Today’s post is brought to you by the letter W!
Waftage – the state of being wafted, or an old meaning: transportation through water or air.
I experienced major waftage on my recent flight to London.
Wastrel – a spendthrift, or a foundling waif (abandoned child)
Welkin (Middle English; chiefly literary) – The vault of heaven; the sky
BEHOLD THE WELKIN.
Photo: Elizabeth West
Wether – a castrated male sheep; also wool from a previously shorn sheep.
Whey – the liquid that separates from the curd during the cheese-making process.
Whoreson – a bastard (illegitimate); a disliked and unpleasant person.
I shall smite you, contemptible whoreson! Also, yer mama!
Image: Eugene Onegin and Vladimir Lensky’s duel. Ilya Repin (1844–1930) / Wikimedia Commons
Widdershins – counterclockwise.
The Doctor and Clara watched in horror as the bewitched TARDIS lifted into the air and began to spin widdershins, throwing off sparks like purple lightning.
Windigo (Ojibwa; others) also wendigo – a Native American cannibalistic spirit. Stephen King played with this in Pet Sematary. The word also refers to the transformation of a person who has eaten human flesh. A psychiatric syndrome specific to this culture occurs when a person is under the delusion that he has become a windigo.
Woollies (British) – slang for woolen garments, particularly a sweater (in British English, a jumper). I used this word in Secret Book, heh heh.
Woolly wearing a woolly. :3 Buy the woolly at the link below.
Wormery – a container in which worms are kept for study or to make compost. Find out more about the second use and how to make your own wormery here.
By the way, I learn from these posts as well; I had no idea you could make a wormery until just now.
Writhe (rhymes with tithe) – to squirm about as in pain or effort; contort. Like worms do when you try to pick them up.
Wroth (Middle English) – angry.
“Verily, I was wroth to see the condition of the village after its plundering,” the knight said.
Wunderkind (German) – “wonder child,” a child prodigy; one who becomes successful when very young.
Allegedly, I was very successful at farting.
Image: Portrait of a boy. Attributed to Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805). Wikimedia Commons. Unconfirmed portrait possibly of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Wuthering – the roaring of a strong wind. See the famous Gothic romance Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brönte; the title is the name of the house in the book. One could argue that the winds that were the house’s namesake reflect the tumultuous relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff.
Wye – a structure, particularly a railroad track, shaped like a Y.
Also the beautiful Wye Valley in Wales. Yes, I put this in so I could use this picture that I took at Tintern Abbey. Read William Wordsworth’s beautiful poem Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798 at this link.
Photo: Elizabeth West
That’s all for today, kids. May your waftage over the Wye land you not in a wormery, and don’t forget your woollies.
Graphomaniac - A. Elizabeth West 
Great material here, as ever. Your inclusion of Wendigo gave me the willies. Check out Algernon Blackwood’s (whose name I wish were mine!) classic story, “The Wendigo.”
I think I’ve read that–I have a Blackwood compilation somewhere. Read The Willows–that’s plenty creepy too!
On Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 12:32 AM, Graphomaniac – Elizabeth West wrote:
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That last photo is about half an hour away from where I live!
ARE YOU SERIOUS YOU LUCKY DOG
Tintern Abbey was on my list anyway, but the trip was kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants thing. I just went, “Today is nice; I think I’ll go there,” and hopped on the train.
If I had only known! We totes could have met up! DAMMIT NOW I HAVE TO GO BACK
On Mon, Jul 13, 2015 at 1:53 PM, Graphomaniac – Elizabeth West wrote:
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