Interlard

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To scatter foreign words, quotations or phrases through a speech or text ; to lard meat by inserting strips of fat into it before roasting
2. Mixing extra material such as quotations or jargon into a piece of writing or talk ; threading strips of fat through lean meat to moisten it while cooking
3. Padding out speech or prose with inserted phrases or citations ; pushing slivers of fat into a cut of meat ahead of cooking it

Etymology: To lard meat is to push strips of fat into it before cooking, and "interlard" means to do the same thing with something added between: the word began as a cooking term. Late Middle English "interlarden" was borrowed from Old French "entrelarder," which described putting pieces of bacon into meat. The French verb was built from "entre-," meaning "between," and "larder," meaning "to smear with lard," with the Latin root "inter-" sitting behind that prefix. The figurative sense came soon after. French writers used "entrelarder" for furnishing a text with interspersed material, such as verses or metaphors, and English adopted that extension. A writer who interlards a speech with quotations is doing exactly what a cook once did to a joint of meat, threading richer material through a plainer base. The noun came from the same verb. Late Middle English "interlarde" originally referred to abdominal fat, so the fat itself was named before the act of interspersing became the main sense.

Synonyms: intersperse, interleave, pepper, lard