COMPETITION

Word of the week

Jaspistos

In Competition No. 1379 you were asked for a definition of the imaginary word 'rnacelod', together with etymological de- tails, examples of usage etc in the manner of a panel member of Call My Bluff. A fenman, severe curvature of the neck common among the involuntarily unem- Ployed, a specially lined overcoat which can be worn inside out as a raincoat, an acronym from Queen Victoria's diary (Marrying Albert Can Ensure Lots Of Descendants), a compulsive bedspread- wetter, balderdash (a corruption of 'mucky load'), one who brings about the destruc- tion of his own hopes (from Macelodon, half-brother of Heracles), an ineffective hijack, wind released by the discerning to Show appreciation at table, a bamboo stair-rod, to frequent prostitutes (after Ma Clod, the nickname of the madame of a rural whorehouse in Buckinghamshire), the name of one of Cadwallader's goats, a damascene kilt worn by she-camels in Oman at the end of the last century (makh-el-odh). . . . I decided to be a completely credulous judge and swallow everything whole. My only bias was against the obvious, which included any use of either the world 'mace' or of the fact that macelod' is 'MacLeod' with two letters transposed. I report one remarkable coincidence: two competitors quite separ- ately offered the definition 'little rogue'. The winners printed below get £10 each, everybody has my congratulations, the bonus bottle of Cognac Courvoisier VSOP is taken by F. Leonard, and the warm thanks of the Spectator and competition entrants alike go to the Bureau du Cognac Courvoisier for having generously provided bonus prizes for 12 weeks.

Macelod (makel6d). The Ponte dei Sospiri, Bridge of Sighs, was a late euphemism to describe the journey, usually of no return, from the Doge's Palace in Venice to the State Prison for convicted criminals, but in fact macelod was the original coarse jocular appellation used by Venetian courtiers, who were also hard-bitten 'traders on the Rialto, to describe the stark reality of the criminal's fate. Literally macelod means 'the way to the slaughterhouse', from the Greek, makellon (Latin, macellum), a slaughter- house or shambles, and odos, a path. Hence, macellum odos became by elision macelod (more properly macellod), 'the journey to the execution'. Naturally, the romantically sounding Bridge of Sighs has prevailed, though Shakespeare uses macelod (see Coriolanus II,

iii). (F. Leonard)

Macelod (maklud) is Devonshire dialect for trout. It first occurred in Anglo-Saxon and is thought to be derived from Latin maculosus, spotted, and Anglo-Saxon leod, race, hence maculeod, 'the spotted race'.

In mediaeval times it was erroneously con- fused with old French maquerel, mackerel, with leod becoming lod in the unstressed syllable. The macelod is the subject of an eighth- century 'Riddle' in the Codex Exoniensis which begins Richly I ride in silver with red shields shining, but it was in the Middle Ages that the fish acquired religious significance and became, like the whale, a subject for Bestiary writers. Now its red spots were thought to denote sin and macelod was interpreted as 'the race of sinners'.

(O. Smith)

Macelod (mock-el-ode) is ancient Irish for a special love potion which used to be imbibed by bridal couples on their wedding night. Made from honey, blackberry juice, skim milk and poteen, usually served with oysters and home- made brown bread, it derives from the Gaelic mac, broker, and clod or eloid, passion; hence the conjunctive meaning, 'love agent'. The secret joinery of moonlit macelod. (Merri- man, The Midnight Court.) Kiss kiss my lovejoy lips dripping with juicy drops of macelodic brew. (Joyce, Ulysses.) Although no longer popular as a honeymoon

elixir, it is still an essential ingredient of the Irish wedding cake. (John O'Flyrne)

Macelod. Like robot, an example of an English borrowing from Czech, in this case a sporting term. From moucha. fly, and lod, ship, it means a lightweight skiff. The first syllable's palato- alveolar affricate ('c' pronounced 'eh' as in 'chain') has led to the crude anglicisation `matchlighe in the popular press. Its etymology is, moreover, erroneously attributed by The Guinness Book of Records to the French mate- lot. In the pre-war Olympics, the Czechoslovaks excelled at rowing, winning gold medals in the 1928 and 1932 Games in the single- and double- macelod (or matchlight) sculls. Discontinued as a rowing event after the war, single-macelod sculls may, it is hoped, like rugby union, be reinstated for the Seoul Games.

(Ron Jowker)

Macelod. A disparaging name for non-Catholics used in certain parts of Boston, USA. Orig. an acronym of Methodists, Anglicans, Congrega- tionalists, European Lutherans and Other De- nominations, a classification in use at the Ellis Island immigration station in the 19th century. See also Wasp.

'Don't elect a macelod —

A vote for Al is a vote for God.' (Election slogan in the 1928 Presidential campaign of the Roman Catholic candidate Alfred E. Smith.)

(Noel Petty)

Macelod, makkelod. A stone egg manufactured to..encourage hens to lay. (From English make and through langue d'oc l'oeud from Latin ovum, egg).

"A makkelod nis venue of foule," Quoth Pertelote, "but of mannes soule." ' Chaucer.

"By rnacelod's ivory deception stirred,

In procreation clucks the Eastern bird.' Pope.

(George Moor)