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, is also the title of a book I have been asked to review by its author, Layton Green. This is the third book in the thriller series featuring the character of ‘Dominic Grey’ and whilst I had a fairly shrewd idea of the meaning of this word, I just wanted to look up the exact definition before I started reading …
‘THE DIABOLIST’ by LAYTON GREEN
DIABOLIST …
An adherent of Satan or Satanism.
DIABOLISM …
Dealings with or worship of the devil or demons; sorcery.
Devilish conduct or character.
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My next word, I came across in a post published by one of my fellow British bloggers, Tracy, over at ‘Pen And Paper’. This comes from a recent survey, conducted by the BBC, about ‘class’ and the newly recognised seven individual ‘social class’ groups. I understood six of the seven new classifications, but this one had me foxed.
PRECARIAT
PRECARIAT …
In sociology and economics, precariat is a social class formed by people suffering from precarity, which is a condition of existence without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare as well as being a member of a Proletariat class of industrial workers who lack their own means of production and hence sell their labour to live. Specifically, it is applied to the condition of lack of job security, in other words intermittent employment or underemployment and the resultant precarious existence.
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This next word also came from the blog of Tracy, over at ‘Pen and Paper’, although it comes from one of Tracy’s own posts, in fact a review that Mr. Petty Witter posted, ‘Distant Suns’ by Patricia Smith.
PROLEPSIS
Reading a worthwhile prolepsis on global warming is a slightly chilling prospect, particularly when the outcomes are described so neatly and brought forward from a distant, possibly, maybe, into the foreseeable next four years.
PROLEPSIS …
The anachronistic representation of something as existing before its proper or historical time, as in the precolonial United States.
The assignment of something, such as an event or name, to a time that precedes it, as in If you tell the cops, you’re a dead man.
The use of a descriptive word in anticipation of the act or circumstances that would make it applicable, as dry in They drained the lake dry.
The anticipation and answering of an objection or argument before one’s opponent has put it forward.
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My final word this time, is also the title of a book for which I have received an author review request …
‘TRAVELS IN ELYSIUM’ by WILLIAM AZUSKI
ELYSIUM …
The place at the ends of the earth to which certain favored heroes were conveyed by the gods after death.
A place or state of perfect happiness
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Having worked my way up from Satanism to a perfect state of happiness, that’s it for me this time.
Over to you to share your words…
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I love that you found your words in so many different places! I hope I don’t know any diabolists – that title makes me think the book is creepy. I’m not sure I understand precariat even after reading the definition. From what I got out of it, there are more and more people in that social class these days. Thanks for playing along!
Hi Kathy,
‘The Diabolist’ is definitely going to be an extremely spooky and disturbing story, I’m sure. This is the third time I will have reviewed for the author and I can’t get enough of the series.
I think that given the present economic climate and everyone’s seemingly pessimistic outlook for the future, most of the people I know belong in the precariat social classification. I do wonder whether we actually needed a no doubt costly survey to tell evryone what they probably already knew and just to have it confirmed by giving it a ‘label’. Especially because, as the BBC is a public company and we all pay a licence fee to watch it, those of us in a position of insecurity, are parting with our hard earned cash to be told about it!
Thanks for taking the time to check out my post, I appreciate your comment.
Pretty much all new words to me too!
Hi Nikki,
Sometimes, even though I may not know the exact definition of a word, I can take an educated guess, or at least have an inkling as to its meaning.
With the possible exception of ‘Diabolist’, I had no idea about any of the words featured this week and that, only because ‘The Diabolist’ is the third in a series of books by Layton Green, which deals with satanic cults and the black arts.
Thanks for swinging by, hope that like me, you are enjoying the slightly cooler weather!
Some really great fiction out there, good to see! I just finished Paul Mark Tag’s White Thaw: The Helheim Conspiracy, it was excellent. A perfect summer read for me! I recommend it, his info at his site http://www.paulmarktag.com/about_the_author.html. Taq’s book focuses on weather, so learned som really cool meteorlogical terms and words that I now can use to better understand the weatherman on TV! It’s the little things! But I did learn some new terms and I like that!
Hi Donna,
Thank you for deciding to stop by Fiction Books today. I love meeting new people, so your visits will always be welcome and your comments always appreciated.
I have always been an avid reader, but since I have been blogging, I have come to realise what a hidden wealth of writing talent there is out there. I have ventured far beyond my comfort zone of reading genres and been introduced to some great new authors along the way, many of which I now ‘speak’ with on a regular basis.
I have also signed up for some excellent memes, which all help to get the author message out there and feature some of the great books that are available. WWW is one such meme, which is a great way of sharing all those new words which we come across in our reading (believe me, there are more than I ever imagined!).
