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FIDDLE FOOTED adjective (fid-l-foo t-id)
adjective
1. Informal. restlessly wandering.
Quotes
Instead, they just kept moving, a pair of fiddle-footed ramblers, following the wind, until that drifting brought them out here.
--*Robert Coover,*Ghost Town, 1998
Being fiddle-footed was its own peculiar blessing and curse at the same time.
--*Jon Sharpe,*The Trailsman #290: Mountain Mavericks, 2005
Origin
Fiddle-footed was first recorded in 1945-50.
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BERCEUSE noun (ber-soez)
noun
1. Music. a cradlesong; lullaby.
2. Music. a composition for instrument or voice, having a soothing, reflective character.
Quotes
The berceuse is so soothing, it ought to send your husband to sleep ...
--*A. R. Goring-Thomas,*Wayward Feet, 1912
I love soft songs that soothe me--something cradle-like--a Berceuse, you understand.
--*Fergus Hume,*The Man with a Secret, 1890
Origin
Berceuse, not yet naturalized in English, still retains its French pronunciation or a semblance of it. Berceuse is an agent noun in French, meaning “girl or woman who rocks a cradle, lullaby,” the feminine of berceur “a cradle rocker.” In English, berceuse is restricted to “lullaby,” especially as a musical composition in 6/8 time, as, e.g., “Brahms’ Lullaby.” Berceuse entered English in the 19th century.
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MADELEINE noun (mad-l-in)
noun
1. something that triggers memories or nostalgia: in allusion to a nostalgic passage in Proust's Remembrance of Things Past.
2. French Cookery. a small shell-shaped cake made of flour, eggs, sugar, and butter and baked in a mold.
Quotes
... thus temporarily bringing the sounds and smells of his dream world to him, a madeleine of the ever-postponed future.
--*Jane DeLynn,*Real Estate, 1988
To reread this is like scenting a Madeleine of the drama and struggle that once was.
--*Mustapha Marrouchi,*Edward Said at the Limits, 2004
Origin
The etymology of madeleine (in full, gâteau à la Madeleine), which is named after an 18th-century cook named Madeleine Paulnier or Paumier, is dubious. Madeleines (the small cakes) are popular today, but perhaps the word madeleine “something that evokes a memory or nostalgia” has more significance from the use of madeleine in this sense in Swann’s Way (1922), the first volume of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu), also known in English as Remembrance of Things Past.
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AESOPIAN adjective (ee-soh-pee-uh n)
adjective
1. conveying meaning by hint, euphemism, innuendo, or the like: In the candidate's Aesopian language, “soft on Communism” was to be interpreted as “Communist sympathizer.”
2. of, relating to, or characteristic of Aesop or his fables: a story that points an Aesopian moral.
Quotes
Gauss taught that past political thinkers wrote in a kind of code--an Aesopian language of double or multiple meanings--in order to avoid persecution in their own day and to communicate with contemporaries and successors who knew how to read between the lines, as it were.
--*Terence Ball,*Rousseau's Ghost, 1998
By then, some Soviet writers had learned to use the Aesopian language, with its hints and euphemisms, to get their books into print.
--*Elena Gorokhova,*"Beyond Banned: Books That Survived the Censors," NPR, March 30, 2011
Origin
The English adjective Aesopian has multiple origins. The Latin adjective has the forms Aesōpīus and Aesōpēus, from Greek Aisṓpeios, derivative adjective of the proper name Aísōpos (Aesop). Aesop was a Greek slave who supposedly lived c620 b.c.–c560b.c. on the island of Samos and told animal fables that teach a lesson, e.g., “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Aesopian entered English in the late 17th century.
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SHIP verb (ship)
verb
1. to take an interest in or hope for a romantic relationship between (fictional characters or famous people), whether or not the romance actually exists: I’m shipping for those guys—they would make a great couple!
noun
1. Slang. a romantic relationship between fictional characters or famous people, especially one that people discuss, write about, or take an interest in, whether or not the romance actually exists: popular ships in fan fiction.
Quotes
The characters are ‘shipped by enough people that the duo has a name: Reylo.
--*Alexis Rhiannon,*"Kylo Ren & Rey's 'Last Jedi' Relationship Is Tearing The Fandom Apart & Here's Why," Bustle, December 2017
It’s a popular misunderstanding that one can only ship two characters who are not already romantically involved on a show. In fact, it’s perfectly appropriate to ship, for example, Jim and Pam from “The Office.”
--*Jonah Engel Bromwich,*"Who Do You Ship? What Tumblr Tells Us About Fan Culture," New York Times, December 4, 2017
Origin
The verb ship, originally meaning “to discuss or portray a romantic couple in fiction, especially in a serial” is a shortening of (relation)ship and dates only from 1996.
