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DYSANIA - A state of finding it hard to get out of bed in the morning. [Via Greek, where "dys-" denotes "bad" or "difficult", plus "-ania", linked to "action"] Clinomania - or bed-rot, fostered by one's own cost 'internest' - also connote dysania.
THREENAGER - wilful, tempestuous toddler [Whimsical portmanteau of three-teenager] Successor of the terrible twos is the tyrannical rule of the threenager.
KABLOONA - non-Inuit person; foreigner in the Arctic Circle [West Greenland's Inuplaq language, where kablunaet is the brow of a hill, or human] Kabloona is the local label for any outsider, owing to non-Inuit face have more pronounced eyebrows.
DEGOMBLE - to disencumber (oneself) of snow [Origin uncertain. Slang popular among British Antarctic surveyors and scientists] Step One after stepping off a dog-sled is to degomble your anorak.
GRIMGRIBBER - trade jargon, espcially opaque legalese [From Richard Steele's 1772 play The Conscious Lovers, where lawyers spout "learned rubbish" over the status of Grimgribber Estate.] Hereunto, appellant and 'nunc pro tunc' are prima facie examples of grimgribber.
CHUBASCO - violent electrical squall, typically striking the Pacific coast of Central and South America during rainy season [From Spanish ('downpour') via Portuguese chuve ('rain'), linking back to pluvia, or rain in Latin] Peruvian trawlers ensure to be safe in harbour before the chubaso arrives.
FENT - a leftover scrap of cloth; off-cut; a slit or crack [Via Old French fente, from Latin findere - to cleave, or cut] Adroit tailors can craft a suit with barely a fent remaining.
PSITHURISM [SITH-uh-rizz-em] - the murmur of rustling leaves as wind passes through trees. [From Greek - psithúrisma, via psithurízō, “I whisper”, where psíthuros means whispering, or slanderous] Winter woodlands are alive with psithurism.
SKINTLE - to stack bricks with air spaces to allow for ventilation; arrange bricks so that they jut from the wall's surface [Origin unknown] Brick-makers will skintle newly moulded bricks for quicker drying.
PHILOPENA - nut with a double kernel; old English parlour ritual where the finder of such a nut would offer the spare kernel to another for a kiss or favour. [Origins unclear, but likely a French corruption of Vielliebchen - 'valentine' - in German.] If you miss your chance stealing a 'mistetoe kiss', then try a philopena peck.
DUNSEL - nautical slang for any part - or crew member - of a vessel that is superfluous or unnecessary; a captain of no authority [Blend of dunnage - scrap material - and -sel, as diminutive.] In 2000, as a surplus crewmate on Leroy Brown, writing a sports feature on the Sydney-Hobart, yours truly was a dunsel.
NYCTOGRAPH [NICK-to-graff] - rectangular stencil of hollows designed by Lewis Carroll to enable night-writing without a light source [From Greek nyctos - night + graph] To avoid needing a bedside lamp, a nyctograph allows you to notate dreams or mid-sleep brainwaves.
REMPLISSAGE - padding used in music or writing [From French remplir, to fill up] Good composition, be that musical or lyrical, avoids the line-larding excess of remplissage.
SCHLIMAZEL - chronically unlucky person; a jinx [From Yiddish via Middle High German slim ('crooked') + Hebrew, mazzal: luck] No schlimazel is welcome at the high-rollers' backgammon table.
CHARETTE [shuh-RET] - a burst of intensive work over a short period in order to meet a deadline. [Linked to French charrette - or cart, as used to transport drawings of last-minute architecture students.]
SHEPARDISE - to check if a legal case has been overturned, questioned, or cited by later cases. [After Frank Shepard, sales rep for a Chicago publisher who initiated the reference series, Shepard's Citations in 1873.] For a lawyer to mount an argument based on an earlier verdict, they must shepardise that outcome to determine whether the decision remains 'good law'.
BLETONISM - the alleged ability to locate underground water reserves [Reputedly from a Frenchman (named Bleton) who practised this art] Bent coathanger or none, a water divniner (or dowser) claims to possess the power of bletonism
INCIDENTALOMA - medical serendipity, where a lesion perhaps is discovered in the course of seeing a doctor for an unrelated reason. [Neologism blending incidental with oncological suffix -oma] Say you see you GP due to a swooping magpie's gash, only for you doctor to find a separate lump wanting scrutiny.
FLUMEN - a homeowner's right to direct excess rain water to neighbour's yard. [From Latin, literally stream] Pity the council wonks responsible for determining what amount of water qualifies as an 'excess' to enable flumen to apply.
OKTA - one eighth of the sky, used as a measure of cloudiness. [From Greek, eight] Thick clouds may occupy six to seven oktas, if not the last okta too.
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