What did I tell you? My stomach has (almost) stopped aching. It's raining. The Blue Jays are losing. I'll check ouit some more words I have been stockpiling. I'm almost to page 800 in my West book (Black Eagle andGrey Falcon), only 300 to go. Hence, more words.

juggins noun Brit. informal, dated simple-minded or gullible person: you silly juggins. ORIGIN late 19th cent.: perhaps from the surname Juggins, from Jug(see jug); compare with muggins. [I didn't think I'd find this one. Fun.]

slatko I didn't think I'd find this one and I didn't. I gather it's a kind of drink- wine?

minbar noun: a short flight of steps used as a platform by a preacher in a mosque. ORIGIN from Arabic minbar. [Never knew the name of these steps.]

guilder rose noun: a deciduous Eurasian shrub with flattened heads of fragrant creamy-white flowers, follo wed by clusters of translucent red berries.●Viburnum opulus, family Caprifoliaceae. See also snowball tree. ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from Dutch geldersche roos ‘rose of Gelderland’ (see Gelderland) .

chiral adjective Chemistry: asymmetric in such a way that the structure and its mirror image are not superimposable. DERIVATIVES chirality. noun ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from Greek kheir ‘hand’ + -al. [I think I looked this up before. Doesn't hurt.]

Phanariot noun: a Greek official in Constantinople under the Ottoman Empire. ORIGIN modern Greek phanariōtēs, from Phanar, chief Greek quarter of Istanbul, from Greek planarian ‘lighthouse’ (one being situated in this area). [This for sure is from the West book. I doubt I'll ever use this one in a sentence. I'm not into Greek officials under the Ottoman Empire.)

eupeptic adjective: relating to or having good digestion or a consequent air of healthy good spirits. ORIGIN late 17th cent. (in the sense ‘helping digestion’): from Greek eupeptos, from eu ‘well, easily’ + peptein ‘to digest’. [I knew this but ti doesn't hurt to check.]

scullion nounarchaic: servant assigned the most menial kitchen tasks. ORIGIN late 15th cent. of unknown origin but perhaps influenced by scullery. [I've often said that if I had been born into another century, with my luck I'd have been a scullery maid. So I've known the word for a long time.]

ephebe noun (in ancient Greece): a young man of 18–20 years undergoing military training. DERIVATIVES ephebic adjective. ORIGIN via Latin from Greek ephēbos, from epi ‘near to’ + hēbē ‘early manhood’. [Again, not a word I'll use often, if at all. I read somewhere that the average person uses about 5000 words in his/her everyday speech, though I wonder about Millennials and the influence of acronyms in their texting. Anyway, someone once estimated my dormant vocabulary at about 30,000 words. After reading Rebecca West I hink I must be up to 31,000.]

frumenty |(also furmety) noun: [ mass noun ] Brit.an old-fashioned dish consisting of hulled wheat boiled in milk and seasoned with cinnamon and sugar. ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French frumentee, from ferment, from Latin frumentum ‘corn’. [I bet it's full of gluten.]

The Blue Jays are losing but it's only the bottom of the fifth. Ah, well. I should talk about Damo Runyon some time.