Every time go expository on TWA 800, I find myself in need of a dictionary.
What's up with that?
Er, I have a big vocabulary?
Hey, how many FReepers know what a 'hoplite' is? (was)?
ullage: the part of a fuel tank not containing liquid fuel, therefore, the part which will normally contain fumes from the evaporation of the fuel. It's a highly arcane technical term and maybe I should not have used it without defining it.
tatterdemalion: shabby; wretched; all beat-up! Can also be a n. for a person (especially a boy) in such condition. It might be archaic; my grandmother used to use it.
And yeah, I really use words like this in conversation... most of my friends an co-workers do too, but then, some folks need to know what an "ullage" is.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F