I don’t know about you, but I hate it when a word has been used by an author in a book, which I have never come across before and have no idea of the meaning.
I just have to stop and look that word up, before moving on with the story, or there is no way of knowing whether I have understood the passage correctly.
Besides which, it is a great way of increasing my vocabulary and may come in very handy for future rounds of ‘Scrabble‘!
I thought that from time to time, I may share some of these lesser used words with you all and just leave you to post your comments about my literacy levels, if you already know of the word!!
Today’s word comes from an e-book, I am reading as a PC download:
‘A Dead Man’s Debt’ by Grace Elliot
“Celeste chewed her top lip and frowned. It simply wouldn’t do. She’d never liked half-truths and platitudes and wasn’t about to start now. Breaking the MENISCUS, wiping the nib she began again in bold lettering.”
MENISCUS plural: menisci/meniscuses, from the Greek for “crescent”, is a curve in the surface of a molecular substance and is produced in response to the surface of the container or another object. It can be either concave or convex…..
I already knew of Meniscus, as being an anatomical term, relating to the cartilaginous tissue of the knee, but was unaware of the alternative meaning when used in the context of the sentence from the book.
Thanks to Grace for making my ‘ little grey cells’ work overtime. The book is a great read, by the way, my thoughts about it will be posted soon.