After reading the February 3 post on “euphonious” words, a reader in the UK writes, “I wondered whether any particular dictionary definitions delighted you.” He adds: “I remember, in my late teens, having to look up the meaning of micturate; I’ve remembered the definition, with amusement, ever since: ‘the morbid propensity to urinate frequently.’” He guessed he had encountered the definition in The Chambers Dictionary but was unable to find it. A general internet search was also futile.
By happy coincidence,
today, February 7, is the 251st anniversary of the letter Dr. Johnson
wrote to Philip Dormer Stanhope, fourth Earl of Chesterfield. In 1747, Johnson
had published his Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language, outlining his intentions and methods for preparing the volume. Chesterfield published two
anonymous essays endorsing the project. After seven years of almost
single-handed labor, Johnson published the Dictionary on April 15, 1755 –
without Chesterfield’s promised public patronage.
Johnson got his revenge in
the Dictionary, where he defines patron as “one who countenances,
supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is
paid with flattery.” Of course, Johnson also defined lexicographer as “a
writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the
original, and detailing the signification of words.” Plenty of Johnson’s
definitions “delight” me, to use my reader’s word. As Macaulay put it, Johnson’s
masterpiece is “the first dictionary that could be read with pleasure.” A
Johnsonian sampler of delightful words and definitions:
Kissingcrust: “crust formed where one
loaf in the oven touches another.”
Smellfeast: “a parasite; one who
haunts good tables.”
Thabdomancy (a Sir Thomas Browne
coinage): “divination by a wand.”
Hector: “a bully; a blustering,
turbulent, pervicacious, noisy fellow.”
Some of Johnson’s
definitions amount to compact moral essays or treatises. Take conscience: “the
knowledge or faculty by which we judge of the goodness or wickedness of
ourselves.”
5 comments:
And for dessert, less we think that Johnson's is the only dictionary with a sense of humour:
ECLAIR A cake, long in shape but short in duration . . . (Chambers 20th Century).
Impress friends and family by turning to the “ Biographical Gazetteer” in Webster’s Seventh Collegiate dictionary and highlighting “ Sade, Marquis de. Fr soldier & pervert.”
My first encounter with "micturate" (as language, at least) was in the Cohen Brothers' movie The Big Lebowski. That rug really tied the room together...
Re "micturate":
"When tempted to counter a slanderous verbal attack in similar language, remember the old adage: Never engage in a micturition contest with a member of the genus mephitis. (You’re likely to be skunked.)"
I used AI (Gemini) to find the micturate definition: It tells me, "you are almost certainly remembering the Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary.
For decades, Chambers (a mainstay in British households and newsrooms) was famous for its "hidden" wit and quirky, overly formal definitions. While most dictionaries aimed for dry clinical accuracy, Chambers’ editors occasionally indulged in sesquipedalian humor.
In editions from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, the entry for micturate was famously defined as: "To have a morbid propensity to urinate."
Why the confusion with the word?
Interestingly, the Chambers definition was actually a bit of a lexicographical "error" or a very specific quirk of their editorial style.
The Error: In standard medical Latin, micturire (the root of micturate) actually means "to desire to urinate."
The "Morbid" Part: Because the suffix -urire denotes a desire or a tendency, Chambers translated this into the phrase "morbid propensity" (an abnormal or excessive inclination).
The Irony: In modern English, "micturate" simply means the physical act of urinating, but Chambers kept that specific, colorful definition for years, making it a favorite "Easter egg" for word nerds and crossword enthusiasts in the UK and Commonwealth.
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