The Thirty-Nine Steps (17 page)
Read The Thirty-Nine Steps Online
Authors: John Buchan
‘I hope Franz will bear his triumph well. I ought to tell you that the
Ariadne
for the last hour has been in our hands.’
Three weeks later, as all the world knows, we went to war. I joined the New Army the
first week, and owing to my Matabele experience got a captain’s commission straight
off. But I had done my best service, I think, before I put on khaki.
LASSIC
L
ITERATURE
: W
ORDS AND
P
HRASES
adapted from the
Collins English Dictionary
Accoucheur
NOUN
a male midwife or doctor
I think my sister must have had some general idea that I was a young offender whom
an Accoucheur Policemen had taken up (on my birthday) and delivered over to her
(
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens)
addled
ADJ
confused and unable to think properlyBut she counted and counted till she got that addled
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)
admiration
NOUN
amazement or wonderlifting up his hands and eyes by way of admiration
(
Gulliver’s Travels
by Jonathan Swift)
afeard
ADJ
afeard means afraidshake it – and don’t be afeard
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)
affected
VERB
affected means followedHadst thou affected sweet divinity
(
Doctor Faustus 5.2
by Christopher Marlowe)
aground
ADV
when a boat runs aground, it touches the ground in a shallow part of the water and
gets stuckwhat kep’ you? – boat get aground?
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)
ague
NOUN
a fever in which the patient has alternate hot and cold shivering fitshis exposure to the wet and cold had brought on fever and ague
(
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens)
alchemy
ADJ
false or worthlessall wealth alchemy
(
The Sun Rising
by John Donne)
all alike
PHRASE
the same all the timeLove, all alike
(
The Sun Rising
by John Donne)
alow and aloft
PHRASE
alow means in the lower part or bottom, and aloft means on the top, so alow and aloft
means on the top and in the bottom or throughoutSomeone’s turned the chest out alow and aloft
(
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson)
ambuscade
NOUN
ambuscade is not a proper word. Tom means an ambush, which is when a group of people
attack their enemies, after hiding and waiting for themand so we would lie in ambuscade, as he called it
(
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain)
amiable
ADJ
likeable or pleasantSuch amiable qualities must speak for themselves
(
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen)
