Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #126

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

126.) Iceblink
-noun singular

a.) A bright reflection of sunlight, especially in polar regions, on the bottom of a low cloud, caused by ice on a distant expanse of water or land.*

[Origin: From the English words ice and blink, possibly a translation of the Dutch ijsblink or Danish isblink.]

*Like Saint Elmo’s fire, foxfire, or will-o-the-wisps, iceblinks are a physical phenomenon that would have easily fallen into the category of mysterious effects of the other side in the eyes of earlier cultures.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #125

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

125.) Laconicum
-noun singular

a.) A sauna, or vapor-bath.*

b.) The sweat room in a Roman bath.

c.) A Roman archaeological term referring to the chamber in a bathing-establishment warmed by means of air artificially heated.

[Origin: Possibly from the name of the Greek prefecture of Laconia (the capital of which was Sparta) since the Laconians used such a dry or sudorific bath, avoiding the use of warm water as enervating.]

*Also referred to by Cassius as the Laconium Gymnasium or “naked-place sauna” thus inevitably attracting members of the tribe.

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #124

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

124.) Err
-verb

a.) To go astray.*

b.) To make a mistake.

[Origin: From Latin errare meaning "to wander."]

*A simple word, that we associate with being mistaken, but whose original meaning had more to do with wandering (with the error being a diverging from the truth). The will-o’-the-wisps and the pixies are the most adept with making people wander. One who wanders away is said to be “pixie-led.”

Balderdash for the Medieval Gay #123

(a compendium of queer words for the modern fag with a passion for the Middle Ages added hebdomadally on the Sabbath day)

123.) Renifleur
-adjective

a.) One who is sexually aroused by odors.*

[Origin: From French renifler meaning "to sniff."]

*One of the Plinian races, the Astomi (also mentioned in the Indica of Megasthenes) had no mouths and subsisted entirely on the smell of apples. They were also reported to be in danger of dying upon smelling an unpleasant smell. I wonder if these details effected their mating habits.