(found in a list compiled by one of my kids, cross referenced to the relevant page number in Roald Dahl’s “Matilda”)
- gormless
- toddle
- diddled
- rakish
- throttling
- asinine
- formidable
- obstinate
- piffle
- regale
- aimiably
- blancmange
- parabola
- clot
- brigand
- suppurating
- implacable
- replete
- comatose
- swot
Gawd I love Roald Dahl. How could you read that list and not want to know what the book was about?
(Sadly, this is exactly the sort of language that tends to be lost in the “abridged” books all to frequently passed off to children — if you have a few minutes to spare, there is a brilliant reflection on abridged children’s literature here.)
May 26th, 2009 at 8:59 am
You should try working these into the next recommendation letter you write.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:34 am
“too spare” ?
You might want to fix that typo.
JD: Whoops! Serves me right for posting late at night, post-Memorial Day beers...
May 26th, 2009 at 9:40 am
“amiably” rather than “aimiably”?
I’ve always liked the Brit-speak term “gormless,” though I haven’t a clue what “gorm” might be and why its lack is such a character flaw.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:54 am
In a wonderful book, “Teacher,” by a New Zealand educator, Sylvia Ashton-Warner, she remarks that “Kids love words if given a chance” (quote recalled so beware). Each day, she greeted her class with a word for them to learn. It was a word similar to those found in your list, words made for use, words descriptive enough to capture a piece of the world and in the end, the kind that you like to roll around in your mouth and play with before you let it slip into the world from your tongue.
It has been a while since I read Matilda and I just might revisit it. I love Dahl. What I find in so-called children’s literature is respect for the reader, not only in the language used but most often the ideas explored.
The list reminds me of “Henry Bear’s Park,” (David Small?) in which young Henry describes his father not as a balloonist but as an ascensionist. Now there is a powerful word. I hope you know this book, a wonderful read aloud for young children, a book I still read from time-to-time.
Thanks for this post.
May 26th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Matilda is one of my very favorite Roald Dahls, along with Danny the Champion of the World!
We have a set of abridged Beatrix Potters and they’re unreadable. Fortunately my kid (age 2) can’t tell; he only likes them because they have lift-the-flap pages.
May 26th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Gormless – “From dialectal gawm, sense, from Middle English gome, notice, from Old Norse gaumr.”
Of course, people with gorm tend to be kempt.
May 26th, 2009 at 10:23 am
I thought this was from my last DOE review.
Once the Americans decided that “Philosopher’s Stone” was too scary, and made the first Harry Potter book about the “Sorcerer’s Stone,” I knew we still couldn’t look the Brits in the eye and pretend to be a cultured nation.
May 26th, 2009 at 10:31 am
ToSeek — I transcribed directly from the list. I was surprised that “amiably” was the only one misspelled.
May 26th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
For those who fondly remember Dahl from their childhoods, I recommend you pick up a copy of some of the grown-up stuff he wrote as well. The guy actually led a disturbed life and he has so much wonderful adult humor as well it’s almost impossible to believe it’s the same writer!
May 26th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
He did very well in his writing, considering he had a dyslexic father who couldn’t spell Ronald.
May 26th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Have you looked at Richmal Crompton’s “William” books recently?
May 31st, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Agreeing with Yvette, Dahl’s adult stuff is even more entertaining than his kid’s tales. No adult should miss “My Uncle Oswald”. Sept 13 is celebrated in some countries as Roald Dahl Day. A short Dahl tribute at http://quantumtantra.blogspot.com/2009/03/roald-dahl-1916-1990.html