Word of the Day

[Gail]

An old person's home! That is what I would term frowsty!

[D. Allan]

d'accord! I still remmember frowsty rooms from when I was a child and my parents went to visit "shut-ins" on Sabbath afternoons.

[Gail]

I think it was all those mothballs...

[D. Allan]

noisome adjective

extremely unpleasant, especially due to having an extremely offensive smell

late 14c., "harmful, noxious," from noye "harm, misfortune," shortened form of anoi "annoyance" (from O.Fr. anoier, see annoy) + -some. Meaning "bad-smelling" first recorded 1570s. –Online Etymology Dictionary

noisomeness noun

In the 15th Century Cambridge was a noisome and unhealthy place, dank and foggy with a stagnant ditch as its boundary. It was verminous and filthy,… -Peter Ackroyd, review of “The Kings Glass” by Carola Hicks, The Times (London), Nov. 2, 2007

The refuse of these factories, which is invariably drained into the streams, is a noisome and poisonous sediment that is said to be utterly destructive of fish life. –“Polluting Trout Streams.’ The Refuse of Woo-Acid Factories Creates Trouble.” The New York Times, March 7, 1890

Helene is treated like an innocent by Fanny and Martha, and by Martha’s lover, Leontine, who exclude her from their frantic socializing and powdery debauches, yet fail to screen her from an awareness of their noisome amours. Liesl Schillinger, “The Life She Fled,” The New York Times, Oct. 15, 2010

Likewise, noisome does not mean noisy but smelly, unhealthful. Jack Rosenthal, The New York Times, Sept. 25, 2009

Many people think noisome means “noisy,” but it does not; noisome means “smelly” or, if you like, “malodorous.” –William Safire, “Fulsome,” The New York Times, March 16, 2009

[D. Allan]

mothballs are noisome to my nose.

[Gail]

The Bible talks about noisome pestilences and the noisome sores of the plague of Revelation 16:2. I never really thought before of how smelly the sores will be, as well as their "grievous" nature.

[Ellen]

I wonder how many times a day one would use that word in 2010

This bathroom is noisome today!!

I have a noisome kitty litter box.

You are noisome go and get a bath.

They say use a word 3 times and it's yours for good.

[D. Allan]

I hadn't heard that, Ellen. It's yours now. :)

[D. Allan]

quiff noun

a tuft of hair brushed upwards and backwards from a man’s forehead

"curl or lock of hair over the forehead," 1890, originally a style among soldiers, of unknown origin. Perhaps connected with quiff "a puff or whiff of tobacco smoke" (1831, originally Southern U.S.), held to be a variant of whiff (q.v.). –Online Etymology Dictionary

Tintin, a virginal, 15-year-old journalist with a perpetually upswept quiff of reddish-blond hair and a wire-haired fox terrier named Snowy, is the hero of 23 book-length adventures —… -Charles McGrath, “The Man Behind Boy, Dog and Their Adventures, The New York Times Dec. 22, 2009

…with his party trick, performed last December when the band played at Wembley: back-flipping over Williams, his guitar and quiff intact. -Laura Silverman, “Paramore at the O2 arena, SE10”, The Times (London), Nov.15, 2010

Gratifyingly his hair was terrible, short at the back and sides, but with an awful little quiff at the front. Whatever gel he used had worn off, and now the quiff looked pert and fluffy, like a silly little hat. –Excerpt, “One Day” by David Nicholls, Chapt. 1; The New York Times, June 18, 2010

They are small pinkish birds with a quiff-like crest, and red, yellow and white feathers on their wings. –Derwent May, “Nature Notes: the waxwing invasion,” The Times (London), Jan. 14, 2009

[Gail]

Ah!!! I'm sure that word will come in handy!!

[D. Allan]

It is easy to remember and will come in handy in Scrabble games.

[D. Allan]

croft noun

a small enclosed field or small farm with a house nearby, especially of small farms in western Scotland.

