f-word summer hiatus

it’s true. the f-word franchise is starting its summer hiatus with this post. for this last post of the season, i have turned to the omnificent english dictionary in limerick form, an online dictionary where users submit definitions for words entirely as limericks—an ambitious project that rivals the oxford english dictionary itself. though they are only accepting words from aa - di, i was able to gain access to a few choice f-words. here they are. in limerick form:

floccillation
Hey, teacher, I need a vacation
And a wordbook that’s geared to my station.
I looked up carphology.
Without an apology,
It gave me one word: floccillation.

Either word means “plucking at the bedclothes in delirium,” as if picking off the little pellets of fabric that form on blankets.

freeballing
My full house clearly beats your ace high.
Hope you’ve got on some underwear, guy.
“Stop crowing, Fernando,
I’m going commando,”
Was Tom’s quite expansive reply.

To go commando (or freeball) means to not wear underwear beneath one’s outerwear. When women do it, it is called going commanda.

fifty-five fiction
In fifty-five fiction, you write
A short story that’s pithy and tight:
Beginning to middle
To ending—don’t twiddle.
You’ve fifty-five words to delight.

55-fiction is an entire story in exactly 55 words. The limerick above has exactly fifty-five words.

fingers of god
The voyeur in our town, people say,
Is most active at twilight each day.
Comes the dusk, in the gloom,
He’ll peer into your room,
So they call him “Crepuscular Ray.”

Crepuscular means “related to twilight.” Crepuscular rays (or fingers of God) are the rays of sunlight that are seen coming from between the clouds at or near sunset.

fire followers
Though some never see them revive,
After blazes, the burn species thrive.
To germinate, fire
Is what they require;
When they bloom, the burnt hills come alive.

Certain wildflowers have seeds that can stay viable for up to a century. They return to life in the year or two following fires. Heat shock and some chemical components in smoke prompt their hard-coated seeds to germinate in an area that fire has helped to eliminate competition.

fanny pack
With salami I filled my new belly pack,
So I guess I had made it a deli pack.
After riding my bike
And a five-hour hike,
…

it wouldn’t be a proper summer hiatus if it didn’t end on a cliffhanger. therefore, to ensure interest in words that start with f in the fall, i have omitted the final line and will post it with renewed vigor come autumn. after a 5 hour hike, will the narrator’s fanny pack remain intact? and what will happen to the narrator’s salami? you will have to wait and see!

April 28, 2010
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f-words words poetry oulipo

f-words about words

one of my tricks is that i read 6 or 7 books in parallel. among others, there is: the book that i keep on my nightstand for when i can’t sleep, the book i carry in my murse for when i am riding a bus, and the book that i read while listening to my yanni live at the acropolis cd. reading books concurrently like this takes a long time—it took me ten years to get through my laundromat book, gravity’s rainbow—but there is one manner of book that i can get though in as little as two weeks: my mani-pedi book.

this week’s mani-pedi book was david gramb’s words about words dictionary. here are a few f-words that hoài mi and i selected while i was soaking my feet in a garra rufa aquarium earlier this afternoon.

  • façon de parler · way of speaking; manner of expression.
  • fadaise · an obvious remark.
  • fallacy of the beard · the fallacy of arguing by grasping at a stage of situation, as by reasoning that “one more [day, purchase, attempt, etc.] won’t matter.”
  • false comparative · a word that, extreme or categorical in meaning, in principle cannot be modified, eg. “unique,” “simultaneous,” and “eternally.”
  • false illiteracy · a pointless misspelling that retains pronunciation, e.g.”duz” for “does” or “wimin” for “women.”
  • farpotshket · crossed out and erased and rewritten.
  • fasgrolia · the fast growing language of initialisms and acronyms.
  • faux naïf · falsely simple; feigning artlessness.
  • femme savant · a learned, literary woman.
  • fictioneering · the writing or marketing of fiction in quantity that is of low or sensationalized quality.
  • flannel mouthed · oily-tongued; mellifluous; soft-soaping.
  • framis · comic doubletalk blending actual words with made-up words.
April 22, 2010
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words f-words linguistics
know your furors quite by accident, i have encountered several latin furor phrases while reading books between laps at the natatorium. here are as many as i could find. if you know of any more, please consider twittering them at me.  furor academicus · the fury of academia furor biographicus · biographers’ fury; it causes biographers to overlook the faults of the people they write about furor criticus · critics’ fury; it causes critics to exaggerate the weaknesses of that which they criticize furor epilepticus  · an attack of intense anger occurring in epilepsy furor loquendi · a rage for speaking furor poeticus · an inspired frenzy in poets furor scribendi · a rage for writing furor teutonicus · the proverbial fierceness of the teutones, or more generally the germanic tribes furor uterinus · womb frenzy; an uncontrollable sexual desire in a woman, now called hypersexuality who knew that there was this longstanding tradition of fury? maybe these writers, poets, academic types, epileptics, etcetry etcetry need to take a chill pill and listen to some jason mraz. __ bonus: how could we discus fury and not the æneid? let us not forget virgil’s furor arma ministrat (rage provides arms, ie. one uses any weapon when enraged).an easter egg: this is a sekrit f-word post aggregated from various dictionaries, non-dictionaries, and conversations with a peete’s coffee barista.previously: know your noms

