Over the years I've learned little tiny bits about the wide world from reading. Examples?
A loo is a toilet
Football is soccer
Surgery can be a noun
Theater can be spelled Theatre
Recognize can be spelled Recognise
"Hard put-upon" is an expression.
So is "Hoist with his own petard."
Kerchief = Handkerchief
Exchequer is really a thing!
Water closets aren't just a closet for water.
Loos, water closets, and toilets have been around since Egyptian days.
Cigarettes can come in cases.
Smoking can be a sign of gentility and not just rednecks talking in a garage.
Sometimes underwear has to be rinsed out and hung up and not just thrown in the washing machine.
Sex actually happened before marriage in the old days too.
Tiny expressions and mannerisms can indicate a change of mood.
Culture can inform prose.
Socially ethnic culture can inform prose in colorful ways.
We shouldn't weed out socially ethnic culture from our prose.
Because it's more interesting that way.
-- so, interactive time--
What's your favorite "exotic" spelling or fact that you've picked up from reading?
3 comments:
I've learned I'm not the center of the universe.
Cricket isn't just a bug that plays songs with its legs.
Rutabaga. Back when I first read Eddings and the internet was not prevalent this utterly befuddled me. (I'm the sad sort who can never let unknown words slide but was not in the UK dictionary). It sounds exotic so years later when I found out it was just what Americans call a swede I was blown away.
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