O.E. croft "enclosed field, small field," of unknown etymology. Crofter is 1799, originally Scottish. –Online Etymology Dictionary

crofter, one who rents and cultivates a croft; a tenant farmer.

crofting, A form of land tenure and small-scale food production, unique to the Highlands and islands of Scotland… -Wiktionary

… sixteen year old Riley McGettigan,… had left the family croft, teeming with his half-wild sibs, and made his way to Galway where, in five nights, he was able to rob enough drunks to buy steerage passage to New York. “Accordion Crimes,” E. Annie Proulx

The origin of "croft " Itself is "wrop in mystery." It Is a very old English term, appearing in the charters of title deeds of estates as long ago as the reign of Edgar, where the phrase "at the croft's head" is quoted by Dr. Murray; but it remained long unrecognized in the literary language. -“What Is a Croft,”The New York Times, May 20, 1894

Being a crofter with a strong sense of tradition, Donald Macsween always calls his pigs in Gaelic at feeding time. “Trobhad! Trobhad... –The Times (London), Aug. 03, 2009

THOMAS FRASER, a quiet crofter from the Shetlands, never wore cowboy boots or a Stetson hat... –Shirley English, “Fame beckons for shy crofter,” The Times (London), June 25, 2004

... The Prince of Wales’s speech to a crofting conference …. Much to the delight of the islanders, the prince extolled crofting as a role model for European Union agricultural policy. –The Sunday Times (London), April 02, 2006

[D. Allan]

jitney noun

a small bus or other vehicle which carries passengers for a low fare

"bus which carries passengers for a fare," 1914, Amer.Eng., from gitney, St. Louis slang for "a nickel" (1903), perhaps because the buses' fare was a nickel, the coin name perhaps from Fr. jeton "coin-sized metal disk, slug, counter," from O.Fr. jeter "to calculate," lit. "to throw". –Online Etymology Dictionary

…on the Fourth of July when the carnival boss had a feast sent out by jitney from a fine restaurant in

Des Moines… “Accordian Crimes,” E. Annie Proulx

Millburn residents who live in the Wyoming area will continue to get jitney service to the Maplewood Train Station… Jean-Pierre Mestanza, “Millburn Jitney Stop to Stay,” The New York Times, June 9, 2010

The 9:30 p.m. jitney was the last to leave Manhattan on Saturday because of the quickly worsening weather. When the bus, with 10 passengers aboard, emerged from the Queens-Midtown Tunnel onto the Long Island Expressway it was already an hour behind schedule. A. G. Sulzberger, “If It Takes All Night…,” The New York Times, Dec. 21, 2009

[phkrause]

Cool word

[LynnDel]

Gramps called his old Chevy station wagon a jitney, but we called it a Ghetto Barge. Ever since, to me, all jitneys backfire and need a paint job.

LD

[D. Allan]

flurried adjective, and simple past of the verb flurry

agitated, nervous, or anxious. – Oxford Dictionaries

flurry

1. transitive verb, to cause to become agitated and confused

2. intransitive verb, to move in an agitated or confused manner –Merriam-Webster Dictionary

3. noun, an agitated and confused state or action (usually followed by the prep. “of”)

Later, playing soprano saxophone on an elegiac “Ghost,” he fluttered and flurried, embroidering the theme. –Nate Chinen, “A Single Jazz Band, by Way of Two Trios,” The New York Times, 21 Jan. 2009

Mr. Croker was not as calm as he was during his examination the day before. He got flurried rather easily … -“Mr. Croker Winces Under Sharp Fire,” The New York Times, April 16, 1899

...at the sound of the closing door the dog started barking; there was a flurry of paws and claws and he came bowling out of the kitchen. –Kate Saunders, The Times (London), Nov. 13, 2010

While his fellow-contestant Linford Christie landed in a hyperactive flurry of adrenalin —… -Caitlin Moran, “Skydiving!...”, The Times (London), Nov. 20, 2010

