According to the website of The Wonder of Whiffling, the book is a tour of English around the globe (with fine coinages from our English-speaking cousins across the pond, Down Under and elsewhere). As for whiffling, the free online dictionary describes the word as thus: 1. To move or think erratically; vacillate.
2. To blow in fitful gusts; puff: "The wind whiffled through the trees."
3. To whistle lightly.
Other definitions say: A puffing sound. To veer or shift about. But the meaning I like the most is: "To make unintelligible noises whilst sleeping, most commonly observed in dogs." And here's a definition of whiffle that Lady Bertram from Mansfield Park would have understood: "The sound a pug puppy makes when it breathes."
Bunting time – term from the late 17th century for the time of year when the grass in the fields is high enough to hide young men and maids.
Vice-admiral of the narrow seas – Regency phrase for a drunken man who relieves himself under the table into his companions' shoes.
Cochel – Sussex dialect word meaning "too much for a wheelbarrow but not enough for a cart".
Some of the book's highlights include:
Continuations – 19th century word for trousers, so called because they continued a gentleman's waistcoat in a direction best left unmentioned in polite company.
Bunting time – term from the late 17th century for the time of year when the grass in the fields is high enough to hide young men and maids.
Vice-admiral of the narrow seas – Regency phrase for a drunken man who relieves himself under the table into his companions' shoes.
Cochel – Sussex dialect word meaning "too much for a wheelbarrow but not enough for a cart".
(Definitions from the article, Obscure Corners of the English Language)
