scopperil [skop-uh-ril]


???

Well, I'm not real sure, but I think scopperil has something to do with a children's toy, at least in one sense of the word. I remember reading about it in my Uncle John's Bathroom Reader... Those are good books. I think it was a kind of spinning toy or something, wasn't it?

Hey, if you really want to have some fun, try fitting these words into your everyday vocabulary! That would be a hoot...

scopperil [skop-uh-ril] - "a hyperactive child, or a squirrel."

"From another use of the word to mean 'a kind of spinning top'."

Well done, Idealist!

"So, this is a Pumpkin Spice Latte. How selcouth!" she exclaimed.

Ain't got no idea about that one, LOL. I know what couth means, and uncouth. But selcouth? Could it mean smooth, tasty, good? Just guessing here. But I do like the way that you put it into a sentence. What I'd like to see is you using that sentence in a normal conversation at the supermarket or something...

I said this just yesterday at Starbucks!

selcouth [sel-kooth] - an adjective meaning 'unfamiliar, rare, strange, marvelous, wonderful.' It comes from Old English words meaning 'seldom known.'

Uncouth and selcouth used to be synonyms, but uncouth now means 'unpleasant, rude'.

"After the young boy ran up to me at recess to tell me that Max called Melissa a 'jollux', Max yelled back at the boy 'you titvil!' "

'scopperil [skop-uh-ril] - "a hyperactive child, or a squirrel."'

Ohhhh, I like that word. I love squirrels with their ticcy little tails. I have hours of video of squirrels that were taken when in D.C..

I like the word selcouth too, but had no idea what it meant, apart from knowing the "couth" part as in "uncouth".

jollux and titvil, hey? Sounds French. Rhymes with bollocks? lol
The titvil sounds like a bird, but I guess in the context it's not going to be a bird. Are they real words, or are they words that children have mispronounced which mean something totally different. My daughter used to say Ambliance... for ambulance e.g. sooo cute she was.

Just another thought... Does titvil mean like a tattletale???

In context ""After the young boy ran up to me at recess to tell me that Max called Melissa a 'jollux', Max yelled back at the boy 'you titvil!' "... was max calling melissa a boy and max called the boy a girl? LOL just guessing. I haven't a CLUE.

Nope, no idea on those two.

First, these are all real words ... taken from a book called 'Totally Weird and Wonderful Words' - edited by Erin McKean, Oxford University Press, 2006.

Lara, you were onto something to start with ... (if you read to the end of this definition

titivil [tit-uh-vul] - a name for a devil said to collect words mumbled, dropped, or omitted in the recitation of divine service, and to carry them to hell where they would be held against the offender. By extension, a tattletale.

jollux [joll-uks] - an obsolete slang term meaning 'a fat person'.

"Don't you dare spanghew that poor, diminutive amphibian!" she hollered as she carefully stepped through the slek on the soccer field.