Guilt by Association

Odds and Sods

These are Not Dirty Words

Although they might look like it, none of the words or expression listed below is in any way dirty, and to prove it we're giving you the correct definitions. But use them at your own risk.

Bed Load: Solid particles, like the pebbles in a stream, that are carried along by flowing water.

Titbits: The British spelling for the word "tidbits." Tit-Bits was the name of of a British weekly magazine published from 1881 to 1984.

Loose Smutt: A fungus that attacks wheat crops.

Oxpecker: A small bird native to sub-Saharan Africa. Also known as tick birds, they eat parasites that infest the hides of livestock.

Dick Test: If your doctor suspects you have scarlet fever, you may be given this diagnostic test invented by Dr. George Dick and his wife Gladys in 1924.

Vaginicola: A singled-celled organism found in pond water.

Crack Spread: The difference in value between unrefined crude oil and the products that can be made by refining, or "cracking" the oil.

F-holes: The f-shaped sound holes cut into the front of violins, cellos, and other stringed instruments.

Rump Party: In British politics, when one faction of a political party breaks away to merge with or form a new party, the faction left behind is known as the "rump party."

Urinator: A person who dives underwater in search of pearls, sunken treasure, or other riches.

Spermophile: A genus, or grouping of more than 20 species of ground squirrel.

Crap Mats: The name of a mountain in the Swiss Alps.

Fucoid: An adjective that means "having to do with seaweed."

Fucose: A type of sugar found in human breast milk and in seaweed.

Titubate: To stumble, either in step or in speech.

Dickcissel: A species of finch native to the U.S.