Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Wondrous Words Wednesday


Kathy over at Bermudaonion's Weblog hosts Wondrous Words Wednesday. If you come across a word (or two) while reading that is new to you and would like to share your new knowledge, then hop over to Kathy's place and link up!

This week I've been reading Shroud of Darkness by E. C. R. Lorac and have found the following:

Noisome:

1. Having an extremely offensive smell.
2. Disagreeable; unpleasant

Context: So they proceeded up the carriageway, while the thickest "London particular" for half a century swirled round them, noisome, poisonous, terrifying: a monster of a fog, strangling all movement in the streets, weighing down the cheerful, terrifying the fearful, dealing death to the frail.

Soignée
: Elegant, well-groomed, sophisticated (you would think more of that French I took would have stuck)

Context: She had dark, straight hair, cropped like a man's, very soignée and well brushed, and dark eye with George-Robeyish eyebrows.

9 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Those are both new to me. I would have guessed noisome wrong. I'm going to have to try to remember that word! Thanks for participating.

Bev Hankins said...

You would think that noisome would come from noise...

Buffy said...

Fun, Bev -- I am hopeless when it comes to French pronunciation, sadly -- especially unfortunate when reading Christie aloud to my daughter.


Here's mine:

http://situationswhereyoumayneedit.blogspot.com/2011/03/wondrous-words-wednesday.html

Audra said...

Soignée!! what a gorgeous word!

Anonymous said...

Very interesting words and all new to me! Here is mine: http://myonlinebookjournal.wordpress.com.

Annie said...

I knew ...the second'one. It's the same meaning in French, but not the first one which doesn'tmatch with the idea of "soignée!"

Tea said...

Like the second word. Bet it's very pretty when pronounced.

Anonymous said...

I just learned two new words, thanks!

Joy Weese Moll said...

Great words. I know I've seen noisome before and I suspect I guessed wrong about what it meant!