Tag: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Page 2 of 10)

Here is a strange word that I found in “Wisteria Lodge”, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Based on the context, I thought it might be a bird, so I looked it up to share it with you. I was wrong – it’s not a bird.

Catkins – a spike of flowers with scaly bracts and no petals, as on the willow or birch

Usage: “I’m sure, Watson, a week in the country will be invaluable to you,” [Holmes] remarked. “It is very pleasant to see the first green shoots upon the hedges and the catkins on the hazels once again.”

Here is a picture of Hazel Catkins from Sussex Wildlife Trust. I can see how these yellow flowers would bring joy and hope for the approaching spring.

Don’t misread this. It is not insufferable, it is insuperable, and before posting this, I had no idea what it meant. And the context didn’t help me guess at the meaning. I found the word in “Wisteria Lodge”, one of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Insuperable – incapable of being passed over, overcome, or surmounted

Usage: “I have not all my facts yet, but I do not think there are any insuperable difficulties.”

Usually when I read this word, I imagine it is related to mystify or mystery, which something secret or puzzling. But the way it was used in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in the story “Wisteria Lodge”, I decided to look it up. I thought I was wrong about the definition for some time. But, apparently, mystification is the noun version of the verb mystify, so I was right.

Mystification – the state of feeling confused by something impossible to understand (and mystify is to perplex or bewilder)

Usage: “I can make nothing of this mystification of Scott Eccles.”

Here is an uncommon word that I found in The Valley of Fear, in my volume, The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. From the context, I thought it meant praises or congratulations, and I wasn’t wrong. I like it when I guess correctly!

Plaudits – an enthusiastic expression of approval

Usage: “Here they were, safe and sound, their work well done, and the plaudits of their companions in their ears.”

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.”