Word challenge

[NN5I]

There is an English word that means

neighbor whose house is on fire.

It is somewhat astounding that such a word should exist, but there really is such a word. How many of you know what it is?

Will Shortz, editor of the New York Times crossword puzzles, says that it is his favorite word. Mine, too, I guess.

24 hour rule seems Ok on this one, Wade, though I'm unsure of the details of the 24 hour rule.

[Andy N1ORK]

Google makes this too easy. I'll wait to post.

[Radio]

24 hour rule seems Ok on this one, Wade, though I'm unsure of the details of the 24 hour rule.

The 24 hour rule simply means don't answer the puzzle or riddle for 24 hours of the post, thus giving everyone a chance to see it and give it some thought.

It allows more folks to play.

[Radio]

OK, so how many letters?

[NN5I]

OK, so how many letters?

Eight.

[NN5I]

A ucalegon is a neighbor whose house is on fire. The original Ucalegon was a neighbor of the Trojan King Priam whose house was burned by the Aecheans during the sack that followed the siege of Troy. His name became one of the rarest words in the English language.

I actually got to use this word once, seven or eight years ago. Darsha, one of my loved ones, lives in Choctaw OK. A wildfire raged through her neighborhood, destroying many houses. Darsha's across-the-street neighbor had a father who was a fireman in a neighboring town (Midwest City), and he secured permission from his chief to take a pumper overnight to protect his daughter's house. He parked it in front of the house, which also placed it in front of Darsha's house; hooked it up to a fire hydrant; and spent an entire night soaking down every house he could reach, including Darsha's. Darsha (and everyone else in the neighborhood) had evacuated, and it wasn't until about noon the next day that they were allowed back in; that's when Darsha found out that she still had a house to live in. Three-quarters of the houses in her immediate neighborhood -- about thirty of them -- burned to the ground.

When Darsha called me to tell me the good news, I told her I was sorry that she had so many ucalegons in her neighborhood but was glad she wasn't a ucalegon herself. After I explained, she didn't seem especially glad to learn a new word.

Wildfires, tornados -- I wish Darsha and her sisters, one of whom lives in Moore but escaped the tornados, would move to Florida. Here, we only get hurricanes, and there's a week of warning.

[Andy N1ORK]

If you carefully look at the word ucalegon, you will see it means Your Cellar is Gone (U-Cela-Gon). Which, in a fire, usually isn't. ;-)