word

Astonish

lfsaldenbirch ,

I am pleased to learn that “astonish” does not derive from a word meaning “turn to stone”, but from extonare (Latin), to be thunderstruck.

  • 03.009 Bilbo was astonished.
  • 03.020 “Most astonishing wonderful!”
  • 04.048 in their astonished eyes.
  • 06.014 Gandalf was as astonished as any of them,
  • 08.118 and to the great astonishment of the dwarves he vanished.
  • 08.121 and charged into the astonished spiders
  • 10.018 Their astonishment was enormous
  • 10.037 amid scenes of astonishing enthusiasm.

Harper, Douglas. “Astonish”. Online Etymology Dictionary. Web.

Absurd

lfsaldenbirch ,

Absurd is a word of Latin origin from ab-, an intensifying prefix, and –surdus, dull, deaf, or mute.

  • 01.004 absurd,
  • 01.136 Don’t be absurd!
  • 12.076 said Smaug absurdly pleased.
  • 13.038 but I expect I look rather absurd.

Harper, Douglas. “Absurd”. Online Etymology Dictionary. Web.

Abominate

lfsaldenbirch , ,

Abominate, to hate intensely, was used most often in the mid-1600s and tapered off.  Its derivatives “abomination” and “abominable” follow the same patterns, but have always been used with about ten times greater frequency.

  • 06.008 into those abominable tunnels to look for him,
  • 08.075 as it struggled to wind its abominable threads round

“Google Ngram Viewer.” Google Ngram Viewer. Web.

Manflesh

lfsaldenbirch , , , ,

The Oxford English Dictionary has man-flesh (hyphenated so) as a word attested since the seventeenth century.  Tolkien does not hyphenate it and only Tom the troll says it.  More on hyphenated words hereafter.  I merely observe my own little shudder to learn that the trolls have a word for this particular variety of meat.

  • 02.045 “Never a blinking bit of manflesh

Update 2015.06.08: I’m adding the tag “high” to this word to be consistent with later use of the tag – indications of danger are adventurous and thereby earn this tag.

“man, n.1 (and int.).” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 9 May 2015.

Lout

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

Lout is another Troll-only word.  Its meaning of clown or bumpkin seems to come from a Middle English verb louten, to bow down, and is related to “lurk” and “little”.

  • 02.068 “And you’re a lout!”

“lout, n.1.” OED Online. Oxford University Press, March 2015. Web. 9 May 2015.

Cop

lfsaldenbirch , ,

Cop – to grab, from Germanic roots to do with stealing or buying – is only said by a troll:

  • 02.051 look what I’ve copped!” said William.

Please note that it’s a different root from “attercop“!

Update 2015.10.05 – or is it?  OED and Merriam Webster dictionary seem to be in conversation about whether a “cobweb” is a “grab-web” and which came first, “cobweb” or “cob”.  I’ll update you when I know more, Word Fans!

Booby

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

Booby, which comes not only from the gannet family of ungainly seabirds but from a Latin root meaning “to stammer” (and therefore presumed dull-witted), is used only by our trolls.

  • 02.090 “You’re a booby,” said William.
  • 02.091 “Booby yerself!” said Tom.

Harper, Douglas. “Booby”.  Online Etymology Dictionary.  Web.

Blight

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

Only the Trolls use the word “blight”.  Both times, William refers to Bilbo as “blighter”, a chiefly British derogatory term for “fellow” from the negative connotation of a disease.

02.064 “Poor little blighter,” said William.
02.064 “Poor little blighter!

Harper, Douglas. “Blight”.  Online Etymology Dictionary. Web.

Blink

lfsaldenbirch , , ,

Blink, to shine briefly or to briefly close one’s eyes (as though something just shone in them) occurs a handful of times in the work.  It may come through Old English blican.  Yet there is a different meaning.  The Online Etymology Dictionary explains that Tom the Troll’s use of “blinking” in Chapter 2 “as a euphemism for a stronger word” is attested by 1914.

  • 01.044 he said, blinking.
  • 02.045 “Never a blinking bit of manflesh
  • 04.044 The blink of red torches could be seen
  • 05.087 and made his eyes blink
  • 05.136 Bilbo blinked,
  • 06.067 that could look at the sun unblinking,
  • 08.042 and blink.
  • 10.028 and stood blinking

Harper, Douglas. “Blinking”.  Online Etymology Dictionary. Web.