Monthly Archives: December 2016

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word of the day – parwhobble

parwhobble

(n.) a parley or conference between two or three persons (dialect)
(vb.) to talk continuously, so as to engross the conversation; to talk quickly, to chatter (dialect)

From: An Exmoor Scolding:
In the Propriety and Decency of Exmoor Language,
Between Two sisters, Wilmot Moreman and Thomansin Moreman as they were spinning,
Peter Lock, 1782
An Exmoor courtship
P.20
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Word of the Day – minimifidian

minimifidian, adj. and n.

That reduces faith to a minimum; having little faith.
Origin:A borrowing from Latin, combined with English elements. Etymons: Latin minimus, -i- connective, -fidian comb. form.

Etymology: <  classical Latin minimus smallest (see minimum n. and adj.) + -i- connective + -fidian comb. form, after nullifidian n. and adj., solifidian n. and adj.

N.E.D. (1906) gives the pronunciation as (mi:nimifi·diăn) /ˌmɪnɪmɪˈfɪdɪən/.
 Obs. rare.

 A.adj.

  That reduces faith to a minimum; having little faith.

1825  S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. 356 The Minimi-fidian party err grievously in the latter point.
1854 Harper’s Mag. June 117/1 These attempts to prop up our belief by the endorsement of the politician, or the patronizing certificate of the minimifidian man of science.
 B.n.

  A person who has the least possible faith in something.

1882 Spectator 2 Dec. 1547 Lady Bloomfield’s ‘supernatural’ stories..are not of a kind to challenge the scrutiny of a minimifidian in pneumatology.
Derivatives
 minimifidianism n.

1825  S. T. Coleridge Aids Refl. 207 Again, there is a scheme constructed on the principle of retaining the social sympathies, that attend on the name of believer, at the least possible expenditure of belief… And this expenditure I call Minimifidianism.