Wondrous Words Wednesday …
Is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we have encountered in our reading and elsewhere
1. My first word this time, I discovered in a book I have recently read in preparation for a Blog Tour Review
“But this is Zach’s life.” I felt a coruscating blaze of anger. “Surely you get that? And you didn’t answer any of my calls – but you know him, Melissa. You know him really well.”
CORUSCATING –
a. flashing; sparkling. “a coruscating kaleidoscope of colours”
b. severely critical; scathing. “his coruscating attack on the Prime Minister”
2. My next word is not strictly new to me, however I thought it might raise a few smiles from those of you who haven’t come across it before. I found it in the text of this lovely story
“He was painting at the escarpment at right angles to the steps, the sandstone quarried away or eroded by millennia, the brick arches set forward to support the dunnies and the backs of the terraced houses above”
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DUNNY – (plural dunnies)
a. (Australian) An outhouse which is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be used to denote the toilet itself, not just the structure.
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b. (Scottish) An underground passage or cellar, especially in a tenement.
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c. A Dunnie is a small Brownie-like being in the folklore of the Anglo-Scottish borders, specifically Northumberland. The Dunnie has been known to take the form of a horse in order to trick a rider into mounting him before disappearing and leaving them in the muddiest part of the road. He also is said to disguise as plough-horses only to vanish when the ploughman takes him into the stalls.
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The first definition is the one which applies in this particular instance!
3. Finally this time, here is another of those pesky three letter words which catch me out regularly in my online crosswords!
KOA –
A tree (Acacia koa) in the pea family, native to Hawaii, having flowers arranged in axillary racemes and small sickle-shaped leaves. The light-to- dark brown or reddish wood of this tree is used for furniture, crafts, cabinetry, and musical instruments. Its name in the Hawaiian language, koa, also means brave, bold, fearless, or warrior.
That’s three new to me words this time
How many of them do you recognise?
Wondrous Words Wednesday … Is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we have encountered in our reading.
It is hosted by Mareli, over at ‘Elza Reads‘
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 Mareli and the rest of us, all love to read your comments as well, so that we can visit and share your own words of the week, or simply say Hi!
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