Saturday 21 January 2012

Words you didn't know you didn't know 3

Following on from Words you didn't know you didn't know, Words you didn't know you didn't know 2, German words you didn't know you didn't know, Words you didn't know you didn't know that start with A and Anglo-Saxon words you didn't know you didn't know, here's another selection of words for everyday objects that may skipped under your radar.

Achenes - (pronounced ah-keens) The little yellow seeds on the outside of a strawberry.
Arcuate Vanes - The raised ridges on the top surface of a Frisbee.
Baisemain - That slightly creepy kiss on the female hand beloved of cads and bounders.
Bobèche - The widened ring at the top of a candlestick that catches the first of the melted wax.
Calamus - The tubey bit at the base of a feather that is cut for use as a quill pen.
Caruncula - That pink blob in the inside corner of your eye where all the sleepy grit forms.
Dragées - (pronounced drah-zhay) The proper name for those edible silver balls you put on top of cakes.
Eyes - The correct and somewhat macabre official term for the holes in Swiss cheeses.
Fines - The dusty remnants in the bottom of packets of cereal.
Frog - That hollow in the top and bottom of a housebrick that you slap the cement into.
Gari - The pickled pink ginger slices served with sushi.
Glassine - The thin shiny paper that you get inside boxes of chocolates or from which the chocolate cups are made.
Gluteal Crease - Where your arse meets the top of your thighs.
Grawlix - A series of typographic symbols used to replace a swear word e.g. 'I've cut my &%£! finger off!'
Keeper - The loop on a belt that you tuck the excess into so that it doesn't flap about.
Muselets - The wire cage around a champagne cork.
Pediddle - A car with one headlight out.
Pips - The dots on dice.
Rowels - The spiked wheels on a pair of spurs.
Samaras - The correct name for 'helicopter' seeds shed by sycamore, ash, maple and elm trees.
Splat - The flat piece of wood in the centre of a chair back.
Tang - The part of the knife blade that extends into the handle.
Toorie - The little bobble on top of a tam o'shanter.
Ullage - The air space in the top of a bottle of wine.
Zarf - The metal holder and handle into which a glass teacup fits. Also used for the cardboard sleeve around paper cups in coffee shops although that should be called a clutch.

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