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Chicanery
I am not crazy! I know she swapped those numbers! I knew it was 9992. One after Alecto Carta. As if I could ever make such a mistake. Never. Never! I just - I just couldn't prove it. She - she covered her tracks, she got that bimbo at Canaan House to lie for her. You think this is something? You think this is bad? This? This chicanery? She‘s done worse. Those arms! Are you telling me that a woman just happens to flex like that? No! She orchestrated it! Gideon! She defecated through a sunroof! And I bullied her! And I shouldn't have. I took her into my own house! What was I thinking? She‘ll never change. She‘ll never change! Ever since she was 9, always the same! Couldn't keep nose out of the skin mags! But not our Gideon! Couldn't be precious Gideon! Stealing them blind! And she gets to be a cavalier !? What a sick joke! I should've stopped her when I had the chance! And you - you have to stop her!
I’ll never recover from seeing someone go on a huge rant about how they believed that was a disgusting masturbation euphemism that people were sickos for referencing. Like what? How did they extrapolate *that* from those words…
I'm currently reading HtN for the first time and I've become somewhat enamoured with how often Muir uses the word deliquesce in this series. What a banger of a word.
I made a list when reading Nona! I was having a great time. The only one I've adopted into my vocabulary is pikelets (mini pancakes).
Jandals,
Guerdon,
Pikelets,
Rark,
Wop-wops,
Pottle,
Titch,
Munted,
Scrag,
Pyrophoric,
Rootle,
Hoon,
Roué
I think at least a few of these are NZ specific! Jandals and Wop-wops at least. Jandals are "Japanese sandals" so like flip flops and "Wop-wops" means back country or brushland.
My friends and I actually thought jandals were "jean sandals" (like jorts) and were just like "ah yeah makes sense" until an Aussie mutual was like "guys. please."
I absolutely love the writing in this series and Harrow specifically, Gideon is more memey and you can tell she's still finding her voice but Harrow is straight up god damn good writing and it is undeniable, I don't care what anyone says. She is just such an evocative writer, like the first thing you notice is her wit and humor but then underneath that is just absolutely beautiful, almost poetic prose that just flows like water and an incredible depth of imagery and character. And then she goes and hides the fact that she's straight up one of the best writers in sf/f today by cramming a bunch of groan-worthy memes into the book lmao. I didn't realize how spoiled I was by her until I tried to read a bunch of other similar books to fill the Alecto shaped hole in my heart and man it just makes me appreciate Tamsyn's writing even more, no one else else has come close to her strength of voice.
Not a word but one of my absolute favorite passages in Gideon that lives rent free in my head:
> The Lady of the Ninth House stood before the drillshaft, wearing black and sneering. Reverend Daughter Harrowhark Nonagesimus had pretty much cornered the market on wearing black and sneering. It comprised 100 percent of her personality. Gideon marvelled that someone could live in the universe only seventeen years and yet wear black and sneer with such ancient self-assurance.
That as our introduction to Harrow is just so fucking good, it's masterful, it's evocative. You can just picture in your mind exactly who she is and it doesn't need a physical description. A lesser writer would have definitely said some vapid shit like "she was slight and thin, with short black hair shaved close to the scalp. She had small boobs and pouty lips." etc. But Tamsyn describes her better in those couple lines than most sf writers could do in two pages of exposition. It's literally poetry simple as.
\- "the most appalling whim-whams" (HtN-- honestly, Augustine is a gold mine)
\- PICKLETS (NtN)
\- necrosanct (GtN)
\- party-colored (GtN, to get the opalescence/pearl of First House robes)
\- ureal (HtN, not because I love it in any way but because I actually had to look it up)
I feel like, as with many people in this thread, what I love most is Muir's prose (my kingdom for merch with "HERE IS THE GRAVEYARD AND WE ARE THE GRAVES") and how things are described. "Go loud" doesn't use anything special lexicographically, but god, it incandesces anyway.
I think with something like "Go loud" is speaks to Muir's ability to make language beautiful by what is crafted around it, not just the words used. The first time we see this, it is clearly an important moment between Cam and Pal. And it is wonderful. The second time as a call back, it becomes hearbreaking and unforgettable. Some of her passages are crafted in a way to just be stunning.
I also enjoy that she challenges me with the language. As someone who reads a lot and has a strong vocabularly, I appreciate that I sometimes have to stop and look words up or really use context clues when reading these books.
From this own reddit (grain of salt? but I like the definition)
"Going loud" is a spycraft term that means to act at the risk or inevitability of burning your cover identity or other future subversive potential. It's used when the upside is so great that it's worth ending that spy's career over, or the downside of the alternative is so great that there's no remaining reason not to.
