Wondrous Words Wednesday

It all started when the CEO of the Tribune ordered a local radio station in Chicago to change some of the words they use. He gave them a list of 119 words and phrases they may no longer use on the air: famed, near miss, speaking out, aftermath, allegations, area residents, stay-tuned and we’ll be back.

The author of the article, Jan Freeman (in Boston.com), went on to talk about other lists of banned words. She pointed out that cutting down on cliched words has been a worthy practice of editors for years, but –

Writing and editing are hard, sweaty work; sweeping the “bad” words off the table may look like a bold stroke, but if the past is any guide, it’s not the way to get the job done.

Jennifer McDonald of the NY Times Book Review (Paper Cuts blog) took it a step further and raised the issue of cliches among book reviewers. She referred to an earlier blog post which listed the Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewers (by Bob Harris). Are you ready, fellow book bloggers? Here they are: poignant, compelling, intriguing, eschew, craft (used as a verb), muse (used as a verb), and lyrical.

It’s possible to (mis)use all seven words in a one-sentence book report: “Mario Puzo’s intriguing novel eschews the lyrical as the author instead crafts a poignant tale of family life and muses on the compelling doings of the Mob.”

Although I am no where close to being a professional book reviewer, it still makes me conscious of the words I’m using to tell readers about books I’ve read. This seems to be a hot topic. Following the Seven Deadly Words post there were 276 comments from people who had their own suggestions of words to be banned. That article is here.

Now that my consciousness for cliched words has been raised, I’m aware of all the words within this post that should be changed. I wonder if, from now on, my eyes will start looking for cliches as well as new words. I think it’s now going to take me longer to read. What about you? Do you have some cliched words and phrases you’d like to see banned?

I hope you’ll join Kathy (Bermuda Onion), the undaunted sponsor of Wondrous Words Wednesday.

I was reading an interesting article, The Next Big Thing in English: Knowing They Know That You Know about a new theory on how and why people read fiction. (NY Times article April 1) I found this great word:

1. Eponymous: In “Emma” the eponymous heroine assumes Mr. Elton’s attentions signal a romantic interest in her friend Harriet, though he is actually intent on marrying Emma.

Eponymous means to giving their name to something : the eponymous hero of the novel.

From the novel, Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly:

2.  sobriquet: “Just fine, Ted,” I said, not wanting to call him by his obvious gang sobriquet of Teddy Bear. “What’s up with you?”

Sobriquet (sōbriˌkā) means a person’s nickname.

And from the short story, A Wicked Woman by Jack London, I found these two words:

3, unveracious: Woman were faithless and unveraciojs, e held – at such times that he had relapses and descended to pessimism from his wonted high philosophical calm.

Veracious means being truthful, so I’m guessing unveracious means being untruthful.

4. profundity: He was superficial – out of profundity.

Profundity means deep insight or depth of knowledge.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is sponsored by Kathy (Bermuda Onion). Be sure to visit her for more to words and/or to join in with your new words.

1. appellation: Beef and pork identified by breed and farm, just as a wine might be by a variety and appellation.

Appellation means

2. oenophiles: Beyond the oenophiles, who seems to have been around and cranky forever, all these new categories of taste refinement seem suddenly to be blossoming.

Oenophile (ēnəˌfīl) is a connoisseur of wines.

3. eschew: And you might agree if you’d been on Saltspring Island last year watching an American tourist, who was provisioning his evening barbecue, eschew a beautiful organic chicken because it wasn’t from the island but from Duncan, barely 10 kilometres away.

Eschew means to abstain from or deliberately avoid using something.

What new words did you find this week? I hope you’ll join us in Wondrous Words Wednesday. Be sure to visit Kathy, our doughty (brave and persistent) leader.

1. collation: “I’ll go for water while you prepare the collation.”

Collation means a light, informal meal.

That word came from Here Comes the Sun by Emilie Loring.

This next one I found in an interview with author Michael Connelly in Bookmarks Magazine:

2. tectonic: “Tectonic shift, social shifts, the haves and have-nots, it seems to all the part of the canvas that is the City of Angels–or the City of Angles, as some would have it.”

Tectonic refers to the structure of the earth’s crust and the large-scale processes that take place within it.

3. dyspepsia: “Sensible girl, to spare herself yours of mortal dulness, gossip, and dyspepsia,” was the placid reply.

Dyspepsia is indigestion. I found this word in the short story, Scarlet Stockings by Louisa May Alcott.

Wondrous Words Wednesday is sponsored by Kathy at Bermuda Onion’s Weblog. Visit her for more new words or to play along with words of your own.

This week I found a bunch of new words in an editorial I was reading in the online New York Times. The writer was talking about whether the United States is going to decline like Rome and other great powers. It was an interesting article, found here and interesting words. Here are three of them.

1. cogency: The thesis seems a tad schematic, but Professor Kennedy maintains it with dazzling cogency.

Cogent means an argument that is clear, logical, and convincing.

2. hegemony: Now doom-mongers conjure with Roman and British analogies in order to trace the decay of American hegemony.

Hegemony means leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others.

3. internecine: Rome was prone to internecine strife whereas America is constitutionally stable.

