Wordwizard

I Googled the word “avatar”, and found somebody trying to sell them. What are they and do I need one?

My understanding is that it is a group of people all talking at once thereby making a loud noise but no sense. The original coining obviously made by someone who did not speak a Chinese language.

It could well have been a hoax, but it has been fun, and I have talked to people with whom I have had little contact for years, so it has even done some good.

I and the people around here pronounce it as the name of the pasty-faced android. The bat-uh rhyme is rare in the extreme, and I have never ever heard of a "gotta" rhyme. But I have a problem with Webster anyway, why would someone even think about starting to compile a dictionary when he couldn't sp...

Surely every vintage wine must by definition be a limited edition as there is certainly only going to be one 2004, 2005 etc.

I have now checked with a contact in Newcastle, and I found a Cornishman with a Mancunian wife in the pub last night. Regrettably no-one has heard of the expression. I think you have beaten me, I formally give up.

Faced with your predicament Dale I think I would have said “between 6 and 7 inclusively”. Although you were undoubtedly correct, Russ has pointed out how and why confusion could reign, and I have to say that you cannot assume that everyone has an understanding of the vagaries of the language.

This expression has buried itself under my skin. I circulated a fairly large group of English people who now live in Wales about the phrase, and although they come from all over England, none has heard of Annie or her home. It would be quite interesting to hear some more background, and in the meant...

My thanks for putting me in the right direction by at least having the right terminology.

Thanks for the tip Phil, I appreciate your advice. "The rub of the green" meaning good luck throughout a game is still widely used. I had assumed that it had come from bowls, but not that long ago. Just a thought though, surely bowls at that time would be a game similar to boules (pétanque) which in...

I had this from the Online Etymological Dictionary rub (v.) 1377, perhaps related to E.Fris. rubben "to scratch, rub," and Low Ger. rubbeling "rough, uneven," or similar words in Scandinavian (cf. Dan. rubbe "to rub, scrub," Norw. rubba), of uncertain origin. Hamlet's there's the rub (1602) preserve...

Just a theory, but Morris dancers who invariably dance with bells on their ankles do not usually wear them to and from the place they are to dance.

A dancer with bells on would be fully dressed and ready to go.

I have actually heard about an oath being sworn on the swearer’s own testicles. It was somewhere in the Mediterranean, Crete?

I would have thought you would feel a bit of a prick though.

Good grief Louis, I think you just managed an argument against yourself. Your last posting was gibberish to anyone who had not been following the thread, and bloody difficult for those of us who have.

I thought that you might like to know that coppish, (kop-pysh) is a word I have not seen or heard since childhood. We have an extra language in Wales called Wenglish, which was once described as speaking English through the medium of Welsh. Usually it is a use of Welsh grammar in English sentences e...