We all hate spoilers, so I won't give the game away. Suffice it to say that Mick, one of the characters in Bleeding London, definitely has minacity, which is: 'The action or process of threatening or menacing; a tendency to…
DelMarch 16, 2014
This is Kobbe's and one of my favourite books (after Rebecca and Bleeding London, that is) and because I dip into it a lot, I reckon that puts me firmly on the path to virtu, which means: 'The fine arts…
DelMarch 14, 2014
Paroxysm: 'Med. An episode of increased acuteness or severity of a disease, esp. one recurring periodically in the course of the disease; a sudden recurrence or attack, e.g. of coughing; a sudden worsening of symptoms.’ (OED). To seek and shoot…
DelMarch 13, 2014
Another obsolete one today - olitory meaning: ‘Of or relating to culinary herbs or kitchen vegetables, or a kitchen garden'. As luck would have it, I was flaneuring about NW1 gathering material for Bleeding London, when I spotted this unusual…
DelMarch 12, 2014
Today's word is the verb low-bridge meaning: ‘ intr. To bend, stoop, or duck, as though passing under a low bridge. Now rare.’ (OED). In fact, it was so rare that I couldn't find it, so am settling on this low bridge…
DelMarch 11, 2014
I've been busy concentrating on the logistics of the big project today and so didn't have much time for searching out matters of nerterology. And even if I'd had time, I'm not sure that I would have wanted to, since…
DelMarch 10, 2014
A psittacism is 'The mechanical repetition of previously received ideas or images, without true reasoning or feeling; repetition of words or phrases parrot-fashion; an instance of this' (OED). Well we've all seen pix of Battersea Power Station a quintillion times…
DelMarch 9, 2014
What a wonderful day! We have launched Bleeding London - perhaps the most ambitious photo project in the world ever! RPS London is challenging Londoners to walk and photograph every street in London over the next year - all 73,000…
DelMarch 8, 2014
The best advice a teacher can give students preparing for exams is "read the question". However, we don't always heed that advice ourselves and seeing the word rubric pop into my in-box, I didn't actually click any further. If I…
DelMarch 7, 2014
If I had been a criminal in an earlier life, I'm sure I would have been a smuggler. Why is it that there is something so romantic about Cornish smugglers and moonrakers and yet something quite ugly about 21st century…
DelMarch 6, 2014
65 down, 300 to go! Today's word was maginnis, meaning: 'A (wrestling) hold from which escape is difficult. Freq. fig.; esp. in to put (also clap) the maginnis on: to immobilize; to pressurize or coerce. Also in crooked maginnis' (OED).…
DelMarch 5, 2014
The word of the day was pancake bell, which is 'A bell rung on Shrove Tuesday at or about 11 a.m., popularly associated with the making of pancakes' (OED). The casual observer may be forgiven for thinking that this looks…
DelMarch 4, 2014
I've spent the day wondering what stuff there is in the world that can be counted in quintillions (Originally: the cardinal number equal to the fifth power of a million, represented by 1 followed by thirty zeros ... (now chiefly…
DelMarch 3, 2014
Somewhere behind this spectacle lurks a metteur en scene ('A producer of a play (or opera, etc.); a director of a film' OED). It might be the chap on the far right or it might even be someone wearing a…
DelMarch 2, 2014
Day 61 in the OED household and the project is not getting any easier … today's word was afanc, which is 'In Welsh mythology: an aquatic monster'(OED). You have to use a bit of imagination with this one! Maybe tomorrow's…
DelMarch 1, 2014
The word of the day is pillory ('A device for punishment, usually consisting of a wooden framework mounted on a post, with holes or rings for trapping the head and hands, in which an offender was confined so as to…
DelFebruary 28, 2014
As soon as I opened my iPad for the word of the day, I knew this was going to be a toughie. I was spending the day in Pimlico with the fabulous Wilcey before driving west to the darkest Cotswolds,…
DelFebruary 27, 2014
An interesting word today, namely redolent meaning: 'Originally: having or diffusing a pleasant smell, aroma, or scent; sweet-smelling, fragrant. In later use chiefly: strong smelling, pungent' (OED). I find it interesting since it is a word that I use quite…
DelFebruary 26, 2014
Today's word of the day was another obsolete one - muskings, meaning 'Prob.: refuse swept up from a barn, etc., and used for feeding pigs' (OED). There was a distinct lack of pigs-swill floating around Pimlico today and the only…
DelFebruary 25, 2014