Haver

According to our good friend, dictionary.com:

to equivocate; vacillate.

So now we all know what the hell the Proclaimers were singing about in the second verse:

One further note. The Proclaimers are Scottish. The accent makes sense working backwords, but I'd always figured they were from the Carribean.

Well, it looks like my learning is done for the day.

Spinney

From Dictionary.com:

a small wood or thicket.

I suppose the undetermined size of the wood pictured precludes it from being a true spinney, but it was too good an opportunity to miss.

Bollard

Primary definition:

a thick, low post, usually of iron or steel, mounted on a wharf or the like, to which mooring lines from vessels are attached.

Used in sentence:

Big Jim may chain Rico to a bollard unless he posts more often.

The true purpose of the internet

The Shakespearean Insulter!

"Thou infectious malmsey-nosed flap-dragon!"

Also, 200 posts!

Tholepin

Here's the definition:

a pin, or either of two pins, inserted into a gunwale to provide a fulcrum for an oar.

Picture tells it the best though, obviously.

Lect-ing

I got all excited there for a miunte thinking "lect" was an actual word. Unfortunately, it's not.

For those interested, lector means "one who reads the lection." And lection is defined as "the liturgical reading of the day." Alas, no entries for lect.

Also, I've never seen a church where the lectors are so involved with the Mass.

I'd Like to Razzia You!

So razzia apparently means "a plundering raid," from the Arabic gazwa. Now, why couldn't Jack Balcer use "plundering raid" or perhaps just "raid" instead of razzia? There are lots of books about ancient warfare, this the first in my experience where the author thought the word razzia was necessary. I'm going to have to attribute Balcer's use of razzia to his sense of inadequacy in having his crappy, paradigmatic book only published by Scholars Press out in Chico, California. Heard they're doing some great things out there. Really.

Stilin' Yo

Apparently a stile is the name for a passage through a wall that is usable to humans but not to livestock. Pretty cool. A turnstile is naturally an elaboration of that idea. Don't know if I like the implications of a turnstiles being inaccessible to me though . . . Again, courtesy of Charles Williams. Looks quite picturesque and typically English. I want one.

Lollop

Well, I lolloped all day today. One of the perks of having a five week winter break, I guess.

I came across the word, using its secondary meaning, in The Place of the Lion. I thought Williams might have been pulling a Lewis Carroll, but it appears that he may, may, he smarter than I am. So, in case you were wondering, lollop can either mean "to loll" or "lounge" or "to move forward with a bounding or leaping motion."

I leave it you to guess what my activities consisted of today.

Lollopping on to other topics, I think Rico's list of conservative columnists is pretty comprehensive, though I'd switch Steyn and Krauthammer and add Rich Lowry. I'd also put George Will on my list of people with whom to never publicly argue. I remember the glory days of ABC's "This Week," when the hosts were Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts and the commentators were Will and Stephanopoulos. While never-falingly patrician, Will proceeded to rip Stephanopoulos to shreds week after week. Beautiful.



This man will destroy you in the politest way possible. His bow tie will only add to the humiliation.