Thursday, 9 February 2012

Inquilinate


The word inquilinate is defined in the dear old OED as:


To dwell in a strange place.

I'm not sure if Clerkenwell counts. As the poet John Oldham wrote in 1680:

‘Tis a long way to where I dwell,
At farther end of Clerkenwell:
There in a garret near the sky,
Above five pairs of stairs I lie.

Which, other than the precise number of stairs, describes me perfectly.

That the OED is not able to quote a single usage of inquilinate proves that every man's home is ordinary to him.


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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous9 February 2012 at 12:26

    Interesting, because the Italian word for 'tenant' is 'inquilino'. Thanks for that.

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  2. Anonymous9 February 2012 at 13:27

    To dwell in a strange place... yup thats me

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  3. Anonymous9 February 2012 at 13:46

    "And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land" (Exodus 2:22; KJV). Moses was quite the queer inquilinator...

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  4. Medi9 February 2012 at 21:36

    I suppose one could inquillinate in a prison...

    Off the subject, do you know what's behind "ta-ta" (as in goodbye", a phrase used a lot in wales and liverpool and the like.

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  5. Anonymous14 February 2012 at 19:43

    I've never read Robert Heinlein's book myself but I spent a part of my youth dwelling in "Heavy Metal Heaven"

    Iron Maiden - Stranger In A Strange Land

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry42FHfz67A&ob=av2n

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