Word of the Week!

I am starting a feature on my blog. I’ve decided to highlight any news word that I’ve discovered in the previous week and share them. They will include regional terms, colloquialisms and in the case of this week, food. They will hopefully be fun and interesting. What is the best of the new words of the week? We’ll have to look at each one and find out.

The following three are all from Ali Smith’s Girl meets boy

Borhani: A specialty Bangladeshi drink. It is served during celebrations and is most often paired with Biryani. Recipes for Borhani can be found here:
http://khauwardol.blogspot.com/2008/08/borhani-for-your-biryani.html
http://khanapinaa.com/rapidrecipe/borhani.html.html

Epithalamioned: Epithalamion (or Epithalamium) is a form of poem specifically written to a bride. It is made into a verb by Anthea on her wedding day.
Wikipedia gives a detailed explanation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epithalamium

Shavey: So I actually couldn’t find the meaning of this word. The term kept popping up in the novel. Anthea keeps referring to her coworkers as ‘shavey’. What does it mean? If anyone knows, could you tell me? Speculation: does it mean clean-shaven, cookie-cutter worker? That’s my best guess.

From Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth

Gourmand: Describes a person who takes pleasure in food. It is different from gourmet, which denotes a person of refined palate. A gourmand just likes to eat.
Wikipedia gives a brief history of the word.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gourmand

Which word do I like the best? Well, I’ll eliminate shavey right now, since I don’t even know if I’m pronouncing it right. All the other words are interesting. I’m tempted to actually try and make Borhani with some Biryani. Of the three, the one I think I might actually use in real life is gourmand. For example, “Look at all the gourmands at the Mandarin tonight.” Or, “Jason is a real gourmand. He’s totally enjoying those wings.”

Hope you’ve enjoyed! If you’ve learned any new words this week, please share them.