Words and their Definitions

[Doodoo]

bezirksschornsteinfegermeister

District master chimney sweep

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Near the summit of the hill were two benches and a dog bin, the grass around them worn away by feet. The bare soil, unshaded by any vegetation, was warmer than the soil elsewhere, and this made it the perfect habitat for a tiny predator. The green tiger beetle is a vivid, iridescent green with creamy yellow spots on its long wing cases, big eyes and strong jaws; its long legs mean it can move fast in pursuit of other small invertebrates, but to do so it needs warmth from the sun. The same goes for its larvae: these develop in shallow burrows in unshaded soil that act as pitfall traps, allowing the larva to prey on whatever falls in.
Melissa Harrison

[Doodoo]

Bendii Syndrome
Is a rare degenerative neurological illness that affects Vulcans and can cause them to lose control of their emotions, with potentially dangerous consequences for those around them.

[Doodoo]

1) Yooper

Residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are called this nickname.

2) Floccinaucinihilipilification

"The estimation of something as worthless," it's also one of the longest words in English.

[Doodoo]

Sa·la·cious

adjective

1.
having or conveying undue or inappropriate interest in sexual matters:
"salacious stories"

[Laan Yaa Mo]

To pass through a cloud of fox reek while walking along a residential street is a familiar experience for many city dwellers. Not unlike the redolent air that lingers in place long after someone has smoked a spliff, the skunky smell of fox is never forgotten once identified, and can be a clue to a hidden den — or to a resting animal in an overgrown front garden. Both urine and droppings carry this strong and highly characteristic smell, and help to remotely communicate information including breeding condition and the extent of a fox’s territory; a substance secreted by their anal glands acts as a fragrance booster, while their paws and a small area on their upper tail also produce odiferous compounds.

Melissa Harrison

[Doodoo]

"fox reek" ???

[Doodoo]

Lum·mox

noun

1.
a clumsy, stupid person:
informal North American
"watch it, you great lummox!"

[Laan Yaa Mo]

There are approximately 9,000 wasp species in the UK. The vast majority of these bear very little resemblance to the yellow-jacketed variety that cause mayhem at picnics, but all of them do sterling work in the pest-killing department. The mournful wasp, Pemphredon lugubris, is a particular friend of farmers and gardeners. This medium-sized wasp (7.5–12mm) feeds its young almost entirely on aphids. Nesting in dead wood, the female constructs a system of chambers and lays an egg in each one. Every egg is accompanied by 40 or so aphids, which the wasp larvae will devour when it hatches. This solitary wasp’s poetic name comes from its black colour, which is reminiscent of traditional funeral clothing.

Jonathan Tulloch

[Laan Yaa Mo]

A rasping croak rang out over the old mill pond at Newburgh Priory in North Yorkshire. It was a gadwall. These dabbling ducks are generally quiet, but at mating time the male has a resonant, percussive call that is sometimes referred to as a burp. The gadwall’s scientific name, Mareca strepera, refers to this noticeable vocalisation — it means noisy wild duck. But whereas the bird’s Latin tag is easily understood, we don’t have a clue where the word gadwall came from or what it means. In 1666, Christopher Merret assembled the first list of English birds, and it included gadwall, but there was no explanation of its meaning nor origin. Once just a winter visitor to the UK, gadwalls are becoming more common as a breeding species.

Jonathan Tulloch

[Doodoo]

OXEPECKERS
Bird
The oxpeckers are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxpecker

[Laan Yaa Mo]

At last the sun came out, and a large red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) basked on a bramble leaf. It had just emerged from the little woodland pond close by. These insects have a two-year life cycle, most of which is spent underwater in nymph form. Large red damselfly nymphs live at the bottom of ponds, among both living and decaying vegetation, and in their early development eat the microscopic rotifers. They then graduate to consume insect larvae, particularly those of midges. Once they have left the water and grown wings, they do not live long. The mean mature lifespan of adult males is one week; females average five and a half days. However, there are records of both sexes surviving for six weeks as adults.

Jonathan Tulloch

[Laan Yaa Mo]

History. A Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol, or “LRRP” (pronounced “Lurp”), is a small, heavily armed long-range reconnaissance team that patrols deep in enemy-held territory.

[Doodoo]

Sua Sponte
Pronounced

sooh-uh spon-tay

Adjective

Referring to an order made by a judge with no request by any party to the legal action.

[Doodoo]

AZAZEL
In the Hebrew Bible, the name Azazel represents a desolate place where a scapegoat bearing the sins of the Jews was sent during Yom Kippur. During the late Second Temple period (after the closure of the Hebrew Bible canon), Azazel came to be viewed as a fallen angel responsible for introducing humans to forbidden knowledge, as described in the Book of Enoch. His role as a fallen angel partly remains in Christian and Islamic traditions.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

The longer a species has existed somewhere the more time it’s had to form associations with other species, which is why native species are considered more valuable to wildlife than those which have been recently introduced. In the UK there are no fewer than 149 species of invertebrates which live on hawthorn, including 25 moths that are completely reliant on it; only oak, willow and birch support more. The hawthorn leaf beetle is also specific to our May trees: though small, it is rather handsome, with black markings on its bronze wing cases. There are two generations per year; the first, which peaks around now, overwintered as a pupa in the soil. A second will peak in August and September.

Melissa Harrison

[Doodoo]

come·up·pance
noun
informal
comeuppance (noun) · comeuppances (plural noun) · come-uppance (noun) · come-uppances (plural noun)
a punishment or fate that someone deserves:
"he got his comeuppance in the end"

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Small ermine moths are lovely: pure white with black spots and a fluffy tippet around their shoulders, like a starlet in the ivory fur coat for which they are named. Yet it’s not for their adult outfits that they are best known, but for the huge webs spun by their larvae in shrubs and hedges at about this time of year, which act to protect the caterpillars from predators as they grow. These webs often provoke some public alarm, but they’re completely natural and tend to disappear on their own, and the plants the caterpillars have been feeding on generally recover. There are several species of small ermine, some of which specialise in a particular food plant, such as euonymus, willow and sedum.

Melissa Harrison

[Doodoo]

Nudiustertian

Meaning "very recently" or relating to the day before yesterday.

[jackspratt]

Thanks Dd - apparently this is the only time this word has been published since the mid-1600s.