"Not now!" screamed Randolph, flinging off the young mascotte's importunate grasp and frightening him nearly out of his wits.
* * * * * * * * * *
One (and by "one" I mean "I") often thinks that other languages (especially German and maybe Japanese) have all the words that describe actions or conditions to such a specific degree that they demand to be used as loaner words. But sometimes English surprises you (I mean, me, really. I'm the one surprised. I know you're not because you're smarter than I am) with a word like "importunate" which describes perfectly the actions of a young boy demanding some nonsense from a person of authority. "Persistent to the point of annoyance." It practically describes me at thirteen! The difficult part of expressing oneself to such a fine degree of accuracy is that you actually have to learn and remember so many words! How does one do that? I know that reading helps but I've read a lot and I would never have thought to use the word "importunate." Also I never would have thought of writing a novel about the A-4 Rocket as some kind of metaphor for life.
Maybe I was just reading all the wrong books as a kid? Dungeons & Dragons modules taught me words like "dais" and "alcove" and "adjacent" but I never ran into the word "importunate." Maybe that word was in the one Choose Your Own Adventure book I missed out on? Or maybe I should have simply grown up reading the Oxford English Dictionary. But even then, I never would have remembered much of it.
How does Susie Dent do it?! If you don't know who I'm talking about, you're not British. But you should Google her because she's amazing.
No comments:
Post a Comment