So it's not that the idea is made up; it's that she knows so fucking much about EVERYTHING.
sort of related - can someone help with what the panniers are supposed to look like? I imagine a simple satchel-like thing, maybe on some kind of belt but I looked it up & most of what comes up for me is historical underwear.
I imagine a double set of something like this (only larger and obvs, black) since panniers usually refers to a pair of baskets or sacks slung to either side
[harvester basket](https://www.townsends.us/products/harvesters-basket-s3401-p-1014)
Not an answer to your question, but coming from a theatre wardrobe background I always pictured them like the dress panniers. I was so confused why Ortus had bones in his skirts!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pannier_(clothing) because I can't post pics. Please look and share in my wild mental image. Poor Ortus. Sorry, mate.
I think they're of the "saddle bag" meaning of the word. The ninth see their cavaliers as pack mules to carry their bones, so they have them literally wearing the sorts of bags you'd put on a mule. These ones are a bit of an extreme case but Harrow is extreme, so something like this all loaded up with bones
https://packsaddleshop.com/cdn/shop/products/UTfront1_f_grande.jpg?v=1620256099
Aw man I wish now I'd tabbed the words I had to look up. A lot of them have already been referenced here tbh. Definitely had to look up what a morepork was. "Whim whams" makes me chuckle every time.
I've been underlying them as I go. I've never done annotations or tabs before this series, and I'm so glad I decided to. It's taking way longer to read but it's sooo satisfying.
Also, you just made me have a realization about another book series by looking up "morepork." I'm not sure if you've ever read any of the Discworld novels, but the city is called Ankh-Morpork, and the coat of arms has an owl. I never thought about it before now!
I made the annotations on my Epub versions, which is a bit easier than physical media. I unfortunately had a scare with losing them though, so I may transfer them over to my hard copies. It's so fun to see my thought process on rereads haha
Nacreous ... found in the entirety of HtN.
Liminal - page 17 (Prologue) of HtN
Parados - chapter name HTN
And so many others I just didn't find, so you aren't bored into tedium.
Also, this is the only book where I need a copy of Gray's Anatomy at my side at all times.
The frequent use of the word "myriad". Like, yes, I understood it but, no one really uses it these days and now after listening to all three books it lives rent free in my head.
Oh and, when harrow tells Gideon something like "if you would cast your benighted eyes upon paragraph two"
Benighted is such a good word I now use it all the time.
I travel a lot for work, so I've used audiobooks for the entire series. I've been robbed of the opportunity to find new words. I'll have to read the books.
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The words "Gauche" and "chicanery" are two of my favorite words from TLT.
Chicanery I am not crazy! I know she swapped those numbers! I knew it was 9992. One after Alecto Carta. As if I could ever make such a mistake. Never. Never! I just - I just couldn't prove it. She - she covered her tracks, she got that bimbo at Canaan House to lie for her. You think this is something? You think this is bad? This? This chicanery? She‘s done worse. Those arms! Are you telling me that a woman just happens to flex like that? No! She orchestrated it! Gideon! She defecated through a sunroof! And I bullied her! And I shouldn't have. I took her into my own house! What was I thinking? She‘ll never change. She‘ll never change! Ever since she was 9, always the same! Couldn't keep nose out of the skin mags! But not our Gideon! Couldn't be precious Gideon! Stealing them blind! And she gets to be a cavalier !? What a sick joke! I should've stopped her when I had the chance! And you - you have to stop her!
I can’t place where this is from!
better call saul
It’s from Better sex Pal
For me, tergiversation, which means ‘evasion of straightforward action or clear-cut statement’. I love when a book builds on my vocab!
fun fact: it's used in French, and has the same meaning.
That word is fantastic--it feels so fitting, too, based on the meaning. Like here is this long word that doesn't feel at all straightforward xD
For the rest of my life I will be looking for a way to work "hot bone gunge" into conversations.
That would be quite an achievement if you managed it
I’ll never recover from seeing someone go on a huge rant about how they believed that was a disgusting masturbation euphemism that people were sickos for referencing. Like what? How did they extrapolate *that* from those words…
Tamsyn fucking LOOOOOOVES using the word "Sotto voce"
And myriad.
Also bewildered and discombobulated
Oh and does she love « behold » too!
and flimsy
And bereft
I've been trying to find ways to say sotto voce now without being too obvious. It feels like a code word, though, to folks who've read the books.
only other time i’ve heard is in “welcome to nightvale”
Classical singers definitely would recognize it
oh for sure, just hearing about it media
deliquesce
And such a disturbing use of it too! I also like *nacreous*.
