Gone With the Wind Vocab, Lesson 6

Lesson 6

These are some words from Gone with the Wind. Some were brand-new to me. Others just merited looking up and getting to know them better.

Lesson 1 started here.

abortifacients, p 233—advertisements for . . . private diseases, abortifacients and restoratives for lost manhood
—an agent (as a drug) that induces abortion
First Known Use of abortifaciaent, 1873

insouciance, p 324—their apparent insouciance in the face of falling shells and shorter rations
—lighthearted unconcern; nonchalance

dewlaps, p 326—the skin of his pink face hung down in loose folds like the dewlaps of a bulldog
—loose skin hanging under the neck of an animal

contretemps, p 330—about Rhett showing up when Scarlett was talking to Ashley: Evidently he had forgotten the contretemps, or pretended to have forgotten it
—an inopportune or embarrassing occurrence or situation; dispute, argument

presaged, p 333—presaged a declaration of love
— foretell, predict

victoria, p 354—Mrs. Elsing, standing up in the front of her victoria, reigns in one hand, whip in the other
—a low four-wheeled pleasure carriage for two with a folding top and a raised seat in front for the driver (from Queen Victoria)

Fury, p 354—as she lashed the horse like a Fury
— capitalized : any of the avenging deities in Greek mythology who torment criminals and inflict plagues

fetid, p 354—among soldiers waiting for care: until the fetid stench almost nauseated her
—having a heavy offensive smell

gabble, p 362—Scarlet would gabble something until Melanie
—to talk fast or foolishly, jabber

wraith, p 362—Prissy, scurrying like a black wraith, lit a lamp
—ghost, specter

gibing, p 378—“Take a good look at them,” came Rhett’s gibing voice.
gibed, p 382—His drawling voice gibed in her ears
—to utter taunting words, to deride or tease with taunting words

Calendar Gift—April

The April image from the calendar Jo got me for Christmas 2010, with images she took.

The sparkled droplet image was taken in our back yard, probably an early shot
with the new camera she had bought at the time.

Search for all images with “Calendar Gift.”

Calendar Gift—March

Jo put together this calendar for me for Christmas 2010.

This image was taken at Greencroft, in Goshen, Indiana. 

If you want to see the other images, they will all be under a blog title“Calendar Gift.”

Wounds from Roofing Day Fall

On Monday, the roofers came and started the project, which should be completed tomorrow or Friday.

After handing the camera to Bill, I turned around from taking a picture and caught the electrical box on the pool deck with my left leg and went down on my left side. So that was Monday; today is Wednesday. I thought about taking a photo yesterday. But it was today, when the pain on the bottom of my right foot turned into a bruise with a bump. I’ve never seen a bruise on the bottom of a foot. I don’t know if I pushed hard on something on the way down or if a strained or pulled something.

So here are the grim photos to remind me of the event.

This wound measures about 5 inches along the curve, and 4 inches just measured straight from end to end. During the day it is washed clean and left dry. In the evening, I apply ointment to help the healing. This is the outside of my left leg, down near the ankle.

Below: bottom of my right foot. The bruise is about the diameter of a quarter. It has a bump in the center that feels like a tiny pebble. Looks like it comes back up toward the ankle a bit also.

Calendar Gift—February

The February photo from the calendar Jo gave me for Christmas 2010. 

This image was taken at the United Kingdom Pavilion at Epcot—somewhere I’ve never been. 

Pretty!

Gone With the Wind Vocab, Lesson 5

Lesson 5

When I read Gone with the Wind, I noted words that I wanted to know better

Lesson 1 started here.

suttee, p 182— “just as barbarous as the Hindu suttee”
—the act or custom of a Hindu widow willingly being cremated on the funeral pyre of her husband as an indication of her devotion to him,

dolorously p 199—“Pa is coming tomorrow and he’s going to land on me like a duck on a June bug,” answered Scarlett dolorously.
—causing, marked by, or expressing misery or grief

dishabille, p 204—when Scarlett answers the door and finds Rhett and her father: He took in her dishabille in one glance.
—the state of being dressed in a casual or careless style; negligee

attenuate, p 208—the thought either did not occur at all or was so attenuated by the delay it was not very troublesome.
to lessen the amount, force, magnitude, or value of; weaken

tilts, p 218—After tilts with him from which she seldom emerged the victor
—a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement

fusty, 219—his masculinity . . . made . . . the seem small, pale and a trifle fusty.
—rigidly old-fashioned or reactionary

furbelows, p 225—Rhett’s memory for furbelows was an excellent substitute for Godey’s Lady’s Book.
—a pleated or gathered piece of material ; especially : a flounce on women's clothing

passementerie, p 230—beneath its glittering passementerie trimmings.
—an ornamental edging or trimming (as tassels) made of braid, cord, gimp, beading, or metallic thread

Moon Shot—Experiment with Saving Image

When I was taking the photography course as an elective, in spring 2011, I was all about taking pictures in my little bit of spare time. (Now it’s more about blogging.) I was thinking I would invest in a new camera However, now I am not as much interested in a new camera as in learning all about how to use the one I have. It would please me to have photos in a blog every day.

