Round 3612: Time to vote for SPONK

[Tim Bourne]

Here are 12 imaginative definitions of SPONK. Please vote for two of them by public forum message,
ideally be replying to this message.

The deadline is 10 am UTC on Thursday 8th January. My computer says that is 5 am in New York, 2 am
in Los Angeles, 11 am in Paris, and 11 pm the same day in Wellington, New Zealand.

Full rules, if you're curious, are at www.dixonary.net.

1 Obs. A clasp for a cloak or hood; a knops.

2 ecclesiastical gaiters

3 [Beer brewing] off flavours introduced into the wort, usually caused by aeration at elevated
temperatures.

4 One who cultivates an anti-fashion identity.

5 The internal organs of slaughtered animals; usu., what is left behind when butchers prepare offal
for sale.

6 Of a lamb or other young animal, to jump vertically.

7 A failure (of equipment, a device, or machinery)

8 a short, hollow wooden peg used in early coastal weaving looms to maintain tension on the outer
threads.

9 Damage to the retina of the eye caused by exposure to intense solar radiation, resulting in
blurred vision, a central blind spot (scotoma), or permanent vision loss. The condition was a common
occupational hazard among 17th-century sailors who frequently stared directly at the sun (often
using instruments like astrolabes or early quadrants without proper filters) to measure its altitude
and calculate their ship's latitude.

10 a match, or anything dipped in sulphur that takes fire. [Edinburgh]

11 Of a potato: having a hollow in the heart.

12 Whale spit.


Best wishes,
Tim Bourne.

[France International/Mike Shefler]

I'll fall for 2 and 12.

--Mike

[Chowie]

8 and 3 please

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~Bending under the weight of His mercies~

​"For we cannot do anything against the truth, 

but only for the truth​." 

II Corinthians 13:8

[Judy Madnick]

I'll take the two most disgusting ones (even though I don't believe either one!):

5 The internal organs of slaughtered animals; usu., what is left behind when butchers prepare offal
for sale

 

and

 

12 Whale spit. 

 

Judy Madnick

[Shani Naylor]

5 & 6 for me. 

[Paul Keating]

10 & 11.

P

[John Barrs]

#1 and #8 please

JohnnyB

Virus-free.www.avg.com

[Judy Madnick]

Happy Birthday, John!

 

Judy

---

Original Message

From: "John Barrs" <jo...@john-barrs.co.uk>

To: dixo...@googlegroups.com;

Date: 1/7/2026 10:12:14 AM

Subject: Re: [Dixonary] Round 3612: Time to vote for SPONK

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dixonary/CALLSrcBJiiVFFsgTFTRECkp-Bz-Vw_HG0GNmtmgcaTRuzwuqKw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Eric Boxer]

I'll vote for 5 and 7.

Happy Birthday John :)

-- Eric

[Tim Lodge]

I'll try the animal ones, one living, the others dead: 5 and 6.

           5 The internal organs of slaughtered animals; usu., what is left behind when butchers prepare offal for sale.

           6 Of a lamb or other young animal, to jump vertically.

--  Tim L

:

[Daniel B. Widdis]

I don't believe any of them, but whale spit made me laugh, so that's a vote for 12.

And I suppose you'd need gaiters to wade through a small puddle of whale spit, so I guess that's def 2, although I assume a different type of gaiter is implied there.

[Tony Abell]

The clasp and peg for me, 1 and 8:

> 1 Obs. A clasp for a cloak or hood; a knops.

[Efrem Mallach]

I'll try 3 and 5.

Efrem

==========================

> On Jan 6, 2026, at 4:30 PM, Tim Bourne <timbo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Here are 12 imaginative definitions of SPONK. Please vote for two of them by public forum message, ideally be replying to this message.
>
> The deadline is 10 am UTC on Thursday 8th January. My computer says that is 5 am in New York, 2 am in Los Angeles, 11 am in Paris, and 11 pm the same day in Wellington, New Zealand.
>
> Full rules, if you're curious, are at www.dixonary.net.
>
>

> 3 [Beer brewing] off flavours introduced into the wort, usually caused by aeration at elevated temperatures.
>