1. – I found this new to me word, as I was reading the excellent review of ‘Black-Eyed Susans’ by Julia Heaberlin, posted by Wendy over at ‘Musings Of A Bookish Kitty’
APPELLATE
As part of her review, Wendy comments …
Working with the appellate team to help save an innocent man from death,Tessa provides what help she can as the team attempts to identify the other victims whose bones were found in the grave. DNA analysis is much more advanced now than it was in 1995 when the trial had taken place. And the hope is new evidence will come to light.
APPELLATE –
1. (Law) of or relating to appeals
2. (Law) (of a tribunal) having jurisdiction to review cases on appeal and to reverse decisions of inferior courts
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2. – This next word may be in quite common usage amongst my fellow bloggers out there, however it is the first time I have come across it, but then, this is not a genre which would generally interest me too much. I discovered it whilst visiting the blog of fellow reader Tracy, over at
‘Pen And Paper’, where she had reviewed the book ‘My Real Children’ by Jo Walton.
SLIPSTREAM FICTION
In her review, Tracy comments …
Far from being sci-fi – the New York Times is quoted as saying ‘…. told through the science fictional conceit of alternate realities, Ellen Kushner as ‘a novel for grown-ups, even ones who think they don’t like science-fiction’ – if pushed I’d personally describe this as as more of what is commonly known as ‘slipstream’ than sci-fi.
SLIPSTREAM FICTION –
Slipstream is a kind of fantastic or non-realistic fiction that crosses conventional genre boundaries between science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction.
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3. – Another word courtesy of a fellow blogger, this time the lovely Kelly, over at
‘Kelly’s Thoughts And Ramblings’, where she was reviewing ‘Deadly Election’ by Lindsey Davis.
The first definition for this particular word, was explained in some detail, in the memorable quote itself, however curiosity made me look the word up, where I came across a whole new second definition to add to the mix.
CANDIDA
In her review, these are the memorable lines which Kelly chose from the book …
People with asthma should avoid men who are running for office. They are called candidates because on formal occasions they wear robes whitened with chalk. The Latin for “white” is candida. I found this year’s contenders by following the clouds of white dust and bystanders coughing… I am not entirely joking. But the commotion made by the chalkies’ supporters, together with the hoary jeers they were throwing at each other, helped identify them.
CANDIDA –
1. The ancient Romans had two words for white; albus, a plain white, (the source of the word albino); and candidus, a brighter white. A man who wanted public office in Rome wore a white toga brightened with chalk, called a toga candida, the origin of the word candidate. The Latin word candere meant to shine, to be bright.
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2. Candida is a genus of yeasts and is the most common cause of fungal infections worldwide. Many species are harmless commensals or endosymbionts of hosts including humans; however, when mucosal barriers are disrupted or the immune system is compromised they can invade and cause disease. Candida albicans is the most commonly isolated species, and can cause infections (candidiasis or thrush) in humans and other animals. In winemaking, some species of Candida can potentially spoil wines.
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That’s it for this time. Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you have discovered at least one new word for that all important pub quiz!!
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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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Yvonne
I love the explanation of candidate, word origins fascinate me. And slipstream is yet another new sub-genre. We’re going to parse it down so much each author will be their own genre! I guess Sarah Addison Allen might be classified as slipstream.
Hi Elizabeth,
Words in general fascinate me, especially when one letter can make so much difference to a definition …
I haven’t come across the phrase to ‘parse it down’ before, as I have always been familiar with using ‘pare it down’. When I checked out the definitions, sure enough, there is that subtle difference which makes their meanings and usage slightly unique, whilst still quite similar …
So that’s another new to me word for today 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your comment.
Very thorough explanation of words today! I’m particularly interested in slipstream fiction, as I’m always trying to stay on top of the book world. Thank you.
Hi Julia,
I must admit that I do tend to get a bit carried away when I start researching words and phrases, but I do find it so interesting, although it makes me realize just how many gaps there are in my knowledge base, which isn’t so good !
Gone are the days when the library and later, bookshop shelves displayed only a few defined genres of books, with everything else being designated ‘general fiction’.
