At times, Lawson's debut feels like a quasi art-house film (its chapters broken up by esoteric words describing various fetishes) disguised as a mainstream knee-slapper – or vice versa.
One of the dolphins' early messages to Aros was a bit of esoteric word salad: "Where there is true love, shapes, forms disappear and left us only our smile".
Its subtitle -- Dispatches from the Games, Grammar, and Geek Underground -- intrigued me because when it comes to Scrabble play, I'm less interested in the art of constructing cool, esoteric words under given restrictions than I am in the art of winning at Scrabble.
For a more esoteric discussion, refer here.
Let's call this faraway world Botsteinburg, after the American Symphony's conductor, Leon Botstein, in whom the words "esoteric" and "difficult" provoke an excitement you or I might feel if we were gifted a beach vacation.
A much more believable Act I exchange is Kevin's description of his novel, using the words "esoteric" and "apocryphal" (he is proud to have transcended his humble intellectual beginnings), followed by Donna's suggestion, "You should put some vampires in it".
If you're giving a speech to a group of 8th graders, it's important not to get too esoteric -- in other words, use words they'll understand and appreciate.
In the eighteenth century, the phlogiston hypothesis extended Aristotle's idea to other reactions, and the word "fire" was replaced by the more esoteric term "phlogiston" (Greek word for flame).
However, his brilliant handling of the octosyllabic metre, his witty, clattering rhymes, his delight in strange words and esoteric learning, and his enormous zest and vigour create effects that are entirely original.
More than 20 years later, I can still remember the Serbo-Croatian words for esoteric things like the lights that mark the outlines of trucks, which I had to learn for the written part of the test.
In addition to wonderfully useful vocabulary words (myriad, esoteric, redundant -- why do I remember these?) and tireless efforts to teach us the proper use of pronouns ("give the book to Valerie and me"), she assigned us a Herculean packet on Greek mythology.
