Post by Admin on Aug 25, 2016 21:54:13 GMT
Supposedly this was one of Gorey's own personal favorites of his (The Strange Case of Edward Gorey, p.145).
Here is a list of definitions of some of the more obscure words found in TNF (effectively most of them).
nursery - 1. A place where nursing is carried on. 2. That which forms and educates.
frieze - 1. (architecture) A long, horizontal, narrow band, often decorated with relief sculpture, that runs along the architrave of a Greek temple or another building (sketch). The Parthenon frieze is the most famous, and perhaps the most elaborate. 2. (interior decoration) A long stretch of painted, sculpted or even calligraphic decoration, as along the upper part of a wall in a room. Frieze decorations may depict scenes in a sequence of discrete panels.
page 1
Archipelago - A chain, cluster or collection of islands (derived from Italian "the Chief Sea, the Aegean Sea")
cardamon - Cardamom (aka Cardamon or Cardamum) is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia and Nepal.
obloquy - 1. strong public condemnation, 2. disgrace suffered from abusive language or false accusations
Ignavia - Italian for sloth, indolence
samisen - The shamisen, or samisen, is a three-stringed Japanese musical instrument (video)
Gavelkind - System of land tenure associated chiefly with the county of Kent, but also found in Ireland, Wales, and some other parts of England. Under this law, land was divided equally among sons or other heirs. The custom was finally abolished in 1925.
turmeric - A rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to southern Asia.
imbat - A type of dry north wind which blows in the eastern Mediterranean. (From Turkish)
cedilla - A hook or tail ( ¸ ) added under certain letters as a diacritical mark to modify their pronunciation. Languages that use the cedilla in their alphabet incl. Albanian, Turkish, Kurdish, Zazaki, Catalan, French, and Portuguese. (From Spanish)
page 2
Cassation - 1. Cancellation or annulment by a higher authority. (From Latin "destroy") 2. A piece of instrumental music of the eighteenth century similar to the serenade, and often performed outdoors. (From Italian)
hendiadys - A figure of speech used for emphasis — 'The substitution of a conjunction for a subordination'. The basic idea is to use two words linked by the conjunction "and" instead of the one modifying the other. F.ex., "sound and fury" (Macbeth) seems to offer a more striking image than "furious sound". (from Ancient Greek "one+through+two")
quincunx - An arrangement of five objects with four at the corners of a square or rectangle and the fifth at its centre, used for the five on a dice or playing card, and in planting trees.
Corposant - An electrical discharge accompanied by a corona of ionization in the surrounding atmosphere; aka St Elmo's fire (weather phenomenon). (From Latin "holy+body")
madrepore - A genus of stony corals, often found forming reefs or islands in tropical locations. (From Italian "mother+pore")
ophicleide - A keyed brass baritone bugle, now replaced by the tuba in orchestral music.
Jequirity - A legume native to Indonesia (southeast Asia) with long, pinnate-leafleted leaves, whose toxic seeds ("jequirity bean") may be used as beads or in percussion instruments.
sphagnum - Any of various widely distributed mosses, of the genus Sphagnum, which slowly decompose to form peat.
page 3
Aceldema - "'Aceldama' is the Aramaic word for the Potter’s Field in Jerusalem bought with the 30 pieces of silver Judas Iscariot earned for betraying Jesus. In other words, it’s a place where strangers who die in a land they don’t know can be laid to rest." (source)
lunistice - The farthest point of the moon's northing and southing, in its monthly revolution. (As opposed to solstice.)
yarborough - (card games) A hand, in bridge or whist, that has no card with a value greater than nine (and no aces), though in some circles it is no card above a ten. (After the second Earl of Yarborough, b. 1809, who supposedly bet 1,000 to 1 that such a hand would not occur.)
Febrifuge - A medicine used to reduce fever.
geranium - 1. The common name for flowering plants of the genus Pelargonium. 2. A bright red color tinted with orange, like that of a scarlet geranium.
Opopanax - A perfume made from the gum resin of various trees.
baize - A thick, soft, usually woolen cloth resembling felt; often colored green and used for coverings on card tables, billiard and snooker tables, etc.
page 4
Hellebore - Evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Many species are poisonous. (From Greek "to injure+food") Aka "Christmas Rose," "Winter Rose." Has mythologic associations.
obelus - Commonly called the division sign; this being the symbol: ÷ (From the Ancient Greek word for "sharpened stick, spit, or pointed pillar"; same root as that of the word obelisk)
cartilage - A resilient and smooth elastic tissue, covering and protecting the ends of the long bones at joints, and is a structural component of many body components (e.g. rib cage, ear, nose)
antigropelos - waterproof leggings / galoshes (coined in 19th century England)
piacle - A heinous offense which requires expiation.
occamy - An alloy imitating gold or silver. (a corruption of alchemy)
Maremma - The coastal plain of southern Tuscany and northern Lazio, Italy.
accismus - Feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it. (From Ancient Greek for "prudery")
badigeon - A cement or paste (as of plaster and freestone, or of sawdust and glue or lime) used by sculptors and builders to fill holes, cover defects, or finish a surface. (From French)
epistle - 1. A letter, or a literary composition in the form of a letter. 2. One of the letters included as a book of the New Testament. (From Ancient Greek "I send a message")
page 5
[to be continued]
Source: Most definitions taken from wiktionary.
