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This thread is for members to share a new (to them.) word or phrase encountered in their reading, and the source/ context and meaning. I’ve seen similar threads in a couple of other groups and love getting exposed to new words and sources. The source can be from a work by an author of any gender.

I haven’t encountered jocosely until today.

From a Chekhov short story, Misery. What rascals they all are!�� says the officer jocosely.�� Admittedly, I should credit Constance Garnett with selecting, “jocosely,�� but that’s a discussion for another day.



If you bump into a new word, share it here.

Hebetude - the state of being dull; lethargy

Came across this in The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs today - had to look it up. :)

Misty wrote: "Hebetude - the state of being dull; lethargy

Came across this in The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs today - had to look it up. :)"

That’s intriguing. And unknown to me, too :)

Misty wrote: "Hebetude - the state of being dull; lethargy

Came across this in The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs today - had to look it up. :)"

That is a great word! I'm going to have to put it to use.

Today I came across the word "Ineffable" - causing so much emotion, especially pleasure, that it cannot be described.

What a delightful word, and not at all what I had imagined.

Liesl wrote: "Today I came across the word "Ineffable" - causing so much emotion, especially pleasure, that it cannot be described.

What a delightful word, and not at all what I had imagined."

Ineffable is a word I've heard and used for years. without a clue that this is its definition. Oops!

Today I learned that the word toasties is British slang for what Americans call a grilled cheese sandwich.

Misty wrote: "Today I learned that the word toasties is British slang for what Americans call a grilled cheese sandwich."

I would have guessed 'slippers', but grilled cheese works too!

Nadine in California wrote: "I would have guessed 'slippers', but grilled cheese works too!"

I thought it was cereal at first! LOL.

I learned another new word from The White Book by Han Kang: rime. Now, I SHOULD have known this word, but I did not!

Rime:
noun - frost formed on cold objects by the rapid freezing of water vapor in cloud or fog.
verb - cover (an object) with hoarfrost.
"he does not brush away the frost that rimes his beard"

Misty wrote: "Today I learned that the word toasties is British slang for what Americans call a grilled cheese sandwich."

Wait. Really? Who knew?

Carol wrote: "Ineffable is a word I've heard and used for years. without a clue that this is its definition. Oops!."

I´d love to know how you were using it because it might be similar to what I thought it was meant to be. Ha! Ha!

From Elizabeth Taylor's The Soul of Kindness: accidie: indolence, laziness. Seems a bit ironic to use such an obscure word to describe such a mundane act of laziness: a younger brother with a failing acting career who won't take a part-time job or help clean the house.

I can't believe that this word was any less obscure when the book was written in 1964.

I am reading Mrs Mohr Goes Missing by Maryla Szymiczkowa and encountered, ”s�����Ǵڳܱ��dzܲ���.

…prizes for a raffle to benefit scrofulous children

meaning, having a diseased run-down appearance, or morally contaminated. 👀

Tucking scrofulous into my back pocket for use another day.

Carol wrote: "I am reading Mrs Mohr Goes Missing by Maryla Szymiczkowa and encountered, ”s�����Ǵڳܱ��dzܲ���.

…prizes for a raffle to benefit scrofulous children

meaning, having a dis..."

Another great word! I definitely want to use this one. Perhaps a newspaper should add it to adjectives for use with Elon Musk.

I came across "autodidact" yesterday. It's a self taught person. It seems like I should have known it, but I didn't and had to look it up, fittingly.

Anita wrote: "I came across "autodidact" yesterday. It's a self taught person. It seems like I should have known it, but I didn't and had to look it up, fittingly."

Anita, I've seen it for years, and must have taken the meaning from context and promptly forgotten it, because I couldn't have defined it for a million dollar payoff. Thanks for sharing this so I actually know what it means now. : )

Liesl wrote: "Another great word! I definitely want to use this one. Perhaps a newspaper should add it to adjectives for use with Elon Musk."

LMAO!

TIL from Alexandra Petri's live chat (WaPo) that the pound, number or hashtag sign (#) is known as an octothorp or octothorpe.



This is the best background I discovered based on a 10-minute Google rabbit hole exploratory exercise.



Who knew?

Carol wrote: "TIL from Alexandra Petri's live chat (WaPo) that the pound, number or hashtag sign (#) is known as an octothorp or octothorpe.

..."

Thank you for sharing the chat, the article and the new word. I had no idea that "grawlix" was the word to describe the symbols that are meant to replace swear words. Love it!