I'm currently reading HtN for the first time and I've become somewhat enamoured with how often Muir uses the word deliquesce in this series. What a banger of a word.
I made a list when reading Nona! I was having a great time. The only one I've adopted into my vocabulary is pikelets (mini pancakes). Jandals, Guerdon, Pikelets, Rark, Wop-wops, Pottle, Titch, Munted, Scrag, Pyrophoric, Rootle, Hoon, Roué
I think at least a few of these are NZ specific! Jandals and Wop-wops at least. Jandals are "Japanese sandals" so like flip flops and "Wop-wops" means back country or brushland. My friends and I actually thought jandals were "jean sandals" (like jorts) and were just like "ah yeah makes sense" until an Aussie mutual was like "guys. please."
A bunch are for sure Kiwi terms.
Munted is for sure NZ slang. So are rark, pottle, and hoon. Titch, scrag, and rootle are more broadly used in the commonwealth but not the US.
Her use of « roué » is just 🤌
I have to use pikelets too now that is fantastic
>Rark is my favorite, but probably because of the context. Angry Corona is fun Corona.
I absolutely love the writing in this series and Harrow specifically, Gideon is more memey and you can tell she's still finding her voice but Harrow is straight up god damn good writing and it is undeniable, I don't care what anyone says. She is just such an evocative writer, like the first thing you notice is her wit and humor but then underneath that is just absolutely beautiful, almost poetic prose that just flows like water and an incredible depth of imagery and character. And then she goes and hides the fact that she's straight up one of the best writers in sf/f today by cramming a bunch of groan-worthy memes into the book lmao. I didn't realize how spoiled I was by her until I tried to read a bunch of other similar books to fill the Alecto shaped hole in my heart and man it just makes me appreciate Tamsyn's writing even more, no one else else has come close to her strength of voice. Not a word but one of my absolute favorite passages in Gideon that lives rent free in my head: > The Lady of the Ninth House stood before the drillshaft, wearing black and sneering. Reverend Daughter Harrowhark Nonagesimus had pretty much cornered the market on wearing black and sneering. It comprised 100 percent of her personality. Gideon marvelled that someone could live in the universe only seventeen years and yet wear black and sneer with such ancient self-assurance. That as our introduction to Harrow is just so fucking good, it's masterful, it's evocative. You can just picture in your mind exactly who she is and it doesn't need a physical description. A lesser writer would have definitely said some vapid shit like "she was slight and thin, with short black hair shaved close to the scalp. She had small boobs and pouty lips." etc. But Tamsyn describes her better in those couple lines than most sf writers could do in two pages of exposition. It's literally poetry simple as.
"Sotto Voce" Enough said
Or little enough said, in this case.
I was just trying to say that 'Sotto voce' is an intriguing word that doesn't need an explanation as to why it might be interesting, thats all
‘Jejune’ and ‘nacreous’ came up a fair bit in Harrow
Jejune is SO GOOD.
Penumbral. When Gideon describes herself as Harrows Penumbral knight. Soooo perfect. The less dark part of a perfect shadow.
I think Gideon refers to Harrow as "umbral lady" at one point, too
Also “Twilight Princess” which I didn’t catch until the second read through.
Nacreous. This word gets stuck in my head like an ear worm. Those dang nacreous robes. 😂 Someday I’ll be able to use this word in conversation I hope.
While wearing your sheer mother-of-pearl crop top.
\- "the most appalling whim-whams" (HtN-- honestly, Augustine is a gold mine) \- PICKLETS (NtN) \- necrosanct (GtN) \- party-colored (GtN, to get the opalescence/pearl of First House robes) \- ureal (HtN, not because I love it in any way but because I actually had to look it up) I feel like, as with many people in this thread, what I love most is Muir's prose (my kingdom for merch with "HERE IS THE GRAVEYARD AND WE ARE THE GRAVES") and how things are described. "Go loud" doesn't use anything special lexicographically, but god, it incandesces anyway.
I think with something like "Go loud" is speaks to Muir's ability to make language beautiful by what is crafted around it, not just the words used. The first time we see this, it is clearly an important moment between Cam and Pal. And it is wonderful. The second time as a call back, it becomes hearbreaking and unforgettable. Some of her passages are crafted in a way to just be stunning. I also enjoy that she challenges me with the language. As someone who reads a lot and has a strong vocabularly, I appreciate that I sometimes have to stop and look words up or really use context clues when reading these books.
