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I have to remember sometimes that The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes is a British book, so I don’t recognize all of the food mentioned in the book. I certainly never would have guessed when I started “The Mystery of the Dustbin” what a winkle was.
Winkle – a small mollusk with spiral shell
Usage: Mr Horatio Smiff never wasted the winkle. He was framed!
I was so glad to come across this word in “The Last of the Potatoes” in The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes. I’ve always thought it was such a funny word.
Purloined – stolen (the dictionary states it is a formal yet humorous verb)
Usage: “The duchess had boldly purloined the potato.”
(In my opinion, the story should have been called The Case of the Purloined Potato.)
This was another word that I could guess the meaning by the contest, but I didn’t know how to pronounce it. I found this word in The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes, “The Case of the Teuton’s Trousers”.
Denouement (pronounced da-noo-man) – the climax of a chain of events, usually when something is decided or made clear
Usage: “If you care to accompany me today, I have no doubt I shall be able to show you a very interesting denouement.”
I saw this word in the last Sherlock Holmes tale I read, “The Resident Patient”. Based on context, I figured it was a horse drawn carriage of some kind, but I looked it up because I didn’t know how to pronounce it.
Brougham (pronounced “broo-um” or “bro-um”) – a horse drawn carriage with a roof, four wheels, and an open drivers seat in front
Usage: “There’s a brougham waiting for us, Watson,” said he.
I found this new word when I began reading “The Greek Interpreter” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Avatism – tendency to revert to something ancient or ancestral; recurrence of traits of an ancestor in subsequent generations
Usage: “It was after tea on a summer evening, and the conversation … came round at last to the question of atavism and hereditary aptitudes.”
Here is a new word from Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson. You may recognize it from the poem I posted earlier about old books.
Vellum – fine parchment, originally made of calf skin
Usage: “Old volumes shake their vellum heads.”
“The ancient manuscript is on vellum.”
A new word from “The Engineer’s Thumb” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Munificent – larger or more generous than is usual or necessary
Usage: “The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.”
I found a new word today in “The Case of his Lordship’s Engagement”, The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes
Absquatulate – to leave abruptly
Usage: “Clean vamoosed… Absquatulated – lit out – simply mizzled!”
Hi! I'm Cadie. Welcome to my Collection of Bookish Thoughts where I will share with you everything I love about books.
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