Non-motoring > Oxford Dictionary: Tracing obscure words Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Dave_ Replies: 3
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New Fri 5 Oct 12 22:29 
 Oxford Dictionary: Tracing obscure words - Dave_
Editors at the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) are appealing for the public's help in tracing the history of English words and phrases such as disco, come in from the cold and blue-a***d fly:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19844966
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New Sat 6 Oct 12 07:00 
 Oxford Dictionary: Tracing obscure words - L'escargot
Disco. The first step is easy ~ you got it from us. www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=discotheque
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New Sat 6 Oct 12 12:38 
 Oxford Dictionary: Tracing obscure words - Ambo
I had never heard of etymonline but just tried it with Quillpig and quillpig, hypenated and not and got no definition under any of the search modes. It is a country term for hedgehog. Also, there was no reference to pig as in pig iron, where a pig is an iron ingot, used for example for boat ballast.
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New Sat 6 Oct 12 12:58 
 Oxford Dictionary: Tracing obscure words - Harleyman
A pig is also a term used by draymen for the thick coir pad (usually plastic nowadays) which is placed on the ground by the lorry to drop barrels on to.
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