Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Wondrous Words Wednesday - Jan 13 2006

One of my reading goals this year is to do a better job of keeping track of new-to-me words in I come across. I decided I should share them here every week or so, and as I considered the idea, it occurred to me that this would be a great weekly meme. And of course, if it really is a good idea, someone out there must be doing it already. So I went on a meme-hunt, and sure enough, someone is! No need to reinvent the wheel, so I will be participating in Wondrous Words Wednesday hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion as often as I have words to share. Sometimes this words will be completely new to me, and other times they will be words I am familiar with, and maybe even use correctly, but when I think about how to explain the meaning, I’m lost — I have to look it up. It’s all about expanding my vocabulary!

Here are the words I want to share this first week. These were all discovered in my reading of The Secrets of Lizzie Borden by Brandy Purdy.

odalisque - female slave; concubine in a harem
“...sitting wretchedly at his feet, like an odalisque in a tyrannical sultan’s harem…”  - page 138

lorgnette - pair of eyeglasses attached to a handle
“...and I had some lovely lorgnettes, silver and gold, with enameled and jeweled accents that I wore on long glittering chains around my neck…”  - page 234

frisson - a sudden strong feeling or emotion
“The moment our eyes met...it was electricity and ectasy, a quivering, rapturous frisson rippling through our bodies head to toe.”  - page 245

peccadillo - small mistake or fault that is not regarded as very bad or serious
“And everyone she knew had her own peccadilloes…” - pg 252

mousseline - a fine sheer fabric (as of rayon) that resembles muslin
“...just like a dream, in a flowing gown of soft pink mousseline…” - pg 254

What new-to-you words have you discovered this week?
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3 comments:

  1. I'm glad you're joining in on this celebration of new-to-us words. I like the word lorgnette. I've seen them in pictures but didn't know what they were called.

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  2. Welcome to WWW! You found some great words! Like Margot, I've seen lorgnettes but never knew there is a specific word for them.

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  3. Welcome! Lorgnettes is the only word in your list that I knew. I don't know why I knew it! The rest of your words are wonderful, thanks for sharing.

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