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Month: July 2022 (Page 2 of 5)

Malodorous

Here is a fun word used to describe Holmes’ chemical experiment in “The Dancing Men” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Poor Dr Watson had to put up with many such experiments during his time with Holmes in the Baker Street rooms.

Malodorous – smelling very unpleasant

Usage: “Holmes had been seated for some hours in silence with his long, thin back curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing a particularly malodorous product.”

Hope, by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird 
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

(from Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson, printed 2016)

Abash – to make someone feel embarrassed, disconcerted, or ashamed

Extremity – the extreme degree or nature of something, as extreme difficulty or adversit

Edentulous

In a book about a forensic anthropologist, you are sure to come across scientific words that are not part of your everyday vocabulary. This word, from Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs, is just such a word.

Edentulous – lacking teeth

Usage: “The unknown [skeleton] was edentulous.”

Southernism

This word should be self explanatory. I found it in Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs.

Southernism – an attitude or trait characteristic of the South or Southerners especially in the US

Usage: “Another Southernism. Hitch the phrase “bless her heart” to its bumper, and any slur becomes mannerly.”

Foolscap

No, this is definitely not a mushroom. When Holmes used this word in “The Norwood Builder” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I could guess the vague meaning, but Merriam-Webster gives an exact meaning.

Foolscap – a size of paper formerly standard in Great Britain

Usage: Perhaps I shall get the credit also at some distant day, when I permit my zealous historian to lay out his foolscap once more – eh, Watson?”

Inanition

This is a curious word from “The Norwood Builder” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I couldn’t figure it out from the context, and I am very sure I’ve never heard it before. But after I found the definition, the context makes perfect sense.

Inanition – exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment

Usage: “I have known him presume upon his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition.”

Paroxysm

This is a word I think I have heard before, but I wasn’t sure about the meaning based on the context in “The Norwood Builder”, The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Paroxysm – a sudden attack or violent expression of a particular emotion or activity

Usage: “He clenched his hands in a paroxysm of conviction.”

Blackguard

I don’t know why I’ve always enjoyed saying this word. I think it just rolls off the tongue in a satisfactory way. I came across the word again the other day in “The Norwood Builder” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Blackguard – one who behaves in a dishonorable or contemptible way

Usage: “Yes, Watson, I went there, and I found very quickly that the late lamented Oldacre was a pretty considerable blackguard.”

He Ate and Drank, by Emily Dickinson

He ate and drank the precious words,
His spirit grew robust;
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was dust.
He danced along the dingy days,
And this bequest of wings
Was but a book.  What liberty
a loosened spirit brings!


(from Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson, this volume published 2016)
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