A porter in a British hotel comes upon an American tourist impatiently jabbing at the button for the lift.
"Sir, the lift will be here in a moment."
"Lift? Lift?" replies the American. "Oh, you mean the elevator."
"No sir, here we call it a lift."
"Well, as it was invented in the United States, it’s called an elevator."
"Yes sir, but as the language was invented here, it’s called a lift."
lang syne n. Times long past. [scots, = old long since]
AUNT
n. - sister of one's father or mother.
- uncle's wife.
- colloq. (form of address by a child to) parent's female friend. [latin amita]
- sally n. - game in which sticks or balls are thrown at a wooden dummy.
- target of general abuse.
AURA
n. (pl. -s) 1 distinctive atmosphere.
- subtle emanation. [greek, = breeze]
AUTO
comb. Form 1 self.
- one's own.
- of or by oneself or itself. [greek autos]
- n. (pl. -s) us colloq. Car. [abbreviation of *automobile]
AVER
v. (-rr-) formal assert, affirm. averment n. [latin verus true]
AVID
adj. Eager, greedy. avidity n. Avidly adv. [latin aveo crave]
AVOW
v. Formal declare, confess. avowal n. Avowedly adv. [latin voco call]
AWAY
—adv. - to or at a distance from the place, person, or thing in question (go, give, look, away; 5 miles away).
- into non-existence (explain, fade, away).
- constantly, persistently (work away).
- without delay (ask away). —attrib. Adj. Sport not played on one's own ground (away match). —n. Sport away match or win. [old english: related to *a2, *way]
