TERMS USED IN THIS PAPER

compiled by Melvin Toolstoy

The following are words that we found deep inside the bowels of the dictionary. Although we have never seen or heard of these terms before yesterday we have crammed them into our vocabulary in an attempt to impress our many literate readers. We have worn out many more common words and have chosen to remain poly-lingual and multi-dimensional in our quest for morality in semantics.

beray – to make foul, to soil.

tinchel – a ring formed by hunters to trap deer.

onomatophobia – the fear of hearing a certain word.

gyascutus – a huge, imaginary, four-legged beast with legs on one side longer than the other, enabling it to walk on steep hillsides (U.S.).

boobook – the Australian morepork.

ophiomancy – fortune telling with snakes.

halfpace – 1.) a platform with stairs used for thrones or altars. 2.) a staircase landing or broad step between two half-flights going in different directions.

aissaoua – a sect of Moroccan dervishes.

syngenesphobia – the fear or dislike of relatives.

ophthalmophobia – the fear of being stared at.

rounceval – large or strong (from the huge bones found at Roncevalles, France). 1.) anything huge. 2.) a bad-mouthed old woman. 3.) the marrowfat pea.

uxorodespotism – wifely tyranny.

ruelle – 1.) a select social gathering (from the French custom of entertaining special friends in one’s bedroom). 2.) the bedroom 3.) the space between the bed and the wall.