What's in a Word? January 30

I have loved browsing through my new book "What Did They Mean By That" by Paul Duke. I wanted to share two more words I found that were unfamiliar to me. The definitions are quoted from the book.

1) Trammel - "A fireplace hanger for pots, kettles, etc." 

I found this German Woodcut illustration from 1485 showing a trammel hook. Photo from Wikipedia. 

2) Stomacher - "a highly decorated, often jeweled garment of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, worn over the chest."

This was a fun one to look up. So many fanciful and beautiful examples to find on the internet. I especially loved the example below that I found on a blog called "The Pragmatic Costumer." If you are interested, you should view the post for a brief history.

What's in a Word? - Ongoing Series

This week I got a new book (okay...I got more than one...I know I have a problem).  

It is entitled What Did They Mean By That by Paul Drake and published by Heritage Books. It is basically a dictionary of genealogical and historical terminology. I thought it might be fun to share some of those terms with you and share what I found (of course I have to Google them!).

I opened the book to a random page and looked for a term that was unfamiliar to me. 

On page 134 of the book I found this term:

geedunk

It is defined as "a very early slang term of the military, especially the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, meaning candies, ice cream, confections, or other sweets available to those aboard ship, e.g. "Every early U.S. Navy ship had its geedunk stand."

I found a great photo of a Geedunk (Gedunk) stand found on the U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt that I thought I would share. It was found on the https://ussfranklindroosevelt.com/ website.

I imagine getting goodies from the stand was a special treat for the military personnel on board the ship!