Monday, December 21, 2015

Word of the day: longueur

The word of the day is longueur:

  1. a long and boring passage in a literary work, drama, musical composition, or the like: The longueurs in this book make it almost unreadable.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/longueur)


"During the winter solstice, (June, in South America) hundreds of camera-toting European and American tourists wait on Kalasasaya through the entire freezing night for the sunrise, which is supposed to shine through the Gateway on that day alone...  To keep themselves warm during the inevitable longueurs, visitors sing songs of peace and harmony in several languages."

 - Charles Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

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