Edith Wharton - The Custom of The Country Flashcards

Question

*divers et ondoyant*

Answer 1

**diverse and undulating** _Example_ * "So that, after she had lengthily deplore the untoward accident of Undine's absence, and her visitor, with a smile, and echoes of ***divers et ondoyant*** in his brain, had repeated her daughter's name after her, saying: 'It's a wonderful find - how could you tell it would be such a fit?'" - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 57) _Source Text_ "L'homme est un sujet merveilleusement divers et ondoyant, sur lequel il est très mal aisé d'y asseoir jugement assuré." - Pierre Charron (French 16th-century Catholic theologian and philosopher, and a disciple and contemporary of Michel de Montaigne) _Description_ The full quotation from Montaigne, Essays, Book 1, pointed to by Mrs. Spragg’s “visitor, with a smile, and echoes of *divers et ondoyant*” is as follows: “Truly man is a marvellously vain, diverse, and undulating object. It is hard to found any constant and uniform judgement on him.” So, it seems, Mrs. Spragg’s learned, smiling young visitor understood that Undine Spragg’s name marks her as a quintessential Montaignesque character---“marvelously vain, diverse and undulating”—inconstant and therefore almost impossible to judge accurately.

Answer 2

_Definition & Synonyms_ * **not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society** * indecent * **indecorous** * unbecoming, uncomely, unseemly * **contrary to your interests or welfare** * adverse, inauspicious * unfavorable Example "That’s a screaming red neon sign for the special counsel’s office saying we think something very untoward happened here." - *The New Yorker* (Jul 25, 2019)

Answer 3

**lasting a very short time** _Examples_ * "It was not in the least what he had meant to do with the fugitive flash of consciousness he called self; but all that he had purposed for that **transitory** being sank into insignificance under the pressure of Undine's charms." - Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country (pg. 59) * Initially, the sharp slump in crude oil prices — they’re down more than 23 percent this year — was seen as a result of a global supply glut that was expected to be **transitory**. - *New York Times* (Dec 20, 2018) _Description_ If something is fleeting or lasts a short time, it is transitory. Your boss declared the company's restructuring to be transitory, and promised that the company would emerge stronger and better than ever. The adjective transitory describes something that is fleeting, temporary, or brief. Even a transitory storm that passes quickly can get you drenched. Consider it an honor to be on the transitory team that helps the president make a smooth transfer of power. When you met your first love, your parents thought that the relationship was transitory — but fifty years later, you're still married!

Answer 4

## Footnote **(especially of a vehicle) to move fast and in a way that is out of control** _Example_ "He seemed to see her like a rock-bound Andromeda, with the devouring monster Society **careering** up to make a mouthful of her." - Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country (pg. 59)60

Answer 5

_Definition & Synonyms_ * declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true * affirm, assert, avow, swan, swear, verify * report or maintain * allege, say * assert, **asseverate**, maintain _Example_ * "In the end, Williams **avers** that race is a construction foisted on all people by the majority, and that it is unhelpful." - *New York Times* (Oct 14, 2019) * "'I guess she'll know how to talk to him,' Mrs. Spragg **averred** with a kind of quavering triumph." - Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country (pg. 61) _Description_ To aver is to state something or declare something is true. This verb has a serious tone, so you might aver something on a witness stand or you might aver that you won't back down to a challenge. The verb aver comes to English via the Latin root words ad, meaning "to," and verus, meaning "true." The word can have the sense of formally declaring something is true, but it can also mean to report positively: "The grandmother averred that her granddaughter would make a fine veterinarian because of her love and caring for animals."

Answer 6

_Definition & Synonyms_ * shorten lines in a drawing so as to create an illusion of depth * reduce in scope while retaining essential elements * abbreviate, abridge, contract, cut, reduce, shorten * cut, edit, edit out _Examples_ * "Anna shifts her scholarly compass toward the **foreshortened** career of Frederick Langley, a deceased short-story writer who slammed the brakes on his career at the peak of his popularity." - *New York Times* (Feb 1, 2019) * "Undine stretched her arms luxuriously above her head and gazed through lowered lids at the **foreshortened** reflection of her face." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 62) _Description_ When an artist foreshortens, she makes an object appear closer or a distance shorter than it is, to create a sense of depth in a painting or drawing. To foreshorten is to create a kind of optical illusion simply by making lines shorter or angling the perspective in a certain way. It's a technique used in art and design, but it's also a phenomenon you may observe in the world: "The angle from which she's looking foreshortens the mountain, making it look closer." This word dates from about 1600.

