Word of the Day

[MissBubu]

Foudroyant

[foo-droi-uhnt; Fr. foo-drwa-yahn]
–adjective 1. striking as with lightning; sudden and overwhelming in effect; stunning; dazzling. 
2. Pathology. (of disease) beginning in a sudden and severe form. 


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[Origin: 1830–40; < F, prp. of foudroyer to strike with lightning, deriv. of foudre lightning < L fulgur]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

The foudroyant plague swept through the unprepared village, leaving death in its wake.

(such a cheery thought to begin the weekend)

[MissBubu]

Funambulist

[fyoo-nam-byuh-list]

n.   One who performs on a tightrope or a slack rope.

[From Latin f?nambulus : f?nis, rope + ambul?re, to walk; see ambhi in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Tuey is the funambulist extraordinaire at MNRF.

[MissBubu]

furbelow

[fur-buh-loh]
–noun 1. a ruffle or flounce, as on a woman's skirt or petticoat. 
2. any bit of showy trimming or finery. 
–verb (used with object) 3. to ornament with or as if with furbelows. 


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[Origin: 1670–80; var. of falbala]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

With the extra wide hoop, it took many yards of of fabric to make the furbelow on the Queen's skirt.

[MissBubu]

Fustilug

Fus"ti*lug`\, Fustilugs \Fus"ti*lugs`\, n. [Fusty + lug something heavy, to be drawn or carried.]
A gross, fat, unwieldy person. [Obs.] --F. Junius.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

From The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton: "Every lover admires his mistress, though she be ... a vast virago, or an ugly tit, a slug, a fat fustilugs".

[MissBubu]

Galligaskins

[gal-i-gas-kinz]
–noun (used with a plural verb) 1. loose hose or breeches worn in the 16th and 17th centuries. 
2. loose breeches in general. 
3. leggings or gaiters, usually of leather. 

Also, gallygaskins.

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[Origin: 1570–80; earlier gallogascaine(s), galigascon(s), of obscure orig.; final element is perh. Gascon (later assimilated to -kin)]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

His galligaskins had so much fabric in them, it was wondered if he could use them as a sail.

[MissBubu]

Gallimaufry

[gal-uh-maw-free]
–noun, plural -fries. Chiefly Literary. 1. a hodgepodge; jumble; confused medley. 
2. a ragout or hash. 


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[Origin: 1545–55; < MF galimafree kind of sauce or stew, prob. a conflation of galer to amuse oneself (see gallant) and Picard dial. mafrer to gorge oneself (< MD moffelen to eat, nosh)]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

The Peasant Union Meeting is a gallimaufry of the various types of peasantry present at the fest.

[MissBubu]

gazump

[guh-zuhmp]
–verb (used with object) 1. to cheat (a house buyer) by raising the price, at the time a contract is to be signed, over the amount originally agreed upon. 
–noun 2. an act of gazumping. 


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[Origin: 1925–30; earlier gazoomph to swindle, argot word of uncert. orig.]

—Related forms
ga·zump·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

I almost had some nice acreage until his lordship gazumped me with the aid of the unscrupulous seller.

[MissBubu]

Gonfalon

\?gän-f?-?län, -l?n\
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian gonfalone
Date: 1595
1 : the ensign of certain princes or states (as the medieval republics of Italy)
2 : a flag that hangs from a crosspiece or frame 

The sun was setting over the western mountains when the last dhow entered the bay. This was the largest of them all, and at the peak of her stubby mast she flew the snarling leopard head gonfalon and the gaudy colours of the House of Trok Uruk.
— Warlock, by Wilbur Smith.

[MissBubu]

Gongoozler

an idle spectator, esp. one who stares for a long time at something

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

By the end of the day, many tired patrons turn into gongoozlers, barely remembering to applaud at the end of a show.

[MissBubu]

Gorbelly

[gawr-bel-ee]
–noun, plural -lies. Obsolete. a protruding belly. 


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[Origin: 1510–20; perh. gore1 + belly; cf. Sw (dial.) går-bälg]

—Related forms
gorbellied, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

His lordship, with his ample gorbelly from fine foods, had troubles getting through the door to the privy.

[MissBubu]

Hebetude

[heb-i-tood, -tyood]
–noun
the state of being dull; lethargy. 


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[Origin: 1615–25; < LL hebet?d? dullness, bluntness, equiv. to L hebet- (s. of hebes) dull + -?d?; see -tude]

—Related forms
heb·e·tu·di·nous, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Joseph Conrad, in Nostromo: "From that solitude, full of despair and terror, he was torn out brutally, with kicks and blows, passive, sunk in hebetude".

[MissBubu]

Higgler

[hig-ler] – noun
a peddler or huckster. 


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[Origin: 1630–40; higgle + -er1]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

The higgler made the rounds of the small faires, hoping to turn a profit with his gaudy wares.

[MissBubu]

Hobbledehoy

[hob-uhl-dee-hoi] –noun
an awkward, ungainly youth. 


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[Origin: 1530–40; var. of hoberdyhoy, alliterative compound, equiv. to hoberd (var. of Roberd Robert) + -y2 + -hoy for boy (b > h for alliteration; see hob2)]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Anthony Trollope's The Small House at Allington: "Such young men are often awkward, ungainly, and not yet formed in their gait; they straggle with their limbs, and are shy; words do not come to them with ease, when words are required, among any but their accustomed associates. Social meetings are periods of penance to them, and any appearance in public will unnerve them. They go much about alone, and blush when women speak to them. In truth, they are not as yet men, whatever the number may be of their years; and, as they are no longer boys, the world has found for them the ungraceful name of hobbledehoy".

[MissBubu]

HODENING, an ancient Christmas custom still surviving in Wales, Kent, Lancashire and elsewhere. A horse's skull or a wooden imitation on a pole is carried round by a party of youths, one of whom conceals himself under a white cloth to simulate the horse's body, holding a lighted candle in the skull. They make a house-to-house visitation, begging gratuities. The "Penitential" of Archbishop Theodore (d. 690) speaks of "any who, on the kalands of January, clothe themselves with the skins of cattle and carry heads of animals." This, coupled with the fact that among the primitive Scandinavians the horse was often the sacrifice made at the winter solstice to Odin for success in battle, has been thought to justify the theory that hodening is a corruption of Odining.

[MissBubu]

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

The state of being able to achieve honours.

Wiktionary

William Shakespeare (in Love's Labour Lost)

Act 5, Scene 1:

I marvel thy master hath not eaten thee for a word;
for thou art not so long by the head as
honorificabilitudinitatibus: thou art easier
swallowed than a flap-dragon.