"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Saturday 20 August 2011

Fribbler

   
To fribble means to act in a foolish or frivolous manner; to trifle.

A fribbler sounds like a candidate for counselling but it was actually an eighteenth century term for a man who expressed profound infatuation for a woman but was unwilling to commit himself to her...... (Perhaps he did need counselling, after all.)

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