Word Nerd: Guilty of Definitions
There are novels that are infused with such a delightful new-to-me words that I end up frequently interrupting my reading to look up the definitions. I am guilty of word collecting. I cannot do the Linus quirk of skipping over words I am unfamiliar with upon discovery.
Some authors like Mcall-Smith of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency are quite adept at inserting the occasional stumper. It’s par for the course to come across a rich lexicon when reading classic novels such as Jane Eyre (I kept entire page dedicated to collecting her vocabulary).
Collecting words is what makes a Word Nerds heart go skippety skip and so it sheer delight to discover Susie Dent’s Guilty by Definition. The setting is a renowned dictionary establishment in Oxford (yes, it does ring a bell). It isn’t long before this band of erudite editors start sleuthing. Amateur detectives are not unique. What makes Dent’s book standout is her ability to surreptitiously weave in weighty words and archaic delights not only as chapter headers but within the text. They impressively serve as foreshadowing while providing a witty lexicon lesson.
Here are a few textual examples I jotted down while reading:
- falsedict: an untrue utterance
- mountweazel: fictitious entry in a dictionary
- vellichor: the musty smell of old books
- apricity: the warmth of sun on a winter’s day
- respair: recovering from despair
- kything: the recognition of old friends in a crowd
- bellywengins: a small beer
- dallop: the missed patch of ground by the plow
- rackups: consequences of ill-doing
- sonder: the realization other people have rich and complicated lives we will never know
- susurrus: low soft whispering or low rustling
- mubble-fubbles: eve of something unpleasant dose of the blues
- tidsoptomist: a time optimist
- finifugal: not wanting the story to end; stalling the ending; drawing it out
Aren’t they delightful?
Words by Definition absolutely created a feeling of finifugal. Fortunately, the dictionary detectives are rumored to appear in a sequel.
Can’t wait. My Word Nerd heart awaits in anticipation.
Pam Webb 
“Tidoptimist” has a nice ring to it, but is misleading IMHBCO (in my humble but correct opinion). It sounds like a “tidy optimist,” or possibly someone who’s optimistic about tides.
“Mountweasel,” on the other hand, is delightful! I’m tempted to write a fictional biography on the illustrious Duchess Mountweasel.
Indeed! She will solve mysteries while being the belle of the ball😉
It’s Swedish with “tid” meaning “time” and should be “tidsoptomist” (which I have now corrected. It’s a nicer way of telling someone they are habitually late, DYT (don’t you think)?
;>)
If only I’d known the word, tidsoptomist, I could have used it in my MG novel that’s coming out! Perhaps I’ll have to use it in some other ways. Love these…
Ooh-how would you use it?
The MC is obsessed with time and physics. So perhaps she’d describe herself as a tidsoptimist, because she hopes that things will work out for the better over time. But she also has ADHD, so she wants that time to be NOW, LOL.
It is an appropriate word. Maybe you can work it in the edits or create a spot on your website when you promote the book. Looking forward to it!