eloquent... exotic... esoteric... (please provide definitions)

[Teresa Edgerton]

I've seen used that way "a bosky dell" -- I'm not sure where. But also:

bosky drunk, in liquor, from the Dutch "swelled," that is: tight

It appears in Barrère and Leland's Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, and Cant 1897 but not in Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue 1785 (see also Lexicon Balatronicum: A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit and Pickpocket Eloquence. Compiled originally by Captain Grose. And now considerably altered and enlarged, with The modern changes and improvements, by a member of the Whip Club. Assisted by Hell-Fire Dick, and James Gordon, Esqrs. of Cambridge; and William Soames, Esq. of the Hon. Society of Newman's Hotel. 1811*

and as used above:


buckish dandified, foppish; impetuous, dashing
buck a dashing, impetuous, or spirited man

jargon language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest: lawyers, criminals, etc. often meaningless to outsiders

cant a special vocabulary peculiar to thieves; argot

[J Riff]

also, slightly off topic, from Handbook of English 1956
Jargon - the obfuscation of intellection through the utilization of polysyllabic diction and periphrastic constructions.
" Jargon darkens meaning thru the use of long words and circumlocution."
( see: wordiness, and fine writing )

Jabot n. a frill on a bodice

Jocose a. waggish, humorous

[Teresa Edgerton]

exiguous inadequate, meager, scanty (usually applied to living with small means of support, what the Victorians used to call "reduced circumstances)

fulminate to burst forth in censure or invective; to explode with loud noise particularly to denounce or condemn

invective abusive language, language that casts blame; an insulting word or expression; vituperation, censure

inveigh to give vent to angry disapproval; to protest with violent language; to speak vehemently against

vituperation villification, defamation, castigation

castigate to criticize harshly, to rebuke or chastise; to punish severely

chastise to discipline

rebuke (verb) to reprimand, to express stern disapproval (noun) stern disapproval, a reproof

[The Judge]

Let me see...

Distressed** gentlewoman has received tax demand?



** in the (admittedly old-fashioned) sense of impoverished, though suffering from extreme anxiety may well be appropriate (but not having simulated marks of wear and age...)

[Teresa Edgerton]

I was thinking more along the lines of a distressed gentlewoman living in reduced circumstances and genteel poverty.

genteel (in this case meaning) striving to maintain the appearance of status and respectability

Her circumstances might also be described as:
straitened in difficulty or distress, especially financial hardship

[digs]

mendacious - dishonest; lying; untruthful
mien - air, bearing or demeanour
inscrutable - incapable of being scrutinised; impenetrable; not easily understood
mellifluous - sweetly or smoothly flowing
pulchritude - beauty

[digs]

Another awesome word, coined by James Joyce in Ulysses, is melonsmellonous, but it's very hard to define. And it's a bit sexy. I would say it's something like 'having the smooth, rounded qualities of a melon in a trascendently raunchy manner'.

[J Riff]

Scout - n. recconoiter v.t. reject scornfully, dismiss as absurd

Peroration - n. passing the whole night in watch or prayer

Gammon - n. humbug, nonsense

[Learning...]

I fell in love with:

Diatribe - A vicious verbal attack with vocabulary vehement. The kind spat out with no regard for being holy, moral and respectful.

[J Riff]

Elizabethan era words

copesmate - lover; comrade
comfit - sweet containing a nut or seed, preserved with sugar
cinequepace - galliard, a dance characterized by rapid steps

[Teresa Edgerton]

lachrymose tearful; tending to suggest or cause tears; mournful

laconic using few words, concise; terse almost to the point of sounding rude

incorporeal insubstantial, having no material body or form; pertaining to beings that have no material body

discarnate disembodied, incorporeal

miscreant (adjective) depraved, villainous, base; (noun) a vicious person, an evil-doer, someone without scruples, a reprobate

reprobate (noun) a wicked or unprincipled person, a scoundrel; (adjective) morally depraved, unprincipled, evil, or corrupt; (verb) to condemn or censure

[Ursa major]

insightful adj. possessing insight

inciteful adj. that incites or provides incitement

inadvertent adj. not intentional, not on purpose, not conscious

advertent adj. intentional


(I heard a UK government spokesman on the radio this morning use the word, inciteful, when commenting on a certain notorious facebook "page". I must admit I thought he'd made the word up and inadvertently suggested something akin to the opposite of what he'd intended: that those contributing to the page were being insightful. I still think it was unwise to use the word, though.)

[digs]

Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton

lachrymose tearful; tending to suggest or cause tears; mournful

laconic using few words, concise; terse almost to the point of sounding rude

Both great words! Fun fact time: 'laconic' is derived from Laconia, the region of ancient Greece where Sparta was located. Spartans were known for their pithy sayings!

callipygian - having shapely buttocks

incarnadine - of a fleshy pink colour (used in a sentence: 'Get in the car, Nadine!')

[The Judge]

I agree, Ursa. A poor choice of word in the circumstances, though off the top of my head the only comparable adjective I could come up with was provocative (stimulating strong reaction, esp anger, usually deliberate). Mind you, in the circumstances outrageous (shockingly bad), infamous (wicked, abominable) and scurrilous (making scandalous claims) all came to mind, even if the latter isn't strictly accurate**


**it may well be one of those words which is acquiring a secondary meaning. Strictly speaking, the scandalous claims are against a person esp with a view to diminishing his reputation, ie comparable to slanderous (defamatory), but I've seen it used informally in a more general sense of insulting, and not only in a humorous context.

[The Judge]

Originally Posted by digs

incarnadine - of a fleshy pink colour

I'd have said more of a crimson, a bright red:

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand willl rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red."
MacBeth

though I see it does derive from the Italian for flesh-coloured