Monday, November 25, 2019

Oh, dear...

It's five days left of NaNoWriMo... and I have written about 20.000 words... Doesn't look good for me :-D


Sunday, November 17, 2019

Oh, the things one learns...

oleaginous - rich in, covered with, or producing oil; oily; exaggeratedly and distastefully complimentary; obsequious
(Cold Comfort Farm)

Doxxing refers to someone gathering pieces of personal information and posting them online - whether on a private page or in a more public location. In many cases, the intent is to harass the person or to lead others into harassing them.
(Referring to some "popular" YA author who got her knickers in twist when someone said they don't think her books should be read in an university book club. I have never heard of this "popular" YA author, or any of her books, nor of the "famous authors" who joined to support her in this horrible offense. But I have made a note to never read her books or any of the books of the others, because I don't want to be doxxed. This is why I'm not mentioning her name, because I'm 100% sure of that this comment here would be enough for her and her fans to put me on their list.)

Oxonian - relating to Oxford or Oxford University.
(Importance of Being Earnest)

propitious - giving or indicating a good chance of success; favourable. favourably disposed towards someone.
Latin propitius (“favorable, well-disposed, kind”) - from prope - near, close, almost, better

anthropophagy - the eating of human flesh by human beings.
(possibly Of Love And Other Demons or Carmilla. Maybe The Willoughbys)

oupire - A vampire, an evil spirit.
From Polish upiór
(Carmilla)

inculcate - instil (an idea, attitude, or habit) by persistent instruction.
(inculco - impress upon, force upon, from in calco - tread upon, trample, place under heel)
(Ms. Rapscott's Girls)

the deuteragonist or secondary main character is the second most important character, after the protagonist and before the tritagonist.
(some thing or another about writing - it's NaNoWriMo)

arquebus - an early type of portable gun supported on a tripod or a forked rest.
(Of Love And Other Demons)

funereal - having the mournful, sombre character appropriate to a funeral.
(Funus is death or funeral, funereus illboding, fatal or funereal. Huh.)

The gallowglasses (also spelt galloglass, gallowglas or galloglas; from Irish: gall óglaigh meaning foreign warriors) were a class of elite mercenary warriors who were principally members of the Norse-Gaelic clans of Scotland between the mid 13th century and late 16th century.
(All Souls Trilogy)

hectoring - talking in a bullying way.
(Hector: a blustering, noisy, turbulent fellow; a blusterer, bully.)
(came up when researching for my NaNoWriMo)

lugubrious - looking or sounding sad and dismal.
(Latin lugubris - mournful, gloomy)

irascible - having or showing a tendency to be easily angered.

A jaunting car is a light two-wheeled carriage for a single horse, with a seat in front for the driver. In its most common form with seats for two or four persons placed back to back, with the foot-boards projecting over the wheels. (Or no seat for the driver, who would be sitting sideways on the passenger seat while driving - or the seats could be facing inwards, like the old horsedriven busses. Which probably evolved from jaunting cars.
 (Cold Comfort Farm)

 leveret - a young hare in its first year
(Cold Comfort Farm)

Norfolk Biffins is a sort of apple. When it is prepared in a certain way, you get these delicious "cakes" of dried fruit...
 (A Christmas Carol)


Parlour games from A Christmas Carol:
HOW, WHEN, AND WHERE
One of the company goes out of the room, while the others choose a
word to be guessed, one with two or three different meanings being the
best.
We will suppose that the word “Spring” has been thought of. When the
person who is outside the room is recalled, he (or she) asks each one
in succession: “How do you like it?” The answers may be “Dry” (meaning
the season), “Cold and clear” (a spring of water), “Strong” (a
watch-spring), and “High” (a jump). The next question is: “When do you
like it?” The answers may be: “When I am in the country,” “When I am
thirsty,” “When my watch is broken.”
The next question is: “Where do you like it?” and the answers may be:
“Anywhere and everywhere,” “In hot weather,” “In the clock.” The game
is to try and guess the word after any of the answers, and if right,
the player last questioned takes the place of the one who is guessing;
if wrong, the questioner must try again.

Other Victorian parlour games, like forfeit and charades

indigent - poor; needy.
(Antelope Wife)

Wolpertinger

camelopard (actually, giraffe)

bricolage - construction or creation from a diverse range of available things.

following words came up with my research on Commedia dell'arte

meretricious - apparently attractive but having no real value. Relating to or characteristic of a prostitute.
From Latin meretrīcius, from meretrīx (“harlot, prostitute”), from mereō (“earn, deserve, merit”) (English merit) + -trīx (“(female agent)”) (English -trix).

tatterdemalion - someone wearing tattered clothes

dotard - an old person, especially one who has become physically weak or whose mental faculties have declined.
(Also a nickname to Donald Trump)

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Middle of NaNo...

uh. Not going too well...

But... I have learned things. I need to write the first thing in the morning. I can't do anything else before, at least anything that takes more than 15 minutes. I can absolutely not read.

Also, YA is basically pulp fiction. So is Romance and Fantasy. It' not literary fiction.