know your furors

quite by accident, i have encountered several latin furor phrases while reading books between laps at the natatorium. here are as many as i could find. if you know of any more, please consider twittering them at me. 

  • furor academicus · the fury of academia
  • furor biographicus · biographers’ fury; it causes biographers to overlook the faults of the people they write about
  • furor criticus · critics’ fury; it causes critics to exaggerate the weaknesses of that which they criticize
  • furor epilepticus  · an attack of intense anger occurring in epilepsy
  • furor loquendi · a rage for speaking
  • furor poeticus · an inspired frenzy in poets
  • furor scribendi · a rage for writing
  • furor teutonicus · the proverbial fierceness of the teutones, or more generally the germanic tribes
  • furor uterinus · womb frenzy; an uncontrollable sexual desire in a woman, now called hypersexuality

who knew that there was this longstanding tradition of fury? maybe these writers, poets, academic types, epileptics, etcetry etcetry need to take a chill pill and listen to some jason mraz.

__

bonus: how could we discus fury and not the æneid? let us not forget virgil’s furor arma ministrat (rage provides arms, ie. one uses any weapon when enraged).
an easter egg: this is a sekrit f-word post aggregated from various dictionaries, non-dictionaries, and conversations with a peete’s coffee barista.
previously: know your noms

April 7, 2010
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know your f-words words ancient
bring the frowcous before douglas adams wrote his dictionary of made up words, before anthony burgess invented his nadsat lexicon, a different author named burgess came up with his own dictionary of invented words. in 1914, our man gelett burgess published burgess unabridged: a new dictionary of words that you have always needed as a way to promote his neologisms. it is from this stupendous volume that we get this week’s f-words [spoilers: none of his invented f-words seem to have enjoyed the same staying power as blurb and bromide (but we can change that!)] Fidgeltick · 1. Any food requiring painstaking and ill requited effort. 2. A taciturn person from whom it is hard to get information Flooijab · To make a sarcastic comment in a feminine manner Frime · One who always does the right thing at the right time Frowk · An action considered to be about half wrong Frowcous · Nice but naughty, or considered so; piquantly provocative Fud · In a state of déshabille or confusion burgess bonus: burgess proceeds—in a way that only burgess can—to illustrate his words with both fanciful line drawings and clever quatrains. here is his flooijab poem: You think they talk of men and mice, Of operas and cabs; Ah no! Beneath those phrases nice, They’re shooting flooijabs. No man can know—but women may Interpret women’s smiles—It’s what they mean—not what they say, That stings in women’s wiles.

bring the frowcous

before douglas adams wrote his dictionary of made up words, before anthony burgess invented his nadsat lexicon, a different author named burgess came up with his own dictionary of invented words.

in 1914, our man gelett burgess published burgess unabridged: a new dictionary of words that you have always needed as a way to promote his neologisms. it is from this stupendous volume that we get this week’s f-words [spoilers: none of his invented f-words seem to have enjoyed the same staying power as blurb and bromide (but we can change that!)]

