Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #26
May 11, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
25.) Murex
-noun singular, plural murices or murexes
a.) Any of various carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs of the genus Murex common in tropical seas and having rough spiny shells, especially Murex trunculus, the source of Tyrian purple.
[Origin: from Latin murex, "purple-fish" akin to Greek myak "mussel."]
*Tyrian purple (Greek: πορφύρα, porphyra, Latin: purpura), also known as royal purple or imperial purple, is a prized purple-red dye which was first produced by the ancient Phoenicians in the city of Tyre. The dye substance consists of a fresh mucus secretion from the hypobranchial gland of a medium-sized predatory sea snail, the marine gastropod Murex trunculus or Murex brandaris. There are hills outside Tyre and Sidon today which are composed of solid murex shells.
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #25
May 4, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
25.) Oud
-noun singular
a.) An ancient musical instrument of the lute family used in southwest Asia and northern Africa.*
[Origin: From Arabic العود al-ʿūd, consisting of the Arabic lettersʿayn-wāw-dāl, meaning "a thin piece of wood similar to the shape of a straw," or from ūd as an Arabized version of the Persian name rud, which meant "stringed instrument" or "lute." ]
*The oud is among the oldest stringed instruments in the world. The words lute and oud are both derived from the Arabic العود (al-ʿūd) referring either to the wood plectrum used traditionally for playing the lute, to the thin strips of wood used for the back of the instrument, or to the fact that the instrument’s top was made of wood, not skin, as were earlier incarnations. Some scholars suggest that the “wood” appellation originally carried derogatory connotations, because of musical instrument proscriptions in early Islam. According to Farabi, the oud was invented by Lamech, the sixth grandson of Adam. The legend tells that the grieving Lamech hung the body of his dead son from a tree. The first oud was inspired by the shape of his son’s bleached skeleton.
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #24
April 27, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
24.) Wergeld
-noun singular, also wergild or weregild
a.) In Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law, a price set upon a person’s life on the basis of rank and paid as compensation by the family of a slayer to the kindred or lord of a slain person to free the culprit of further punishment or obligation and to prevent a blood feud.*
b.) A reparational payment usually demanded of a person guilty of homicide or other wrongful death, although it could also be demanded in other cases of serious crime.
[Origin: From Middle English wargeld and Old English wergeld, from wer or "man" and geld or "payment."]
*Literally translated as “man-payment” the weregeld in cases of murder, was calculated conditionally based upon the social rank of the victim. An aetheling, or prince, was worth 1500 shillings. A yeoman farmer was worth 100 shillings. A laet, or agricultural serf, was worth between 40 and 80 shillings. Thralls and slaves technically commanded no weregeld, but it was commonplace to make a nominal payment in the case of a thrall and the value of the slave in such a case. How much would you and I be worth now?
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #23
April 20, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
23.) Spraints
-noun plural, singular spraint
a.) The dung of an otter.
b.) The dung of various wild animals.*
[Origin: Old French espraintes, espreintes, and later French
['e]preintes from espreinte “a desire to go to stool,” from
the verb espreindre.]
*Sprainting is the act of marking territory by leaving dung. The term is used especially in Britain of deer, otters, and similar larger mammals. It seems that our tribe is often the butt of jokes employing scatological humor. This term makes me imagine what it would be like if gays, often categorized themselves by the names of various fauna and other creatures, exhibited this behavior. I’ve encountered the following species to describe our various habits and incarnations: bears, cubs, wolves, otters, seals, pigs, capons, chickens, roosters, hawks, geese, ducks, birds, butterflies, bedbugs, fruit flies, toads, lobsters, tunas, fish, cats, puppies, dogs, rats, whales, octopuses, donkeys, moose, vampires, faeries, and trolls. Are there others I wonder? What a fantastic range of spoor we’d represent!
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #22
April 13, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
22.) Rood
-noun singular
[Origin: Middle English from Old English rōd meaning "rod" or "rood;" akin to Old High German ruota or "rod" and perhaps to Old Russian ratište or "lance."]
