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. (Don’t forget to leave a link in your comment if you’re participating.)
My first word this week comes from Into the Beautiful North by Luis Urrea.
1. rocanrol - “Sounding like a city tough was so rocanrol.”
Rocanrol means rock and roll.
I discovered my second word in The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas.
2. palliating – “Lily was more careful now, palliating, as though Luz might be a ticking bomb.”
To palliate is to cover by excuses and apologies.
I found my last new word in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.
3. jicama – “Heather nibbles through her jicama and whole-grain roll, and blows me off while she eats her baby carrots.”
Jicama is an edible starchy tuberous root of a tropical American vine of the legume family that is eaten raw or cooked.
What new words have you discovered lately?
29 Comments
June 24, 2009 at 7:10 am
Interesting words. I like jicama best.
June 24, 2009 at 7:43 am
A nice wide range of words this week. I actually saw jicama in the grocery store once. Strange.
My words are at Joyfully Retired. I’m hosting a book tour today so scroll on down for my new words.
June 24, 2009 at 8:04 am
Oh, these are fabulous. I especially love palliating, and what a fantastic sentence.
June 24, 2009 at 8:06 am
Jicama is new to me, but I don’t remember seeing it when I read Speak! My words are here.
June 24, 2009 at 8:15 am
Those are such FUN words.
I love “rocanrol” the best. I assume it’s pronounced like “rock and roll”?
My words this week come from “Planet Google.”
June 24, 2009 at 8:19 am
Rocanrol! I had never seen that spelling before.
June 24, 2009 at 8:42 am
Jicama is in our grocery stores all the time in Fl. I like that palliating word but rocanrol, huh, why would someone spell it like that? Odd!
June 24, 2009 at 8:51 am
I just had jicama and tortilla salad this past weekend when we went to the Hotel Hershey for brunch!
June 24, 2009 at 9:22 am
We have jicama in all the groceries in Tucson also because it’s a popular Mexican food. I guess it is even called “the Mexican potato.” But basically it’s a low-calorie vegetable. I’m afraid that if I were in Hershey, like Julie, I would be gravitating toward something else! :–)
June 24, 2009 at 9:19 am
Well, I just discovered rocanroll and palliating. I knew jicama — good stuff, by the way.
Helen
Straight From Hel
June 24, 2009 at 9:19 am
I have a jicama salad recipe – want me to send it? That is, if I can find it. Haven’t made it for years….
My wordy Wednesday post is embedded in my book review for today.
June 24, 2009 at 9:21 am
I remember eating jicama, years ago now. Here’s my list for this week: http://wordlily.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/words-from-my-reading-11/
June 24, 2009 at 9:43 am
I haven’t come across that word in Irene yet, buy now I’ll be looking for it. So far I am enjoying the books and looking forward to the chat.
June 24, 2009 at 10:02 am
Great words…I wonder what jicama tastes like. My word is here:
http://jo-jolovestoread.blogspot.com/2009/06/wondrous-words-wednesday-june-24.html
June 24, 2009 at 10:47 am
Oh, neat, I learned ‘jicama’ from Speak as well!
Hi, I’m new.
http://dustandspores.blogspot.com/2009/06/wondrous-word-wednesday.html
June 24, 2009 at 10:53 am
Interesting words. Mine are up, too.
http://carolsnotebook.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/wondrous-words-wednesday-14/
June 24, 2009 at 11:29 am
All new for me. Loved to learn those!
http://readbookswritepoetry.blogspot.com/2009/06/wondrous-words-wednesday_24.html
June 24, 2009 at 11:53 am
Those were all new to me.
Here are my words:
http://mercysnumber1fan.blogspot.com/2009/06/wonderous-words-wednesday-6.html
June 24, 2009 at 11:56 am
I have never heard of those words before here are mine.
http://shannanlovesbooks.blogspot.com/2009/06/wonderous-words-wednesday_24.html
June 24, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I love learning new words…palliating stumped me!!
June 24, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Yum, jicama!
My WWW are up to this week. (I know, I know, I’ve been quite the slacker lately.)
Also, I tagged you for The State of Mt. TBR meme.
June 24, 2009 at 4:01 pm
These are all new to me
I like palliate the best
June 24, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Jicama is better than the description would lead you to believe! It’s a little sweet, a little crunchy, a little watery…kind of refreshing. You should try it!
June 24, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Love the sound of rocanroll. I’ll try it out on my kids, to show them I can be cool, too.
June 24, 2009 at 6:02 pm
One word I discovered this week was terpsichorean: of or relating to dancing [from Terpsichore, the Muse of dance in Greek mythology] , often used facetiously.
June 24, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Can I take this opportunity to complain about how lame my word of the day calendar is? The best week – meaning it had interesting words I didn’t know – happened while I was in DC. Next year, I’m going to forget the calendar and read everyone’s posts on Wednesdays.
June 24, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Rocanrol is kind of hilarious and horrifying. Looks like a so-called “coined word”. Oh, how I hate coined words (misspelled for business purposes, usually, like LaundRmat).
June 25, 2009 at 12:22 am
My mom used to make turkey soup with jicama in it. I hated it.
June 25, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Nope, not a fan of jicama.