Wondrous Words Wednesday! 10.20.10

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion's Weblog where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun (please do!) Be sure to leave a link to your post over at Bermudaonion's Weblog.


The first two words are from Strangers at the Feast by Jennifer Vanderbes

"Her work had become dangerously interdisciplinary; integrating paleontology and anthropology into American studies was seen as stepping on other people's toes." (p.12)

1. Paleontology - noun
:the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments
: the science of the forms of life existing in former geologic periods, as represented by their fossils.


"Her mother looked at her watch, eyes widening with alarm, and dramatically tightened her lips, making it clear she was extending the maternal munificence of keeping them zipped." (p. 22)

2. Munificence -adj.
:very liberal in giving or bestowing; lavish
: characterized by great liberality or generosity


The third word comes from Sunset Park by Paul Auster:

"Bing is in shock, of course, still staggered by his girlfriend's abrupt exit from the house, but she feels the group will be better off without that fractious, red-headed storm of gripes and thoughtless digs, she of the unwashed dinner plates and the blaring radio, who nearly pulverized poor fragile Ellen with her comments about her drawings and paintings." (p.91)

3. Fractious ~ adj.
: tending to be troublesome; unruly
: quarrelsome; irritable