Wondrous Words Wednesday : The Words of Les Miserables

I decided to delve into the pages of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo for this week's Wondrous Words Wednesday meme hosted by Kathy at BermudaOnion.net.  It's the weekly meme where we share words from our reading that are new to us.
(It's almost 12:30 and Kathy hasn't posted yet so keep checking back; the link above will take you to her site in any case)
I haven't read the novel yet and I doubt I will. It's just so long! Although I did read a reader's review on my nook and it was so glowing, I know I should read it.  If you've read Hugo's classic, let me know what you think.  I do know it's not a book you need to read to enjoy the musical or the movie musical I can't help blogging about that's coming out Christmas Day. In fact I would venture to say the musical is a highlight reel of the book which is why it's so ironic that the publishers are doing a movie-tie in cover.  In case you'd rather read it gratis, Les Miserables is available for free at The Guttenberg Project

Here's my words for Kathy's meme:
Asperity  Hugo's sentence is too long to reproduce here but basically 'the bishop levied the fees upon the wealthy with all the greater asperity' because he was using those additional fees to help the poor.

I got the impression that the bishop was pretty rigid in his collections - punctual payment only.
According to Dictionary.com

harshness or sharpness of tone, temper, or manner; severity;acrimony: The cause of her anger did not warrant such asperity.

2.

hardship; difficulty; rigor: the asperities of polar weather.

3.

roughness of surface; unevenness.

4.

something rough or harsh.

Yes, that about sums it up!


Galloon  "A wealthy retired merchant ...  had amassed two millions in the manufacture of coarse cloth, serges and woolen galloons." Woolen Galloons!? This I gotta see . 

Galloon trim.

This is Galloon lace.                                 

Hmmm. That lace isn't wool. And the tassle doesn't feel right either although both items existed during the period. 

I turned to the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Online  Gallery. 

Aha! Obviously all three are forms of trim but the third one is, according to the Met, a woolen galloon c 17th - 18th century.

Guess I ought to double check with the dictionary.

Galloon:

a narrow band of cord, embroidery, silver or gold braid, etc, used onclothes and furniture

[C17: from French galon,  from Old French galonner  to trim withbraid, of unknown origin]

                                           

Aha! Galloon IS trim.  Now that makes sense. What new words did you learn this week? Visit Kathy and play along.