Answer 7

**disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking** _Examples_ * "The article epitomized the site’s **sardonic** yet rigorous coverage of the sports world, which it defined broadly." - *New York Times* (Jan 23, 2020) * "Old Mr. Dagonet - small, frail and softly **sardonic** - appeared to fall at once under her spell." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 64) _Description_ If someone is being scornful and mocking in a humorous way, call her sardonic. If you want to write comic sketches for late-night talk shows, work on being sardonic. Sardonic comes from the Greek adjective Sardonios, which actually describes a plant from a place called Sardinia that supposedly made your face contort into a horrible grin...right before you died from its poison. The Greeks used sardonic for laughter, but we only use it when someone's humor is also mocking or ironic.

Answer 8

**pleasantness resulting from agreeable conditions** * agreeableness Examples * “He discovered the **amenities** of reading at an early age” * "If she felt, beneath his **amenity**, a kind of delicate dangerousness, like that of some fine surgical instrument, she ignored it as unimportant." - Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country (pg. 64) _Description_ Like built-in GPS, seat warmers and four-wheel drive, an amenity is a feature that contributes to comfort or value. Or in another sense, it's the overall pleasantness that results from all those cool features. Declared the American novelist Edith Wharton, “I despair of the Republic! Such dreariness, such whining sallow women, such utter absence of the amenities, such crass food, crass manners, crass landscape! What a horror it is for a whole nation to be developing without the sense of beauty, and eating bananas for breakfast.” As you can see, people throughout time have gotten cranky when they’ve felt their amenities to be lacking.

Answer 9

**a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime** * retaliation, revenge _Examples_ * "All the people close to the family or the royal court spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of **reprisals**." - *New York Times* (Mar 7, 2020) * "It surprised Undine that there had been no **reprisals**, no return on the points conceded." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 64) _Description_ A reprisal is an act of retaliation, especially one committed by one country against another. If you attack your enemy's village and cause lots of damage, expect a reprisal. Reprisal comes from the French for taking back, and used to mean the seizure of property as a compensation for some earlier loss. Now we use it more in the sense of a retaliatory attack. When Germany bombed London during World War II, the British reprisals included the bombing of Berlin. Reprisal doesn't always have to be about war; you can use it for any act of retaliation.

Answer 10

**a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations** * expression, saying _Examples_ * "This smart observation is also destabilizing: if digital English is “informal,” but imports “formal” **locutions**, one wonders what the categories are for in the first place." - *The New Yorker* (Jul 26, 2019) * "Her quickness in noting external differences had already taught her to modulate and lower her voice, and to replace 'The *i*-dea!' and 'I wouldn't wonder' by more polished **locutions**." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 65) _Description_ Your southern-born friend's habit of saying "y'all" when she's talking to her family could be described as locution — it's a word she habitually uses in particular situations. A person's style of speech — certain words or phrases she tends to use — is her locution, especially if it's specific to a particular place or group of people, like teenagers or French Canadians. You can also use the noun locution when you're talking about the way a person pronounces words. If someone tends to "beat around the bush," or tell a story in a roundabout way, you can call that circumlocution.

Answer 11

**a supporting column carved in the shape of a person** * column, pillar _Examples_ * "This living room, with its heavy red curtains and giant **caryatids** framing the chimney, was one of several that was ultimately scrapped." - *New York Times* (Feb 6, 2020) * "But the **caryatid**-parent, who exists simply as a filial prop, is not a fruitful theme, and Undine, called on for the first time to view her own progenitors as a subject of conversation, was struck by their lack of points." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 66)

Answer 12

_Definition & Synonyms_ * designating the generation or the sequence of generations following the parental generation * parental * relating to or characteristic of or befitting an offspring _Examples_ * “**filial** respect” * "But the caryatid-parent, who exists simply as a **filial** prop, is not a fruitful theme, and Undine, called on for the first time to view her own progenitors as a subject of conversation, was struck by their lack of points." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 66) _Description_ If you describe something as filial, you're saying it's offspring-related. Depending on who your parents are, your filial duties might include taking out the trash, washing dishes, or ruling empires. The word filial comes from the Latin words filius, which means "son," and filia, or "daughter." In other words, filial is the filius of filius. One way of remembering the word is to think of a filly, a young horse. The two words aren't related, but it's fun to put them in the same sentence: "The filly's filial love made the mare a happy horse."

