[Fictionary] Selcouth Results

[Nicolas Ward]

Sorry all. Time is flying as the due date approaches and I let this
fall off my list. We have a 3-way tie between Jim, Elliott, and Eric!

Jim 4
Elliott 4
Eric 4
Ranjit 3
Jean-Joseph 3
Hutch 2
David 2
Pierre 1
Linda 0

Since Jim wins the Elliott Moreton Decoy Award by fooling Eric with
his literal decoy def, I think that gives Jim a slight edge to run the
next round. Thoughts?

It seems selcouth did not fool a number of you, as we ended up with
pretty evenly spread points.

David: "I did once know what Selcouth meant, long enough to put it in
Clovermead as the name of an imaginary town. Can't for the life of me
remember what it means, though."
Hutch: "Nothing seems particularly believable :-( Time for a WAG"

----

Linda (0 + 0)

selcouth, n. A type of detective who is quite slovenly, like the late,
great Alexander Selcouth.

Hutch: "uncouth?"
Elliott: "Wasn't he the detective who was marooned on the Island of
Juan Fernandez?"

--

Wiktionary

selcouth, adj. 1. Strange or unfamiliar. 2. Marvelous or wondrous.

David 2
Hutch 2 "Somehow I *do* like this as an adjective."
Eric 2 "Reminiscent of 'unco'. But two points anyway."

Elliott: "Seems very plausible; I can believe that there would be an
OE word seld-cuuth 'rarely known' (sorry, can't type macrons or
thorns), so I won't waste a vote on it. Apologies to you if I'm wrong
and you made it up."

Elliott after: "Aha! Yep, Bosworth and Toller
(http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/texts/oe_bosworthtoller_about.html)
confirms seld-cuuth (still no macrons or thorns here). It's a lovely
word and deserves wider use. 'Could it be, Mr. Spock, that some
selcouth force has seized our vessel?'"

--

Ranjit (3 + 0)

selcouth, n. A corded velveteen fabric distinguished from corduroy in
that the cords run from bottom to top rather than top to bottom.

Elliot 2 "Are cords in corduroy *signed*? I had no idea. Inspired by SILK?"
Jim 1

Hutch: "I'm pretty sure that corduroy doesn't have any 'directionality' to it?"
Pierre: "Turnabout is fair play."

--

David (0 + 2)

selcouth, adj. Well-mannered.

Hutch: "The opposite of 'uncouth'?"
Elliott: "Inspired by COUTH?"
Eric: "Couth. So even if it's right, I can't vote for it."

--

Eric (2 + 2)

selcouth, n. A dark, still, circular, forest pool, permitting entry to
the Fairy realm. May only permit entry at certain times or under
certain conditions.

Linda 1
David 1

Hutch: "I suspect that someone is thinking of 'selkie'."
Elliott: "Hmmm. Maybe inspired by SILKIE? But they aren't fairies, and
don't hang out in forests."

--

Jim (4 + 0)

selcouth, n. A dummy hunter, placed in plain view of game animals to
divert them to where an actual hunter is hiding.

Ranjit 2
Pierre 2
Elliott 1 "I thought that was called a 'son'. One point just in case."

Hutch: "Good idea, but somehow I'm doubtful that there's a word for this."
Eric: "That's Elliott's, right?"

--

Elliott (4 + 0)

selcouth, adj. Visibly desperate to be thought indifferent to the
opinion of others.

Linda 2
Ranjit 1
Eric 1 "No, no, that's spelt 'adolescent'. One point."

Hutch: "*LOL*"
Elliott: "I kept going back and forth between 'opinion' and 'opinions'
on this one. 'Opinion' seems slightly better."

--

Pierre (1 + 0)

selcouth, n. In medieval England, the appointed time for a lord to
have a meal and a night's lodging at the home of one of his vassals.

Hutch 1 "I'm doubtful, but I've thrown everything else out."

--

Jean-Joseph (3 + 0)

selcouth, n. A lagoon located beyond a coastline, flanked by lateral
sandbars deposited at the mouth of a river.

Jim 2
Pierre 1

Hutch: "Pretty sure this is referred to as a "sound""