wayzgoose definitions

[David Randall]

wayzgoose - n. - A grease used for coating mothballed military equipment to
protect from rust or other corrosion.

wayzgoose - n. - A measure of length, now little used, varying in different
countries: in England equal to 45 inches.

wayzgoose - n. - (fr. Icelandic) An elderly shaman.

wayzgoose - n. - orig.  An entertainment given by a master-printer to his
workmen in August, marking the beginning of the season of working by
candle-light.  Later, an annual festivity held in summer by the employees of
a printing establishment, consisting of a dinner and (usu.) an excursion
into
the country.

wayzgoose - n. - An ointment prepared from tumbleweed seed oil and jojoba
oil.

wayzgoose (way-zhoos) - n. - In certain South American tribes, a god-like
leader figure.  Pidgin corruption of Jesus, after the arrival of Spanish
missionaries.

wayzgoose - n. - One of a pair of geese yoked together, often pulling a
small cart, for the purpose of weeding between garden rows or along the side
of the road or path.

wayzgoose - adj. - (Appalachian dialect) Restless, distracted.

wayzgoose - n. - 1.  Slippery clay used to lubricate the slipway in an
oyster mill.  2.  Hence, minor concessions offered by management to labor in
advance of a major demand.  ("'The Suffrage?', said one miner, to the
general approbation of his fellows.  'That's wayzgoose, that is.  What are
the b-----s going to ram down our throats now, I want to know.'" -- London
Times, Jan. 1914)

wayzgoose - v. - To travel in a reverse or opposite direction. From Whay's
Goose, originally (and incorrectly) reported to migrate north in winter and
south in spring.

David