Wondrous Words Wednesday
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun. All of my words this week come from Fifty Is Not a Four-Letter Word by Linda Kelsey.
1. louche – “Thanks to Naomi’s brilliance at bargaining, for fifty quid I bought enough material to drape the entire inside of the tent as well as having some left over to cover four tall bar-style round tables we’d hired to lend an air of louche nightclub glamour to the place.”
Louche means not reputable or decent.
2. locum – “We’ve already got two useless locums at the surgery.”
This is short for locum tenens and means one filling an office for a time or temporarily taking the place of another.
3. primigravida – “A positively ancient primigravida.”
I couldn’t find a definition for this word, but gravida means a pregnant woman, so I think this refers to a woman who is pregnant for the first time.
4. chav – “Mark has decided that all celebrities are chav. . .”
Chav is a British term that means a working class youth, especially one associated with aggression, poor education, and a perceived “common” taste in clothing and lifestyle.
What new words have you discovered lately?
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Never heard of any of these words. Wow! I’m impressed.
I knew locum because I write about locum tenens at work, but I’ve never heard of the other ones. I need to keep track of new words when I’m reading so I can participate at some point. Doesn’t hurt to brush up on the vocab.
Primigravida is a woman in her first pregnany.
Look forward to hearing about the book.
I knew primagravida and locum, but the other two were words I wasn’t familiar with. I’ve got a couple as well this week, so I thought I’d play along later. (Gotta take my munchkin +friends to school first)
I was familiar with primigravida – an elderly primigravida is a woman over 35 who’s pregnant for the first time. I wonder what they consider “positively ancient”?
My words are here. I found some good ones this week!
Number 4 cracks me up. I hate it when I can’t find a satisfactory definition!
Super! Two new ones for me today. #1 and #4. Thanks!!! Love this meme.
This week I like chav best!
I noticed in your sidebar that you were reading this book and am looking forward to your review. It just dawned on me that Wondrous Words of this book is your own form of a teaser.
Good words today. Mine are here
My wee little list is up!
I like to say primigravida! Thanks for sharing these words…Mine are posted here:
http://jo-jolovestoread.blogspot.com/2009/03/wondrous-words-wednesday-march-4.html
These are all new words to me! Mine are here
I am going to try to use “louche” in a conversation today.
Interesting set of words. Mine is up, but it’s not very interesting this week.
Those were all new to me words – my list this week is here.
Another great Wondrous Words – thanks for sharing!
My word is here. http://ilovelovebooks.blogspot.com/
What absolutely wonderful words, every one of them! I’m very impressed. My favourite, I think, is “louche.”
Mine are here.
I learned “chav” not too long ago, from a YA book. It was used so much that it kind of bugged me, even after I figured out what it meant.
I usually find a few new good words when I read British authors. I love them!
great words once again. I didn’t find any this week.
I’ve learned a lot of Brit terms this past year! My words are buried in my latest post…
Locums aren’t useless. They are used to fill in, and are costly for a facility. If they were useless, facilities wouldn’t pay to use them to fill in for physicians.
Great words, Kathy! I think “chav” is a great one. It’s very suitable when you encounter them. You’ll see when you visit england, they’re hard to miss!
I’ve heard locum and chav used before but I didn’t really know what they meant before. Thanks!
Thanks Kathy – this one’s on my tbr pile – now I won’t have to look them up!
If you’re age 35 or over for your first pregnancy, you’ll see the medical term “prima gravida” on your medical chart, indicating that you’re at risk for various problems–and you’ll be subjected to various additional tests.
Great set of new words, Kathy! I forgot that yesterday was Wednesday … I have to pass on the meme this week; will check out what everyone else has found!
Hey, “locum” was one of my words last week (or maybe it was the week before that)! I knew “louche” from speaking French, but I’ve never seen either of the other words before. I didn’t participate this week, but hopefully will next week!
I knew the first three but not “chav”. I’ve read your wonderous words posts just didn’t comment. Now I see others are doing posts on it! I’m crazy about word and dictionaries. I’ll watch this feature more closely.