  • Fidgeltick · 1. Any food requiring painstaking and ill requited effort. 2. A taciturn person from whom it is hard to get information
  • Flooijab · To make a sarcastic comment in a feminine manner
  • Frime · One who always does the right thing at the right time
  • Frowk · An action considered to be about half wrong
  • Frowcous · Nice but naughty, or considered so; piquantly provocative
  • Fud · In a state of déshabille or confusion

burgess bonus: burgess proceeds—in a way that only burgess can—to illustrate his words with both fanciful line drawings and clever quatrains. here is his flooijab poem:

You think they talk of men and mice,
Of operas and cabs;
Ah no! Beneath those phrases nice,
They’re shooting flooijabs.

No man can know—but women may
Interpret women’s smiles—
It’s what they mean—not what they say,
That stings in women’s wiles.
April 1, 2010
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words f-words gelett burgess week
of foil, foggage and especially foxes i’ve always been enamored with the culture and tradition of fox hunting despite my moral aversion to animals spelled with the letter x. this is why my parents got me harry harewood’s (what a name!) charmingly illustrated a dictionary of sports (1835). perhaps there is no category more rife with f-wordery than field sports. consider: forestry, fishing, falconry, feaguing, ferreting, and of course fox hunting. here are a few more.  far · an appellation given to any part of a horse’s right sidefencing · the nobelest branch of gymnasticsferæ naturæ · beasts and birds of a wild naturefoggage (in the forest law) · rank grass not eaten up in summerfoil · a hare when she runs the same ground she has run before is said to run the foilforked tails · a name given to salmon in the fourth year of its growthforms · applied to a hare when she squats in any placefox · [here are highlights from the 6-page entry on foxes] the fox has a very significant eye, by which it expresses the passions of love, hatred, fear, &c. foxes near the sea-coast will eat crabs, shrimps, or shell-fish. in france and italy, they commit sad havoc in the vineyards by feeding on the grapes. crows, magpies, and other birds, who consider the fox as their common enemy, often by their tones of anger point out his retreat, and will even follow him with their screams to a considerable distance. the first year the fox is called a cub, the second a fox, and the third an old fox. when deprived of liberty, the fox pines, and actually dies of chagrin.

of foil, foggage and especially foxes

i’ve always been enamored with the culture and tradition of fox hunting despite my moral aversion to animals spelled with the letter x. this is why my parents got me harry harewood’s (what a name!) charmingly illustrated a dictionary of sports (1835). perhaps there is no category more rife with f-wordery than field sports. consider: forestry, fishing, falconry, feaguing, ferreting, and of course fox hunting. here are a few more. 

far · an appellation given to any part of a horse’s right side
fencing · the nobelest branch of gymnastics
feræ naturæ · beasts and birds of a wild nature
foggage (in the forest law) · rank grass not eaten up in summer
foil · a hare when she runs the same ground she has run before is said to run the foil
forked tails · a name given to salmon in the fourth year of its growth
forms · applied to a hare when she squats in any place
fox · [here are highlights from the 6-page entry on foxes]
  • the fox has a very significant eye, by which it expresses the passions of love, hatred, fear, &c.
  • foxes near the sea-coast will eat crabs, shrimps, or shell-fish. in france and italy, they commit sad havoc in the vineyards by feeding on the grapes.
  • crows, magpies, and other birds, who consider the fox as their common enemy, often by their tones of anger point out his retreat, and will even follow him with their screams to a considerable distance.
  • the first year the fox is called a cub, the second a fox, and the third an old fox.
  • when deprived of liberty, the fox pines, and actually dies of chagrin.
March 26, 2010
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1800s f-words sprots words animals

f-words to fluff your fritters

Now that I am a foodie (now there’s an f-word for you) and can converse fluently on the subject of what my steak ate before I ate it, and how the apples I prefer grow on trees mentioned in the Magna Carta or spared by the tyro George Washington, it seems appropriate that the ragbag should rustle up a list of those f-words that help create the right vibe at the farmers’ market. These are the sort of bucolic tidbits I mention airily when at my most Bathsheba Everdene, chit-chatting to a besmocked yokel with straw in his ears and dollar signs in his eyes.

