Donaldson's Obscure Words - Official Thread

A place to discuss the books in the FC and SC. *Please Note* No LC spoilers allowed in this forum. Do so in the forum below.

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iQuestor
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Post by iQuestor »

what an awesome word site! thanks AmaniBhavam!!
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srdamd updates?

Post by Berenford »

Does anyone know if naples.net/~dsaddison/srdamd/ is being updated with respect to the Last Chronicles? I am reading Fatal Revenant now, and on pages 227 and 228 alone there are at least six words that are not on the list that should be:

peroration
eidolons
deliracy
delitescent
moiré
oneiric

Or is a list being maintained somewhere else?

Thanks,

Berenford
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Post by Landwaster »

Good to see this is still getting the odd guernsey in discussions :)
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Post by Berenford »

Perhaps we should add "guernsey" to the list?
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Post by Landwaster »

Heh, err ... 'run', 'turn', 'instance'.
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Post by Rocksister »

The list appears to have been abandoned. Anyone know if that is true? Anyway, I started today re-reading all eight books and am on chapter four of Lord Foul's Bane. THIS time, about the 15th reading of the series, I am making a list of the words of whose meaning I am not sure. I think in the context they are in, I can get the general gyst of what they mean, but I am not sure. So, how does this work? Do we find the definitions ourselves, or just enter the words and let the originator of this thread enter them, if the thread still lives? Here are words I have written down so far, in only the first 38 pages!!! My "guessed" meaning is off to the right. All are missing from the list in original post:

doggerel-annoying little song
bonhomie-stuffy,snobby attitude
perorations-speeches attempting persuasion
recidivists-NO IDEA
excoriated-self-abased
vertiginous-to do with verigo, as in heights or things that make TC feel
the same way that vertigo does
picar-spear
dais-platform
chiaroscuro-blaze (fire)
monody-simple melody

By the time I get to FR, I think I will fill up an entire notebook. Please someone let me know if this topic is dead.....I will have much more as time goes by. Thanks.
Heard my ears aright? Did not the gaddhi grant me this glaive?


One must have strength to judge the weakness of others. I am not so mighty. Lord Mhoram in TIW
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Landwaster
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Post by Landwaster »

Rocksister wrote:The list appears to have been abandoned. Anyone know if that is true? Anyway, I started today re-reading all eight books and am on chapter four of Lord Foul's Bane. THIS time, about the 15th reading of the series, I am making a list of the words of whose meaning I am not sure. I think in the context they are in, I can get the general gyst of what they mean, but I am not sure. So, how does this work? Do we find the definitions ourselves, or just enter the words and let the originator of this thread enter them, if the thread still lives? Here are words I have written down so far, in only the first 38 pages!!! My "guessed" meaning is off to the right. All are missing from the list in original post:

doggerel-annoying little song
bonhomie-stuffy,snobby attitude
perorations-speeches attempting persuasion
recidivists-NO IDEA
excoriated-self-abased
vertiginous-to do with verigo, as in heights or things that make TC feel
the same way that vertigo does
picar-spear
dais-platform
chiaroscuro-blaze (fire)
monody-simple melody

By the time I get to FR, I think I will fill up an entire notebook. Please someone let me know if this topic is dead.....I will have much more as time goes by. Thanks.
Yeah, I'm unfortunately distracted by medical stuff (my wife is unwell) so cannot check in too often. Funnily enough, I'm now living in the USA (Santa Cruz), but living out of motels and all time is taken up being a caretaker.

If anyone would like to take over the updating, I wouldn't be offended :D
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Relayer
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Post by Relayer »

A bit of material from the man himself...
In the Gradual Interview SRD wrote:I’ve talked about “vocabulary” in the “Covenant” books before--and doubtless will again. I hasten to say that I do not use a thesaurus. Nor is there anything “careful” about my research. I simply love words, partly for their sound, and partly for their power to enable thought. So when I read, I make lists of unfamiliar words. And when my lists reach a certain mass, I indulge in word orgies, looking up sounds and meanings without regard to their potential relevance or usefulness. You might say that I’m trying to furnish my mind with the raw materials necessary for what I want to write by “mining” other people’s vocabularies. On some level, however, I do acquire the raw materials for their own sake; and I value them whether or not they ever serve my purposes.

(04/14/2008)
"History is a myth men have agreed upon." - Napoleon

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dougkeenan
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Post by dougkeenan »

"wordgies" ?
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Audio Covenant
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Post by Audio Covenant »

Landwaster wrote:
Rocksister wrote:The list appears to have been abandoned. Anyone know if that is true? Anyway, I started today re-reading all eight books and am on chapter four of Lord Foul's Bane. THIS time, about the 15th reading of the series, I am making a list of the words of whose meaning I am not sure. I think in the context they are in, I can get the general gyst of what they mean, but I am not sure. So, how does this work? Do we find the definitions ourselves, or just enter the words and let the originator of this thread enter them, if the thread still lives? Here are words I have written down so far, in only the first 38 pages!!! My "guessed" meaning is off to the right. All are missing from the list in original post:

doggerel-annoying little song
bonhomie-stuffy,snobby attitude
perorations-speeches attempting persuasion
recidivists-NO IDEA
excoriated-self-abased
vertiginous-to do with verigo, as in heights or things that make TC feel
the same way that vertigo does
picar-spear
dais-platform
chiaroscuro-blaze (fire)
monody-simple melody

By the time I get to FR, I think I will fill up an entire notebook. Please someone let me know if this topic is dead.....I will have much more as time goes by. Thanks.
Yeah, I'm unfortunately distracted by medical stuff (my wife is unwell) so cannot check in too often. Funnily enough, I'm now living in the USA (Santa Cruz), but living out of motels and all time is taken up being a caretaker.