Repeatedly found themes: Italy/Italian; the sea; Zingiberaceae spices; plants/flowers; musical instruments; (southern) Asia
There actually is some method to this cavalcade of obscure words, which is very fun to discover on your own. I encourage you to try it, but if you give up, here it is:
Here is a list of definitions of some of the more obscure words found in TNF (effectively most of them).
nursery - 1. A place where nursing is carried on. 2. That which forms and educates.
frieze - 1. (architecture) A long, horizontal, narrow band, often decorated with relief sculpture, that runs along the architrave of a Greek temple or another building (sketch). The Parthenon frieze is the most famous, and perhaps the most elaborate. 2. (interior decoration) A long stretch of painted, sculpted or even calligraphic decoration, as along the upper part of a wall in a room. Frieze decorations may depict scenes in a sequence of discrete panels.
page 1
Archipelago - A chain, cluster or collection of islands (derived from Italian "the Chief Sea, the Aegean Sea")
cardamon - Cardamom (aka Cardamon or Cardamum) is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia and Nepal.
obloquy - 1. strong public condemnation, 2. disgrace suffered from abusive language or false accusations
Ignavia - Italian for sloth, indolence
samisen - The shamisen, or samisen, is a three-stringed Japanese musical instrument (video)
Gavelkind - System of land tenure associated chiefly with the county of Kent, but also found in Ireland, Wales, and some other parts of England. Under this law, land was divided equally among sons or other heirs. The custom was finally abolished in 1925.
turmeric - A rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to southern Asia.
imbat - A type of dry north wind which blows in the eastern Mediterranean. (From Turkish)
cedilla - A hook or tail ( ¸ ) added under certain letters as a diacritical mark to modify their pronunciation. Languages that use the cedilla in their alphabet incl. Albanian, Turkish, Kurdish, Zazaki, Catalan, French, and Portuguese. (From Spanish)
page 2
Cassation - 1. Cancellation or annulment by a higher authority. (From Latin "destroy") 2. A piece of instrumental music of the eighteenth century similar to the serenade, and often performed outdoors. (From Italian)
hendiadys - A figure of speech used for emphasis — 'The substitution of a conjunction for a subordination'. The basic idea is to use two words linked by the conjunction "and" instead of the one modifying the other. F.ex., "sound and fury" (Macbeth) seems to offer a more striking image than "furious sound". (from Ancient Greek "one+through+two")
quincunx - An arrangement of five objects with four at the corners of a square or rectangle and the fifth at its centre, used for the five on a dice or playing card, and in planting trees.
Corposant - An electrical discharge accompanied by a corona of ionization in the surrounding atmosphere; aka St Elmo's fire (weather phenomenon). (From Latin "holy+body")
madrepore - A genus of stony corals, often found forming reefs or islands in tropical locations. (From Italian "mother+pore")
ophicleide - A keyed brass baritone bugle, now replaced by the tuba in orchestral music.
Jequirity - A legume native to Indonesia (southeast Asia) with long, pinnate-leafleted leaves, whose toxic seeds ("jequirity bean") may be used as beads or in percussion instruments.
sphagnum - Any of various widely distributed mosses, of the genus Sphagnum, which slowly decompose to form peat.
page 3
Aceldema - "'Aceldama' is the Aramaic word for the Potter’s Field in Jerusalem bought with the 30 pieces of silver Judas Iscariot earned for betraying Jesus. In other words, it’s a place where strangers who die in a land they don’t know can be laid to rest." (source)
lunistice - The farthest point of the moon's northing and southing, in its monthly revolution. (As opposed to solstice.)
yarborough - (card games) A hand, in bridge or whist, that has no card with a value greater than nine (and no aces), though in some circles it is no card above a ten. (After the second Earl of Yarborough, b. 1809, who supposedly bet 1,000 to 1 that such a hand would not occur.)
Febrifuge - A medicine used to reduce fever.
geranium - 1. The common name for flowering plants of the genus Pelargonium. 2. A bright red color tinted with orange, like that of a scarlet geranium.
Opopanax - A perfume made from the gum resin of various trees.
baize - A thick, soft, usually woolen cloth resembling felt; often colored green and used for coverings on card tables, billiard and snooker tables, etc.
page 4
Hellebore - Evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Many species are poisonous. (From Greek "to injure+food") Aka "Christmas Rose," "Winter Rose." Has mythologic associations.
obelus - Commonly called the division sign; this being the symbol: ÷ (From the Ancient Greek word for "sharpened stick, spit, or pointed pillar"; same root as that of the word obelisk)
cartilage - A resilient and smooth elastic tissue, covering and protecting the ends of the long bones at joints, and is a structural component of many body components (e.g. rib cage, ear, nose)
antigropelos - waterproof leggings / galoshes (coined in 19th century England)
piacle - A heinous offense which requires expiation.
occamy - An alloy imitating gold or silver. (a corruption of alchemy)
Maremma - The coastal plain of southern Tuscany and northern Lazio, Italy.
accismus - Feigning disinterest in something while actually desiring it. (From Ancient Greek for "prudery")
badigeon - A cement or paste (as of plaster and freestone, or of sawdust and glue or lime) used by sculptors and builders to fill holes, cover defects, or finish a surface. (From French)
epistle - 1. A letter, or a literary composition in the form of a letter. 2. One of the letters included as a book of the New Testament. (From Ancient Greek "I send a message")
page 5
[to be continued]
Source: Most definitions taken from wiktionary.
Repeatedly found themes: Italy/Italian; the sea; Zingiberaceae spices; plants/flowers; musical instruments; (southern) Asia
There actually is some method to this cavalcade of obscure words, which is very fun to discover on your own. I encourage you to try it, but if you give up, here it is:
Every fourth word rhymes with each other, although it changes every eight words: tacks / wax, cedilla / vanilla, paste / distaste, cranium / geranium, baize / maze, etc.
I'm still around and hoping for people to show up though. Hit me up if you have any ideas re:this forum.
Thank you for the nice visiting message, nonetheless! In case you ever get interested enough to dive into the works of Edward Gorey, the forum is here for you.
I'll create a welcome thread for you to continue the conversation