Wondrous Words Wednesday 7-29-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My words are from all over this week:

1. factotums - Used like this: Their assistants sat at desks outside the CEs' offices, guarding their doors, acting as secretaries, factotums, and girl/guy Fridays. (p5, Hollywood is Like High School with Money)

Definition: An employee or assistant who serves in a wide range of capacities.

2. fealty - Used like this: Though we pretended fealty and friendship to everyone, essentially we represented two extra votes in Missy's favor. (p31, The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal)

Definition: Faithfulness, allegiance

3. limns - Used like this: A major author in terms of critical acclaim and bestseller status, Anita Shreve limns the secrets at the core of our closest relationships and the ways in which lives
can turn on the axis of a single catastrophic event. (back cover, A Change in Altitude)

Definition: to describe

4. denouement - Used like this: The remarkable emotional energy with which the Coatses wage their daily battles - as they negotiate with their former owner, as they assist escaped slaves en route to freedom, as they prepare for the encroaching war, and as they strive to love each other enough -- is what propels Stand the Storm and makes the novel's startling denouement so powerfully affecting. (back cover, Stand the Storm)

Definition: The events following the climax of a drama or novel in which such a resolution or clarification takes place.

What words did you learn this week?

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

It has been a while since I have participated and I only have 2 words this week - but hopefully I will get this one going again. I really enjoy it, but summer is only here for so long!

This week my words are from Ravens by George Dawes Green.

Timorousness - Used like this: You were permitted to fold from prudence but never timorousness. (p34)

Definition: fear of the unknown or unfamiliar or fear of making decisions

Vizier - Used like this: He was good at all this stuff, a natural vizier. (p167)

Definition: a high executive officer of various Muslim countries and especially of the Ottoman Empire

What new words did you learn this week?

Wondrous Words Wednesday 5-6-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My words this week are from Madewell Brown by Rick Collignon.

Pendejo - Used like this: "I'm talking about the pendejo nigger and you don't even know that."

Definition: Spanish slang word for idiot or stupid.

Arroyos - Used like this: It ws a rocky, dry stretch of land, scarred deep with arroyos.

Definition: A deep gully cut by an intermittent stream; a dry gulch.

Viejos - Used like this: He would drive by the trailer where Nemecio lived and the old adobes where the viejos would live out the rest of their lives in quiet.

Definition: old, elderly

Most of these words I could figure out due to the way they are used, but when I am listing words here, I try to take them out of context and then see if I would know what they would have meant! What new words did you learn this week?

Wondrous Words 4-29-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My first word this week is from Wild Highland Magic by Kendra Leigh Castle.

Vitriol - Used like this: Taken aback by the vitriol, Bastian frowned. (p8)

Definition - Bitterly abusive feeling or expression.

The rest of my words are from Fire Me by Libby Malin.

Cels - Used like this: Ken had seen Mitch's "bad news" act before and could plot it out like cels in a cartoon. (p 33)

Definition - A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation.

dotage - used like this - Maybe Anne was slowing down in her dotage.(p49)

Definition - a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness

bollix - used like this - She sat at her desk drumming her fingers, ready to jump in and bollix things up but stalled by swirling jitters.(p49)

Definition - to throw into disorder

petard - used like this - She'd hoist Mitch on his own petard today. (p50)

Definition - A small bell-shaped bomb used to breach a gate or wall

Fun Fact - Word History: The French used pétard, "a loud discharge of intestinal gas," for a kind of infernal engine for blasting through the gates of a city. "To be hoist by one's own petard," a now proverbial phrase apparently originating with Shakespeare's Hamlet (around 1604) not long after the word entered English (around 1598), means "to blow oneself up with one's own bomb, be undone by one's own devices." The French noun pet, "fart," developed regularly from the Latin noun peditum, from the Indo-European root *pezd-, "fart." (from www.thefreedictionary.com)

veneration - used like this - She squinted at Ken, trying to see him through her eyes alone, not through her previous veneration of Mitch.(p55)

Definition - Profound respect or reverence

Wondrous Words 4-22-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My first word this week is from The Lost Hours by Karen White.

