Moofer

Moofer is an acronym.  It stands for 'Mobile out-of-office worker' and refers to people who are employed but work from home rather than going into an office day by day.  The word was coined recently by James McCarthy, a Microsoft worker, in his blog entitled 'Mr Moof'.

No better than she should be

 If a girl is described as 'no better than she should be' one is suggesting, by this classic understatement, that she is immoral.  The first record of it is from an early 18th century translation of Cervantes  ‘Don Quixote’.    Whether it was coined at the time or was an earlier phrase that was in common usgae no one knows.  

Perhaps not surprisingly there is no equivalent male phrase that I am aware of.

Girandole

If you come across the word girandole you will need to know the context to understand its meaning because the word has a number of interpretations. It can be a type of firework, like a Catherine wheel; a revolving fountain jet; a type of candle holder; and a piece of jewellery in which a large central stone is surrounded by smaller ones.

This is one type of girandole.... 

 Ugh!

Spoffokins

 A spoffokins was a prostitute posing as a wife.  So presumably when “Mr and Mrs Jones” booked into a cheap hotel for just one night there was always a possibility she was a spoffokins!

Geromorphism

Geromorphism is the condition of appearing older than one’s age. I hope none of my readers suffer from it.  I'm sure you don't!

Hypocorism

 It took an e-mail from a Belarusian friend (whose English is brilliant) to alert me to this new word.  Thanks Mish.  It always amazes me how people learn foreign languages when the characters or alphabet are different.  I found it hard enough learning Latin and French with the same alphabet.

A hypocorism is a pet name or endearing name, often one using a diminutive affix.  For example, in English "Sally '' is a hypocorism for "Sarah ''.   

Similarly, in Russian, Mish is a hypocorism for Mishka.  Mishka (Мишка) means bruin which is in turn a hypocoristic for bear (Medved - Медведь).  So Mish is a double hypocorism if there is such a thing!

Alternatively, hypocorism can be another word for a euphemism - a mild or indirect word or expression for one too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.

The adjective from hypocorism is hypocoristic .

 

Momnesia

It has been thought in the past that mothers often recalled little of the first year of their child’s life – a concept known as momnesia.  In 2008 research confirmed there was a basis for such thought.  Apparently the parts of the woman’s brain needed to care for the young child block out extraneous matters and ‘take over’ those parts need for memory, hence momnesia.

Pica

Some pregnant women are said to suffer from pica but I have never actually met one.  Pica is the craving for eating non-comestible items like chalk and ashes.  It is pronounced PIKE-er and the word has been around since 1563.  

It appears to have its origins in the habits of the Magpie (French pica and now scientific name Pica pica).  Known for picking up glittery things, Magpies were thought to eat them.

Aboulia

Aboulia, also spelled abulia, means loss of will power.
 

Aboulia in neurology, refers to a lack of will or initiative and can be seen as a disorder of diminished motivation. Aboulia falls in the middle of the spectrum of diminished motivation, with apathy being less extreme and akinetic mutism being more extreme than aboulia.  A patient with aboulia is unable to act or make decisions independently. It may range in severity from subtle to overwhelming.

Put a sock in it

  

Put a sock in it means quieten down and is a politer, more jocular, alternative to shut up or stop that row.    

Its first appearance in print was in The Athenaeum on 8^th Auhust 1918.  That august (s well as August) magazine defined it as “Leave off talking, singing or shouting” and the fact that it had to be defined suggests it was a relatively new phrase.  Its most likely origin is in World War One slang and the thing that the sock was to be put in was the mouth – like the earlier expressions ‘put a cork’ in it and ‘put a bung in it’.

There is a popular story that the phrase originated with the idea of putting a sock in the old style phonograph which lacked a volume control but there is no evidence for this and it appeared after the gramophone had already been around for some time.

This cat is trying to get the phrase ‘put a cat in it’ into the books of English idioms but I doubt it will catch on!