Superior Person's Tuesday!

Hebdomadal a. Weekly. (The Hebdomadal Council of Oxford University is a representative board that meets weekly). Surprise the next office management group meeting by suggesting that it is not really necessary for the group to meet hebdomadally.

It is hard to keep up with the reading for our hebdomadal book club meetings.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Hebdomadal appears in the Second.

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Neoterism n. That which is new, and especially the invention of new words, or a particular newly coined word (the latter being also known as a neologism). For example, when Sir Thomas Urquhart published his translation of Rabelais, he enriched the text by expanding a list of nine animal sounds to seventy-one, including the curking of quails, the nuzzling of camels, the smuttering of monkeys, the charming of beagles, the drintling of turkeys, the boing of buffaloes, the coniating of storks, the gueriating of apes, the crouting of cormonants.

The Oxford English Dictionary attributes over 500 neoterisms to William Shakespeare.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Neoterism appears in the Third.

Calling All New Hampshire Writers

This Friday and Saturday, September 14-15, the New Hampshire Writer's Project is hosting the Monadnock Region Literary Festival. Our own Ernest Hebert, author of Never Back Down, will be leading a fiction writing workshop Saturday from 3 to 5 pm.

From the NHWP's website:

Novelists often get tripped up when devising a plot. Another pitfall is finding a voice. Then there's point of view. Ernest Hebert says forget about plot, story, voice, and point of view. Start with character and everything else will fall into place. Hebert will show you how, including an exercise that will help you find enough characters to last through a long career. Open to all. REGISTER NOW.

 This is a great opportunity to learn from a wonderful author and writing instructor - don't miss out!

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Boondoggle v. or n. To carry out valueless or extremely trivial work in order to convey the impression that one is busy. Work so carried out. A necessary technique for military circles, where the classic form is the day-long carrying around of a rubbish bin while the remainder of your platoon are out on maneuvers. On being questioned by an officer, a smart “Rubbish detail, sir!” satisfies the inquirer.

The office was full of boondoggling that day.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Boondoggle appears in the First.

Superior Person's Tuesday!

Whangdoodle n. A mythical bird that grieves continuously. As far as the lexicographer can tell from the limited source material available to him, this bears no relation to the somewhat mystifying title of the classic Howlin’ Wolf number “Wang-dang-doodle,” with its haunting refrain “We’re gonna pitch wang-dang-doodle all night long.”

When a Twitter account is deactivated, the Twitter bird becomes a whangdoodle.

Each Tuesday, we’ll offer up a Superior Word for the edification of our Superior Readers, via the volumes of the inimitable Peter Bowler. You can purchase all or any of the four Superior Person’s Books of Words from the Godine website. Whangdoodle appears in the Second.

One Times Square: High Brow and Brilliant

It's no secret that we here at Godine think One Times Square, written and illustrated by Joe McKendry, is pretty awesome. In recent weeks, it has become clear that the rest of the publishing world is in agreement. In addition to spectacular reviews from The New York Times and the Regional Plan Association, the book was also selected by jury to be a part of the Society of Illustrators' show "The Original Art 2012."

This week finds One Times Square sitting pretty once again: in New York Magazine's Approval Matrix. We've always thought One Times Square was both high brow and brilliant, but now it's official.

Click to enlarge