lubricious

Pronounced: loo-BRISH-uhs, adj

Notes: Another word that doesn’t mean what I thought

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Yesterday’s word

The word netsuke is “a small and often intricately carved toggle (wood, ivory, or metal, for example) used to fasten a small container to a kimono sash”

First usage

Our word came into English in the late 1800s

Background / Comments

A netsuke is traditionally part of a Japanese man’s kimono; they would often attach a medicine box, pipe, or tobacco pouch to the sash (obi). In old days, people below the rank of samurai were not permitted to wear jewelry, they used a netsuke. At the end of the Tokugawa regime, the dress code was changed, and the netsuke became obsolete — even though obsolete, they still were made for tourists. Note that the plural of our word can either be “netsuke” or “netsukes”.