Donaldson's Obscure Words - Official Thread
Moderators: Orlion, kevinswatch
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Guest
LOL Mark!! 
calm down there boy...
I just want to say this. SRD wouldn't be SRD if it weren't for those wonderful "little" words he uses. They are his calling card, if you will, his signature. I find them brilliant and they bring so much color to his writing.
I do plan on buying new a dictionary as a companion to "The Runes of the Earth", however.
calm down there boy... I just want to say this. SRD wouldn't be SRD if it weren't for those wonderful "little" words he uses. They are his calling card, if you will, his signature. I find them brilliant and they bring so much color to his writing.
I do plan on buying new a dictionary as a companion to "The Runes of the Earth", however.
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Furls Fire
- Lord
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oh crud, that last guest was me...dang cookies.. 
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.
~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~
~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~
...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.
~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~
~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~
...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.
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Furls Fire
- Lord
- Posts: 4872
- Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2003 10:35 am
- Location: Heaven
wellllll, normally this thing logs me in automatically, but sometimes it doesn't. Maybe because Shadow was the last one to log into the site. I don't know...
Anyway...here's some chocolate chip cookies, danlo. Baked them today
wait a minute...did you stick out your tongue at me???? no cookies for you!!
Anyway...here's some chocolate chip cookies, danlo. Baked them today
wait a minute...did you stick out your tongue at me???? no cookies for you!!
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.
~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~
~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~
...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.
~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~
~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~
...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.
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markjeffrey
- Woodhelvennin
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- Location: Los Angeles
- Contact:
eh, c'mon danlo, i'm just goofin about WordBoy. Half my vocabulary and high SAT verbal is courtesy of SRD. How else could I sentiently obfuscate my plethora demenses of preternatural diamondraughts?
Half my vocabulary and high SAT verbal is courtesy of SRD. How else could I sentiently obfuscate my plethora demenses of preternatural diamondraughts?When you're done with 'Runes' ... check out www.pocketandpendant.com ... like a small, minty refreshment after the Main Course has been served!
... check out www.pocketandpendant.com ... like a small, minty refreshment after the Main Course has been served!
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Mystikan
- Woodhelvennin
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*bump*
For those that wanted to know where the official list was...
Here's a couple of sentences full of gems from The One Tree:
specificity: (speci·fici·ty) - www.dictionary.com - n 1: the quality of being specific rather than general: add a desirable note of specificity to the discussion; the specificity of the symptoms of the disease 2: the quality of being specific to a particular organism: host specificity of a parasite.
corybantic: (Cor`y*ban"tic) - www.dictionary.com - Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the Corybantes (priestesses of the ancient Greek god Dionysus) or their rites; frantic; frenzied: a corybantic dance.
I'm surprised that nobody pegged this one already! It's one of my favourite paragraphs in TOT!
Hmm, let me see:
"Man, your party was WAY corybantic! Sorry about your liquor cabinet though, dude!"
For those that wanted to know where the official list was...
Here's a couple of sentences full of gems from The One Tree:
evanescence: (Ev`a*nes"cence) - www.dictionary.com - n. The act or state of vanishing away; disappearance: the evanescence of vapor, of a dream, of earthly plants or hopes.SRD wrote:It had the suggestive evanescence of night and the specificity of day. And under its magic, wonders thronged in corybantic succession.
specificity: (speci·fici·ty) - www.dictionary.com - n 1: the quality of being specific rather than general: add a desirable note of specificity to the discussion; the specificity of the symptoms of the disease 2: the quality of being specific to a particular organism: host specificity of a parasite.
corybantic: (Cor`y*ban"tic) - www.dictionary.com - Of, pertaining to, or resembling, the Corybantes (priestesses of the ancient Greek god Dionysus) or their rites; frantic; frenzied: a corybantic dance.
I'm surprised that nobody pegged this one already! It's one of my favourite paragraphs in TOT!
Hmm, let me see:
"Man, your party was WAY corybantic! Sorry about your liquor cabinet though, dude!"
The only difference between light and dark is the ability to tell the difference.
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Furls Fire
- Lord
- Posts: 4872
- Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2003 10:35 am
- Location: Heaven
Mystikan wrote:Hmm, let me see:
"Man, your party was WAY corybantic! Sorry about your liquor cabinet though, dude!"
And I believe in you
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.
~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~
~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~
...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.
altho you never asked me too
I will remember you
and what life put you thru.
~fly fly little wing, fly where only angels sing~
~this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you~
...for then I could fly away and be at rest. Sweet rest, Mom. We all love and miss you.
