Moquette

Moquette is a material used for making carpets and upholstery. It's a mixture of wool and hemp or linen, according to my faithful dictionary. The invented meanings, of course, showed far more originality, with Duckman being the favoured one today. Well done, Duckman.

Gimcrack

A gimcrack is a useless ornament. And, might I add, one that increases its uselessness by gathering unsightly dust. Nevertheless, several gimcracks seem to gather dust on our shelves. This word certainly sparked the imaginations of a wide range of word imps today. Of course, that made the choosing that much harder. Voting on the poll was tight but I was pleased that Gypsy Queen came out on top because her meaning was a great one. Congratulations, Gypsy Queen.

Sciolist

A sciolist is someone who pretends to speak intelligently about a topic which they actually know very little about. My husband can be quite the sciolist when the mood takes him. His specialty is false botanical plant names. You have my permission to be a sciolist when the need arises. It's fun. Our top three sciolists on the poll all got the same number of votes so they're all winners. So, well done to Brian O Vretanos, Alina Escalante and Maalie.

Struthious

Struthious means like an ostrich. I will enjoy using that word in context and surprising my friends with the depth of my vocabulary. I enjoyed the blog meanings very much, and am pleased to announce Aviva as the winner on the poll. Well done and welcome back, Aviva.

Scissel

Scissel is the correct term for metal shavings or any excess metal waste such as the remainder of a metal plate after coins have been punched from it. Those of you who have occasion to be around fragments of metal will now have just the right word for the stuff. Happy to have been of assistance on that one. It turned out that the voters favoured two meanings equally today. So Wunx~ and Silver_flight are joint winners. Congratulations, you two.

Pergunnah

A pergunnah is a division of territory in India. A bit like a state or region maybe, only a bit smaller I think. Perhaps one of our Indian word imps can throw some light on that one in due course. One blog comment may have been questioning the fairness of my use of an Indian word. In reply, I would say that I only use words which are in my English dictionary and sometimes they happen to be words from other countries. Congratulations to Duckman who achieved the highest number of votes on the poll.

Duumvir

A duumvir is a member of a board which contains two officials of equal standing. Well, that's my interpretation of the dictionary meaning anyway. I believed it's from the Latin. The wonderful invented meanings made my decision particularly difficult today, but Raelha was the final winner on the poll. Great work, Raelha.

Wampee

A wampee is a tree which grows in China and yields grape-like fruit, also called wampee of course - or so says my dictionary. I've never seen or eaten a wampee to the best of my knowledge. Nor been to China. Thanks for your inventive meanings today. The Mad Fishicist was too hard to beat this time. Thanks for that, TMF.

Minacious

Minacious means threatening. Mmmm. I will try to keep that in mind. It could be useful. The blog meanings were not at all threatening and I've placed three on the poll. It was very hard to choose, as each had its merits. So well done to you all. Shari got the most voters, which makes her another happy customer. Good for you, Shari!

Ginglymus

A ginglymus is a joint in the body such as the elbow which works like a hinge and has motion in two directions. There you go! Another useful fact! Who said learning can't be fun? No doubt the medicos out there in word imperia were chuckling to themselves about knowing that one. There was plenty of fun on the blog with ginglymus. The invented meaning of Thinks! found favour with the voters. Well done, Thinks!

Caudle

Mmmm. Caudle sounds rather delicious. It's a warm gruel which includes spice, sugar and wine which is given to invalids and new mothers. Sounds great. Your invented meanings for caudle were just as delightful. The voters agreed that the meaning created by aandthirtyeights was a stand out. I agree. Well done!

Thanatoid

Thanatoid actually describes something deadly, deathlike or apparently dead. Appropriate, coincidentally, with today being the release day for J K Rowling's latest book. I haven't bought mine yet. I put three meanings on the blog and each of them gaining a third of the votes - which means we have a three way tie! Congratulations to J Morgetron, Duckman and Bee. You all deserve it. Great work.

Pyaemia

Pyaemia is not for the squeamish. It's blood poisoning caused by pus-forming bacteria. I'm sorry I had to go into so much detail. Let's move on, shall we? So, pyaemia didn't have very much to do with pies - although plenty of the invented meanings did. Heaps of fun had by all on the blog as usual. Bea N. Random invented a great meaning and it was good enough to win today. Congrats!

Naiad

A naiad is a water nymph. I had a lot of fun reading today's invented meanings - as I always do. It's one of the day's highlights and keeps me going through thick and thin. Judi's was a runaway winner - and one that I particularly enjoyed as well. Thanks for making us happy Judi.

Teknonymy

Teknonymy is the practice of renaming a parent after a child. I'm indebted to silver_flight for the following information found on wikipedia about teknonymy in Korea: Teknonymy, or referring to parents by their children's names, is a common practice. It is most commonly used in referring to a mother by the name of her eldest son, as in "Cheol-su's mom". However, they can also be extended to either parent and any child, depending upon the context. It looks as though this technique is used in order to help avoid the use of the person's actual given name, which in Korean society is apparently a taboo. Now, we're all just that bit wiser. In terms of invented meanings, the race to the winning post was very tight. In fact, there was a dead heat for first. Pastor Phil and Thinks! share the honours today. Well done, you two!