It is not particularly difficult to photograph the moon, but I had not done it until summer 2011. I prepped them in PhotoShop Elements and discovered options about saving images. One was saved “for the web,” and the other save simply as a jpg. Which is better?

This one is saved as a jpg.

This one is saved “for the Web.”

Gone With the Wind Vocab, Lesson 4

Lesson 4

It’s time for another vocab list, the fourth from Gone With the Wind.

Lesson 1 started here.

spavins, heaves p 93—about intermarrying: “When my family asked me to marry a second cousin, I bucked like a colt. I said, ‘No, Ma. Not for me. My children will all have spavins and heaves.’”
—bony enlargement; breathing problems, persistent cough

temporized, p 93—Maybe there won’t be any war,” Mrs. Tarelton temporized.
—to act to suit the time or occasion; yield to current or dominant opinion

bridling, p 98—Suellen was bridling in a way that made Scarlett want to slap her.
—to show hostility or resentment (as to an affront to one’s pride or dignity)

corsage, p 10 —the corsage of her dress
—the waist or bodice of a dress

bull fiddle, p 167—named in the instruments played at the bazaar
—double bass

gaiters, pp 168, 276— named in garments worm
—a cloth or leather leg covering reaching from the instep to above the ankle or to mid-calf or knee; an overshoe with fabric upper b: an ankle-high shoe with elastic gores in the sides

lese majesty, p 184—Rhett . . . whispered: “Pompous goat, isn’t he?” Scarlett, at first horrified, at this lese majesty toward Atlanta’s most beloved citizen
an attack on a custom, institution, or belief held sacred by numbers of people

lachrymose, p 195—Over the waffles next morning, Pittypat was lachrymose, Melanie was silent and Scarlett was defiant.
—given to tears or weeping

When I Come Home From Work . . .

. . . my husband’s eyes light up.

Calendar Gift—January

This picture is from the 2011 calendar my daughter created using her own images.

This clover was outside our back door and one of the first images she took with

the new camera she had bought at the time.

I kept it at my work desk, enjoying the reminder of her each time I looked at it.

Pretty cool. Pretty pictures.

Chiclets for Bill

I would say it had been more than a year since Bill has been able to find Chiclets gum. He used to be able to find it at both Walmart and Publix. But it disappeared. He has kept his eyes open for it, hoping it would reappear.

At the beginning of last year, when I went to Dollar Tree, I spied Chiclets! The package has only ten pieces per box. He says it used to be twelve pieces per box, and these do slide around quite freely because it’s ten pieces in a twelve-piece box. Nonetheless, it was only a dollar for the package of six boxes.

Happy Bill!

Gone With the Wind Vocab, Lesson 3

Lesson 3

Here are some more words from Gone With the Wind. This is all quite interesting to me—looking up words, many with which I used to be more familiar. When I first made this list, I realized I had become quite removed from reading, writing, and words! I look at some of these and recall vocab lessons from high school, but it’s great fun to record them here and look for the tighter meanings of words that are remembered to a degree, obvious in context, but calling me to take a closer look. And so I continue.

Lesson 1 started here.

redolent p 76—heavy with velvety smells, redolent of many blossom, of newly fledged trees
—exuding fragrance, aromatic, full of a specified fragrance

riot p 76—a bright riot of the twin lanes of daffodils bordering the graveled driveway, and the golden masses of yellow jessamine
—a random or disorderly profusion

sprangles p 76— yellow jessamine spreading flowerey sprangles modestly to the earth like crinolines.
—relates to aimless or random

obdurate p 80— Seeing the obdurate look on Scarlett’s face
—stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing, hardened in feelings; resistant to persuasion or softening influences

lugubrious p 84—Irish ditties or the more lugubrious lament for Robert Emmet
—mournful, gloomy, dismal or the like, esp. in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner

vociferous p 88—the four girls . . . gave such vociferous cries of greeting that the team pranced in alarm.
—marked by or given to vehement insistent outcry; clamorous, blatant, strident , boisterous, so loud or insistent as to compel attention; implies a vehement shouting or calling out

sallies p 89—Scarlett laughed with the rest of these sallies but, as always, the freedom with which the Tarletons treated their mother came as a shock.
—a clever, witty, or fanciful remark

hoyden p 90—It was the same conflicting emotion that made her desire to appear a delicate and high-bred lady with the boys and to be, as well, a hoyden who was not above a few kisses.
—a girl or woman of saucy, boisterous, or carefree behavior

broad p 91—“Our cook is the broad wife of the Wilkes butler
—female slave whose husband was owned by another master

Calendar Gift

For Christmas 2010, Jo gave me a 2011 calendar, with images she had shot.

