Hey Cats! A word I learned today.

[Doctor Phibes]

@george-k said in Hey Cats! A word I learned today.:

Reynolds is Welsh, by the way.

Growing up in the north of England, no holiday to Wales would be complete without a visit to one of their castles, of which there are many...which might explain the vocabulary of an average English bloke

[LuFins Dad]

I am shocked you aren’t familiar with the word, George.

[Horace]

Not unusual to those of us who read fantasy books as kids. I bet that word even appears in Tolkien.

[Catseye3]

Yep, George; I was already familiar with that word from medieval castles and warfare and such like.

[Catseye3]

@doctor-phibes Hey, Phibes, which castle is that? And what is that round thing in the middle? Was that the oubliette?

[Copper]

Does a day go by without using the word portcullis?

[Horace]

I think mostly white people use the word.

[Copper]

@horace said in Hey Cats! A word I learned today.:

I think mostly white people use the word.

And I am mostly white

[Doctor Phibes]

@catseye3 said in Hey Cats! A word I learned today.:

@doctor-phibes Hey, Phibes, which castle is that? And what is that round thing in the middle? Was that the oubliette?

That's Caernarfon Castle. The round thing is where Prince Charles was made Prince of Wales - I think it's a modern construction. I remember visiting not long after that had happened, when I was very young.

[George K]

@george-k said in Hey Cats! A word I learned today.:

I've mentioned I love Alastair Reynolds' use of rare and unusual words.
Today I read portcullis:

Today I read Panthalassa:

https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/panthalassa

Proper Noun: A universal sea or single ocean, such as would have surrounded Pangaea.

[Larry]

Around here those are called....

Drop gates.......