Henry’s Words
I am currently working on this page.
Invented and Repurposed Words
airpouf
Allowing the car behind you to pass by pulling off the road into a layby or other convenient place.
auntic
Speaking or behaving in the manner of an aunt, particularly a disapproving one.
bup
Pronounced like book.
1. A Cheesy Wotsit.
2. A fart. Pouffy bup: A silent fart.
Bugnereacae
Spiders with boxing gloves. After the boxer Joe Bugner.
crafter
Crying and laughing at the same time.
crocodilics
When the sole of a shoe detaches from the rest of the shoe at the front.
Davey
A measure of time related to train travel.
Missing a train “by a Davey” means arriving at the station in time to see your train departing the platform. We are not sure who “Davey” was – either Gordon Davey, a good friend of Henry’s brother who owned a bicycle shop on Hayling Island, or Leslie Davey, a good friend of Henry’s father who was Mayor of Ramsgate.
dob
A horse dropping.
Ede
A measure of time related to train travel.
Catching a train “by an Ede” means arriving at the station in time to catch the train before the one you were intending to take. After Henry’s Aunt Ede who had a reputation for arriving at the station early.
elestrot
A sudden explosive movement, such as the release of seeds from a balsam plant or the flight of a stretched rubber band.
elestroticus clock
An old-time wind-up kitchen timer.
eripicker
Someone who picks their ears.
erk
A burp.
face-ache bird
A Canada goose. It has the appearance of a bandage around its face.
freezer-beezers
Cold hands on someone else’s warm skin.
gattiwigger
A speed walker.
goolering
A noise sometimes made by plumbing.
When you hear goolering, you probably need a kathunka (see below).
grasper
See tweaker.
joggiwigger
A jogger.
kathunka
A plunger.
Also kathunking – using the kathunka.
In the early days of their marriage, Henry’s wife Katharina found herself with a blocked sink in need of kathunking. She went to the local hardware store to buy a kathunka, but the shop assistant had no idea what she was talking about. Being Swiss and only newly married she didn’t realise that kathunka was one of Henry’s invented words and not a proper English word at all! Katharina demonstrated to the shop assistant, with arm actions, how a kathunka is used: ka-THUNK, ka-THUNK, ka-THUNK. “Ah”, he said, “you mean a PLUNGER”.
ladies on the road
The road sign for Uneven Road Ahead.
necrosis
Worn out patches on clothes, most usually on the collars and cuffs.
When Henry went to Switzerland to marry Katharina he had brought a number of shirts, but they were all so badly necrosed that his father-in-law had to drive him to town to buy a new shirt suitable for wear at a wedding.
oopsla bridge
A humpback bridge, because you say “oopsla!” as you go over the hump.
prettywees
The circles and splashes that rain makes when it falls on a puddle.
runniwigger
A runner.
T = Q + P
An equation meaning that if you drink tea and you go anywhere, you are likely to have to queue, then pee. (For men, the equation T = P is probably more accurate as there are very rarely queues outside men’s toilets.)
tappanappa
A familial pat on the head.
tweaker
Something that pinches or bites.
Also tweaker bite – any sort of bite on the skin such as a mosquito bite.
As a small child, a hazard of sitting on Henry’s lap was “sitting on a nest of tweakers”. Henry would start pinching us with his fingers (“tweakers”) and also with his hands (“graspers”), to much squealing and laughter. Another hazard of Henry’s lap was the earthquake, when he would open his knees and we would fall through. The earthquake was preceded by various creaking noises. These once caused Henry’s mother-in-law to come running with a towel because she thought he was being sick.
tweewees
A hand drill.
umsk
A hiccup.
valency
A unit of free hands for carrying things with.
“I have a free valency” means you have a free hand that can be used for carrying something for someone. “I have two free valencies” means you have two free hands that can be used for carrying something for someone.
wettie
A brown stain, usually on the ceiling, caused by a water leak.
When we were children Henry used to read us a book called “Animals on my Ceiling” by Richard Armour. This was about a little boy who saw animal shapes in the wetties above his bed.
Andrea’s Extra Names
Coming soon …
You Know
Coming soon …
Henry’s submissions to the Oxford English Dictionary
Coming soon …
[Return to top of page.]
[Return to main Odds & Ends page.]
*Image of prettywees © macrovector on Freepik