Friday, March 07, 2014

The Word of the Day rears its ugly head!

The Word of the Day has been on a hiatus, mostly because Tim (I) have been crawling around the Dens knocking into furniture, eating sand and basically being a nuisance.  But my dad, ever a lover of words, found this gem and passed it along.  It was so intriguing, I had to share it.  It needs to make its way into an adventure, I think.  And now...

lingtow, n.
[‘ A coil of rope worn over the shoulder by smugglers.’]
Etymology: <  ling, Scots variant of line n.2 + tow n.1
 Sc. hist. Now rare.
  A coil of rope worn over the shoulder by smugglers.
Recorded earliest in lingtowman n. at Compounds.

2003  L. C. Higgs Thorn in my Heart 52 The stock pens were crowded with packhorses belonging to the lingtowmen, named for the coil of rope, or lingtow, which they wore around their shoulders as they transported smuggled goods inland.

also...

 lingtowman n. a smuggler.
I scoured (well, scoured is strong) the internet for a good picture of a lingtow or a lingtowman and came up with nothing that was very useful.  So if you are of a mind and can find one, please let me know.  In the meantime, here's a guy with a rope:


No comments:

Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds: An Introduction

For several weeks now, we’ve been hyping up the Gygaxian Fantasy World series on various platforms, Facebook, X, Instagram, and Twitch. It ...