Word of the Day

[plural]

apparently after checking the most recent activity with regards to the harem ad
I left the page open in the background.

this seemed entirely irrelevant to me, until I noticed a new window opening entitled "instant message"
apparently leaving the window open, leaves one also logged in to the site, and available for instant messaging through the site.

while I haven't decided if I would share the details of the conversation here yet
it did bring up an interesting chain of events, leading to my learning a new and wonderful word.

you see the young woman in question
who happened to be a Muslim (non-practicing) and an Arabic speaker
mentioned in the course of the discussion that a harem was populated by wives
rather than as I thought, concubines.

It turns out we were both correct, a harem can contain either

but I decided to take a moment and look to see if there might be a more precise word
the several online thesauruses I checked with did not contain one which I would prefer

during in a broader search I did come across the word

"Odalisque"

meaning "A concubine or woman slave in a harem."

which I have used to replace the words "harem girls" in the headline of my ad

as precision is indeed a virtue

Comments

[ipsafictura.livejournal.com]

Come on, you didn't know odalisque? That's a great crossword puzzle word.

[plural.livejournal.com]

nope, I am afraid I had never encountered it before

[ipsafictura.livejournal.com]

It's on my list of words that just sound pretty and have cool meanings, along with apotheosis, concupiscence, synesthesia, and a host of others.