I have enjoyed it all year long at my work desk.

What a wonderful gift!

I will eventually show all the images from the calendar.

Holding My Hand

When my husband holds my hand, he often tells me, “I like your sweet little hands.”

Gone With the Wind Vocab, Lesson 2

Lesson 2

These are words from Gone With the Wind. Some are brand-new to me; others I’ve looked up to get a clearer definition, to confirm the meaning or look for expanded definitions. Plus, it’s just fun, for me.

Lesson 1 started here.

amity p 52—With all the rest of the County, Gerald was on terms of amity and some intimacy.
—peaceful harmony; mutual understanding and peaceful relationship

pony p 52—signaled for tall glasses in which a pony of Bourbon had been poured over a teaspoon of sugar and a spring of crushed mint
—something smaller than standard; a small liqueur glass typically holding one ounce

truculent p 52—a kind heart, a ready and sympathetic ear and an open pocketbook lurked just behind his bawling voice and his truculent manner
—eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant

florid p 35—When Gerald . . . so thickset of body and florid of face that he looked like a hunting squire out of a sporting print
—tinged with red, ruddy; archaic: healthy

depredations p 60—About the geese on the lawns of Tara: Against their depredations, a small black sentinel was stationed on the front porch. Armed with a ragged towel, the little negro boy sitting on the steps was part of the picture of Tara—and an unhappy one
—preying upon, plundering, ravage

chunk p 60—one, for he was forbidden to chunk the fowls and could only flap the towel at them and shoo them.
—to make a dull plunging or explosive sound

splitter p 74—Pork took a long splitter from the mantelpiece, lit it from the lamp flame and went into the hall.
—a flexible strip of wood, used in basket making; a slender piece of wood (or a roll or twist of paper) for lighting a fire

Gone With the Wind Vocab, Lesson 1

Lesson 1

This begins some fun, for me, with vocabulary. The words are not necessarily unknown to me, but are less commonly used. When I read Gone With the Wind in early 2008, for the first time, I decided to write down words I wanted to know better.

basque p 5—About Scarlet O’Hara: The dress set off to perfection the seventeen-inch waist, the smallest in three counties, and the tightly fitting basque
—a Victorian-era bustier, a sort of corset

mettlesome p 6—About the Tarleton twins: They were all healthy, thoughtless young animals, sleek, graceful, high-spirited, the boys as mettlesome as the horses they rode, mettlesome and
—spirited, courageous

approbation p 16—Stuart had courted India Wilkes with the approbation of both families and the entire County. The County felt the perhaps the cool and contained India Wilkes would have a quieting effect on him.
—formal approval; sanction

skylark p 20—but regretfully refused to elect them, because the Tarletons to lickered up too quickly and liked to skylark
—from running up and down the rigging on a ship: to frolic, sport

importunate p 28—never so importunate as the younger Fontaine boys, but, still, never the week went by that Ashley did not come calling at Tara
—troublesomely urgent : overly persistent in request or demand

temerity p 32—the temerity to think of Gerald O’Hara as a ridiculous little figure
—suggesting boldness arising from rashness and contempt of danger; audacity

code duello p 47—poker and horse racing, red-hot politics and the code duello, States’ Rights and damnation to all Yankees, slavery, and King Cotton, contempt for white trash and exaggerated courtesy to women.
—rules of dueling

poteen p 49—“Never mix cards and whisky unless you were weaned on Irish poteen,” Gerald told Pork grave the same evening as Pork assisted him to bed.
—illicitly distilled whiskey, typically from potatoes

manumitted p 51—Old Angus had never manumitted a single slave and had committed the unpardonable social breach of selling some of his negroes to passing slave traders
—to release from slavery

25 Most Commonly Misspelled Words

Here’s a little spelling test to challenge you. 25 Most Commonly Misspelled Words is a list that has circulated among American businesses for decades.

Please read the instructions when you go to the link.

Watch for:

Two words have variant spellings for companies using British English spelling. Those two words are repeated at the end of the list of 25 words asking for the British spellings.

Two words also have variants that appear in dictionaries. However, business writers have clear preferences for one of the spellings and expect to see that spelling in business documents.

When you have taken the test, please come back and let me know how you did.