Sabrage- a word for the end of the year

And for the start of the new year. Sabrage is the art of opening a bottle,usually Champagne, using a saber. Before you go out and buy any old saber, read this Wall Street Journal blog post from 2010: The Art of Sabering.

If you really want to know more,take a look at this page The Champagne club. You can find photos of sabers used to open bottles as well recommendations on where to buy sabers for the express purpose of opening Champagne bottles.

Who knew!

Happy New Year! And if you try this, please let me know how it went.

Sticky?

According to the Dictionary of Word Origins by John Ayto, the word clammy means "sticky as if smeared with clay." Clammy came from the verb "clam," which meant to smear, stick.

New words!

I am in need of some new unusual words...
Please feel free to post some!

Fubsy

My dog is fubsy. No, fubsy is not his name. Fubsy means "squatly fat" and that is what Zeph is.

No numbles for me

Numbles are animal intestines and internal organs. My father loved tripe, kidneys, liver, and all that stuff. I say no thanks to numbles and garbage pye (more on that later).

Hugger-mugger

From The Dictionary of English Etymology, 2nd ed., by Hensleigh Wedgwood (1872) -- Hugger-mugger or hodermoder or hudgemudge are "adverbial expressions applied to what is done in a concealed or clandestine manner."

I am almost as intrigued by the name Hensleigh as I am by the expressions!

Sozzled

What a great word! According to the OED, it means very drunk.
Charles Harrington Elster, in his book What in the Word, lists quite a few synonyms for drunk including, "back teeth afloat," "amiably incandescent," and "iced to the eyebrows."