COLLY results!

[Ranjit Bhatnagar]

The results are in, and Hutch is our glorious anointed leader with 10
points for moxie-- I mean courage.  If for any reason he is unable to
serve, his duties shall be taken up by Pierre and Joshua, who each
earned 6 points for the mechanical thingy and the farmhand,
respectively.  Except for the rhyming fee, all the other defs are
coal-related.

To all of you who thought I would never be so obvious as to choose a
word which actually means what it sounds like it means-- well, it
really is coal.  See for yourself!  But first, the reviews are in...

Elliott says "I'm voting against all the coal-miner defs because I
don't recall seeing
the word in _The Road to Wigan Pier_.  If it wasn't good enough for
Orwell, it iddn good enough for me!"

James says "Okay, lots of transparent etymologies this time 'round,
including many lumps of coal. I think I'll ignore all the coal, on the
grounds that (a) you wouldn't be that obvious (and shame on me if you
were), and (b) it simplifies my task greatly. "

Hutch says " Everyone had the same idea, so I'm not voting for any of
the 'collier' definitions."

Jean-Joseph says "Well, looks like most everybody went for the
too-obvious coal connection. Meaning that whoever didn't will get all
the votes."

Pierre says "Five coal-related definitions. I'm not voting for any coal."


.....and now, the votes!





MERRIAM-WEBSTER ONLINE (1 pt):
colly, n. (dialect, chiefly British) To blacken with or as if with soot.

1 pt from Linda - "The simplest!"
Hutch: "A 'collier'"



JEAN-JOSEPH (3 pts):
colly - n. - A circular terrace cut into a hillside, used in the
production of charcoal.  Wood is stacked on the terrace in a dome-shaped
configuration, covered with dirt, and the bottom layers of the wood are
burned to cook the remaining wood into charcoal over the course of
several weeks.

2 pts from Judith
1 pt from Joshua
Elliott: "There probably is such a thing, but that doesn't mean it's
called a colly."
Hutch: "A 'collier'"
Jean-Joseph: "Mine.  A completely real thing, though not called a
colly.  English doesn't really have a word for it ('charcoal terrace'
or 'charcoal platform' are the best we have), although in Swedish it's
called a 'kolbotten', which has been corrupted by my friend Rhonda
into 'buttonhole'.  Important to be able to recognize them if you
intend to orienteer in certain places, particularly French Creek State
Park in Pennsylvania."



JUDITH:
colly, (n)  (Appalachian dialect)  A coal miner.
Hutch: "A 'collier'"



FRAN:
colly, n.  (Brit.) (1) a coal miner  (2) a barge used to carry coal up and down
rivers or canals (see COLLIER)
Hutch: "A 'collier'"



HUTCH (10 pts):
colly - n. - [Northumbrian, from Old English kolla:
prowess, skill] courage, fortitude, spirit

Hutch: "...back-forming from 'collywobble' of course. Hope that
derivation isn't too much."
2 pts from Linda - "The most unusual."
1 pt from Judith
2 pts from Fran
2 pts from Joshua
Elliott: "Doesn't look very OE, probably because of the k."
Hutch: "nor am I going to vote for my own"
2 pts from Jean-Joseph - "From 'kolla' we get 'colly', just as the
related word "moxie" comes from another brown soda pop... two points
anyhow."
1 pt from Pierre: "Looks more like Old Norse than Old English. I don't
think 'k' was common in Old English. One point since there's nothing
else left."


DAVID:
colly--adj. (fr. n. collier)--dirty
Hutch: "A 'collier'"



JOSHUA (6 pts):
colly (n) (Aus. slang) a farm hand.

1 pt from David
2 pts from James - "Simple and nothing to do with coal."
Elliott: "Not obscene enough to be Australian.  Wait, on second
thought, maybe it is."
1 pt from Jean-Joseph: "I don't believe it, but it's the only non-coal
thing left."
2 pts from Pierre



JAMES (1 pt):
COLLY, n. A fee, as for services rendered. [Rhyming slang.]

1 pt from Elliott - "'As for'?  Are fees ever for anything else?  One
point for trying to misdirect us with '[Rhyming slang]'."
Hutch: "'rhyming' with what?"
Jean-Joseph: "I think these Cockney things result in a words you
already know.  Like 'fee' would rhyme with 'colly tree', so you'd use
'colly' to mean 'fee'. If there were such a thing as a colly tree."
Pierre: "How do you get that word as a rhyming slang?"




PIERRE (6 pts):
colly, n. A mechanical part consisting of a cylinder whose middle is attached
to the end of a rod and which slides on another rod.

1 pt from James - "It sounds just like a machine part, but enough like
'collar' that I suspect it's made up."
1 pt from Fran
2 pts from Elliott: "COLLAR, but I'll give it 2 points."
2 pts from Hutch: "...which leaves this one"
Jean-Joseph: "Kind of like a collet, but not quite."



LINDA (1 for guessing + 3 = 4 pts):
colly, n. a young girl, especially a pretty one, from Irish colleen.

2 pts from David
1 pt from Hutch: "and this one"
Pierre: "IIRR it's the other way around: cailín is a diminutive of caile."