Wondrous Words Wednesday
I haven’t taken part in Wondrous Words Wednesday for some weeks now, as I simply haven’t come across any new to me words, to share with you all!
I stumbled upon these words quite by accident and within the space of a couple of days and I have enjoyed myself researching them, after this fallow period.
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My first couple of words feature in the title and synopsis of a book I was recently asked to review by its author…
‘REVENANTS – THE ODYSSEY HOME‘ by Scott Kauffman
A grief-stricken candy-striper serving in a VA hospital following her brother’s death in Viet Nam struggles to return home an anonymous veteran of the Great War against the skullduggery of a congressman who not only controls the hospital as part of his small-town fiefdom but knows the name of her veteran. A name if revealed would end his political ambitions and his fifty-year marriage. In its retelling of Odysseus’ journey, Revenants casts a flickering candle upon the charon toll exacted not only from the families of those who fail to return home but of those who do.
REVENANTS –
A revenant is a visible ghost or animated corpse that is believed to have returned from the grave to terrorize the living. The word revenant is derived from the Latin word reveniens, “returning” (see also the related French verb revenir, meaning “to come back”).
CHARON TOLL –
In ancient times a coin, known as Charon’s toll, was often placed in the mouth of a corpse prior to burial as payment to Charon, to ensure the deceased was seen safely into the underworld. Some authors say that those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were left unburied, had to wander the shores for one hundred years.
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This word I heard quite randomly and unexpectedly, whilst we were watching an evening edition of one of the national news programmes. Our politics, like most other places in the World, is in a state of turmoil and flux right now. Our government opposition party, Labour, faces the even more challenging prospect of a split within its ranks, possibly rendering them impotent and no longer fit for purpose as a counter balance to the incumbent Conservative party government.
“THE BATTLE FOR THE LABOUR PARTY” – Channel 4 Dispatches
Mr Lansman said: “Momentum and the Campaign are not coterminous…” He denied that the relationship is “covert or not transparent”. He said the phonebank organisation “was for the campaign, not Momentum.”
COTERMINOUS –
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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, so that we can visit and share your words of the week!
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coterminous
Well you’ve made up for your absence with some great wordy finds this week!
Thanks Cleo, although I have the feeling that ‘The Odyssey Home’ may throw up quite a few more words to share, before I’m through with it!
Thanks for taking the time to visit, I always appreciate your comments 🙂
Both are new to me. Now the trick for me will be to remember them 🙂
Hi Mary,
I couldn’t agree more!
Hubbie once tried memory improving exercises by using a word association technique and actually got to the stage where he could recall a list of 50 items in the correct order – Me? I couldn’t get to grips with the concept at all. I much prefer to learn by rote, which doesn’t actually do anything to enhance my memory past the short term ….. Tell me again, what’s my name?
Thanks for visitng and I hope that you are having a good reading week 🙂
I’ve heard revenants before.
Hi Vicki,
I quite often come across words and immediately think “I know that word from somewhere”. It’s just remembering where I came across it, what context it was being used in and what the proper definition was! But that’s all part of the game and I always enjoy researching words, even though I may later struggle to recall them again!
Great to have you stop by. I had no idea that you were considering leaving your co-host position in Mailbox Monday, it came as quite a shock. I do hope that you are going to continue with your reading and the regular blog updates 🙂
Having watched the film by the same name, I was familiar with Revenant – but will admit I looked it up at the time. Also familiar with Charon’s Toll having read many books set in ancient times.
Your third word is new to me. It’s a good word that makes perfect sense, but I’m not sure it would flow from my mouth easily in conversation!
There’s a fun feature on my Kindle Voyage for keeping track of words I look up. I hope to have a blog post about it before too long and will share a couple of words with you then. 🙂
Hi Kelly,
Coterminous is, as you say, one of those words which makes perfect sense, although there are probably plenty of much easier to say words, which mean exactly the same thing. I think this word came to my attention simply because the person using it in the interview, placed the inflection in a strange place, thus changing the sound of the word completely and I was intrigued enough to go off and check it out thinking it was something totally different. I had to find the interview on iplayer eventually and listen to the entire 15 minutes again until I could work out what it was!
I shall look forward to your ‘Kindle’ blog post, although I doubt that I shall stand much chance of getting my hands on a new model, whilst my old faithful original is still going strong. It sounds as though you are having fun with the ‘Voyage’ 🙂
Only knew revenant, didn’t know the others.
Hi Mary Ann,
Most people seem to know this word, as there is a film by the same name, which they have watched. Alas, like so many other good films, this one has passed me by completely and I would have guessed totally rondomly and incorrectly, about the definition of the word!
Thanks for stopping by, you know how much I appreciate the visit and the time you have taken to comment
Very interesting words Yvonne. I’m glad to see you found one via a news broadcast. Our political writing in the US has been a good source new words this year too.
Hi Margot,
News broadcasts can be a great source of new words and information, however we generally watch this particular broadcast whilst we eat our evening meal each night and I think that hubbie is probably getting a bit fed up with me shouting Ssssh!! whilst he is watching, so that I can grab pen and paper to record a new to me word or phrase.
Politics is a very immotive subject, wherever you live in the World right now and I think that great changes are ahead for us all, be they good or bad!
Thanks for taking time out to read this week’s post and for your interesting comment 🙂
Drat! Especially loving ‘Charon’s Toll’ but how am I going to work it into a conversation as I like to do with any words that are new to me.
Hi Tracy,
I agree that ‘Charon’s Toll’ is going to be quite difficult to drop into everyday conversation, unless you are having a very serious historical discusson.
I had a nagging feeling of recognition when I came across this phrase, which was even more firmly entrenched when I started reading the definition, which talks about coins being placed in the mouth of the deceased, as I was convinced I had read something about coins being place over the closed eyes of a corpse.
I have, since writing this post, carried out some more in depth investigations and have indeed found this to be the case, with Charon’s Toll also being known as Charon’s obol, obol being a Greek silver coin, which was indeed both placed in the mouth, or over the closed eyes of a body.
Thanks for taking the time to comment this week, I always look forward to speaking with you and only wish it could be more often 🙂
For whatever reason, I knew “Charon’s toll”. Maybe because I read some of Dante’s Divine Comedy in the last couple of years? Not sure.
Hi Debbie,
I often come across words in my reading which I am convinced are new to me, only to discover that, once I start reading the definition, become very familiar. although I have no idea where or when I have encountered them before.
The same scenario happens with increasing frequency when I meet someone in the street, who I recognise by sight, but have no idea where from, or what their name might be!
Thanks for visiting this week, I always appreciate your comments 🙂
What great words! There was a movie last year called The Revenants and I never thought to look it up. Seeing the meaning makes me realize I was right not to see the movie.
Hi Kathy,
A couple of previous commenters said that they also knew Revenants from watching films by the same name, but like yourself, I probably wouldn’t have watched anyway!
I am hoping that the storyline of ‘The Odyssey Home’ is a little less terrifying and not quite so extreme – it does sound like it from the premise!
Thanks for hosting WWW this week, I always have great fun with the meme, even though I may not be able to participate as regularly as I would like 🙂