Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Wondrous Words Wednesday!


Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermudaonion's Weblog where we share words we’ve encountered in our reading.  Join in the fun and be sure to leave a link to your post over at Bermudaonion.

I came across these words while reading The Passing Bells by Phillip Rock:

"Only mufti could be worn when off duty, except for certain social functions, and mufti of the most stylish and expensive cut."

Mufti:   ordinary clothing  worn by someone who usually wears some type of military uniform.  Also called "civvies", it's essentially slang for "civilian attire".


"Roger and Charles were in some sort of conversation about prosody, and Roger said that in his opinion the Georgians were on the proper track..so I put in my oar after sinking the five ball with a perfect bank shot and agreed that Childe Harold was still a damn fine bit of poetry even if its author was a self-confessed bugger."

Prosody: 
  • The patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry.
  • The theory or study of these patterns, or the rules governing them
  •  
     
    "The adjutant needs me back."
     
    Adjutant:
    1.    A military officer who acts as an administrative assistant to a senior officer.
    2.    A person's assistant or deputy.
     
     
    "He was about to add that the archduke's morganatic wife had been déclassé, no better than a housekeeper, but thought better of it."
     
    Morganatic:
    of, relating to, or being a marriage between a member of a royal or noble family and a person of inferior rank in which the rank of the inferior partner remains unchanged and the children of the marriage do not succeed to the titles, fiefs, or entailed property of the parent of higher rank

    7 comments:

    1. I thought I knew mufti, but I was wrong. Thanks for setting me straight!

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    2. I've heard of the second word.

      http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/01/wondrous-words-wednesday_16.html

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    3. I'm with Kathy ... I thought I knew what mufti was and I'm totally wrong!
      So many great words; the book sounds really good! BTW, I see The Great Gatsby on your site and wanted to share how much I can't wait for the movie!

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    4. Mufti seemed familiar but I couldn't define it. Now I can imagine how that word could be used in regular conversation.

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    5. I only knew one of these this week, and I think you did a great job in picking your words today! I always learn something in these Wednesday posts!

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    6. Mufti is a really good one! I should have known prosody--I hope now to know it well enough to remember it. Wonderful words this week! :)

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    7. Great words. Mufti is used a bit by schools here in Australia- our kids wear uniforms to school so they hold a few mufti days each year, mainly as fundraising days. I came across morganatic a few months ago in The Prisoner of Zenda.

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