Velleity

Velleity is a low degree of volition which doesn't prompt any action. I think I kind of understand that. It was suggested by one of our word imps. Thanks for that, Wunx~. Some interesting meanings made it to the blog again today. Raelha was the winner, in a close race. Well done, Raelha.

Cloop

Cloop is the sound of a cork being drawn. Well, of course! Who didn't know that? Me, for one. But now you tell me, it is rather obvious. Interesting array of meanings on the blog today. After much fun and games with the voting process, I can announce that the favourite was the invention of Brian O Vretanos. Well done, Brian.

Punctum

A punctum is a small speck, spot, which is flat, indented or raised on a surface. I know someone with a punctum in the middle of their dishwasher door. I shall refer to it by its proper name in future. I loved the meanings for punctum from the word imps today. Very innovative and impressive. The Mad Fishicist was the final winner on the poll, after some trouble actually retrieving the poll. Perhaps his meaning sent the poll AWOL. But it's back and that's what matters most. Yay!

Hoosegow

Hoosegow is a term used in the old American west to describe a jail. Apparently, it came from a Spanish word, 'juzgado'. Thanks to Raelha for the suggestion for this word which gave us all a lot of fun on the blog today. Auntibeck pleased the voters with her meaning. Well done, Auntibeck. Tops again.

Muniment

A muniment is an archival document kept as a record of proof in relation to rights and privileges. Something old and dusty by the sound of it. Great meanings on the blog, with the winning meaning suggested by Ingrid. Well done, Ingrid.

Couvade

A couvade is something you may need to know, so listen carefully. I shall say this only once. A couvade (koo-vahd) is a primitive custom. It occurs if a wife is having a well earned lie in. The husband in such circumstances can stage a couvade by pretending to be so ill that he needs to be put to bed beside his wife. One of our word imps has also informed me that the word also has connotations of being connected with childbirth, with the husband taking to the birthing bed to share the pain. I think I got that right. Anyway, the winning invented meaning today was suggested by Raelha. Thanks for your creativity, Raelha and congratulations on a well-deserved win.

Vambrace

Sometimes a word lends itself particularly well to invented meanings. Vambrace is one of those wonderful words. And the word imps did not let me down. I giggled my way through a particularly busy and frustrating day, so thanks for that. The real meaning of vambrace is useful but pretty ordinary, I'm sorry to say. It's armour for the forearm. Realityjunkie won the battle of the pollsters with her wonderful meaning. Great work again, RJ.

Mutograph

A mutograph was an early form of motion picture camera. The word imps had a lot of fun making up meanings for mutograph. Great work everyone. The voters chose the work of Alex Beech as winner today. Congratulations, Alex and thanks for the clarification of your great definition.

Timocracy

Timocracy is a form of government where you need to have a certain amount of property to qualify for office. Hmmmm. The invented meanings for timocracy were at least as dubious and all interesting. The favourite by far was brought to us by Bea N. Random. Congratulations for creating a great meaning.

Bedlamite

A bedlamite is a lunatic. Another amazing fact for me to tuck away into my overworked memory banks. The invented meanings were far from lunatic, in the main, and the best one was suggested by Thinks! Obviously a well named blogger.

Rotifer

A rotifer is a microscopic water animal with rotary organs used for swimming. Fascinating. The word rotifer offered plenty of opportunity for a wide range of inventiveness among our merry band of wordsters. Magdalene was a popular winner on the poll. Excellent work, Magdalene.

Lentitude

Lentitude is sluggishness - something I'm feeling at the moment after a long drive south to my home. I thoroughly enjoyed the invented meanings - a great tonic for a weary mind. Yaamyn was a well deserved winner on the poll. Great work, Yaamyn.

Tintinnabulate

To tintinnabulate is to ring a bell, as many of you would have been aware. However, it's a beautiful word that I'm sure could do with more extensive use. So, dear word imps, go forth and tintinnabulate. Your invented meanings showed a degree of inventiveness for which I was particularly proud today. Vicki B was the winner in a close race on the poll. Well done, Vicki.

Musette

A musette is a small bagpipe. I saw one at the Auckland Museum on Tuesday night when we took the children to Egyptian night at the Museum. The musette isn't Egyptian, I don't think, but we were waiting for some time before the start of the performance and spent our waiting moments reading about all the different kinds of instruments on show. The musette was one of them. I don't remember it looking anything like a bagpipe but, then again, I had to look at it by the light of a torch. Thanks for adding your meanings for musette. I liked the meaning invented by silver_flight and so did lots of you, as it was the winner on the poll. Well done, s_f.

Jargonelle

A jargonelle is yummy. It's an early ripening pear. What a large number of interesting entries this time. I'm impressed. I thought it might be a bit of a limiting word but not to the word imps of blogothea! Yaamyn and Dina Baxter tied as winners on today's shorter than usual poll. Well done both of you.

Crankle

Crankle is a verb which means to bend and twist. Lots of interesting meanings from the word imps out there in blogland. Thanks for your dedication, as always. Realityjunkie was the winner on the poll. Well done, RJ.