griffonage

Mar. 22nd, 2013 07:19 am
prettygoodword: text: words are sexy (words are sexy)
[personal profile] prettygoodword
griffonage (grif-uh-NAHJ) - n., careless or illegible handwriting.


And not, alas, a place for breeding griffons. The word is now rare if not outright obsolete, which is a pity as looking at usage examples, the early Victorians used it for nicely weighty effects. Borrowed in the early 19th century from French, from griffonner, to scribble or scrawl -- and so related to graffiti, though that's the root borrowed through Italian -- ultimately from Greek graphos, writing.

---L.

Date: 2013-03-22 05:14 pm (UTC)
med_cat: (cat in dress)
From: [personal profile] med_cat
Love this one, must find occasion to use it ;) (I think a suitable occasion may well present itself in the course of my work...;))

Date: 2013-03-22 07:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
Excellent.

---L.

Date: 2013-03-22 07:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] movingfinger.livejournal.com
there is no reason for this NOT to be a place for breeding griffons.

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