A boatload of thanks to Kathy (Bermuda Onion) for sponsoring this weekly gathering of new words. I’m reading this week from Max McCoy’s Sons of Fire. It’s a moving book set in the Civil War period. I’ve found a few new-to-me words.
1. Remuda: “Where’d you get that stock?” asked the owner of the mill, a tired-looking man named Cadfy who had watched from a window as the little remuda had passed.
Remuda means a herd of horses that have been saddle-broken, from which ranch hands choose their mounts for the day.
2. Pragmatically: When Francis finally felt the strength begin to drain from Owens he did not drive for a finish, but kept up the steady, relentless pressure, pragmatically folding Owens’ arm down toward the surface of the stump. (They were arm wrestling.)
Pragmatically means dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations
3. Parlance: In the parlance of the border, to jayhawk was to imitate the behavior of the common bluejay – to fight, quarrel, disrupt, and steal from the nests of others, and to generally create havoc.
Parlance means a particular way of speaking or using words, especially a way common to those with a particular job or interest.
How was your week – did you find any new words in your reading?
One of our favorite books is “An Exaltation of Larks” which is basically a dictionary for terms of venery, or collective nouns. It doesn’t have remuda, which is disappointing, although the actual term of venery for horses is in fact herd, and remuda seems to be a subcategory of herd. It’s a very fun book that I recommend for anyone who loves words (exaltation is the term for a group of larks). The author is James Lipton.
Remuda is new to me too. Jill’s comment made me very curious and now I want the book she mentioned. Thanks for participating!
Sounds like a book I would enjoy. I grew up with a father who was very “pragmatic” so I’m familiar with that one, but never heard of remuda and wasn’t sure of parlance. Good words!
I’ve been reading a book about the Civil War period, too. And “Remuda” is new to me, also.
I know #2 but the other two are new ones for me!
Hi Margot — I really enjoy this weekly word feature. It has made me pay more attention to new words I come across when reading (instead of picking up the meaning from the context).
Wanted to let you know that we stayed one night at Jantzen Beach during our visit to Portland — we liked it there — very convenient and well-kept up. We took the Max from the racetrack near there into the City Center and hung out at Powells for an afternoon.