Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermudaonion where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Join in by writing a post and then add your link to Mr. Linky at Bermudaonion.

It’s been a while since I posted a WWW but, in the meantime, I kept a file of words that caught my eye so I’d have them ready for my next post. Of the two below, I can see myself using yardarm 😉

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From The Marriage Charm by Linda Lael Miller

yardarm

The New Oxford American Dictionary:

n.  the outer extremity of a ship’s yard

Example:  The sun is over the yardarm – used to refer to the time of day when it is permissible to begin drinking.

“The sun was well over the yardarm, wasn’t it?”

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From The Martian by Andy Weir

titration (from titrate)

The New OAD:

v.  ascertain(ing) the amount of a constituent in a solution by measuring the volume of a known concentration of reagent required to complete a reaction with it, typically using an indicator.

“My life is now a desperate struggle for survival…with occasional titration.”

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermudaonion where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Join in by writing a post and then add your link to Mr. Linky at Bermudaonion.

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I came across one word I wasn’t sure of last week (although in context it’s not too difficult to figure out) while reading The Christmas Ranch by RaeAnne Thayne:

rictus – ric·tus –  a fixed grimace or grin.

By the time Monday morning rolled around, Hope was afraid her face had permanently frozen in that rictus of a fake smile.

 

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermudaonion where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Join in by writing a post and then add your link to Mr. Linky at Bermudaonion.

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This week I’m reading A Quilt for Christmas by Sandra Dallas. I found one word that seemed a little familiar but I wasn’t sure:

antimacassar – an·ti·ma·cas·sar – a cover to protect the back or arms of furniture. (First known use: 1844)

When Eliza had seen the Beans’ little stone house, she’d thought it looked like a drawing from Peterson’s Magazine, with its antimacassars and paisley shawl draped over the love seat, the vase of beaded flowers, an arrangement of dried grasses.

 

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermudaonion where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Join in by writing a post and then add your link to Mr. Linky at Bermudaonion.

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This week I’m reading WHEN THE SNOW FALLS. It’s a Christmas anthology including 4 stories/novellas by Fern Michaels, Nancy Bush, Rosanna Chiofalo, and Lin Stepp. I found two words that are new to me:

folderol – fol·de·rol –  Trivial or nonsensical fuss

“I’m not sure what I think about Christmas as a whole. I like some of it, but all the folderol can sometimes give me the heebie-jeebies. Actually, too much of anything can do that.”   (White Hot Christmas by Nancy Bush)

funicular – fu·nic·u·lar – A cable railroad, especially one on a mountainside, in which ascending and descending cars are counterbalanced.

“Not only are the views astounding from the summit but the funicular itself is an engineering feat.”   (Seven Days of Christmas by Rosanna Chiofalo)

Definitions from the Oxford dictionaries (online) 

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermudaonion where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Join in by writing a post and then add your link to Mr. Linky at Bermudaonion.

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Final WWW post using words from THE FORTUNE HUNTER by Daisy Goodwin.  Information from the Oxford Dictionaries (Online)

Punctilious:  punc·til·i·ous –  Showing great attention to detail or correct behavior.

‘Oh yes, Augusta was punctilious in letting me know about that,’ Charlotte replied.

Trenchant:  trench·ant – Vigorous or incisive in expression or style.

Augusta, realizing that her mother was going to support Middleton so long as there was a chance of being introduced to the Empress, took up her place at the piano and gave her own trenchant version of a Chopin nocturne.

Kedgeree:  ked·ger·ee  (kejəˌrē) –   A European dish consisting chiefly of fish, rice, and hard-boiled eggs.

Charlotte went into the breakfast room, where the footmen were setting out chafing dishes of eggs and bacon, deviled kidneys, and kedgeree.

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermudaonion where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Join in by writing a post and then add your link to Mr. Linky at Bermudaonion.

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I’m reading THE FORTUNE HUNTER by Daisy Goodwin. At over 450 pages I’m taking my time so this may not be the last you’ll see a WWW post about this book 🙂

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Bay had no great desire for an official appointment, but he knew that a position of some kind would make it much easier for him to pursue his interest in Charlotte Baird. As an impecunious cavalry captain on half-pay he was not much of a catch, …

(page 85)

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According to the Oxford dictionary im•pe•cu•ni•ous is an adjective meaning “having little or no money”

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative!   If you want to play along, grab the button, write a post and come back and add your link to Mr. Linky! Hosted by Kathy at Bermudaonion.

This is my first WWW post! I’m happy to join in.

From Small Blessings by Martha Woodroof

bifurcated – “His whole life, Tom was beginning to realize, had been bifurcated by Henry’s arrival. The years before Henry sat on one side; the thirty-some hours after Henry on the other.”

Bifurcate means divide into two branches or forks. That seems evident in the context of the sentence. I don’t recall coming across the word before.