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bon vivant bawn vee-VAWNT noun an elegant and refined person, especially when it comes to fine dining and social events; bon viveur 1865Fyodor DostoevskyThe CrocodileA certain well-known bonvivant of the highest society, probably weary of the cuisine at Borel's and at the X. Club, went into the Arcade, into the place where an immense crocodile recently brought to the metropolis is being exhibited, and insisted on its being prepared for his dinner.1994Quentin TarantinoPulp FictionINT. LANCE'S HOUSE - NIGHT At this late hour, Lance has transformed from a bon vivant drug dealer to a bathrobe creature.1997Nelson DemillePlum IslandI thought about Mr. Fredric Tobin, proprietor, bon vivant, connoisseur of all things beautiful, local big wheel, acquaintance of the deceased.Labels: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nelson Demille, Quentin Tarantino
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harridan HAR-uh-den noun a woman characterized by nastiness and bad-temper 1846Fyodor DostoevskyPoor FolkCrowds of people were hurrying along Naberezhnaia Street, with faces that looked strange and dejected. There were drunken peasants; snub-nosed old harridans in slippers; bareheaded artisans; cab drivers; every species of beggar; boys; a locksmith's apprentice in a striped smock, with lean, emaciated features which seemed to have been washed in rancid oil; an ex-soldier who was offering penknives and copper rings for sale; and so on, and so on.1899Rudyard KiplingStalky and Co'It was at the beginning of this hot weather. I was in camp in the Jullunder doab and stumbled slap on Stalky in a Sikh village; sitting on the one chair of state, with half the population grovellin' before him, a dozen Sikh babies on his knees, an old harridan clappin' him on the shoulder, and a garland o' flowers round his neck. Told me he was recruitin'.1952John CampbellCloak of AesirThere was a hint of bitter defeat in their tones, for each had hoped that field that could not be screened might make them safe in disposing of the old harridan, the Immortal Sam Mother, who ruled them from a forgotten generation.Labels: Fyodor Dostoevsky, John Campbell, Rudyard Kipling
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extreme unction EK-streem noun the anointing of the sick, a Catholic sacrament 1875William Dean HowellsA Foregone ConclusionSomebody administering the extreme unction to a victim of the Council of Ten?1880Fyodor Dostoevsky The Brothers Karamazov After taking the communion, the service of extreme unction followed. Labels: Fyodor Dostoevsky, William Dean Howells
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mawkish MAW-kish adjective overly sentimental; disgusting sense of style or taste 1866Fyodor DostoevskyCrime and PunishmentHe wore his hair cut short and had a large round head, particularly prominent at the back. His soft, round, rather snub-nosed face was of a sickly yellowish colour, but had a vigorous and rather ironical expression. It would have been good-natured except for a look in the eyes, which shone with a watery, mawkish light under almost white, blinking eyelashes. The expression of those eyes was strangely out of keeping with his somewhat womanish figure, and gave it something far more serious than could be guessed at first sight.1908Stewart Edward WhiteThe RivermanYou owe nothing to Heinzman; but something to what you would probably call repentance, but which is in reality a mawkish sentimentality of weakness.1913Theodore RooseveltAn AutobiographyNow I suppose some good people will gather from this that I favor men who commit crimes. I certainly do not favor them. I have not a particle of sympathy with the sentimentality—as I deem it, the mawkishness—which overflows with foolish pity for the criminal and cares not at all for the victim of the criminal. I am glad to see wrong-doers punished. The punishment is an absolute necessity from the standpoint of society; and I put the reformation of the criminal second to the welfare of society.1991Wilbur SmithElephant SongI take it that no mawkish sentiments complicate this relationship? That is, not on your side at least?Labels: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Stewart Edward White, Theodore Roosevelt, Wilbur Smith
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stolid STAW-luhd adjective unemotional; impassive; like a rock 1866Fyodor DostoevskyThe GamblerIn the same way, I saw our General once approach the table in a stolid, important manner.1967Jack HigginsThe Dark Side of the StreetHis partner, O'Brien, a tall, stolid Irishman, loosened the crowbar he was holding with easy strength and straightened, a frown on his face.1979Tom WolfeThe Right Stuff...'carrier suitability tests'—a stolid phrase that covered a multitude of ways for a test pilot to expire.Labels: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Jack Higgins, Tom Wolfe
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paterfamilias PA-tur-fa-mi-lee-uhs noun a father; male head of a clan, tribe, or household; a patriarch 1869Fyodor DostoevskyThe IdiotEven the general, the paterfamilias, though astonished at first, suddenly declared that, 'upon his honour, he really believed he had fancied something of the kind, after all.1990Constance Ash The Stalking Horse And he, George Sert, artist of noble subjects, had been turned into a paterfamilias.2000Ethan Coen and Joel CoenO Brother, Where Art Thou?EVERETT: I'm the only damn daddy you got! I'm the damn paterfamilias!Labels: Constance Ash, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Fyodor Dostoevsky
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sotto voce saw-to-VO-chee adjective, adverb speaking softly, usually so as not to be overheard; very softly 1846Fyodor DostoevskyPoor FolkToday, therefore, I crept humbly to my seat and sat down in such a crouching posture that Efim Akimovitch (the most touchy man in the world) said to me sotto voce: 'What on earth makes you sit like that, Makar Alexievitch?'1951John WyndhamThe Day of the Triffids'Rum sort of setup, this,' he remarked sotto voce to me.1994John BerendtMidnight In the Garden of Good and EvilAs the two ladies lapsed into silence, I became aware of a conversation taking place sotto voce between a man and two women seated on the divan across from me.Labels: Fyodor Dostoevsky, John Berendt, John Wyndham
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