[Fictionary] lurdane reference

[Ranjit Bhatnagar]

After a brief delay -- caused, I'm sure, by sunspot activity -- the
lurdane results are in!  The winner, with 8 points, is Pierre's
eponymous train wheel aligner.  Congratulations Pierre:

Coming in a close second with 7 points is the correct definition,
probably excerpted from the OED though I only have a web page or two
to go by.  I chose the word for a fun etymology which unfortunately
turned out to be false:

  Dr. Heylin, in his Geography, will have lourdan,
  for a sluggish lazy fellow, to be derived from
  Lord Dane; for that the Danes, when they
  were masters here, were distributed singly into
  private houses, and in each called Lord Dane,
  who lorded it there, and lived such a slothful,
  idle life.

It's actually from lourd "heavy, dull, stupid" as Elliott guessed.



General comments:

Nora: Interesting that a couple had to do with plants, several were
related to light effects, including the moon festival, and two others
invoked bad behavior. Do we all start to think alike after a while?
Elliott:  This round's defs occured in pairs.  Two lurid-mundane
hybrids, two sheep fodders, and two Celtic Moons.
Pierre: I was expecting some hydrocarbon defs, but there aren't any.



FRAN: 2 points
lurdane (n) grouse nest

Jean-Joseph: One point.
Elliott: This one looks like a winner trying to pretend it's not
trying to win. One point.



JACOB:
lurdane (adj.): attempting to shock or horrify so routinely that impact is muted

Eric: Hahaha, lurid + mundane.
Elliott: ``Lurid'' + ``mundane''?
Jim: Lurid + mundane... sorry, I don't buy it.
Hutch: I could have believed this one if it were phrased as being
something that happened to somebody, rather than something that
someone DOES, something like "shell-shocked"



JEAN-JOSEPH: 2 for correct guess
lurdane - adj. - Blessed with an ethereal radiance when viewed from behind.

Elliott: ``Lurid'' + ``mundane''?  Sort of, maybe.
Jim: I'd've given it points, except I can't picture a dictionary
saying "blessed with"



NORA:
lurdane adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of a lurd.

Nora: p.s. lurd. n. lunatic bird; therefore, lurdane = acting like a
crazy bird! :)
Nicolas: Part of me hopes this is actually it, and that it's so
obvious no one picks it (like me).
Pierre: And what's a lurd?
Elliott: NEWS FLASH:  Morphology Used Productively Again -- President
to Reassure Nation Tonight
Jim: Chutzpah award, but no points.
Hutch: "Be alert! The world needs more lerts!" *G*


OED (excerpt): 7 points
lurdane (n) - a general term of opprobrium, reproach, or abuse,
implying either dullness and incapacity, or idleness and rascality; a
sluggard, vagabond, loafer

Judith: 2 points
Jean-Joseph: Two points.
Linda: 2 points for the general term of opprobrium, etc.  because it's
so all-encompassing as an adjective or noun
Eric: One point, yay terms of opprobrium.
Elliott: ``lourd(e)''-ane?



NICOLAS: 2 points
lurdane, n. [Gaelic] 1) A stark shadow. 2) A shadow cast by the light
of a full moon.

Elliott:  Such an ugly word for such a lovely meaning.  First of two
Gaelic Moon defs; must be a reference I'm not getting.  Two points.



JUDITH: 2 for correct guess + 2 votes = 4 points
lurdane: (adj, Middle-English) Lurid.

Pierre: Two points for simplicity.
Hutch: Simple, straightforward, ... boring.



DAVID: 3 points
lurdane - n. - a European weed best known for giving sheep gas,
occasionally fatally.

Eric: Two points, because apparently this can happen to guinea pigs if
you let them eat broccoli.
Pierre: One point.
Nicolas: Fatal farts, hahahah. What. I'm 7.
Elliott: First of two sheep-fodder defs.  ``Methane'' must be in there
somewhere.
Hutch: I'm picturing sheep bulging slightly and starting to float away
from their hillside ... and then popping like a balloon. *LOL*



ERIC: 1 for correct guess + 1 vote = 2 points
lurdane, n. Ancient Celtic festival of the god Llyr, celebrated on the
fifth dark of the moon after the fall equinox.

Judith: 1 point
Eric: I wonder how many beltane-inspired defs we're going to get?
Pierre: Unlikely, as there are never more than four new moons between
equinox and solstice.
Elliott: Another Celtic Moon def; what's going on?  Is this connected
with Samhain? What is a dark and how do you count them?



PIERRE: 8 points
lurdane, n. (From Henry Lurdane, railroad engineer) A device for
aligning train wheels.

David: 2 points
Fran: 2 points
Nicolas: 1 point for being about engineering.
Jim: 1 points
Linda: 1 point for the train-wheel aligning device because I love train travel
Hutch: Not completely unbelievable: 1 point
Elliott: I think that's called a ``track'', or maybe an ``axle''.



ELLIOTT: 5 points
lurdane -- (n.)  (law)  The right acquired by a regular customer to
the use of a particular table, coat peg, or other amenity.

Jim: 2 points
Hutch: This one is too weirdly delightful NOT to vote for: 2 points!
Fran: 1 point (parking space!  A former teacher at my school would
inform people who parked in "her" space that it was her space, and
then expect them to move their car!  Even when there were tens of
empty parking spaces around "her" space!)
Nicolas: I wish this existed, but I don't believe it does.
Linda: an honorable mention to the right of a regular customer,
because there should be a term for this.  Human nature being what it
is, regular customers seem to think they own the place, even if there
is no membership fee, simply because they oftentimes spend a few bucks
there, and occasionally they try to keep newcomers from feeling
comfortable  (just experienced a bit of this at a local dance--my
husband and I were the newbies, although we had been there before and
knew a few of the folks.  However, they were happy to take our money)



LINDA: 2 for correct guess + 3 votes = 5 points
lurdane, n. A forage grain for ruminants originally found in the high
meadows of Switzerland and Austria.

Nicolas: This seems the most plausible, and avoids the multiple Celtic
festival definitions. 2 points.
David: 1 point
Pierre: I've read of Weston Price's trip to Switzerland where he
watched cows go up the mountains to pasture, and I've never heard of
this.
Elliott: More methane?