Dust and Spores

Hosted by Bermuda Onion, the point of this meme is to share all the new words you came across this week. Yay!

Don't have much to say this week, so I'll just get right to it. These are from 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King.

bohunk -- a rude slang term for someone from Eastern Europe

... there was a faint accent in the words, although they were perfectly spoken. The guy might be a frog or maybe a bohunk.

Ok, so don't use that one.

pyx -- a container in which wafers for the Eucharist are kept

He held a small silver pyx on his lap which contained several pieces of the host.

repple depple -- military slang for a "replacement depot"

He had learned that standing guard at the repple depple in the war.

That one I still don't really get, but I doubt I'd have use for it even if I did. Actually, none of these are words I envision myself saying, y'know, because I'm not Catholic, manly, or racist.

These next few are from Story of O by Pauline Réage, which is pretty racy, but I already know all the words in those parts... (ahem)... so these words here are about fabric and clothing design.

percale -- a closely woven plain-weave fabric often used for bed linens

She tried to stop moaning and to immobilize herself against the wall, whose gleaming percale was cool on her tortured flesh, as day slowly began to break.

gusset -- triangular or square piece of fabric inserted into a seam to add breadth or reduce stress

The bodice was long and stiff, stoutly whale-boned as during the period when wasp waists were in style, with gussets to support the breasts.

(She really likes describing the clothes and decor.)