WORD MAN: RUSTICATE

Words For Writers: Rusticate

I'm reading A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, and I came across RUSTICATE.

So alarming did the state of my finances become, that I soon realized that I must either leave the metropolis and rusticate somewhere in the country...

Meaning: go to, live in, or spend time in the country: "a place to rusticate while other people made the decisions."

Another interesting word from the Sherlock Holmes book: PIQUANT. It means having a pleasantly sharp taste or appetizing flavor.

NEXT: (Holmes) is an expert SINGLESTICK PLAYER, boxer, and swordsman.

Singlestick is a martial art that uses a wooden stick as its weapon. It began as a way of training soldiers in the use of backswords (such as the saber or the cutlass).

NEXT: Dr. Watson just used the word NECROMANCER. It's a wizard or magician.

NEXT: The word CHIMERICAL showed up. Chimeric means (of a mythical animal) formed from parts of various animals: "the design is based on a chimeric creature with the body of a turtle and the head of a dragon." Minotaurs and centaurs are chimeras.

NEXT: Holmes mentions TRICHINOPOLY. It's another name for Tiruchirapalli, city, east-central Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India.

NEXT: Holmes says something SENTENTIOUSLY. Sententious means trying to appear wise, intelligent, and important, in a way that is annoying.

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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

WORD MAN: MULTIFARIOUS

🐙 Learn English Words: MULTIFARIOUS - Meaning, Vocabulary Video with Pictures and Examples

I'm reading the Isaac Asimov novel The Robots of Dawn and I just found the word MULTIFARIOUS. I assume it means many.

Meaning: many and of various types: "multifarious activities."

Similar: numerous, countless, innumerable.

I just came across the word PALLIATED. It means to "make (a disease or its symptoms) less severe without removing the cause."

Used in a sentence: "Treatment works by palliating symptoms; pharmaceutical drugs palliate, they do not cure."

Similar: alleviate, ease, relieve, soothe.

I had never seen STERTOROUSLY before Asimov used it. Stertorous means (of breathing) noisy and labored. (Sounds like Darth Vader.)

Used in a sentence: "The breathing was becoming less stertorous"; "a stertorous sigh."

MORE: FARRAGO, a confused mixture. "A farrago of fact and myth about Abraham Lincoln."

Similar: clutter, muddle, mess, confusion.

MORE: TETRASYLLABIC, tetrasyllabic words contain exactly four syllables. They're four-syllable words.

MORE: SENTENTIOUS, given to moralizing in a pompous or affected manner. "He tried to encourage his men with sententious rhetoric"

Similar: moralistic, moralizing, sanctimonious, self-righteous.

MORE: VERTIGINOUS, meaning extremely high or steep: "vertiginous drops to the valleys below."

Similar: steep, sheer, high, vertical.

MORE: EXCULPATE, show or declare that (someone) is not guilty of wrongdoing: "the article exculpated the mayor."

Similar: release, liberate, free, acquit, clear, absolve.

MORE: SUSURRATION, whispering or rustling: "the susurration of the river"

Similar: hum, humming, buzzing, murmur, drone, whir, whirring.

These aren't ALL of Asimov's big words in the book, just the most egregious.

✍️✍️✍️

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