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A.Word.A.Day--gadzookery gadzookery (gad-ZOO-kuh-ree) noun Use of archaic words or expressions, e.g. wight (a human being), prithee (I pray thee). [Apparently from gadzooks, once used as a mild oath, which may have been an alteration of God's hooks, a reference to the nails of Christ's crucifixion.] "Why does a novelist turn to history? Commonly it is for a new wealth of verifiable particulars, a ready supply of the circumstantial details that promise to make fiction probable. Rose Tremain followed this track for her commercially and critically successful novel, Restoration, a book full of the quirks and ruffles of a half-familiar past. There was, however, more than a hint of gadzookery about it." John Mullan; Life's Small Lendings; The Guardian (London, UK); May 3, 2003. "She (Georgette Heyer) wanted to write more serious historical novels. Unfortunately the books she wrote outside her period have a tendency towards the gadzookery of Baroness Orczy." The Romantic Novels of Georgette Heyer; BBC (London, UK); May 17, 2002. This week's theme: unusual words. X-Bonus Marriage: a book of which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters written in prose. -Beverly Nichols, author

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