  • fairing: any baked sweet thing brought back from a fair as a gift for your best beloved or your apple-cheeked progeny.
  • finnan haddie: smoked haddock from Findon in Kincardineshire. The principal ingredient in cullen skink and not to be confused with an Arbroath smokie. (Everything about those two sentences makes me grin like a loon.)
  • fitchett/fidget pie: potato, meat and apple filling baked with a short crust.
  • flead cakes: scone (limey) or biscuit (yank) -esque little bundles of flaky delight made with flead, which is flare fat, and which you must pound into oblivion if you want to get it to cooperate and pretend to be butter.
  • flummery: a sweetened starch jelly made from oatmeal or rice. Also used figuratively to mean empty talk and waffling. The Scottish approach to either type of flummery has always involved the addition of large quantities of whisky.
  • friar’s omelet: a rich baked apple and egg custard
  • frumenty/firmity: cree’d wheat cooked to a jellied porridge and served as an accompaniment to porpoise at the wedding of Henry IV and Joan of Navarre in 1403. (But if you’re not in the mood to put on the Lancastrian dog, it is perfectly acceptable to serve your frumenty Flipper-free.)

__

from: Good Things in England: A Practical Cookery Book for Everyday Use, Containing Traditional and Regional Recipes suited to Modern Tastes contributed by English Men and Women between 1399 and 1932 edited by the wonderful, one-eyed Florence White (1932).

the content and capital letters of this post have been brought to you by the ever plucky ramona ranchera.

March 15, 2010
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words f-words ramona food submission
getting kicked in the nadsats oh my little droogs! perhaps you thought that one lexicon invented by an english novelist was enough for the ragbag. indeed, you could not be more mistaken. today’s installment of f-words comes from anthony burgess’s nadsat argot spoken by his hooligan antihero in a clockwork orange (1962). burgess was a profound lover of languages—he based nadsat on english with some russian loanwords, cockney rhyming slang, words found in the king james bible, german words, and words of his own coinage. here is every single f-word in the nadsat language as found in a clockwork orange. faggy · tired fashed · bothered, annoyed (from scots) filly · to play or fool around with filmdrome · cinema (cf. velodrome, a bicycle arena) firegold · strong drink (cf. firewater) fist · to punch flip · wild forella · trout (from russian форель) fuzzy · scratchy additional bonus: this is a nifty webpage that will translate entered text from english to nadsat to help you confound your parents and subvert your hegemons.

getting kicked in the nadsats

oh my little droogs! perhaps you thought that one lexicon invented by an english novelist was enough for the ragbag. indeed, you could not be more mistaken. today’s installment of f-words comes from anthony burgess’s nadsat argot spoken by his hooligan antihero in a clockwork orange (1962).

burgess was a profound lover of languages—he based nadsat on english with some russian loanwords, cockney rhyming slang, words found in the king james bible, german words, and words of his own coinage. here is every single f-word in the nadsat language as found in a clockwork orange.

  • faggy · tired
  • fashed · bothered, annoyed (from scots)
  • filly · to play or fool around with
  • filmdrome · cinema (cf. velodrome, a bicycle arena)
  • firegold · strong drink (cf. firewater)
  • fist · to punch
  • flip · wild
  • forella · trout (from russian форель)
  • fuzzy · scratchy

additional bonus: this is a nifty webpage that will translate entered text from english to nadsat to help you confound your parents and subvert your hegemons.

March 11, 2010
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words f-words literature
what’s in a name? would a rose by any other name be as ferly? as editor of the ragbag, i receive a fair amount of hate mail (mostly from irate north dakotans), the occasional requests for hi-rez pictures of my handsome moustache, and reams and reams of spam. but very rarely, i receive a letter of such magnitude that it not only knocks my socks off, it douses them with kerosene and blackpowder and ignites them with lightning from an aurora borealis. such was a communication that i received from mr. craig marchbank who was pleased as candied fruitcake to introduce me his daughter, FERLY ROSE MARCHBANK. and i am pleased as that same baked good to introduce her to all of you—because get this—craig stated that he and rebecca named their daughter for the very reasons mentioned by orson in his word idol post on ferly!! at its very core, word idol was about legacy: words that our predecessors have given us and words that we can pass down to our successors. legacy is also what having babies is all about. i am thrilled to see old words and young babies coming together in this way. welcome to this ferly world, ferly marchbank. i hope that you find it every bit as strange and every bit as wonderful as your name is preparing you for. __ for all you knocked-up parents to be out there, might i humbly suggest featlet or fyllok or any of the other word idol f-words as names for your future bundles of joy.

what’s in a name? would a rose by any other name be as ferly?

