liripoop
Definitions
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- noun (noun) A pendent part of the old clerical tippet; afterwards, a tippet; a scarf; -- worn also by doctors, learned men, etc.
- noun (noun) Acuteness; smartness; also, a smart trick or stratagem.
- noun (noun) A silly person.
Examples
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Before this, students wore hoods, or liripipes, like those affected by medieval characters. When the mortarboard took over, the liripipe - sometimes called liripoop - was attached to the back of the gown to be used for extra protection in case of inclement weather.
Charles McHarry, 'Inside Dope on Caps and Gowns,' The News and Courier, May 27, 1961
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She said two of her favourite words she had come across were grumbletonian (a discontented person) and liripoop (a silly person).
Alex Watts, 'Roll Over Roget: World's Largest Thesaurus,' Sky News Online, October 22, 2009
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The long hair, the dagger, and the liripoop, or hood of silk, were three things the Pope, in consequence of the growing dandyism of the English priesthood, had found it necessary to forbid.
Note
'Liripoop' has several variations - liripipium, liripipe, liripion - and comes from the medieval Latin 'liripipium,' which referred to, says Michael Quinion of World Wide Words, 'the tippet of a hood, a cord, a shoe-lace and the inner sole-leather of shoes,' which suggests 'that nobody has the slightest idea what it really meant.'