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SOS noun (es-oh-es)
noun
1. any call for help: We sent out an SOS for more typists.
2. the letters represented by the radio telegraphic signal (· · · – – – · · ·) used, especially by ships in distress, as an internationally recognized call for help.
verb
1. to send an SOS.
Quotes
When an SOS is heard, there is an immediate response by almost anyone who is in a position to be of assistance and a prayerful response by those are unable to assist.
--*Gilbert P. Pond,*"SOS ... SAS," The Rotarian, July 1955
SOS is not only a signal of despair, it is a larger symbol of hope.
--*"SOS," New York Times, December 24, 1956
Origin
SOS comes from the Morse code alphabet, in which three dots (or short clicks) represents the letter S and three dashes (or long clicks) represents the letter O.
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MESSAN noun (mes-uh n)
noun
1. Scot. a lap dog; small pet dog.
Quotes
They are good enough lads, Sholto and Laurence both, but they will be for ever gnarring and grappling at each other like messan dogs round a kirk door.
--*S. R. Crockett,*The Black Douglas, 1899
Here, sisters, here is my trusty and well-beloved Dame de Ste. Petronelle, who takes such care of me that she dogs my footsteps like a messan.
--*Charlotte Mary Yonge,*Two Penniless Princesses, 1890
Origin
The English noun messan “small dog, lap dog” comes from Scots Gaelic measan “small dog,” cognate with Irish Gaelic measán, both of which are diminutives of Gaelic mess “favored (one).” Messan entered English in the late 15th century.
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OBJURGATE verb (ob-jer-geyt)
verb
1. to reproach or denounce vehemently; upbraid harshly; berate sharply.
Quotes
Let his fellows grumble and objurgate, said he; they would cringe to him when he became a dragoman, with his pockets stuffed with piastres.
--*Sabine Baring-Gould,*The Book of Ghosts, 1904
It would be my advice to persons situated in this way, to not roll or thrash around, because this excites the interest of all the different sorts of animals and makes every last one of them want to turn out and see what is going on, and this makes things worse than they were before, and of course makes you objurgate harder, too, if you can.
--*Mark Twain,*A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, 1889
Origin
The English verb objurgate comes from Latin objūrgāt-, the past participle stem of the verb objūrgāre “to reprimand, rebuke.” The Latin verb is composed of the prefix ob- “against,” and the verb jūrgāre or jūrigāre “to rebuke.” Jūrigāre, in turn, is composed of the noun stem jūr- (from jūs “right, law, justice”) and the verb suffix -igāre, from -ig-, a noun derivative of agere “to drive, do,” as in fumigate, litigate, and navigate. Objurgate entered English in the early 17th century.
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GLISSADE noun (gli-sahd)
noun
1. a skillful glide over snow or ice in descending a mountain, as on skis or a toboggan.
2. Dance. a sliding or gliding step.
verb
1. to perform a glissade.
Quotes
A rapid scramble down the shattered ridge to the col, and a careful kicking of steps along the first two or three hundred feet of the glacier which led northwards to our picnic place, then a glissade ... gradually easing off into a run down.
--*T. Howard Somervell,*After Everest: The Experiences of a Mountaineer and Medical Missionary, 1950
“Don’t worry,” she cheerily assured us over her shoulder. “In some places glissade is just about the only thing you can do. Plus, it’s fun.”
--*Paul Schneider,*"On Snowshoes in New Hampshire, Shuffling Off to Lonesome Lake," New York Times, March 5, 2009
Origin
The English noun glissade shows its obviously French origin. The French noun means “glide, slide, slip, faux pas” and derives from the verb glisser ”to slip, slide.” The French verb comes from Old French glicier, an alteration of glier “to glide,” a verb of Germanic (Frankish) origin, related to Old English glīdan and Old High German glītan “to glide.” Glissade entered English in the 19th century.
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BOSSDOM noun (baws-duh m)
noun
1. the status, influence, or power of a boss, especially a political boss.
2. bossism.
Quotes
Señor So-and-so is the most powerful boss in the province of Tarragona, and even at that there are those who dispute his bossdom.
--*Pío Baroja,*Caesar or Nothing, translated by Louis How, 1919
This was Lepke's first bid for bossdom. He was ready to try his theories.
--*Meyer Berger,*"Lepke," Life, February 28, 1944
Origin
Bossdom has a crude, graceless sound. It is originally an Americanism referring to the bosses of political machines at the municipal and state level. Bossdom first entered English in the late 19th century.