Nowadays, there are genres and sub-genres for just about every book ever written and keeping up with them all is almost impossible.
Also, so many books fall between more than one genre, in which case, I guess those could all technically be designated slipstream to some degree. Although I’m sure that slipstream as defined at the moment, is explicitly for the blurring of the edges between science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by, I always appreciate your visits and comments 🙂
Slipstream is a new term to me, but I understand what you are talking about. All interesting today Yvonne.
Hi Margot,
I can’t keep up with all the sub-genres, which seem to pop up with alarming alacrity.
Although to be fair, I am not much of a science fiction or fantasy reader, so slipstream would probaly never have popped up on my radar any time soon!
My personal favourite word this time is candida, although when I first read the alternative definition as a form of yeast, with reference to adopting a candida diet, my mind went back to my youth, when a product called Canderel was introduced as a sweet alternative to sugar …
http://www.canderel.co.uk/
Funny how word association works, isn’t it?
I don’t seem to have chatted with you for ages, so thanks for stopping by 🙂
I’m guessing you don’t have appellate courts in the UK since that’s the reason I know that word. Slipstream fiction is new to me – maybe because it’s not a genre I prefer either. Thanks for playing along today!
Hi Kathy,
It looks as though appellate courts might have been known as such at some point in the distant past, however these days, we have what are known as appeal courts, which are very similar in nature and purpose by the sound of things.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Appeal_of_England_and_Wales
Once again it is just the slightest of word changes which can make the difference to a definition, the meaning as perceived by the reader and whether a word is known to them or not.
This is such a good meme, may it never change or come to an end 🙂
Slipstream fiction was new to me when I read Tracy’s review, too. Music genres have really become specific in recent years and it looks like book genres are getting that way, as well.
I’ll admit the second definition of candida was familiar to me already, just not the first. I picked up another new word from the same book when I read these sentences on page 183:
“She’s a girl, she can be unpredictable. Once a month she’s a termagant.”
Termagant – A violent, turbulent, or brawling woman.
Hi Kelly,
I suspect that this just further highlights the gap in my Latin education, which we were discussing the other day, in not knowing that candida was the Latin for bright white, although I would have known that alba was the Latin for ordinary white!
All that chalk dust floating around must have been a real nightmare, no health and safety around there then – although I did see that the problems for asthma sufferers were given a warning, even if it was only ‘don’t apply’ 🙂
Now, termagent is a word that I know of, although my husband would probably have recognized the symptoms more as menopausal! With all that behind us, these days I am just plain bad tempered!
I was also interested to note that an alternative definition for termagent is …
“A mythical deity believed in the Middle Ages to be worshiped by the Muslims: portrayed in morality plays as a violent, overbearing personage.”
Something else I have learnt from today’s excellent meme – thanks for your great contributions 🙂
What a coincidence, I’ve just come from Kelly’s where as an asthmatic I was glad to read that bit of advice about running for office.
Hi Tracy,
If you are an asthmatic then neither of the definitions for candida would be very beneficial for you to be around .. Chalk dust would be a bit of a disaster for most people I think, as would “the mucosal barriers being disrupted or the immune system being compromised so that a fungal infection can invade and cause disease” … Neither a very pleasant prospect for the nose. chest or lungs!
Those Romans must have been a pretty unhealthy bunch 🙂
Have a great weekend, even if the weather isn’t quite as great!
Great words and presentation Yvonne. I do like it when writers break conventional genre boundaries. I have heard candida before, interesting that it can be dated back to the ancient Romans.
Happy weekend!
Hi Naida,
Thanks for the lovely comment, I really appreciate your kind words 🙂
I don’t really have a problem with writers working outside of and challenging the genres boudaries as we know them. However, I guess I do have a bit of an issue with the labelling of absolutely everything we do in today’s modern society, including the numerous sub-genres of writing and the speed with which they seem to keep appearing! … Luckily slipstream writing isn’t an area I shall be exploring too deeply or too often, as I am not a great science fiction or fantasy reader.
I simply love words and this meme feeds my hunger to discover new ones and hopefully remember some of the definitions 🙂