a journey, travelling, or route ...1801 rare NOUN a person who itinerates; a traveller ...1822 rare ETYMOLOGY from Latin itinerārius (pertaining to a journey) + -an FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1801 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...A Polymetrical Table, Shewing the Itinerarian Distances, in British Miles, between some of the most remarkable Places of Hindustan..." From: The Asiatic Annual Register: Or, A View of the History of Hindustan, and of the Politics, Commerce, and Literature of Asia for the year 1800 CHELP NOUN the cry of a young bird; a shrill noise; chatter; impudent or contentious talk ...1859 Eng. dial. VERB to produce a chirping or squeaking sound, as a bird; to chatter or speak pertly or saucily; to talk too much ...1820 Eng. dial. ETYMOLOGY of unknown origin FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1820 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...And in the cottage gangs with dread, To meet old Dobson's timely frown, Who grumbling sits, prepar'd for bed, While she stands chelping 'bout the town..." From: Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery - John Clare Summer Evening WROTHY ADJ. wrathful, angry, irate, incensed ...1422 ETYMOLOGY from wroth (adj. very angry or indignant, stirred to wrath) + -y FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1422 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Whan thou haste all ythoght, mowrnynge and wrothi thow shalte reme. lette thy thoght be stabill, certayne, and trewe, thy worde be not in vayne, but be hit of Solace othyr of Prowe..." From: Secreta Secretorum (The Secret of Secrets) Translated by James Yonge PUDDY ADJ. short, thickset; stumpy; podgy, pudgy ...1747 rare NOUN a 'puddock', a frog ...1796 Sc. ETYMOLOGY possibly from pud (n.) + -y FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1747 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Their friends..express their obligations to me, particularly..the young one's puddy wife..." From: Horace Mann Letters 10 Jan. in Horatio Walpole's Correspondence BERGFALL NOUN a falling of rock fragments or debris; the ruinous fall of a mountain peak or crag; an avalanche of stones ...1856 ETYMOLOGY from German bergfall (fall of a mountain) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1856 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...on a smaller scale, they produce some of the most terrific and fantastic forms of precipice; not altogether without danger, as has been fearfully demonstrated by many a "bergfall" among the limestone groups of the Alps; but with far less danger than would have resulted from the permission of such forms among the higher hills..." From: The Works of John Ruskin: Modern Painters - John Ruskin ROTUNDIOUS ADJ. round or rounded; rotund, spherical ...1614 rare ETYMOLOGY from Latin rotundus (rotund) + -ious FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1614 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...He's now obscur'd and now his beames out: powres As skies are cleare, or thicke twixt vs and him. Thus all the Aprill, ar bopeepe he plaies, Incircling daily the Rotundious spheare. And at the Bull he hides his glistring raies..." From: The Nipping Or Snipping of Abuses: Or the Woolgathering of Witte - John Taylor MINDY ADJ. having recollection or remembrance, retaining memories; taking thought or care, mindful, heedful; being conscious or aware ...a1000 obs. rare ETYMOLOGY from mind (n.) + -y FIRST DOCUMENTED USE a1000 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "... Recordatus est petrus uerbi quod dixerat ei iesus: myndig wæs petrus wordes ðætte cweden wæs him ðe hæland..." From: The Rushworth Gospels, The Gospel According to Saint Mark in Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian Versions synoptically arranged EFFROYABLE ADJ. dreadful, frightful, terrifying, horrifying, appalling ...1689 obs. rare ETYMOLOGY from French effroyable, from effroi (fright) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1689 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...It is probable, the whole Chorus not arriving together, the first come, upon the sight of such an effroyable symptom, either being not sufficiently skilful, or not taking time to examine into the case, might mistake it for an Apoplexy, and too precipitantly advise bleeding, to make room in the Vessels for the Blood to move, and consequently to prevent stagnation, and coagulation..." From: The Art of Curing Diseases by Expectation with Remarks on a Supposed Great Case of Apoplectick Fits - Gideon Harvey CENTIMILLIONAIRE NOUN a person whose assets are worth at least 100 million dollars ...1881 US ETYMOLOGY from centi- (prefixed to the name of a unit of measurement, in later use esp. one in the metric system