Yesterday I finished reading Work Song by Ivan Doig. I’m going to tell you about it tomorrow. The story is set in 1919 so the language came from that era. Here are some of the words that were new to me.
1. scatteration: Hooper waved vaguely west. “Someplace out there in scatteration.”
From the context I thought the word meant wherever or at least a place where things have been scattered about. My dictionary only shows scatteration as a derivative of scatter.
2. bonhomie: Smiling at that gust of Butte bonhomie, I cast around for Rab and her fiance amid the eating crowd.
I think I’ve seen this one before. It seems old fashioned and it is. Bonhomie means cheerful friendliness.
3. eisteddfod: I brightly volunteered that our salvation was an eisteddfod.
Eisteddfod is a Welsh festival of literature, music and performance. The tradition of such a meeting of Welsh artists dates back to at least the 12th century
4. abbess: “Mr. Morgan has the knack of doing what can’t be done,” she said, canny as an abbess.
An abbess is a woman who is the head of an abbey of nuns. I don’t know an abbess, but I’m wondering why an abbess has a reputation for being canny.
Wonderous Words Wednesday is sponsored by Kathy (Bermuda Onion). Be sure to visit her for more new words.
It sounds like the author used scatteration creatively. I’m wondering why an abbess is considered canny too. You always find great words and I always appreciate your participation!
An eisteddfod sounds like great fun. If you added wine to the equation, it would be perfect! :–)
I did know #4!!! and I like the sound of #3!!
I knew bonhomie — and that was the only one. I want to read this book!
Maybe an abbess is canny because she is an executive in a group of women in an organization (the Church) where the ultimate authority is heavily male. She has to deal with both worlds.