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Gil Blas

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A list of 250 words by yarb.

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Interesting words and usages from Smollett's 1749 translation of Lesage's L'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane

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  • dontcry *swoons* Mar 3, 2009

  • reesetee It's the book paste, my friends. (Well, at least for me.) Mar 3, 2009

  • dontcry *sniffs* Mar 3, 2009

  • rolig The word is real enough. An osphresiophilia is a strong (perhaps erotic) attraction to certain smells. For Wordizens, the prefix biblio- seems to be in order. While I may sometimes pooh-pooh a word, I would never poo-poo a fellow Wordie. Mar 3, 2009

  • nycanthro Hilarious. Is that a real word or are you just poo-pooing me?

    If it has a name I can get a doctor's note and take a much-needed vacation to the Library of Congress. Mar 3, 2009

  • rolig The diagnosis, I believe, would be chronic bibliosphresiophilia. I'm not sure there's a cure. Mar 3, 2009

  • bilby What a bunch of people we are!

    I'm beginning to think WordiePRO should include counselling :-( Mar 3, 2009

  • nycanthro My parents kept an extensive library when I was growing up. I found the smell of the older, musty, yellowed books to be the most intoxicating.

    There's a company called Demeter that makes strange fragrances some might find inspired, while others might place them in the same box as mandles. They have a cologne called paperback that I found uncanny in its ability to evoke such immediate, gleeful nostalgia.
    Mar 3, 2009

  • yarb Yes, I agree. Old books are risky - sometimes they smell rather unpleasant. But you have to just bury your nose in there and take a big whiff, it's no use being tenderfooted about it. I find the thicker the book, the stronger and longer-lasting the aroma. I think I spent almost as much time sniffing my Everyman clothbound Gargantua and Pantagruel as I did reading it. Mar 3, 2009

  • lea Yes, I get a different kick out of sniffing old books and when sniffing new books... (I have worked in the public library and I know how dirty books can get. Some people wipe their books with wet cloth before they read them - or give them to the hands of their children. I think it is wise sometimes.) Mar 3, 2009

  • dontcry I'm a sniffer. Mar 3, 2009

  • yarb I generally have an ebook on the go at work - I read Gil Blad that way - but I prefer paper. I like the smell of a real book. Do you sniff your books? One thing I like about (free) ebooks is that they lower the average publication date of my reading, due to the out-of-copyright requirement. Mar 3, 2009

  • lea I don't mind... I like e-books. I have one copy of Blas on my mobile now. Another on the computer. ;o) Mar 3, 2009

  • yarb Hurrah! Here's hoping Gil Blas brings you as much pleasure as he brought me! I do think it's shocking that this is currently out of print in English. Mar 3, 2009

  • lea Thanks for the inspiration. I had to download the book today, after I saw your quote from it under the word pet earlier. I need something... different than usual to read, I think. Mar 2, 2009

  • yarb Thanks and farewell, my dear Gil Blas! Oct 11, 2008