Mating Season Vocab Flashcards
Den of the Secret Nine
A fictional hideout of mysterious criminals; reflecting the popular books (Faceless Fiends, et al.) written by Edgar Wallace (1875–1932) and the mystery thriller genre as a whole [NTPM]. PGW repeatedly employs the upper case for comedic emphasis, as though in a book title or a name of a statue, etc.
mésalliance
Fr., misalliance, an improper or incompatible association, esp. in marriage [1730–40]
a bit of goose
something occurring, perhaps unexpectedly, that enriches, energizes, strengthens, or the like; a surprise bonus
I was at a loss to comprehend how the society of Madeline Bassett could cheer anyone up, she being from topknot to shoe sole the woman whom God forgot, but I didn’t say so.
Top knot to shoe sole
Woman whom God forgot
bien-être
well-being [noun] welfare
She is always very concerned about her mother’s well-being.
ease [noun] freedom from pain or from worry or hard work
welfare [noun] mental and physical health; living conditions
Espièglerie
Impish or playful behavior; mischief
Curvet
(third-person singular simple present curvets, present participle curveting or curvetting, simple past and past participle curveted or curvetted)
(intransitive) Of a horse or, by extension, another animal: to leap about, to frolic. quotations ▼
(transitive) To cause to leap about, dart or jump. quotations ▼
(of a bird) To fly or swim with darting movements. quotations ▼
(figuratively) (of a person) To prance; to caper, frolic. quotations ▼
(figuratively) (of an object) To jump, skip, shake. quotations ▼
Noun
A particular leap in which a horse raises both forelegs at once, equally advanced, and, as the forelegs are falling, raises the hind legs, so that all the legs are in the air at once. quotations ▼
A prank; a frolic.
To cheese
TransV
to put an end to : STOP
cheese it
—used in the imperative as a warning of danger
In round numbers
Approximately
“What we want is some situation where
Matthew 8:9
Centurion:
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me:
and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come,
and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
to stretch a point to oblige a relative
?
Instanta
adjective: occurring with no delay
“Dame Daphne blinked as if she had been struck on the mazzard with a wet dishcloth.”
Mazzard slang. Head, skull, after French for cherry
Mazard means cherry tree
“I don’t know if you happen to know it, but in Turkey all this insubordinate stuff, these attempts to dictate to the master of the house and the head of the family, would have led long before this to you being strangled with bowstrings and bunged into the Bosphorus.”
Funny line
“I quivered from brilliantine to shoe sole.”
noun: brilliantine
1.
DATED
scented oil used on men’s hair to make it look glossy.
2.
US
shiny dress fabric made from cotton and mohair or cotton and worsted.