Liesl wrote: "Carol wrote: "TIL from Alexandra Petri's live chat (WaPo) that the pound, number or hashtag sign (#) is known as an octothorp or octothorpe.

..."

me, too! I have plans to use grawlix. Also, my daughter picks better random characters to use for that purpose and I can't figure out why hers look more grawlix-y than mine.

Midway through Nada, I encountered, rachitic, meaning, “pertaining to or affected by rickets.�� Okay, fine, but here’s the sentence:

“Among her husband and children �� all of them tall and sturdy �� she seemed a strange, rachitic bird.��

Maybe it made sense in 1945, but it’s odd to me that the physical effects of rickets on a bird would have been the most relevant adjective for Laforet’s readers. (My bet is that Grossman’s translation is faithful here, although I don’t know that to be the case.)

Interesting, Carol. If you indicate in which part of the book you found it, I might be able to check what the original was.

Isabelle wrote: "Interesting, Carol. If you indicate in which part of the book you found it, I might be able to check what the original was."

Chapter X, probably 80% in. Page 97, third paragraph. The paragraph begins, in the translated version, “Ena’s mother, on the other hand, have the impression of being reserved…�� The sentence I quoted above is the second sentence in the paragraph.

I have come across a couple of interesting new-to-me words in Things They Lost by Okwiri Oduor.

A Kenyan author, I'm used to seeing unfamiliar names, but I found it wonderful to learn that her 4 generations of women characters all had these aspiring middle names.

The words I learned were:
Ataraxis - the absence of mental stress or anxiety, serenity or peacefulness
Eudoxia - good fame or judgement

The unforgettable main character of the novel is:
Ayosa Ataraxis Brown, a 12 year old girl
Nabumbo Promise Brown, her mother
Lolo Freedom Brown, her grandmother
Mabel Eudoxia Brown, her great grandmother

The names certainly add another layer to the novel, a cast of nearly all female characters (the exception being the milkman), a fabulous read too.

Claire wrote: "I have come across a couple of interesting new-to-me words in Things They Lost by Okwiri Oduor.

A Kenyan author, I'm used to seeing unfamiliar names, but I found it wonderful to le..."

What a neat bonus from a book you’re enjoying!

Carol wrote: "Isabelle wrote: "Interesting, Carol. If you indicate in which part of the book you found it, I might be able to check what the original was."

Chapter X, probably 80% in. Page 97, third paragraph. ..."

Ok, Carol, the word in Spanish is "desmedrado", which literally means small and not strong. Later on, in the same chapter, Ena's mother is referred to as "raquitica", which is also a synonym of small and weak. It does come from rickets but it is not often used to refer to the medical condition but more to a weak physical state while in English it seems to be stronger and only refers to the disease. It is true that because of the war many people might have suffered from rickets but since Ena's family is rich, I don't think this is what it means here. So, maybe the image of a "feeble bird" might have been more adequate. Hope it helps.

Isabelle wrote: "Carol wrote: "Isabelle wrote: "Interesting, Carol. If you indicate in which part of the book you found it, I might be able to check what the original was."

Chapter X, probably 80% in. Page 97, thi..."

Thank you, Isabelle - this is a lovely bit of education and I appreciate it. it makes much more sense with that image in my head.

I love this thread. :)

I am reading Talkin' Up to the White Woman: Indigenous Women and Feminism by Aileen Moreton-Robinson, and she used the word "solipsism." I had to look that one up.

Solipsism:
noun
1. Philosophy: The theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist.
2. Extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires, etc.; egoistic self-absorption.

In this book, she was using it as #2.

@Misty - i am glad; i do, too.

I am reading my first Rachel Cusk novel, Kudos and she's multiple times used, "declivity" in describing a character's nose. I'd not encountered it anywhere before.

As per Merriam-Webster, it means, a downward slope.

so the latest sentence is, "She fell silent, her mouth stretched in a strange grimace, her huge eyes unblinking and the declivity of her nose a well of shadow in the changing light of the garden."

It seems an unnecessarily fussy word choice to me (why not, slope?), but then I'm not highly regarded nor paid to write fiction for a living, so there's that.

“Drugget�� meaning a coarse fabric made for floor coverings

In Elizabeth Taylor’s A Wreath of Roses, on page 107.

