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Monday, February 01, 2010

Weekend words: an addendum to Thursday

Last night I got together with some friends for a night of jollity, including a rousing game of Balderdash, which led to me learning several new words, so I thought I'd add on the ones I remember. (Yes, Balderdash is rousing!) This puts me at 38 out of 150, in case anyone is keeping track.

biltong
(chiefly S. African) lean meat which is salted and dried in strips.
~OED

tamarau
a small brownish-black buffalo similar to the anoa, found only on Mindoro in the Philippines. • Bubalus mindorensis , family Bovidae.
~OED

sprod
(N. Amer.) a young cod, haddock, or similar fish.
~OED
(The Balderdash definition specified salmon...)

gundalow
a form of river barge, long obsolete, used in the USA. It had a high carved bow and a large lateen sail set on a short, stumpy mast. The lateen yard was very high in the peak and the lower end was heavily weighed and balanced so that it could easily be lowered on deck. The small offshore fishing schooners of Maine, USA, which had high sterns, were also known as gundalows. They, too, are obsolete.
~The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea

(The best thing was two separate players submitted definitions for Gundalow that involved one storey houses--i.e bungalows-- filled with fire arms. Good times, good times.)

contango
(Brit. Stock Exchange) the normal situation in which the spot or cash price of a commodity is lower than the forward price. Often contrasted with backwardation.
~OED

teenter
A seesaw
~Dictionary.com

craquelure
a network of fine cracks in the paint or varnish of a painting.
~OED

There were more, but some of them I can't actually find definitions for, and some of them I don't remember. These words are obscure and specific enough that I'm sure I'll never use them, but hey. Words!

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