Strange and funny English words part II

Godwottery (noun) [mass noun]

An affected quality of archaism, excessive fussiness, and sentimentality.

Gonzo (adjective)

Relating to or denoting journalism of an exaggerated, subjective, and fictionalized style.

Bizarre or crazy: the woman was either gonzo or stoned.

Goombah (noun)

An associate or accomplice, especially a senior member of a criminal gang.

Hemidemisemiquaver (noun)

A note with the time value of half a demisemiquaver, represented by a large dot with a four-hooked stem. Also called sixty-fourth note.

Hobbledehoy (noun)

A clumsy or awkward youth.

(adjective)

Awkward or clumsy: his hobbledehoy hands.

Hoosegow (noun)

A prison.

Hootenanny (noun) (plural hootenannies)

An informal gathering with folk music: we invited friends to a hootenanny in our backyard [as modifier]: hootenanny numbers.

Jackanapes (noun)

Dated a cheeky or impertinent person.

Archaic a tame monkey.

La-di-da (adjective)

Pretentious or snobbish in manner or speech: do I really sound like a la-di-da society lawyer?

Lickspittle (noun)

A person who behaves obsequiously to those in power: he is a lickspittle for the Establishment.

Logorrhea (noun) [mass noun]

A tendency to extreme loquacity.

Lollygag (verb)

(Lollygags, lollygagging, lollygagged)

Spend time aimlessly; idle: she goes to Arizona every January to lollygag in the sun.

[With adverbial of direction] dawdle: we’re lollygagging along.

Mugwump (noun)

A person who remains aloof or independent, especially from party politics.

Mumpsimus (noun)

A traditional custom or idea adhered to although shown to be unreasonable.

A person who obstinately adheres to old customs or ideas in spite of evidence that they are wrong or unreasonable.

Mungo (noun) [mass noun]

Cloth made from recycled woven or felted material.

Oxter (noun)

A person’s armpit.

Panjandrum (noun)

A person who has or claims to have a great deal of authority or influence: the greatest scientific panjandrum of the 19th century [as title]: the Great Panjandrum of this exercise is a management consultant.

Pettifogger (noun)

An inferior legal practitioner, especially one who deals with petty cases or employs dubious practices.

Pronk (verb)

(Of a springbok or other antelope) leap in the air with an arched back and stiff legs, typically as a form of display or when threatened: grysbok were pronking over tall tufts of grass.

Quean (noun)

An impudent or badly behaved girl or woman.

A prostitute.

Quire (noun)

Four sheets of paper or parchment folded to form eight leaves, as in medieval manuscripts.

Any collection of leaves one within another in a manuscript or book: the scribe numbered the quires of his manuscript as well as the leaves.

25 (formerly 24) sheets of paper; one twentieth of a ream: [as partitive]: (a quire of/quires of the package contained two quires of tracing paper.

Ratoon (noun)

A new shoot or sprout springing from the base of a crop plant, especially sugar cane, after cropping.

(verb)

(Of sugar cane) produce ratoons.

[With object] cut down (a plant) to cause it to produce ratoons: (as adjective ratooned) ratooned plants produce a much earlier crop.

Salopettes (plural noun)

Trousers with a high waist and shoulder straps, typically made of a padded fabric and worn for skiing.

Skullduggery (noun) [mass noun]

Underhand, unscrupulous, or dishonest behaviour or activities: a firm that investigates commercial skulduggery.

Tatterdemalion (adjective)

Tattered or dilapidated.

(noun)

A person in tattered clothing.

Troglodyte (noun)

(Especially in prehistoric times) a person who lived in a cave.

A hermit.

A person who is regarded as being deliberately ignorant or old-fashioned.

Valetudinarian (noun)

A person who is unduly anxious about their health.

A person suffering from poor health.

(adjective)

Showing undue concern about one’s health: the valetudinarian English

Suffering from poor health.

Vomitory (adjective)

Relating to or inducing vomiting.

(noun) (plural vomitories)

Another term for vomitorium.

Vomitorium (noun)

Each of a series of entrance or exit passages in an ancient Roman amphitheatre or theatre.

A place in which, according to popular misconception, the ancient Romans are supposed to have vomited during feasts to make room for more food.

Wabbit (adjective)

Exhausted or slightly unwell: I’m feeling a bit wabbit.

Winklepicker (noun)

A shoe with a long pointed toe, popular in the 1950s.

Yarborough (noun)

(In bridge or whist) a hand with no card above a nine.