Vocab from The Cuckoo’s Calling: Desultory

wondrous memeSometimes (or many times) when I read, I come across a word I should know but don’t. Please tell me this happens to you, too.  Thank goodness Kathy at Bermuda Onion hosts the “Wondrous Words Wednesday” meme so that I can share these words and learn in the process.

I’m currently reading The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, aka J. K. Rowling.  It’s the first of a new detective series based in London.  A famous model falls to her death in an apparent suicide, but Cormoran Strike, a private detective with a crumbling personal life, sets out to prove murder.

The Cuckoo’s Calling reads easily and offers a welcome diversion from holiday stress. However, since I’m usually exhausted when I read (at 10pm), I’m afraid I’m missing critical details.  We’ll see…  Here’s a sentence from, I’m so ashamed, the first page of the book.

cuckoo's callingFrom time to time there came outbreaks of desultory clicking, as the watchers filled the waiting time by snapping the white canvas tent in the middle of the road…

desultory \’de-sәl-tor-ē\ adj from Latin desultorius, which literally means of a circus rider jumping from horse to horse

  • marked by a lack of definite plan, regularity, or purpose
  • disappointing in progress, performance, or quality

What a great Latin origin!  I think the first meaning is used in the quote.

Word Nerd Workout

Can you think of a synonym for desultory?  I’m going to suggest a word popular with my teens: random.  Share yours in the comments.

Have you read The Cuckoo’s Calling?  What did you think?

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Julia 

Julia Tomiak
I believe in the power of words to improve our lives, and I help people find interesting words to read. Member of SCBWI.

7 Comments

  1. I don’t know about you, but I find myself somehow insulted when I come across a word I don’t know and can’t figure out. I definitely wouldn’t have guessed that one without looking it up. I did not know that was the origin – thanks for the detail!Meanwhile, I’m always glad to know a new word.
    For synonym…how about lackadaisical? I

  2. Hi, Julia! I have not read The Cuckoo’s Calling. I thought I’d know a good synonym for desultory, but I ended up having to look on the internet. Here are some: casual, cursory, superficial, token, and perfunctory.

  3. I thought I knew what this meant – but reading the definition I obviously didn’t! And yes, struck by the riders jumping from horse to horse…”without a definite plan?” or perhaps you just have to jump and not think about it too much. Like breathing. Too much thought makes me hyperventilate. Perhaps this is an upside to desultory. So interesting. I know that when I do not have a definite plan for the day, it feels quite desultory and unproductive. (Today I did get my run in 🙂

  4. I am immediately struck by the huge gap between the meaning of desultory and the origin of the word!! Because a circus rider might jump from horse to horse, but I certainly hope he/she has a plan in mind and a disappointing performance might end up with someone getting trampled!

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