[Dixonary] Round 2006 - TASLET Results

[Tony Abell]

Once again, if the dictionary could deal, it would be. Leave it to me to find
words no one claims to know, but whose real definitions draw votes compellingly.
Second in the running was Dave Cunnigham's small codpiece ornament. Scott Crom
and Dodi Schultz are the real winners with 4 unnatural points each. As to what
the "things" are, I have no definitive answer.

Take it away, Dave!

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1. The heart, liver, kidneys and other edible organs of a pig minced, mixed
with onions, breadcrumbs and herbs and cooked in the entrails - usually
served cold in slices.
Voted for by Tim Lodge
SOURCE: John Barrs, who voted 12 and *17*, and scores 1 + 2 = 3*

2. A small crucible for melting precious metals. [perh. fm. Ger. _tasse_,
cup].
Voted for by Tim Bourne, Chris Carson
SOURCE: Russ Heimerson, who didn't vote, and scores 2 + 0 = 2

3. A small embroidery pattern on the corner of a handkerchief.
Voted for by Guerri Stevens
SOURCE: Chuck Emery, who didn't vote, and scores 1 + 0 = 1

4. A string of beads.
Voted for by Millie Morgan, Paul Keating, Nancy Shepherdson
SOURCE: Chris Carson, who voted 2 and 13, and scores 3 + 0 = 3

5. A committee which may be formed to manage the affairs of a bankrupt
business. (Obs.)
Voted for by Mike Shefler
SOURCE: Nancy Shepherdson, who voted 4 and 12, and scores 1 + 0 = 1

6. A sausage of minced pork with rosemary.
Voted for by nobody
SOURCE: Tim Lodge, who voted 1 and *17*, and scores 0 + 2 = 2*

7. _obs._ A small clasp, as of a chain or bracelet [OF taselet].
Voted for by Dave Cunningham, Paul Keating
SOURCE: Paul Keating, who voted 4 and 7, and scores 1 + 0 = 1

8. The thigh-length blouse that was part of the costume of a medieval page.
Voted for by Dan Widdis, Judy Madnick
SOURCE: Dodi Schultz, who voted 11 and *17*, and scores 2 + 2 = 4*

9. A small eyelet rimmed with metal (such as used in some laced boots).
Voted for by Tim Bourne, Mike Shefler
SOURCE: Dick Weltz, who voted 11 and 14, and scores 2 + 0 = 2

10. A group of threads on the end of a scarf [now rare].
Voted for by nobody
SOURCE: Toni Savage, who voted 13 and *17*, and scores 0 + 2 = 2*

11. A small evaporating dish used by an apothecary.
Voted for by Dick Weltz, Dodi Schultz
SOURCE: Millie Morgan, who voted 4 and 15, and scores 2 + 0 = 2

12. A small ornament usually found on a codpiece in Elizabethan costume.
Voted for by Scott Crom, John Barrs, Judy Madnick, Nancy Shepherdson
SOURCE: Dave Cunningham, who voted 7 and *17*, and scores 4 + 2 = 6*

13. An intimate friend or companion.
Voted for by Chris Carson, Toni Savage
SOURCE: Scott Crom, who voted 12 and *17*, and scores 2 + 2 = 4*

14. A more sophisticated piece of harness worn by expensive horses consisting
of a canvas head-covering with holes for the ears to protrude and two
apertures for the eyes.
Voted for by Dick Weltz
SOURCE: Dan Widdis, who voted 8 and *17*, and scores 1 + 2 = 3*

15. Small tropical bird with a ring of white feathers around the eyes.
Voted for by Millie Morgan
SOURCE: Judy Madnick, who voted 8 and 12, and scores 1 + 0 = 1

16. A glue used in medieval times and made from horses' hoofs.
Voted for by nobody
SOURCE: Tim Bourne, who voted 2 and 9, and scores 0 + 0 = 0

17. A piece of armor formerly worn to guard the things; a tasse.
Voted for by Tim Lodge, Scott Crom, Dave Cunningham, Dodi Schultz, John
Barrs, Dan Widdis, Toni Savage
SOURCE: Webster's 1913 Dictionary (Hyperdictionary.com), which cannot vote, and scores D7

18. Feathers from the tail of a duck of goose; a muff or wrap made from such
feathers.
Voted for by Guerri Stevens
SOURCE: Mike Shefler, who voted 5 and 9, and scores 1 + 0 = 1

No definition submitted
Guerri Stevens, who voted 3 and 18, and scores 0 + 0 = 0

SUMMARY

Player Def# Voted for Points, N+U=T
------------------------------ ---- ----------- ---------------
Barrs ........................ 1 12 & *17* 1 + 2 = 3
Bourne ....................... 16 2 & 9 0 + 0 = 0
Carson ....................... 4 2 & 13 3 + 0 = 3
Crom ......................... 13 12 & *17* 2 + 2 = 4
Cunningham ................... 12 7 & *17* 4 + 2 = 6
Emery ........................ 3 N/V 1 + 0 = 1
Heimerson .................... 2 N/V 2 + 0 = 2
Keating ...................... 7 4 & 7 1 + 0 = 1
Lodge ........................ 6 1 & *17* 0 + 2 = 2
Madnick ...................... 15 8 & 12 1 + 0 = 1
Morgan ....................... 11 4 & 15 2 + 0 = 2
Savage ....................... 10 13 & *17* 0 + 2 = 2
Schultz ...................... 8 11 & *17* 2 + 2 = 4
Shefler ...................... 18 5 & 9 1 + 0 = 1
Shepherdson .................. 5 4 & 12 1 + 0 = 1
Stevens ...................... 3 & 18 0 + 0 = 0
Webster's 1913 ............... 17 N/A D7
Weltz ........................ 9 11 & 14 2 + 0 = 2
Widdis ....................... 14 8 & *17* 1 + 2 = 3

[Dodi Schultz]

>> As to what the "things" are, I have no definitive answer.

