Yay! The first official Wondrous Words Wednesday! This is going to be a tough meme for me - I had to really look for words I didn 't know. I guess I'm going to have to be on the lookout. A couple of these are words I was familiar with, but found that I wouldn't be able to give a good definition if someone called me on it. Hopefully, you'll learn some new words, too.
1. carrycot - from The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs: "Victor Hoppe opened the rear door, ducked into the car and re-emerged a few seconds later with a large navy-blue carrycot, from which there arose a terrible wailing."
A carrycot is box-shaped baby bed with handles (for a baby to sleep in while being carried) .
2. pranging - from The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway: "We learn where to avoid pranging your own car in the course of an auto duel."
Pranging means crashing. A prang is an accident involving a motor vehicle, typically minor and without casualties.
3. obtrude - also from The Gone-Away World: "I have been careful in this context not to obtrude upon his notice."
Obtrude means to thrust forward or to force oneself or one's opinions on others. When I first read this, I thought it might be a typo, so I was compelled to check it out.
4. determinist - also from The Gone-Away World: "Old Man Lubitsch's horrible determinist bee society..."
A determinist believes that all actions are determined by the current state and immutable laws of the universe, with no possibility of choice.
So, were these familiar to you? I feel smarter already!
9 comments:
Thanks for joining me in this meme! Your words are all new to me. I love pranging and am going to try to fit it into a conversation today.
These sound like British English, especially "carrycot" and "pranging". I'd heard "obtrude" and "determinist" before, but have probably never used them.
The Gone-Away World is definitely a bit Brit, so you're probably right, Maia.
There are a lot of words that I've heard of and have a general Idea of what they mean, but this is going to make me really learn them.
What wonderful words, and what a great meme! Just what I was looking for today.
Fun meme! I was familiar with "prang" and "determinist," but I've never heard "carrycot" or "obtrude" before. (I agree with Kathy, "prang" is a great word!)
I had to do a quickie today (and kind of cheated), but I love this meme and I'm going to do it as often as possible. Here's mine
NO, these were NOT familiar! LOL
If you'd like a book with a whole heck of a lot of unfamiliar words, might I recomment The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Lots of wacky words there.
Your first two words are certainly very British. Pranging is fairly new whereas carrycots are rather old-fashioned. I haven't seen one for years! I've been wondering about "The Gone-Away World", so I'll be back to find out what you think.
I like your words. They seem when you define them. This is a fun meme and gives me a chance to focus on new words and not just roll over them. I played today also. Mine is up here: http://joyfullyretired.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/wonderous-words/
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