as editor of the ragbag, i receive a fair amount of hate mail (mostly from irate north dakotans), the occasional requests for hi-rez pictures of my handsome moustache, and reams and reams of spam. but very rarely, i receive a letter of such magnitude that it not only knocks my socks off, it douses them with kerosene and blackpowder and ignites them with lightning from an aurora borealis.

such was a communication that i received from mr. craig marchbank who was pleased as candied fruitcake to introduce me his daughter, FERLY ROSE MARCHBANK. and i am pleased as that same baked good to introduce her to all of you—because get this—craig stated that he and rebecca named their daughter for the very reasons mentioned by orson in his word idol post on ferly!!

at its very core, word idol was about legacy: words that our predecessors have given us and words that we can pass down to our successors. legacy is also what having babies is all about. i am thrilled to see old words and young babies coming together in this way.

welcome to this ferly world, ferly marchbank. i hope that you find it every bit as strange and every bit as wonderful as your name is preparing you for.

__

for all you knocked-up parents to be out there, might i humbly suggest featlet or fyllok or any of the other word idol f-words as names for your future bundles of joy.

March 5, 2010
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f-words word idol words
frolesworth, uk my main man, douglas adams is celebrated primarily for his hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy series, but he also did other stuff as well: he wrote dr. who episodes, he was a bit player on monty python’s flying circus, and he hitchhiked himself to the summit of kilimanjaro (wearing a rhino suit). another thing that he did was write a dictionary. his meaning of liff lexicon was the result of a game that he and his collaborator played which paired definitions that don’t appear in the dictionary but should* with place names. here are a few that begin with f. i think that you will find them extraordinarily useful. Falster · A longwinded, dishonest and completely incredible excuse used when the truth would have been completely acceptable. Farnham · The feeling that you get at about four o‘clock in the afternoon when you haven’t got enough done. Farrancassidy · A long and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to undo someone’s bra. Ferfer · One who is very excited that they’ve had a better idea than the one you’ve just suggested. Fiunary · The safe place you put something and forget where it was. Foffarty · Unable to find the right moment to leave. Fraddam · The small awkward-shaped piece of cheese which remains after grating a large regular-shaped piece of cheese, and which enables you to grate your fingers. Frating Green · The shade of green which is supposed to make you feel comfortable in hospitals, industrious in schools and uneasy in police stations. Fritham · A paragraph that you get stuck on in a book. The more you read it, the less it means to you. Frolesworth · The minimum time it is necessary to spend frowning in deep concentration at each picture in an art gallery in order that everyone else doesn’t think you’re a complete moron. Fulking · Pretending not to be in when the carol-singers come round. __ *these are known as sniglets, which is also the name of a type of giant fleece smock worn by lazy people.

frolesworth, uk

my main man, douglas adams is celebrated primarily for his hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy series, but he also did other stuff as well: he wrote dr. who episodes, he was a bit player on monty python’s flying circus, and he hitchhiked himself to the summit of kilimanjaro (wearing a rhino suit). another thing that he did was write a dictionary.

his meaning of liff lexicon was the result of a game that he and his collaborator played which paired definitions that don’t appear in the dictionary but should* with place names. here are a few that begin with f. i think that you will find them extraordinarily useful.

  • Falster · A longwinded, dishonest and completely incredible excuse used when the truth would have been completely acceptable.
  • Farnham · The feeling that you get at about four o‘clock in the afternoon when you haven’t got enough done.
  • Farrancassidy · A long and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to undo someone’s bra.
  • Ferfer · One who is very excited that they’ve had a better idea than the one you’ve just suggested.
  • Fiunary · The safe place you put something and forget where it was.
  • Foffarty · Unable to find the right moment to leave.
  • Fraddam · The small awkward-shaped piece of cheese which remains after grating a large regular-shaped piece of cheese, and which enables you to grate your fingers.
  • Frating Green · The shade of green which is supposed to make you feel comfortable in hospitals, industrious in schools and uneasy in police stations.
  • Fritham · A paragraph that you get stuck on in a book. The more you read it, the less it means to you.
  • Frolesworth · The minimum time it is necessary to spend frowning in deep concentration at each picture in an art gallery in order that everyone else doesn’t think you’re a complete moron.
  • Fulking · Pretending not to be in when the carol-singers come round.

