What is the raisin d’etre of a currant bun?
THE Dictionary of New Words: R, From Raconteurgh to Rumpy-Trumpy
NEW words are being recognised every day. Last month, the Oxford English Dictionary’s update included ‘ fatberg’, to mean a large mass of hardened cooking fat blocking a drain or sewer, and ‘timepass’ to describe passing the time agreeably. Here are some other contenders that could make the grade soon... RACONTEURGH: A persistent teller of revolting anecdotes. ‘ Roy Chubby Brown is surely the world’s greatest raconteurgh.’ RADICCHIOHNO: Unpleasant surprise when eating a salad. ‘To my horror I noticed something purple under the tomato, and stumbled across a radicchiohno.’ RADIAUNT: Middle-aged relation in a bright hat at weddings, much given to waving and doublekissing. ‘ Three of my radiaunts arrived at once, so we gave them a table to themselves.’ RADICAL CHICK: Fashionable affectation of right-on socialist views among prosperous members of the chicken community.
RAFFISH-FINGER: Disreputable, somewhat louche dish eaten at lunch or supper. ‘I always serve my raffish-fingers at a jaunty angle, and wash them down with a dry martini.’ RAFFIA BOSS: Man in a straw suit who sidles up to people and makes them offers they can’t refuse. ‘The moment he started plaiting those palms together, I knew he was a leading member of the Raffia.’ RAGOO: A highly seasoned dish of chopped meat and vegetables so overcooked that it has turned to a form of paste. RAH-RAH-RAH-RAH SKIRT: A skirt that goes on and on, without pausing for breath. RAISIN D’ETRE: The whole point of a currant bun. RAKE OFF, THE GREAT BRITISH: Show in which energy companies compete against each other to extract the maximum profits from consumers. RAMCHUCKLE: Disorderly laughter. RAMPANTS: Unrestrained underwear, often a cause of major embarrassment. ‘I looked down, only to discover that my rampants were around my ankles.’ RAPID AYE MOVEMENT (R.A.M.): The jerky movement of a backbench MP as he is hustled through the lobby by a fierce Government whip.
RAPPOSHMENT: Resumption of harmonious relations between smart or upper-class people. ‘I see that after their falling-out last year Jacob Rees- Mogg and Boris Johnson have at last effected a rapposhment.’ RANTI- CLIMAX: Moment in a meeting when a heated debate descends into name-calling. RAUCOUSCOUS: A type of very noisy North African semolina. RATTLESNUCK: Heavy- bodied American snake that, quite without your realising it, has just crawled under your chair. ‘I felt something around my legs and when I looked down I realised it was a rattlesnuck.’ READY-TO-SWEAR: Rock star Liam Gallagher’s latest off- the- peg range of designer jackets. ‘Liam’s new ready-to-swear collection of parka jackets is his noisiest and most abusive yet.’ RECOMPEN: To give someone their ballpoint back. REFERENDUMB: General vote taken on a singularly daft or nonsensical issue. ‘And at the end of tonight’s show, we’ll be asking you to vote on who was your favourite member of pop group S Club 7.’ REPETUTTUT TUTIVE: To voice disapproval, over and over again.
RESPONSIBULL: Notably wellbehaved and considerate member of bovine society. RHODODENRON-RON: Catchy chorus regularly repeated throughout any plant-based pop-song. RHINOSHEROS: Particularly greedy member of the rhinocerotidae family. RIGOR-TORTIS: Early sign of death in shelled land- dwelling reptile. ‘I thought Donatello was just sun-bathing on his back, but when I touched him I realised that Rigor Tortis had set in.’ RISIBULL: Much-teased representative of the bovine community. RISOTTOE: Something bony and untoward uncovered in a rice-based dish. ROGAN-GOSH: Indian curry that suddenly turns out to be much hotter than you’d ever imagined. ROMCON: A film that singularly fails in its intention to be funny and romantic. ‘ Guy Ritchie’s Swept Away, starring Madonna, is reputed to be one of the leading romcons of recent years, with only half a laugh in all of its 89 minutes.’ RUMPY - T RUMPY: Casual presidential misbehaviour of a sexual nature.