The Death of Fissiparous and Other Words: A Dictionary of Words & Phrases on the Verge of Extinction

peccable

PEK-uh-buhl

adjective

a propensity to sin; likely to make mistakes; the capacity to do wrong

1892Henry JamesThe Lesson of the MasterYet precisely this was part of the sentiment he himself had just expressed: he would make way completely for the poor peccable great man not because he didn't read him clear, but altogether because he did.1902Alphonse DaudetThe NabobDaudet thought Numa the 'least incomplete' of his works; it is certainly inclusive enough, since some critics are struck by the tragic relations subsisting between the virtuous discreet Northern wife and the peccable, expansive Southern husband, while others see in the latter the hero of a comedy of manners almost worthy of Moliere.2001Paul TherouxHotel HonoluluHow is our poor peccable friend?

Labels: Alphonse Daudet, Henry James, Paul Theroux

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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faux bonhomme

FO baw-nawm

phrase

false good humor; a person pretending to enjoy something

1874Henry JamesMadame de MauvesWas this candid young barbarian but a faux bonhomme after all?1908H. Rider HaggardThe Yellow God'Do what you will, Alan,' said Mr. Haswell harshly, for now all his faux bonhomme manner had gone, leaving him revealed in his true character of an unscrupulous tradesman with dark ends of his own to serve.1934George Bernard ShawOn the RocksSIR ARTHUR. Oh, faux bonhomme, of course, yes. [Looking him up and down].1936John BuchanThe Island of SheepHe was the faux bonhomme, if I knew the breed, always grinning and pawing the man he spoke to, but with cold, cunning grey eyes that never smiled.

Labels: George Bernard Shaw, H. Rider Haggard, Henry James, John Buchan

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indurate

IN-dyoor-uht

verb

to harden; to make callous or unfeeling; to establish

1826James Fenimore CooperThe Last of the MohicansThe frame of the white man, judging by such parts as were not concealed by his clothes, was like that of one who had known hardships and exertion from his earliest youth. His person, though muscular, was rather attenuated than full; but every nerve and muscle appeared strung and indurated by unremitted exposure and toil.1904Henry JamesThe Golden BowlIt had its effect for her: quite apart from its light on the familiar phenomenon of her husband's indurated conscience, it gave her, full in her face, the particular evocation of which she had made him guilty.1915Anna Katharine GreenThe Golden SlipperThe peculiar attitude of Miss Postlethwaite towards her indurate tormentor awakened in my agitated mind something much deeper than curiosity, but when I strove to speak her name with the intent of inquiring more particularly into her condition, such a look confronted me from the steady eye immovably fixed upon my own, that my courage—or was it my natural precaution—bade me subdue the impulse and risk no attempt which might betray the depth of my interest in one so completely outside the scope of the present moment's business.1933Kenneth RobesonDoc Savage: The Phantom CityHis metallic hands, sensitive for all of their indurate strength, encountered cloth.

Labels: Anna Katharine Green, Henry James, James Fenimore Cooper, Kenneth Robeson

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