Doyenne - used like this - I thought about writing him back to mention the borderline alcoholic doyenne of the estate, the blind daughter with a penchant for colors, the two little girls who were wise beyond their years, or their father whose odd mixture of aloofness and caring I found more attractive than I wanted to admit. (p133)

Definition - A woman who is the eldest or senior member of a group.

The following three words are from The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano.

Effete - used like this - I am so effete from being disarmed, I'm numb. (p74)

Definition - Depleted of vitality, force, or effectiveness; exhausted

Inimical - used like this - I am wired, like I've been drugged against my will with an inimical amount of adrenaline. (p195)

Definition - in opposition; adverse;

Insensate - used like this - Like a libidinous adolescent, I've been concerned with where and how I am going to lose my virginity, an insensate thing to scheme, in general; I should've been most concerned with if.

Definition - Foolish; witless

Wondrous Words 4-15-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My words today are from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne.

Porphyry - Used like this: When he chose to take a walk it was with a regular step in the entrance hall with its mosaic flooring, or in the circular gallery with its dome supported by twenty red porphyry Ionic columns, and illumined by blue painted windows.

Definition: Rock containing relatively large conspicuous crystals, especially feldspar, in a fine-grained igneous matrix.


physiognomists - Used like this: His countenance possessed in the highest degree what physiognomists call "repose in action," a quality of those who act rather than talk.

Definiton: The art of judging human character from facial features.

rubicund - Used like this: His eyes were blue, his complexion rubicund, his figure almost portly and well-built, his body muscular, and his physical powers fully developed by the exercises of his younger days.

Definition: Inclined to a healthy rosiness; ruddy.

That's all I have for today! Have you learned any new words this week?

Wondrous Words 4-8-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My first words this week are from An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell.

1. Salutary - Used like this: Mind you, it was a salutary experience dressing up like a rabbit.

Definition - Producing a beneficial effect.

2. Pantechnicon - Used like this: Gabe felt he was being more than generous; with all the stuff she'd strewn around his flat he'd need a pantechnicon.

Definition - Brit a large van used for furniture removals

3. Frisson - Used like this: And he had buckets of money ... why, why couldn't she look at him and feel a frisson of lust?

Definition - A moment of intense excitement; a shudder.

4. Harridan - Used like this: Sally's heart melted at the thought of this wonderful man wanting children and being cruelly denied them by his cold-hearted career-driven harridan of an ex.

Definition - A woman regarded as scolding and vicious.

The next words are from Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr.

5. Pastiche - Used like this: The outside was decorated in murals that ran the gamut from anime to abstract; beautiful and unexpected, they faded into one another like a collage that begged the viewer to make sense of images, to find an order behind the colorful pastiche.

Definition - a hodgepodge

6. Labret - Used like this: "You ready for a labret yet?"

Definition - An ornament inserted into a perforation in the lip.

7. Mien - Used like this: Despite their cadaverous mien, they were eerily beautiful to watch.

Definition - An appearance or aspect.

8. Liege - Used like this: "I am the Summer King's oldest advisor, and" - Tavish stopped himself, sighing as he realized that he was only underlining Niall's point - "try the boy's advice first, my liege."

Definition - A vassal or subject owing allegiance and services to a lord or sovereign under feudal law.

Have you learned any new words this week?

Wondrous Words 4-1-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My words this week are from Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark by Donna Lea Simpson.

1. Stygian - Used like this: Stunted trees near the post-house huddled in stygian shadows, and shutters blotted out any light from the interior fire and lamps.

Definition: Gloomy and dark. Infernal; hellish.

2. palanquin - Used like this: King Irusan, sensed an admirer and so allows me to serve as his palanquin.

Definition: A covered litter carried on poles on the shoulders of four or more bearers, formerly used in eastern Asia.

3. bruited - Used like this: There were ladies in society who kept a list of all eligible men, and he was on it, though never the first, for his abhorrence of marriage was well known and bruited about town as an example of his eccentricity.

Definition: To spread news of; repeat.

4. amour propre - Used like this: A woman of humble appearance needed all the help a talented hairdresser could summon so her image at that moment was shocking to Anne's modest amour propre.

Definition: self-esteem

5. crenellated - Used like this: "There," he said, pointing to the dark tower, a dry-moated, crenellated castle keep, "is the original section, the keep."

Definition: Having battlements.

