The Prisoner of Zenda (35 page)

domestic
PHRASE
here domestic means a person's management of the house
to give some account of my domestic
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

dunce
NOUN
a dunce is another word for idiot
Do you take me for a dunce? Go on?
(
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll)

Ecod
EXCLAM
a slang exclamation meaning ‘oh God!'
“Ecod,” replied Wemmick, shaking his head, “that's not my trade.”
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

egg-hot
NOUN
an egg-hot (see also ‘
flip
' and ‘
negus
') was a hot drink made from beer and eggs, sweetened with nutmeg
She fainted when she saw me return, and made a little jug of egg-hot afterwards to console us while we talked it over.
(
David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens)

encores
NOUN
an encore is a short extra performance at the end of a longer one, which the entertainer gives because the audience has
enthusiastically asked for it
we want a little something to answer encores with, anyway
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

equipage
NOUN
an elegant and impressive carriage
and besides, the equipage did not answer to any of their neighbours
(
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen)

exordium
NOUN
an exordium is the opening part of a speech
“Now, Handel,” as if it were the grave beginning of a portentous business exordium, he had suddenly given up that tone
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

expect
VERB
here expect means to wait for
to expect his farther commands
(
Gulliver's Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

familiars
NOUN
familiars means spirits or devils who come to someone when they are called
I'll turn all the lice about thee into familiars
(
Doctor Faustus 1.4
by Christopher Marlowe)

fantods
NOUN
a fantod is a person who fidgets or can't stop moving nervously
It most give me the fantods
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

farthing
NOUN
a farthing is an old unit of British currency which was worth a quarter of a penny
Not a farthing less. A great many back-payments are included in it, I assure you.
(
A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens)

farthingale
NOUN
a hoop worn under a skirt to extend it
A bell with an old voice–which I dare say in its time had often said to the house, Here is the green farthingale
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)