Words – Page 5 – Fiction Aficionado

Word Nerd Wednesday – Nicky Woop Pt II

It would seem I need to congratulate everyone who commented on last week’s Word Nerd Wednesday post, because you all managed to work out what it means to nicky woop. For those of you who have suffered sleepless nights this week wondering what the answer is, I’ll now put you out of your misery! 😄 nicky woop (v) – Australian slang meaning ‘go away’ Some of those who commented gave me some other slang terms that mean the same thing: Beat it! Skidaddle! And it got me to thinking, how many ways are there to say ‘go away’? Is there

15 February 2017

Word Nerd Wednesday – Misdoubt

Welcome to another edition of Word Nerd Wednesday 🙂 And a special welcome to my first ever guest for Word Nerd Wednesday: Angela K. Couch. Angela’s first full-length novel, The Scarlet Coat, released last week (you can read my review here), and I thought, “Why not see if Angela has come across a word in her research that she would like to share with us.” As it happens, she did. And she would! And the word she’s going to share with us is misdoubt. It may look like a fairly self-explanatory word, but stick around for a minute and you

1 February 2017

Word Nerd Wednesday – Slangwhanger (Part II)

Welcome to Word Nerd Wednesday. If you caught last week’s post you’ll remember we were discussing the word slangwhanger; or more correctly, I put the word out there and asked you to tell me what you thought it meant. Some people were definitely on the right track with their definitions, and others were very creative! But now the time has come for me to reveal the truth. So without further ado, here is the definition of slangwhanger: A slangwhanger is a loud, abusive speaker or an obnoxiously offensive writer. The slang part of the word is a good clue to

25 January 2017

Word Nerd Wednesday – Slangwhanger

Okay, we’re going to have some fun on Word Nerd Wednesday today! I’ve just finished reading the second book in Sandra Orchard’s Serena Jones series: Another Day, Another Dali.* (It’s a fabulous series, if you haven’t read it yet.) In the novels there is a minor character—a neighbour of Serena’s—who loves to help expand people’s vocabularies by giving them a ‘word of the day’ to incorporate into everyday speech. And he comes up with some doozies! One of the words he comes out with is ‘slangwhanger’. I admit it: I got the giggles. I mean, who comes up with

18 January 2017

Word Nerd Wednesday – What Do You Call It?

Here’s something new for 2017! I’ve dubbed Wednesday ‘Word Nerd Wednesday’, which is hopefully fairly self-explanatory. If not, don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it 🙂 Hopefully I’ll also get the hang of actually posting them by Wednesday… 🙄 This week’s Word Nerd post is weather inspired. You see, while I have been sitting here roasting in the Australian summer heat, many of my northern hemisphere friends have been posting their winter wonderland pictures. One comment led to another (as it often does on Facebook), and had me asking one friend, “What do you call them?” Meaning: I call

12 January 2017

Ordinary Words with Extraordinary Impact

There are some fascinating words in the English language, but sometimes even ordinary words can be used in an unexpected way, and it’s like a snowball hitting you – smack! – in the forehead. See if you can spot the word that did it in this paragraph: As they both prepared for battle, perfect calm settled on the snow and stirred the trees. Lazy white clouds crisscrossed overhead. The serene moment drew out and then curdled to crackling anticipation. The Preacher’s Lady – Lori Copeland I don’t know about you, but I had a visceral reaction when I read

27 February 2016

My New Favourite Word

I came across this article today on The Huffington Post and fell in love at first sight: ultracrepidarian (adj) – noting or pertaining to a person who criticizes, judges, or gives advice outside the area of his or her expertise; (n) – an ultracrepidarian person. If that is not the best word you have heard in a long time then you had better tell me what is because I need to know it! Now to find an appropriate time to slip it into a conversation…

22 December 2015

Word Painting

Here is a positively delicious adjective if you can find the right moment to use it: evanescent (adj) – soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing. I first came across this word in a poem by Australian poet A.B. (Banjo) Paterson, Sunrise on the Coast (it’s in the last stanza, but I thought you might like to read the whole thing since it’s only four stanzas long): Grey dawn on the sandhills – the night wind has drifted All night from the rollers a scent of the sea; With the dawn the grey fog his

17 December 2015

The power of fiction, the beauty of words, and the God who made us to wield them for His glory.