Tag: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Page 7 of 10)

Here is a word that I see quite often in British writings, but as an American, I am not familiar with it. I mean, I know what a rock is, but what does a British author mean when he uses the term “stone” for weight. I finally looked it up because I found it in “The Missing Three-Quarter” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Stone – British unit of weight for dry products, generally equivalent to 14 pounds, though it varied from 4-32 pounds for various items over time

Usage: Mr Cyril Overton, sixteen stone of solid bone and muscle, who spanned our doorway with his broad shoulders. (Roughly, about 224 pounds.)

(I believe the sport referenced is soccer, as later in the story “football” is mentioned.)

Here is a word that I have always assumed was akin to distraught. I found it again in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in the story of “The Golden Pince-Nez”. I finally looked it up, and though it is similar, it is not quite as dramatic as distraught.

Distrait – distracted or absent-minded

Usage: “Holmes was curiously distrait, and we walked up and down the garden path for some time in silence.”

Here is a word that I have never heard before. Now that I know what it is, it does not surprise me that Sherlock Holmes was examining one in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes before he took the case of “The Golden Piece-Nez”.

Palimpsest – a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain

Usage: “He [was] engaged with a powerful lens deciphering the remains of the original inscription upon a palimpsest.”

I am including an image of a palimpsest from Wikipedia. You can clearly see the different texts in this image.

Here is an interesting word in one of my favorite of The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In “The Six Napoleons”, Holmes utters this word when he is told of three busts of Emperor Napoleon being smashed in the night.

Iconoclast – a person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions or destroys images such as those used in worship

Usage: “Considering how many hundreds of statues of the great Emperor must exist in London, it is too much to suppose such a coincidence as that a promiscuous iconoclast should chance to begin upon three specimens of the same bust.”

Here is another example of wildlife that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was most likely very familiar with, but I was not. I decided it would be nice to add pictures of these birds so you can see them too.

These are mentioned in “The Priory School” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes when Holmes is explaining a map of the moor to Watson. “A few moor farmers have small holdings, where they raise sheep and cattle. Except these, the plover and the curlew are the only inhabitants until you come to Chesterfield high road.”

This descriptive word was found in the first paragraph of “The Priory School” in The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The definition surprised me a little, but it makes sense now that I have read the story.

Dolorous – causing, marked by, or expressing misery or grief

Usage: “The heavy, white face was seamed with lines of trouble, the hanging pouches under the closed eyes were leaden in color, the loose mouth drooped dolorously at the corners, the rolling chins were unshaven.”

Dr Watson is describing a man who staggered up the steps at their Baker Street rooms and collapsed at the door in anguish. Why? You’re going to have to read “The Priory School”.

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.)