pilliwinks results

[FPoodry at aol.com]

Hi all!  Happy Labor Day, and I hope you (like me) get a three-day-weekend!  
I also hope your weather is as nice as the weather here today- crisp and 
bright and not too hot, with low humidity!
Anyway, Joe is the winner, by virtue of voting for the correct definition!  
Ranjit had as many vote points.
-Fran

Here's the tally and the comments:

-------------------------------------------
pilliwinks (n.)  One of three standard patterns for parading a horse for 
judging in an equestrian competition, consists of directing the horse three times 
around in a figure-eight pattern.  See also carabot and plimney.
-Joe, 11
Elliott 2, David 2, Aussie 2, Melissa 1, Jean-Joseph 1, James 1, correct 
guess 2
Non-obvious!  One point for the idea, and one point for the see-also. 
(Elliott)
I like it! (Aussie)
For the creativity of thinking up carabot and plimney, one point. 
(Jean-Joseph)
This does not sound too much like what I heard when I saw the Lippizaner 
Stallions last year--of course, they probably performed to commands in Austrian.  
(Linda)


pilliwinks (n. pl.) Small fairies who add sleepy seeds to dreamers' eyes.
-Linda, 1
Judith 1
Eeeeuuuuuwwwww!   No pointy-wointies for this one! (Elliott)
Give a point to "sleepy seeds"! (Judith)
Fairies likewise. (Jean-Joseph)
They assist the Sandman? (Linda)

pilliwinks (n.)  A clown, dancer, or other entertainer who travels with a 
circus but who charges separate admission and keeps his own accounts.  The 
pilliwinks usually pays a fixed weekly or monthly fee to the circus.
-Ranjit, 9
Elliott 1, Melissa 2, James 2, Pierre 1, Amy 2, Linda 1
Another good non-obvious def.  Also non-true.  But one point anyway.  Perhaps 
from "pillock"? (Elliott)
probably Elliott. (Jean-Joseph)
Interesting idea, why not. (Amy)
This is the oddest def, so I will give it one point. (Linda)

pilliwinks (n.) (Brit.) Children's term for a ring of mushrooms said to be 
the site of fairy dances
-Melissa, 1
David 1
Fairies likewise. (Jean-Joseph)
Fairy ring. (Pierre)
I've only heard them called fairy rings. (Linda)

pilliwinks (n.) An instrument of torture used for squeezing the fingers
-Oxford English Reference Dictionary, 2
Joe 2
Damn, I thought that sounded familiar.  This is the real one, isn't it?  It 
comes up in _Wyrd Sisters_, when they're playing "I Spy" in the torture 
chamber.  I recuse myself from voting for it just in case. (Elliott)
Hrm.  I guess I'm giving this two points for not being eyelashes or 
fairies... (Joe)
Certainly not the sort of thing I would expect to be called a pilliwinks, and 
for that reason, I'd give it another point if I had one.  But I guess it 
sounds a little like pillory, too. (Jean-Joseph)
My grandson is having fun with those woven tubes we called Japanese 
Handcuffs.  But I think they use mild finger pincers in Reflexology. (Linda)

pilliwinks (n.) Hairs growing between the eyebrows and the eyelashes.
-Judith, 1
Linda 1
Where would they grow?  On the eyelids themselves?  I'm having trouble 
visualizing this. (Joe)
Have to come up with some reason to rule things out, so I'll toss the winky 
definitions that refer to eyelashes. (Jean-Joseph)
Too close to mine. (Pierre)
EEK!  Never thought of these before.  One point. (Linda)

pilliwinks (n.) Degree of proximity to the event horizon of a black hole 
expressed in terms of counterforce required to escape.
-Aussie, 0
This sounds slightly too silly a word to be a scientific term.  And I don't 
think that pilli- is a metric prefix. (Joe)
Interesting.  Not entirely sure how you'd use this.  Like, "Captain, we're 
within 53 pilliwinks, we need to turn back now or we won't have enough thrust to 
get away!"?  But I think I'll pass since it's a matter of energy, not force, 
that determines whether you can get away. (Jean-Joseph)
Of Quarks and Pilliwinks? I don't think so. (Pierre)
Blinding me with science once again. (Linda)

pilliwinks (n.) Barnacles.
-Hutch, 3
Aussie 1, Jean-Joseph 2
Bold! 1 (Aussie)
Completely plausible. (Jean-Joseph)
Should get a prize for succinctness.  (Linda)

