Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at the Bermuda Onion where you "can share new words that you’ve encountered or spotlight words you love. Feel free to get creative!"
I have no idea where time is flying to - I thought you were supposed to be having fun when time did that.
Ah well - some words for this week, for the purpose of having fun!
"...and that'd upset Pardessus Chatain Pursuivant. He always locks himself in his shed when he's upset..."
I already know what a Pursuivant is - the term basically means assistant herald. And Chatain means brown or chestnut colored. But I didn't know Pardessus.
pardessus /paʀdəsy/
1: a sleeveless garment like a cloak but shorter, mantle
2: a loose outer garment
3: a heavy coat worn over clothes in winter
4: French "over the top of"
Ohhh - here is a lovely Victorian Pardessus from Godey's Lady's Book
Or here is a lovely hand colored engraving c.1855 from the House of Worth from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection "Fashion plate showing two women's dresses in an outdoor setting. Grey dress with lilac sprigs and facings and black lace trimming, with yellow shawl and fringed parasol, and pink dress with black coat with green facings, both with bonnets."
That black coat is a also a pardessus.
And now that I sorted though all of that, I find this informative website http://thedreamstress.com/2011/11/more-terminology-what-is-a-pardessus/ - if you are interested in this, you should visit the site.
The other choice is a modern style overcoat, such as this 1931 Montagnac (from https://www.etsy.com/listing/230345426/montagnac-pardessus-men-overcoat-vintage), which is way less interesting to imagine.
So, as far as I can work out, the gentleman in question is the Brown Cloak Assistant Herald.
And pardessus also led me to ...
pardessus de viole
noun par·des·sus de vi·ole \¦pärdə¦südəvēˈōl\
1: a five- or six-stringed viol that is approximately the size of a violin and that is tuned an octave higher than the tenor viol —called also descant viol, quinton
French, literally, above the viol
First Known Use: 1889
I need one of these !!!!! NOW!!!!
And I just managed to spend all of my time on one word. Ooops.
Those are all new to me. That might be why I struggle with historical fiction - my vocabulary isn't strong enough for it.
ReplyDeleteThere should be cheat sheet of vocabulary necessary for different time periods. That would help enormously, wouldn't it.
DeleteAll new words to me and such a nice variety. I thought pardessus was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI am really enjoying the new words here today. I'm going to spend time looking over all the info. Thanks for gathering all of it.
ReplyDeleteI also found pardessus interesting .
ReplyDeleteA pardessus looks to be a lovely garment! Even practical, in its time.
ReplyDelete