__

*these are known as sniglets, which is also the name of a type of giant fleece smock worn by lazy people.
February 25, 2010
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words f-words etymology wordplay literature

atin-lay eff-words-ay

where my classicists at? i took five levels of latin in undergrad so that when i got into law school i would already know the difference between in posse and in esse or what the heck a doli incapax is. well friends, it turns out that latin is useful for more than just boning up on the legal system—it is also good for secretly making fun of people and selecting bitching mottoes for your tombstone*.

here are a few juicy latin phrases (that begin with f) from which you are free to pick and choose.

  • fæx populi: the dregs of the people; contemptuously applied to the lower classes
  • familiare est hominibus omnia sibi ignoscere nihil aliis remittere: “it is a common practice to overlook every fault in ourselves but none in others.” it is our own vanity that makes the vanity of others intolerable.
  • farrago libelli: a hodgepodge of a book
  • filius nullius: the son of nobody; a bastard
  • flagrante bello: while the war is raging; during hostilities
  • flebile remedium: a lamentable remedy
  • floriferis ut apes in saltibus omnia libant: “as bees taste of everything in flowery lawns, they collect the most precious juices of every flower.” the motto is generally chosen by selectors who cull the beauties of many authors
  • fons malorum:the source of evil, vice, sin and wickedness
  • formidabilior cervorum exercitus duce leone quam leonunx cervo: “an army of stags is more formidable under the command of a lion than an army of lions under a stag.”
  • forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit. durate et vosmet rebus servate secundis: “perhaps the remembrance of these events may prove a source of future pleasure. endure them therefore like men and reserve yourselves for prosperous circumstances.” a most powerful appeal to companions in adversity.
  • fortuna favet fatuis: “fortune favours fools”
  • fruges consumere nati: “born merely to consume the fruits of the earth.” drones in the social hive whose only business is to devour the fruits of other men’s labour.
  • fuit ilium: “troy has been.” that which was an object of contention exists no more.
  • furiosus furore suo punitur: “a madman is punished by his own madness.”

__

*(and/or ex libris)
source: a new dictionary of quotations from the greek, latin, and modern languages (1859).

February 18, 2010
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words f-words ancient

getting mad fuzl’d

for reasons that i shan’t go into here, me and my handsome male friends and curvy female friends/former lovers watched the entirety of the superbowl on a tivo’d time delay of about twenty minutes. the setup was going fine until the fourth quarter when almost immediately after tracy porter’s game-changing interception, the tivo inexplicably deactivated and a visual of sean peyton jerking off the vince lamborghini trophy amid a flurry of confetti flashed onto the screen. we had lost the last 20 minutes of the game and reverted to live t.v.!

in a way, it was kind of like some benevolent deity had granted us the power of clairvoyance, that we got to see the immediate result of a well-executed, pivotal play. in another way it was as if some malevolent devil had caused us all to prematurely ejaculate into our underpants.

in any event, because most of us—including yours truly—were rooting for the saints, we all proceeded to get mad fuzl’d and crump footed after the game. in honour of the saints and the wanton powers of orson’s tivo machine, here are the 18 f-words that benjamin franklin listed as synonyms for being inebriated in his drinker’s dictionary (1737).

He’s Fishey, Fox’d, Fuddled, Sore Footed, Frozen, Well in for’t, Owes no Man a Farthing, Fears no Man, Crump Footed, Been to France, Flush’d, Froze his Mouth, Fetter’d, Been to a Funeral, His Flag is out, Fuzl’d, Spoke with his Friend, Been at an Indian Feast

February 9, 2010
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1700s f-words literary device sports

fluttering the dovecots

hot chicks and other people: i was telling my friend orson how last weekend i made the embarrassing gaffe of pairing a 2007 dutton ranch shop block pinot blanc with my meal of roasted chicken and root vegetables and the sommelier came up to me and very discreetly asked if perhaps i might want to try a heavier wine that was more suitable for the robust winter flavors of my dish. and then orson was like, “what do somalians know about wine anyway? there ain’t no no vineyards in the desert.”

indeed, orson. there surely ain’t.

however, what i lack in wine pairing, i pretend to make up for in picking out words that begin with f. therefore, in hounour of orson, please allow me to be your f-word somalian for the day. from an obscure 1922 dictionary* of “phraseological allusions”:

