It is Wednesday, which means it is time to play Word of the Day.
Today's word is one that it seems I always have to look up whenever I come across it. The word is not even in my Webster's College Edition, so I have to look it up on-line. Pictures are always good to help lock in a word, especially if it is something you will not be likely to see anywhere around you in the world.
The word is manticore and comes from page 86 of Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.
According to Wikipedia, it is a legendary creature having the body of a red lion, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth, a trumpet-like voice, and the tail of either a dragon or scorpion. Being mythical in nature, its characteristics can change depending on which tale is being told.
The original manticore myth was Persian where the name meant man-eater. The English word manticore was borrowed from Latin, mantichora, that being borrowed from Greek, mantikhoras, an erroneous pronunciation of the Persian word.
My sentence: While strolling through the enchanted forest with my girlfriends, I was given a shock when a manticore leaped from the shadows, threatened in a loud voice to eat me and bared its many teeth. My best friend saved us by pointing out that we were women.
Your sentence? And please let us know if you have ever read a tale with an manticore in it.
No comments:
Post a Comment