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zenslinger
- Servant of the Land
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- Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 8:34 pm
- Location: San Francisco
If this thread is being maintained, let's beef it up a bit. It's a great start, but it would be nice if we could get a majority of the words in there so that people can print it and keep it there while they read instead of trying to find access to a dictionary that actually has entries for these words (most reasonably sized one volume ones don't have a lot of these words.)
Also, is there a reason that all the words have question-marks by them even when the definitions are correct? It kind of makes the person using the list feel like all the entries could be wrong.
I started rereading the Second Chronicles and was stubbornly refusing to read with a dictionary by my side through TWL, but once you get to the Elohim in TOT, there is an explosion of crazy words. This whole list is those I've collected that aren't on the list so far from about 100 pages of TOT. It's the first edition, hardback, seems to be set the same as the paperbacks, but in any case that's the source of my pagination. I brought the list to work to use the Oxford Dictionary online and don't remember the context for a lot of them.
Anyway, this is just a start. I'm finding the vocabulary exercises educational but not necessarily a sign of great writing -- he's got some great turns of phrase but sometimes, in the Second Chronicles, it just gets almost silly.
adumbration (TOT121 et al.) Representation in outline, sketching; OR Overshadowing; shade, obscuration.
Arras (TOT110) A rich tapestry fabric, in which figures and scenes are woven in colours OR A hanging screen of this material formerly placed round the walls of household apartments, often at such a distance from them as to allow of people being concealed in the space between.
brachi ation (TOT192) The act of swinging from tree branches with the arms
carillon (TOT110) An air or melody played on the bells OR A musical instrument, or appendage to one, to imitate a peal of bells.
catenulate, adj. (TOT110) a. Bot. Formed of parts united end to end like the links of a chain. b. Zool. Having on the surface a series of oblong tubercles resembling a chain.
circinate, a.(TOT140) lit. Rounded, made circular; spec. applied to that mode of vernation or foliation in which the leaf is rolled up on its axis from the apex to the base like a crozier, as in most ferns.
I realize this one came up…
Corybantic (TOT109) from Corybant, A priest of the Phrygian worship of Cybele, which was performed with noisy and extravagant dances.
On TOT109 we have “chimes ringing in cotillion” which is “the name of several dances, chiefly of French origin, consisting of a variety of steps and figures.” Commonly used in the US as the name of a debuntante’s coming-out ball. Usage here is a bit unclear.
Cruse (TOT115) A small earthen vessel for liquids; a pot, jar, or bottle; also a drinking vessel.
Glode (TOT116) Oxford seems to think it’s an archaic alternate for “glade”
Glauconite (TOT109) Mineral -- Hydrous silicate of iron, potassium, and other bases, commonly called green earth.
Imbricated (TOT110) Composed of parts (leaves, scales, or the like) which overlap like tiles. Also, covered by overlapping leaves, scales, etc.
Jerrid (TOT135) variant of jerid, jereed, n. A wooden javelin, about five feet long, used in games by Persian, Turkish, and Arabian horsemen. Also, A game in which this is used.
Jacol (TOT109) an obselete form of jackal
lacustrine, adj. Of or pertaining to a lake or lakes.
orogenic, adj. Mountain-forming; concerned in the formation of mountains; orogenic belt, a strip of the earth's surface which has been subjected to folding or other deformation during an orogeny.
spilth That which is spilled; the action or fact of spilling.
thurible, n. A vessel in which incense is burnt in religious ceremonies; a censer.
thurifer One who carries burning incense in religious ceremonies; = prec.
travertine, -in A white or light-coloured concretionary limestone, usually hard and semi-crystalline, deposited from water holding lime in solution; also called travertine stone; quarried in Italy for building.
Also, is there a reason that all the words have question-marks by them even when the definitions are correct? It kind of makes the person using the list feel like all the entries could be wrong.
I started rereading the Second Chronicles and was stubbornly refusing to read with a dictionary by my side through TWL, but once you get to the Elohim in TOT, there is an explosion of crazy words. This whole list is those I've collected that aren't on the list so far from about 100 pages of TOT. It's the first edition, hardback, seems to be set the same as the paperbacks, but in any case that's the source of my pagination. I brought the list to work to use the Oxford Dictionary online and don't remember the context for a lot of them.
Anyway, this is just a start. I'm finding the vocabulary exercises educational but not necessarily a sign of great writing -- he's got some great turns of phrase but sometimes, in the Second Chronicles, it just gets almost silly.
adumbration (TOT121 et al.) Representation in outline, sketching; OR Overshadowing; shade, obscuration.