She entered in a hurried and flurried manner and seemed in a state of great agitation. –Alex Ricketts, “The Romance of a Nickel,” The New York Times, April 5, 1903

[D. Allan]

ort noun

a small bit or scrap of leftover food, often used in the plural

origins: mid-15c., cognate with early Du. ooraete, Low Ger. ort, from or-, privative prefix, + etan "to eat." -Online Etymology Dictionary

…have tired of the “warm soup of the Mediterranean, its filmy surface bobbing with polystyrene shards and other unsavoury orts”… -Margaret Reynolds, The Times (London), May 13, 2010

The yellow cat was taken in surprise ambush. As he helped himself to orts in the neighbors dog’s dish, a croker sack came down over him… “Accordion Crimes,” By E. Annie Proulx, page 246

After calling a puzzler friend to find out what has 4 letters meaning “scraps”, it seemed I was the only one who never heard of “orts”.

However, I must say that in over 60 years, and reading hundred’s of books,and eating in hundred’s of restaurants, I have never once heard the word “orts” used. –Readers Comment, -Wordplay, The New York Times, Feb. 28, 2009

[D. Allan]

chuff , noun

1. a boor, churl, a rude insensitive person

2. the sound of noisy exhaust or exhalations

3. extra fat on a person’s body

But suddenly I heard a sound, "Chuff! Chuff!" It sounded like a horse blowing after running up a hill. I looked to windward and saw, within ten yards of my boat, a pod of half a dozen dolphins coming up to play. –Readers’ Comments, Dot Earth, Andrew Revkin, The New York Times, Jan. 9, 2010

He could hear the chuff of their breath and now cries from the tents, a shout of the picket on the other side of the camp. ... Michael Chabon, “Gentlemen of the Road,” The New York Times, Feb. 25, 2007

Kimono tops are great for covering up all kinds of bulges, including bingo wings, lateral lard and bum chuff. –‘FashionStyle: Claudia Croft – Wardrobe mistress,’ The Sunday Times (London), Jan. 24, 2004

chuffy, adjective, a. rough, clownish, surly; b.chubby

chuffed, adjective, very pleased (British informal)

Sir Tom Hunter said that he was “chuffed to bits” after being formally knighted at Buckingham...unreal,” he said, “but I am absolutely chuffed to bits. –“Entrepreneur Hunter is knighted,” The Times (London), Oct. 29 2005

Origins: “pleased, happy," c.1860, British dialect, from obsolete chuff "swollen with fat" (1520s). A second British dialectal chuff has an opposite meaning, "displeased, gruff" (1832), from chuff "rude fellow," or, as Johnson has it, "a coarse, fat-headed, blunt clown" (mid-15c.), of unknown origin. Related: Chuffed. –Online Etymology Dictionary

[Gail]

Can a chuff carrying chuff make a chuff? :)

[D. Allan]

I am chuffed to answer "YES!" :)

[Gail]

ort noun

a small bit or scrap of leftover food, often used in the plural

origins: mid-15c., cognate with early Du. ooraete, Low Ger. ort, from or-, privative prefix, + etan "to eat."

So... who eats all YOUR orts?

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Quote:

Low Ger. ort, from or-, privative prefix, + etan "to eat."

That's odd. In German, "Ort" means "place," or more specifically, "village"..

[nuff sed]

My wife's Aunt Lillian( for whom she was named) never used the term 'leftovers'. They were always 'orts'....nuff sed

[D. Allan]

Quote:

So... who eats all YOUR orts?

The neighborhood cats...

[D. Allan]

Quote:

That's odd. In German, "Ort" means "place," or more specifically, "village"..

I looked in a German Dictionary and you are right about that. It looks to me that possibly it is more likely derived from the Dutch and that the Dutch derived their word from Low German.

I neglected to state the source which was the Online Etymology Dictionary