I’m joining in Burmuda Onion’s Wonderous Words Wedneday meme, a chance to share
interesting words we come across in books or other places.
This week, I’m going back to Jane Eyre. So much to learn! This excerpt is from early in the book, after Jane douses a fire set in Mr. Rochester’s bed while he was sleeping:
Though it was now dark, I knew he was awake; because I heard him fulminating strange anathemas at finding himself lying in a pool of water. [The punctuation is from the original text. I’m cringing at that semicolon; are you?]
Here’s the information from Webster’s:
fulminate \’ful-mə-nāt\ verb, from Latin fulminare, to flash with lightening; to utter or send out with denunciation; to make a sudden loud noise; to send forth censures or invectives
anathema \ə-‘nath-ə-mə\ noun, from Greek anatithenai, a thing devoted to evil ; a ban or curse pronounced by ecclesiastical authority, a vigorous denunciation, curse; one who is intensely disliked
Word Nerd Workout
I could ask you to share the most memorable anathemas you have used or heard, but I like to keep this blog PG. Instead, think of a memorable character, from fiction or your life, and imagine him or her “fulminating anathemas”. Now tell us about it, using one or both words, please. Here’s my example:
Henry DeTamble uttered a string of vile anathemas when he landed on his knees in a foot of snow; he was naked, of course.
(For those of you who don’t know, Henry travels through time. But he can’t take his clothes with him. This presents problems.)
Your turn. Share your replies below, and thanks for stopping by!
A Gift For You!
As the year ends, I’d like to thank my readers with the My Favorite Things Giveaway! Readers leaving a reply will enter into a drawing to win one my favorite books of 2012.
The details:
- You may enter by commenting on the blog between December 7 and December 19.
- Your comment must include your favorite book from 2012 and a short explanation of why you recommend it.
- Available anywhere Amazon ships.
- I will announce the winner on December 21.
- The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
If you don’t want either of these two, I’ll send you a B&N gift card and let you choose your own. I’m hoping that this giveaway will help us all find great books to read in 2013! Thanks for sharing your favorites!
From the Book of
ENOCH chap XCV
“4. Woe to you who FULMINATE ANATHEMAS which cannot be reversed:
Healing shall therefore be far from you because of your sins.”
Wow! That’s a great example. Thanks for playing. 😉
I think I am getting smarter, just by visiting your blog. What? Don’t laugh!
I won’t laugh, but I will smile; it makes me happy to help people “get smarter.” Glad to help!
The classics are great sources for new words. I knew both these fabulous words already, but have seen anathema in slightly different usage- “it’s anathema to me”. I’ve read Jane Eyre a few times, but hadn’t noticed this particular sentence. Fulminating anathemas would be a great blog title.
Yes, that would be a great title! And I have also heard the usage you shared in recent conversation. Yes, the classics are good sources for words- I just try to pick words that haven’t completely fallen out of usage!
Darn you autocorrect! When you use a comma . . .
Yes, auto correct is a blessing and an anathema… 🙂 Get it?
Sorry it took so long to get back to you on this, Julia. I was fulminating over the aforesaid anathema, surely a sui generis example of idiotic auto correct inanities:)
Have a wonderful day!
LOL. Wow. I can’t say anything to top that! I tip my hat to you, Benita!
And mine is gratefully doffed to you, too, Julia. I do love to think about grammar and sentence construction, and think revising is the best part of writing. Thanks for providing a wonderful forum to talk about words and writing!
Your example cracked me up! (I saw the movie, but didn’t read the book.)
The semi-colon is a bit odd there; because it should be a comma.
Oh you’ve got to read the book! I can’t imagine the movie did it justice. And glad I’m not the only one unnerved by the semicolon!
Suko and Julia,
I’m glad my faux pas sparked this discussion. I agree, the semi colon is wrong, but if you use a commie, you’ve got a run on sentence. My revision might be a period after propriety but my preference would be a colon to link the two independent clauses at the same place. Your votes?
Benita,
I can’t speak for Suko, but I was referring to the semicolon in the quote from Jane Eyre, between awake and because. (I make a comment about it within the body of the post). Your use of a semicolon in that fantastic sentence you contributed is perfectly fine since it’s used to link two independent clauses. So no worries there- I would never critique someone’s comment- this is meant to be a fun word nerdy exercise! But thanks for coming back to the conversation, and I’m so pleased to meet someone who ponders grammar as much as I do!!!
I recognize anathema when I see it but don’t think I could ever use it correctly.
Nice site with interesting content. OK, here goes. Mine is from Kate Atkinson’s “Case Histories.” I finished this delightful mystery last week, and especially loved the two sisters in the novel, Amelia and Julia.
“Amelia left the living room abruptly, fulminating over Julia’s provocative, flirtatious remarks to Mr. Brodie. Such brazen comments about his muscular arms was an anathema to Amelia’s sense of propriety; after all, their father’s ashes, probably still warm, were on the coffee table.
Wow! Fantastic sentence Benita! Such tantalizing details you drop. Thanks for the book suggestion- I haven’t read a mystery in awhile. I’m glad you enjoyed the blog, and I hope you’ll stop by again.
I’m trying to think of how to use this word in connection to the enemy. ?? I ‘m still thinking. 😉
This is my first visit to your blog. I love the way you “play” Wondrous Words Wednesday. It was fun to read. You also made me think back to that scene in Jane Eyre. I’m feeling an urge to reread that wonderful tale again.
Welcome Margot. Glad you enjoyed my post. Yes- it’s a big scene. You should pick up Jane Eyre again- it took me awhile to get into it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. Again.
Enjoyed these interesting words.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/12/wondrous-words-wednesday_12.html