A taste of my own medicine...



In my chosen field, I'm usually the one doling out the vocabulary lessons, but this time I'm getting one. "From where?" you may ask, and I would respond, "From the unlikeliest of places -- a fantasy novel!"

You see, I have just begun a series new to me, that of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson (that's him over there). It's a 32-year-old series, from the first volume at least, and rather good so far! Covenant is a leper who finds himself the unlikely messiah in a magical land... that's about all I can tell you, as I've only made it to chapter six. Below is a list of the new words I've had to look up. I discovered as a result of Thomas that I don't think I own a paper dictionary anymore, and I kind of wish I did, so I wouldn't have to keep getting up from my comfy chair to look things up on dictionary.com. Anyway, the list:

1) picar - weapon (Spanish) -- This wasn't even in the damn dictionary. I had to Google it.
2) preterite - past or bygone
3) chiaroscuro - a sketch in light and shade
4) attar - perfume or essential oil
5) anile - foolish, or dottering
6) monody - tragic ode sung by a single voice
7) vertiginous - spinning or dizzy
8) atavism - a throwback

I think I've even missed a few, but I don't have time to go back and find them. I've got to go buy a dictionary.

Comments

Unknown said…
I knew numbers 3 and 4 and 8. I would have guessed at numbers 2 and 7. 1, 5, and 6 I had no idea.

I get that 'Word of the Day' email from dictionary.com, and when I was a kid, I annoyed others by reading "It Pays to Enrich Your Word Power" in Reader's Digest and using the words I found therein as often as possible.

The last word I got from 'Word of the Day' that I did not know was 'yegg' - a safecracker.

My favorite word is 'absquatulate'.

The book looks interesting, too - thanks!
9:36 AM
V said…
Absquatulate is a smashingly good word. I shall use it today. It's also good for a few giggles when you press the "pronounce" button on dictionary.com a few dozen times...

I annoyed others (and hell, still annoy them) in a similar way, both when I was a kid, and now.

I hope you try Donaldson and like him. I've enjoyed book 1 thoroughly so far. If you do, come back and give a review!
5:50 PM
Anonymous said…
Dictionary.com is the best site out there, except maybe the Drudge Report.
10:39 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Very Sad News

Hi everyone, Because friends share in good things and bad and this is important to me, I thought you all might like to know. My mom, who had been battling many health problems, especially during the past few years, passed away Friday night. She was not a perfect person, but her love for me was. I figure if you want to know more, you'll ask. But if I don't seem quite myself for awhile, that's why. Thanks.
Read more

The Sock Monkey Project

Image
Recently, due to Arctic Blast 2007 (i.e. a quarter-inch of sleet upon these Dallas roadways), a much-anticipated night of drinking, fooling around and Sopranos was nixed. Did I sulk? Well, hell yes, I did. And then I did some more. But after that, pouting began to bore me and I hit upon a mission: I was gonna make a goddamn sock monkey. Why the flip did this occur to me? Well, I'd talked it up for many years, seeing as how my grandmother gave me one when I was six or seven and it was subsequently so cherished and frequently hugged that the tail developed a hole at the end. As it turns out, my friends listen to me on occasion, so I was gifted with this kit at Christmastime this year. Though my original hosiery simian was far more tricked out than this one, with a red gingham dress and hat that had lace trim, this nostalgia-fueled, red felt vested ape would do nicely on a blustery, pissy winter's night . Besides, the original mon-chi-chi was lost. Generally speaking, I'm n
Read more

Two Years

Two years I've been writing this. Two years. Most of you and I have known each other for most of that span. Why is it so hard to believe, the constant flow of time? -------------------------------- Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems -- but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems incredible. -- Salman Rushdie
Read more