Teaching a old dog new words

I read this book last week, on the suggestion of one of my Shelfari.com friends, and really enjoyed it. It was well-written and dealt with the Salem witch hysteria in a fictional manner. But that's not what endeared me to this book. I liked it so much because I found that I had to use the dictionary to read it! One of my sons asked me, "Mom, do you have to have the dictionary to read that book?" I am no word scholar, but I must admit I was as surprised as he. Here are the words I learned, and their meaning:

• Puce:a dark or brownish purple
• Obfuscation: to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy
• Anomalous: deviating from or inconsistent with the common order, form, or rule; irregular; abnormal
• Detritus: any disintegrated material; debris
• Esplanade: any open, level space, esp. one serving for public walks or drives
• Inveigle: to acquire, win, or obtain by beguiling talk or methods
• Odious: deserving or causing hatred; hateful; detestable
• Dilatory: tending to delay or procrastinate; slow; tardy
• Hubris: excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance
• Salacious: obscene; grossly indecent
• Extant: in existence; still existing; not destroyed or lost
• Quotidian: usual or customary; everyday
• Grimoire: a manual of black magic (for invoking spirits and demons)

So, I was familiar with "anomaly", which would be a variant of "anomalous". "Extant" may be the opposite of "extinct", making that one reasonably understood. "Quotidian" contains the root "quote" or "quota", indicating a measure of something. Jim knew what "hubris" meant, which thrilled me.

Aren't these all beautiful words? I am not at all sure they would work in everyday language, but I may give it a try! My favorite (at the moment) is "salacious" and I can already think of several instances that it would work perfectly. HA

Read, good people, READ!