I swear, Booking Through Thursday never seems to come fast enough for me. Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind having a book-related meme to do everyday. Here is this week’s question:

I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

Generally, if I come across a word I don’t know I re-read the passage it was in to figure out what it is. For the most part, that’s all I need to do. If it’s something though that, while I understand what it is, I don’t fully grasp what it means, then I’ll go get a dictionary and look it up. Although, usually, I’ve found that if you keep reading you’ll usually find tidbits to help you get a better idea.

For example, say I was reading a book and a character said they have a very gothic house. Let’s pretend I don’t know what gothic means, well, from the context I can infer that it’s a type of style or design, even if I can’t picture it myself. If I keep reading however the character is bound to mention something about the design to substantiate their claim, maybe they’ll say something like…the eerie vines wrapped around the supports and beams of the house all the way to the pointed arch. Moonlight illuminated the flying buttresses and sinister looking gargoyles. Ah, there we go, now I have a very clear picture in my mind of the house they’re approaching, as well as a good idea as to what gothic-style architecture might look like.

Latter on, when I’m not so absorbed in the book, I’ll pick up a dictionary or do a search for the word on the internet to better understand the term and any other questions that may have arrisen. For example, let’s say I know what an arch and gargoyle is but I’m clueless as to what the hell a flying buttress is. I’ll look that up to get an even better idea.

In the case where I am just completely stumped and can not figure out the meaning of the word let alone how it’s being used, then I have to put the book down right then and there and head for a dictionary or the internet. It will not let me rest.