Jamie O'Neill and the joy of new vocabulary

[thrihyrne]

Alright. I learned a lot of new words reading ASTB. But I just learned several new ones yesterday, and it's all thanks to fanfic. And favorite coworkers who have resigned, looking up new words on google while drinking champagne sparkling white wine. There have to be some perks for working for an opera company, as my salary obviously isn't one of them.

gambolled
nadir
bloviate

and petrichor, which I will *definitely* be using soon. In a story near you.

My dad and stepmom will be arriving sometime today. I've been absolutely frantic, shutting the two mini panthers cats from the bathroom so I could scrub the walls and then put out the really cute tissue boxes I bought at 8:45 this morning as though our house always looked like this. Clean. Devoid of black cat hair. Whatever. Their house is always immaculate, and I hope they aren't appalled. Dad and Jan haven't been to this house yet, and have never met the cats, and haven't seen the stepkids in two years.

On the plus side, I must say that listening to punk Irish music and quasi-punk Irish music makes cleaning the house fun. Flogging Molly rocks. As does Chumbawumba.

This is for edeainfj; I've finally made a wee bit 'o progress on the Aragorn/Eowyn story for you, albeit in O'Neill mode. All about the metaphors and adjectives. And I still can't find the adult part of parma. But I did get off the idiot bus and seem only to have broken a tooth, so not much to worry about.

So! DeeDee. There's going to be a bit of hot and botheredness before Aragorn goes through the Paths of the Dead, but it'll only create tension to be resolved after the Pelennor Fields. I really hope you enjoy this; it's intriguing to try and get into Eowyn's head again after so long.



Éowyn scowled as she counted helms, shields and pikes, a too-meager inventory for defense. The grating tune of metal to grindstone came from a corner where a barley stalk of a boy honed an unwieldy broadsword. A cry from outside of the armory tent caught her ear and she rushed out, knuckles grasping pale on her sword-hilt.

“…returned!” carried through the air. Mouth open as she ran, Éowyn tasted the message for despair, and instead knew it as triumph.

At the edge of the Firienfeld she looked down the ancient trail and saw at least three dozen beginning their convoluted ascent. Dark hair, with two foreign exceptions, and she would have recognized the Elf and Dwarf at a league. None Rohirrim.

Aragorn was at their lead.

Her blood pulsed relief and her heart shuddered in reply. But what of the others? she thought, wildly. Éomer! Théoden!

Myriad lifetimes passed as Éowyn paced, looking at the faces of her people, yet seeing nothing. Resigned, she looked at Swithhild, one of her uncle’s oldest advisors, and said, “I will be at my lodging. Please send the Northern Ranger to me as soon as he is ready to speak of what has happened at the Hornburg.”

As she walked away, she rubbed her sweaty palms down the front of her jerkin and the thirsty hide absorbed the moisture. Éowyn’s expression was the front edge of a storm; turbulent and unpredictable. Patience was no virtue in her mind, and her muscles ached to know of the battles from which she had been withheld.

Gathering wine, salted meat, chalices, and her composure, she awaited the company of the lord with the hoarfrost eyes.




I love doing the sparse thing, but it isn't improving my dialogue abilities. Guess I need to look to llembas's Jeremy for that, eh?

Comments

[edrys.livejournal.com]

Were you aware that petrichor doesn't appear at Merriam-Webster.com or at Dictionary.com? I guess A.Word.A.Day wasn't kidding when they said it fell into the category of "unusual words." *Don't you love A.Word.A.Day? :-D

But I still have a difficult time believing that you have never gambolled. ;-)

If I don't talk to you before then, I hope your weekend goes well, and you can all relax and enjoy one another's company.

~*~

PS - spellcheck doesn't like petrichor (suggestions: Petrarch, Patricia, perisher, Patricio, petri, pettish, Patrice, patriarch, patriot, perish, Patric, petrol, patriarchy, Dietrich, Patrica, Patrick, Petrina, petrify, Petrarch's) or gambolled* (suggestions: gamboled*, gambol led, gambol-led, gambled, gimbaled, gambles, gambols, Gamble, gabled, gamble, gambol, ambled, gabbled, gambler, garbled, rambled, jumbled, caballed, symboled)*Note: Merriam-Webster.com says that either is correct. *another reason not to place complete trust in spellcheck.

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Sorry I'm so late in replying to this. I'm sure that I have gambolled- and now I have a new adjective besides "frolic" to use when describing such activities!!

Yes, I do love Word A Day. There was another good one this week having to do with clothing, but I can't remember it. I actually go everywhere with a folder that has a pad of purple (surprise!) legal paper on one side and a pocket on the other in which are several pieces of paper with these new words so I remember to try and incorporate them when writing. Any fun images are there too, and phrases that will eventually be incorporated in my twins story or the Aragorn/Eowyn story. Whenever I write again. :P

[helveticat.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha. Sparkling white wine. *g*

I was so proud when I learned the word "nadir" as a kid (you know, being a science nerd and all, obsessed with the planets). It's totally a Jeopardy! question.

Ooh! Love Flogging Molly! (heap big surprise).

Boy, this comment is choppy and random and well-spaced, ain't it?

Eowyn's expression was the front edge of a storm. *dies* You know what you do to me, right? Good.

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

I was so proud when I learned the word "nadir" as a kid (you know, being a science nerd and all, obsessed with the planets).

And you should be! I remember being fascinated by the word "veldt" after reading one of Ray Bradbury's short stories where the kids have turned their moving pictures walls (which were of the African veldt) into real creatures and grasses... you won't be too surprised to hear that lions eat the parents.

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Oh, and yes, Flogging Molly rocks!

[ptpatricia.livejournal.com]

Curious, I looked up "bloviate" in the OED and found no entry. Infer what you will from that. And petrichor sounds rather foul based on the etymology: 1964 [f. PETR(O- + ICHOR.]

Petrichor -A pleasant, distinctive smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather in certain regions; in quot. 1975, applied to an oily substance obtained from the ground in which this smell was concentrated.

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

It is a very obscure word, to be sure, but it's so unique (and coined by an Australian!) that I really want to use it. The hazard will be that unless it's one of you guys reading the story, others going to look it up won't be able easily to find the definition! Everybody else does that too, right? Look up words they don't recognize when reading? I came across liminal recently. Yet another word. Pity it's so hard to incorporate these fun words in regular everyday speech!