Tag: New Words (Page 13 of 20)

I have made it a point to look for words that I don’t know while I am reading so I can share them with you here on the blog. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has given me most of my new words so far in his stories about Sherlock Holmes. I wonder: were some of the words he used were common, everyday words in his time that have since dropped out of regular usage? I hope it’s not that my vocabulary was much smaller than I thought!

Anyway, the word impetus is in The Valley of Fear, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It reminds me of the word Imp, a mischievous creature, so I wondered if impetus would have something to do with mischief or bad deeds. Especially since it is used in the context of Jack McMurdo and the lodge. Here is the actual definition. I was totally off.

Impetus – a driving force, impulse, or stimulus; the momentum of a moving body, especially with reference to the cause of motion

Usage: “If anything had been needed to give an impetus to Jack McMurdo’s popularity among his fellows it would have been his arrest and acquittal.”

I found this word in The Valley of Fear, in my volume, The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before, but the context made me think it meant something like the lowest of the low. I wasn’t too far off.

Opprobrium – the disgrace or reproach incurred by shameful conduct; the cause of such disgrace

Usage: This is from a newspaper article which described the “Reign of Terror” the lodge had brought on those living in Vermissa Valley. “From that day these outrages have never ceased, until now they have reached a pitch which makes us the opprobrium of the civilized world.” If you read my post about The Valley of Fear, you will remember that this newspaper article , and the outrages mentioned, took place about twenty years before Sherlock Holmes ever began investigating the case.

Here is a word that I think I have heard before, but it was used as an adjective in The Valley of Fear, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. So I looked it up, just to be sure I understood the meaning.

Feted – celebrated, lauded or acclaimed (one who was honored with a fete, which is a festive celebration or entertainment)

Usage: “He could drink hard and show little trace of it; but that evening, has his mate Scanlan not been been at hand to lead him home, the feted hero would surely have spent his night under the bar.”

I came across this phrase in The Valley of Fear, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. However, the reason it caught my attention is because I believe the phrase is used in a song in Les Miserables. I think I’ve been singing it wrong for a very long time! It makes a lot more sense now.

Boon – jolly, jovial, convivial; something to be thankful for

Therefore, a Boon Companion is a fun person to be around, someone you would be lucky to know. And that is what people thought of John McMurdo in The Valley of Fear.

Usage: “He was a born boon companion, with a magnetism which drew good humour from all around him.”

This is a word that I like to say, but I didn’t know the exact definition ’til I looked it up for this post. I found it in one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It is used in the beginning of Part Two, where Dr Watson reveals the history of the events that lead to a murder almost twenty years later. The murder which Sherlock Holmes investigates, and Dr Watson titles The Valley of Fear.

Gregarious – fond of the company of others

Usage: “Anyone could pick him at once as gregarious in his habits and communicative in his nature, with a quick wit and a ready smile.”

Here is a strange word that I have had trouble rolling over my tongue since the moment I saw it. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it before. I could guess the meaning by the context, however, but I wanted to share the word with you too, so I looked it up.

Ululation – to howl, hoot, or wail; to lament loudly and shrilly (for those who are curious, it is pronounced ul – ya – lay – shun)

Usage: “It was badly stage-managed, for even the rawest investigators must be struck by the absence of the usual feminine ululation.”

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 another use of the word in Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:

She had a rudimentary knowledge of the law – it was a subject she had never had occasion to explore – and her faith in the police was generally exiguous.

STIEG LARSSON, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO