Climax community, cockchafers, cummingtonite, and cunt splices!

I'll bring you the "C" words from this book that Jon and Harmony got me for my birthday. This is from Butt Rot and Bottom Gas: A Glossary of Tragically Misunderstood Words (Eric Groves, Sr.)

C

cacao: a tropical South American tree, Theobroma cacao, that produces cacao or cocoa beans

candy tuft: a genus of low-growing plants characterized by multicolored blooms

castellated: decorated with battlements to resemble a castle

chamber business: official business conducted by a judge in chambers

cherry picking: to select only the information that supports one's opinion

chick sexing: the process used by biologists and other animal handlers to determine the gender of newly hatched chicks [The most common method of chick sexing, called vent sexing, involves squeezing the chick's posterior to reveal its genitals. This method was first introduced to the West in 1933 by two Japanese professors in their seminal book, Sexing Baby Chicks.]

circumscribe: to draw a circle around something

clamatorial: of or relating to the clamatores, a diverse group of tree-perching songbirds with limited musical ability

clambake: a meal generally prepared near the ocean, and featuring clams and other shellfish

cleavage: the propensity of crystalline minerals to break along weak planes, exposing mirror-like facets [The principle of cleavage is employed by gemstone cutters, who use precision strikes to create multifaceted gemstones. In the electronics industry, thin wafers of silicon, a commonly occurring crystal, are carefully cleaved to create transistors, semiconductors, solar cells, etc.]

cleavage furrow: the constriction of an animal-cell membrane that typically begins cytokinesis, the process of cell division whereby one cell splits into two, two split into four, and so forth

climax community: in ecology, a mature stabilized community of animals and vegetation that is well adapted to a specific environment [The American botanist Frederic Clements (1874-1945) disseminated the idea of the climax community during the early twentieth century. His ideas have since fallen out of favor among botanists, ecologists, and others because ecological disruptions tend to occur so frequently that apparent stability is probably illusory or temporary. However, a minority of scientists still refer to old-growth forests as climaxes.]

clitorin: a chemical compound found in the leaves of the South American plants Trillium undulatum and Acalypha indicia

coccolite: the archaic name for a white and green crystalline gemstone, now called diopside, often sought because its discovery in mining digs can indicate the presence of diamonds

coccyx: [From the Latin word coccyges, meaning "cuckoo"] the last bone of the spinal column or backbone; also called TAILBONE {The coccyx vaguely resembles the beak of a cuckoo bird, hence the term. It appears to be vestigial, or left over, from an earlier evolutionary era and is substantially non-functional. Nevertheless, care must be taken not to injure or break it because doing so can result in intense pain and a lengthy recuperation.}

cochlea: [From the Latin word coclea, meaning "snail"] the spiral structure inside the inner ear that is filled with fluid and fine hairs that transmit auditory signals to the brain

cockade: a ribbon or other decoration worn as a badge, usually as a hat

cock and bull story: a story or excuse that is very hard to believe

cockapoo: a dog that is a cross between a poodle and a cocker spaniel

cockboat: a small boat that is moved forward by the use of paddles

cockchafer: a large European beetle of the family Scarabaedaeidae that feeds on crops and plant roots; also known as MAYBUG [The cockchafer's voracious appetite and destructive properties prompted a twentieth-century extermination program that virtually eradicated the insect throughout Europe. But, as pesticide use has become more strictly regulated worldwide, the cockchafer has staged a modest comeback.]

