Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A lively, bright person.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Heath. Also
griglan . - noun A cricket; a grasshopper.
- noun The sand-eel; a small and very lively eel.
- noun A short-legged hen.
- noun One of a class of vagabond dancers and tumblers.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Prov. Eng., Prov. Eng., Prov. Eng. A cricket or grasshopper.
- noun Prov. Eng., Prov. Eng. Any small eel.
- noun Prov. Eng. The broad-nosed eel. See
glut . - noun Prov. Eng. Heath.
- noun [etymology uncertain], a saying supposed by some to be a corruption of “As merry as a Greek; ” by others, to be an allusion to the cricket.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun little creature;
- noun
heath . - verb transitive To
irritate orannoy .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Last night, a person whom I always think of as a "merry auld grig" One of my fave Dickensonian words asked me The Question that nobody has asked -- not my mother, not my father, not my curious siblings, not my writing group.
The WritingYA Weblog: That One Question, Finally Asked tanita davis 2007
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Last night, a person whom I always think of as a "merry auld grig" One of my fave Dickensonian words asked me The Question that nobody has asked -- not my mother, not my father, not my curious siblings, not my writing group.
Archive 2007-01-01 a. fortis 2007
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The learned gentleman who does the withering business and who blights all opponents with his gloomy sarcasm is as merry as a grig at a French watering – place.
Bleak House 2007
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And all the while Tom was swimming about in the river, with a pretty little lace-collar of gills about his neck, as lively as a grig, and as clean as a fresh-run salmon.
The Water Babies 2007
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This post has been removed by the author. grig-io il blogorroico May 3, 2007 2:10 AM # | Delete
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Honestly, I have nothing to compare it to either, and neither does the "grig!"
The WritingYA Weblog: That One Question, Finally Asked tanita davis 2007
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Rolando the Lasso, and flaunt on the flimsyfilmsies for to grig my collage juniorees who, though they flush fuchsia, are they octette and virginity in my shade but always my figurants.
Finnegans Wake 2006
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It had been a pleasant surprise when Mag-grig had misinterpreted Uther's question.
Ghost King Gemmell, David 1988
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Before the eyes of the attackers the giant body shrank and Mag-grig pushed forward to stare at the dead but now human face.
Ghost King Gemmell, David 1988
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And all the while Tom was swimming about in the river, with a pretty little lace collar of gills about his neck, as lively as a grig, and as clean as a fresh-run salmon.
Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 2 Charles Herbert Sylvester
brtom commented on the word grig
Tantalising for the poor dead. Smell of frilled beefsteaks to the starving gnawing their vitals. Desire to grig people.
Joyce, Ulysses, 6
January 1, 2007
sionnach commented on the word grig
From "A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete" (1860)
GRIG:
(1) Heath. Salop.
(2) A cricket. Vаг. dial.
(3) A small eel. Suffolk.
(4) A farthing. An old cant term.
(5) To pinch. Somerset.
(6) A wag. " As merry as a grig." It is a corruption
of Greek, q. v. "A merry grig, un plaisant compagnon," Miege.
(7) A short-legged hen. Vаг. dial.
Which makes one wonder, if this small word can spawn seven such diverse meanings, how in hell does anyone manage to communicate? You go to the bank for farthings to feed into the comestible-dispensing apparatus and come away with a couple of eels and a short-legged hen. Well, I suppose you could trade them for some magic beans....
January 15, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word grig
"Bonden told him that his head was quite healed, 'could be hit with a top-maul and never a word' and himself lively as a parcel of grigs..."
--P. O'Brian, The Yellow Admiral, 198
I'm guessing this is in the sense of the 6th definition sionnach listed. Though for all I know a parcel of eels is just as pleasant.
March 19, 2008
knitandpurl commented on the word grig
"'I am obliged to no one, Mrs Newton, and I am only too well aware that you are trying to grig me.'"
--The Winner of Sorrow by Brian Lynch, p 106
July 12, 2009
madmouth commented on the word grig
I've read gay as a grig, a derivation of "merry as a grig", presumably.
one wants a "gay as..." list but it's a Pandora's box.
July 12, 2009
bilby commented on the word grig
Pandora was gay? *confuzzled*
July 18, 2009
madmouth commented on the word grig
you do not see the flameworthy (heh heh) possibilities of a "Gay as..." list?
July 18, 2009
reesetee commented on the word grig
I agree. Pandora's box.
July 19, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word grig
A grasshopper, an eel, a small hen. You pick.
October 20, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word grig
Has anyone made an eel list yet?
October 20, 2011
hernesheir commented on the word grig
Here, An eel list.
October 20, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word grig
Yay! Thank you, hernesheir.
October 20, 2011