If you do German research, there is a German website that you want to become familiar with, if you aren’t already. CompGen.de is the website of the Verein für Computergenealogie (Society for Computer Genealogy), a German genealogy group that has created a goldmine of free online information. 443 more words
Tags » Dictionaries
origin of ‘Boxing Day’
1,079 more wordsCHRISTMAS TIMES—BOXING DAY.
“You arn’t the rigglar [= regular] dustman, blow ye! For a farden [= farthing], I’d blow your precious conk [= nose]!”
“I’m as good a dustman as you any day in the veek, my tulip!”
origin of ‘moonraker’
photograph: pixabay
MEANING
The word moonraker designates a native of the county of Wiltshire, in southern England.
ORIGIN
The English antiquary and lexicographer Francis Grose (1731-91) explained the word in 555 more words
Vulgar Tongues ~ Décharné
Vulgar Tongues: An Alternative History of English Slang
Max Décharné
Available at libraries near me: Hartford Public Library, Library Connection consortium
Further information and reviews at… 310 more words
Seriously, it's all Greek — more adventures in dictionaries
It happened after a committee meeting for the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Chorus when we had devolved to chatting. I don’t remember exactly what was being discussed, but one of the women got upset when I used the word “gay” to refer to the entire community. 1,010 more words
to have bats in one’s belfry
608 more wordsTHE GREATER HORSESHOE BAT, which inhabits belfries, derelict building and caves. It has powerful teeth for crunching the tough shells of beetles, and a wing-span of up to 14 ins.
Anthony Burgess's lost dictionary of slang discovered
“The writer Anthony Burgess invented futuristic slang for his cult novel A Clockwork Orange and was so fascinated by the language of the street that he began work on a dictionary more than 50 years ago. 312 more words
