Minacious

Minacious means threatening. Your invented meanings were far better. Thanks for joining in. The winner on today's poll was silver_flight. Great work!

Swarf

In reality, swarf describes a group of pilings or chips of wood or metal. The kind of stuff that I usually call sawdust, perhaps. Your invented meanings were many and varied and I enjoyed them all. Congratulations to Winiata for his excellent invented meaning. I agree with the pollsters.

Cringle

A cringle might be found on a rue-raddy, funnily enough. It's the part of a rope called the eye where there is a metallic thimble looking thingy so that another rope can pass through the eye. I enjoyed your various invented meanings and am pleased to announce that Iota was the winner in the voting stakes. Great work, Iota.

Rue-raddy

A rue-raddy is handy. It's a belt or rope which you throw over your shoulder to help you drag something along. Not sure if they do that at the Olympics. We're all very excited in New Zealand to have finally won some medals. Go the Kiwis! Hope you're all enjoying the coverage as much as we are. Great work Sandra Dodd! You received the gold medal in today's vote.

Geostrophic

Geostrophic means depending on the earth's rotation. I guess our existence on this planet, therefore, is somewhat geostrophic. What a wonderful array of invented meanings from the serious to the utterly bewildering - and everything in between. I'm glad I'm back with the game. Well done to Mandy, our poll winner today.

Snickersnee

A snickersnee is really a knife which is used as a weapon. Hopefully not something any of the word imps will encounter any time soon. The meanings invented by The Encourager and Livelyclamor polled equally and are hereby declared dual winners - without so much as a snickersnee in sight.

Word Imp is Back!

Hi everyone. My squillions of apologies for being so absent for all these months. Thanks for wondering and worrying. I'm fine. No visible wounds. No horrible diseases. Just so busy that something had to give. Sadly, it was this blog for the time being. A huge part of me wants to keep going with it. I wonder how easy (or difficult) it will be for me to start it up again. Let me know through your comments whether you are still keen. Thanks for your interest.

Nepenthe

After what has been too long to admit, I am finally able to reveal the true meanings of nepenthe to those of you who haven't already looked in the dictionary. Funnily enough, nepenthe is a drug which allows you to forget your grief. I shall now sprinkle all my trusty word imps with a healthy dose of nepenthe so they will rush back to this blog with no feelings of sadness over our temporary parting. Things are sooo back to normal that I am also happy to report that we have finally voted for a winner for this intriguing word. Thanks to Greedy Biscuit Baron for a fabulous meaning - I fully agree with the voting public.

Desquamatory

Desquamatory actually means coming off in scales. I'm glad I know that now, as I'm sure it will come in useful some day. Your invented meanings were all even more wonderfully crafted than usual. Thanks for working so hard to come up with originality and creativity galore. After a very long wait, I'm happy to announce Lydia as the winner on this occasion. Well done, Lydia.

Sternutative

Sternutative describes something which causes you to sneeze. Useful, I'm sure you'll agree. Thanks for your excellent invented meanings. I enjoyed them very much. Congratulations to Thinks! who has come up trumps again with the voters.

Noetic

I can be described as noetic, even though I wasn't aware of it until now. A noetic person is given to intellectual pursuits. It refers to anything related to the intellect. And if anything relates to the intellect, it's this blog. So we're all noetic. Thanks for your noetic invented meanings. The winner on the poll was Yaamyn. Well done, Yaamyn.

Phillumenist

A phillumenist, for those who haven't already cheated by looking it up in the dictionary, is a collector of match box labels. Probably an old school hobby since I'm not sure there are that many match boxes produced these days. Feel free to prove me wrong, though. I'm hoping that little gem will be of use some time when one of us is on 'who wants to be a millionaire?' Anyway, I digress. Your invented meanings were exceptional, as usual. The votes were well spread, but Thinks! came away with a good win. Well done!

Clumber

Oddly enough, a clumber is a type of spaniel. I was thoroughly impressed with your invented meanings, as usual. The pollsters chose the meaning contributed by Sandy Feet as today's winner. Great work, SF.

Hierophant

The real meaning of hierophant (according to my dictionary) is an initiating priest or one who expounds on sacred mysteries. Doesn't mean a heck of a lot to me but I hope it helps someone. Our invented meanings were far easier to digest and much funnier. Well done to you all. Auntibeck received the highest number of votes on the poll. Great work.

Goniometer

A goniometer measures angles. Quite boring really. I always called that a protractor at school. Perhaps a goniometer won't fit in a pencil case. Your invented meanings were intriguing. The poll winner was The Encourager. Congrats and keep up the great work.

Thremmatology

Thremmatology is the science of breeding animals and plants. Not very scientific, I would have thought. Not with animals anyway. They seem to manage it quite well without scientific intervention. However, I digress. Your invented meanings for thremmatology wowed me. I can't believe how many invented meanings are still out there waiting for words. Thanks to all the word imps who are participating in this journey. It's a happy diversion. And thanks also to Magdalene for providing us for a winning meaning for thremmatology. Great work.

Clunch

I knew clunch would draw in the word imps. Its real meaning, however, is less than fascinating. Clunch is soft limestone used in carving. My dictionary says it's white and the carving work is internal which might mean indoors. Not sure about that. A carver out there might be able to throw some light on it. Your invented meanings for clunch, however, were fabulous. Exemplary. I loved them all. And well done to Thesaurus Rex who had a runaway win on the poll. Well deserved.

Scansorial

Scansorial is about climbing. It either seems to refer to the action of climbing or the part of the anatomy of an animal which has been adapted for climbing. Your invented meanings, of course, were far more interesting and complicated. Well done to Sandy Feet who got most of the votes on the poll. Great meaning.

Clypeus

Clypeus describes the shield like section of an insect's head. I don't recall learning that in science classes but it wasn't my strong point. Thanks for your wonderful invented meanings. I enjoyed them immensely and am happy to report that we've had a tie no the poll. So congratulations go to Scaredy Cat and Greedy Biscuit Baron. Well done, both of you.

Deutzia

Deutzia is nowhere near as interesting as our word imps imagined. It's a white flowered shrub. Plain and simple. Hope that's not too disappointing! Your meanings, on the other hand, were far from disappointing. Congrats to realityjunkie for her winning meaning on the poll. Great work!