antimacassar

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a protective covering for the backs of chairs and sofas
I ran into this word, to my great surprise, while reading Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle to my son Ben.

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I don't recall ever hearing that word before, and was amazed that my wife knew that men used to use macassar on their hair. It was an oily material, evidently, requiring that chairs and sofas be protected against being stained by it. The stuff that's in that woman's brain.......

That is amazing. I had never heard of the word before, either. For more on "antimacassar," check out this Wikipedia entry.

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