Happy Wednesday!  I’ve got some more new words for you from my latest books.  Check out other new words over at BermudaOnion’s Weblog.

These are from The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today’s Top Authors.  It’s a great compilation of short stories and it as been really interesting to see how different authors tackle the theme. 

1. Pachysandra – evergreen groundcover for moderately- to deeply-shaded sites, forming dense mats of glossy dark green foliage.

“I ate one on the front steps of our house and threw the core into the pachysandra.”

This one deserves a picture, I think:

2. Abstemious – showing moderation in eating and drinking

“Yet in my abstemious way, and due to the neatness of my dress, the precision of my carriage, and, of course, the regular upkeep of the boundary of short hairs at my neck and ears, I maintain the outlines of my youthful allure.”

3. Proscenium – the dividing wall or barrier between audience and the stage

4. Floor-through – an apartment that covers the entire depth of a building, a whole floor

“…her apartment, a parlor-level floor-through, was superbly appointed for my purposes, the high ceilings and heavy sashed curtains giving us privacy and making a nice proscenium for my foolish indulgences.”

5. Palimpsest – A manuscript or document that has been erased or scraped clean, for reuse of the paper, parchment or vellum

“…a New York license plate whose raised numerals and letters were just barely discernible through layers of dried mud like a palimpsest.”

So, what new words did YOU learn this week?