[Fictionary] KITTLE PITCHER results

Mon Apr 22 11:48:33 EDT 2019

The winner is - Eric's wobbly pitcher, with 7 points! Take it away, Eric!

Runner-up with 6 points: the real definition - a jocular method of hobbling
or bothering a troublesome teller of long stories.  I found this word
through the very entertaining Haggard Hawks
<https://twitter.com/HaggardHawks/> twitter account, which rephrased the
definition from the 1811 Lexicon Balatronicum
<https://archive.org/details/lexiconbalatron00clargoog/page/n9> ("A
Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence").
Both of these sources are excellent places to find new fictionary
challenges.

*Comments:*
Jean-Joseph: I found this an interesting word, since "pitcher" itself could
go so many different ways (container for liquid, baseball player, something
relating to a sticky substance, or to a playing field, something that tilts
fore/aft, a salesman, something relating to a musical tone, etc.)

Elliott: My entire knowledge of the word ``kittle'' is from one line of an
old Scottish song called ``Cam Ye O'er fra' France?'' (``Were ye at the
place / Ca'd the kittle hoosie? / Saw ye Geordie's grace / A-riding on a
goosie?'').  A kittle hoosie seems to be a love nest.  With that in mind,
let's vote.

(Having checked the web after voting:)  Oho, it was a verb after all,
according to this link [link did not survive the email process]!  Which
also says that ``kittle'' in Scots means ``tickle'', which accounts for the
love nest.  The OED confirms ``tickle''. It hasn't heard of
kittle-pitchering, but gives this as Defn. 3 for ``kittle'':
    3. To puzzle with a question, a riddle, etc.
    1823 Scott St. Ronan's Well II. ii. 35   To kittle the clergyman with
doubtful points of controversy.

*Definitions:*

kittle pitcher, n. An earthenware jug for beer, with a rounded bottom, the
intent being that since the you can't put the jug down without it's falling
over, the jug has to continue making its rounds.
*- Eric (5+2 points for correct guess)*

Jean-Joseph: I read these to some of my coworkers, and Tom said that he
likes the idea of this, so I'll give it ONE POINT.
Hutch: I thought this was called a "loving cup"?
Elliott: Doesn't sound dictionary-like.  Which, obviously, doesn't mean
it's wrong.
Fran: 2 points
Pierre: 2

kittle pitcher, n. A carpenter's level consisting of a deep bowl filled
with water.
*- Nicolas (2 points)*

Jean-Joseph: Hmm.  I think you'd do much better with a shallow container
Hutch: 2 points
Elliott: A flat-bottomed dish with a vertical wall, and a circular mark
running all around the inside ... yeah, that's kind of plausible.  But why
would it need to be deep?  That would just encourage oscillations, wouldn't
it?
Pierre: I've heard of a level consisting of two graduated cylinders with
connectors at the bottoms joined by a long hose filled with water, but not
one consisting of a deep bowl.

kittle pitcher, n. - A boat that tends to rock in a particular figure-eight
pattern (combining pitch with a roll oscillation at twice the frequency)
that is very prone to inducing seasickness.
*- Jean-Joseph (2+2 points for correct guess)*

Jean-Joseph: Mine, so obviously not right.  But I can imagine some old salt
complaining about a ship, "Yar, when that one's loaded too heavy amidships,
she be a real kittle pitcher.  On one trip around the Horn, the bos'n was
green from the very day we left port."
Eric: Is that Elliott?
Hutch: This sounds like every boat I've ever been on ... of any size :-D
Elliott: Like the elliptical-wheeled cart in _Sylvie and Bruno_, except
that one was deliberately rocky.  Maybe a kittle hoosie is a little house
that rocks a lot because of commotion in bed? One point, even though it
doesn't sound dictionary-like.
Fran: 1 point

kittle pitcher, v. - to prevent someone from telling a boring or longwinded
story by constantly interrupting them with pointless contradictions.
*- Lexicon Balatronicum
<https://archive.org/details/lexiconbalatron00clargoog/page/n9>, 1811; via
Haggard Hawks <https://twitter.com/HaggardHawks/status/953153594642984960>
(6 points)*

Eric: Two points, because I'm adding this to my conversational
armamentarium.
David: 1
Jean-Joseph: A verb?  Interesting.  So, "Oh, he'll probably try to talk
about his
trepanning, but don't worry, I can kittle pitcher well enough to keep
him from scaring the children."  This seems somewhat uninteresting and
awkward, so what the heck, TWO POINTS.
Hutch: I don't actually believe this is the right answer, but what a great
strategy!!! 1 point
Elliott: It just doesn't sound like a verb to me.

kittle pitcher, n. - Derogatory slang for women advertising executives in
the 1960s and 70s. Largely obsolete.
*- Fran (3 points)*

Eric: One point, because . . . ugh I don't know.
David: 2
Elliott: Sounds too polite to be derogatory slang, but maybe I'd think
differently
if I knew what ``kittle'' meant.

kittle pitcher, n. - In tire-swing jousting, a state in which the tire
orbits make a rope collision inevitable.
*- Elliott*

Elliott: Two kids swinging wide while trying to poke each other with long
poles.
Imagine if they pass each other in opposite directions so that the ropes
cross.
Jean-Joseph: Most tire swings are set up to go back and forth, but a
precious few go
around the tree like a tetherball.  Those skilled in the art can do some
fancy stuff on such a swing, and I'm one of the most skilled you'll ever
hope to meet.  I can picture setting up two such swings on adjacent
trees, and to be honest, a rope collision, where the two tires then
quickly twist together, doesn't sound like quite as big a disaster as
the more likely head-on tire collision.  I do have to say that the crowd
I hung around with would probably have tried this if a second tree had
been available.  And I also have to say that this smells of Elliott.
Hutch: Sounds like fun! I want to see that woman who can't read error
messages against the manager who can't figure out how to turn on his
computer ... with morning stars, yeah, morning stars! Talk about X Games!!!

kittle pitcher, n. - The pitcher for guests.
*- David (3+1 point)*

Hutch: Or is THIS the "loving cup"?
Elliott: Maybe, if ``kittle'' means ``nice''.  The kittle hoosie could be a
nice
house used as a love nest, I suppose, and the kittle pitcher would be the
nice one brought out for guests.  Two points.
Pierre: 1

kittle pitcher, n. - A plant, Darlingtonia ansata, with handle-like
appendages on the sides of its pitchers.
*- Pierre*

Elliott: ``Ansata'' does mean ``with a handle'' (like ``crux ansata'' for
the
female symbol).  But where does ``kittle'' come into it, I ask you?

kittle pitcher, n. - a machine that shoots clay shapes for rifle enthusiasts
*- Linda*

Eric: I'm a rifle enthusiast, and I'm tired of shooting clay shapes. Thank
heaven there's a machine for me!
Jean-Joseph: Like a skeet thing?  But for rifles instead of shotguns?  I
guess they
do that.  And I have no idea what the name is for the catapult the
flings clay pigeons for skeet.  This would suggest that the things that
you're shooting at are called kittles, which isn't a term I've ever heard.
Hutch: There's a reason why skeet shooters use shotguns: if they used
rifles there would have been approximately three hits in the history of the
human race.
Elliott: Oooh, OK, a skeet cannon.  This is either real, or a joke def.
Pierre: I've heard the shapes called clay pigeons, which doesn't sound much
like
kittle.
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