  • Fair Maid of February: the snowdrop which blooms in February
  • False as Waghorn: utterly false. Waghorn according to a Scottish proverb was nineteen times falser than the devil
  • Fan with a feather: to employ wholly inefficient means to achieve one’s end
  • Fanfaron: a boaster who behaves as if announced by a fanfare of trumpets
  • Felo de Se: a suicide (a felon from himself)
  • Fiddler’s news: stale news such as that formerly circulated by itinerant fiddlers
  • Fides Carbonarii: implicit faith. A carbonaro being asked what he believed replied, “What the Church believes” and being asked once again what the Church believes replied, “What I believe”
  • The Five wits: commonsense, imagination, fantasy, estimation, and memory
  • Flagrante Delicto: caught in the very act
  • Fleshpots of Egypt: good things of this world formerly at one’s disposal, but no longer so.
  • Florimel’s Girdle: the test of chastity
  • Flutter the dovecots: to cause a mild excitement in society
  • A Fox’s sleep: pretended indifference to what is transpiring. In allusion to the proverbial cunning of the fox
  • French Crown: baldness caused by venereal disease
  • Frozen music: architecture

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*a dictionary of english phrases: phraseological allusions, catchwords, stereotyped modes of speech and metaphors, nicknames, sobriquets, derivations, from personal names, etc. edited by albert m. hyamson (1922).

February 2, 2010
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words f-words food being raynor

falkentheorie

while the literary f-words that i posted earlier this morning were delightful in many respects, their definitions did little to highlight the wit and droll tone of j.a. cuddon’s radiant dictionary. to accomplish that task, let us consult a much beefier definition for the following f-word.

Falkentheorie: a theory of the novella worked out by the German writer Paul Heyse (1830-1914). This theory is based on the ninth tale of the fifth day of Boccaccio’s Decameron (c. 1349-51). It is the story of Federigo who wasted his substance in the fruitless wooing of a rich mistress; wasted it to such an extent that he had only his favourite falcon left. This, too, he scarificed—and his mistress was so moved by the act that she surrendered. The falcon is thus symbolic and denotes the strongly marked silhouette—as Heyse puts it—which, according to him, distinguishes one novella from another and gives it a unique quality. An interesting but elaborate theory, which is only another way of saying that each story is different from the others.

what a punchline! amirite?!?

January 22, 2010
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1800s f-words literature mediæval words bomb

to my fellow travelers

this f-word post is the first since the exciting conclusion of word idol and the crowning of its champion, fourings. but fear not, fellow metallica fans. just as we can all count on ulrich and hetfield to crank out an eternal barrage of face-melting power ballads, so too can we count on ol’ raynor ganan to golden shower us with words that start with the letter f.

this week’s dictionary is one that i keep close to my heart, literally (literally literally) as it is one of only 12 reference books that is forever plugged-in to the bespoke book seat which rests on my desk, a mere 71.12 centimeters from my ticker¹. here are some select f-words from the penguin dictionary of literary terms and literary theory:

  • fabulation: a term used to describe the anti-novel. fabulation involves allegory, verbal acrobatics and surrealistic effects.
  • facetiae: a bookseller’s term for humorous or obscene books.
  • faction: a portmanteau word which denotes fiction which is based on and combined with fact.
  • fazetie: a german term for a clever, witty, well-phrased anecdote which may or may not be bawdy and/or erotic.
  • federal theatre project: an enterprise inaugurated in the USA in 1935 to provide employment for people in the theatre and to offer more entertainment during the Depression.
  • fellow travelers: a phrase used by Trotsky to describe soviet authors who accepted the 1917 Revolution without necessarily accepting Bolshevik ideology, who maintained that literature should not be subject to political tenets or coercion.
  • festschrift: a symposium compiled in honour of a distinguished scholar or writer; an ‘homage volume.’
  • ficción: a genre invented by the Argentine poet and critic Jorge Luis Borges. A ficción is a story-essay which glosses human dreams and illusions. It is ironical in tone and also didactic.
  • ficcelle: Henry James’s term for the confidante character whose role within the novel is the elicit information, which is conveyed to the reader without narratorial intervention.
  • flyting: a cursing match in verse²; especially between two poets who hurl abuse at each other.
  • four levels of meaning: Dante explains the four levels as: (a) the literal or historical meaning; (b) the moral meaning; (c) the allegorical meaning; and (d) the anagogical.
  • fustian: formerly a coarse cloth made of cotton and flax; now a thick, twilled cotton cloth. In the 16th C. it was used to describe inflated, turgid language.

