He turns out his nightstand light while I put down Moby Dick and pick up my phone.
“Are you calling someone this late?”
“No, I’m looking up a word.”
He rolls his eyes up to heaven, as if he’s appealing to God for me.
“I don’t know every word,” I said. “That’s why I look things up.”
“What are there, about six words you don’t know in the English language?”
“I think this is a Greek word.”
He sighs and rolls over in bed.
Turns out I was right. “Hyperborean” is related to obscure Greek mythology.
P.S. Want to know what “Hyperborean” means? It means people who live in a cold Northern climate. Like people from Chicago, or those Vikings that sailed over here and gave me my Norwegian married name. Try to use it in a sentence this week, OK? Nobody tell Joe. He’ll be the only one who doesn’t know.
Hi–
I noticed on your blog that you’re reading Moby-Dick. I just wanted to let you know about my website, powermobydick.com, in case it’s of any help to you. It’s basically a free online annotation of the book, with unusual words and references (such as Hyperborean) defined in sidenotes.
Enjoy the book, it’s fantastic!
Hi! I somehow lost you and had your old blog in my feeds. I’d been sorta wondering what happened. Thanks for the comment today. I’m back with you again.
Hi Pamela! Glad you found me again.
It’s so interesting to me that some people just skip over the words they don’t know. Of course, you’d probably find it interesting that I’ve never read most of the classics. Moby Dick? Wuthering Heights? The Grapes of Wrath? Nope, nope nope… I have no idea how I passed Lit… Well, I do, but that’s a WHOLE nother story. heh heh heh…