The Thirty-Nine Steps (54 page)

supper
NOUN
supper was a light meal taken late in the evening. The main meal was dinner which
was eaten at four or five in the afternoon
and the supper table was all set out
(
Emma
by Jane Austen)

surfeits
VERB
to surfeit in something is to have far too much of it, or to overindulge in it to
an unhealthy degree
He surfeits upon cursed necromancy
(
Doctor Faustus chorus
by Christopher Marlowe)

surtout
NOUN
a surtout is a long close-fitting overcoat
He wore a long black surtout reaching nearly to his ankles
(
The Old Curiosity Shop
by Charles Dickens)

swath
NOUN
swath is the width of corn cut by a scythe
while thy hook Spares the next swath
(
Ode to Autumn
by John Keats)

sylvan
ADJ
sylvan means belonging to the woods
Sylvan historian
(
Ode on a Grecian Urn
by John Keats)

taction
NOUN
taction means touch. This means that the people had to be touched on the mouth or
the ears to get their attention
without being roused by some external taction upon the organs of speech and hearing
(
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift)

Tag and Rag and Bobtail
PHRASE
the riff-raff, or lower classes. Used in an insulting way
“No,” said he; “not till it got about that there was no protection on the premises,
and it come to be considered dangerous, with convicts and Tag and Rag and Bobtail
going up and down.”
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)

tallow
NOUN
tallow is hard animal fat that is used to make candles and soap
and a lot of tallow candles
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

tan
VERB
to tan means to beat or whip
and if I catch you about that school I’ll tan you good
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

tanyard
NOUN
the tanyard is part of a tannery, which is a place where leather is made from animal
skins
hid in the old tanyard
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)

tarry
ADJ
tarry means the colour of tar or black
his tarry pig-tail
(
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson)

thereof
PHRASE
from there
By all desires which thereof did ensue
(
On His Mistress
by John Donne)