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From the book by Dean Koontz, “From the Corner of His Eye”
(Good story, maximum creep factor)
“Nolly Wulfstan, private detective, had the teeth of a god and a face so unfortunate that it argued convincingly against the existence of a benign deity.” What a phrase, eh?
Ratiocination – methodical and logical reasoning
I first came across this word in a Sherlock Holmes story. The sentence was something like, “by the process of ratiocination…”
Sounds like Sherlock. Cool word. I have yet to find a way to work this into a conversation. I guess I don’t ratiocinate that much…
Words I used to mispronounce in my youth:
Pince-nez glasses – These are the type that Teddy Roosevelt wore. I came across the word in a book and at the time didn’t think about the pronunciation. In my mind I called them “pintz nezz”. It’s actually “ponze nay”.
Charcuterie board – I didn’t even bother trying to pronounce it. It’s “shar-KOO-teree”.
Crudites – I knew what it was, just not how to pronounce it. “KROO-duh-tee”.
Au revoir – most people know this word is French for ‘until we see each other again’ or ‘good bye’ and is pronounced “oh revwah”. There are also a couple different ways to pronounce it, but for an American, that one is acceptable. I don’t recall when I became aware of this as a French word for good bye. Pretty young, I think. Probably from watching TV. And I knew the correct way to pronounce it. I had never come across the word in reading, so didn’t know what the word looked like exactly. At some point, though, I did see it, and realized that a family joke had gone on for years and I never knew it. Growing up, whenever someone went out the door for an errand, the person going out would say “Ah River!” and whoever was in the vicinity would repeat back “Ah River!” This went on for YEARS. I had no idea why this was said or what it meant. I even started saying it, either going out or responding to someone else going out. No idea. Once I put 2+2 together and realized it was a joke, I was rather embarrassed that it took me so long.
And my all-time favorite - hors d'oeuvres
Of all things, I first came across this word in a COMIC BOOK when I was about 10. It was the oddest word I’d ever seen. I could see that it had something to do with food, so in my mind I pronounced it “hours devours”. Called it that for YEARS. We weren’t the kind of folks that did any kind of entertaining, so this form of food was never in play. I think it was at a potluck at church that I heard someone call them “horse doovers” as a joke.
