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!
My first word came from a children’s book – The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower or John Howland’s Good Fortune by P. J. Lynch.
1. shallop – “Our biggest job was fixing up our large sailing boat, the shallop, which had been cut in four pieces for stowing between decks.”
I find it so interesting when a word has different meanings like this one. A shallop is a light sailboat or a large, heavy boat with one or more masts and sometimes equipped with guns. In this case, I think the author intended the former meaning.
_____________________________________________________
I found my next word in The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell.
2. pelagic – “I reasoned with myself that I had no real evidence about the washing of pelagic birds and it was probably just an old wives’ tale anyway.”
Pelagic means relating to or living in the sea far from shore.
_____________________________________________________
What words do you want to celebrate today?
I like the sound of both of those words. I hope I can remember the meanings!
I am always amazed at the extensive esoteric vocabulary associated with the sea, and the fact that so many uneducated (in days long ago) sailors could master this almost-a-second-language, showing that all people must have a lot of potential if only they have the opportunity. I actually have a (very large!) dictionary just for such words! And yet, I still have difficulty MASTering the words (ha ha)
Both words are new to me!
I’m glad that shallop has 2 meanings. I didn’t know either one of them! Oh, and I didn’t know pelagic either. Darn. I hate 0-fers.
Both are new to me but I think it’s really odd that shallop has two different meetings like that.
New to me words also. I am greatly underinformed when it comes to words about the sea or the shore. However, ask me about words about my part of the country and I would do better I think. Maybe I’ll have to do a post about indigenous words for the western plains and mountains.
It sounds as though you are reading lots of sea worthy books!
The context of your new words, like mine today, was no help in figuring out the definitions. That’s always frustrating, but one of the reasons we play this word game every week.
Seems like I should have known both words, but I didn’t.
Both new words to me as well! I hope you’re enjoying the Mayflower book.
Shallop was interesting, because of it’s two meanings
I have not heard these before
New ones for me. I’ve never heard the term pelagic birds.
Shallop is such a great word – I’m going to have to find a way to use it – it might be quite hard…
New to me. Shallop is interesting.