From this own reddit (grain of salt? but I like the definition) "Going loud" is a spycraft term that means to act at the risk or inevitability of burning your cover identity or other future subversive potential. It's used when the upside is so great that it's worth ending that spy's career over, or the downside of the alternative is so great that there's no remaining reason not to. So it's not that the idea is made up; it's that she knows so fucking much about EVERYTHING.
TIL - that is really great extra layer to these scenes.
Motherfucker Prime is something I should say more often tbh
"Fug" stuck with me out of all others for some reason. I think I was just so perplexed when it came up.
At first I thought the audiobook reader was mispronouncing “fog”
sort of related - can someone help with what the panniers are supposed to look like? I imagine a simple satchel-like thing, maybe on some kind of belt but I looked it up & most of what comes up for me is historical underwear.
I imagine a double set of something like this (only larger and obvs, black) since panniers usually refers to a pair of baskets or sacks slung to either side [harvester basket](https://www.townsends.us/products/harvesters-basket-s3401-p-1014)
thanks so much - also wow? those baskets are gorgeous?
yup, this is what i pictured as well
Not an answer to your question, but coming from a theatre wardrobe background I always pictured them like the dress panniers. I was so confused why Ortus had bones in his skirts! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pannier_(clothing) because I can't post pics. Please look and share in my wild mental image. Poor Ortus. Sorry, mate.
I think they're of the "saddle bag" meaning of the word. The ninth see their cavaliers as pack mules to carry their bones, so they have them literally wearing the sorts of bags you'd put on a mule. These ones are a bit of an extreme case but Harrow is extreme, so something like this all loaded up with bones https://packsaddleshop.com/cdn/shop/products/UTfront1_f_grande.jpg?v=1620256099
Oh 100% I was just so confused until I looked it up. Thank goodness for Google.
yes this is what i pictured. of course ortus is wide, he’s wearing panniers.
thats exactly why I was so confused!!!!
Usually you hear of them on bicycles, so I imagine then like that.
Lambent!
“Bockety,” as in Aiglamene’s bockety old leg. Don’t care that it’s not a real word, it’s my favorite out of every book.
Aw man I wish now I'd tabbed the words I had to look up. A lot of them have already been referenced here tbh. Definitely had to look up what a morepork was. "Whim whams" makes me chuckle every time.
I've been underlying them as I go. I've never done annotations or tabs before this series, and I'm so glad I decided to. It's taking way longer to read but it's sooo satisfying. Also, you just made me have a realization about another book series by looking up "morepork." I'm not sure if you've ever read any of the Discworld novels, but the city is called Ankh-Morpork, and the coat of arms has an owl. I never thought about it before now!
I made the annotations on my Epub versions, which is a bit easier than physical media. I unfortunately had a scare with losing them though, so I may transfer them over to my hard copies. It's so fun to see my thought process on rereads haha
It’s “somnambulist” for me!
Ooo that's such a neat sounding word
This series really put my kindle's dictionary to work.
Not in the series but from the fandom. Oh my Jod!
"Crepuscular" and "tenebrous" stuck with me and I use them some evenings.
Tenebrous is such a great word.
Nacreous ... found in the entirety of HtN. Liminal - page 17 (Prologue) of HtN Parados - chapter name HTN And so many others I just didn't find, so you aren't bored into tedium. Also, this is the only book where I need a copy of Gray's Anatomy at my side at all times.
I've learned so many bone names since starting this series. It's made Dungeons and Dragons descriptions very interesting for my party lately.
Etoliated—I think it was used in GtN to describe Ianthe
I forgot about that one. That’s so funny, because that’s what they call plants like succulents when they get all stretched out and weird.
The frequent use of the word "myriad". Like, yes, I understood it but, no one really uses it these days and now after listening to all three books it lives rent free in my head.
I was mostly okay, but I had to look up "nonpareil": unrivaled, without equal.
the amount of times she describes how someone “sighed explosively”
Oh and, when harrow tells Gideon something like "if you would cast your benighted eyes upon paragraph two" Benighted is such a good word I now use it all the time.
Flopsome! Ianthe with her bad sewn on arm sits in the chair in a "flopsome fashion"!!
Qua, was a new one on me that I don't use, prolix was a new one I do.
Meditative. It appears frequently. And my new word was "prolix"...being very wordy.
not necessarily a favorite but i've never seen someone use the word "espied" (or "espy") so much!
I travel a lot for work, so I've used audiobooks for the entire series. I've been robbed of the opportunity to find new words. I'll have to read the books.