Wow it’s amazing how quickly a week flies by, especially when you’ve got a lot on your plate. It’s time again for another Wondrous Words Wednesday post, the weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion.

Since I haven’t gotten far enough into my current read to run into any words that are new to me (or just fuzzy), I’ll be relying on my last week’s read…

Thirst (No. 1) by Christopher Pike

I should also mention that I was hard-pressed to expand my vocabulary with this title.

tamasic: adj. characterized by ignorance or inactivity, one of the gunas in Hindu philosophy.

“Your kind is for the most part tamasic—negative.” pg. 150

bespeckle: verb To speckle.*

Although I already knew this word, I added it to the list because, frankly, its use in this case boggles my mind.

“The bespeckled coroner shakes at Joel’s question.” pg. 253 What, exactly, was this coroner speckled with? Blood? It doesn’t say.

dragnet: noun A system or network for finding or catching someone, as a criminal wanted by police.

I knew this word from the old television show Dragnet, but I never knew the official definition.

“I want you to help me escape this dragnet.” pg. 417

One of the purposes of this blog when I conceived it was to also expand my vocabulary through documenting new words. Unfortunately, I haven’t been keeping with that spirit…until now.

Not too long ago I came across a weekly meme that ought to do the trick courtesy of the Bermudaonion.

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

While reading the last two books, I knew I’d be finished with both of them by today, so I decided to take notes of the words in preparation. That means, for my first Wondrous Words Wednesday, the words will be taken from two titles.

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

The first book that perked up my eyeballs with its colorful vocabulary was Generation Dead by Daniel Waters.

variegated: adj. having patches, stripes, or marks of different colors.

viscous: adj. having the sticky consistency of glue.

brusque: adj. curt, blunt, or abrupt.

gravitas: n. seriousness or sobriety, as of conduct or speech.

rejoinder: n. reply; esp. an answer to a reply.

cortege: n. procession; esp. a funeral procession.

chambray: n. a lightweight clothing fabric of white and colored threads.

The Night Monster by James Swain

The next book that I yanked some interesting words from was The Night Monster by James Swain.

macadam: n. a roadway or pavement of small closely packed broken stone.

patina: n. 1) a green film formed on copper and bronze by exposure to moist air; 2) a superficial covering or exterior.

My apologies for not having the direct references from the texts—I’m usually very good about taking notes like that, but I must have been asleep at the wheel this past week. *sigh* X_X