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defenestration

Penny Fuller’s: A-Z of Unusual Words (Part D) challenge

By Angie the Archivist 📚🪶Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 1 min read
Top Story - October 2024
defenestration
Photo by Amritanshu Sikdar on Unsplash

Defenestration: throwing a person or object out a window

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Connection to me: Many decades ago, when the earth was green… Italian was one of my High School subjects. Note, I never claimed to have learnt Italian! Sadly, I was least proficient in it, out of all my subjects However, for some bizarre reason, finestra is one of the few Italian words I still recall. Apparently finestra originated from a similar Latin word fenestra. From there, it’s just a tiny skip to defenestration! Whilst clearly not a wise or kind action, it certainly makes for a dramatic scene in a book or movie!

I also like a few other interesting D words such as: doit (a trifle or minor thing) and donnybrook (an uproarious brawl).

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Defenestration

Slouching on deckchairs, gazing vacantly across the backyard, we chatted desultorily.

Old Mrs Graham died last week?

No! She must’ve been over a hundred!

Nah, she only made 97.

Hey! That’s no doit!

I guess… pass me some trifle?

Delicious dessert offered a reprieve that sultry afternoon. Spoons paddled in ice cream puddles.

Conversation lagged. Siblings squabbled… who’d score the washing-up? Drawing the short straw, I begrudgingly faced the stupefying heat. Forget the dishes! They’d wait.

An abandoned bucket perched by the sink, begged to spare us. Cool water tumbled gleefully into it. What a lark… the shocking defenestration of water onto unsuspecting sluggards! Time paused, lurched. A glorious donnybrook broke out! Garden hoses joined the melee. Fat raindrops landed. Relief at last!

***

It's hard to beat a water fight on a muggy day!

Written for Penny Fuller’s challenge.

Microfiction

About the Creator

Angie the Archivist 📚🪶

Labrador‘s personality🐕‍🦺… attention span of a gnat! 🙃

Top Stories: Race Against Time; Elusive Parkrun; Painting Pandemonium;

Her Majesty Mia; A Dart at Dusk; Sublime Rhyme;

The Quandry; Shadow of You; Not My Wake; Sauerkraut

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    Written by Angie the Archivist 📚🪶