The Joy of Words

Fabulous post. Made me consider how important my love of reading is, and I’d never considered how reading used to be read out loud, and yet now we predominantly do it in silence. Made me think of the monks who eat in silence but someone still reads out to them as they ate.

And oh, sitting on those sofas for the reading group must be a real privilege. I recently had the pleasure of one of your Downton talks and tours and what an enlightening visit it was, and you were as entertaining then as you are with words. Your posts are a real treat that I always enjoy reading. Thank you.

Impressive & informative Monday Morning Blog again Lady Carnarvon. Thank you.
Agree with your Joy Of Words regarding reading well written books. I do have many I've kept that are favorites of mine over many decades and some are yours of course!

Yes, I must say I need a larger vocabulary in deep East Texas. Sadly, no one will know what the words mean either.
Here we use words and phrases like:
Fixin to
Gonna go over yonder
Down the road a piece
Yall
Thingamajig
Whozewhatit
Ya know ?

My parents were born and raised around Jacksonville then they moved to Dallas then we moved back here when I was in Jr. High. Even so close as 120 miles the language was changed.
The one thing I can say is I adapted. Now writing these words were ridiculous because East Texas if you were not in school as my earlier relatives, you spell words the way you say them.
I was once in a spelling bee in Dallas and I have a lot of issues with this. Goodness… ❤️
Thank you for the red sofa and for allowing Downton to interrupt your lives to show us how beautiful your home really is.

I love it. I have to get those books. It’s always advisable to use a good word if you remember to think of one and bolstering everybody’s vocabulary by learning new words and using them is a very good thing to do with all these slang terms and modern sayings being spoken by the masses nowadays which I highly dislike and disapprove of. I think it would be in everyone’s best interest to improve their vocabulary and form of expression by learning and using new words as they did in the past speaking so fluently to each other. We should all strive to become modern day ladies and gentlemen or at least refine ourselves to the point of speaking like them.

Dear Lady Carnarvon,
This post makes me so happy because I own a children’s bookstore in South Carolina, so any mention of books or book clubs brings me joy! I am definitely going to add “Words of Happiness” to our book choices at the store! Thank you for spreading the love of books and community through a book club. Oh how I wish I were there to join in! Have a STUPENDOUS week!

Thank you for this today.
Lovely to think of your book club taking place in such an iconic space in your home - the red sofas are the place I go to in my mind when thinking of Downton Abbey! Susie Dent's word books are now on my list to get!

How wonderful, I'd join in a heart beat. Thank you for starting a club for the joy of reading.
fondly Jenny

This makes me think my toddler might like to learn some fun words to expand his vocabulary. Looking forward to some “word” time.

Love the "new to me" words!

I love your column ! I think reading feeds the soul. Perhaps something like soul-solace for literary soul food.

I’m sure you and Susie will come up with a better word.

I’ve started my Monday morning off with your newsletter and my little white Havanese pup, Bama Bella, on our patio. The air is filled with birdsong, and the scent of Southern Magnolias. All is right in my world. Thank you for being part of my Monday mornings.

Reading out loud to my grandchildren as they grasped the concept and learned the words was such a blessing. I like to hope it’s why they still like to read real books today.

Linda
Cape May, NJ

My mother raised me to appreciate and explore words and meaning too!
Who can join your book club? Do you stream across the pond?
As always, thank you for your marvelous posts!

Lady Carnarvon,
I love grappling (a good word) with words, too! I wonder if ‘uhtceare’ is an ancestor or unclear. Studying entomology is a fun pastime - if not taken seriously!
Thanks for two more words now that quite clearly describe snacking and the fun of it!
Martha G

Lady Carnarvon,
Computer mistake in my comment: Etymology, not entomology!!
Please excuse!
Martha G

So very interesting ,I read a great deal can so easily get lost in a book and let the world fly by !!! Thankyou

Lovely the pictures of the joy the words and did you and lord Carnarvon have a nice bank holiday weekend l am fan of Downton Abbey and lovely highcelere castle

One of my earliest memories of the joys of books ,was winning a prize book,the wonderful Wind in the Willows .I was seven years of age ,and wrote an essay ,on the evils of alcohol ,after a visit from the Band of Hope and Temperance Society to my Junior School . I have loved to read all my life , and so pleased my Grandchildren do too.