I checked out Paul Mark Tag’s website and whilst ‘White Thaw’ isn’t an obvious book that I would be drawn to in the bookshop, I found it oddly intriguing and obviously very topical right now. I can imagine that there are a wealth of new meteorological and scientific words, just waiting to be discovered.
I am almost tempted to add this one to my reading list, thanks for the recommendation.
Elysium is a word that caught my eye, I received the Diabolist from the author to review, hope you like it.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/07/wondrous-words-wednesday.html
Hi Mary Ann,
I have read both of Layton Green’s previous books, featuring the character of Dominic Grey, so I am certainly looking forward to reading ‘The Diabolist’.
Layton is a consummate storyteller and knows how to provide the perfect ‘scare factor’ in his writing, his books are always edge-of-the-seat reading.
I think that ‘Travels In Elysium’ is going to be an interesting and intriguing read, although I think that there will be plenty of trouble and heartache long before any place of perfect happiness is found, or state of happiness attained!
Elysium is definitely one of those words which sounds well suited to its definition.
Thanks for stopping by, your comments are always valued.
Wow, you covered a lot, and I’m so glad you ended on a positive note with elysium. I guess it’s a synonym for “utopia”? Great words.
Hi Julia,
I have been compiling this particular post for some time, adding words as I have come across them and I promise that it was sheer coincidence that I covered Satanism to Utopia (like yourself, I am assuming that utopia and elysium may be synonymous), in the one post and in the order in which they were added. I couldn’t believe it myself when I previewed the post before publishing!!
Thanks for your thoughtful comment, I appreciate your visit.
Your words are really difficult, but that makes them interesting. Each word is new for me.
Hi Tea,
I am always truly amazed at the amount of new words that we all seem to come across in our reading, together with the seemingly endless array of new words which are constantly being introduced into the vocabulary and dictionary.
I am guessing that, like so many of the old English words which have long since ceased to be used, many of the words we are discussing and sharing in this excellent meme, will eventually be consigned to the pool of obsolete words, as subsequent generations continue to evolve the language.
Meanwhile, I like to keep challenging myself to expand my own knowledge base.
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your comment.
Hi Yvonne,
I came to your WWW post over an hour ago but got sidetracked with your new word – precariat. I’ve read all the BBC info on the subject and then kept going. Thanks for introducing the topic to me. Very interesting.
Hi Margot,
I must admit that when Tracy featured this article over at Pen and Paper, like yourself, I spent ages reading it.
I was dumbfounded to think that so much time and public money had been wasted in compiling a ‘labelling system’ which covers just about everyone in the country and uses such insensitive words and ill conceived questionning to arrive at the answers.
Perhaps I feel like this because of where I found myself on the scale after completing the survey, but I am sure that I am not on my own in my surprise!
I thought that the idea of class distinction was supposed to be a thing of the past, but apparently it is still alive and now so much more complicated!!!
I hope that you found the link to the ‘I Know My Place’ sketch from the 60’s show. I remember watching it back then and it is still as funny today!
Sorry that you became so distracted by the word but I hope you had fun with your research!
Diabolist I had heard of but didn’t know what it meant. I’m assuming precariat, with its meaning, probably has the same basis as precarious? Elysium again, I’d heard of but would not have been able to say what exactly it means. I’m constantly staggered at how many words I’ve either never heard of or might have heard of but could not explain. And there was me thinking I was reasonably intellgent. LOL!
Hi Cath,
I feel pretty much the same way as you, although I then worry that, when I come across these many words which I couldn’t fully explain if asked, I am obviously guessing at their meaning in the context of the storyline, and often skipping over them, rather than stopping to look up the correct definition!
I am always very pleased with myself, when I can visit someone else who has taken part in the meme and know all of their words, but it doesn’t happen very often these days and certainly not as often as it should!
I hadn’t thought of precariat and precarious having the same root, but it makes perfect sense and is probably a very apt way of describing the lifestyle we all have to live by, in these continuing days of austerity.
There see … we have just had a perfectly rational exchange of views and words, so we are obviously two reasonably intelligent individuals. LOL!
Great words Yvonne. I didn’t know precariat or prolepsis. Elysium reminds me of the film Gladiator with Russell Crowe. The main gladiator refers to it in a speech before battle if I remember correctly.
Hi Naida,
I have to admit that, although I have watched ‘Gladiator’ (a long time ago I may add) and enjoyed it, I am not a huge fan of Russell Crowe and can’t recall the scene you are alluding to at all! ….
Now, if the film had had George Clooney in it, that would have been a whole different ball game!! … LOL!
Good to have you back, I have missed your visits.