Oh shit I wish I'd known before now, Oh shit that you were such a cow

[venta]

Today's word from The Calendar:

vitulation

Which means:

"a rejoicing like a calf"

(from Henry Cockeram's Interpreter of Hard English Words, 1623. It's apparently derived from the Latin, vitulinus, meaning of or belonging to a calf.)

So there you go. Vitulation. Use it three times in conversation today, and once in your LJ.

I'm impressed. As a word, it's so unlikely that even I'm not sure I can think of a conceivable use for it.

Comments

[blackmetalbaz.livejournal.com]

So presumably there's a verb as well... we must be able to get the word vitulate into conversation somehow ;-)

[venta.livejournal.com]

"You've finished your thesis ? Will you be vitulating now, sir ?"

Out of interest, I went to see if dictionary.com knew "vitulate", and it didn't, but I found this:

vir·gu·late
adj.
Shaped like a small rod.

Now. What I don't understand: how can something be shaped like a small rod, and not actually be a small rod ?

[addedentry.livejournal.com]

/

[venta.livejournal.com]

More a picture-of-a than a shaped-like, but I see what you mean.

But really, would anyone actually need to say "shaped like a small rod" ?

Not that I'm suggesting the word shouldn't exist, of course. Just I'm rather surprised it ever came into being long enough and usefully enough to make it into the dictionary.

[broadmeadow.livejournal.com]

> But really, would anyone actually need to say "shaped like a small rod" ?

I think that would be a blokes thing. Locker room banter.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I see. And the word virgulate gets used a lot in such conversations, does it ?

:)

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

how can something be shaped like a small rod, and not actually be a small rod ?

Also, how do small rods differ in shape from large rods? What's the word for "shaped like a medium-sized rod"?

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

how can something be shaped like a small rod, and not actually be a small rod ?

Breadsticks, for example, are virgulate ! (And breadsticks rate highly in my life of late, due to their capacity to silence angry hippoes !)

[venta.livejournal.com]

No, breadsticks *are* rods. They're just rods made of bread.

I think.

[broadmeadow.livejournal.com]

Vitulate sounds like the thing a vituler would do. Now we're talking.

<pauses>

www.dictionary.com and google reveal that "vituler" is not as common a word as I thought it was. "A purveyor of alcoholic beverage" is what I understood a vituler to be, and indeed there are a couple of instances out there which agree. But is it one of those regional things Liz is so fond of? [I spent my formative years predominantly in the Channel Islands.]

[venta.livejournal.com]

I think you mean victualler (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=victualler) ?

(Pronounced "vittler" in Yorkshire.)

I could well believe vituler was a regional version/variant spelling.

[broadmeadow.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think you are right. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it's just a mis-spelling rather than a variant as such.

I think I should stick to simple words I can spell and understand!

[cuthbertcross.livejournal.com]

I can think of a conceive-a-bull use for the word;
if you did conceivable, there would be much vitulation!

*ducks to avoid scrunched-up-paper missiles*

[venta.livejournal.com]

In the circs, I think expecting us only to throw paper was slightly over-optimistic.

What We've Learned So Far

[verlaine.livejournal.com]

That virgulate virgins violently vitiate the vibe with their virile vitulation; aka "locker room banter".

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

Hey, don't vitulate, man.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Oh :(
And I was having such fun with this, er, box of calf nuts.