Me: Yes! Can you believe it?
But it’s not what you think. I would NEVER read one of King’s scary novels. What I’m reading is his memoirs On Writing. I haven’t hidden my head under the covers even once, not yet anyway.
So all my new words this week are from On Writing. What new words have you learned this week? Join Kathy at Bermuda Onion to see more.
1. proles
(n)
Definition—a person who performs routine tasks in a society
Use—“Yet many of us proles also care about the language, in our humble way, and care passionately about the art and craft of telling stories on paper.”
(n)
Definition—a machine for smoothing or pressing clothes by means of heated rollers
Use—“That’s what she was doing—feeding sheets into the mangle—while Dave constructed his Science Fair project.”
3. gimlet
(adj) [GIM-lit]
Definition—having a penetrating or piercing quality
Use—“I felt that one look at Vic’s switchblade knife and gimlet gaze would have put Hayley’s piddling domestic problems in some kind of reasonable perspective.”
4. koan
(n) [KOH-ahn]
Definition—a puzzling, often paradoxical statement or story, used in Zen Buddhism as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening.
Use—“This struck me as so fundamentally stupid it might actually be wise, like a Zen koan or an early story by John Updike.”
(n)
Definition—a heavy woolen cloth used chiefly for making overcoats and hunting jackets
Use—“My job was dyeing swatches of melton cloth purple or navy blue.”
3 comments:
My husband would probably react the same way if he saw me reading a Stephen King book! I've never seen gimlet used like that - I always thought it was a drink. Thanks for participating today!
You'd never find me near a King book either but, based on your words, it sounds quite good. A koan or meditative puzzle interests me. I want to know more.
I read On Writing, but I don't recall these words! I'm adding them to my WWW vocabulary list.
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