Fun With Words!

I came across some new words from, of course, a book concerning the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Sesquipedilian: adj. Describing long words and expressions; lengthiness (literally "a foot and a half long");

Abusion: n. a perversion of the truth;

Autopeotomy: n. the removal of one's own penis.

Ouch.

Also, perhaps someone familiar with the idioms of the United Kingdom could explain exactly which portion of a well-established beard I emphasize in the following excerpt:

But what was most obviously similar about the men were their beards -- in both cases white, long, and nicely swallow-tailed -- with thick moustaches, sideburns and ample buggers' grips. (Winchester, The Professor and the Madman, 1999, HarperPerennial, p. 177)

Really, I love the imagery; but I would hate to grow the wrong section of facial hair only to be dismissed and rejected as without proper grips by the first discriminating buggerer that traipses along. . . .

The horror. . . .