Happy 12/12/12! Fun date!
Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by BermudaOnion each week. It's an opportunity to share new words you've encountered in your reading, or highlight words that you particularly enjoy.
Here are three of my favorites new-to-me words from some of my recent reads. All definitions from Dictionary.com.
1. miscegenation. "In 1960, the year that my parents were married, miscegenation still described a felony in over half the states in the Union." (from Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama)
noun
1. marriage or cohabitation between a man and woman of different races, especially, in the US, between a black and a white person.
2. interbreeding between members of different races.
3. the mixing or mixture of races by interbreeding.
(Never knew there was a formal term for this.)
2. concupiscent. "Call the roller of big cigars, / The muscular one, and bid him whip / In kitchen cups concupiscent curds." (Wallace Stevens, as quoted in 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King)
adjective
1. lustful or sensual.
2. eagerly desirous.
(OK, this is a weird poem.)
3. pastiche. "...because unlike most of those around him he could claim to have actually seen him play and not just the jaded pastiche of his final years when his legs had gone.." (from The Light of Amsterdam by David Park)
1. a literary, musical, or artistic piece consisting wholly or chiefly of motifs or techniques borrowed from one or more sources.
2. an incongruous combination of materials, forms, motifs, etc, taken from different sources; hodgepodge.
(Every time I use a word from this novel, I am impressed with Park's use of language!)
2. an incongruous combination of materials, forms, motifs, etc, taken from different sources; hodgepodge.
(Every time I use a word from this novel, I am impressed with Park's use of language!)
What are your new words this week?
I've seen miscegenation before but couldn't define it. Hopefully I'll think of Obama the next time I see it and then I'll remember it. Great words today!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kelly! I ran across the word pastiche last night but was too tired to look it up- you took care if it for me! And I didn't realize there was a formal term for miscegenation either! Love to learn new things!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of these, very interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/12/wondrous-words-wednesday_12.html
Pastiche is the only one I knew. The other two - whew - hard to pronounce. They probably won't become a part of my everyday conversation, but I think I'll know them when I see them in print. I find your reading choices very interesting.
ReplyDeleteYour favorite new words may become my favorite new words as well. Excellent choices!
ReplyDelete1-I didn't know there was a formal word for this either. How interesting!
ReplyDelete2-That really does seem like a weird poem. Not sure how curds are lustful or sensual? But it did make me laugh! (Probably wasn't what the author had in mind, but ah well) :)
You always introduce me to such interesting new words! Definitely helping to expand my vocabulary. :D
I'm glad that I'm not the only one who had never heard miscegenation! I felt like it was something I should have come across by now.
ReplyDeleteHappy that you're all liking the words this week! :)
What a wonderful 3 words you found, the only one I knew was pastiche. It is unusual that miscegenation is not more well known.
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