Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Wondrous Words Wednesday (13)


Welcome back, wordy friends!

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, all from The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen. All definitions from Dictionary.com.


1. louche. "It was as if mother- and daughter-in-law had set out to define one another in opposition, for where Caroline was decorous, Virginia was louche..."

adjective
dubious; shady; disreputable.

2. bespoke. "When they got back to New York City, they'd spent all their loot buying bespoke suits and gold watch chains and showing off in the Midwest..."

adjective
1. (of clothes) made to individual order; custom-made: a bespoke jacket.
2. making or selling such clothes: a bespoke tailor.

3. lintel. "...they were not in Dogwood but parked on Main Street, in front of a square brick building with the words Police Department of White Cove carved in the lintel."

noun
a horizontal architectural member supporting the weight above an opening, as a window or a door.

*Turns out the first word is French in origin, and the second two are British...I suppose fitting for the "high society" characters in this 1920's novel.

What are your new words this week?

8 comments:

  1. Hi Red! I really like your words this week. Louche sounds like a negative doesn't it? - louche, louse, lech, loser - all bad:)
    I also see a connection between your words and Kathy's. I would think 'chichi' types would enjoy purchasing 'bespoke' furniture. And a building with a 'lintel' probably has a 'stylobate' too!

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  2. :) Agree with Sim...on how louche sounds and the connections..
    Louche is a new word for me, and though I had heard the others before, I had not looked them up.

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  3. Love how Sim connected the architectural words this week- she also included a link to a picture at Kathy's site so we could all understand what a stylobate is! Very "high society" words this week Kelly. Thanks

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  4. I didn't really get to know new words these week.
    I recognise louche, a word with a French origine I think. In Dutch it's often used in spoken language, so I knew it already.

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  5. I like louche. Its a classy way to talk about the negative aspects of a person. (Now don't I sound rude. I may be heading down the road toward louche.)

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  6. I looked up bespoke a while ago and actually remember it! Ever since, I've been surprised at how often I see it. I feel like I should have know louche but I didn't. Great words today!

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  7. I knew bespoke and lintel, and know I've seen louche before, but it's one of those words that I haven't managed to remember the meaning of.

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  8. Glad everyone's enjoying louche. :) Margot, your comment made me lol!

    Reply

 
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