Internecine means destructive to both sides in a conflict.

I hope you too have had a good reading week and that you were able to add new words to your vocabulary. Don’t forget to visit Kathy for more Wondrous Word Wednesday.

Today I want to share some words I discovered in various places.

1. resplendent: I was reading a newspaper article this week about the fact that musicians won’t be singing their nominated songs at the Oscars. The writer said, “. . . and Celine Dion’s resplendent performance of the ‘Titanic’ hit, ‘My Heart Will Go On,’ in 1998.”

I’ve seen the word before and figured it probably meant something like beautiful. So I decided if the newspaper writer was working on improving his vocabulary, I could too. So I looked it up. I use the dictionary that came with my laptop. It said that resplendent means attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous. I like that and I’m going to see if I can’t use that word more often.

2. sardonic: I was reading a short story by Barbara D’Amato, and saw this: Bennis was sardonic but not sour.

Sardonic means grimly mocking or cynical.

3. somnambulism: This word is from a graphic novel (Britten and Brulightly).

His air of somnambulism was well suited to the restaurant whose blind eye would be turned at the drop of a decent tip.

Somnambulism means sleepwalking.

That’s it for my week. How was your week? Were you lucky enough to find some new words?

Often, as I’m reading, I can figure out a new word from the context of the sentence. Here are a couple of examples from The Sittaford Mystery (reviewed yesterday) where it was necessary to look up the word.

In this first one I had a hunch they were talking about supplies for drinks but, in a mystery, I like to pay attention to all the details. The mystery is often solved in the details.

1. tantalus: On the sideboard was a tantalus, a soda water siphon, and two bottles of beer.

Tantalus is a stand in which decanters of liquor can be locked up though still visible.

Ah-ha, so somebody needs to have their liquor locked up!!

In this next one there is no clue whatsoever.

2. forrarder:

“Good morning, Inspector. Any forrarder?”

“Yes, sir. I think we are a little forrarder. I think I can safely say that.”

I looked in all my dictionaries for this one and found no definition. What was interesting was that I did get some examples of how the word was used in other (old) books. Based on the context of those examples, I feel safe is claiming that forrarder means closer.

My daughter Cerrin sent me a word she discovered in a book she is reading and I read a couple of years ago (Point Blank by Catherine Coulter).

3.  vitriol: Dix was the only one not appalled by this show of vitriol coming from the talented and sophisticated Dr. Holcombe’s very nicely sculpted mouth.

Vitriol is sulfuric acid or, using it figuratively, cruel and bitter criticism.

How has your reading week been going? Did you discover any new words? Don’t forget to visit Kathy’s blog for more great words.

My words this week come from reading His Eye Is On The Sparrow by Ethel Waters.

1. dictys: I thought this snobbish house policy–color discrimination against some of our own people by the dictys–ridiculous and laughable.

Dicty is no longer in any dictionary. I found one reference to a 1927 article in which dicty was used in a disparaging way toward another person.

2. olio: The wire said that, besides singing the blues between acts, I’d have a few lines to speak in the olio show.

Olio is a variety act or show.

3. ofays: In Boston, though we were playing in opposition to Shuffle Along, the ofays who saw the show loved it.

Ofay is an offensive term for a white person, used by black people.

4. spieler: “Of course, we have,” said the spieler, showing his big swindler’s smile.

Spieler means a gambler or swindler.

How has your reading week been? Did you find any new words?

I haven’t counted up the numbers but, let’s say I discovered just two words a week. Over the course of a year that’s  104 new words! Wow, I haven’t learned that many new words since, oh, probably the fifth grade.

Most of my words have come from the books and magazines I read. I love discovering new words in the posts of my blogging friends. Below are two such words. The first is from Jill (Rhapsody in Books), who I swear has the best vocabulary on the internet.

1.  autodidact:  ” . . . because in fact, she is an accomplished autodidact who is well-versed in philosophy, music, and art.” (Jill was reviewing The Elegance of the Hedgehog on January 27.)

Autodidact is a noun meaning a self-taught person.

This next one comes from Molly (A Cozy Book Nook), also on January 27. She was describing an assignment she had given her high school students.

2.  Dialectic: “First I should introduce you to the term “dialectic journals” Students in all three classes (8th grade is excluded) are bemoaning the fact that I make them do this tedious chore.”  And then, being such a good teacher, she went on to define the word for us.

What is a dialectic journal you ask? It is notebook where students write down quotes from the book that they find significant – and then explain to me why they chose that particular text.

Two good words, aren’t they. Thanks to Jill and Molly for improving my vocabulary. And thanks so much to Kathy for being the gracious and faithful hostess for Wondrous Words Wednesday. Visit her for more new words.

Wondrous Words Wednesday

I love reading Agatha Christie’s novels but they always contain words that are new to me. I found a couple in Murder at the Vicarage.

1.  defalcation: He wants to go over all the Church accounts — in case of defalcations — that was the word he used.

Defalcation means to embezzle funds with which one has been entrusted.

2.  wraiths: Personally, all the young people I come across have the air of animal wraiths.

Wraith means a ghost or ghostlike image of someone.

What new words did you learn this week?