gelid
adj: very cold, icy. From the Latin gelidus which is from gelu meaning frost.
I came across this word last night in Stephen King's short story I am the Doorway:
From the context, I guessed wrong at the meaning. My impression was it meant something akin to gelatinous - I was wrong.
From a writing perspective, I wonder if the adjectives and the simile are both necessary. The simile amplifies the adjectives and repetition or amplification can be a good thing - it can also be wordy
But who am I to tinker?
Has anyone ever seen this word (and knew what it meant) before today?
I came across this word last night in Stephen King's short story I am the Doorway:
... the flesh was soft and gelid, like the flesh of an apple gone rotten ....From the context, I guessed wrong at the meaning. My impression was it meant something akin to gelatinous - I was wrong.
From a writing perspective, I wonder if the adjectives and the simile are both necessary. The simile amplifies the adjectives and repetition or amplification can be a good thing - it can also be wordy
"... the flesh was soft and cold ...""... the flesh was like an apple gone rotten ..."But who am I to tinker?
Has anyone ever seen this word (and knew what it meant) before today?
[As an aside, I notice I haven't been receiving e-mail notifications from blogger for the past few days, so I failed to notice that there were new comments. Yes, yes, I know, I can always check my own blog, rather than checking my e-mail. My settings, I just checked, are to receive e-mail notification.]
Comments
barbara: I think he used a thesaurus.