Lexical Compendium

Wait... what is this? Sometimes I come across a word, phrase, idiom, quote, reference, bit of slang, person of interest, etc that either I don't know or I find amusing, interesting, etc. This is a collection of those items so that I can refer back to them in emails, texts, etc.

Recent Entries:

Tag Cloud jargon history entomology grammar vocabulary computer-science netspeak podcast television idiom politics ai eponymous tipofmytongue quote movie science slang music space

banoffee

Banoffee is a portmanteau combining the words "banana" and "toffee" and is often used in reference to Banoffee Pie, which seems to be a popular pie flavor in the UK.

I learned of this while watching a YouTube show: Food Tours: Finding the Best Afternoon Tea in London.


(link to this entry)

References:

  1. YouTube: Food Tours: Finding the Best Afternoon Tea in London
  2. Wikipedia: Banoffee Pie

Tags: television, pie, toffee, desert, banana

Date Added: 21 May 2024
Date Modified: 08 Jul 2025

milquetoast

The word milquetoast is used to describe a meek or timid person.

It originated from the comic strip character Caspar Milquetoast, created by Harold T. Webster in 1924. The character was known for his timidity and refusal to participate in controversial discussions. Some time after the character's debut, the term "milquetoast" began to be used to describe people with similar characteristics.

Caspar's last name is derived from "milk toast," a breakfast food that was thought to be easy to digest and was a popular food for convalescents in New England (USA) in the 19th and early 20th century.


(link to this entry)

References:

  1. Definition: Milquetoast
  2. Wikipedia: Caspar Milquetoast
  3. Wikipedia: Milk Toast

Tags: slang, vocabulary, eponymous

Date Added: 18 Jul 2024
Date Modified: 17 Jul 2025

pulses

The dried seeds of legumes (beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, etc). This seems to be a word that is commonly used in the UK. In the US, I don't think I've ever heard it.

I looked this up after watching a YouTube show: Food Tours: Finding the Best Cheeseburger in Los Angeles. The two hosts (popularized on Food Wars) are from the US and UK. In the US, if I were eating chickpeas and lentils I'd say that I was eating "chickpeas and lentils," while in the UK it seems like it might be common to say that one is "eating pulses."


(link to this entry)

References:

  1. YouTube: Food Tours: Finding the Best Cheeseburger in Los Angeles
  2. Definition: pulses - (third definition)

Tags: television, pulses, chickpeas, food

Date Added: 21 May 2024
Date Modified: 08 Jul 2025

stigmergy

From Wikipedia:

Stigmergy was first observed in social insects. For example, ants exchange information by laying down pheromones (the trace) on their way back to the nest when they have found food. In that way, they collectively develop a complex network of trails, connecting the nest in an efficient way to various food sources. When ants come out of the nest searching for food, they are stimulated by the pheromone to follow the trail towards the food source. The network of trails functions as a shared external memory for the ant colony.


(link to this entry)

References:

  1. Wikipedia: Stigmergy

Tags: social_insect, ants, vocabulary, entomology

Date Added: Unknown
Date Modified: 08 Jul 2025