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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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4 comments:

Bentonbag said...

Surely a bident is when you only have two teeth.

Unknown said...

A bombard was an ancient cannon used to throw a bumbass which was a large shell or projectile.

Ian Robinson said...

Brenda...
WISEGUY!
:)

Keith...
Is that true? Did you know that already??? Good grief...

Anonymous said...

did Bombardier have a link with Bombard===surely yes?