Apr 8, 2009

wondrous words

Some of the words I have for this week are from the end of Emma, the rest are from the book I just finished, Sand. Quite a difference in subject and theme- from Victorian drawing rooms to the American West and cowboy lingo!

From Emma:

Conundrum-"Agreed, agreed. I am making a conundrum. How will a conundrum reckon?"
Definition: a riddle whose answer is (or involves) a pun

Acrostic- "I had an acrostic once sent to me upon my own name which I was not at all pleased with."
Definition: a poem or verse where the first (or last) letter of each line forms a word or phrase

Ostler- "... when Mr. Elton came back, he told us what John the ostler had been telling him..."
Definition: a stableman at an inn (I remember this word now, from Black Beauty)

Extenuation- "Let us wait, therefore, for this letter. It may bring many extenuations."
Definition: to excuse a fault (archaic meaning, the more common definition is to make something thin or stretched)

From Sand:

Nubbin- "Sometimes tho, he thought, he sure would rap them hands of his and make him let go of the nubbin."
Definition: a short, projecting part (here the saddle horn)

Rowel- "...and with a well placed rowel against the shortribs of that horse, lined him out from the one spot and set him going for other sods on a long crowhopping lope."
Definition: a sharp-toothed wheel on a spur

Senatorium- "And another thing, this camp is no riding academy, nor senatorium."
Definition: a resort for the improvement of one's health

Whang, Marlin spike- "There was rawhide hobbles, a marlin spike, a few strips of whang leather which, Skip had told him, was handy to mend things with."
M-S- a pointed metal spike used to separate rope strands while splicing
W- a thong or whip made of hide or leather

Hackamore- "Then, amongst other odds and ends, was a hackamore, a rope full of the knots which the Kid had started teaching him to tie...."
Definition- a halter or bridle with no bit, having a noose to tighten around the nose or a wide band that can be lowered over the horse's eyes, used in breaking to halter

Soogan- " 'Well, I guess it's time for me to hit the soogans,' he says"
Definition: a bedroll

Latigo- "Ropes are muddy and stiff, so are the latigoes and everything else a cowboy touches."
Definition: a strap that tigthens the saddle girth

Queer- "There been just a snag which come near to queering everything."
Definition: slang for to ruin or thwart

Visit Bermudaonion's Weblog to see what new words others have found this week.

8 comments:

  1. You sure did find a lot of words last week. I was surprised when I saw queer on your list until I saw how it was used. Thanks for playing along.

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  2. You always find the most fascinating words! By the way, left you a little award on my latest post.

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  3. These are some great words. I'm sure I've heard of nubbin before but that is an interesting definition for queer. My words are here.

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  4. Anonymous4/08/2009

    That's quite a list.

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  5. Based on your words, I'd say you've read two very good books this week. I'm especially interested in Sand as I love westerns. I will look for your review.

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  6. Nice list of words from Sand. By the way, maybe I'm wrong, but isn't it spelt sanatorium?

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  7. Bermudaonion- It was very strange to see "queer" constantly used with this meaning.

    Trish- Thanks so much! That's sweet.

    Jo-Jo- I'm off to check out what you found.

    Carolsnotebook- I was surprised at how many I found this week.

    Margot- Sand is posted, I put it up later this same day. See what you think.

    A Hazra- You're right. But this book is packed full of misspelled words. Rather annoying.

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  8. Conundrum has been one of my favorite words since maybe sixth grade. Nice to revisit the official definition.

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