WoW: Cabestro
CABESTRO - halter made of horsehair [From Spanish, cabezo - head] In the gaucho tradition of efficiency and independence, the cabestro is woven from the hair of the very animal it governs.
WoW: Donald Ducking
DONALD DUCKING - participating in a video meeting without pants, or formal clothing [Named after Disney character who only wore a vest and sailor's cap.] Donald Ducking is a welcome alternative to the Winnie the Poohing.
WoW: Soroban
SOROBAN - Japanese abacus [Japanese, from Chinese (Pekingese) "suan-pan" - literally reckoning board] Longer in form than our Sumerian model, the soroban is still used as a calculator alternative in Japan.
WoW: Recamier
RECAMIER - [ray-carm-YAY] shade of pink; upholstered recliner akin to a chaise longue [Named after Parisian socialite of the early 1800s Paris, Jeanne Recamier who favoured such a sofa for reading and hosting soirees.] "Paint me like one of your French girls," - as a catchphrase - possibly emerged from the langurous life Madame Recamier
WoW: Azonto
AZONTO - Ghanaian style of music and dance with playful hand movements denoting the characters and livelihoods of both dancers and onlookers. [Arising from 'apaa', the Ghanaian word for profession or trade.]
WoW: Fourdrinier
FOURDRINIER [FOR-drin-eer] - paper-making method using one continuous web, so boosting production of books, news-sheets and wallpaper during early 1800s. [Named after UK inventor, Henry Fourdrinier] The Fourdrinier machine accommodated the Victorian era's growth in literacy and reading appetite
WoW: Hagelslag
HAGELSLAG [HARG-el-slarg] - popular Dutch spread of sweet chocolate sprinkles, akin to our own 100s and 1000s [Literally 'hailstorm'] BBC Travel recently speculated why The Netherlands is obsessed with the glazed sugary strands of hagelslag.
WoW: Stylobate
STYLOBATE - an extended horizontal course of masonry designed to support a colonnade [From Latin stylobatēs, from Greek stulos pillar + -batēs, from bainein to tread, walk] A column, be that Doric or Corinthian, is only as steady as its stylobate.
WoW: Gardyloo
GARDYLOO - an historic cry warning passersby of waste water being thrown from the window. [Scottish corruption of French, 'gardez l'eau' - mind the water.] Modern sewerage systems have stilled the gardyloo holler.
WoW: Ustorious
USTORIOUS - having the quality of burning; craving attention through drama [From Latin, urere - to burn] A child in a tantrum, as much as blaze in the bush, can be ustorious.
WoW: Flanderise
FLANDERISE - to exaggerate a character's single trait (like Ned Flanders' piety in The Simpsons) so that it overrides all other traits; to render into caricature [Coined 2006/7] Many comic characters - from Pepe Le Pew to Con The Fruiterer - are the victims of flanderising.
WoW: Camerlengo
CAMERLENGO - the place-holding cardinal who manages the Roman Catholic Church in the interregnum between Popes. [Italian equivalent of chamberlain, a senior official vested with managing an estate] Before Pope Leo XIV took office in May, in came the Vatican's camerlengo.
WoW: Telluric
TELLURIC - of planet earth; terrestrial [From Latin - tellus (earth) - via French, tellurique] Maybe the reason Martians are so reluctant to visit is linked to their telluric misgivings, understandably.
WoW: Buhurt
BUHURT - modern version of mediaeval combat involving full armour, umpires and blunt weaponry [Via Old French, béhourd: joust or tournament] Australian buhurt warriors 'joust' above their weight, many winning medals at the 2025 World Cup in Hungary.
WoW: Rabona
RABONA - a trick kick in soccer where the player's kicking leg is crossed behind the back of the standing leg. [From Spanish, to play hooky] Designed to confuse defenders, the rabona was popularised by Argentinian striker Ricardo Infante in 1948
WoW: Scytale
SCYTALE – a wooden cylinder used in cryptology by Ancient Spartans. [From Greek, skutálē - club or baton] Warriors like King Leonidas would wrap parchment around one scytale - among many different sizes - to inscribe his code.
WoW: Derecho
DERECHO – windstorm typified by strong, direct winds - as opposed to the cyclical nature of tornadoes [From Spanish, straight] Had Dorothy's farmhouse been caught by a derecho, she could have missed Oz for Cincinnati.
WoW: Jarovise
JAROVISE - to expose germinating seeds to low temperatures [Backformation of jarovisation, from Russian yarovizátsiya, via yarov - the convert into springtime, or vernalise] Northern European farmers may need to jarovise certain crops to trigger growth]
WoW: Monastery
MONASTERY - a basic two-step, bending your knees with each foot tap, and turning your knee inward, similar to a chicken dance but with a bouncier feel; also a mono. [After former St Louis venue, Club Monastery] Beyond the monk's retreat, can you conjure a monastery clue with the dance as your destination?
WoW: Dwale
DWALE - another name for belladonna - or deadly nightshade - used in calibrated doses as a pre-ether anaesthetic (or poison!) [From Middle English meaning stupor, via Old Norse dvala - sleep] To prep for surgery, mediaeval patients would inhale a wad of dwale.
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