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 new button (or the old graphic), and join the fun! (Don’t forget to leave a link in your comment if you’re participating.) Thanks to Julie for the cute new button!
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My first two words for this week come from A Separate Country by Robert Hicks.
1. tignons – “I watched women dressed in white smocks and white tignons leading the coffin, and the men in white following behind with the coffin on their shoulders.”
Since tignon is so similar to chignon, I suspected it was a hat and I was right. A tignon is an article of woman’s headgear consisting of a piece of material tied in individual ways.
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2. tendentious – “They are, of course, tendentious and coarse, as Hood is himself, and they will do little to improve his reputation, but I am a man of my word and I will cause them to be published if he dies.”
Tendentious means marked by a tendency in favor of a particular point of view; biased.
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My last word this week came from Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani.
3. proscenium – “It’s a simple auditorium with wooden seats that fold up; and a proscenium stage with black velvet drapes that create scrims on the upstage wall of the theater.”
I’ve encountered this word before, but never looked it up. Proscenium is the part of a modern stage in front of the curtain.
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What new words have you encountered lately?
Never heard of proscenium – guess I don’t spend enough time at the theater 😉
Here’s are my words
I have the same thoughts about tignons too. I learned something new again. 😀
I knew the second word but never heard of tignon!
Here is my Wondrous Words Wednesdays post.
I’ve always considered myself pretty good with words, verbose even, but these are all new to me as well.
All new to me! I especially like tignons! Here are my words:
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/2009/10/wondrous-words-wednesday-october-7-2009.html
Love the new button and I am going to put it up on my post right after this.
I haven’t heard of any of the words you featured today but all three sound interesting even though I don’t think I’ll be using ‘tignon’ any time soon 🙂
Good words — did Julie make your new button? She’s a natural.
“Oh, don’t be so tendentious!” yep, I think I can find some people to say that to. 🙂
Fun words! Those first two, especially, are fun to say. Here are mine: http://wordlily.com/2009/10/07/words-from-my-reading-21/
Your three words were new to me. Love the new button!
Here are my words:
http://lisanotes.blogspot.com/2009/10/wondrous-words-wednesday.html
All these words are new to me. I’ve seen the word “tignon.” I don’t know for some reason I wanted to associate it with New Orleans. Thanks for all the new vocabulary.
http://readwithtea.blogspot.com/2009/10/wondrous-words_07.html
I like the new button but I am so attached to the little guy. I guess I can alternate.
My words are here.
Love your new button!
Great words and I love the new button!
My words are here:
http://jo-jolovestoread.blogspot.com/2009/10/wondrous-words-wednesday-oct-6.html
The first two were new to me. It’s good to see new words. I like this meme (and the button). My favorite word today was: tendentious.
Helen
Straight From Hel
Love the new button. I didn’t know any of your words. I love that on Wednesdays I get to learn all these new words. Thanks for hosting this fun meme.
http://bookaholicmom.blogspot.com/2009/10/wondrous-word-wednesday.html
Very good words! Today mine come from Homicide in Hardcover… http://westietherapy.blogspot.com/2009/10/wondrous-words-homicide-in-hardcover.html
The new button is great!
Those are 3 interesting words Kathy! Great job figuring out tignons. I like tendentious but it’s quite a mouthful!
My words are here:
Wonderful Words
Hi!
Great words! I have heard of tignons, but have not heard of the other two. Mine is posted at my place, Just Books. Have a great day!
Sherrie
I like your new button.
Three more words I didn’t know! The new button is wonderful.
Great words you have!
I really like the word tendentious.
I have yet to find a good way to build my own vocabulary notebook that is easy an accessible so that I can start to remember some of these wonderful words I am coming across. Hmmm…need to put something into action.
Here are my Wondrous Words
Nice words! Here are mine: http://gofita.blogspot.com/2009/10/wondrous-words-wednesday.html
I should have known what proscenium meant!
I am always finding new words when I read in English 🙂 Sometimes I know one or two of the words you present, but today I didn’t know a single one of them 😉
This is a fun meme. Thanks for starting it.
Tignon is an amazing word, who knew? And it will help me get rid of those pesky “g’s” in Scrabble as well! Thanks.
This sounds fun!
Here’s my wordy post. 🙂
http://crackinspines.blogspot.com/2009/10/wondrous-words-wednesday.html
Great words! I especially liked tendentious.
I love proscenium but I’m a theater geek. :O)
I’m reading “The Education of a British-Protected Child by Chinua Achebe, and while the English words are pretty basic, I’m really enjoying the lyrical African sayings. For example, to describe fanaticism, he invokes the words “Ajo-ife-na-onu-oto,” which he translates as Bad Thing and Bare Neck.
I like the way “tendentious” sounds – it kind of “feels” like it’s meaning!
tendentious . . . I like the sound of that. =)
Lovely words. I had not heard of (much less read) tignon before; now I will be able to use tendentious properly. Thank you!
I have run across this word a couple times already in my book — try saying it 3 times fast 🙂
perspicacious: “I have here a most perspicacious note on the line . . .” — of acute mental vision or discernment, keen
After reading these every Wednesday I have come to the realization that I need to improve my vocabulary!!! 🙂