Podcast

A podcast is a ‘multimedia digital file made available on the Internet for downloading to a portable media player, computer, etc.’  Err?  OK.  I think I understood that.  But isn’t a blog or an ordinary webpage often multi-media?  And isn’t a blog/webpage also available on the Internet?  And can’t it also be downloaded to a portable media player like a phone or a computer?  I tried to understand the difference by reading the article by the Goddess Wiki but it included phrases like ‘It is very much a horizontal media form’ – so I gave up.  Can anyone give me a clear and easily understood explanation of what a podcast is?

Catarolysis

Catarolysis is something I try not to do but occasionally my worse nature gets the better of me and I cannot help myself.   

Recently, for example, I was advised by the Department of Work and Pensions that my appeal against their judgement that I was fit enough to be working had been won.  I celebrated.  Hooray. A week later I got a letter with an enormous medical questionnaire to fill in – to start the whole process all over again. Persecution I call it.  I just couldn’t refrain from catarolysis.   

Catarolysis means letting off steam by cursing.

Prolepsis

In its simplest form prolepsis is anticpation.  In grammar it is the anticipation and answering of possible objections in rhetorical speech - the answering of an argument before one's opponent has put it forward.

It is also the anachronistic representation of something as existing before its proper or historical time;

The Free Dictonary by Farlex also adds -
a) the assignment of something, such as an event or name, to a time that precedes it, as in If you tell the cops, you're a dead man.
b) The use of a descriptive word in anticipation of the act or circumstances that would make it applicable, as dry in They drained the lake dry.
 

Pandy

To say that one had been pandied sounds rather jolly.  I (and GB) can assure you it isn’t.  Our Prep. school had one or two teachers who enjoyed pandying for no good reason.  It is an alternative word for being caned on the hand with a stick.  Such a pleasant sounding word shouldn’t be used for such an unpleasant experience!

  

Fulgor and fulgurous

Fulgor is an archaic word meaning dazzling brightness, splendour.   

Its adjective, fulgurous, is not mentioned as being archaic and therefore is presumably in current usage.  (Note the change of the 'o' to a 'u' in the word).  It is described as meaning dazzling; amazingly impressive; eye-popping; suggestive of the flashing of lightning or the cracking of a whip; emitting flashes of lightning or similar to lightning.

Lairwite

In medieval England, lairwite was a fine paid by a villein to the lord of the manor after his daughter committed fornication or adultery. Also spelled leywrite, learwite, and leyrewite. Some historians, such as Zvi Razi in Life, Marriage and Death in a Medieval Parish: Economy, Society and Demography in Halesowen, 1270-1400 , contend that this statement implies an illegitimate birth; however, not all historians agree that this action always resulted in the birth of a child.

Sorner

  
A sorner was at one time a criminal.  He used force or meance to procure food or lodgings for himself.  Gradually the criminal element of it declined and the word simply came to mean one who obtruded on others – especially his relatives and so-called friends - for his bed and board; an unwelcome guest.  Quite a few sorners made appearances in P G Wodehouse's books. The word seems to have fallen into disuse which is a shame since there are still a few sorners around.

Epistemology

Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge; the study of knowledge and justified belief.

I have just come across the word in ‘Galileo's Dream’ by Kim Stanley Robinson – a brilliant book which has given me, altogether, nineteen new words and a lot of quotations.  And that is not counting a number of words in Italian or of a very scientific nature that I didn’t look up.

Cotquean

   Cotquean is an archaic word for a man who involved himself overmuch in the affairs of women or busied himself with domestic matters traditionally regarded as suitable only for women.   It was used disparagingly.
The word was also used for a coarse or scolding woman, especially a masculine one.

Give someone the cold shoulder

   The phrase to give someone the cold shoulder means to be unfriendly; treat them with disdain; or have an unwelcome attitude towards someone.

The origin may be quite simple - if you turn away from someone that dismissive movement could easily have been called the cold shoulder.  The phrase seems to date from the nineteenth century.

On the other hand there is a more romantic story.  In Victorian times and earlier the guests were given a hot meal while the servants had to make do with the cold shoulder that also servee to provide the host's tea. So if a guest arrived and was provided with the cold shoulder of mutton they were being treated with disdain.  There's no evidence to suggest this origin but it's much more fun.