I am revisiting the theme I raised quite a few years back concerning archaic verb forms in the King James Bible (and, for that matter, in other great religious works like The Book of Common Prayer). I was very annoyed to have yet another one of these knocked back today in the Challenge puzzle, and decided to recommence my campaign to make sure such words are accepted. Please see below for relevant citations (apologies for the repetitive layout, but this comes from a convenient website, biblehub.com, that I commend for a quick way to check these words).

Cheers,

Dave

Proverbs 25:20 Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, or ...
... As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon
nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart. ...

Job 33:27 And they will go to others and say, 'I have sinned, I ...
... He singeth before men, and saith, I have sinned, and perverted
that which was right, And it profited me not

Judges 5:1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this ...
... And Deborah singeth -- also Barak son of Abinoam -- on that day, saying: -- .. ...
//biblehub.co

Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the ...
... Then singeth Moses and the sons of Israel this song to Jehovah, and they speak,
saying: -- 'I sing to Jehovah, For triumphing He hath triumphed; The horse and .

Numbers 21:17 Then Israel sang this song: "Spring up, O well! Sing ...
... Then singeth Israel this song, concerning the well -- they have answered to it

Psalm 51:14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who ...
... Deliver me from blood, O God, God of my salvation,
My tongue singeth of Thy righteousness ...

Australians cannot be unique in the expression "I've got him by the short and curlies," surely? I think "curlies" should be a valid addition to our extensive vocabulary. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it's often seen in the form of "I've got him by the short hairs," which (hopefully) requires no translation!

I just discovered that the term has even been used as the title of a film by Mike Leigh. What better qualification ?

Cheers,

Dave

Ensuite

Common Australian term for a bathroom adjoining a bedroom (spelt as one word rather than as a French phrase).  Supported by Oxford Australian Dictionary, 2004.

Cheers,

Dave

I happen to like Indian cooking, and this is the common name for chickpea flour, a popular ingredient.  It scored about 1.26 million hits on Google... and I have tried the bloody word about five times over the years, because I do not learn from my mistakes .

Cheers,

Dave

This one cropped up out of desperation when I was trying one of rogue_mother's short puzzles.  Can't say I would drop it casually into the conversation, but the Shorter Oxford provides the following:

virgie /ˈvə:dʒi/ adjective & noun. colloq. M20.
[ORIGIN Abbreviation.]

= virgin noun & adjective.

Yours in good taste ,

Dave

I meant to raise this word ages ago because it surely crops up often enough in the context of Japanese movies and so on to be regarded as assimilated.  The Shorter Oxford has an interesting secondary meaning, too:

ronin /ˈrəʊnɪn/ noun. Pl. same, -s. L19.
[ORIGIN Japanese, lit. ‘drifting people’.]

In feudal Japan, a lordless wandering samurai; an outlaw. Now also transf., a Japanese student who has failed and is permitted to retake a university (entrance) examination.

concordat /kənˈkɔ:dat/ noun. E17.
[ORIGIN French, or Latin concordatum use as noun of neut. pa. pple of concordare agree on: see concordatum, -at¹.]

An agreement, a compact; now esp. one between the Vatican and a secular government relating to matters of mutual interest.


This one turned up in a user-generated puzzle.  I thought it was a bit too specialised to be regarded as "common," despite the fact that I frequently drop it into casual conversation about the Vatican's latest foreign policy initiatives ...

Veterans will know it's been quite a while since I posted a poem.  I'm currently in a kind of long-range apprenticeship with an American poet, and she challenged me recently to write something deliberately bad in the shortest possible time, strictly stream of consciousness with no editing and no attempt at being brilliant/clever/truly poetic.

I found that the result has made several people laugh (including me, of course), so here it is as a bit of light relief.  I don't think this one is going to make it into print, somehow!

Cheers,

Dave


A Day in the Life of a Fool

I

Welcome to my cave: there's little room in here,
just enough for one or maybe two
if you sit on my knee, which could be hard to balance
unless you're either very small or have
a plump, well padded bum not unlike
a plum, a ripe plum that doesn't have the hardness
of one that has not yet got old.

Now you are here, my dear, and very near,
you get to see the same view I see every day,
a bloody boring view that makes me want
to spew or at the very least to turn an awful
hue, for who
would want to look at nothing new, never
never never ever nothing new, except maybe
a fresh cobweb, a new-found spider's nest
maybe, full of little
spiders
for a time at least, until they grow and overflow
and then migrate like sparrows (very little
sparrows that can't fly but scuttle on the wall
instead), maybe to a warmer room, preferably
not a chat room where they might fight like
spiders do, and exterminate, not germinate,
and have the dreadful fate that awaits
us all, for as the Psalmist says, and wisely,
all things must die.


II

Now you're in my cave (I am glad you have
a comfortable behind, my dear), take note
of ceiling, walls and floor -- the power of observation
is not strained in here, dear one, and no high-powered
binoculars are needed to
examine things -- no sir.  The mould is evident
but has its place in time and space, in this
solipsistic universe of mine own making -- it marks
the passing of the seasons, don't you see, and
if you look real close you'll note an unattractive change
off-colour, not to mention ooze, like
runny cheese that's gone the whole 10 yards and well beyond:
it comes at every spring instead of birdsong,
the flowers blooming
and warmer days with little fluffy clouds, that sort
of thing.
Otherwise you really wouldn't know the time of year
down here.


III

The enemas of time have drained my brain not
unlike an abscess, except
it's left the muck inside, a high tide mark if
you like, and all the good stuff's gone
instead.  You needn't wince, nor wrinkle up
your nose at such a notion -- it didn't hurt
and brainlessness can be a blessing in
the life that's lived
for far too long, as I forget faces, places,
and names inhabit hollow spaces I can't
reach from here -- come to that, I can't remember
who on earth you are, my dear,
or why you're here, but there's no doubt you have
a real nice bum, much like a plum, so welcome
to my world.


© David Nourse 2008