Wondrous Words Wednesday
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. If you want to play along, grab the button, and join the fun! (Don’t forget to leave a link in the comments if you’re participating.)
All of my words this week came from Next by James Hynes.
1. pointillist– “Above the bed, at the margin of the dim lamplight, a pointillist blot of green mildew had been spreading slowly across the bedroom ceiling for years, and it looked to Kevin now like the stain of his grandfather’s last, diseased breaths.”
Pointillism is the theory or practice of in art of applying small strokes or dots of color to a surface so that from a distance they blend together.
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2. meniscus – “Still holding the stick, her heart pounding, happily oblivious to the tang of her own pee, she plunges her hand into her purse on the bed and comes up with her phone, then rises from the bed and floats barefoot over the carpet to the window, where she gazes out at the sunlight glinting on the dirty water of the Chicago River below, then lifts her eyes to the glittering meniscus of Lake Michigan, in what she guesses is roughly the direction of Ann Arbor, and she starts to tear up at the thought of her boyfriend, her landlord, her lover, not quite her husband, the man she isn’t entirely sure loves her.”
Meniscus has several meanings, but the one that seems to fit the best in this sentence is a crescent or crescent-shaped body.
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3. australopithecines– “He had no doubt that if civilization collapsed and they were reduced to living like australopithecines, it would be Stella who’d pluck up her spear and go out hunting, while Kevin tended the fire and sewed together the skins of the animals that she dragged back to their cave.”
Australopithecine wasn’t in my dictionary, but according to wikipedia, it refers to two very closely related genera within the Hominina subtribe of the Hominini tribe. In other words, a primate that lived on Earth millions of years ago.
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What new words have you encountered lately?
Bermudaonion's Weblog 
Wow, I can’t even pronounce this week’s words!
#3 is a hard word indeed!!!! I did however know #1..go me 😀
These are really good, fun words. I would never remember how to spell “aus…..” Pointillist is a word from Impressionist art I’ve heard or read. I expected you to talk about “diseased breath” speckling the ceiling. Isn’t that interesting the many ways you can use one word?
My word isn’t up yet. I know;I’m like a turtle.
Geez, I though meniscus was a tendon in the knee.
Here is my word.
http://readwithtea.blogspot.com/2009/12/wondrous-words-it-happened-one-night-by.html
I’d heard of meniscus from knee trouble as well, but didn’t know that’s what it meant. I love pointillist–hope I can remember that one.
My words are here:
http://lisanotes.blogspot.com/2010/03/wondrous-words-wednesday_24.html
I only knew meniscus because of the part of the knee by the same name.
It’s interesting to get a sneak peek of NEXT. The author definitely has a way with words.
Meniscus was something I learnt during my Chemistry days in School/College.
Great words!
Never heard “meniscus” before. And to think I used to live right by Lake Michigan and never knew it was meniscus!
Ooh great words! I did pointillist art in high school and it was SO fun to see the larger picture come together. But it requires a LOT of patience to sit there making nothing but dot after dot after dot. Still, totally recommended. 🙂
My WOW is at The Crowded Leaf.
those are great words this week, and the sentences are wonderful teasers! Makes me wanna read the book…
My words can be found here
I knew none of these. Now i am trying to commit at least one to memory so I can use it in a sentence 🙂
I remember reading the word meniscus somewhere. I think I might have heard it a few times in a book where someone had a heart transplant. But of course while the word rings a bell, the meaning had totally escaped me.
I knew the first two, although I, too, thought meniscus was part of the knee. Here are mine: http://wordlily.com/2010/03/24/words-from-my-reading-41/
australopithecines? ok, you are just making them up now, aren’t you…lol
I knew the first two – never come across the last one.
Here are mine:
http://www.booksplease.org/2010/03/24/wondrous-words-wednesday/
I can’t even pronounce that third word! Pointilism is a really cool art form, but not very popular nowadays. I made a few works in pointilism in art school, it takes forever!
Pointillism sounds neat. I think I’ve seen examples of that type of art.
My words are HERE.
Pointillist is very apt for this week as I read an art book: The Swan Thieves. One of my words is a technical art one as well.
Here you go: http://carolinebookbinder.blogspot.com/2010/03/wondrous-words-wednesday_24.html
Thank you so much for your weekly word lessons. These are good ones.
I feel like a real *brainiac* today, because I knew the first two words (the first from my study of art and the second from my study of science). But your third word, australopithecines, I never heard before! 🙂
lol-I’m not sure I’d like reading a book with that many complicated words.
Haha! I knew “pointillist.” That’s what 2 years of art school got me. 😉
Andi– I would hope so as when I read pointillist I thought of all the impressionist artists right away.
here’s mine: http://www.steeleonentertainment.com/2010/03/wondrous-words-wednesday.html
[my first time joining in]
Well, I was feeling so clever since I was so familiar with the first two words–then I got to the last one!
These are all new to me, and like Alice, I don’t think I can pronounce them 😛
Well, I knew two and guessed one, but like most everyone who had heard meniscus, it was in reference to knees. That last word is a doozy. I guessed and came close, so I’m smugly thinking I deserve a little red rosette to pin on my chest. 😉
“Next” sounds like a great book. I’ll keep my eye out for your book review.
Great words, they’re all new to me.
Happy Reading!
Being an English teacher, I really appreciate your weekly word lessons. It’s such a fabulous idea! 🙂 Great choice of words…..#3- wow!
I can honestly say that I have never even seen nor heard any of these words, lol! What a fun way to build one’s vocab!!