Wondrous Words Wednesday
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Feel free to get creative! If you want to play along, grab the button, write a post and come back and add your link to Mr. Linky!
This week’s words are from The Betrayers by David Bezmozgis.
1. shtetl – “A life of shtetl dimensions.”
A shtetl is a small Jewish town or village found in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust.
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2. imbroglio – “And for much of the day now he and Leora had been traveling, beginning with the surreptitious early-morning flight from Tel Aviv to Kiev, another from Kiev to Simferopol, the bus from there to Yalta, and then the imbroglio with the hotel.”
An imbroglio is an intricate or complicated situation.
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3. refusenik – “Kotler came to know them in Israel at the periodic gatherings of former refuseniks.”
I could figure this one out but I was curious to see if it’s actually a word so I looked it up. Refusenik is in my dictionary and it is a Soviet citizen, especially a Jew, who is refused permission to emigrate.
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What words do you want to celebrate today?
I actually know all of these this week, even without context clues. All of the quotes from the book make it seem like it will be exciting, but possibly sad or scary.
The prompt at Top Ten Tuesday was to name one’s top ten top ten prompts of the last five years. As I browsed through others’ posts, I was astonished to see how many people mentioned the prompt from September of 2010, Top Ten Words I Love. Lots of word lovers out here in book land.
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Knew all 3 words but only the definition of shtetl. Thought imbroglio was a dispute and refusenik was a Soviet citizen who defied the government. So close…and, yet, definitely so far.
Imbroglio sounds as though it should be a pasta dish! Or a soup!
I knew the first one, the rest, not so much
I’ve used refusenik used many times in my life – but always the wrong way, it seems. I (and my friends) too thought it was someone who did the refusing. lol
Thanks for setting us straight. 🙂
I learned a new word, refusenik….Intriguing.
I knew imbroglio but the others are new to me!
I don’t even know how to begin pronouncing shtetl! But again, you have me very curious about this book!! You liking it?
I’ve never seen shtetl before. The other two, yes 🙂
Awesome words!
You’re getting a lot of words from that book!
Refusenik–I will remember that. I hope to use the word imbroglio one of these days. Excellent words, Kathy!
Great new words for me.
Imbroglio is a fun word – and I believe, with four children, I should have ample opportunity to use it this week! Thanks.
All new to me!
I’ve heard refusenik before and always thought it was a made-up word. Now I know!
Always learning something!!!