I’m still enjoying Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Just last night, I read the hilarious passage in which Scout recalls how she first learned about her “monthly curse” and planned to throw herself off the Maycomb water tower because she thought she was pregnant. Ah, the naivety of youth. 😉
Harper Lee certainly had a rich vocabulary. If you want to build up your word repertoire, join the Wondrous Words Wednesday fun with Kathy at Bermuda Onion. Bloggers share new words from their reading or ones that interest them.
Last night, Ms. Lee stumped me with gulosity. Have you heard of it before? Here’s a fun passage that shows some of the personality of the main characters of Watchman:
In spite of herself, Jean Louise [Scout] grinned. [Aunt] Alexandra could be relied upon to produce a malapropism on occasions, the most notable being her comment on the gulosity displayed by the youngest member of a Mobile Jewish family upon completing his thirteenth year: Alexandra declared that Aaron Stein was the greediest boy she had ever seen, that he ate fourteen ears of corn at his Menopause.
gulosity \g(y)ü-ˈlä-sə-tē\ noun from the Latin gulosus gluttonous, from gula gullet
- excessive appetite; greediness
According to Merriam-Webster, gulosity is a word for gluttony that is rarely used anymore.
Word Nerd Note: Were you stumped by malapropism? It means: an amusing error that happens when someone uses a word that sounds like another word but has a very different meaning. It’s derived from Mrs. Malaprop, a character prone to such verbal mishaps in the 1775 play The Rivals. The author, Richard Sheridan, got her name from the French term mal à propos, which means “inappropriate.” [Merriam-Webster] Often, young children are susceptible to such mix-ups. My youngest likes to call his comforter his “comfortable”. 😉
Word Nerd Workout
Can you think of a synonym for gulosity or a character from books or movies that demonstrates gulosity? How about Smaug the dragon’s gulosity over the treasure he hoarded in The Lonely Mountain in Tolkien’s The Hobbit? Or, please share a malapropism you’ve heard.
Thanks for getting nerdy with me.
I thought that might be related to gluttony. Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was the first character who popped into my mind.
Great word!
Let me know what you think about the novel as a whole. I have mixed feelings about it (and all the drama behind publishing it).
I knew malapropism, but not gulosity. It’s one of those words that sounds a bit like the definition, if that makes sense.
King Midas’ gulosity concerning his golden touch eventually starved him to death. And while not exactly a malapropism, my daughter says “play it by year.” She now knows it’s wrong, but she says it anyway.
Great words – I knew neither! These words are making me want to read the book (I love To Kill a Mockingbird so much it’s hard to reconcile another grown-up version of Jean Louise.) My youngest is also prone to hilarious malapropisms…”dorito” for “burrito” among others. We think it’s so funny that I hardly like to correct her 🙂
Great malapropism! 😉 We don’t correct the “comfortable” either.