If anyone would like to take over the updating, I wouldn't be offended :D
I'm sorry to hear about your wife, Landwaster, I hope she's better. I'm a new member, and I'm humbled reading through this string. I've been posting a lot recently because I'm a narrator, I just got done recording two of the Covenant titles as audiobooks, and I lived with this list for months. It's literally taped up on my studio door for easy reference. The crazy thing is, I had no idea you'd done all this work, so I looked these all up myself...! If only I'd checked in here first. I spent HOURS tracking down some of these words. I just found this string tonight and keep shaking my head, thinking how much work I could've saved myself. :oops:

I'm curious which source you used for the pronunciations? You might have answered that somewhere along the way, I admit I skimmed over parts. When recording I usually rely on Merriam-Webster.com, but it's not so good on the really obscure stuff. And from all my research, I've found that dictionaries actually disagree with one another; that really threw me the first time I came across that. You'd think English would be somewhat standardized, but not so much. As a result, a few of the words you have up here wound up being pronounced differently in the audios, probably just because I was looking them up in another dictionary.

I wish I could post a picture of the word list on my door: it's four pages long, and it's just the words from FATAL REVENANT. The crazy thing is, all the invented words, names and phrases are just over a page long, but the REAL words are almost three pages' worth! There's an irony in there somewhere, but it's late and I'm tired. I'll sign off now by commending you again for all this work.

Best,

Scott Brick
Are you a storyteller, Thomas Covenant?

I was, once.

And you gave it up? Ah, that is as sad a tale in three words as any you might have told me. But a life without a tale is like a sea without salt. How do you live?

I live.

Another? In two words, a story sadder than the first. Say no more -- with one word you will make me weep.
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Post by Berenford »

Wow, a post from *the* Scott Brick! I can't count the number of audiobooks I've listened to you read. I'm not surprised to hear that you do extensive preparation for your narrations - the level of professionalism really shows.

(I have the Runes of the Earth audiobook, but haven't seen a Fatal Revenant release yet. Do you have any info?)

Oops: I only just now saw your post (kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15168) that explains that there is a FR audiobook.
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Post by Audio Covenant »

Berenford wrote:Wow, a post from *the* Scott Brick! I can't count the number of audiobooks I've listened to you read. I'm not surprised to hear that you do extensive preparation for your narrations - the level of professionalism really shows.

(I have the Runes of the Earth audiobook, but haven't seen a Fatal Revenant release yet. Do you have any info?)

Oops: I only just now saw your post (kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15168) that explains that there is a FR audiobook.
Darn, and here I thought I was going to be able to post the information again! :lol:

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it. And thanks for listening so much, you're helping me pay my mortgage! Hope you like the new ones.

Best,

Scott
Are you a storyteller, Thomas Covenant?

I was, once.

And you gave it up? Ah, that is as sad a tale in three words as any you might have told me. But a life without a tale is like a sea without salt. How do you live?

I live.

Another? In two words, a story sadder than the first. Say no more -- with one word you will make me weep.
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Post by Rocksister »

Sorry about your situation, Landwaster. I also love words, as SRD said, but I don't do the orgy thing. Vocabulary is a hobby, albeit not a fanatical one, and his books make me think about my poverty in that area. Audio, your sig line is one of my favorite passages in the series. Foamfollower is the most endearing character in the first trilogy, IMHO.
Heard my ears aright? Did not the gaddhi grant me this glaive?


One must have strength to judge the weakness of others. I am not so mighty. Lord Mhoram in TIW
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Post by Roynish »

Ahh Donaldsons beautiful words getting a blast. Love it...
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Post by W.B. »

I can't resist adding to the list, even a year after the fact: :wink:

recidivist - one who relapses; specifically a habitual criminal
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Stephen R. Donaldson Ate My Dictionary
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Post by Barnetto »

Atrabilious = (1) gloomy; morose; melancholy; morbid.
(2) irritable; bad-tempered; splenetic

Is this still the right place for these?
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Post by wayfriend »

Barnetto wrote:Is this still the right place for these?
Anyone who doesn't think so is splenetic.
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Post by W.B. »

Whoo! Which of the books did that come from?
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
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Post by Blackhawk »

Excellent Landwaster.. its easier to link to your post than to look in the dictionary ;) thx
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Post by Orlion »

Bump it, yo's!
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Govern the reasoning creature, man.
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Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all!

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