Tag: New Words (Page 11 of 20)

Voracity

December 8, 2022 / Cadie

I know that I have read this word and heard it spoken before. I think it means fast or quick. When I found it in “The Mystery of the Mince-Pie” in The Compete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes, I decided it was high time I looked the word up to be sure. Well, I was not very close with my definition.

Voracious – craving or consuming large quantities of food (voracity is the noun version of this adjective)

Usage: “With some dismay I noticed that my amazing friend was suffering from a severe lack of proportion. He served the Turnham Greens, their guests and me, with a cube of pudding about the size of a piece of loaf sugar. The remainder he placed on his own plate. Even though the dinner was a change from the kippers and pancakes of Mrs Spudson, Sholmes might have controlled his voracity. Once he nearly choked with a large mouthful of pudding and had to bury his head in the large red pocket handkerchief.”

Meershaum

December 7, 2022 / Cadie

Here is a curious word that Dr Jotson uses to describe Sholmes’ pipe in “The Mystery of the Mince-Pie”. As I am not a smoker, I decided to look the word up to find its exact meaning. In fact, the word has no special meaning or tongue-in-cheek use. It truly describes the pipe.

Meershaum – a mineral, hydrous magnesium silicate, occurring in white, claylike masses, used especially for pipe bowls

Usage: “Between his thin lips was a large meershaum pipe.” (from The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes)

Mutiny and Barratry

December 6, 2022 / Cadie

I really like it when I can tell the meaning of a word from the context in which it is found. But I was really in luck when this passage from The Hunt for Red October not only gave me two words, but also defined them for me too. Mutiny and Barratry.

“Judge, we are not dealing with mutiny or piracy,” Foster noted. “The correct term is barratry, I believe. Mutiny is when the crew rebels against lawful authority. Gross misconduct of the officers is called barratry.”
Admiral Daniel Foster, The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancy, 1984

Diphthong

November 16, 2022 / Cadie

Here is a fun word to say. I have heard it many times before, but now that I am starting to write more, especially since I want to branch into poetry, I looked the word up so I could be sure I knew exactly what it meant. And how to pronounce it. Mary Oliver writes about diphthongs in A Poetry Handbook.

Diphthong – (pronounced dif-thong) an unsegmentable, gliding speech sound varying continuously in phonetic quality but considered to be a single sound or phoneme, as the oi sound of toy or boil.

Usage: “The initial four lines are rife with w‘s and th‘s; f is there, and v. Three sets of double ll‘s. The heaviness of the vowels is increased by the use of diphthongs. The two words that end with a mute (think and up) are set within the lines and thus are softened. All other mutes are softened within the words themselves. One could scarcely read these lines in any other than a quiet, musing, almost whispered way.”

Mary Oliver is speaking of the first stanza of Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”:

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

Bower

November 15, 2022 / Cadie

When I found this word in Five Children and It, I decided I had to look it up, but not because of the context in the story. When I think of this word, I think of lyrics to a song from Camelot that mentions “the bridal bower”, and though I always thought I understood what it meant, when I found it in my book, I needed to make sure.

Bower – a leafy shelter or recess; arbor; rustic dwelling, cottage

Usage: “So they filled all the pots they could find with flowers – asters and zinnias, and loose-leaved late red roses from the wall of the stable-yard, till the house was a perfect bower.”

Frumious

November 14, 2022 / Cadie

Here is a word that I never thought I would read outside of Lewis Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky“. I was greatly surprised and delighted to find the word again in Five Children and It by E. Nesbit. Now that I know it was not just one of Carroll’s nonsense words, I may start sliding it into my own speech when I can. Of course, since Five Children and It was written after Through the Looking Glass, perhaps Nesbit just used one of Carroll’s words in her own work.

Frumious – extremely angry

Usage: “I thought we couldn’t get through a wish-day without a row,” said Cyril; “it was much too good to be true. Come on, Bobs, my military hero. If we lick into bed sharp she won’t be so frumious, and perhaps she’ll bring us up some supper. I’m jolly hungry! Good-night, kids.”

Stertorously

November 13, 2022 / Cadie

Wow, that’s a crazy looking word! I am sure I had never heard it before I read “His Last Bow”, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. But, based on the context, I don’t think the word means crazy. For this word, we have to start at the base noun and the build on it so we fully understand it.

Stertor – an abnormal snoring sound accompanying breathing

Stertorous – characterized by starter or heavy snoring; breathing in this manner

Usage: “The German lay upon the sofa sleeping stertorously.”

Prevaricate

November 5, 2022 / Cadie

Here is a word that I am sure I had never heard before I read The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Sadly, it is in the final short story, “His Last Bow”. Holmes was interviewing his suspect. Well, “interviewing” is not the best term. Rather, Holmes was telling his suspect exactly how and what he had done; in return, the suspect would tell Holmes why he had committed the murder.

Prevaricate – to shuffle; to quibble; to evade by a quibble

Usage: “Now, … , how do you justify such conduct, and what were the motives for your actions? If you prevaricate or trifle with me, I give you my assurance that the matter will pass out of my hands forever.”

(Do you like how I omitted the name of the suspect? You will have to read the story to find out who it was.)

Adroit

November 5, 2022 / Cadie

Here is a curious word that I found in “The Disappearance of Lady Carfax”, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I wasn’t sure what it meant, so I thought I would look it up and share it with you, especially since Dr Watson uses the word to describe Holmes.

Adroit – expert at using the hands and body, nimble; cleverly skillful, resourceful, ingenious

Usage: “All this I jotted down and felt that Holmes himself could not have been more adroit in collecting his facts.”

Dissimulation

October 9, 2022 / Cadie

I have heard this word before and thought I knew what it meant. But when Sherlock Holmes used it to describe talents Dr Watson did not possess, I decided I should look it up just to be sure. It’s a really neat word, and it rolls off the tongue in a unique way, doesn’t it?

Dissimulate – to disguise or conceal under a false appearance; to conceal one’s true motives, thoughts, etc, by some pretense

Usage: “You won’t be offended, Watson? You will realize that among your many talents dissimulation finds no place…”

If I give you any more of the sentence, I’ll give away the conclusion of “The Dying Detective”, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I’d rather leave you with this cliffhanger, so you will want to read it for yourself. I must say, I was not expecting the story to end as it did.

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