punkie

punkie
 n.— «The men took fright at seeing the line of flickering lights approaching through the mist believing the ghostly apparitions to be Punkies—the souls of unbaptized children. “Punkie” is also a local term for the luminous emissions of marsh gas that can sometimes be seen in damp, low-lying areas.» —“It’s Punkie Night tonight!” by Alex Cameron Chard & Ilminster News (Chard, Somerset, United Kingdom) Oct. 26, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

Mischief Night (episode #1684)

What’s up with ketchup? The shifting history and spelling of the name of this condiment. For centuries, ketchup was a fishy sauce originating in Asia—the tomatoes came only later! Plus, a new book shows what’s lost when a language dies: when there...