Saturday 14 January 2012

Archaic Words II

When people write obituaries, or letters to The Times, they come over all archaic. When did you last fight in a joust or meet a thrall?

abuzz
aflutter
alas!

aloft

amiss
apace

aplenty


boon companion:
drinking buddy

burgeoning: it means “flowering”, not “expanding”

clamour
for reform: call
come to heel

erstwhile:
former

for: because
garlanded for awarded honours
girding: preparing (It's short for "gird up your loins", from the Bible.)

harbour
(v): plays host to
ill-gotten gains: illegal profits

imbibe: drink


in thrall to
: enslaved by
joust: duel (a few centuries nearer our own time)
lest:
in case
lot: fate, situation ( bewailing her lot)

nigh-on:
near
oft: often


pay heed:
pay attention
penchant:
yen
pique
the curiosity: arouse
plaudits: applause
plight: condition


pocket handkerchief sized
: When did you last hear someone say "pocket handkerchief" – or see anyone using a handkerchief?

rollicking, rambunctious, rumbustious, ruckus, romp
: Why use these antique pseudo-rural words, and why do they all begin with R?

save the day
(jousting? medieval war?)
scion: offspring

smacks of: sounds like 

take X to task

very: the same, the actual, actually etc
well-nigh: nearly
youngster:
youth

More here.

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