Unusual words 10 Termagant

A Termagant is a quarrelsome, scolding woman; a shrew. Interestingly, the word is from Middle English Termagaunt, an imaginary Muslim deity portrayed as a violent and overbearing character in medieval mystery plays.

I came across the word in Tyerman's Life and Times of Samuel Wesley ("This lawless mob was headed by a furious, termagant woman,called Popplewell")
It comes up in The Two Destinies by Wilkie Collins "The magic of money transformed this termagant and terrible person into a docile and attentive nurse--so eager to follow my instructions exactly that she begged me to commit them to writing before I went away."
PS Not to be confused with the game bird the Ptarmigan.

Unusual words 07 Pasquinade

It's an age since we've has one of these. I cam acrosss Pasquinade in Luke Tyerman's biography of Samuel Wesley (father of John and Charles) who used to write them as a young man.

It is a satire or lampoon, especially one that ridicules a specific person, traditionally written and posted in a public place. Pasquino is the Italian name given to an ancient Roman statue disinterred in 1501, which was annually posted with satirical verses