of weights and measures, to denote a factor of one-hundredth) + millionaire (n.), after multimillionaire FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1881 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...as counsel for the Knights of St. Crispin, for the Seven Sisters of Sorrow, and private clients in many important cases; as biographer of James C. Ayer, the centimillionaire; as the historian of the siege of Charleston and the city of Lowell..." From: Preliminaries to a History of the Cowley Family - Edward Cowley HORNSWOGGLE NOUN 1. nonsense, foolery, humbug ...Bk1942 US sl. 2. an act of surpassing or confusing; a confidence trick ...1877 US sl. 3. a trickster, a charlatan ...1908 US sl. VERB 1. to embarrass, to disconcert, to confuse ...1829 colloq., orig. US 2. to get the better of; to cheat or trick, to swindle, to deceive; to hoodwink, to humbug, to bamboozle ...1834 colloq., orig. US ETYMOLOGY of unknown origin FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1829 - Hornswoggle, to embarrass irretrievably. From: Virginia Literary Museum and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, etc. EXAMPLE "..."Well, now." said he, "I wish I may be horn swoggled, if ever I thought to live to see the day when I should 'sculp' a Christian man; but there it is, you see; I left h is head as clean as a peeled onion..." From: The Kentuckian in New York; or, The adventures of three Southerns - William Alexander Caruthers SCOTOPHOBIA NOUN 1. an intense aversion or hostility towards Scotland, its people, or its culture ..1828 2. an irrational fear or dislike of the dark ...1844 ETYMOLOGY noun 1. - from Scoto- (forming adjectives and nouns with the sense ‘of or relating to Scotland or its people) + -phobia (forming nouns with the sense ‘fear of ——’, ‘aversion to ——’); noun 2. - from Scoto- (forming adjectives and nouns with the sense ‘of or relating to darkness) + -phobia (forming nouns with the sense ‘fear of ——’, ‘aversion to ——’) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1828 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...Now, that the writer has been bit, is obvious enough, even though he had not confessed it. He has been driven to his pen by the influence of a sort of Scotophobia, which rendered seven copious evacuations necessary, in order to avoid more fatal consequences..." From: Anglicanus Scotched - Marcus Dods FENERATITIOUS ADJ. pertaining or given to usury; relating to interest ...1656 obs. ETYMOLOGY from Latin faenerātīcius (relating to interest) , from faenerāre (lend money at interest) + -ous FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1656 - Feneratitious (foeneratitius) taken or given to usury, or pertaining thereto. From: Glossographia: or, A Dictionary Interpreting All Such Hard Words...as are Now Used in Our Refined English Tongue - Thomas Blount OCCIDE VERB to kill ...a1538 obs. rare ETYMOLOGY from occīdere (to cut down, to kill), from ob- + caedere (to strike, to kill, to cut down) FIRST DOCUMENTED USE a1538 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...But so importunate forsooth was hir request, That ignorance notwithstanding I began to descriue, How that in the Historiographie it is playne expressed, That Graccus by suggestion falsly did contriue The Romains to rebel with the Senatours to striue, Chalenging equipolent all things to be deuided, Through whose discention as Oroke doth discriue, Much ruine there befell, and many men occided..." From: The Fall and Euill Successe of Rebellion from Time to Time Wherein is contained Matter, Moste Meete for All Estates to Vewe - Wilfrid Holme TIDDLYPUSH NOUN 1. (also TIDDERLY-PUSH) a word substituted for the name of a person or thing which the speaker has forgotten, does not know, or is unwilling to mention; a thingummy ...1923 colloq. 2. the male genitals ...1934 Irish sl. INT. (as TIDDLY PUSH!) a nonsense word for goodbye ...c1920-1940 ETYMOLOGY of unknown origin FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1923 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...And tidderly push, et patati et patata..." From: Le Slang: Lexique de L'Anglais Familier et Vulgaire - Joseph Manchon LOITEROUS ADJ. inclined to loiter; sluggish ...1566 obs. ETYMOLOGY from loiter (vb.) + -ous FIRST DOCUMENTED USE 1566 - see EXAMPLE below EXAMPLE "...I ryse at ease, walke forth at ease, and then a caste at booke, All secretly, (a ioy of ioyes at it to syt and loke) For weryed with my bookishe gase, I noynte with supple oyle, My loytrous limmes and when sir Phebe with brande beginnes to broyle: I washe my corps in cooly shade, my dyat [...]male and thin, Of pretie pittaunce, not so muche as stomacke woulde let in..." From: A Medicinable Morall - Horace Translated by Thomas Drant |
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