Category: Word of the Day – B

Word of the Day: BELLY-FURNITURE

ETYMOLOGY
– from belly + furniture (a provision, stock, or supply of anything; stores in general, provisions; necessaries obs.)

EXAMPLE
“…For that, having a great desire to obey the pleasure of the king, I armed myself from toe to top with belly furniture, of the soles of good venison-pasties, to go see how my grape-gatherers and vintagers had pinked and cut full of small holes their high-coped caps, to lecher it the better, and play at in and in…”

From: The Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais
Printed for The Navarre Society, Volume I, 1653
The Second Book of Dr. Francis Rabelais
Chapter XI. How the Lords of Kissebreech and Suckfist did plead before Pantagruel without an Atturney

Word of the Day: BELLY-SLAVE

ETYMOLOGY
– from belly + slave

EXAMPLE
“…The Sermon against to himself, by drinking, sorrow and care, with perpetual infamy and reproach unto the world’s end. If God spared not his servant Lot, being otherwise a godly man, nephew what will he do to these beastly belly-slaves, which, void of all godliness or virtuous behaviour, not once, but continually day and night, give themselves wholly to bibbing and banqueting?…”

From: Certain Sermons or Homilies Appointed to be Read in Churches 
in the Time of the Late Queen Elizabeth of Famous Memory
The Church of England, 1822
An Homily Against Gluttony and Drunkenness, 1562

Word of the Day: BLESILOQUENT

ETYMOLOGY
– from Latin blæsiloquentem,
from blæsus (lisping, stammering) + (loquentem speaking)

EXAMPLE
“…They might gracefully call gentlemen on the other side of the House either blesiloquent or superbiloquent, and they might accuse an opponent of morology with impunity, whereas if they were to say that he was “talking like a fool,” they might be called to order by the Speaker, who would consider them immorigerous (rude), and describe their behaviour as propudious (shameful)…”

From: The Saturday Review
Of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art
No. 1,834, Vol. 70, December 20, 1890
The New World of Words

Word of the Day: BUNGFUNGER

ETYMOLOGY
– ? from bumfuddled,
? from bamboozle

EXAMPLE
“…Well, father, I thought he’d a fainted too, he was so struck up all of a heap, he was completely bung fungered; dear, dear, said he, I didn’t think it would come to pass so soon, but I knew it would come; I foretold it…”

From: The Clockmaker
or The Sayings and Doings of Samuel Slick,
Thomas Chandler Haliburton, 1836