The cat suddenly narrowed its eyes, seeing Hotchkiss blundering about on the drugget��

I find it most odd to be seeing this term for the first time given how much between-the-wars British lit I read, but a new discovery is always welcome.

Just read the word enervated for the first time. I knew what it meant due to its context but had never heard it aloud or seen it in print before.

Surprisingly, I learned the word in a work of translation from Korean in our monthly read Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 on page 12. The primary character thanked her husband for booking a therapy appointment for her (being submissive and also tongue in cheek I suspect) saying "that she had indeed been feeling blue, and envervated, and that she suspected maternity blues."

It can used as a transitive verb, adverb, adjective or noun.

According to Miriam Webster as a transitive verb it means:

1. to reduce the mental or moral vigor of
2. to lessen the vitality or strength of

It's such a great word - to be used when you can feel yourself being overwhelmed and "sapped" out or just have that "blue for no immediate apparent reason that you are aware of."

Fyi, I'm only 40% through the book but I would recommend reading it and joining in this month's group read if you have time. Lots of info about Korea and its culture from a terrific feminist perspective most will related to.

Mj wrote: "Just read the word enervated for the first time. I knew what it meant due to its context but had never heard it aloud or seen it in print before.

Surprisingly, I learned the word in a work of tran..."

The funny thing for me is that I've used and heard enervated for some time and it doesn't mean what I understood it to mean : )

My new (to me) word is "tractate" - from a Stone Bridge Press email promoting Donald Richie's book, A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics.

"Tractate" means treatise or dissertation, according to various dictionaries; however, it also has a secondary meaning specific to Judaism, from the Wiki article on masekhet.

A masekhet (Hebrew: מַסֶּכֶת, Sephardic: /mɑːˈsɛxɛt/, Ashkenazic: /mɑːˈsɛxɛs/; plural masekhtot מַסֶּכְתּוֹת��) is an organizational element of Talmudic literature that systematically examines a subject, referred to as a tractate in English.

I found a word that I didn't know existed for one of my favorite scents. The sentence in an essay in A Darker Wilderness: Black Nature Writing from Soil to Stars edited by Erin Sharkey says "Petrichor is the word coined to describe the unique scent of rain, especially after a dry spell." I live in a dry place so this is a scent I have smelled many times when it finally rains after weeks or months of dry weather.

Laurie wrote: "I found a word that I didn't know existed for one of my favorite scents. The sentence in the book says : "Petrichor is the word coined to describe the unique scent of rain, especially after a dry s..."

I love that smell, too, and �� who knew?

Laurie wrote: "I found a word that I didn't know existed for one of my favorite scents... "Petrichor is the word coined to describe the unique scent of rain, especially after a dry spell.""

I knew this word, but it's one I don't hear often, and I just love the word. The book I am reading right now: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart uses the word a few times, and it makes me happy. :)

Sennight - an old-fashioned word that means one week. I love it, and I will continue to use it! :) It was in A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross.

Misty wrote: "Sennight - an old-fashioned word that means one week. I love it, and I will continue to use it! :) It was in A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross."

Sennight is new to me, too, and useful!

I just encountered, “coruscating.�� ”Tunde’s words were too coruscating for her to attempt to intervene, as he vomited his pent-up envy of the Okolos.��

From Kehinde by Buchi Emecheta.

Meaning

1. to give off or reflect light in bright beams or flashes : SPARKLE
2. to be brilliant or showy in technique or style



I question the author’s word choice in context, but am delighted to encounter coruscating in the wild.

Carol wrote: "I question the author’s word choice in context, but am delighted to encounter coruscating in the wild...."

I thought I knew what 'coruscating' meant, but I wasn't even close! At least there was no chance I'd ever use it in real life ;) I always thought it meant 'abrasive' - I guess that was me having an 'Onomatopoeia' moment. (Also word I just had to look up ;)

Coruscating - I love it!

shibboleth "(time runs out, the meek grow jaded, shibboleths of piety no guarantee)"

Shibboleth: A peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc. that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons.

Later in the same long poem:

coracle "Columba in the skin-covered wicker of that coracle"

Coracle: A small, round, or very broad boat made of wickerwork or interwoven laths covered with a waterproof layer of animal skin, canvas, tarred or oiled cloth, or the like: used in Wales, Ireland, and parts of western England.

The poem is Westward by Amy Clampitt

I’ve thought I new what shibboleth means for some time, but �� no.

My new-to-me word encounter today is with desiccant .