*The word rood is actully an archaic word for “pole,” from Anglo-Saxon rōd or “pole,” specifically “crucifix,” from Proto-Germanic rodo, cognate to Old Saxon rōda, Old High German ruoda or “rod:” the relation of rood to rod, from Anglo-Saxon rodd or “pole” is unclear, but the latter was perhaps influenced by Old Norse rudda or “club.” The word is featured in the title of the the famous Anglo-Saxon poem known as The Dream of the Rood in which the “rood tree” tenderly voices its experience with the hanging Christ.
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #21
April 6, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
21.) Exuviae
-noun plural
a.) The cast-off skins or coverings of various organisms, such as the shells of crabs, skins of snakes, or the external coverings of the larvae and nymphs of insects.*
[Origin: From Latin exuere, "to take off."]
*Domestic dust is composed largely of what I consider to be bits of human exuviae. In fact, it is estimated that our entire outer layers of skin are shed every day or two at a rate of 7 million skin flakes per minute! Let the spring cleaning commence! My question is, does this, our collectively sloughed residue floating about, count as power parts, thus making us susceptible to evil sorcery if obtained by the wrong hands?
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #20
March 30, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
20.) Haruspicy
-noun singular
a.) The art or practices of haruspices (plural of haruspex).*
b.) The ancient Etruscan practice passed on to the Romans of divination through the entrails of sacrificed animals.
[Origin: from the Latin specere, "to look at" and possibly the Sanskrit hir, "an artery." A related word for it is extispicy from Latin exta, "entrails."]
*The haruspex (plural haruspices) was a man trained to practice a form of divination which involved the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers of special sheep. Haruspicy probably reached Etruria via the Hittites, perhaps because the Etruscans originated in Asia Minor. The art of haruspicy was taught in the Libri Tagetici, a collection of texts attributed to Tages, a childlike being who figures in Etruscan mythology, and who was discovered in an open field by the hero Tarchon.
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #19
March 23, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
19.) Teratology
-noun singular
a.) Mythology relating to fantastic creatures and monsters.*
b.) The study of monstrosities, malformations, or serious deviations from the normal type in developing organisms.
c.) The biological study of birth defects.
[Origin: from the Greek τέρᾰς (genitive τέρᾰτος), meaning "monster" or "marvel" and λόγος, meaning "word" or "speech"]
*As early as the 17th century this term referred to a discourse on prodigies and marvels of anything so extraordinary as to be deemed abnormal. Members of the tribe will relate to fitting into this category (as we are well aware that many still consider us to be abnormal freaks of nature). In my opinion, the original concept of the term (along with the related word “demonstration,” describing that which is truly extraordinary and marvelous enough to be thoroughly looked at) actually seems quite well suited to grace our true nature.
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #18
March 16, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
18.) Oleiferous
-adjective
a.) Producing oil, oil-bearing.*
[Origin: Latin oleum, oil and French oléifère.]
*This adjective is often used to decribe seeds, but could perhaps be applied to certain saints whose bones or other relics were said to exude a healing oil or liquid. It seems to me that such a substance, if ever used as such, would possibly be the absolute holiest of lubricants.
Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #17
March 9, 2008
(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)
17.) Malmsey
-noun singular
a.) A sweet fortified wine originally made in Greece and now produced mainly in Madeira. Also called malvasia, or malvoisie.*
b.) The sweetest variety of Madeira wine.
[Origin: Middle English malmesey, from Medieval Latin malvasia, malmasia, an alteration of Medieval Greek Monemvasia (Malvasia), a village of southern Greece.]
*Malmsey was one of the three major wines exported from Greece in medieval times. The same name was used for wine, mulled and spiced, which was produced in the island of Madeira from grapes brought by the Portuguese from Cyprus in 1420. George the Duke of Clarence, brother to King Edward IV of England, was said to have been drowned in a butt of malmsey in the Tower of London in 1478.