I can’t imagine a more wonderful place in which to sit and read a book than those marvelous red sofas!
With a cup of tea at hand. Just lovely!

Lady Carnarvon............Your blog today was very interesting. I will have a new word to use on my husband when it rains today.
The two most important words in our language are "love" and "understanding". If you live by these words, you can conquer anything.
How does one become a friend of Highclere?

Actually, I was caught up by the thought that the red sofa -- the site of so many scenes of Downton Abbey -- would have to be a bit of a marvel, surviving so many YEARS of episodes, without showing any wear at all. It's kind of a "reverse-continuity" thing -- in film, successive scenes must be shot in the same site without props disappearing between scenes (unless they are required by the plot to be changed). In the case of Downton Abbey, the scenes are ALWAYS set in exactly the same way, no matter how many years have elapsed between scenes.
An errant thought; never mind! I'm sure viewers delight in seeing the beautiful, familiar room settings.

Sometimes I think I am a "print addict." I pick up pamphlets/flyers etc. just for the pleasure of reading.......I actually feel quite down if i am not surrounded by books, which thankfully i can usually get from my local library......I read once a week to a young boy (not related) who delights in the printed word also.

Of course fond memories of reading "the Three Musketeers"/Oliver Twist/Count of Monte Cristo under a blanket with a torch, as a child.

Sometime I am saddened when Hollywood turns a book into a film. Recently the book "Leave the World Behind" arrived on Netflix.....Had I not read the book I would probably enjoyed it, but having read the beautiful subtle story which unfolded in the book, i was not amused.

On Wednesday i attend a "Tell your Story" group where we write/tell about our "stories"
You tell as much or as little as you want......but it is amazing.
All the best......Angela

Good morning Lady Carnarvon - words are fascinating and the journey I've been on these past 18 months have changed my perspective. I can't wait for my eyesight to come back to normal again so I can read the books I've purchased. Book club sounds like a wonderful experience to try.

I will need to remember the word petrichor. Living in the desert of Southern Arizona, we always look forward to our summer rains. The desert seems to be refreshed and the Creosote bush gives off an amazing scent.

Thank you for another entertaining Monday morning blog. I always look forward to reading them.

Yes , book clubs are absolutely interesting. I always appreciate to take part.
Have a lovely week

Lady Carnarvon,

What a treasure to hold a book club on the red sofas! I love to read and it is especially exciting coming across new words.

Thank you again for a delightful blog. I will now imagine I am reading and relaxing on one of the red sofas with a cup of tea nearby. Have a dulcet day.

Katie Beeh

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT READ .

Greetings from Fort Worth, Texas. At a young age, I was taught that if you are unable to say what you mean, you will never mean what you say. That statement has stayed with me, and has proven to be, at times, woefully true.

On Reading aloud. Recently in the US, some of the baby experts say to read to your little baby every day. I have a new granddaughter, who hears stories every day. She loves her little board books and wants to hold them, she loves "...chicks with bricks come, chicks with blocks come, chicks with bricks and blocks and clocks come...." Some stories have great sounds, and animal noises, car noises, train noises, rat a tat tat noises. Chick a boom noises. She really listens but does not yet know any words. We have silly things to talk about and she laughs and laughs. Not everyone knows what to say to a baby, but a story book can help. Now on a different note, when the weather is fine, my husband and I sit in our big Adirondack chairs in the garden, and he reads me stories! I know of another couple where the wife reads to her husband. There is so much of classic literature we have not read. The weather is getting nice...

