[Fictionary] dreich results!

[Ranjit Bhatnagar]

Sorry it took me so long to get the results out -- busy with work, and
with more foolish endeavors: <http://www.thing-a-day.com/?author=103>

Here's a haiku from Linda:

small drear dull goat tract
newborn junk dragon wagon
spirit from everywhere

...  which makes her the WINNER, along with the fact that she had 6
points, more than anyone else.  Except for the MSN Encarta Dictionary,
which had 11 points.  I guess the word I chose really did sound dreary
after all.  Congratulations Linda!



dreich [drES] n. (law) -- The tract directly under the boughs of a
tree, where its fruits first touch the ground on falling.
(Law-french, fr. MFr. dreyche 'windfall', dreycher 'to shake a tree',
prob. of Gmc. origin, cf. Engl. thresh, Ger. dreschen.)
... by ELLIOTT.  3 points + 2 for guessing and one imaginary
tie-breaker point = 5+i.

Linda: 2 points
Jean-Joseph: 1 point
Hutch says: Very tempting, but the cf makes me doubtful. Give this one
an imaginary tie-breaker point from me.
Jacob: Interesting -- I can imagine there being some legal
ramifications of that specific area, but I'd like to know more about
the case law.



dreich [drosh] - adj. - mundane, boring (student slang coined at the
Staatliches Bauhaus)
... by JACOB.

Hutch: "EI" wouldn't be long OR short "O" sound in German?
Pierre: Implausible pronunciation.
Jacob: Mine.  We think of "Bauhaus" as a "school" meaning a certain
style or era of art, but it was an actual school, also.  I bet there
was student slang.  I'd like to know more about student culture there,
actually -- was there a cafeteria?  Was it any good?  Did they have
extra-curricular activities?  Sports?  (I'm guessing no.)



dreich - (dray'-eech) n. - A newborn child whose sex has not yet been
publicly announced.
... by JEAN-JOSEPH. 1 point.

Elliott: Good, good!  The thing needs a name.  One point.



dreich, n. Heavy four-wheeled bullock wagon. [Punjabi _draik_ <
Persian _dahi-kai_ (cart) < Arabic _dehiyya_ (cart).]  Pron: /draik/
... by ERIC. 3 points + 2 for guessing = 5.

Jacob:  Either it's real, or the derivation is very well done.  One point.
Judith: 1 point
Hutch: Not TOO many words in English come from Punjabi, but it's a
very tempting offer: 1 point
Elliott: Four-wheeled bullocks don't need wagons.
Pierre:  The only "dehiyya" I know of is an adjustment to the Jewish calendar.



dreich: (noun; from Yiddish) (d'-r-eye-k)  A piece of garbage.
... by JUDITH.  1 point + 2 for guessing = 3.

Ellen: 1 point because it puts me back in mind of Elliott's obsession
with "drek" in our Brunner days
Eric: That's dreck.
Jacob: Sorry, this definition is nothing but dreck.



dreich, v. /drix/ (Gaelic draiochd, draidhochd, the practice or skill
of working with the supernatural) (Scots) To solve a problem with the
aid of the supernatural.
... by PIERRE.  3 points + 2 for guessing = 5.

Jean-Joseph: 2 points
Eric:  One point.  Because it would be such a useful verb.  "Between
Giles's library and Willow's growing skill with the arcane, there is
little that the gang cannot dreich out in Season 4."
Hutch:  I don't THINK "chd" would be pronounced "x" in Gaelic.
Elliott:  Sounds like an oracle computation.  Is that what Stonehenge was for?
Jacob: The word definitely has some eldritch feel to it.



dreich [ dreekh ] adj.-  (Scotland) dreary: describes weather that is
dull and depressing [Old English gedrēog "patient, serious" <
Germanic]
... from the MSN ENCARTA DICTIONARY.  11 points!

Hutch: Again, very tempting. And an adjective to boot! 2 points
Eric: 2 points
Judith: 2 points
Elliott:  Hmm.  This is reminding me vaguely of some OE verb meaning
"endure" -- dreogan, maybe? -- that is allegedly preserved in Modern
English in the phrase "to dree one's weird", meaning to suck it up and
deal.  I'm going to give this one two points, as the only one I have
*any* reason to think might actually be right.
Pierre:  Two points. I once heard a Scottish weather report
forecasting "snell winds". Does that mean "fast winds", which here are
called "high winds"? To me "high winds" means winds that blow up in
the sky.
Linda: 1 point




dreich (dräikh) - n. - dragon [EGael > MGer > MEng]
... by HUTCH.  2 points for guessing.

Pierre: East Gaelic? I know of three Gaelics: Scots, Irish, and Manx.


dreich (long I, ch as in stitch) - n. (Kentish dialect) - a billy-goat
with sawed off horns.
... by DAVID.

Elliott: I like it, but I'm out of points.
Pierre: Akerrak adarrak okerrak ditu.


driech, n.  pronounced "drike":  from German, a composite of drei,
three, and eich, oak; together, a small copse.  Therefore, something
small and insignificant.  Often used to describe chatter.
... by LINDA.  5 points + 1 for guessing = 6.

Jacob: I like it.  I don't think it's real, but it has the feel of how
idioms really evolve.  Two points.
Ellen: 2 points; it's got pronunciation somewhat like German -- ("ch"
isn't "k" except when some English speakers try to pronounce it, and
except for the typo where the mystery word suddenly becomes "driech"
which would be pronounced with the long "e" sound, instead) -- and my
one year of German years ago doesn't tell me whether eich really is
oak but it seems right, and I like the logic
Pierre: One point for a place I've actually been to, while running the
"spanish" round. Dreieich was formed by joining Dreieichenhain
(Threeoaksgrove) and some other towns.
Hutch: I dunno. When German combines words to make compounds, they
don't get shorter, they get LONGER! ["The literary German dives into
one side of the Atlantic at the beginning of the sentences and emerges
on the other side with the verb in his mouth." -- Mark Twain]
Eric: "When the Kaiser takes tea with the Reichskanzler, it's no
three-oak chit-chat, you may be sure!"
Elliott:  Hee hee!