We all remember this famous quote from Forest Gump……my box of chocolates is words…NEW words which I have never heard before. Words that roll around on my tongue like a chocolate cherry cream out of my box of sweets. For example here are some words I recently discovered …..
Tantalus: a Phrygian king who, for his crimes, was forced to stand hungry and thirsty surrounded by sweet water and fruit laden branches. I’ve seen it used loosely as an adjective: being tantalized without fulfillment.
Muniment: a document, a title deed or charter
Muniment room: a storage or display room in a castle, church or university where pertinent historical documents or records are kept.
Entresol: a lower floor between two higher floors, between floors, mezzanine.
Cuckoo: a common enough European bird but noted for its habit of laying its eggs in another bird’s nest which then hatched and raised the young cuckoos. The mother cuckoo never returns. Which leads to the off-shoot of this word and description: Usually referring to the husband of an unfaithful wife. To make a cuckold of (a husband) and it could follow that the unfaithful wife is impregnated by the lover and (like the birds) the cuckolded husband and wife raise the child of another man. Hence the use of the word.
When you write, never dumb it down for your readers. Remember you are writing prose. It’s okay to challenge your readers….it’s even preferred.
As a writer, I hope that You love the flavor of words as much as I do….
(Recycled from the 2012 blog post.)
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