Happy Wednesday!  It’s time for more new words.  You know how this works:  tell us about new and interesting words you’ve found in your recent reading.  Check out Bermuda Onion’s Weblog for other new vocabulary words.

My new words this week come from Writing Out the Notes by Bob Hallett.  Bob is a founding member of one of my favorite folk bands, Great Big Sea.  I picked up the book during their recent show at the Kent Stage (fabulous show!) and all but finished it in one sitting on yesterday’s flight to Amsterdam.  (It’s not a long book, but since I was heading straight to the office from the airport, I needed to sleep.)  Not surprisingly, many of these words are musical.  How much do you know about traditional folk instruments?

1. Bodhran – A hand-held goatskin drum used in traditional Irish music and often played with a stick

“Noel Dinn played a bodhran, the only one in Newfoundland then…”

2. Bouzouki – A Greek stringed instrument having a long fretted neck and usually pear-shaped body

“The rattle and clink of a bouzouki filled the pile of speakers that perched on either side of the stage…”

3. Mandola – An early lute resembling a large mandolin

“Three different mandolins led to a more reliable mandola, and then my first bouzouki.”

4. Ceilidh – an informal social gathering at which there is Scottish or Irish folk music and singing and folk dancing and story telling

“They took the ensemble playing of the turn of the century ceilidh bands, and freed the repertoire from the strict rhythms of the music’s roots in dancing…”

So, what new words did YOU learn this week?