(urth) Auk's dimber tip to all flash coves

[Roy C. Lackey]

Gwern Branwen quoted and wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 5:51 PM, Dave Lebling wrote:
> > My recollection is that "hoppy" was from the green uniforms of the
Vironese
> > police (by analogy with frogs).
> >
> > I forget where "limer" and "mews" are used but they are perfectly good
(if
> > obscure) words. Limers are mentioned in books about the English
underclass
> > (Kellow Chesney's "The Victorian Underworld" is a good one -- Neil
Gaiman
> > recommends it and it's fascinating), where the word refers to people who
> > catch birds using birdlime. "Hornboy" and "bucky" are not even
completely
> > obsolete today, if I twig their meanings ("catamite" and "buddy"
> > respectively).
>
> Hm. I didn't catch the roots for limer or bucky. Maybe a Lexicon
> Urthus is in order for the Long Sun/Short Sun books?

As Dave said, "mews" and "limer" are just obscure words. I recall that the
mews of a stable near the Inn of Lost Loves was where the ostler Trudo kept
his belongings and may have slept: "Trudo's gone, cook says. She was out
fetchin' water water 'cause the girl was gone, and seen him runnin' off, and
his things is gone from the mews too." (SHADOW, chap. XXVI)

Also, Wolfe had a limer as a character in "Our Neighbour by David
Copperfield" (ENDANGERED SPECIES) who talked about how lime was used to
catch birds: "But I liked him and I used to set by him, and it was him that
taught me how to lime the birds."

-Roy