#Diction

Jabe Stafford

May 30, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Schlacht - schlacht n [Ger, literally “battle, slaughter”; cf Ger Schlachtfest a festival held at the time of pig slaughtering] esp WI A drinking party. 2001 DARE File cWI (as of c1950s), My father often referred to a sort of d

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Jabe Stafford

May 23, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Rimption - rimp*tion n Also rempshion, remption, rimpshion, rimtion chiefly Appalachians An abundance; plenty; a large amount or number. 1988 DARE File, An Appalachian term for a whole lot of anything. . .is “A whole rimption.”

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Jabe Stafford

May 16, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Rickididdle rick*i*didd*le n 1967 DARE FW Addit cnLA, Rickididdle [FW: Inf’s spelling] [‘riki,didl] —old fashioned for dumpling. “Let’s order some chicken fried rice with rickididdles.” “Yeah, can I get six rickididdles please?

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Jabe Stafford

May 9, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Red shitepoke - red shite*poke n Cf shitepoke B1 A sandhill crane 1 (here: Grus canadensis). 1949 Leopold Sand Co. Almanac 99 WI, The cranes whinnied. . and retreated to the far fastnesses. ‘Red shitepokes’ the haymakers calle

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Jabe Stafford

May 2, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Red liquor - red liq*uor n Also red whiskey [From its color, in contrast to the “white” (i.e., colorless) appearance of un-aged moonshine; cf white lightning, ~ liquor, ~ mule, ~ whiskey] chiefly Sth, S Midl Cf redeye 5 A dist

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Jabe Stafford

Apr 25, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Rattletongue - rat*tle*tongue n Also rattlehead, rattlemouth, Cf rattlebox 2 A garrulous or gossiping person; hence adj rattle-tongued. 1876 Larned Talks Labor 32 NY, I am ashamed of myself; but you threw me on a subject which

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Jabe Stafford

Apr 18, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Rap-jacket - rap*jack*et n Also rap jack Also sp wrap jack(et) Sth, S Midl A contest of endurance in which people beat one another with switches; hence v phr play rap-jacket to administer a beating; v phr rap jack to beat with

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Jabe Stafford

Apr 11, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Rantankerous - ran*tank*er*ous adj Also sp rantanckerous [Varr of cantankerous, perh infl by rant v] chiefly Sth, S Midl Bad-tempered, unruly; fierce; hence rarely adv rantankerous fiercely, furiously. 1898 Lloyd Country Life 1

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Jabe Stafford

Apr 8, 2018
2 min

???

An unknown cell number flashed a text onto Grant’s phone. “He’s en-route now. I can only force him to the tunnel. Don’t expect me to hide the body. Or the motorcycle.” Clean rain on soil and pavement filled Grant’s mouth when he hawked and spat. It smacked against the trunk of a pine, its branches splattered against the side of the tunnel and overpass where it’d splintered and fallen. He cuddled the shovel under one arm and paced back and forth under the tree, texting one-and

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Jabe Stafford

Apr 4, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Share laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Ramsquaddle - ram*squad*dle v To beat, thrash. 1830 Vt. Statesman (Castleton) 1 Sep. 1/2 (DA) The persecutors of Henry Clay: They ought to be ramsquaddled and chewed up by a ring-tailed roarer. 1963 Carson Social Hist. Bourbon 51

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Jabe Stafford

Apr 1, 2018
1 min

An April Fool's Day Diction Guide

Everything you'll ever need to know on April Fool's Day is right here in this bonus dose of Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay. Be ready for all the craziness. March in confident that you won't get tricked. Work this word into your day today and nobody will be able to pull a fast one on you! Ranikaboo - ran*i*ka*boo n, also attrib Also ranicky, rani-cum-boogerie, rannikaboo, rannygazoo, reinikaboo, renicky(-boo) A deceptive story or scheme; a prank, racket, or scam. [1893 KS Univ

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Jabe Stafford

Mar 28, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Ramadero - ram*a*de*ro n A thicket. 1929 Dobie Vaquero 206 SW, Down in a ramadero of spined bushes and trees that seem to cover all space except that occupied by prickly pear, a man . . .is sitting on a horse. 1932 DN 6.232 West

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Jabe Stafford

Mar 21, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Rallack - rall*ack v [nEngl dial var of rollick; cf EDD rallack v. 1] Cf rollix 1899 (1912) Green VA Folk-Speech 344, Rallack. . . To run about after pleasure instead of attending to business. “He goes rallacking about from one

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Jabe Stafford

Mar 14, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Rainified - rain*i*fied adj [EDD “Inclined to rain, like rain”] Cf -ified Likely to rain. 1918 DN 5.15 Martha’s Vineyard MA, Rainified. Rainy appearance of sky. “It’s looked kind o’ rainified all the morning.” So far as I know,

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Jabe Stafford

Mar 7, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Racktify - rack*ti*fy v Also ractify, rectify [Prob varr of wreck + -ify] esp SC To damage, break down; hence ppl adj ractified (pronc-spp racktify, raptify, rectified) rickety; mentally disturbed. 1909 S. Atl. Qrly. 8.44 seSC R

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Jabe Stafford

Feb 28, 2018
2 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Quiddle - quid*dle v1 1 also with about, around: To trifle, fuss over unimportant matters; to fiddle about; hence n quiddle(r) one who fusses over small matters; vbl n and ppl adj quiddling fussing, trifling, mincing. [EDD quidd

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Jabe Stafford

Feb 21, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Putz - putz v Usu with around; rarely putzy [Etym uncert: perh var of futz; cf also Yiddish putz penis, contemptible person; Ger putzen to clean, decorate] esp wGt Lakes 1950 WELS (When somebody goes around looking for something

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Jabe Stafford

Feb 14, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Qualmish - Qual*mish adj, hence n qualmishness Also sp quamish [OED2 1548—>] esp NEng, Sth Cf squamish Affected by nausea, queasy. 1787 (1936) Dewees Jrl, 12 PA, The boat tossing about a good deal occasioned one to feel a little

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Jabe Stafford

Feb 7, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Quaker fip - Qua*ker*fip n Also Quaker nickel Cf fip, Yankee dime A kiss. 1846 Quincy (III) Whig 28 Feb 2/2 (DA), However happy he might have been to pay the Quaker fip, . .he was mortified at her seeming want of modesty in dem

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Jabe Stafford

Jan 31, 2018
1 min

Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay

Spread laughter and positive energy with wordplay! Dictomancy - Everyday Wordplay is a Wednesday blog series that features rare, bizarre, and absurd words and their meanings. Work one of these words into your day and spark some laughter and curiosity! Pogonip - po*go*nip n Also pogonip fog, ~ frost Also sp poganip; for addit varr see quots [Paiute] chiefly NV Cf Tule fog A dense, icy fog; formerly also a severe snowstorm. 1892 Scientific Amer. 16 Apr. 240, The pogonip fog is

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