Tag: Sherlock Holmes (Page 8 of 10)

Here, I think, is an old word that we don’t use much anymore. I wasn’t very sure what it meant exactly when I read it in “The Solitary Cyclist” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, so I had to look it up. However, I am not regularly around stables or people who deal directly with horses, so this word may still be used regularly in some circles.

Ostler – one who takes care of horses and mules (according to Merriam-Webster, it is “less common variant of hostler”)

Usage: Holmes sent the ostler to fetch the constables, glad he had not suffered ill-effects from an earlier club to the head.

I found this word in “The Solitary Cyclist” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I should have guessed the meaning by the context, but its so simple, and I had no clue.

Greensward – grass-covered ground (see? simple)

Usage: “We had broken suddenly into a lovely glade of greensward surrounded by ancient trees.”

(You will have to read “The Solitary Cyclist” to find out why Holmes and Watson were breaking so suddenly into a grassy area. It’s part of the plot twist of the story.)

As I was reading “The Solitary Cyclist” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I realized it would be nice sometimes to include pictures of the flowers or birds that Watson describes. As an American, I don’t usually get to see the same kind of wildlife that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle saw everyday. Pictured below is the Common Gorse, or as Watson called it, the Flowering Gorse. Picture credit goes to The Wildlife Trusts.

Usage: “A rainy night had been followed by a glorious morning, and the heath-covered countryside, with the flowering gorse, seemed all the more beautiful to the eyes which were weary of the duns and drabs and slate grays of London.”

The curious case of “The Solitary Cyclist” developed into an actual tale of crime and had a twist that I didn’t see coming. This is one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I didn’t foresee the ending, but Holmes did, and used this word to describe what he was anticipating.

Untoward – unexpected and inappropriate or inconvenient

Usage: “I think, Watson, that we must spare time to run down together on Saturday morning and make sure that this curious and inclusive investigation has no untoward ending.”

Here is a word that Dr Watson uses regularly to describe the villains in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In particular, this is how he described Mr Woodley, the abductor, in “The Solitary Cyclist” and Mr Milverton, the blackmailer, in “Charles Augustus Milverton”.

Odious – extremely unpleasant and revulsive

Usage: “That odious man, Mr Woodley.”

Another word from “The Dancing Men” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is “Nettled”. The context made me believe the word must mean something like perturbed, and I was not wrong.

Nettled – irritated or annoyed

Usage: After stating that he would not call Holmes’ methods simple once explained, Dr Watson still cried, “How absurdly simple!”

“Quite so!” said [Holmes], a little nettled. “Every problem becomes very childish when once it is explained to you.”

Here is a fun word used to describe Holmes’ chemical experiment in “The Dancing Men” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Poor Dr Watson had to put up with many such experiments during his time with Holmes in the Baker Street rooms.

Malodorous – smelling very unpleasant

Usage: “Holmes had been seated for some hours in silence with his long, thin back curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing a particularly malodorous product.”

No, this is definitely not a mushroom. When Holmes used this word in “The Norwood Builder” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I could guess the vague meaning, but Merriam-Webster gives an exact meaning.

Foolscap – a size of paper formerly standard in Great Britain

Usage: Perhaps I shall get the credit also at some distant day, when I permit my zealous historian to lay out his foolscap once more – eh, Watson?”

This is a curious word from “The Norwood Builder” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I couldn’t figure it out from the context, and I am very sure I’ve never heard it before. But after I found the definition, the context makes perfect sense.

Inanition – exhaustion caused by lack of nourishment

Usage: “I have known him presume upon his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition.”

This is a word I think I have heard before, but I wasn’t sure about the meaning based on the context in “The Norwood Builder”, The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Paroxysm – a sudden attack or violent expression of a particular emotion or activity

Usage: “He clenched his hands in a paroxysm of conviction.”