chestal
adj.— «Florence Scannel is a man of about 5 feet 5 in height, light complexion and stout build, with a chestal and muscular development such as the writer never saw equalled.» —by Eugene J. Post The Wig and the Jimmy , 1869. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A listener named Lita who grew up in Cuba shares her favorite Spanish idiom for “working hard”: sudando tinta, or literally, “sweating ink.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Sweating Ink” We had a voicemail from Lita...
A 1905 letter from Virginia Woolf offers comfort to anyone who lacks confidence in their own work. As a young, would-be writer, Woolf herself expressed doubt about her own abilities. It would be another 23 years before she published her...