Month: September 2022 (Page 3 of 5)

Here is a curious word from The Vally of Fear in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, though I knew it had to be a part of a room based on the context. Now that I’ve looked it up, it’s no wonder that is where Holmes chose to sit. It sounds quite cozy, actually.

Inglenook – a space on either side of a large fireplace

Usage: “Finally he lit his pipe, and sitting in the inglenook of the old village inn he talked slowly and at random about his case, rather as one who thinks aloud than as one who makes a considered statement.”

This is an interesting word that Dr Watson uses to describe the country police sergeant who aids in solving the mystery of The Vally of Fear, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I’ve never heard this word, and from the context, I thought it meant something different, so I’m glad I looked it up.

Bucolic – pertaining to or suggesting an idyllic rural life

Usage: “But, I say,” remarked the police sergeant, whose slow, bucolic common sense was still pondering the open window.

Here is an interesting word from The Valley of Fear, in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes uses this word when he describes Professor Moriarty to Scotland Yard Detective MacDonald. Moriarty is the genius behind London’s underworld, and Holmes knows this, but he cannot prove it in court, so he must wait for the professor to make a mistake.

Exigous – scanty, meager, small

Usage: “Of course I have other reasons for thinking [Moriarty’s wealth was obtained illegally] – dozens of exiguous threads which lead vaguely up towards the centre of the web where the poisonous, motionless creature is lurking.”

Here is a word from The Valley of Fear, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. When I looked it up the first time, it really puzzled me, so I had to find another dictionary. Now I fully understand.

Coruscation – according to Merriam-Webster, there are two definitions. 1. Glitter or sparkle. 2. A flash of wit. I am sure Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was using the second definition.

Usage: Holmes and Watson are trying to decipher a coded message.

“Brilliant, Watson. You are scintillating this morning… Have we reached the limits of what reason can supply?”

“I fear that we have.”

“Surely you do yourself an injustice. One more coruscation, my dear Watson. Yet another brain-wave.”

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, The Valley of Fear, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, circa 1914

Here is an interesting word that Sherlock Holmes used to describe Dr Watson in The Valley of Fear, one of the The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I wasn’t fully able to grasp the meaning of the word by the context, so I had to look it up. Now I find the context that much more enlightening and certainly more humorous.

Pawky – having a mocking or cynical sense of humor

Usage: Holmes says to Watson, “You are developing a certain unexpected vein of pawky humor, Watson, against which I must learn to guard myself.”

Here is a word that sounds as gross as its definition. It is one of the words Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used to describe the Grimpen Mire in The Hound of the Baskervilles, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Watson and Holmes chase the villain into the mire on a dark and foggy night. It was very dangerous for them all.

Miasmatic – a vapor from decaying organic matter

Usage: “Rank weeds and lush, slimy water-plants sent an odor of decay and a heavy miasmatic vapor onto our faces, while a false step plunged us more than once thigh-deep into the dark, quivering mire, which shook for yards in soft undulations around our feet.”