Austenland: Wondrous Words Wednesday #book2movies

Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Kathy at Bermuda Onions Weblog where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading.

Wow! Another week gone by already. Participating in a couple of weekly memes really makes one aware of the passage of time. Kind of like laundry it's "didn't we just do this?"  Except Wondrous Words Wednesday is a whole lot more fun than Laundry Monday! Especially since I'm content with a Wondrous Word of the Week - as opposed to three. Yes, I'm rationalizing my laziness!

This weeks "wondrous" word comes from Austenland by Shannon Hale. It's not a difficult word, and somewhere in the recesses of my mind I'm sure I already knew it and have seen it used. Nonetheless I think it's one of those underused words that needs more airtime.

My take on the movie Austenland

nettle

In Austenland, Mr Nobley (the Mr. Darcy character) tells Jane "You are very good at nettling me, Miss Erstwhile"   I knew from the context that the word must mean something along the lines of annoy; I like that it's derived from the 'stinging' nettle plant. And I love that 'vex' is used as part of the definition. When was the last time you used vex in a sentence?

1. Any of numerous plants of the genus Urtica, having toothed leaves, unisexual apetalous flowers, and stinging hairs that cause skin irritation on contact.

2. Any of various hairy, stinging, or prickly plants.  tr.v. net·tled, net·tling, net·tles

1. To sting with or as if with a nettle.

2. To irritate; vex.