6. phaeton - Used like this: Anne glanced toward the castle and noted a phaeton with a standing horse; she hadn't noticed it as her attention was turned toward the ruined section.

Definition: A light, four-wheeled open carriage, usually drawn by a pair of horses.

7. nacre - Used like this: Dew clung to her skin, giving it the sheen of nacre, and her pink tongue, darting out to wet her trembling lips, was a silly little enticement.

Definition: mother-of-pearl

8. sallies - Used like this: You make humorous comments, and I laugh at your sallies, Lady Anne.

Definition: A sudden quick witticism; a quip.

9. dudgeon - Used like this: He departed in high dudgeon.

Definition: A sullen, angry, or indignant humor.

10. pounce pot - Used like this: It had inside a multitude of drawers holding ink bottles, quills, sealing wax, seals, paper, a pounce pot, sand to fill it with, and a pen knife.

Definition: Pounce pots provided a means of drying ink once it had been written on a page. They were small containers with perforated tops (like pepper pots) that contained a powdery material that was sprinkled on the just written text to dry any excess moisture.

I could go on and on this week - I have learned many new words from this book!

Wondrous Words Wednesday 3-11-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

I have more words this week from The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick.

Trireme - Used like this: Gwenhwyfar stumbled and fell forward, a stab of pain shooting up her left arm as she tried to save herself. Branwen hauled her upright and ploughed forward, a trireme under full oar.

Definition: an ancient Greek or Roman galley, usually a warship, with three banks of oars on each side

Cymraes - Used like this: He says your father thinks of you as a true Cymraes, not someone watered by Roman wine!

Definition: A Welsh woman

Manumission - Used like this: Branwen had committed this disgrace. Aye, well, it would be her last! Push him to the limit, to that hurdle of endurance? He was over it, by God, over and spurring fast for manumission!

Definition: formal emancipation from slavery

Myrddin - Used like this: Gwenhwyfar shrugged. 'Without the Sight of a Myrddin, who can say?'

Definition: A figure in Medieval Welsh legend, known as a prophet and a madman. Found lots of references that he was used as the prototype for Merlin, the wizard that is usual found when talking about King Arthur.

Ululation - Used like this: They rose as one and left the Hall, hands grasping more torches, the ululation of anger and defiance rising like the blood lust of the hunt.

Definition: To howl, wail, or lament loudly.

Those are my words for the week - what are yours?>

Wondrous Words Wednesday 3-4-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My words this week are from The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick.

Bracae

Midden - Used like this: He twirled Gwenhwyfar round, studying an even larger grass stain on the seat of her bracae. 'God's truth! The pair of you are dirtier than midden slaves!'

Definition bracae: Breeches

Definition midden: Dump for domestic waste

Torque - Used like this: Around his throat he wore a torque of twisted gold shaped like a dragon - a great serpent beast with ruby eyes and gaping jaws, its gold scales winking in the dancing light of the torches.

Definition torque: A collar, a necklace, or an armband made of a strip of twisted metal, worn by the ancient Gauls, Germans, and Britons.

Those are my words for this week! What are yours?

Wondrous Words 2-18-2009

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. To join in the fun, post your words on your blog and then leave a message over at Bermudaonion's Blog!

My words this week are from Trail of Crumbs by Kim Sunee.

1. Prestidigitator - Used like this: He loves games, is always inventing new contraptions, and I like teaching him new words. Prestidigitator. Merlin the Magician. Houdini.

Definition: Performance of or skill in performing magic or conjuring tricks with the hands.

2. Asphodel - Used like this: There are asphodel and bright golden genet, huge chestnut trees with their leaves spread out like wilted stars.

Definition: Any of several chiefly Mediterranean plants of the genera Asphodeline and Asphodelus in the lily family, having linear leaves and elongate clusters of white, pink, or yellow flowers.

(I also wondered what genet was in the sentence above - but could not find a definition that had to do with plants!)

3. Langoustes - Used like this: We roast whole langoustes and potatoes in the open fire, read piles of thick books.

Definition: Spiny lobster

Well - those are my words for this week. I am sure that I will have more from this book - lots of cooking of foods that I am unfamiliar with and mostly set in countries foreign to me!

Thanks Bermudaonion for finally making me look these up and not just skipping right over them!