Subject: RANTIPOLE ballot

From: Ranjit Bhatnagar <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2001 01:14:15 +0000 (GMT)

A veritable fidola of definitions this time.  Cast the usual
2-pt and 1-pt votes and get them to me before November ends.
Send rantipole poetry for extra credit*.  Meanwhile, have a
murnival Thanksgiving!

- Ranjit (my regular email is back in service at
  [email-masked])

* extra credit has no value

RANTIPOLE
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rantipole, 1. adj.  of a domestic animal, lethargic.  By extension, 
of humans.  2. n. a viral disease of the brain in cattle.

   "Without a doubt, these behemoths were of the lowest forms of animal 
   life.  Even under the ceaseless lashes of their cruel masters they 
   moved only sluggishly, their rantipole nature proving proof against 
   pain."

   E. R. Burroughs, _Tarzan at the Earth's Core_.

rantipole, n. [French, from Greek rantizein sprinkle + polos colt - 
more at FOAL] A device for giving showers to horses, consisting of 
a canister of water, a pump, and a shower head mounted on a pole.

rantipole (3 syl.). A harum-scarum fellow, a madcap (Dutch, randten, to be
in a state of idiotcy or insanity, and pole, a head or person). The late 
Emperor Napoleon III. was called Rantipole, for his escapades at Strasbourg
and Boulogne. In 1852 I myself saw a man commanded by the police to leave 
Paris within twenty-four hours for calling his dog Rantipole. 
    
    "Dick, be a little rantipolish."
    
    Colman: Heirat-Law.  

rantipole -  adj. - Located upstream and to one side; adv. - Diagonally
against the current.  [from Gr. Rantipoulai, a treacherous ferry 
crossing on the Aliakmon River] 

rantipole (n.) -- 1.  (Naut.) A subordinate officer who plays the role of
captain for the passengers on a luxury ship, to relieve the actual captain
of ceremonial duties.  2.  Any double hired to impersonate a celebrity in 
public appearances.  3.  One who suffers misfortunes actually due to 
another; a fall guy.  [After Leon Rantipole (1891-1924), ostensible 
captain of the ill-fated passenger liner Sempronia, who was left by the 
real captain to go down with the ship.]

Main Entry: rantipole 
Function: noun 
Etymology: after Carlo di Rantipoli, paramour of Caterina de
Medici-Gonzaga. 
Date: 1700
stock role of undercover lover or "back-door man" in Italian comic
opera. Tha rantipole often masquerades as a tradesman or servant. 

Pictured here, David Bennett as the omelet-making rantipole, Silvio, in
Bizet's farce, Dr. Miracle.
http://www.moonmilk.com/fictionary/rantipole.jpg

rantipole, adj. Disagreeable; pugnacious.

    Though they fight with ill grace for a popular place
       At a theatre or concert or races,
    Though rantipole blades sneer at blighted old maids,
       And puff bad cigars in their faces,
    Though they cover with shame any elderly dame,
       Who elicits unkind observations,
    How they twist and they twirl to a pretty young girl!
       It's by far the politest of nations!
    
    --Bab (W.S. Gilbert), "The Politest of Nations!" (1869)

Rantipole n. flagpole sitter with megaphone who has
lots of things to complain about

rantipole (n.) - An undeserved epithet (from Duke Rantipole the
Enlightened of Luxembourg, 1517-1533.)

Rantipole- This word has three very different meanings:  1) rantipole, n. 
(4 syllables) Usually used in the  plural, with an "s", to refer to the 
north and south magnetic poles of the earth or other planet.  The Italian
astronomer and aurora specialist Angelo Ranti is the source of this
definition.  2) rantipole, adj. (4 syllables)  Running around in a very
agitated manner, with wild arm swings.  Also named after Angelo Ranti, who
was an expressive talker.  3) rantipole, n. (3 syllables) A very odiferous
member of the civet family.

rantipole (adj) - inappropriately merry or jocose.  From Sir Thurmley
Rantipole, onetime member of the Pickwick Club, responsible for Samuel 
Pickwick's release from Fleet Prison.  [The Pickwick Papers, Charles 
Dickens' first novel (serialized under the title The Posthumous Papers
of the Pickwick Club between April 1836 and November 1837)] 

rantipole--n.-- (Devon dialect, fr. Cornish _rhan dyffyl_, a prince's
concubine) 1. a prostitute, a promiscuous woman.  2. (arch.) an abbess.

rantipole:  The center dancer in the Oxford Morris, traditionally
performed at Midsummer.  The Rantipole wears not only the usual
white trousers and shirt, bells, ribbons, and long stockings, but
also a broad hat trimmed with flowers.  He carries a staff with
a large garland of flowers, which he tosses into the air at random
intervals.

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