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Sharing our love for authors, and the stories they are inspired to tell.

Wondrous Words Wednesday
New To Me Words

Image of an open book showing words, with a small purple sprig led across the pages - used for the meme Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday … Is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we have encountered in our reading

This would usually be my post as part of the ‘Wondrous Words Wednesday’ meme, which is hosted by the lovely Kathy @ BermudaOnion blog. However, Kathy is taking an extended and  well-earned break from blogging, so I am sending her all Best Wishes and hope to have her back again very soon, she is sorely missed 🙂

I have so many new to me words stacking up, that I thought I would share just a few of them with you anyway, in the hope that Kathy won’t mind too much!

Image of an open book showing words, with a small purple sprig led across the pages - used for the meme Wondrous Words Wednesday

First off, here is a word I discovered in one of my latest review schedule reads.

Cover image of the book 'The Last Straw' by author Ed Duncan

“If he’d started to lift his right hand even an inch, I was pretty sure I could jerk my own .45 out of my shoulder holster and drop D’Angelo before he could raise his gun, aim, and fire. This wasn’t solipsism. It was cold analysis. I know my reflexes and I knew from experience, how long it would take me to nail him.”

SOLIPSISMSolipsism is the philosophical idea that only one’s mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one’s own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind. 

 

Image of an open book showing words, with a small purple sprig led across the pages - used for the meme Wondrous Words Wednesday

 

The next two words come from a great fun read, which broke my lockdown run of thrillers and literary fiction.

Cover image of the book 'Happily Whatever After' by author Stewart Lewis

“I was a little confused. His train of thought was so tangential, it was difficult to decide which question to comment on.”

TANGENTIAL

If you describe something as tangential, you mean that it has only a slight or indirect connection with the thing you are concerned with, and is therefore not worth considering seriously. Too much time was spent discussing tangential issues.

Tangential thought processes are when thoughts have some connections between the preceding thought and the following thought, however there is a loosening of associations. When there is enough meaning attached to one utterance, the dialogue continues in a continuous fashion.

Cover image of the book 'Happily Whatever After' by author Stewart Lewis

“After my bath, I dried off and put on one of Brady’s dress shirts. I started reading a listicle online to get my mind off it, but it was about how to find a man, and it was completely unrealistic.”

LISTICLE

In journalism and blogging, a listicle is a short-form of writing that uses a list as its thematic structure, but is fleshed out with sufficient copy to be published as an article. A typical listicle will prominently feature a cardinal number in its title, with subsequent subheadings within the text itself reflecting this schema. The word is a portmanteau derived from list and article. It has also been suggested that the word evokes “popsicle”, emphasising the fun but “not too nutritious” nature of the listicle.

 

Image of an open book showing words, with a small purple sprig led across the pages - used for the meme Wondrous Words Wednesday

 

My review for this book, is still far away, but this word appeared in the first page of my reading.

Cover image of the book 'The Thief On The Winged Horse' by author Kate Mascarenhas

“In Oxford there lies a small river island called Paxton’s Eyot. It is secluded from the nearby colleges, partly because of the dense trees growing at the perimeter. The Thames flows to the west, the Cherwell to the north, and a narrow ditch curves round the south-easterly side.”

EYOTA small island in a river or lake is an eyot or ait.

Image of an open book showing words, with a small purple sprig led across the pages - used for the meme Wondrous Words Wednesday

This lyrically written book was an amazing read.

Cover image of the book 'The Bell In The Lake' by author LarsMytting

“The case against Schonauer was convoluted and required an understanding of driving-reins, traces, whippletrees and clevis hitches, together with a knowledge of the terrain on the far side of Lake Losnes, where nobody liked to go.

WHIPPLETREES – Whippletrees are used in tension to distribute forces from a point load to the traces of draught animals (the traces are the chains or straps on each side of the harness, on which the animal pulls). For these, the whippletree consists of a loose horizontal bar between the draught animal and its load. The centre of the bar is connected to the load, and the traces attach to its ends. A whippletree, or whiffletree, is a mechanism to distribute force evenly through linkages. It is also referred to as an equalizer, leader bar, or double tree. It consists of a bar pivoted at or near the centre, with force applied from one direction to the pivot and from the other direction to the tips. Several whippletrees may be used in series to distribute the force further, such as to simulate pressure over an area as when applying loading to test airplane wings. Whippletrees may be used either in compression or tension. They were also used for subtraction and addition calculations in mechanical computers.

Image of an open book showing words, with a small purple sprig led across the pages - used for the meme Wondrous Words Wednesday

Five new to me words this time, how many did you recognise?

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Written by
Yvonne

I can’t remember a time, even as a child, when I haven’t been passionate about books and reading.
I began blogging, when I realised just how many other people out there shared my passion for the written word and I have been continually amazed at the wealth of books that are available and the amount of great new friends I have made, from literally 'The Four Corners Of The World'.

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Written by Yvonne