Words You Will or Won’t Find In Our Novels
I read a book recently that had a lot of big words in it, words I’ve never heard of. While it’s great to be literate and have an expansive vocabulary, who talks that way?
Words you won’t find:
Defenestrate – definition: To throw something out of a window. – Can’t the author just say the character threw something out the window?
Farctate – definition: The state of being stuffed with food. – I’d just say I was stuffed. Throw in the towel, maybe defenestrate it.
Gambrinous – definition: To be full of beer. – If I was full of beer, I probably couldn’t remember this word, much less pronounce it.
Grapholagnia – definition: The urge to stare at obscene pictures. – I think my co-author suffers from this. JUST KIDDING!!
Lethologica – definition: The inability to recall a precise word for something. – If I can’t recall the correct word for something, I damn sure won’t be able to recall this one!
Words you will:
Taxidermied – We know it isn’t a real word, but if the dead animals have been stuffed and we need the word to be in past tense, what else do you call it?
Jalopy – I like this word. It’s kinda fun to say.
Mumbo-jumbo – Sometimes there’s just no better way to describe the way characters talk, or the legalese of bicycle renting contracts and mortgage documents.
Oh-shit handle – What else do you call the handle in the car? If you need to grab the handle, you’re probably going to scream, “Oh shit!”
Chupacabra – The elusive, blood-sucking creatures in south Texas and Mexico. Creepy! One creeps into Rocky Mountain Mayhem.