Wondrous words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. It’s hosted at the BermudaOnion’s Weblog. so head over there to see how you can participate. I’ve been trying to find some different memes to join and came across this one today, so I thought I’d give it a try.
I like discovering new words and try to find the meaning of ones I find while reading. I recently joined The Classics Club in an attempt to read some of the unread classics that have been sitting on my shelf or my e-reader for too long. I came up with a list of 50 of classics to read by the end of 2017 that I haven’t previously read. Currently I am reading Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre from this list and am discovering all kinds of new words and phrases, as it seems that the language used in the classics is much richer and broader than that which is used today.
Tonight, while reading Jane Eyre, I came across a couple of great words used together in the same sentence that really caught my attention. The words were assiduous celerity. The handy thing about reading this on the Kobo app on our iPad is that you can just highlight the word and get the meaning from dictionary included in the app. The meanings of the words are as follows:
assiduous – (adjective) showing great care and perseverance.
celerity – (noun) swiftness of movement.
The words were used as follows:
…she proceeded to arrange the cups, spoons, &c., with assiduous celerity.
This just sounds so much better than ‘she quickly and carefully set the table’. Sometimes classic books take a little longer to read, but when words such as these are discovered it is time well spent. What wondrous words have you discovered lately?
Two weeks from everywhere 
You’re quite right- assiduous celerity is a fabulous term.
Thanks for joining in the fun! That’s a wonderful phrase – I’m trying to figure out how I can add it in a conversation.
Thanks for hosting this. I look forward to joining in more in the future. Good luck with trying to add that phrase to your conversation.
Hi William,
I have to confess that my love affair with the classics, is more off than on, at the moment and I have so many gathering dust on my TBR shelves, that it really is shameful. There are just so many great books being published constantly and definitely not enough minutes in the average lifetime, to get to even a small fraction of them!
I do however, steadfastly refuse to read any prequels, sequels, what if’s, or any other modern addition to a classical book or series of books. A classic is designated just that for a reason and shouldn’t be tampered with or re-engineered.
I knew of the word assiduous, however celerity is new to me. They work so well together as a combination and slide off the tongue beautifully. I am not sure when I would use them in a sentence, but it would be so good to watch someone’s face, if I did manage to.
Thanks for sharing your words this week.
Yvonne
Thanks for stopping by, Yvonne. I probably only read about 1 classic for every 5 books I read. My weaknesses are thrift stores and used bookstores. Today alone I picked up 5 books for $3.00. Hopefully I’ll get to them soon!