Spraint

[dormouse1953]

I saw a report on the BBC this morning that otters have returned to Guildford.  I was intrigued by the word "spraint", which I hadn't come across before, not even in crosswords, I think.  It's not in Chambers online but is in the paper version I still find useful for crosswords.  It means otter's dung, surprise, surprise, but Chambers says it's usually used in the plural.  Comes from the Old French for "pressed out" apparently.

Comments

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

They featured a lot in Tarka, so I've always known it. Not as much fun as fewmets, which I've never managed to use in conversation before now.