Sometimes when I’m reading a book on my Kindle, I hit a word that completely stumps me. Not even a maybe-I’ve-heard-this-before kind of word—just a total blank. Luckily, the Kindle has a built-in dictionary. All I have to do is highlight the confusing term, and boom—definition served up in seconds. Technology wins!
But sometimes I go analog. I ask my wife. She has a knack for knowing weird words, and she actually enjoys figuring them out. So I read her the word, and she lights up like I’ve handed her a challenge. It’s basically like living with a real-life dictionary, but with better conversation.
Case in point: I recently finished Sudden Prey by John Sandford—a gritty, fast-paced police thriller—and two words stopped me in my tracks: recalcitrant and emolument.
Recalcitrant sounded like a dinosaur at first. Turns out it means someone who is stubbornly uncooperative. Imagine a toddler refusing to put on pants or a cat refusing to get in the carrier—classic recalcitrance.
Emolument was the second. It just sounds fancy, right? Like something whispered in a courtroom. It’s actually a formal word for salary or compensation. A paycheck with a bowtie.
In Certain Prey, I came across this word: verisimilitude. In addition to definitions, I also like the phoentic pronunciation of them, because when I asked the wife, I badgered it! It means the appearance of being true or real. And Sandford nails it. Even in the middle of shootouts, chases, and hardened criminals, the characters and situations feel believable. That’s verisimilitude in action
More proof that books don’t just entertain—they sneak in a little education too. Thanks, Kindle. And thanks, wife.