Thank you for today's stories. I'm just reading a book from our local library up here on Tamborine Mtn. Qld. called The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons. Your mention of your book club "twigged" the thought that this might be a lovely interesting book for your members. I'm finding it a great read - with so many suggestions for other books too. Sadly, I've found very few people to share the joy of books read with up here. But I've made so many wonderful friends with the characters in the books I read, and so much information of course too. Thank you as always. I seldom write a comment, as I seem to be one of the last to get your stories and there are already so many others with wonderful comments. I do really enjoy every Tuesday when yours arrive though.
Thank you. Anne Stille.

What a beautiful post, i have just been exploring https://friendsofhighclere.com/, it looks fantastic.

"Bellycheer" - What a great word! I'm inspired to take action and make "bellycheer" for dinner tonight: Hot dogs in pretzel buns, macaroni & cheese, and baked beans. As always, thank you for sharing your weekly posts. I always learn something new. Best wishes from San Jose, California.

I have recently learned to appreciate the word Apricity, It has nothing to do with apricots, but I think we could invent another word called Apricocity because I really like the sound of that word, but we'll need to make up a meaning for it!

I recently read an article which encouraged reading aloud 3 minutes per day as a way to maintain mental agility and improve conversational skills. So for those of us who sometimes search for a word while we are in a conversation it may be worth a try.

Love words, books and reading. While I may not be able to travel very often, I can open a book and be transported.

Thank you for sharing your lovely home with us through pictures and your words. You make us feel as though we are there with you seeing the beauty surrounding the estate. These beautiful red couches do look so inviting. I would love to visit Highclere one of these days. I look forward to reading your blog every week. May have to check these books out and give to my grandkids. Maybe after I read to them.
Again, thank you,

Thank you for sharing this. Books have always been an important figure in my daily life from early childhood. I have always been able to share my thoughts more cohesively on paper than in speech but some of that might be that I give it more thought when writing and at times allow impulsiveness to drive my replies in person. I need to work on this. Books come alive for me when I read and I have written a few children's books based on the oceans that I need to self-publish one day and stop procrastinating. I finally have a home I can designate a room for a library and I am looking forward to finally unpacking 2 rooms of boxes of books and organizing them in sight so I can read them all again. It is so lovely to know others are as obsessed with the written word as I have always been. Please have a great evening and thank you for a peek into your thoughts and life.

I really enjoyed this post. I have a favorite word which I try to use whenever it is appropriate..It is redundant. I just like how it sounds. I have thought I must be quite strange to have a favorite word but after reading your post I think it is perfectly acceptable.
Thank you!
L Sue Smith

- Thank you, Lady Carnarvon.
.
"If you have a garden and a library,
you have everything you need." 
/
"Si hortum et bibliothecam habes, omnia tibi necessaria sunt."
by Marcus Tullius Cicero

Loved this post so much. Thank you Lady Carnarvon for sharing your home, and your library, and bringing to light so many topics through your blog.

This blog reminded me of the book "The Dictionary of Lost Words" by Pip Williams. Words are so important, and I love learning words, new and old. It is good to know that others enjoy words, and are keeping them alive.

I will need to go and buy some books now by Susie Dent, and will purchase a few for my other friends who love words and books.

Dear Lady Carnarvon:

Thank you for this blog.

Yes, reading, whether silent or out loud is important now more than ever.

If I may comment, I would find your Book Clubs more interesting if we could actually hear the entire interview. Just viewing you speaking to the author with the microphone muted is not beneficial.

Following is a list of words peculiar only to Michigan:

Didja
Fudgie
Jeet
Meer
MI Left
Mitten
Troll
Yooper

Until next time, happy words to you.

Perpetua Crawford

Lady Carnarvon,
Reading is my passion, along with my flower gardens. There are few things better than a good book enjoyed while lounging along the flower beds.

Such a fascinating post. Wonderful of you to host a book club around the red sofa. The red sofa is an icon now.
I am glad you highlighted Susie’s books. She is brilliant.
Her books remind me of a book I was given many years ago. It was called “Sniglets.” The author created his own words. “Canaflationary Zone,” is one I remember well. It meant the price zone on the back of a book published in the United States that showed both the price in Canada and the price in the United States. Canada was always a bit higher.