American English and British English. (And maybe Australian English and so on.)

[GeorgeStGeorge]

On 6/5/2020 at 1:54 PM, Twinky said:

Lug wrench.    Sounds like somebody's pulling my leg - if not my ears.  "Lugs" is a slang word for ears.  And "lughole" is an ear canal.

In American English, a "lug" is the nut that holds the wheel on the wheel bolts.

Most cars come with a lug wrench which looks like this:

The socket fits the lug of the particular car, and the pointy end can be used to pry off the hub cap.  (Assuming the car has one.  They were far more common in the past).  Unfortunately, the angle doesn't allow you to get much leverage, and the tool tends to slip off the lug.  I much prefer this type:

The three sockets are different sizes, so one should fit your lugs.  You still have the hubcap remover.  The best part, though, is that you can come straight at the lug, so there's no slipping; and you can use both hands to turn the nut.

George

[GeorgeStGeorge]

Incidentally, in American slang, a "lug" is a large but gentle man:  "Come here, you big lug!"

Apparently, it's also an acronym for "lesbian until graduation."  Without dragging this thread too far afield ( I hope), I just find it interesting that the Urban Dictionary mentions this term specifically in reference to Mount Holyoke College, and also to Smith and Wellesley Colleges, all in the Boston area.  When I was at MIT in the early 70s, none of those schools were known as bastions of lesbianism.  In fact, it was the understanding that Smith and Holyoke women were in college to get the "Mrs" degree.  (A lot of them showed up at parties at my fraternity, and were quite obviously heterosexual.)  Wellesley women were more serious about their studies.  It was to MIT what Radcliffe was to Harvard.

George

[Twinky]

That's a wheelbrace, GSG, for getting the nuts off that hold the wheel onto the car.

Lugs are also what you get in hair - no, not animals, or nits - but knots.  (I think that's more of a dialect word than common parlance.)  You get lugs in your hair = your hair has lots of knots and tangles.  It's luggy.

"Lesbian until graduation" LOL!

[Twinky]

46 minutes ago, GeorgeStGeorge said:

Incidentally, in American slang, a "lug" is a large but gentle man:  "Come here, you big lug!"

Here, you might say, "Come here, you big lummock" (or "lummox") to someone, a semi-affectionate term.  Again, more dialectical than common.

[GeorgeStGeorge]

In the US, "lummox" would call to mind clumsiness or stupidity, whereas "lug" would be an affectionate term.

George

[Twinky]

Your Word of the Day:                Gormless

Yes, it's a real word.  And no, there isn't an opposite, as in having gorm, or being gormful.

[waysider]

https://www.etymonline.com/word/gormless

[Twinky]

Frequently accompanied by the word idiot as in "gormless idiot." 

Not very complimentary; precise degree of offensiveness depends on tone of voice.

[GeorgeStGeorge]

On 6/14/2020 at 3:24 AM, Twinky said:

Your Word of the Day:                Gormless

Yes, it's a real word.  And no, there isn't an opposite, as in having gorm, or being gormful.

Similar to ruthless.  Ruth, in olden times, meant mercy or compassion.  I don't think ruthful is a word, though one could say "having ruth," I suppose.

George

[Twinky]

Now here is one to be cautious of.

Pants.

What is or are "pants," current buzz-word aside?  In the UK and commonwealth countries, pants are undergarments.  Panties (women) or Y-fronts (men) or generally that garment worn next to the skin.  Knickers.  Scants/scanties.  Boxers.  Bloomers.  Underwear.

Pants may also (but not necessarily or even usually) mean "trousers" or some other similar kind of outer garment (jeans, chinos, etc).

[waysider]

In the U.S., pants are trousers, though usually, trousers are made of higher quality material than regular pants. For example, you might buy a business suit with two pairs of trousers. Under pants is simply an older term used to mean mens underwear.

[GeorgeStGeorge]

My dad always tried to correct me from "pants" to "trousers."  

You say "potato"; I say ------------- SPUD!  

George

[Twinky]

Yes.  Po-tay-to (US and UK/Commonwealth) BUT to-mah-to (UK/Commonwealth), to-may-to (US).  Dunno why.