Books -- reading and writing.
Home, cooking, the weather.
And whatever connections I can make between these chapters of my life.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Getting Closer

How appropriate that today's word is Denouement.

That's just where I hope to be very soon. Not yet, but soon. 
As soon as I finish tinkering with the middle, polishing up the climax, then on to the denouement...

And originating from KNOTS? Hmmm.  Also appropriate. Knotty!
(I also like that "thought of the day.")


 Wordsmith.org    The Magic of Words
Apr 12, 2011
This week's theme
Words originating in knots
     
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

denouement

PRONUNCIATION:
(day-noo-MAHN)
[the final syllable is nasal]
MEANING:
noun: The final resolution of the plot of a story or a complex sequence of events.

ETYMOLOGY:
From French dénouement (outcome or conclusion; literally, untying), from dénouer (to unknot or undo), from de- (from) + nouer (to tie), from Latin nodus (knot). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ned- (to bind), which is also the source of node, noose, annex, connect, ouch, and nettle. Earliest documented use: 1752.

USAGE:
"But in Japan's narrative, the denouement is elusive. This disaster story keeps building, growing worse."
Japan's Crucible; Chicago Tribune (Illinois); Mar 15, 2011.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. -George Washington Carver, scientist (1864-1943)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A "noeud" is a knot or a bow. So perfect:) Good word for French teachers to tell 5th graders. I'm passing it on!

Lee Stokes Hilton said...

I'm sure you'll get there -- no knot too tough!