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The Dorrington Deed-Box (Morrison 1897)

I recently finished The Dorrington Deed-Box (1897) by Arthur Morrison. It is a fluffy, easy-to-read book that will not change your life. I could see it as something to bring along to read as a diversion while on a trip or on vacation. It is written kind of like a Sherlock-Holms-type mystery, but it is not really a mystery book, more of a discovery of a record of crimes. It is a collection of six short stories and contains a nice twist in the initial part, but after that, it might become tedious if you took it too seriously. In the Holms style, plans have a way of working out too easily, and people have a bit too much relevant knowledge about or are strangely prepared for things that come up.

Wordlist

  • As it were—to indicate a statement is literally incorrect and to accept the implied meaning. This can be used with idioms that are in a less standard context, such as “the older dog took the puppy under its wing as it were”, or simply to indicate an idiom is being used. Honestly, I am not sure this phrase does appear in the book, but for some reason I had written it down as a reminder to double-check the exact meaning.
  • Bottle of bass—a bottle of beer from Bass Brewery.
  • Brocade—a fabric with a pattern woven into it. This word also came up recently in my list for World Without End. Eventually, I will get it.
  • Codicil—an amendment to a will.
  • Covetousness—a greedy desire for money or possessions others have.
  • Crepe-hair—braided artificial hair. Maybe related to the word crêpe for folded.
  • Discursive—rambling, moving between topics. It apparently can also mean a thoughtful well organized argument. This is an example of a contranym (or auto-antonym) which are rare words that simultaneously have their own opposite definitions.
  • Equivocation—purposely being ambiguous. (Imagine the problem of a discursive equivocation!)
  • Faience—a form of glazed ceramics.
  • Hachiman—a Shinto god of archery and war that was also included in Japanese Buddhism (see Shinbutsu-shūgō).
  • Hansom—a two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage.
  • Humbug—a deception.
  • Indisposed—unwilling (in addition to the sense of being unwell).
  • Lascar—a sailor from some of the lands around the Indian Ocean.
  • Lustres—a coating containing metal used in some ceramic glazes.
  • Loo tables—a round-topped folding card table named after the loo card game (the game is also known as lanterloo).
  • Muntin—a supporting bar between panes of glass.
  • Obdurate—stubborn and refusing to change one’s mind.
  • Organ-grinder—a type of street musician that also became a derogatory Italian immigrant stereotype.
  • Peach-bloom—a Western term for a type of Chinese ceramic glaze.
  • Pecuniary—related to money.
  • Prepossessing—appealing appearance.
  • Pilaster—a square column that is attached to and projects along a wall.
  • Plunger—a hasty and reckless person (in addition to the plumbing tool definition).
  • Politic—shrewd, pragmatic, tactful, acting appropriately under the conditions.
  • Publican—the manager of a pub.
  • Punctilio—a petty procedure.
  • Pungent—used to describe a sharp, biting criticism (to describe a remark in addition to the smell and taste definition).
  • Ramp / ramped—to drive up the price of something.
  • Rigmarole—a long rambling complicated story or process. I knew this word but wrote it down because I was curious about its origin. It might come from Middle English and be related to the roll of charges that are read at court about someone accused of a crime.
  • Rum—strange (when used as an adjective).
  • Seedy—run down and shabby. It may have come from a description of flowers that are past their peak and “gone to seed”.
  • Soho—an entertainment district in London’s West End (in addition to the “South of Houston Street” Manhattan district).
  • Soi-disant—so-called, claimed by a person about themselves, but the claim is not generally shared by others.
  • Stokers—people that tend a furnace.
  • Tout—aggressively selling something.
  • Usurer—a money lender with a high interest rate, a loan shark.
  • Welshing—an offensive term (as an insult against Welsh people) for not doing something you agreed to.

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