Favourite Words

[Janet M]

Ah yes, pleaching, pollarding and coppicing

none of which I have any necessity to do

[Philellinas]

That's why traditional rural skills are dying. It's your fault, Janet.

[Des]

I wonder if drystone wallers and hedge-layers ever fight each other?

I must admit the wallers would probably get the upper hand at first by lobbing limestone, but then the hedge-layers could call in some coppicers and maybe together they could fashion some kind of superior weapon from hazel twigs. A bloodbath ensues.

[Philellinas]

You're forgetting, Des, that hedgelayers do not have to rely on twigs: they are armed with billhooks and axes. The wallers would just throw stones. It would be a bit like the Romans taking on the indigenous (UKIP-voting) ancient Britons. I think I would back the foreigners' superior technology. However, as I have a foot in both camps, I think I'll sit on the fence...Phil

[Janet M]

I have done a little dry stone walling - so its not quite all my fault! I couldn't believe how long it took - but immensely satifying.

Hedgers and dry stone wallers can work together - there is one variety of wall where you grow the hedge through the wall then lay it above, makes a wonderfully stockproof barrier whilst being good for the local wildlife, environmentally worthy and it looks good too.

[Des]

Tina Bath lays hedges on the Mendips (not far from here) and won the 'Best Lady Hedge-layer' award in the National Hedge-laying Championships last year.

Is this the first mention of rural crafts on SoTW? They're always banging on about this sort of thing on the fRoots forum of course...

[Janet M]

I can cut peats and build a mean peat stack - I prefer the herringbone design.

To avoid this thread straying too far from the topic, the term is:

Turbary - where I live I get turbary rights with the house.

[Dominic]

Hedgers and dry stone wallers can work together - there is one variety of wall where you grow the hedge through the wall then lay it above, makes a wonderfully stockproof barrier whilst being good for the local wildlife, environmentally worthy and it looks good too.

Cornish hedges consist of a double wall with an earth core, often with hawthorn or blackthorn planted on top.
I searched http://www.cornishhedges.co.uk for some quaint Cornish coinages, but could only find earthy words like "rab" (subsoil) and "tob" (turf, I think).

[Philellinas]

You digress...Today's word is pithecoid, a more obscure synonym for "simian". Oh all right then. They mean "ape-like", naturally.

[Philellinas]

This one's a bit of a mouthful, but practice makes perfect.

Otorhinolaryngologos. This is "sounds of the world", after all. Phil (who else?) If you don't want to know the answer, please look away now.

[Philellinas]

Today's special offering: two for the price of one, especially for those of an ornithological bent and other twisted individuals:-

nidicolous/nidifugous

Have your fledglings flown the nest yet?

[Janet M]

Took a long time to get my two nidicoles to leave this particular nest.

[Tom McPhillips]

Otorhinolaryngologos. This one's a bit of a mouthful

not to mention a bit of a ear nose and throatful!

[Des]

nidifugous

How precocial of you Phil.

[Ted]

Diegetic