triologisms

Sun-stored summers

Tarka and other otters barely survive a particularly harsh winter, and this idea of the summer being stored away in...

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triologisms

Raven-like croaks

Williamson's lovingly accurate study of otters includes many examples of the playfulness of these animals, be it with each other,...

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a quote to note

Treading water

Tarka's mother cleverly entices her cubs into the water, first by putting the food she has caught close to the...

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put in a good word

Chakker

'... other noises were mingled with the chakkering.'

In this form, I couldn't find this word in the OED, but...

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triologisms

Sun-splashy ripples

You can feel the warmth of a summer day with diaphanous wings darting over glittering ripples.

'She heard the rustling...

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put in a good word

Dimmit dimmity

An English south-west dialect word for dusk or twilight, hinted at in the opening 'dim...'.

'At dimmity it flew down...

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metaphors

As large as …

An unusual simile for size, here referring to bubbles. Bubbles feature largely in Tarka the Otter, often blown by the...

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put in a good word

Skirl

'The owl was hearkening, however, for the prick of the claws of mice on leaves, and when it heard these...

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put in a good word

Glidder

'It was low tide, and the water ran below glidders, or steep muddy slopes.'

Williamson has a helpful habit of...

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put in a good word

Sog

'Down a crumbling sog of peat and into the still brown-clear water.'

Of course, we speak of 'soggy' pasta or...

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metaphors

Silent as …

Another richly original simile for silence, here attributed to the noiseless movement of a rolling mist. See another silent simile...

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metaphors

Like a broken viper

A wildly meandering river likened to a viper broken by a buzzard - Williamson's inventiveness is a wonder, and almost...

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