jocular
121juggler — (n.) c.1100, iugulere jester, buffoon, also wizard, sorcerer, from O.E. geogelere magician, conjurer, also from Anglo Fr. jogelour, O.Fr. jogleor (acc.), from L. ioculatorem (nom. ioculator) joker, from ioculari to joke, to jest (see JOCULAR (Cf …
122παιγνήμονα — παιγνήμων jocular neut nom/voc/acc pl παιγνήμων jocular masc/fem acc sg …
123formal words — Fowler (1926) aptly identified words ‘that are not the plain English for what is meant’ and characterized choice between different words for the same thing in terms of the clothes we choose: ‘we tell our thoughts, like our children, to put on… …
124jewel — [13] Originally, jewel meant ‘costly adornment made from precious stones or metals’ – a sense now largely restricted to the collective form jewellery [14]. The main modern sense ‘gem’ emerged towards the end of the 16th century. The word comes… …
125joke — [17] Latin jocus meant ‘jest, joke’ (a possible link with Old High German gehan ‘say’ and Sanskrit yācati ‘he implores’ suggests that its underlying meaning was ‘word play’). It passed into Old French as jeu, which lies behind English jeopardy… …
126fiend, you — The Oxford English Dictionary, in its inimitable way, remarks that fiend can be ‘applied with jocular hyperbole to a person or agency causing mischief or annoyance’. The reference is to expressions like ‘autograph fiend’, ‘cyclist fiend’,… …
127dirty old man — {n. phr.} An older man who shows an unhealthy interest in young girls. * / Stay away from Uncle Algernon, Sally, her mother warned. He is a dirty old man. / …
128dirty old man — {n. phr.} An older man who shows an unhealthy interest in young girls. * / Stay away from Uncle Algernon, Sally, her mother warned. He is a dirty old man. / …
