griffonage
Mar. 22nd, 2013 07:19 amgriffonage (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.
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.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-22 05:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-22 07:33 pm (UTC)Just be careful about putting one next to the stables
Date: 2013-03-22 07:47 pm (UTC)---L.
no subject
Date: 2013-03-22 07:47 pm (UTC)---L.