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portmanteau port-MAN-to noun a leather suitcase; a new word derived from two or more words 1862A. K. H. BoydThe Recreations of A Country ParsonAnd this is labour, and hard labour; though very different from that physical exertion which the uncivilized man would understand by the word. Every one can understand that to carry a heavy portmanteau a mile is work. Not every one remembers that the owner of the portmanteau, as he walks on carrying nothing weightier than an umbrella, may be going through exertion much harder than that of the porter. Probably St. Paul never spent days of harder work in all his life, than the days he spent lying blind at Damascus, struggling to get free from the prejudices and convictions of all his past years, and resolving—on the course he would pursue in the years to come.1876Lewis CarrollThe Hunting of the SnarkThis also seems a fitting occasion to notice the other hard words in that poem. Humpty-Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. For instance, take the two words 'fuming' and 'furious.' Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first. Now open your mouth and speak. If your thoughts incline ever so little towards 'fuming,' you will say 'fuming-furious;' if they turn, by even a hair's breadth, towards 'furious,' you will say 'furious-fuming;' but if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say 'frumious.'1897H. G. WellsThe Invisible ManThe stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand.Labels: A. K. H. Boyd, H. G. Wells, Lewis Carroll
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zakuska za-KOOS-ka noun snack food; hors d'oeuvre 1902Henry Seton MerrimanThe Vultures'Only one,' replied Deulin—'the waiter who serves the Zakuska counter down-stairs.1915H. G. WellsThe Research Magnificent In January, in an outbreak of enquiry, he had gone with Lionel Maxim to St. Petersburg and had eaten zakuska, brightened his eyes with vodka, talked with a number of charming people of the war that was then imminent, listened to gipsy singers until dawn, careered in sledges about the most silent and stately of capitals, and returned with Lionel, discoursing upon autocracy and assassination, Japan, the Russian destiny, and the government of Peter the Great. 1919Hugh WalpoleThe Secret CityThen with a sigh he drew a chair up to the table and began eating zakuska, putting salt-fish and radishes and sausage on to his place and eating them with a fork.Labels: H. G. Wells, Henry Seton Merriman, Hugh Walpole
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parsimony PAR-suh-mo-nee noun overly economical; thrifty; the state of being a cheapskate 1897H. G. WellsThe Invisible Man...he has a reputation for wisdom and for a respectable parsimony in the village…1915Rafael SabatiniThe Sea HawkThrough parsimony this treasure-galley was to be afforded no escort, but was under orders to hug the coast of Europe, where she should be safe from all piratical surprise.1916Edgar Rice BurroughsThe Lost ContinentEven when I took command, she was fit only for the junk pile; but the world-old parsimony of government retained her in active service, and sent two hundred men to sea in her, with myself, a mere boy, in command of her, to patrol thirty from Iceland to the Azores.Labels: Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. G. Wells, Rafael Sabatini
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windlestraw WIN-del-straw noun something light; something or someone of no significance 1899H. G. WellsLove and Mr LewishamAnd as for you—you who have hardly learned to think for more than five or six short years, there you sit, assured, coherent, there you sit in all your inherited original sin—Hallucinatory Windlestraw!—judging and condemning.1909John GalsworthyStudies and Essays, Concerning LettersWhat then is the reason of my existence? Am I but a windlestraw?'1911Romain RollandJean Christophe In ParisBut the insensate current of the passing throng carried her along like a windlestraw, while the horse of an omnibus, falling on the slippery asphalt, made a sort of dyke in front of Christophe, by which the opposing streams of carriages were dammed, so that for a few moments there was an impassable barrier.Labels: H. G. Wells, John Galsworthy, Romain Rolland
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Zabernism za-BurN-izm noun abuse of military power 1918H. G. WellsIn The Fourth YearBoth countries have been slaves to Kruppism and Zabernism—because they were sovereign and free! So it will always be.1920George Bernard ShawHeartbreak HouseHe led his people to destroy the militarism of Zabern; and the army they rescued is busy in Cologne imprisoning every German who does not salute a British officer; whilst the government at home, asked whether it approves, replies that it does not propose even to discontinue this Zabernism when the Peace is concluded, but in effect looks forward to making Germans salute British officers until the end of the world.Labels: George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells
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