Wednesday 19 December 2012

Wondrous Words Wednesday 19/11/12




Wondrous Words Wednesday is a fabulous weekly meme hosted by Bermuda Onion, where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our weekly reading.  

I recently read the fabulous Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. There were many wonderful words, here are some that were new to me. 

1. Shillelagh (Noun)

"Back in the top hat and shillelagh days."

A cudgel of oak, blackthorn, or other hardwood. 

Picture source

2. Bolas (Noun)

Butler grabbed the offending baton, swinging weapon and bearer like a set of bolas. 

A rope with weights attached, used especially in South America to catch cattle or game by entangling their legs. 

Picture source


3. Gouts (Noun)

That was a lung gone, and gouts of blood were matting the troll's fur. 

A large blob or clot of blood. 

No picture needed I suspect....

7 comments:

Julia Tomiak said...

Louise,
Nice to "meet" you! These are great words. My kids LOVE Artemis Foul, and I just checked the audio book out at the library so that I can also now enjoy it while we drive in the car (we travel a long distance for sports practice.) I'm sure your vocab highlights will help me out; the pictures are a wonderful addition! Thanks so much. I also like the books you've got listed in your previous post and will have to check them out.

Sim Carter said...

I've not heard the word 'gouts'- differentiating it from gout - but the description brings to mind The Impossible, the film about a family vacationing in Thailand when the tsunami hit. Your wonderful Australian actress, Naomi Watts stars and quite brilliantly captures a mother's fear, physical exhaustion and determination in the face of an incredible challenge. I'm being very long-winded about this but at one point Watts' badly wounded character pulls what can only be called 'gouts' out of her mouth. No picture was necessary but the director didn't agree I suppose. In any case the visual of a series of clots coming up out of her throat was stomach churning to say the least. Apologies for the graphic description!

bermudaonion said...

I knew shillelagh because we have friends who are very much in touch with their Irish heritage. Thanks for playing along!!

Anonymous said...

I am familiar with shillelagh, my husband is Irish.

http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/12/wondrous-words-wednesday_19.html

Margot said...

I always like that you make the extra effort to find pictures to go with your words. I am, however, glad that you sparred us a photo for gout. Very wise.

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I came across this post through Wondrous Words Wednesday :) "Shillelagh" is such a wonderful word, I can't wait to look up how to pronounce it!

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Hope you are keeping track of the cool words in The Hobbit!