Some new words and phrases I’ve encountered lately:
- parlous – meaning perilous or dangerous. Encountered on an article about a dwindling bird population in a parlous state.
- atavistic – based on the noun atavism, which refers to a reversion to a more primitive state. Encountered in Sandworms of Dune, by Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert.
- Fiddles and tunes – at a recent farewell party I attended, men and women were given complementary parts of proverbs as part of a matchmaking exercise. One of the resulting proverbs seems to have been “an old fiddle can play new tunes”, presumably a counter to the adage about old dogs and new tricks. However, the internet seems to indicate that the actual proverb is “There’s many a good tune played on an old fiddle”, or the Irish version “The older the fiddle the sweeter the tune”. Both seem to indicate an improvement of life with age, rather than degeneration.
- cerulean – sky-blue
- bête noire – something particularly reviled, a pet hate. From the french for black beast.
- bergamot – a pear-shaped orange whose rind is used in perfumes; also a type of herb with the same smell. Encountered in a cryptic crossword – forgotten the clue though – how about “Some herb made wizard grab tome.”?
- gadjo – a derogatory word used by gypsies to describe non-gypsies. Picked up in a game of Scrabble.
- arilli – plural of arillus, which is an alternate form of aril. The most well-known kind of arils are so-called false-fruits, like lychees and the arils in a pomegranate. These develop from the seed covering rather than the ovary, if I understand it correctly.
- panoply – a dazzling display.
- habergeon – a type of armor, specifically a light sleeveless coat of mail.
- carcanet – nowadays an ornamental women’s circlet, often adorned with gemstones; but in medieval times referred to a necklace or choker. These last three I picked up in Bilbo’s song in the Hall of Fire in Rivendell during my current re-read of Lord of the Rings.