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1. and if i had situs inversus, it would only be 63.5 centimeters away.
2. watch your back, bro-dog. i am still gunning for you.

January 22, 2010
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literature words f-words mediæval theatre poetry
the end of an era (the 1300’s) friends, i knew this day would eventually come and though i have been preparing for it mentally these last 5 weeks, nothing could brace me for the anguish i felt upon awakening this morning knowing that the archaic and provincial f-words series would soon meet its bitter end. i briefly considered word-blogging archaic e-words, but that seemed kinda arbitrary (plus: words that begin with e are lame). [part the final: FOX-IN-THE-HOLE to FYLLOK] FOX-IN-THE-HOLE. A type of game where boys hopped on one leg and beat one another with or pieces of leather tied at the end of strings FOXY. Said of beer which has not fermented properly FRAME-PERSON. A visitor whom it is thought requisite to receive ceremoniously FRAM-WARD. In an opposite direction FRANCH. To scrunch with the teeth FRAZE. Half a quarter of a sheet of paper FREAMING. Said of the noise a boar makes in rutting time FREE-MARTIN. If a cow has twin calves of different sexes, the female is termed a free martin, and is said never to breed FRENCHMAN. Any man of any country that cannot speak English FRESCADES. Cool refreshments FRIMICATE. To affect delicacy; to give one’s self airs about trifles FRIPPERY. An old clothes shop FRODMORTELL. A free pardon for murder or manslaughter FROSLING. Any thing as a plant or animal nipped or injured by frost FRUITESTERE. A female seller of fruit FUCKWIND. A species of hawk FUDDLE. To intoxicate fish FUDGEL. An awkward child FUGLEMAN. A person who directs the cheering of a crowd or mob FULLAMS. False dice. There are high fullams and low fullams to denote loaded on the high or low number FULLOCK. To jerk the hand unlawfully FURCHURE. The place where the thighs part FYLLOK. A wanton girl now, if you will allow me a moment to vent my despair, i will excuse myself to a public place and fullock like a chronic masturbator on a benzedrine bender.

the end of an era (the 1300’s)

friends, i knew this day would eventually come and though i have been preparing for it mentally these last 5 weeks, nothing could brace me for the anguish i felt upon awakening this morning knowing that the archaic and provincial f-words series would soon meet its bitter end. i briefly considered word-blogging archaic e-words, but that seemed kinda arbitrary (plus: words that begin with e are lame).

[part the final: FOX-IN-THE-HOLE to FYLLOK]

  • FOX-IN-THE-HOLE. A type of game where boys hopped on one leg and beat one another with or pieces of leather tied at the end of strings
  • FOXY. Said of beer which has not fermented properly
  • FRAME-PERSON. A visitor whom it is thought requisite to receive ceremoniously
  • FRAM-WARD. In an opposite direction
  • FRANCH. To scrunch with the teeth
  • FRAZE. Half a quarter of a sheet of paper
  • FREAMING. Said of the noise a boar makes in rutting time
  • FREE-MARTIN. If a cow has twin calves of different sexes, the female is termed a free martin, and is said never to breed
  • FRENCHMAN. Any man of any country that cannot speak English
  • FRESCADES. Cool refreshments
  • FRIMICATE. To affect delicacy; to give one’s self airs about trifles
  • FRIPPERY. An old clothes shop
  • FRODMORTELL. A free pardon for murder or manslaughter
  • FROSLING. Any thing as a plant or animal nipped or injured by frost
  • FRUITESTERE. A female seller of fruit
  • FUCKWIND. A species of hawk
  • FUDDLE. To intoxicate fish
  • FUDGEL. An awkward child
  • FUGLEMAN. A person who directs the cheering of a crowd or mob
  • FULLAMS. False dice. There are high fullams and low fullams to denote loaded on the high or low number
  • FULLOCK. To jerk the hand unlawfully
  • FURCHURE. The place where the thighs part
  • FYLLOK. A wanton girl

now, if you will allow me a moment to vent my despair, i will excuse myself to a public place and fullock like a chronic masturbator on a benzedrine bender.

November 19, 2009
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f-words ap f-words words lists mediæval esoterica
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