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24.01.2022 Word of the Day. Jack-block: pulley system for raising topgallant masts. Thank you, Phrontistery, but I still don't really understand this word. Pirates might, as I'm sure their ships must have topgallant masts.

23.01.2022 Word of the Day. Rooked: originally: deprived of money through fraudulent or underhand means; swindled, fleeced. In later use also (chiefly Scottish): without money, penniless; (also) bereft of some other commodity. 'You been rooked? Me too.'

23.01.2022 Word of the Day. Highbinder: one who engages in fraudulent or shady activities; esp. a corrupt, scheming politician; a gangster. 'Why does a particular face come to mind when I see the word highbinder?'

21.01.2022 Word of the Day. Perdure: to continue to exist; to endure. 'To perdure, one must sometimes endure purgatory.'

21.01.2022 Word of the Day. Wear: to turn a ship's stern to windward to alter its course. 'What to wear when performing wear duties.' (No, I have no idea if this is a/the correct usage; most things nautical to me are arcane.)

20.01.2022 Word of the Day. Obnubilate: to darken, dim, cover, or hide with or as with a cloud; to obscure, render indistinct; cloudy, foggy, fuzzy, hazy; murky, obscure, vague, nebulous, inexplicit. Thank you, Grandiloquent. 'Yesterday, after she'd scuttled back inside, she was delighted to realise there was a word for fog descending. 'Ah', she thought, 'the fog obnubilates.'

19.01.2022 Word of the Day. Uranomania: obsession with the idea of divinity. 'I wonder if uranomania is classified as a psychiatric condition.'

17.01.2022 Word of the Day. Meep: to make a short, high-pitched sound. OED you are wonderful, explaining things we take for granted. 'Reminds me of Beaker, from the Muppets. I'm sure that's what he used to 'say'!'

16.01.2022 Word of the Day. Kvetch: to criticize or complain a great deal. (OED again.) This is from Yiddish; I love the sound of the Yiddish words I've come across. "Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch--that's all you do. I'm sick of it!'

14.01.2022 Word of the Day. Lastage: room for stowing goods in a ship. 'Get down to the lastage, lad, and find the lady's portmanteau.'

13.01.2022 Word of the Day. Transitarium: device used for illustrating the geometry of the transit of Venus or Mercury across the sun's disk, invented by British peer and amateur astronomer Washington Shirley (172278). 'I looked, but can't find a reference to Captain James Cook's use of a transitarium. You'd have thought he might have needed one to track the transit of Venus.'

13.01.2022 Word of the Day. Smack-talk: ostentatiously boastful or insulting banter, often delivered with the intention of demoralizing, intimidating, or humiliating an opponent; self-aggrandizing rhetoric; trash talk. 'Surely there won't be any smack-talk in the debate soon to be televised. That'd never happen.'

11.01.2022 Simplicitarian: a person who values openness, frankness, and lack of social refinement as personal qualities. Obsolete - such a shame, we could use a bit of it now. (Thanks again, OED.) 'I know a few simplicitarians; feet on tables, scratching toes (and other body parts), permitting certain bodily functions in public - and they are very jolly. I am pleased I don't know them well; I'm far too buttoned up.'

10.01.2022 Word of the Day. Nebulaphobia: fear of fog. 'She stepped over the threshold into the deepening darkness, the mist -- threatening fog -- swirled around her face, covering it with cold dampness. Her nebulaphobia overcame her and she scuttled back inside, slamming the front door.' (This, my darlings, is not a good indication of well-edited writing since it's neither well-written nor even edited.)

09.01.2022 Word of the Day. Uranomania: obsession with the idea of divinity. 'I wonder if uranomania is classified as a psychiatric condition.'

05.01.2022 Not jolly reading; not at all.

04.01.2022 Word of the Day. Illecebrous: alluring; attractive; enticing; enticing; full of allurement; tending to attract; beautiful. (Thank you Grandiloquent - yet again.) 'Come hither, you illecebrous creature.'

03.01.2022 Word of the Day. Quakebuttock: a pejorative term for one who is wanting in courage; one lacking the courage to do or endure dangerous or unpleasant things, a coward. 'Would reneging on your duty to perform national service make you a quakebuttock?'

02.01.2022 Word of the Day. Reptiliferous: of sedimentary rock, spec. certain sandstone beds in Scotland: containing fossils of reptiles. Thank you, OED. 'What a wonderful word is "reptiliferous". Say it with a Scottish accent and you could be a palaeontologist; or even without the accent.'

02.01.2022 Word of the Day. Quibbleism: the practise of quibbling. (From Phronistery, Lost Words); I think we should revive this one. 'Oh he is such a pain, must be the No 1 exponent of quibbleism.'

01.01.2022 Word of the Day. Trunnel: wooden shipbuilding peg used for fastening timbers. 'The word "trunnel" is a delight to say; it feels good, rattling around in the mouth. I'm sure the wooden pegs work, too.'