Word of the Day: curwhibble

curwhibble (n)

A thingamajig or whatchmacallit.

"Faustus ran up the hill, nimble as a puck goat, and stretched out his hand for a bunch of red berries, bright as the curwhibbles in the Book of Kells."
--Michael Mullen, Kelly: A Novel

There are many objects around here that one might call thingamajigs, whatchmacallits, or even curwhibbles. For example, something I found in a Chinese junk shop that hangs from a floor-lamp's...thing you turn to turn the lamp on. (What do they call those?). This whatsit from the shop has a little metal fan on top, from which is suspended an oddly shaped brass (?) bell with some inscrutable writing engraved on it. And from that hangs a coin of some sort, with a square hole in the middle. There are bas-relief dragons curled around the hole, as if guarding it. And there are also red tassels hanging from various parts of this thing. I guess you could call it a bell, but it's much more than that. Altogether, when suspended, it's about 10 inches (25 cm) long. It is completely useless. And that's what I like about it.