Dungeon: a massive inner tower in a Medieval castle or a dark usually underground prison or vault. Traceable back to Latin dominus, lord.
Dudgeon: a wood used especially for dagger hilts or a fit or state of indignation. Traceable back to Anglo-French digeon.
Gudgeon: a pivot or a small European freshwater fish (Gobio gobio, Sw. sandkrypare). Traceable back to Middle French goujon resp. Latin gobius.
Bludgeon: a short stick that usually has one thick or loaded end and is used as a weapon. Unknown origin, first known use 1730.
Thanks to Merriam-Webster.
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Burgeon: a swelling bud or young shoot.
Clapperdudgeon: a beggar born.
Pigwidgeon: a small, insignificant person or thing.
Curmudgeon: an avaricious churlish fellow; a miser, a niggard.
Murgeon: dirt, dregs, refuse. Grimaces, bodily contortions, exaggerated postures
Mully-grub-gurgeon: a grub that feeds on coarse meal. A term of abuse.
Example of two sentences using these words:
The surgeon was in a high dudgeon, making murgeons, standing in murgeon and mully-grub-gurgeons, never seeing a burgeon because he had bludgeoned that pigwidgeon of a clapperdudgeon. At least the dungeon-keeper was no curmudgeon; sturgeon, gudgeon, widgeon or pigeon for tea.
And .. ?
Or am I just being a curmudgeon?
Haha, most excellent, gentlemen!
Language schmanguage:
"Etymology-Man" http://www.xkcd.com/1010/
*Yeah, I know etymology is not the same as soundingthesameology.
PS Two Swedish towns are trying to market themselves as the Swedish "twin cities", English spelling and all. Better choices: Pigwidgeon cities? The Murgeon twin towns?
Addendum to previous comment: Nobigdealgeon twin hamlets?
"Group slams English name for Swedish region" http://www.thelocal.se/38770/20120127/
Whatthefuckidiotgeons: Parents held for 'forcing demons' from daughter http://www.thelocal.se/38780/20120128/
(I have to invent words as I go along, the last example of idiocy has no term for it, uniting so many forms of stupid)
Which two cities?
Norrköping & Linköping
http://www.thelocal.se/38770/20120127/
They should have come up with some betteer term...Are here no ancient heroes buried under cairns in the region? The Red Orc region or something.
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And "Bludgeon" would be almost as good a name as "Baldric". "Get my horse, Bludgeon, I am off to hunt peasants".
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"niggard" -It may be a urban myth, but didn't some bloke lose his job at an American university for using the term "niggardly"?
Niggardly, indeed. And then there was the other US guy who lost his job because he advocated a greater emphasis on pedagogics in an in-house memo... The pervert!
They could at least go for a pun in English. Just Köping? Köping Mechanism? Köping Skills?
My last name, Gougeon, is a variation of the French word "goujon." Years ago, my brother was visiting the Atlantic Coast of France, where he heard several times that our last name was basically the equivalent of a little bait-fish. However, I learned that the Cajuns (Acadian refugees who left France for Canada, ending up ultimately in the State of Louisiana) applied the moniker to the yellow catfish, a fish that can attain sizes of 300 pounds or more. I'll take the Cajun version of my last name, please!
(OT) Research team finds evidence of red ochre use by Neanderthals 200,000 years ago http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-team-evidence-red-ochre-neanderthal…
Surprisingly, no one has "Surgeon" as a surname. Prior to the mid-1800s, a surgeon was a drunk guy who sawed off limbs when amputations were called for. It did not become a term of status until a century ago.
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Gougeon, here are some other names with character. "Ponzi"? "Eggsperm"?
"Baby names" http://www.xkcd.com/
Birger, there are plenty of people with the surname Barber, who were the surgeons of old.
I always thought a gudgeon was the part of a hinge that you shoved the pintle into.
Seth, either you've been reading MW too or you have an impressive vocabulary. Or both.