Welcome to Wondrous Words Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onion. Visit Kathy’s blog for links to more word nerdy words.
I’m finally reading Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, and I’m intrigued. I love how Flynn uses alternating points of view to build tension between the husband and wife in this “marriage gone wrong” thriller. The opening line, from the POV of husband Nick, disturbed me:
When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.
Sounds like a murderer to me, but maybe that’s what Flynn wants me to think. I’ll have to read on and find out!
Here’s Nick again, speaking about his father’s Alzheimer’s:
… a slow decline into a sudden, steep drop that forced us to move our independent, misogynistic father to a giant home that stank of chicken broth and piss, where he’d be surrounded by women helping him at all times. Ha.
Great description, no? I had to look up misogynistic, but should have guessed at the meaning from the root gyn.
misogyny \mə-‘sä-jə-nē\ noun, from Greek misogynia, from misein to hate + gynē women; a hatred of women
Word Nerd Workout
Can you think of a misogynistic character, fictional or real? Tell us about him/her in the comments!
Thanks for getting nerdy with me!
Julia
Click to spread the word on Twitter: Vocab from #GoneGirl: misogynistic = hating women via @juliatomiak
I took some Women Studies classes in college where I learned that word. I mispronounced it the first time I had to say it in class — so check that if you’ve never heard it. The ‘o’ is the ‘o’ as in ‘odd’ and the ‘g’ is soft.
Thanks for the tips, Joy!
Misogyny has had a lot of use in Australia this past couple of years as sadly many people, including politicians and media personalities struggled with our first female Prime Minister.
I have come across misogynistic before always good to be reminded of the meaning.
Like Dianne, said there are too many examples of misogynists in real life – the Taliban was the first thing that popped into my head.
Every male character in the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series?
I only have to scan the headlines for some very disturbing examples of misogynistic. Almost 300 kidnapped girls to be sold into slavery in the name of religious extremism, for example.
A very timely, and tragic, example. I heard on the news today that more girls have been abducted, and I wonder “how can this happen in the 21st century?”