ASF Word of the Day

1. archaic
   a silly or flirtatious young woman.
   
   
2. archaic
   a kind of small firework  or munition
   
   
3. informal•Australian
   a police informer
   

Dona Ferentes said:

fizgig
noun

1. archaic
   a silly or flirtatious young woman.
   
   
2. archaic
   a kind of small firework  or munition
   
   
3. informal•Australian
   a police informer

Origin
early 16th century: probably from fizz + obsolete gig "flighty girl"

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1. a person who acts obsequiously towards someone important in order to gain advantage.
   

1. a description of a person's social and family connections, career, etc., or a collection of such descriptions.
   • the study of prosopographies, especially as an aspect of the study of Greek and Roman history
     

1. informal•North American
   a stupid or eccentric person.
2. informal•Australian
   delusions or feelings of unease, particularly those induced by delerium tremens.
3. a  typographical device other than a letter or  number (such as an asterisk), used to signal divisions in text or to replace letters in a euphemistically presented vulgar word
   
   

1. sentimental in an exaggerated or false way.
2. archaic•dialect
   having a faint sickly flavour

1. a confidence trickster
   • a person who likes telling stories; a raconteur.

frugal.rock said:

obsequious
formal disapproving

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1. tending or able to change frequently or easily
   • able to do many different things; versatile.
     
     

1. a collection of miscellaneous people or things.

1. a large piece or amount of something.

1. having a strong religious or spiritual quality; indicating or suggesting the presence of a divinity.

1. a political step or initiative.
   

​

1. raise (something) by means of ropes and pulleys
   • raise or haul up.

1. an act of raising or lifting something.
   • an apparatus for lifting or raising something.
   • an act of increasing something.
2. the part of a flag nearest the staff.
3. a group of flags raised as a signal.

Dona Ferentes said:

hoist
verb

1. raise (something) by means of ropes and pulleys
   • raise or haul up.

noun

1. an act of raising or lifting something.
   • an apparatus for lifting or raising something.
   • an act of increasing something.
2. the part of a flag nearest the staff.
3. a group of flags raised as a signal.

Origin
View attachment 201068
.
.
"Hoist with his own petard" is a phrase from a speech in Hamlet that has become proverbial. The phrase's meaning is that a bomb-maker is blown ("hoist", the past tense of "hoise") off the ground by his own bomb ("petard"), and indicates an ironic reversal or poetic justice.

In modern vernacular usage of the idiom, the preposition "with" is commonly exchanged for a different preposition, particularly "by" (i.e. "hoist by his own petard") or "on", the implication being that the bomb has rolled back and the unfortunate bomb-maker has trodden on it by accident.

Prepositions other than "by" and the original "with" are not widely accepted and may be seen as erroneous or even nonsensical in the correct context of the phrase

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1. a plan or scheme, especially one used to outwit an opponent or achieve an end.
   • archaic
     skill in devising plans or schemes; cunning.