lapin - a common English word?

[mkenuk]

lapin is one of those words that appears regularly in Chi, most recently in the potential Challenge.

I've always played it, assuming that it must be common in US. I've certainly never seen or used it in a UK context.

A quick check shows that it doesn't appear in either COD or Chambers. Merriam-Webster Online defines it as 'a castrated male rabbit' or as 'rabbit fur'.

Is it really a common English word?

It probably appears in menus of French restaurants, ('Filet de Lapin' or suchlike) but so do porc, boeuf, mouton et dindon. None of these words is common in Chi.

ps - do people actually castrate rabbits? How? and Why? (pardon my ignorance).
And surely nobody wears rabbit fur nowadays?

[yelnats]

I've always played it as I knew it as rabbit fur, not a castrated rabbit.  And while Oz probably exports far less rabbit fur than we did before myxomatosis and calicivirus, it appears it is still fashionable...

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=rabbit+fur&rlz=1C1CHFX_enAU776AU776&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwje49brobXdAhWCZt4KHXs8AZAQsAR6BAgAEAE&biw=1280&bih=701#imgrc=TLBm7djPOwXIlM:

[pat]

And surely nobody wears rabbit fur nowadays?

Sadly there are still people who believe that an animal's fur looks better on them than it does on its rightful owner.

[Jacki]

One of the things I've always liked about word games is the added benefit of expanding my knowledge. I may never see a castrated rabbit, or wear it, but at least I know what it is. Whether it should be rare or not is another thing. Perhaps for a few more years it should retain its current status of common, like all those other words that are not really relevant anymore, such as darkie and nigger and redcap etc.

[anona]

I've known it only as a French word, and like Mike thought it must be common in the US. But the Ngram viewer shows it as far less common than osier, which has been made  rare.

[mkenuk]

all those other words that are not really relevant anymore, such as ....... redcap etc.

I think redcap is still in common use in the British military, meaning 'a military policeman'.

[Alan W]

Redcap was changed to rare in May. See here.

[tpc]

Sadly there are still people who believe that an animal's fur looks better on them than it does on its rightful owner.

Nicely put, Pat.

[tpc]

Addendum to my previous post:
As a retired prof. of French, I’m always surprised at the French words considered common in Chi (lapin, moue and élan come to mind, memory fails to recall others) that I rarely encounter in print (menus) or conversation (speaking French) - - while “realtor” is treated as rare despite there being over 1.3 million professionals in the U.S. who describe themselves as such. (Source: National Assocoiation of Realtors, 2018). Hard to find a real estate advertisement here that doesn’t mention the word. That said, I resigned myself long ago to just accept the Chi rulings. So no worries!

[mkenuk]

while “realtor” is treated as rare despite there being over 1.3 million professionals in the U.S. who describe themselves as such.

I think the key phrase might be 'in the US'.

The usual term in UK is 'estate agent', although realtor is not unknown thanks to films and TV.
I don't know about other English-speaking countries.

In the recent correlate game, it was played by just under a third of those taking part (191 from 592).
 
Like you, I'm a bit surprised by moue being common in Chi.
I have occasionally seen it in novels, but it always seems a bit pretentious.
What's wrong with the English word pout? - It means exactly the same.

 I think elan became very familiar thanks to the iconic sports car of the 1960s and 1970s - the Lotus Elan.

[tpc]

Thanks, Mike.
I lived in Canada for almost 30 yrs, and I think the term there is real estate agent also. Nonetheless, if “realtor” is so common in the U.S., (if we were to sell our house, I  - - and probably others - - would start by doing a search using “realtors” near me), so it’s hard to understand why many words which seem unique to Oz & England are common in Chi though unknown here. Does the name of the country trump frequency of usage?

[Les303]

That said, I resigned myself long ago to just accept the Chi rulings. So no worries!

You are much quicker on the uptake than me as it has taken me almost 3 years to come to the same conclusion.
Actually as I type this, I notice a note to myself to challenge the classification of sirrah (archaic
Used as a term of address for a man or boy, especially one younger or of lower status than the speaker.) from the 10 letter game of Wednesday fifth of September, however I did not bother because I have found that simply by playing chi, lapin along with many other words which were once uncommon to me are now so familiar to me that I rarely miss playing them, so I will just add sirrah to the list.

[mkenuk]

re sirrah.
 It's very common in Shakespeare, where, as you say, it was used by nobles to speak to inferiors.

Many dictionaries, especially those that are aimed at schools and colleges, make a point of including every word that appears in Shakespeare.
(I think Chambers goes further and also includes every word found in Spenser and the Authorised Version of the Bible - there is some pretty obscure vocabulary there.)

In consequence, if all the dictionaries that went to make up the YAWL wordlist that Chi's lexicon is based on include sirrah, then it will appear to be a common word - until someone challenges it and Alan reclassifies it.

[Alan W]

... it’s hard to understand why many words which seem unique to Oz & England are common in Chi though unknown here. Does the name of the country trump frequency of usage?

I wish I could set up a debate between you and Tom (from Australia, not Tom44) who has frequently expressed his displeasure that words well known throughout the Commonwealth are classed as rare merely because they are little known in the US. He, and other forumites, are firmly convinced that the common word list has an American bias.

[yelnats]

re sirrah.
 It's very common in Shakespeare, where, as you say, it was used by nobles to speak to inferiors.

I have never heard the word. I've never spoken to a "noble" and probably never will!