I put a spell on you...

[venta]

Gosh. It's ages since we've had one of these. Words I use which no one else knows...

[Poll #1724258]

A perfectly respectable definition can be found here.

[Poll #1724259]

Edit: supplementary question. If it didn't mean what you thought, what did you think it meant?

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

I have no idea. The dictionary I linked to reckons:

[from Old English spelc, spilc surgical splint; related to Old Norse spelkur splints]

I know absolutely nothing about Yiddish derivation, though, and didn't know the word shpilke.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

OED sa: Old English spelc (also spilc), = West Flemish spelke (De Bo), Norwegian spjelk, Icelandic spelka, â spjalk, related to Middle Dutch spalke (Kilian spalcke), spalc (Dutch spalk), Low German spalke, spalk splinter, chip

[venta.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you. I can only consult the OED in dead-tree format when I get home :)

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

The joys of academia :)

[bondagewoodelf.livejournal.com]

'Spalk' (noun) in Dutch these days means 'splint' (noun)