Words, words, words...

Pogged doesn't turn up in many dictionaries. It seems to have a few different meanings if you search around Google. In my part of Yorkshire it means full or stuffed after a meal. I'd never come across it before my other half mentioned it a few years ago and several of my Yorkshire-born and bred colleagues have never heard of it either!

This site was inspired by the BBC programme Balderdash and Piffle, and is basically a repository for interesting and unusual words. There are some good Yorkshire ones and some from Wiltshire and the Southwest too, along with links to some good wordy sites. I find trademark names used for all types of a product interesting too e.g. Hoover for any vacuum cleaner.

What else can you monger other than war, iron and fish?!

Saturday 14 June 2008 (Word Origins)

From last night's News Quiz on Radio 4:

"What else can you monger other than war, iron and fish?!"

They then also came up with rumourmonger and costermonger. The latter is someone who sells fruit and veg from a cart in the street although I preferred their own definition of someone who sells timeshares on the Spanish coast!

This is what the Free Dictionary has to say on the matter:

1. A dealer in a specific commodity. Often used in combination: an ironmonger.
2. A person promoting something undesirable or discreditable. Often used in combination: a scandalmonger; a warmonger.

The word's origins are through Old English from Latin 'Mango' - a dealer in slaves (probably of Greek origin).

A quick trawl of Google also yielded:
Scaremonger
Newsmonger
Fearmonger
Doom-monger
And numerous people whose surname is/was Monger. I guess their ancestors sold stuff.

Looks like you can probably stick it at the end of most things that can be sold!

I did find Hopemonger as well, but that seems to go against the second definition of promoting something undesirable. Maybe they need to look up the definition!

One word - two opposing definitions?!

Sunday 8 June 2008 (Weird Words)

Oversight

This is what the Merriam Webster online dictionary says:
1 a: watchful and responsible care b: regulatory supervision
2: an inadvertent omission or error

I've always thought this was an odd word as it seems to have two opposing definitions! The first being a bunch of people who oversee some process or other. I have only come across this use of the word in America.
The second seems to be the more usual British use of the word - "something I forgot to look at".

According to Answers.com the main use of the word is the British version and the American version is specifically something the American government came up with!

The word 'overlook' must have exactly the same problems!

Wikipedia has rather a long list of words with opposing definitions and there are some quite surprising ones there!

Is strewing a proper word?!

Wednesday 23 April 2008 (Weird Words)

Yes, according to Answers.com.

Oh, I supposed I'd better explain properly! I've used the word 'strewn' many times (spread here and there). We were talking about wheelie bins and how badgers or foxes were probably capable of pulling/pushing one over and strewing the contents around. Then I wondered if 'strewing' was actually a word. Was there a verb 'to strew' or did it only exist in the past tense (stuff was strewn around), or was it some strange old word to do with spreading straw?!

Anyways, Answers.com says it's a verb and that it does come from Old English, but it doesn't say anything much about straw!

So now you know!