What new words have you learned recently?

[Ajustusdaniel]

Galoshes (or Goloshes or Galoches or Goloches or JOHNNY, JOHNNY GLOCKINSPIEL! WHEN YOU PLAY THAT GLOCKENSPIEL, THE PAINT BEGINS TO PEEEEEEL!¹) entered English back in the middle ages, and before it referred to rainboots specifically was used for a sort of wooden soled overshoe, which shifted mostly to rubber after the development of vulcanized rubber made waterproof rubber soles practical in colder climates. Oddly, as of the 1911 version of the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was noted that the term was almost never used in the United States. I haven't been able to find details, but my instinct is that the term for the waterproof overshoes migrated more or less naturally to the waterproof rubber boots proper as those gained popularity.

The Wellington, meanwhile, was originally a cut of boot, done in leather, modified from a Hessian riding boot.

So my guess is that the two terms were derived separately, based on the garment functionally or physically closest to the high rubber boot.

In Australia, they apparently call them "gumboots," or, just to be confusing about it, Blucher Boots, after another famous commander of the Napoleonic wars.

1. Well, there's a reference no one will get. Then again, this is the internet...

[Willie the Duck]

Thank you Ajustusdaniel, I did already check out Wikipedia.

My primary question was whether galoshes was already an American term for rainboot/shoe at the time and that the Brits moved away from the term after we split off. That seems to hinge on when galoshes transitioned from anti-muck stilt to anti-wet foot shoe, and they don't seem to want to tell us. Was it with Goodyear, or before? I really wish there were a good intermediary step between 'wikipedia/OED/Britinica dive' and actually-ask-an-expert for this kind of thing. Reference #5 under Galoshes seems to be a Victorian Research forum. I might have to join and see how active that community is.

Yay, I just found a new distraction!

[Ajustusdaniel]

Thank you Ajustusdaniel, I did already check out Wikipedia.

My primary question was whether galoshes was already an American term for rainboot/shoe at the time and that the Brits moved away from the term after we split off. That seems to hinge on when galoshes transitioned from anti-muck stilt to anti-wet foot shoe, and they don't seem to want to tell us. Was it with Goodyear, or before? I really wish there were a good intermediary step between 'wikipedia/OED/Britinica dive' and actually-ask-an-expert for this kind of thing. Reference #5 under Galoshes seems to be a Victorian Research forum. I might have to join and see how active that community is.

Yay, I just found a new distraction!

Possibly relevant to your researches.

[understatement]

That's way more British-America lexicology than I could ever learn reasonably.

ana****ic (n): relating to strong emotional dependence on another or others
(a n a c l i t i c)

sciamachy (n): sham fighting for exercise or practice; an argument or conflict with an imaginary opponent

khachapuri (n): a Georgian cheeese-filled bread, made with eggs and flour

banausic (adj): not operating on a refined or elevated level; mundane; relating to technical work

[Peelee]

ana****ic

Ahh, the ol' scunthorpe problem! I wish how many people are just learning of that phrase?

[SZbNAhL]

Galoshes (or Goloshes or Galoches or Goloches or JOHNNY, JOHNNY GLOCKINSPIEL! WHEN YOU PLAY THAT GLOCKENSPIEL, THE PAINT BEGINS TO PEEEEEEL!¹)

1. Well, there's a reference no one will get. Then again, this is the internet...

Ooh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny! Hey, Johnny! Ho, Johnny! Johnny, Johnny Glockenspiel!

[Rynjin]

Stour : dust
Weans : children (I think)

"Weans" I'm fairly certain point isn't a word in itself (for kids, obviously it has its osn meaning), it's just a distinct pronunciation for wee-uns.

"She turned the wee-uns against us!"

[Rogar Demonblud]

No, it is a word. For instance, to wean yourself off alcohol.

[Vinyadan]

OK, thanks -- I thought it was "the wean" as "result of weaning", so a child that doesn't drink mother's milk any more. This explains why the meaning wasn't in any dictionary.

[Fyraltari]

wee-uns

That's not a word. That's a police car's siren.

[Rynjin]

No, it is a word. For instance, to wean yourself off alcohol.

Right, like I said: it has its own meaning.

That's not a word. That's a police car's siren.

It's a real word; a true sign of intercultural unity between Scotland and the American South!

Young-uns, chill-uns, and wee-uns are a blessing to your family, or so I'm told.

[Xuc Xac]

I would say often more than almost always, especially with things that mostly 'became a thing' after the split (see: trunk vs. boot of a car).

The first car trunks were actual luggage trunks strapped to the back and not footwear. The word predates the automobile.

[Ajustusdaniel]

The first car trunks were actual luggage trunks strapped to the back and not footwear. The word predates the automobile.

But were the first car boots Wellingtons or Galoshes?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Ahh, the ol' scunthorpe problem! I wish how many people are just learning of that phrase?

I think the funniest part is I would probably not have noticed the unfortunate confluence of letters had the asterisk not told me exactly where to look for them, too.

GW

[Willie the Duck]

The first car trunks were actual luggage trunks strapped to the back and not footwear. The word predates the automobile.

?
I didn't say that car trunks were footwear. One of us is confused (I certainly am now).

Ahh, the ol' scunthorpe problem! I wish how many people are just learning of that phrase?

scunthorpe or anaclitic? The later I only know because I'm an AA sponsor. Honestly, I can't believe that it's the first time I've run into that confluence of letters within another word on this site (although off the top of my head I can't think of another that would have come up). I didn't know that 4 letters would be censored, so I guess it must be.
*This isn't us subverting the anti-swearing mechanisms and thus against the rules, right?