“he used desiccant to protect them from moisture…��

“Desiccant�� means a hygroscopic substance that is used to induce or sustain a state of dryness (desiccation) in its vicinity; it is the opposite of a humectant.

It’s in my IRL book club true crime read for this month, American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan. If true crime is your jam, I recommend it.

Carol wrote: "Desiccant�� means a hygroscopic substance that is used to induce or sustain a state of dryness…��

Well, this is a thread I hadn't seen before! I am constantly tripping over new (to me) words. I see myself contributing much in the times to come!

the "D" in WD-40 stands for Desiccant. The W stands for Water, which I guess makes this product name slightly redundant...but is also the reason that I knew what desiccant was. We'd use WD-40 like it was a lubricant...

Monica wrote: "Carol wrote: "Desiccant�� means a hygroscopic substance that is used to induce or sustain a state of dryness…��

Well, this is a thread I hadn't seen before! I am constantly tripping over new (to me..."

I only thought it was a lubricant! The things I learn here. Thanks, Monica.

Psst. hygroscopic? No idea.

Carol wrote: "Psst. hygroscopic? No idea."

absorbing or attracting moisture from the air.

Misty wrote: "Carol wrote: "Psst. hygroscopic? No idea."

absorbing or attracting moisture from the air."

🙏🏻

Lugubrious, adjective -- mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner.

It's such a funny sounding word. I kept repeating it to myself.

Catia wrote: "Lugubrious, adjective -- mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner.

It's such a funny sounding word. I kept repeating it to myself."

I'm familiar with it, but thought about why I never use it and decided it's a little like, "moist," just somehow off-putting in its sound. I don't know what it is about it that strikes me that way, but, thank you, I'll put lugubrious back in the closet of Avoided Words.

Remonstrance, meaning 1. an earnest presentation of reasons for opposition or grievance, especially : a document formally stating such points, or 2: an act or instance of remonstrating

I am reading The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689 by Jonathan Healey, focused on the details of British history between 1603 and 1689, and it's the first time I've heard of remonstrances being written; more than that, of written remonstrances being a thing. (If I'm honest, I think I've seen remonstrance used most often in classic romance novels.) So the learning for me was that there was a time when presenting a written list of grievances to a monarch was a serious, well-considered approach to forcing action from him, particularly when he didn't respond promptly and the list was then printed and circulated (at least amongst the literate). Below is the link to a description of the Grand Remonstrance, but I suspect this tool has been used broadly in other cultures and political organizations over time and I've just not been aware of it.

I started Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney, an IRL book club selection. Chapter 3 starts with “word of the year�� = limerence, noun. An involuntary state of mind caused by a romantic attraction to another person combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one’s feelings reciprocated.

Further Google efforts tell me that it was coined by Dorothy Tennov (1928��2007), American psychologist in the 1970s and has no etymological underpinning. I’m so curious about Tenniv’s motivation. It also doesn’t seem to have caught on in the field.

There’s also an adjective form, eg you can be a limerent person.

This is a little bit of a stretch, because I didn't encounter it in a book, but instead in a Five Books email header: "The best ergodic books." Which I found to be mystifying. As per the Cambridge Dictionary:

ergodic means: relating to or involving the probability (= how likely it is) that any state will recur (= happen again):
Examples
An ergodic approach analyzes dynamic systems using probability.
ergodic theorem The ergodic theorem cannot be applied simply and directly in all cases.
These processes are assumed to be ergodic.

But, what is an ergodic book? (There's even a GoodReads list, "Ergodic Lit" /shelf/show/...

I consulted the wiki page for ergodic lit: "Ergodic literature is a term coined by Espen J. Aarseth in his book Cybertext—Perspectives on Ergodic Literature to describe literature in which nontrivial effort is required for the reader to traverse the text. The term is derived from the Greek words ergon, meaning "work", and hodos, meaning "path". It is associated with the concept of cybertext and describes a cybertextual process that includes a semiotic sequence that the concepts of "reading" do not account for."

This discussion from Book Riot at least makes more sense to me, but I can't say I understand it well enough to ever use it, which typically means I don't really get it.

Is ergodic lit books that visually are presented in a way that is difficult to read (takes work) - say, no paragraph markings or one long sentence or something in the margins or footnotes, etc. Is there any more to it? Can someone who truly understands this term, "ergodic fiction" help me understand how it's really used by readers who use it?