Moby-Dick - Felicia Davin

Felicia Davin

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Moby-Dick

A collection of 7 posts

fact one: the whale is a discourse

DISCOURSE, n. I can’t quit twitter. It’s owned by a fascist ghoul and increasingly more broken every day, but my bookish community still lives there, it’s a reliable way to get the word out about a new book, sometimes passionate fans will coalesce around a single tweet

Uncertain whales

Uncertain whales

DIDASCALIE, n. This is a fancy French word for what we would call a “stage direction” in English, and it comes directly from the Greek didaskalia, which means a teaching or an instruction. It’s related to “didactic.” I’ve been thinking about this word because (1) it’s fun

Mufti and shufti

MUFTI, n. Last week this word showed up in both Moby-Dick and Slippery Creatures, KJ Charles’s romantic thriller set in 1920s London. But granting all this; yet, regarded discreetly and coolly, seems it not but a mad idea, this; that in the broad boundless ocean, one solitary whale, even

Mild deadliness

REQUIN, n. This is the French word for “shark.” It came up in Chapter 42 of Moby-Dick, which is the chapter on whiteness. It’s a whirlwind tour of our societal associations with the color, plus discussions of a bunch of white animals like sharks and polar bears, and how

She scrimshaws scrimshander far from the seashore

SCRIMSHANDER, n., v. I have continued to read Moby-Dick this week and have looked up many words in it. This one was among the first. “Scrimshaw” is art that sailors make on long sea voyages, usually by whittling wood or bone. It’s also a verb for making that art—

Mulch and quench

MULCH, n. Our friends and neighbors had a big pile of mulch delivered and it has been a subject of fascination for their kid—and me, obviously, since I spent some time looking the word up. What the heck is the word “mulch,” anyway? The stuff is pretty straightforward. By

Runaway horses, stationary bikes

Runaway horses, stationary bikes

ESSAY, n. This word came to English from French. The verb essayer means “to try.” An essay is an attempt. It’s also a thing you write, thanks to sixteenth-century French thinker Michel de Montaigne, who wrote three volumes called Essais. I didn’t revisit Essais on purpose. I didn’