them thar's "writin' words"

Some people find it annoying when they come across unfamiliar words in their reading. Usually, I can intuit the meaning of the word from it's context in the sentence, or gloss over it without losing my train of thought. Soon enough, the word begins to ring familiar even though I still can't quite nail the definition...so I give in and look it up. In fact, I keep a running list of words I-really-should-look-up inside the back cover of most books I read. Then on cold, snowy days like today I haul out the dictionary in an attempt to enlighten myself.

Here are a few recent favorites:

1.  peripatetic--walking from place to place; traveling on foot; itinerate:

"Sometimes I long for a peripatetic way of life."



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2.  fug--heavy, stale atmosphere; musty air in a poorly ventilated room:

"A gray fug hung in the air long after the party broke up."

 



 

 

3.  redolent--suggestive or reminiscent of:

"The forest was silent and still, redolent of the monastery he'd abandonned."

 

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4.  pejorative--disparaging or belittling:

"His pejorative rant drove her to tears."

 

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5.  parse--to examine closely or analyze in detail by breaking up into component parts:

"Parsing the English language takes all the fun out of it."

 

 

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6.  niggle--to find fault constantly, trivially; to be preoccupied with petty details:

"If she didn't niggle over every little thing, we'd be done by now."

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7. officious--marked by excessive eagerness in offering unwanted services or advice:

"There's nothing more annoying than an officious salesman."

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8.  truculent-- disposed to violence; fierce;expressing bitter opposition; scathing:

"The mayor's truculent posture drove even his supporters away."

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 Do you gloss over unfamiliar words or look them up as you go? Does that annoy you?

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"...words are all I have to take your breath away."

--Barry, Robin, Maurice Gibb--

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We're (I'm) looking forward to cold weather and some snow later this week. Sounds like a good week for writing.

jan