ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our ELEVENTH round with 'Captain Roger' at the helm! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "R".
RATOON
Ratoon: for those of us who worked in the pineapple fields in Hawaii, this is a word in our vocabulary. Pineapple plants produce fruit for several years. The last crop of it's growth cycle was referred to as the ratoon crop. It you will notice the shoots at the base of the pineapple fruit in this image, those are referred to as 'suckers'. The women would go through the rows of plants and remove all but the largest sucker on each plant (this was called 'stripping' since we were stripping the plant of unwanted suckers). Normally, this is done right after the fruit is harvested from the plant. Each fruit takes about a year to mature. But, in doing this stripping, it would dedicate all of the plant's energy towards producing a larger fruit. Otherwise, those suckers would be the seeds of a new plant.
The free On Line Dictionary describes ratoon crop as: "One that grows from the remains of one already harvested, from Spanish retono, "sprout."
RED-TAPIST
(image from: the Entrepenerd Blog but no artist attributes are listed)
My wonderful Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary describes a red-tapist as "one employed in a public office who ties his papers with red tape; hence, a mere government clerk." And as, "one who adheres strictly to the forms and routine of the office."
RUSHLIGHT
(image from WIkipedia)
Rushlight. A rush candle. Wikipedia goes into more detail than my dictionary: "A rushlight is a type of candle or miniature torch formed by soaking the dried pith of the rush plant in fat or grease. For several centuries rushlights were a common source of artificial light for poor people throughout the British Isles. They were extremely inexpensive to make."
RUNCINATE
(image from: WildeRx)
Runcinate. In botany, pinnatifid, with the lobes convex before and straight behind, pointing backward, like the teeth of a double saw. You see it on dandelion leaves. Arugula leaves, etc.
REEFER
Quite a list of definitions for reefer! 1) a person who reefs: formerly a slang term for midshipman. 2) a short, thick, double breasted coat, worn especially by sailors. 3) a women's form-fitting, double breasted coat, similar to this. 4) an oyster growing on reefs, a worthless oyster. 5) (and this is what today's culture knows this word by) from the rolled appearance of a reef (of a sail)-a marijuana cigarette (slang).
Bonus word today: renidification: the act of rebuilding a nest. Don't think many use this one these days!
4 comments:
Ah, you're full of great Rs for the R Day, Paula!! Always love your choices and more often than not, I learn something even while I chuckle!! Hope your week is going well!!
Wow, did you know these words, or did you go to the dictionary? Impressive!
Stopped by because I saw your comment on ABC -Wed, and pray these votes will be enough to turn the overall initial results!!
new word in my vocabulary this week! I'm new here; I like it!
BTW I have a really TOUGH time trying to read the photo part of captcha, so first and last time to comment. sorry, it takes to much time and it's frustrating!
I had to laugh at the first word. I thought ratoon was something to do with rats! :-) I loved red-tapist. I'd always heard of red tape, but never the person who does it. We just tend to call the bureaucrats. Now I have a new word! :-)
Greetings from London.
Post a Comment