Saturday, February 25, 2006

WORDS TO WONDER BY

Or, words you haven’t got a clue what they do

By: Samantha Tooting-Beck, a wordmongering wanderlust and wizardess of jim-crackery who enjoys musing about the mysteries of misplaced words and mangled meanings.

For those with a love of lost-and-long-forgotten words like me, the dictionary can be a plucky pocket paramour and, if truth the bold, the next best thing to a good roll in the hay!

All of which brings me to a quickie-quiz I've developed for those with short-attention spans and a need to expand their vapid vocabulary.

So here are four fine words and meanings from which to choose. Your task for today, should you accept this mission impossible, is to separate the wonk from the weal thing (in under 120 seconds).

Remember, no peeking or poking about in any reference books, and no calls to your best friend to bail you out!!

Let the giggling game begin:

Bort:

(a) A blundering fellow with a very big axe to grind.
(b) A blissful fleeting moment that’s better forgotten.
(c) A diamond that a gal wouldn’t be caught dead wearing!
(d) A pathetic particle whose spin is akin to zero.
(e) None of the above.

Fleffeater:

(a) A machine capable of turning, bending and folding in one operation.
(b) A rabbit characterized by its large size, vigor, and solid coat color in black or white.
(c) One who coaxes or wheedles relentlessly.
(d) In reference to materials of inferior quality and workmanship.
(e) None of the above.

Malkin:

(a) A filthy, ill-cooked mess of victuals.
(b) A cat, hare or untidy lady.
(c) An impudently bold person.
(d) An ancient preparation used to expel tapeworms.
(e) None of the above.

Shammocking:

(a) The feeling of roughness caused by a new undergarment.
(b) Descriptive of a short, sensational, 19th century peep-show.
(c) A state of frenzy induced by dancing with the aid of a stimulant.
(d) Descriptive of an idle, good-for-nothing person; a close relative of the common schlep.
(e) None of the above.

_____

Bort: (c)
Fleffeater: no such word (e)
Malkin: (b)
Shammocking: (d)