SPECTATOR COMPETITION No. Si

Report by R. Kennard Davis

There must be many ideas for which at present there is no single word in the English language, and which therefore have to be expressed by circumlocution. A prize was offered for useful and appropriate meanings for any five of the following words :'Cramble, Whilksorne, Marglish, Groption, Limmery, Prasticate, Gamboodle. fennicote, Gum prey, Scribble.

I found this a very difficult competition to judge. There were a large number of entries, many of them of great merit. Points were awarded for wit and ingenuity, for the appropriateness of the meaning assigned to each word, and for the extent to which the new words as defined seemed to fill a real want in the language.

Most competitors were influenced by association in their choice of meanings ; for example, many suggested an establishment of the W.R.N.S. for " Jennicote," and some form of speculative gain for " Gamboodle," while " Groption " produced various compounds of option with grab, grim or ground.

Here are some of the more striking definitions: —

CRAMBLE.—" To indicate some concept by dumb-show, as in Dumb Crambo . . . as when issuing an invitation to play golf, when the manager is in the room " (A. H. Baynes). " A collection of crumbs in the bed " (Mrs. L. Laming).

PRASTICATE.—" To suspend temporarily from membership of the Communist Party (Pravda and rusticate) " (R. S. Stanier).

LIMMBRY.—" Light on the horizon underneath clouds " (several competitors). " Border region between conscious and unconscious mind " (Joyce Johnson). " Centre-court underwear " (Brock).

STRIBBLE.—" An agreed statement following a meeting of states- men at which no agreement has been reached " (F. E. C. Shearme). " The exudation of ink from the kind of pencils that have ink refills " (Joyce Johnson). JENNICOTE.—" Device to protect the lobes of the ears from the teeth of Income Tax Officials " (H. F. Macdonald).

GROPTION.—" The gripping suction of an electric washing-machine coping with a plastic mackintosh " (F. E. C. Shearme).

GUMFREY.—" The whole range of facial expressions employed by film actors " (P. M.). " Anonymous fish ; the ' other fish ' that the manufacturers of fish-paste do not quite like to name " (C. P. Driver).

WHILKSOME.—" Of food artificially flavoured to resemble another food, more delicate . . . or more expensive " (Michael James). " Apparelled in such manner that sex is not immediately apparent —Scottish whilk, which ? " (J. H. 'G. Gibbs). " Irksomely whim- sical " (W. Bernard Wake and others). MARGLISH.—" Having the dull gleam of inferior artificial pearls" (D. L. L. Clarke). GAMBOODLE.—" The second course of the mid-day meal on the third day of the meat-ration " (Nan Wishart). " The result of a kennelman's gamble as a poodle-breeder " (Pauline Willis). " To set silly subjects for competitions " (Brock).

I recommend prizes of £2 each for A.P -R. (full name please) and J. N. P., and £1 to Peter Hadley. 'And now will somebody invent a word to denote " the sound made by a hundred professors of etymology simultaneously turning in their graves " ?

FIRST PRIZES (A.P -R.)

CRAMBLE, vb. To wrinkle by contraction of a soft surface. sb. the corrugated surface thus produced, as in oxidising oils. E.g., "crambled top of Devonshire cream ": " windows with the paint crambled by' the sun ": " new-born, red, and utterly crambled." GROPTION, sb. Fumbling progression as if confused by alternatives: quasi groping among options. Metaph. Descriptive of way of planners who really have no. plan.

JENNICOTE, sb. A nest of she-men usu. of a pretentious kind.:• a coterie of affected " superior persons " (Genie-cote: cf. O.E.D. Jenny and Dovecot). vb. To congregate and confabulate in arty parties.

PRASTICATE, vb. " To eat the leek ": to pocket a deliberate insult (and " chew on it "). Gk. irpcurop leek:mpa.70-0c/yor = leek-eater. STRIBBLE (1), vb. int. To walk unsteadily or cautiously, as over big scree, stepping-stones and the like. Metaph. To proceed like Agag in some difficult business (I- Sam. xv. 32-33): cf. Cat on hot bricks. (Stride plus Dribble). (2), adj. and vb. To striate and stipple, as in the surface of gabbro and some sandstones. (No connection with (1).) E.g., " at Lincoln . .. complicated carvings in a stribbled reddish- stone."

(J. N. P.) MARGLISH, mar'glish, adj. Given to fatuous and extravagant praise, while being ignorant of what should constitute excellence in the thing praised. (Hind. m'ahar ghul, I am astounded.) PRASTICATE, pras'ti-kat, v.t. To delay an expedition by being unable to find some important article. (L. prasticum, a ration-card.) GAMBOODLE, gam-boodl, v.t. To entice onlobkers to risk their money in a game of chance in which the likelihood of their winning is remote. (It. campodello, a race-course or fair-ground, such places being frequented by those addicted to this practice.) JENNICOTE, jeni-kot, n. A country labourer's cottage reconstructed in supposedly antique style for occupation by well-to-do townspeople. (Prob. Fr. je n'y compte. I do not count 'on it, from the frequency of occupiers of such places disappearing without paying their debts.) STRIBBLE, strib'l, v.t. To make a series of pictures which together narrate a story, usually adventurous, for publication in successive issues of a newspaper. (A.S. Istribl, an expression said to have been used by the Venerable Bede on inspecting the Bayeux Tapestry.) SECOND PRIZE

(PETER HADLEY)

MAROLISH (malirlish), adj: (deriv. marg-arine and Eng-lish). Suffering from the typically English tendency to accept synthetic goods without protest in place of their natural equivalents. GAMBOODLE (gambaid1), v.1. (deriv. gamble and ood.). Literally to wager without having any money. Hence, to risk more than the gambler can afford, to live beyond one's means.

STRIBBLE (stri'bl), v.i. (deriv. Stribling, a heavyweight boxer). To throw one's weight about, to attempt to exercise undue influence over others.

LIMMERY (lim'eri), adj. (deriv. MDCCCCL/ and su-mmery). In weather forecasts, generally cloudy at first, with probability of rain spreading later from the West, and further outlook unsettled. PRASTICATE (pra'stikate ), v.i. (deriv. P.R.A. and masticate). Literally, to argue at the Royal Academy banquet over questions concerning the artistic merit of contemporary painters. Hence. more generally, to argue at mealtimes.