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‘Wondrous Words Wednesday’ is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we have encountered in our reading.

It is hosted by Kathy, over at BermudaOnion’s Weblog. You can either stop by and leave a link to your own ‘mystery’ words of the week, or just browse the eclectic mix of words that others have discovered, there is always a great selection.

Don’t forget that Kathy and the rest of us, all love to read your comments  as well!!

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 My Words This Week Come From:

The Parting Gift by Rachel Van Dyken and Leah Sanders

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I am  almost certain that many of my US followers will know both of these words, however they are certainly new to me, so I thought them to be worthwhile mentioning.

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1. COOTIES

… Then, as if Blaine was terrified she would somehow give him COOTIES, he leapt to his feet and pulled her to hers …

Cooties is, in American childlore, a kind of infectious disease. The term may have originated with references to lice, fleas, and other parasites. A child is said to “catch” cooties through any form of bodily contact, proximity, or touching of an “infected” person or from a person of the opposite sex of the same age. Often the “infected” person is someone who is perceived as “different” and bears some kind of social stigma: of the opposite sex, disabled, someone who is shy or withdrawn, someone who has peculiar mannerisms, etc.

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2. LONG-HANDLES

… He grabbed his jeans from the sewing chair and pulled them over his long-handles hurriedly ….

Long-Handles are basically what I would have assumed from the context in which it was written, to be little more than long underwear.

Here in the UK however, this word is virtually unknown and our own description of a similar garment would be Long-Johns.  I really did have to chuckle at the definition of Long-Johns in all the on-line dictionaries, where they are described so proudly as “informal” underpants … “informal”, what’s that all about? What on earth do ‘formal’ underpants look like I ask myself ?

Then I came across another anomaly, in several parts of the US, a Long-John is another name for a frosted bar-shaped doughnut with a variety of fillings. Here in the UK, a doughnut is simply a doughnut, whatever the filling and frosting. Subsequently I read that some US Long-John doughnuts, are called Eclairs, whereas an eclair in the UK, is a bar shaped choux pastry cake, filled with cream and topped with melted chocolate …..

Click on the link for the recipe, they really are delicious

This is getting too complicated for my poor little brain, although I can’t help smiling at the thought of the fun to be had in both countries, when making purchases from a shop …

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After all that distraction, back to the serious stuff …. books, I am really enjoying ‘The Parting Gift’ so far.

Happy reading all!

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