The Death of Fissiparous and Other Words: A Dictionary of Words & Phrases on the Verge of Extinction

bienséance

byan-say-awns

noun

a sense of the appropriateness of things; a sense of propriety

1830James Fenimore CooperThe Water-WitchFrancois proceeded to take such measures to arouse his mistress, as he believed to comport with his duty to her uncle, and his own ideas of bienséance.1888J. H. ShorthouseA Teacher of the Violin and Other StoriesI know, of course, that there are many who...view these flowery but dangerous paths with approbation; but I cannot think that Mademoiselle would tread them without violating the bienséance which alone makes life tolerable…1898Lord George Gordon ByronThe Letters and Journals of Lord ByronThough, after all, I doubt my temper, and fear I should not be so patient as becomes the bienséance of a married man in my station.

Labels: J. H. Shorthouse, James Fenimore Cooper, Lord George Gordon Byron

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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anchorite

an-KE-rait

noun

a hermit; a hermit like person

1812Lord George Gordon ByronChilde Harold's PilgrimageThe laughing dames in whom he did delight, | Whose large blue eyes, fair locks, and snowy hands, | Might shake the saintship of an anchorite1855Maturin MurrayThe Sea WitchThere is true poetry in such a scene as this, beauty fit to move the heart of an anchorite.1919W. Somerset MaughamThe Moon and SixpenceYour appearance doesn't suggest the anchorite.

Labels: Lord George Gordon Byron, Maturin Murray, W. Somerset Maugham

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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deipnosophist

deep-NOS-o-fist

noun

a person who chatters while eating; meal time conversationalist

1898Lord George Gordon ByronThe Letters and Journals of Lord ByronHe was famous for his 'mob dinners,' to which Moore probably refers when he writes to Byron, in an undated letter, of the 'Deipnosophist Kinnaird.'

Labels: Lord George Gordon Byron

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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