Imbosk means to hide, usually in a wood. As Milton put it:
They seek the dark, the bushy, the tangled forest, they would imbosk.
A sibling word is bosky, as in bosky glades.
3 comments:
The Antipodean, suffering mildly from the wrath of grapes (should that be the annoyance of grapes?),23 August 2010 06:11
Didn't bosky also mean tipsy, once? As in, 'Sorry chaps, I'm a trifle bosky.' I was wondering how on earth that had come from 'hiding in a wood.' But (speculating wildly without so much as a google to back me up) I wonder if it's via 'disguised,' (another euphemism) as in disguised > hidden > bosky. It's a nice theory and I hate to ruin it by doing research.
Drinking and its assorted consequences seem to be another one of those things that attracts a lot of euphemisms.
The Horologicon is a book of the strangest and most beautiful words in the English language arranged by the hour of the day when you will really need them. Words for breakfast, for commuting, for working, for dining, for drinking and for getting lost on the way home. It runs from uhtceare (sadness before dawn) to curtain lecture (a telling off given by your spouse in bed). It's out on November the first, but you can already order it from these lovely people:
Didn't bosky also mean tipsy, once? As in, 'Sorry chaps, I'm a trifle bosky.' I was wondering how on earth that had come from 'hiding in a wood.' But (speculating wildly without so much as a google to back me up) I wonder if it's via 'disguised,' (another euphemism) as in disguised > hidden > bosky. It's a nice theory and I hate to ruin it by doing research.
ReplyDeleteDrinking and its assorted consequences seem to be another one of those things that attracts a lot of euphemisms.
And a very creepy face is peering out from that bosky offering...
ReplyDeleteand "ambush"!
ReplyDelete