Answer 13

**an ancestor in the direct line** _Examples_ * “Nova,” later published as a book, proved to be highly influential—a **progenitor** of the cyberpunk movement. - *The New Yorker* (Jan 20, 2020) * "But the caryatid-parent, who exists simply as a filial prop, is not a fruitful theme, and Undine, called on for the first time to view her own **progenitors** as a subject of conversation, was struck by their lack of points." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 66) _Description_ While any ancestor can be a progenitor, or previous member of a family line, the word is usually applied to someone who was an originator of or major contributor to the characteristics of that line. The word progenitor can be traced to the Latin prōgignere, which means "to beget," and so is linked to the beginning of a genealogical line. The clue comes in the "gen" part, meaning "birth, procreation," and signifying the genetic contribution of an ancestor to a family line. Prō- means "forward," and the -tor suffix indicates someone doing an action — so a progenitor is someone who gives rise to a family line.

Answer 14

_Definition & Synonyms_ * the part of a modern theater stage between the curtain and the orchestra (i.e., in front of the curtain) * apron, forestage * the wall that separates the stage from the auditorium in a modern theater * proscenium wall _Examples_ * "The set completes the Met’s iconic golden **proscenium** with a matching lower lip, giving the staging the impression of taking place within Senta’s painting, or perhaps even within her mind." - *New York Times* (Mar 1, 2020) * "Anonymous approval was sweet enough; but she was to taste a moment more exquisite when, in the **proscenium** box across the house, she saw Clare Van Degen seated behind the prim figure of Miss Harriet Ray." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 69) _Description_ The proscenium of a theater stage is a structure in front of the stage that frames the action of the play. It can be square or arched, and the stage curtain is generally directly behind it. The ancient Greeks gave us the modern concept of theater and, with it, the proscenium, one of the divisions of the stage. The word itself can be broken down into prō-, "in front of," and skēnē, "scene": The proscenium is thus the part "in front of the scenery." In a modern theater, the proscenium makes up the so-called "fourth wall," the invisible barrier that separates the stage from the audience and through which the audience watches the action.

Answer 15

**a conversation, especially a formal one** _Examples_ * "Instead, he demurred, conceded mistakes and generally engaged in a nuanced and seemingly heartfelt **colloquy** on the difficulties of managing tech in a complex world." - *New York Times* (Sep 12, 2018) * "Peter Van Degen, who had strayed into his wife's box for a moment, caught the **colloquy**, and lifted his opera-glass." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 73)

Answer 16

**tending to diminish or disparage** * belittling * deprecative, deprecatory, depreciative, depreciatory * slighting _Examples_ * "She doesn’t attempt to bond by **deprecating** herself." - *The New Yorker* (May 9, 2016) * "Mrs. Spragg came forward **deprecatingly** to lift the cloak from her daughter's shoulders." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 74)

Answer 17

a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed) * remorse, self-reproach * penance _Examples_ * "Cohn always attacked and never apologized, stopped at nothing to reach his aims, confused and distracted his opponents by abruptly changing the terms of the conversation, and lied and cheated without **compunction**." - *The New Yorker* (Sep 25, 2019) * "Mrs. Spragg overflowed with **compunction**. 'I'm so sorry, Undie. I guess it was just seeing you in this glare of light.'" - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 75) _Description_ When you feel compunction you feel very, very sorry, usually for something you did to hurt someone or mess something up. When you feel no compunction, you're not at all sorry. The noun compunction comes from the Latin verb compungere, meaning “prick sharply.” When you feel compunction, you feel a sharp prick of your conscience. The word compunction is often used in the negative in phrases like “without compunction” or "no compunction." You might say that the burglar acted without compunction when he stole your baseball card collection.

Answer 18

**showing pensive sadness** _Examples_ * “the sensitive and **wistful** response of a poet to the gentler phases of beauty” * "Mrs. Spragg stooped to gather up the scattered garments as they fell, folding them with a **wistful** caressing touch, and laying them on the lounge, without daring to raise her eyes to her daughter." - Edith Wharton, *The Custom of the Country* (pg. 75)

Edith Wharton - The Custom of The Country Flashcards

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