cock horse: a child's toy, either a rocking horse or a long pole with a fanciful horse's head at one end

cockle: a small marine mollusk related to the oyster

cockmaster: a person who breeds roosters for fighting

cock-of-the-rock: a South American bird of the genus Rupicola

cockpit: an enclosed space in an airplane where a pilot sits

cockshy: the tossing of an object at a target in any game that tests the accuracy of contestants' throwing skills [the term "cockshy" may derive from an ancient sport in which sticks were hurled at live cocks, or chickens]

commode: an ornate women's cap popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

condiment: something poured or spread over food to improve the taste

con fuoco: [an Italian phrase meaning "with fire"] a musical term meaning "in a spirited manner"

congenital: a type of physiological abnormality or defect apparent at birth, as opposed to a medical condition acquired through illness or injury after birth [Congenital birth defects may be caused by trauma to the womb, nutritional imbalances, inherited genetic factors, environmental factors, or unknown causes. They occur in 2-3 percent of babies. A congenital disorder may range from a harmless birthmark to more serious conditions such as missing limbs.]

copula: in English grammar, a connection between the subject part of a sentence and the predicate part of a sentence; these are generally forms of the verb "to be"

coupling: in plumbing, a fitting that joins two pieces of pipe

cowlick: a lock of hair that sticks up, refusing to lie flat

cowpea: an Asian legume, Vigna unguiculata, also called black-eyed pea

crack spread: a method used in commodities exchanges (marketplaces such as the Chicago Board of Trade) whereby raw products (including crude oil) are bought, sold, and traded [In this sense, to "crack" means to refine crude oil into more valuable heating oil and gasoline, and a "spread" is the difference between two amounts of money. Therefore, a "crack spread" is the strategy of buying oil futures (contracts allowing one to buy or sell oil at a fixed price in the future) and later, when the oil is refined, selling the futures in heating oil and gasoline.]

cramdown: a bankruptcy court's acceptance of a debtor's repayment terms, despite the objections of creditors

CRAP: the former acronym for the Canadian Reform Alliance Party; now known as the Canadian Alliance

crapinon: a chemical compound that can be used therapeutically as an anticholinergic, or medicine that mitigates the side effects of acetylcholine, an organic compound synthesized to treat Alzheimer's Disease [because acetylcholine can produce side effects such as constipation, crapinon and other anticholinergics are useful for their abilities for their ability to hinder such undesirable reactions]

creaming machine: an assembly-line machine used to deposit fat-based cream fillings from one or more metal creaming heads into various types of cookies

cream nut: another name for a Brazil nut; a hard-shelled, oily, three-sided nut that grows in clusters on the Bertholletia excelsa tree in South America

cream sauce: a sauce made of flour, butter, and cream

cream wave: a large, grey-white moth

crispy shrimp balls: appetizers made with shrimp and water chestnuts

crotchety: hard to get along with; cantankerous

cuirass: the breastplate in a suit of armor

cum all: to pay share buyers every advantage of their shares

cum dividend: a payment received by share buyers if a stock is sold

cumene: a standard organic solvent having a strong odor

cum file: a student's cumulative academic record

cummer: [from the medieval French word commère, meaning "companion mother"] an alternative term for a godmother, or a woman chosen by parents to care for their children if the parents die

cummingtonite: a translucent green iron-bearing mineral; also known as magnesium iron silicate hydroxite [Cummingtonite was discovered in 1824 near the town of Cummington, Massachusetts. The mineral also occurs in Great Britain, South Africa, and Sweden.]

cumquat: a small, orange citrus fruit; variant spelling of kumquat

cum rights: rights sold along with shares of existing stock so that the buyer may purchase a new issue, or stock that will be sold for the first time to raise capital for a new venture

cum testamento annexo: [Latin phrase] a term used in probate law that means "with the Will annexed"

cunctator: a person who procrastinates, delays, or wastes time

cuntline: the valley, or depression, between each of the strands of a rope or cable

cunt splice: a type of rope splice in which two ropes, or two parts of a single rope, are tied together by unraveling strands and then interweaving them [Rope splices are generally used by sailors to make an eye or loop in a rope. A cunt splice is used when an extremely strong knot is required, or when the rope eye needs to close tightly when tension is applied.] {"Well... a simple thing like a cunt splice will not take a man-of-war's bosom long, I believe." - Patrick O'Brien, Master and Commander}