Today
I drove to Lisbon. Despite sticking to the speed limit of 120kph, I
think I was passed by every driver in Portugal. Most of them in black
estate cars, of course. It's like Spain 10 years ago; you have to
look into your mirror every 10 seconds, for fear someone has come up
on you at 180kph since you last looked and saw no one. And don't get
me on the tail-gaiting!
But,
anyway, I'm short of time so offer this second list of odd words from
Arnold Bennett's 1908 novel "The Old Wives' Tale". As
you'll appreciate, the family business is in cloth of one sort and
another:-
A
freely: ??? This one beat the on-line dictionaries.
Hoop:
A circular band of stiff material used to expand and display a
woman's skirt.
Marl:
A loose or crumbling earthy deposit (as of sand, silt, or clay) that
contains a substantial amount of calcium carbonate
Diaper:
A linen or cotton fabric with a woven pattern of small, constantly
repeated figures, as diamonds. [Modern meaning in the USA, of course,
is 'nappy']
To
bait: To feed and water (a horse or other animal), especially
during a journey.
Chuck:
Term of endearment, still used in the North of the UK.
Butty:
English dialect: A friend or workmate
Sidesman:
A man elected to help the parish church warden in the Anglican
church.
Cachou:
A pill or lozenge for sweetening the breath.
Crepitation:
a crackling sound
Murmurous:
Abounding in or characterized by murmurs.
Tapster:
A barman
Lief:
Gladly; willingly. As in 'I would as lief . . . ':
Sempstress:
A seamstress
Fiacre:
A small horse-drawn carriage.
Finally
. . . About 10 years ago, my elder daughter sowed a mere 4 passion
fruit seeds down at the bottom of the garden. Since then the bloody
thing has taken over the entire garden, front and back of the house.
It's climbing past the bedroom windows and up all the trees; it's
threaded itself through all the hedges; and it's even it's crept
along the front fence and is being trained around her gate by my
neighbour, the lovely Ester. As some may recall, I've honoured the
plant with a name - 'the faye'. After said daughter. But enough is
enough. I'm going on the attack.
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