577

Please spare a thought for one of my favourite creatures - the magnificent Scottish Wildcat, Britain's only surviving native 'lion'.  It's been persecuted for decades and now, despite its protected status, it's on the verge of extinction.  Some estimates suggest that the remaining population may be less than 100 animals - even as few as about 35.  And now there are reports that even these few animals are vulnerable to a virulent new strain of 'feline immunodeficiency virus' (FIV), which spreads to them via feral domestic cats.

We may have to say Goodbye to the Scottish Wildcat within a year or two.

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Here are some more unusual words for you to drop into everyday conversation.  They're lifted from Foyle's Philavery (like the words on posting 571) and they all begin with B...

basial

related to kissing

batterfang

to attack with the fists or nails

bavardage

idle chatter

beal

a boil; to fester like a boil

bedizen

to dress gaudily or in bad taste

It rhymes with 'horizon'.

bellibone

a woman of exceptional beauty and goodness

It's derived from French belle-et-bonne, surprisingly enough.

bident

a two-year-old sheep

Do we really need this word at all?

Or this one, for that matter...

blennophobia

an abnormal fear of slime or mucous

borborygmus

the rumbling sound of gas and fluid in the intestines

Yes, it has a name and this is it.

bragget

an alcoholic drink made by fermenting ale and honey with spices

Sounds good to me.

bratticing

wooden boarding, often temporary, used to partition off something dangerous or to divide a space

This one came as a revelation to me.  In my grandparents colliery house on Blackhall, the front door was separated from the front room (into which it would otherwise have opened) by what my Granda called a brattish.  I had no idea it was a 'proper word'.

bumbass

a projectile thrown by a bombard

I don't know about you, but I'm none the wiser.

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