Monday, January 22, 2007

Bluffing?

Call My Bluff was a long-running British game show between two teams of three contestants, who were celebrities. The point of the game was for the teams to take it in turn to provide three definitions of an obscure word, only one of which was correct. The other team then had to guess which was the correct definition (the other two being the "bluffs").
I loved this show, because over time the bluffs became more and more elaborate and outrageous.

Take the word 'Clipe'. Does it mean....

a) A fixing. To clipe something together. To be bonded, firmly "Twas broked and I cliped it up good as new". Today, oil workers still use the expression 'cliped the pipe' when a job is done.

b) A derogatory term referring to a person scanty of good manners. Nothing could be worse for middle class parents to be told that their child was a rude and ill-mannered little clipe.

c) To clipe means to cuff, smack, or administer a learning blow. "He were rude to the wife so I cliped him one".
Rarely a fatal blow, but often the forerunner of something bigger.
(answer below)

So, what about these words. Can you 'bluff' one of these?

Periblepsis

Cocture

Fowerty Frappers

Slonk






(b) is the answer btw

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll take "cocture" for two hundred, please.

Cocture means to torture someone with a coconut.

"The island constable tormented the thirsting thief with a coconut, with its juicy centre, then he coctured him to death. Afterwards, the officer cracked open the coconut, and drank its sweet milk, in front of the bloody deceased felon."

The Moon Topples said...

Minx,

I had an aunt who suffered from Periblepsis, which is a spasm affecting the peritineal artery, and can be quite serious. I just hope it isn't genetic.

Also wanted to try to lure you over to my blog, where a fiction contest is going to start next week. Rules were posted today if you wanna check them out. I do hope you'll consider joining in the fun.

Unknown said...

MT, already checked it out and made a note. All down to you to come up with a tasty theme! No pressure, you understand!

I believe JD, that as well as cocture, banana flaying is still practiced in the islands today.

Unknown said...

Fowerty Frappers - an unusual idiolect has morphed the first word from Forty, to Fowerty. The second word comes from the French frapper, to strike, a Norman addition.

In conjunction, this is a colloquial expression meaning to knock forty shades of sh*** out of someone: I gave 'um Fowerty Frappers!

Unknown said...

Ah, of course, Cailleach. As in Ali Baba and the Fowerty Thieves and "frap while the iron is hot" - all makes sense now!

Roberta said...

Okay. I'm going to try this.

Periblepsis:
Something you develop when your father is a minister. It starts with hives and works it's way into a full blown case of teenaged angst, followed by rebellion and then you are known as the preachers daughter for the rest of your life.

Cocture: Decrative creations made in the phallis image. These creative works of art are usually displayed on mantles, or in the top drawer of one's night stand.

Fowerty Frappers: England has passed a law that they can no longer do fish and chips in newpaper. ( I read this in a book) so they have to resort to Fowerty Frappers to do the oil soaking up and make their product more acceptable to the consuming public. Fowerty Frappers are all the rage. Most women are known to save their Fowerty Frappers for years, making the most of a home cooked meal.

Slonk: Something a broken snake does. Simple. :)

Meloney Lemon said...

Fowerty Fappers? Saw 'em live, supporting The Cocture Twins. Knebworth '84

Unknown said...

I think you may have got periblepsis wrong.
I believe that the word comes from the Peri worm. A tiny creature that lives most succesfully in the lower lip. It is passed from person to person in the act of kissing, allowing the worm to leap from lip to lip. Once nestled in the lip it makes a cosy burrow which in turn makes a cyst-like growth on the lower lip. These cysts can grow to the size of an apple, interfering with speech and making it very plain who does not get much kissing action.
Periblepsis - know in some areas as the 'terrible lip cyst' - for those who can talk properly, that is!

Unknown said...

Fowerty Frappers are undoubtedly seventy year old grannies who like to parade as mutton dressed up as lamb.

Slonking is what they do when they've been made fools of by the local youth - they skulk away with rounded shoulders, trailing their feather boas and muttering rude words beneath their breath.

Unknown said...

LOL! I love Roberta's definition of Slonk, what a broken snake does.
And Meloney Lemon's seeing Fowerty Frappers live at Knebworth *chuckle*
And Aytllah's one about the purpling grannies!
In fact I love them all - you couldn't make this stuff up ;)

Unknown said...

We` are not making it up, Cailleach. Tis the truth, and nothing but the truth, M'lud!

Unknown said...

In case you are remotely interested...the real meanings

Periblepsis - The wild look that accompanies delirium

Cocture - The process of cooking

Fowerty Frappers - Fireworks


Slonk - a ditch, a wet hollow in the road

Saaleha said...

well I want a slonk
where I can plonk
and just be me
or pretend to be a tree