pilliwinks (n.)  An inept would-be matchmaker.  (Nickname of Rev. C. L. 
Pillion (1859-1905?) who as Dean of Boys at Eton was responsible for roommate 
assignments.)
-Elliott, 4
Joe 1, Pierre 2, Amy 1
We know exactly when he was born, but not when he died? (Judith)
1 point for the amusing derivation. (Joe)
Hmmm... probably either Ranjit or Pierre. (Jean-Joseph)
Ahahahaha... so clearly false, and yet I just can't resist. (Amy)
I think we had his niece as Dean of Roommates at Mt. Holyoke in the mid-60's. 
 She always matched each person up with someone who would drive them up the 
wall on several points, odd-couple-wise, but otherwise they should have had a 
lot in common.  I really liked my roommate and was so happy to find someone 
with whom I had something in common, especially academically, but she had the 
flaw of wanting to be the only one who felt a certain way.  She thought I was odd 
for dating  (I had a steady boy friend in high school), and I thought she was 
a little backward in that department,

although she was in love with a guy who was a lot older and didn't return the 
favor.  We were both messy in our own ways, and ended up drawing a line 
across the room--I got the door and she got the window  (there were a series of 
fire escapes for her travel)(I'm acrophobic).  She taught me to sleep through 
noise, lights, and people in the room.  The worst tragedy was when the gallon of 
hard cider in her closet exploded and turned all of the dirty clothes on her 
closet floor a sort of brown; luckily for me I had my own closet.  Another time 
our friends hid our (my?) door, but that is another story....  (Linda)

pilliwinks (n. pl.) Eyelashes that fall off and lodge on the eye.
-Pierre, 2
Judith 2
That is *so* much like mine, that I want to give it 2 points ...hmmm... so I 
will. (Judith)
Again with the eyelashes.  What is it about this word that makes people think 
"Eyelashes!"? (Joe)
Have to come up with some reason to rule things out, so I'll toss the winky 
definitions that refer to eyelashes. (Jean-Joseph)
There should be a name for these.  (Linda)

pilliwinks (n.) Winks that are pinned by other winks (either the player's or 
the opponent's) that are in roofing positions.   /in pilliwinks/: In a 
position where all of the player's winks are so pinned, and thus no moves are 
available, allowing the opponent to pot all of his free winks at his leisure.
-Jean-Joseph, 0
Huh?  Should I have any idea what the heck this means? (Joe)
Although a friend of mine in college did play competitive tiddywinks for a 
while, I have no idea if this is a legitimate concept; I just made it up. 
(Jean-Joseph)
What game is this in? Otherwise it makes no sense. (Pierre)
I've heard of Tiddlywinks, but doesn't that involve snapping one with the 
other into a cup?  Of course, we live in a creative age, and this might really be 
a named game.  (Linda)


pilliwinks  (n.)  1. A feast to celebrate the end of the Kentish hops-picking 
season.  2. A love-affair conducted during the Kentish hops-picking season. 
3. An illegitimate child.
-David, 1
Linda 1
Who's the Orwell fan?  Is that you, Eric? (Elliott)
I like the progression of definitions, but I can't say I believe it. (Joe)
probably David. (Jean-Joseph)
I may as well mention here that it is awfully difficult to say "Kentish 
hops-picking"; I've been trying to work it into conversation as an elocutionary 
exercise. (James)
OOOOH, I really like this def--because of the hops.  There were always these 
time-off-for-feasts-and-illegitimate-sex festivals, which probably helped to 
populate the countryside in a time when infertility was a grave problem, but 
weren't they usually on the old Celtic holidays--wonder how many they condoned?  
Anyway, one last point.  (Linda)


"Pilliwinks" has got the Cloying Edwardian Nursery Sound in spades -- like 
Peter Pan, only worse.  Eeeuw!  Voting for it will only encourage more, so I'll 
eliminate any British juvenile definitions (including my own)  right from the 
start.  Also anything involving eyes or tiddledywinks. (Elliott)

Aaah!  Breaking news!  We're not alone!  Check out:
http://www.votations.com/asp/resultsview.asp?pollid=82419
and this is connected to:
http://www.fictionarydictionary.com
Looks like they've been in operation for a little less than a year.  A
quick scan didn't reveal any other words that we've used. (Jean-Joseph)