Thursday, April 5, 2012

Fadge. Frim. An Oxford English Dictionary Field Trip.

Twelfth Night is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays.
Viola is a real badass.
One of the words she uses is "fadge."
This is a cool word.
It is so cool that my professor urged us to get it back into circulation.
My efforts have not yielded much fruit. Maybe this post will change this.
One of my treasured possessions is a 1971 edition of the Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. It came with a magnifying glass and everything. And the smell is so "book." Beautiful paper, ink, binding=book smell that engenders bliss. All of the following quotes and definitions are from this tome of wondrousness.
So. Fadge."To fit, suit, be suitable."
Here is one example of how "fadge" was used in George Whetstone’s The Right Excellent Historye of Promos and Cassandra: "Sir, this match fadged frim."
"Frim" is a word I hadn't heard of until I read this example.
So I looked that up, too.
"Frim" is "Vigourous, flourishing, luxuriant in growth, full-fleshed."
So the guy thought that Promos and Cassandra's relationship was going to turn out real well.
A little more research and I found out that this was one of Shakespeare's, uh, "sources" for Measure for Measure.
I'm not going to tell you if the match fadged frim or not, because I don't believe in spoilers. But if anyone asks, I will reveal the ending of the timeless classic Gammer Gurton's Needle.
May we all fadge frim.

15 comments:

  1. A most fadge post! Hope your weekend is frim!
    :-) Take care
    x

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    1. And yours! Thank you, as always, for stopping by! :)

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  2. I just caught up on your A-Z posts and must tell you they are the best I've seen in this A-Z challenge. They are fadgeing frim to the extreem. I'm also adding destination charges to my vocabulary as a writer - will no longer see peeps the same way (nor will I think of princess Leia the same way again) and I will most certainly meet you in hell, if the dividing line is reading adult situations and asking for "more weight." I hope I got that last one correct.

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    1. Joe, I am so thrilled with this comment. Thank you. More weight! More weight! That is perfect. We will merrily meet in hell, but before then I hope we will someday get a chance to be meet and greet and be well-met.

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  3. OK. I'm going hiking with a word loving friend today. We will discuss fadge frim! I'm trying to visit all the A-Z Challenge Blogs this month.

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    1. I hope your hike fadged frim. Thanks for hopping by!

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  4. Great post today. It is kind of fun to try to get words into circulation.

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  5. I love this post, Kristen! We are odd people...My favorite book is a Websters 1901 edition of the New International Dictionary. Has no computer terms, but if I am looking for something archaic, there it is! Over 200 pages on India paper--and I do need reading glasses :-)

    Your definition here is the first in my Webster. These follow: "To jog or get along. A round flat loaf. A short, fat, person. A farthing. And Australian "An irregular package of wool."

    *raising glass* Here is to all of us--fadging frim! Happy A to Z-ing!"

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    1. Great comment, Teresa. I laughed about our kindred-spirit-ness--Yay Websters! And an even bigger Yay for India paper.
      Those are all great defs for "fadge." The OED went on and on, which is one of the best things about the OED.
      *raises glass at Teresa*

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  6. Fadge. All right. I'm on it. Let's get this word back into circulation.

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    1. Rock on, M.J. Thank you for the comment. May all our fadges be frim.

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  7. Awesome post! Thanks for another amazing word to add to my vocabulary!

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  8. Thanks for hopping by, Karen! Happy A-Zing!

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