RUMMAGE _ ‘Arrimage‘ is French for the ship’s cargo. Damaged and unwanted goods were sold at an arrimage sale, hence the derivation of today’s rummage sale. ‘Rummaging‘ — searching through a jumble — comes from this nautical source.
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– The Pirate Dictionary by Terry Breverton.
tony __ Swank. Stylish. Posh. Elegant. [Am. XIX. < High-toned, an expression much in use in XIX Am. society to label a cultivated elegance that combined morality, good breeding, and an opulence made possible only by daddy’s dirty money.]
– A Second Browser’s Dictionary and Native’s Guide to the Unknown American Language by John Ciardi (1983).
SIXES AND SEVENS. Left at sixes and sevens: i.e. in confusion; commonly said of a room where the furniture is scattered about; or of a business left unsettled.
– 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue : A Dictionary of British Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence (unabridged) compiled originally by Captain Grose
lickerous Pleasing or tempting to the palate, delightful. Of a person, having an appetite for delicious food, a keen desire for something pleasant. Also, lecherous, lustful, wanton.
– A Sea of Words : A Lexicon and Companion for Patrick O’Brian’s Seafaring Tales by Dean King with John B. Hattendorf and J. Worth Estes.
KARROWS * Hard-core fourteenth- to eighteenth-century Irish gamesters, portrayed by Holingshed’s Chronicles as “a brotherhood of karrowes that prefer to play at chartes [cards] all the yere long, and make it their onely occupation.”
– Forgotten English : A Merry Guide to Antiquated Words, Packed with History, Fun Fact, Literary Excerpts, and Charming Drawings by Jeffrey Kacirk
lychnobite {LIK-noh-bite. Noun.} The OED defines lychnobite as “one who turns night into day; a ‘fast-liver.'”
From the Greek lychnobios, from lychnos, “lamp,” and bios, “life.”
– Endangered Words : A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers by Simon Hertnon.
BIG HEADS
This is the name of a class of monsters in the traditions and beliefs of the Iroquois … huge disembodied heads with flashing fiery eyes and cavernous gaping mouths; they are covered in vast amounts of long, straggly hair from which two grotesque paws with talons emerge. Sustained by this hair during tempests, the Big Heads fly through stormy skies searching for unwary humans.
– Giants, Monsters, & Dragons : An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth by Carol Rose.
WHITE BIRD
1885 … If miners see white birds about the gearing of mine-shafts they consider them to be harbingers of disaster.
– A Dictionary of Superstitions edited by Iona Opie and Moira Tatem.
almoner. One who dispenses alms to the poor on behalf of a monarch.
– The Continuum Dictionary of Religion edited by Michael Pye.
gesta: Deeds or tales of adventure, as in the fourteenth-century Gest Historiale of the Destruction of Troy. One of the most famous medieval collections of tales was the Gesta Romanorum (Deeds of the Romans).
– Literary Terms : A Dictionary by Karl Beckson and Arthur Ganz.
