Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Wondrous Word Wednesdays!

Words, words, wonderful words! This week, I finally had some books that challenged me - and I bet some of them are going to challenge you, too.

First, from The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel:

1. Sanguine: "The girl had glycerine eyes and marvelous lips that had no bow but were the shape and colour of a segment of blood orange, a soft sanguine red."

Of the color of blood; red.; of a healthy reddish color.

2. Ger: "It had one huge half-moon courtyard at the front of the house that was crowded with gers..."

A round felt tent which required large numbers of poles and laths.

3. Diet: "Although he was a member of the diet he never talked about politics with me, but would sometimes speak about his family business.

A legislative assembly in certain countries (e.g., Japan) .

4. Demi-monde: "Mari had a penchant for the demi-monde."

Literally "half world"; a class beneath proper Society. Generally used to refer to those of questionable reputation.

5. Samphire: "We ate wonderful sweetmeats made from almonds and pear syrup and invariably ended the banquet with a soup of samphire or chestnuts."

A fleshy green plant which grows on coastal marshes. Also known as glasswort or pickle-plant or sea asparagus.

6. Shambolic: "Yet it was a good deal more fitting for an emperor than the shambolic Quiet Garden in Tientsin had been."

(British slang) disorderly or chaotic.

And now, one from Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse:

7. PEBKAC: "Any time I'm at work at 2 a.m., it's either PEBKAC or Microsloth."

Okay, I admit that I knew this one (I do a bit of software tech support), but it's too much fun not to share. PEBKAC is "Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair"

8 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I did know demi-monde from our time in France. I wish I could use ger - it sounds like a growl. Thanks for participating!

gautami tripathy said...

I didn't know Samphire and Shambolic.

Wednesday: Wondrous Words/A-Z wednesday

Lisa notes... said...

I knew "diet" was too easy. ha. Thanks for the list.

Lenore Appelhans said...

Lots of gers in Mongolia I hear.

Anonymous said...

Great list- the only one I knew was ger.

Arielle said...

The only one I knew was Sanguine.

I like the sound of Shambolic :)

Ann-Kat (Today, I Read...) said...

Great list. I knew sanguine and demi-monde (yay, French lessons paying off LOL), but the others were eye-opening.

I wish there were some words that made me stop and wonder with my current read, but it was pretty much smooth sailing.

Oh, and I own a tee-shirt from Think Geek that says PEBKAC. :D People always look at me funny when I wear it.

Lisa said...

Arielle, I love your pic!

Ann, I adore ThinkGeek! Great stuff. And sometimes I for stretches without any words that puzzle me. Some books are just like that.