Slicklegging

I'm not going so far as to admit that I participate in slicklegging. I just came serendipitously across slicklegging while watching the fabulous adaptation of Jake Arnott's The Long Firm by the BBC. Here is the according excerpt of that scene from the book:

I suppose he seems fellatio as an expression of democracy. He once confined his conviction that ingesting young & vigorous semen counters the effect of aging. He was quite serious about it. I replied that it was probably the closest he'd ever get to transubstantiation. I'm not adverse to it myself but I usually like to maintain a proper posture when mingling with the masses. Mutual masturbation, I think is the tedious technical term. I hate this modern definitions. Makes everything sound coldly medical rather than deliriously sinful. There's an ancient word that far better describes my pleasure. Slicklegging

According to Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition by Barry Richard Burg, the expression slicklegging does not extend into heterosexual vocabulary.

Der innere Schweinehund

The biggest obstacle to get sufficient exercise is is called in German der innere Schweinehund, which has to be overcome.

Literally translated, this is the inner swine dog. What is actually means is that one has to overcome one's lack of will power or one's weaker self. But it so much easier to blame an anonymous swine than oneself.

Desamor

When reading Deadwing's recent posts, the Spanish word desmaor came to mind, which stands for the lack or absence of love and affection.

Despite all the love songs, Spanish is far from being a romantic language. When it comes to love, it's even brutally realistic by not believing in eternal love.

There are two verbs which can be used for to be, ser and estar. A bit simplified, ser is used for things that last and estar for those that don't. If love would not eventually turn into desamor, we were to say soy enamorado. But love will go to blazes, eventually - hence, one has to say estoy enamorado.

However, it's still better to experience estoy enamorado, than being denied the feeling at all.

Pelican Crossing

I serendipitously came across the term pelican crossing in a post by Jae on things he’ll never understand.

The term pelican crossing seems to be a rather British thing. Actually it's wrong. The official name is Pelicon crossing (short for PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled crossing). That is, if a pedestrian wants to cross, he has to press a button and to wait for the tiny green man to appear (the one on the signal not the one from Mars).

The British have an entire zoo related to the possibility of pedestrians being able to cross the road:

• Zebra Crossings, which feature alternating dark and light stripes on the road surface.
• Panda crossing: a zebra crossing which has warning signals (Belisha beacons), but no control signals.
• Puffin crossing, which has the lights on the same side as the pedestrian
• Toucan crossing is a crossing for pedestrians and bicycles
• Pegasus crossing allows horse-riders to cross as well.

pout

I serendipitously came across pout, when following an item shared by Mr.Mac.

mojo

I serendipitously came across mojo on Sylv's blog, who wrote today: My MOJO is soooooooooooooooo definitely back!!

There are basically two meanings. One comes from the Marine Corps world: Originally a concoction of hard liquors designed for the sole purpose of getting drunk. Also used to mean a swaggering approach or smooth talking individual, as in "He's got his MOJO goin'..

I have the slight feeling Sylv does not mean that but personal magnetism or charm.

The term has an interesting etymology:

from Fula
This word originated in Cameroon

If your mojo is working, you lead a charmed life. That's because mojo, in its original sense, is a charm, kept in a cloth bag. Depending on which conjure doctor you go to, the charm can be roots, rats, snakes, lizards, pumpkin seeds, dirt, clay, or steel wool. Those were ingredients mentioned in North Carolina in 1962. Back in the late 1930s, in Memphis, Tennessee, to make a mojo one expert said you would sew a red flannel bag with these ingredients: High John de Conker (a plant known also as Solomon's seal), black lodestone, Adam and Eve root, and violet incense powders. A 1946 account from New Orleans said that the mojo was "the leg bone of a black cat that's been killed in a graveyard at midnight."

If your mojo is working, you have sex appeal. But if someone else touches or even sees your mojo, it can lose its power. That's the explanation of the lyrics in the 1928 blues song: "My rider's got a mojo and she won't let me see.... She's got to fool her daddy, she's got to keep that mojo hid; but papa's got something for to find that mojo with." Written evidence for the word goes back to 1926 in the song title, "My Daddy's Got the Mojo, But I Got The Say-So." Nowadays the word is widely used, often with no reference to a magical cloth bag but simply meaning power, influence, or advantage.

The word is African American. Its origin is uncertain, but it seems probable that mojo ultimately came from Africa. If it did, a good candidate for the source is moco'o, meaning a conjure doctor or person who works magic. That word is from the Fula or Fulfulde language, a member of the Fulani branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Fula is spoken as a native language by two-thirds of a million people in Cameroon, and by four million more in Cameroon as a second language. One other English word that may possibly come from Fula (if not from Mandingo) is yam (1657).

scrummy

I serendipitously came across scrummy when enjoying a comment by Mickle in NZ on my post on Bresaola Chiavennasca.

Etymology 1: blend of scrumptious and yummy

Adjective scrummy (comparative scrummier, superlative scrummiest): Childish term for delicious

Etymology 2: blend of school-run and mummy

Noun scrummy (plural scrummies): (UK, pejorative) (slang) a woman who causes traffic congestion by driving her offspring to and from school.