BIG WORDS

How to Use a Dictionary

I'm reading a Nero Wolfe book by Robert Goldsborough, and I just came upon two words that Archie Goodwin would not use. As the narrator, Goldsborough used milieu and misanthrope in the same sentence; those are words that Wolfe, not Archie, would use.

They're also words that Goldsborough would use.

By the way, a milieu is a person's social environment. A misanthrope is a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society.

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EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  BLUESKY: PROFILE

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• Slogging through the Internet

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• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

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BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

HE SMILED

FOUND IN A NOVEL: "Moreover," he smiled, "we may get a chance to trap the old boy himself."

I hate it when novelists have a character smiling instead of talking. He didn't smile it; he said it.

"Moreover," he said with a smile, "we may get a chance to trap the old boy himself."

This was from Louis L'Amour's novel Hondo. BTW, L'Amour wasn't the only writer to do this.

From the same novel, I found the word saturnine, which means gloomy.

Also, The charge ended, the rush was gone, the hillside was a barren and empty thing, alive with death.

It's a run-on sentence, but I love the imagery -- alive with death after a massacre.

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EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing