Words for today

Adam Jacot de Boinod’s Wide World of Words

to drive turkeys to market (19th century English) to walk in a drunken, unsteady manner (the turkey-driver is forced to follow the birds’ meandering course along the road)

wayzgoose (1731) an entertainment given by a master printer to his workmen, marking the beginning of work by candle-light, usually about Bartholomew-tide (August 24) consisting of an annual outing and dinner

slavermagullion (Scottish dialect) a foolish and lubberly person

Nottingham goodnight (1950s) the loud slamming of doors and saying of Goodnight by a courting couple: this supposedly reassures the listening parents, and the couple, neither of whom have left, then retire to the sofa

bunting time (1699) when the grass is high enough to hide young men


Adam Jacot de Boinod worked on the first series of BBC Television’s QI for Stephen Fry, and is the author of The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from around the World – Penguin Books, £10.

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Welcome to …

Adam Jacot de Boinod’s  Wide World of Words

gulch (Newfoundland English 1895) to frequent a sheltered hollow for sexual intimacy

exhibition meal (Hobo slang) a handout eaten on the doorstep: the madam wants the neighbours to witness her generosity

growlery (Dickens: Bleak House 1852) a place to growl in; jocularly applied to a person’s private sitting room

shangle (Cumberland + Westmoreland dialects) to fasten a tin or kettle to a dog’s tail

Adam Jacot de Boinod worked on the first series of BBC Television’s QI for Stephen Fry, and is the author of The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from around the World – Penguin Books, £10.

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk

All your holiday needs: IN PRINT - ON-LINE - DiGiMAG - SMARTPHONE -TABLET - BLOG - TWITTER - G+ - FACEBOOK

Brush up your English, Russian airport staff told

#RUSSIA wants its customs and immigration staff at airports to brush up their English as part of a drive to boost the country’s tourist sector. It’s believed that foreign tourists find delays at airport immigration desks and the lack of English-language signs frustrating. 

Rimma Sachunova at the St. Petersburg Committee on Tourism Development says there is no excuse for customs staff to not know English. Ms Sachunova also said that efforts to include the English language in the city’s road and Metro signage were already underway.

‘We are working at ensuring that there is more signage in English in St. Petersburg. In fact, St. Petersburg is the only city in Russia that has English signage in all of its Metro stations,’ she said.

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