Sunday, January 07, 2007

Fascinating words part 1

Nicky was thumbing through Mr Chambers' fine dictionary this morning to confirm a word for a rabbit's tail to help Ivy complete a crossword.

The word is "scut".

Scut means, and I quote, " a short, erect tail, as in a hare, rabbit or deer...".

But the real joy of the word is that it has a second meaning: "a contemptuous term for a small person". I have no idea to whom I might apply such a term, but I'm sure I'll think of someone.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You dare...
Small but perfectly formed

Anonymous said...

Hear Hear!

Anonymous said...

You should add "Ramjollock" to your lexicon, even if you don't know what it means - and I do - it has a lovely ring to it, don't you think?
Don

The Millbrooker said...

I'm pleased to report that Ramjollock is a verb meaning to shuffle cards. Ha - I did know.
(After I'd looked it up, anyway)