New (Old) Words
Listed here are forgotten and newly acquired words
discovered while reading Michael Ondaajte's novel,
The English Patient.
These notes were collected in celebration of Michael Ondaatje's birthday: September 12, 1943 “Ondaatje’s imagination acknowledges no borders” ~ Kamila Shamsie The first sentence of every novel should be: Trust me, this will take time but there is order here, very faint, very human. Meander if you want to get to town. As a writer, one is busy with archaeology. In the book the relationship with Katharine and Almasy is sort of only in the patient's mind. Michael Ondaatje and Anthony Minghella interview on "The English Patient" (1996) "I promise, I'll come back for you. I promise, I'll never leave you." Michael Ondaatje Interview on Writers & Company - CBC Radio
FELLAHIN: a native peasant or laborer in Egypt, Syria, etc.
ReplyDeletePALANQUIN: (formerly in India and other Eastern countries) a passenger conveyance, usually for one person, consisting of a covered or boxlike litter carried by means of poles resting on the shoulders of several men.
ReplyDeleteTOPIARY: the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful
ReplyDeleteMORAINE: a mass of rocks and sediment carried down and deposited by a glacier, typically as ridges at its edges or extremity.
ReplyDeleteCORDITE: a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant.
ReplyDeleteBEHOLDEN: being under obligation for a favor or gift
ReplyDeletePROPINQUITY: the state of being close to someone or something; proximity.
ReplyDeleteLINNET: a small brown and grey bird with a red front, found in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
ReplyDeleteDEMURE: modest and reserved in manner or behavior.
ReplyDeleteASPIDISTRA: an Asian plant (Aspidistra elatior) of the lily family that has large pointed basal leaves and is often grown as a foliage plant.
ReplyDeleteFULCRUM: the main thing or person needed to support something or to make it work or happen.
ReplyDeleteSAPPER: a soldier employed in the construction of fortifications, trenches, or tunnels that approach or undermine enemy positions.
ReplyDeleteCOLOCYNTH: (Citrullus colocynthis), also called bitter apple or bitter cucumber, hairy-stemmed perennial vine of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to the Mediterranean region. The colocynth grows in sandy, coastal, or desert soils and commonly spreads vegetatively. The plant has small, pale greenish yellow flowers, forked tendrils, and hairy, deeply cut leaves. The rounded yellow or green fruits have a bitter taste and yield a strong purgative sometimes used in folk medicine.
ReplyDeleteTROMPE L'OEIL: visual deception, especially in paintings, in which objects are rendered in extremely fine detail emphasizing the illusion of tactile and spatial qualities.
ReplyDeleteTORPOR: a state of physical or mental inactivity; lethargy.
ReplyDeleteGELIGNITE: a high explosive made from a gel of nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose in a base of wood pulp and sodium or potassium nitrate, used particularly for rock blasting.
ReplyDeleteKURTA: a loose shirt falling either just above or somewhere below the knees of the wearer, and is traditionally worn by men.
ReplyDelete