Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme from Bermuda Onion where we share new (to us) words that we’ve encountered in our reading. If you want to play along, grab the button, and write a post.
My words this week are from The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen L. Carter (which I am enjoying greatly).
varioloid: 1. resembling smallpox. 2. of or pertaining to a mild case of smallpox.
“Instead, my mother died of the varioloid a few months after Nanny moved in.”
calumnious: of, involving, or using calumny; slanderous; defamatory.
“You are here to help acquit the President of these calumnious charges, not to hunt for conspiracies or solve murders the police have closed.”
I haven’t been posting alot this month, and now there is only one full week of summer left for us! I’ll be back on a blogging schedule soon, but for now I’m focusing on family time. Hope each of you are having a wonderful summer!
Up All Night Reading 
Calumnious sounds like a spell casting word from Harry Potter. I said it out loud and laughed. Wonderful! 🙂
well, the shot they give you for the chicken pox is called the varicella vaccine…interesting.
I didn’t know either of these, although I know that I’ve seen calumny before. Varioloid is certainly an interesting word.
Louise,
It IS interesting. I guess it’s gone by the wayside with the disease.
Thanks for stopping by!
Muzette
I like your idea of taking some family time this summer. The days pass way too quickly.
It seems like it’s flying by!
Muzette
Those are new to me. I’m glad that we don’t have much use for varioloid these days.
I agree!