Haggard Hawks

“I didn’t go, not after what he said” is an example of RESUMPTIVE NEGATION—the use of one negative statement immediately after another to emphasise the negation of the whole. The second clause here could just be “after what he said”, but the extra ‘not’ works to reinforce the first.

Word of the Day: FATILOQUY (n.) speaking of the future

A COCK-OF-THE-COMPANY is a man who associates with unpleasant people just so he can act as their leader.

(A Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1811)

Etymologically, the word FANCY is just a contraction of the older word FANTASY. The two had developed their separate meanings by the late 1500s, and have remained distinct words ever since.

Coined in the late 1990s, CYBERPESSIMISM is the belief that the internet has, or will eventually have, a more negative influence on human society than a positive one.

Word of the Day: FAUXSTALGIA (n.) nostalgia for something that never existed, or an experience one never actually had [21stC]

🧵 33. A word coined by Antarctic research scientists in the 1990s, GREENOUT is a feeling of relief or gladness felt on seeing the first fresh green growth of the springtime.

🧵 32. A word borrowed into English from Manx—the Celtic origin language of the Isle of Man—the QUAALTAGH is the first person you encounter on New Year’s Day.

🧵 31. An ÉTRENNE is a gift given at New Year.

🧵 30. According to a 17th century proverb, a COCKSTRIDE—literally, one step of a cockerel—is the amount by which the days seem to lengthen after the New Year.

🧵 29. A BAUSON is a badger—or figuratively, someone who has recently gained weight, like a badger fattening itself before winter.

🧵 28. THERMOPOSIA is the consumption of hot drinks.

🧵 27. A SUNNYBANK is a cosy wintertime fire.
A SONROCK is a cosy fireside chair.
A HOWFF is a cosy and familiar haunt or regular meeting place.

🧵 26. In 19th century English, an OLD-DAY was the day after a party or celebration on which nothing constructive was done or achieved.

🧵 25. APOLAUSTICISM is a total devotion to enjoying yourself.

🧵 24. A running together of ‘Yule’s jade’—meaning a festive fool or butt of the joke—a YULESHARD is someone who leaves work unfinished on the night of Christmas Eve.

🧵 23. To be WINTER-PROUD is to be precociously or confidently prepared ahead of time.

🧵 22. Derived from a Latin word for feasting, ABLIGURITION is excessive spending on food and drink.

🧵 21. To CAUDLE is to perform housework in a disorganised or slapdash manner.

🧵 20. According to an 1850 dictionary of The Dialect of South Lancashire, to POWL is to leave work early to go to the pub.

🧵 19. Derived from an older verb meaning ‘to make ready’, to BOUN is to decorate your home with evergreen branches.

🧵 18. Named after Austrian architect Victor Gruen, the GRUEN EFFECT is the tendency of shoppers to become disoriented in shopping malls—making them more susceptible to forgetting what they went in for, and more receptive to special deals and promotions.

🧵 17. FEETINGS are animals’ or fellow walkers’ footprints left in snow.

🧵 16. Often found alongside streams or over puddles in wintertime, CAT-ICE is a floating layer or overhang of ice, from beneath which water has receded or drained away—the implication being that only something as light-footed as a cat could walk on it without breaking it.

🧵 15. Derived from PEEL-THE-BONES—a 19th century word for especially cold weather—to PEEL is to travel or go outdoors in wintertime wearing unsuitable or insufficient clothing.

❄️ So... Let’s kick things off here with an advent calendar of entries from the latest Haggard Hawks book, A WINTER DICTIONARY—a collection of obscure words for the festive season

👉 amazon.co.uk/Winter-Dicti...

🧵 We’ll be sharing a new word every day throughout December!

🧵 14. A SPICULA is a single needle-like growth of frost or ice.

🧵 13. An ANTIFOGMATIC is a drink taken to combat the effects of cold weather.

🧵 12. Ground that is CHIBBLY is crisp and crackly with frost.

🧵 11. A DROW is a thick, cold mist—almost thick enough to feel like drizzle. According to one Scots definition of 1825, unlike other mists a drow “wets an Englishman to the skin.”