Arras (TOT110) A rich tapestry fabric, in which figures and scenes are woven in colours OR A hanging screen of this material formerly placed round the walls of household apartments, often at such a distance from them as to allow of people being concealed in the space between.
brachi ation (TOT192) The act of swinging from tree branches with the arms
carillon (TOT110) An air or melody played on the bells OR A musical instrument, or appendage to one, to imitate a peal of bells.
catenulate, adj. (TOT110) a. Bot. Formed of parts united end to end like the links of a chain. b. Zool. Having on the surface a series of oblong tubercles resembling a chain.
circinate, a.(TOT140) lit. Rounded, made circular; spec. applied to that mode of vernation or foliation in which the leaf is rolled up on its axis from the apex to the base like a crozier, as in most ferns.
I realize this one came up…
Corybantic (TOT109) from Corybant, A priest of the Phrygian worship of Cybele, which was performed with noisy and extravagant dances.
On TOT109 we have “chimes ringing in cotillion” which is “the name of several dances, chiefly of French origin, consisting of a variety of steps and figures.” Commonly used in the US as the name of a debuntante’s coming-out ball. Usage here is a bit unclear.
Cruse (TOT115) A small earthen vessel for liquids; a pot, jar, or bottle; also a drinking vessel.
Glode (TOT116) Oxford seems to think it’s an archaic alternate for “glade”
Glauconite (TOT109) Mineral -- Hydrous silicate of iron, potassium, and other bases, commonly called green earth.
Imbricated (TOT110) Composed of parts (leaves, scales, or the like) which overlap like tiles. Also, covered by overlapping leaves, scales, etc.
Jerrid (TOT135) variant of jerid, jereed, n. A wooden javelin, about five feet long, used in games by Persian, Turkish, and Arabian horsemen. Also, A game in which this is used.
Jacol (TOT109) an obselete form of jackal
lacustrine, adj. Of or pertaining to a lake or lakes.
orogenic, adj. Mountain-forming; concerned in the formation of mountains; orogenic belt, a strip of the earth's surface which has been subjected to folding or other deformation during an orogeny.
spilth That which is spilled; the action or fact of spilling.
thurible, n. A vessel in which incense is burnt in religious ceremonies; a censer.
thurifer One who carries burning incense in religious ceremonies; = prec.
travertine, -in A white or light-coloured concretionary limestone, usually hard and semi-crystalline, deposited from water holding lime in solution; also called travertine stone; quarried in Italy for building.
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[Syl]
- Unfettered One
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I'd also like to add the word "grue" from Ch. 4 of WGW. As far as I know, a grue is something that will eat you if you walk around in the dark for too long.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
-George Steiner
-George Steiner
Oh yeah, grue is a weird one. Apparently it can be to shudder, a shudder, a crane (the bird), and also a sinister lurking thing, which usage rose, according to the internet, from computer gamers.
"Valliantly, they went back to their battle with the bitter grue of the sea."
"Valliantly, they went back to their battle with the bitter grue of the sea."
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stephen R. Donaldson Ate My Dictionary
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stephen R. Donaldson Ate My Dictionary
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zenslinger
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wayfriend
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I'm fairly sure that as an adjective ambergrised merely means "tarnished", and does not connote anything about whale mucous. Wish I could find something to back it up, but I can't. I have a recollection that certain kinds of surfaces will weather so that they have mottled, marbly appearance, which is called "ambergrised".Murrin (a year ago) wrote:ambergrised - my opinion - if ambergris is an ashen colour, then ambergrised must be reference to going grey-faced.
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I looked in the OED for ambergrised, and only got "whale slime" definitions. Though it seems almost certain it has other meanings/connotations.
"A few shreds of red cloth marked the place of Memla's death, unambergrised by any grave or chance for mourning."
-TWL
"A few shreds of red cloth marked the place of Memla's death, unambergrised by any grave or chance for mourning."
-TWL
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stephen R. Donaldson Ate My Dictionary
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stephen R. Donaldson Ate My Dictionary
Man that is brilliant. I will not claim any responsibility for your quest but i will claim something for starting the interest on these boards.W.B. wrote:I have a long list that should be pretty comprehensive at naples.net/~dsaddison/srdamd/ if you'd like something to print out. I like this format also, since people get to interact and laugh about the words SRD comes up with.
I have not visited Kevins Watch for over a year and that thread keeps going.
Caesure
For those now reading Runes, how would you pronounce "Caesure"? I think the root is Latin caesus, "Fallen", and the "C" was originally hard (as "k", not "s"). But I find I want to pronoucne it almost like Caesar, though that sounds wrong. Anyone else?
Try www.dictionary.com or www.merriam-webster.com, both online dictionaries, both of which have pronunciation keys and etymology notation.
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stephen R. Donaldson Ate My Dictionary
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stephen R. Donaldson Ate My Dictionary