Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Words of the... Moment III

Rereads always cause a reader to notice something they hadn't the previous time. And now on my second time through "The Shadow Rising" on my trip to the final three novels of the Wheel of Time series, I encountered the word "mellifluous".
 
From the context and from knowing the character, I had a pretty good idea what it meant, and even a simple glance at the word hints at its meaning, but I don't recall encountering it the first time through. I guess that's because I was so caught up in the story and the mounting tension, but I must have flown right by it in the final 200 pages to the end. So the word of the moment is:
 
mellifluous - sweetly or smoothly flowing.

The dictionary even gives the exact same sample as its use in the passage I was reading - "a mellifluous voice".
 
That same paragraph also included the phrase "diaphanous scarf", which as you can imagine isn't the kind of scarf you want to use if you're trying to be modest. But whether it's mellifluous or diaphanous, it just goes to show that just because you're reading genre fiction doesn't mean that you aren't increasing your vocabulary.

Until Next Time...
Mellifluously Yours,
Michael 

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