Yvonne
… 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, so that we can visit and share your words of the week!
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My first word this week, isn’t such a strange one, it is just more the fact that I had no idea that it was actually an accepted and still-used word in the English language. I came across it, when I visited Elizabeth, over at ‘Silver’s Reviews’. This is in fact, the title of one of the new additions to Elizabeth’s reading list and shared in her ‘Mailbox Monday’ post.
ORCHARDIST
ORCHARDIST…
One who owns or cultivates an orchard.
…
The rest of my words this week, come from an excellent and very seductive piece of literary prose ‘The Englishman And The Buttefly‘, by Ryan Asmussen.
TANGENTIALLY
Not as such. Tangentially. John Milton.
TANGENTIALLY …
1. Of, relating to, or moving along or in the direction of a tangent.
2. Merely touching or slightly connected.
;
I well remember the study carrells in the library from when I was in school. I don’t think orchardist is used that often these days – as a matter of fact, it’s underlined now as a misspelling. Thanks for playing along today!
Hi Kathy,
I didn’t think that Orchardist was an occupation, but it is still listed as a valid word in several of the on-line dictionaries, with its origins going right back to the late 1700’s.
Thanks for stopping by and for hosting.
Zambonied is the only one i’m familiar with, Orchardist speaks for itself.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/04/wondrous-words-wednesday_10.html
Hi Mary Ann,
Zambonied is the one that had me the most confused, especially when I couldn’t find it on any of the dictionary sites. Good old Wikipedia came through in the end though. Here in the UK ice rinks are not that common, so I guess we have not imported the word or the Zambonie either!!
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate the visit.
LOL! Although I understand the meaning you explain for zambonied, I like the “urban dictionary” version better! Thanks for doing a little extra research to educate us.
Hi Julia,
Sometimes the ‘Urban Dictionary’ can come in useful, however I generally end up by visibly cringing every time I need to refer to it. I guess it is just a sign of the times and my age, coming to the fore here. Language has always evolved and moved on, right back from the days of ‘thee’ ‘thou’ and the words of Shakespeare, however things just seem to be getting that much more crude and base, or is it just me?
The image of all these drunken, inert people, rolling around the ice rink levelling the ice, does conjure up quite a picture though!! LOL
Very interesting words Yvonne. I like the extra effort you make to help us understand what we are reading; for example, zambonied. Thanks for doing that.
Hi Margot,
Sometimes when there is more than one definition of a word, highlighting the text in which it is used can help get the word, together with the correct meaning in that circumstance, into some kind of perspective.
I actually have great fun researching some of these words, the discoveries I make and the sites I come across to validate a word, can often be quite amusing.
Mind you, I do get quite annoyed with myself, that there are so many words which I don’t know and haven’t come across before.
Thanks for the kind comments, I truly value and appreciate them.
Hockey fans (my brother is one) know zamboni and lots of sportscasters will use it, metaphorically, to mean cleaned up even in other sports. The St. Louis baseball team had a third baseman with the nickname Zamboni because he was so good at nabbing ground balls.
Hi Joy,
Even though some of the popular American sports are taking hold over here in the UK, zambonied is not a word that I have come across … yet!!
Some of my family, as well as being avid soccer and rugby fans, are now following baseball and American football on a regular basis, although I have to confess that neither hubbie nor I, are that keen sports fans.
Thanks for stopping by, it is always great to get a fresh perspective on a post.
A misspent youth spent in Canada helped me know Zamboni, although I’m not sure I ever heard Zambonied though. I find if very surprising that orchardist is unusual to so many! It’s quite common here in Australia, I live in a major fruit growing area, and come across orchardists quite often! We had carrels at uni, in the library, but I haven’t thought about them for a very long time. I knew all your words today actually, except prestidigitation, which I know that I’ve seen before, but it’s not one of those words that I can remember.
Hi Louise,
Plenty of ice in Canada, probably a little more than here in the UK, where field sports seem to be much more popular.
I suppose in some ways orchardist makes logical sense, after all someone who sells flowers is a florist, a person who paints is an artist, so what else would you call someone who runs and orchard? It just struck me as one of those words that I had never actually come across before and when I checked it out, most of the reference sites do say that it is a little used word in this day and age. We do still have substantial fruit growing clusters in certain areas of the country, however they seem to be dwindling in number at quite a rate, as do our farms. It will be interesting to see just how we manage to feed ourselves as a worldwide population, into the future!
No matter how many times I come across prestidigitation, I am sure that I shall never remember the exact definition for it and will be constantly looking it up … Definitely not one for dropping casually into a conversation, is it?
Thanks for stopping by, it is always good to read your comments.
The Orchardist sounds like a good book, and the word Orchardist is new to me as well. All interesting words this week, especially zambonied. Happy weekend Yvonne 🙂
Hi Naida,
I have been following Elizabeth’s posts about ‘The Orchardist’ and after her final and glowing review of the book, it is definitely on my reading list.
Apparently ‘Orchardist’ is still a widely used term in countries such as Australia, where there are still large areas of orchard cultivation. However, despite us having such businesses, here in the UK, albeit on a much smaller scale, I have never come across the word before.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that your weekend is also going well.