MouseTrap Vocab.

Amour

In this context, a secret of illicit love affair or lover; in French, the word for love

Arrivederla

Italian: until I see you again; the formal version of the more typical “arrivederci”

Barmy

British slang: crazy, foolish, eccentric

Bilking

obtaining or withholding money from someone by deceit or without justification

Birds of Paradise

a showy perennial plant native to south america

bana fide

genuine or real

boorish

rough,bad-mannered, or coarse

chicken netting

the british term for chicken wire

chilblains

a painful, itching swelling on the skin, typically on a hand or foot, caused by poor circulation in the skin when exposed to cold

Chintz

a printed multicolored cotton fabric with a glazed finish, often used for curtains and upholdstery

Coalscuttle

a bucket-like container for holding a small supply of coal

coke

a solid fuel derived from coal

dogsbody

a person who is given boring, menial tasks

dry rot

wood decay caused by certain species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness

Foie gras

French:(literally) fat liver; a luxury food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been fattened

hooked it

british slang: gone away, left; similar to the american beat it

jeunesse

french; youth

magistrate

a civil officer or judge who administers the law, especially one who conducts a court that deals with minor offenses and holds preliminary hearings for more serious ones

ministry

a white, foreign women of high status living in india

mugs

british slang for a stupid or gullible person

pinch

british slang for stealing

prefab

prefabricated homes are manufactured off-site in advance, usually in a factory, in standard sections that can easily be shipped and quickly assembled on site

rasher

a slice of bacon

red

a slang term for a communist or socialist; the color red is generally associated with the communist party

ruddy

informal british term for bloody, an epithet derived from “by our lady” and therefore thought to be inappropriate in many social situations

socialist

socialism is a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole

soupçon

in english, a very small quantity of something; in french the word means suspicion

spiv

a man, typically characterized by flashy dress, who makes his living by disreputable dealings

tête-à-tête

french: head to head; a private conversation between two people

third degree

inflicting of pain, physical or mental, to extract confessions or statements

torch

the british term for a flashlight