I have, Tony (and others who may be interested):

I mentioned apparent "typos" when I voted. One was the obvious "duck of
[read 'or'] goose" in Mike's def, #18.

The other: those "things" in the correct def, which I suspected might
properly have been thighs originally.

I looked up the word after I'd voted. My suspicion turned out to be
correct. I don't know whose the original goof was, but it wasn't Tony's;
he copied the def faithfully from the online 1917 Merriam-Webster, and
it has been picked up thus by other online sources.

None of my modern dead-tree dictionaries list the word (maybe the OED
does, but that's not in my library). Nor does my big 2nd Int'l M-W
(1934); it had evidently been dropped by then.

Then, I looked in my 1864 M-W. It wasn't in the main listings, but it
did appear in the Appendix, which was where the editors listed words
that were classed as "new" since the last (1847) edition, perhaps not
yet considered worthy of inclusion in the main body of the book. The
definition there (it appears only as a plural, "taslets"): "Pieces of
armor worn on the thigh."

Apparently, sometime between that pre-typewriter time and 1917, somebody
with terrible handwriting relayed and rewrote the def and "thigh"
somehow became "thing"!

--Dodi

[Daniel B. Widdis]

I'll echo Dodi's comments. Various online sources cite Webster's 1913
differently.

http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/Ta/Taslet.html claims it's " ...
worn to guard the things ..." as posted. This, and many other online
sources, draw from the "open source" (copyright expired) text from the
Project Gutenberg website.

OTOH, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Taslet claims the same source but the
definition there reads " ... worn to guard the thighs ..." and is otherwise
identical. Some other online sources also cite the "corrected" text.

It would be interesting if anyone has a printed copy of the 1913 or 1917
Webster to see what it read there: it's entirely possible that the typo
occurred in the transcription from dead-tree into the online (Gutenberg)
site, and was replicated from there to many other sites.

The online 1913's typos have affected a round before: my deal of COOEY in
round 1738 included "aborigenes" [sic.] copied faithfully from an online
source. In my case, the misspelling swayed some voters away from the woid.
In Tony's case, I think armor protecting "the things" was irresistible.

--
Dan

[Paul Keating]

OED2 has it thus (deliberately not plaintext, for readability):

Sc. arch.
[A deriv. of TASSE n.1 (or its French original), with dim. suffix -LET; perhaps from TASSET with suffix-change. Cf. also OF. (Picard) tasselet, dim. of tassel plastron or frontlet of a lady's dress (1507 in Godef.), Rouchi tasselet 'petite plaque de plomb'.]

pl. Tasses, tassets: see TASSE n.1, TASSET.

1507 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scotl. III. 391 For vj quartaris rede to covir the Kingis tasletis,..xx s. 1541 Ibid. VIII. 33 Deliverit..to lyne the teslottis of harnes maid to his Grace, vij quarteris blak sating..lvj s. 1542 Ibid. 54 Ane lycht harnes with doubill teslettis..to the Kingis grace. 1819 SCOTT Leg. Montrose ii, Thigh-pieces of steel, then termed taslets, met the tops of his huge jack-boots. 1870 Athenæum 22 Jan. 126 Over his trunk-hose are steel thigh-pieces or taslets.

Full definition is in the cross reference to tasse:

Obs. exc. Hist.
[In form the same word as OF. tasse purse, holster; in sense = F. tassette, obs. tassete, a small pocket or pouch, a steel plate intended to guard the thigh, dim. of tasse.
The connexion of sense is not clear; but cf. It. scarsella a pocket; scarselloni bases or tasses for a horseman (Florio 1611); Sp. escarcela, 'escarcelle, gibier, bourse; aussi la tassette' (Oudin 1660); escarcela, a satchel, pouch, or bag; the armour from the waist to the thighs (Stevens 1706).]

pl. A series of articulated splints or plates depending from the corslet, placed so that each slightly overlapped the one below it, forming a sort of kilt of armour to protect the thighs and the lower part of the trunk.

a1548 HALL Chron., Hen. IV 12 One company had..the tasses, the lamboys, the backpece, the tapull and the border of the curace all gylte. 1579-80 NORTH Plutarch (1676) 212 Their legs were armed with Greaves, and their thighs with Tases. 1581 STYWARD Mart. Discipl. II. 165 To haue good curates for their bodies, taces for their thighes. 1596 WARNER Alb. Eng. XII. lxix. (1612) 291 The Taishes, Cushies, and the Graues, staffe, Pensell, baises. 1598 BARRET Theor. Warres Gloss. 253 Taisses, a French word, and is the arming of the thighes, annexed vnto the forepart of the Corslet. 1688 R. HOLME Armoury III. xix. (Roxb.) 166/1 Armour for the thighes, of the French called Cuissets, and Taces or Tasses, because they are tached or tacked on with straps of leather to the corslett. 1869 BOUTELL Arms & Arm. x. (1874) 203 Below the waist, and there connected with the bottom of the breastplate, the body was protected by a series of narrow overlapping plates..denominated taces. 1888 F. COWPER Capt. of Wight (1889) 337 The taces of his armour had saved his thigh.

My guess is that the initial error was exchanged letters (thihgs) and then somebody changed the h to an n, no doubt wondering why the original typist reproduced the apparent h literally when it obviously could only have been an n.

--
Paul Keating
The Hague

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dodi Schultz" <schultz (AT) compuserve (DOT) com>
Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2009 7:42 PM


> I don't know whose the original goof was, but it wasn't Tony's;

> None of my modern dead-tree dictionaries list the word (maybe the OED does...)