Another new word from “The Naval Treaty” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It’s amazing what new words you will find when you are looking for them. I knew a man once who kept a little notebook of new words. When he read or heard a word he didn’t know, he would write it down and look it up later. Perhaps this blog is my little notebook of new words.
Asperity – harshness of tone or manner
Usage: “Do you see any prospect of solving this mystery, Mr Holmes?” she asked with a touch of asperity in her voice.
The funny thing is, the word appears again a few paragraphs later. Maybe Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was trying out a new word too.
“Oh, if you find your own cases more interesting than mine – ” said Holmes, with some asperity.