Reply to Re: A Poor Choice of Words?
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I asked Oxford English Dictionary 2009 what he thought of all this:
Junk
N. Old cable or rope material, cut up into short lengths and used for making fenders, reef-points, gaskets, oakum, etc.
N. transf. Any discarded or waste material that can be put to some use: cf. junk-dealer in 5. Also, second-hand or discarded articles of little or no use or value; rubbish.
N. Any narcotic drug, esp. heroin; also, such drugs collectively. Also attrib. slang (orig. U.S.).
N. = junk food (sense 5 below). orig. U.S.
N. transf. orig. Naut. The salt meat used as food on long voyages, compared to pieces of rope; usually with epithet, as old junk, salt junk, tough junk.
N. Whale-fishery. The lump or mass of thick oily cellular tissue beneath the case and nostrils of a sperm-whale, containing spermaceti.
N. A name for the common type of native sailing vessel in the Chinese seas. It is flat-bottomed, has a square prow, prominent stem, full stern, the rudder suspended, and carries lug-sails.
The name is now applied to Chinese, Japanese, Okinawan, Thai, and other vessels of this type; early writers applied it still more widely to Malay, Javan, and even South Indian native vessels.
N. A local name for a joint in the bedding of slate or other rock.
N. Surg. A form of splint, originally stuffed with rushes or bents (cf. quots.).
V. To treat as junk or rubbish; to discard, abandon; to ‘scrap’.
Bananas awsome.
Junk
N. Old cable or rope material, cut up into short lengths and used for making fenders, reef-points, gaskets, oakum, etc.
N. transf. Any discarded or waste material that can be put to some use: cf. junk-dealer in 5. Also, second-hand or discarded articles of little or no use or value; rubbish.
N. Any narcotic drug, esp. heroin; also, such drugs collectively. Also attrib. slang (orig. U.S.).
N. = junk food (sense 5 below). orig. U.S.
N. transf. orig. Naut. The salt meat used as food on long voyages, compared to pieces of rope; usually with epithet, as old junk, salt junk, tough junk.
N. Whale-fishery. The lump or mass of thick oily cellular tissue beneath the case and nostrils of a sperm-whale, containing spermaceti.
N. A name for the common type of native sailing vessel in the Chinese seas. It is flat-bottomed, has a square prow, prominent stem, full stern, the rudder suspended, and carries lug-sails.
The name is now applied to Chinese, Japanese, Okinawan, Thai, and other vessels of this type; early writers applied it still more widely to Malay, Javan, and even South Indian native vessels.
N. A local name for a joint in the bedding of slate or other rock.
N. Surg. A form of splint, originally stuffed with rushes or bents (cf. quots.).
V. To treat as junk or rubbish; to discard, abandon; to ‘scrap’.
Bananas awsome.
