Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Wondrous Words Wednesday - October 6, 2010

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy aka Bermuda Onion where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. Feel free to join in the fun.

SAFE FROM THE SEA by Peter Geye

bosun - The first, a black-and-white snapshot of five men standing on the main deck of the Ragnarok and two others suspended over the side, one in a bosun's chair, the other on a rope ladder, looked like something out of a a Life magazine pictorial. (p.40)

bosun: a warrant officer on a warship, or a petty officer on a merchant vessel, in charge of rigging, anchors, cables, etc.

analemma - It was beautiful, a tarnished nickel-silver pocket watch with an analemma on its face. (p.101)

analemma: a scale shaped like the figure 8, showing the declination of the sun and the equation of time for each day of the year.

seiches - No thought of wind, no thought of drifting, of the seiches. (p. 176)

seich: an occasional and sudden oscillation of the water of a lake, bay, estuary, etc., producing fluctuations in the water level and caused by wind, earthquakes, changes in barometric pressure, etc.

What new words did you discover this week?

1 comment:

bermudaonion said...

I knew bosun, but only because my dad was in the Navy - I remember him talking about the bosun's mate. Thanks for participating today!