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."

Scotch marriage

This phrase intrigues me. According to James M Dixon in Dictionary of Idiomatic English Phrases (1891), a Scotch marriage is an irregular marriage.
What marriage isn't irregular?

Okay, further research seems to indicate that all that was required for a Scotch marriage was for both parties to agree that they are married.

Ichor

The mineral in gods' and godesses' blood. "He believed he had ichor flowing through his veins."

Attic Salt

Wit or refined pleasantry. "Triumph swam in my father's eyes at the repartee -- the Attic salt brought water into them."

Dictionary of Idiomatic English Phrases, James Main Dixon, 1891.

Favorite definition

Several years ago I looked up the word "dilemma" in the Oxford English Dictionary. One of the definitions I found was "a ticklish plight."

What the dickens is Doozandazzy?

In the book, Informal English, by Jeffrey Kacirk, the word "doozandazzy" is defined as "Something, the name of which cannot be readily recalled." I'm not sure why I picked that name, but it seemed to fit. I tried a bunch of other names: "What in the dickens?" "moonglade" "izickity." None really struck a chord. I have a feeling a lot of I will post here is about words and phrases we don't use very much anymore. They fascinate me.