Possibly relevant to your researches.

Thanks much! And a blogspot that is relatively current too!

[Grey_Wolf_c]

*This isn't us subverting the anti-swearing mechanisms and thus against the rules, right?

No, it isn't. In fact, the method employed by both Peelee and you was taught to us by Rawhide. I would generally recommend not testing their patience, though.

GW

[Peelee]

scunthorpe or anaclitic?

The former, though the latter was new to me. And took me a while to guess what it was before I realized it was written below.

*This isn't us subverting the anti-swearing mechanisms and thus against the rules, right?

Correct. You can't write obscenities, but non-oscenities have no issues. You can let a dolphin out of the tuna net so long as no tuna get out, if you like analogies.

[Scarlet Knight]

I thought this word was a misspelling of another one: picaresque : relating to an episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", of low social class, who lives by his wits.

"Jim leads us through an utterly enjoyable and picaresque journey through India."

[georger0171]

Mixtape. Definitely mixtape.

[Vinyadan]

Hackney: taxi cab (previously a horse or a carriage for hire)

[Skyrender]

Proscenium: In an old-school theater, this is the plane separating the stage from the audience.

Effectively, this makes this term mostly synonymous with what we currently call the fourth wall!

[Ajustusdaniel]

Proscenium: In an old-school theater, this is the plane separating the stage from the audience.

Effectively, this makes this term mostly synonymous with what we currently call the fourth wall!

"Breaking the proscenium," though, sounds medically unfortunate.

[Wraith]

It took me a somewhat humiliating-to-admit amount of time to realise that the word 'embarrass' is actually derived from three words, put together to describe an act that is being depicted by the whole word.

em- as in; "to do something". A Noble Spirit Embigguns The Smallest Man, etc.
-bare - as in; to show publicly, or to be naked.
-ass - as in; your butt.

Em-Bare-Ass - to show your ass in public. Which is pretty much a good definition as well as a perfectly serviceable example.

.....

.....No one said that these newly learned words had to be big or clever or grown up.

[Fyraltari]

It took me a somewhat humiliating-to-admit amount of time to realise that the word 'embarrass' is actually derived from three words, put together to describe an act that is being depicted by the whole word.

em- as in; "to do something". A Noble Spirit Embigguns The Smallest Man, etc.
-bare - as in; to show publicly, or to be naked.
-ass - as in; your butt.

Em-Bare-Ass - to show your ass in public. Which is pretty much a good definition as well as a perfectly serviceable example.

.....

.....No one said that these newly learned words had to be big or clever or grown up.

That's okay because that's not true. Several romance languages have verbs related to embarass (such as the French embarasser), always with the meaning of being physically restrained or bound or of being in a metaphorical "tight spot" such as an awkward situation. Alledgedly, it comes from barça which would be an old Portuguese word for "rope".

[Vinyadan]

Italian also has a word, "sbarazzare", which means "removing some impediment".

What I find interesting is that Spanish has a few words for " pregnant", one being embarazada, another one encinta, both of which would mean more or less the same thing, "in rope/belt" (or "with no rope/belt", depending on the meaning of the prefix.)

Wraith's new scansion actually isn't too rare a phenomenon in linguistics, and it can change how a word is pronounced.

The old example is with the name of the hawk. Old Italic acu+petri " fast wing" became accipiter "grabber" in Latin, and then acceptor ("receiver"), then auceptor from a scansion avis ceptor "bird that grabs", whence Provencal austor.

English could have sandblind, from samblind (sam-=half).

[InvisibleBison]

Antiphrasis: the use of a word in a sense opposite to its proper meaning.

[Rynjin]

It took me a somewhat humiliating-to-admit amount of time to realise that the word 'embarrass' is actually derived from three words, put together to describe an act that is being depicted by the whole word.

em- as in; "to do something". A Noble Spirit Embigguns The Smallest Man, etc.
-bare - as in; to show publicly, or to be naked.
-ass - as in; your butt.

Em-Bare-Ass - to show your ass in public. Which is pretty much a good definition as well as a perfectly serviceable example.

.....

.....No one said that these newly learned words had to be big or clever or grown up.

Hey, I didn't know that either, but it fits in with the weird tendency of "backward" Southern slang being unintentionally sophisticated. The amount of times I've heard my mom or grandma say "show your ass" as a synonym for being trashy or throwing a tantrum is astounding.

[Baelzar]

cunctation
(kŭngk-tā′shən)
noun Archaic.
lateness; delay.

[Willie the Duck]

What I find interesting is that Spanish has a few words for " pregnant", one being embarazada, another one encinta, both of which would mean more or less the same thing, "in rope/belt" (or "with no rope/belt", depending on the meaning of the prefix.)

I'm guessing the 'pregnant' one is related to the meaning of embarrass/embarazada which roughly means 'to put one in a difficult situation.'

[Scarlet Knight]

What I find interesting is that Spanish has a few words for " pregnant", one being embarazada, another one encinta, both of which would mean more or less the same thing, "in rope/belt" (or "with no rope/belt", depending on the meaning of the prefix.)

Which then makes me think of an old term: "confinement" - a traditional practice following childbirth, which typically begins immediately after the birth, with the seclusion of mother & child for one month.