I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated or chortled over a word the way I do ton. No not in you weigh a ton but the London ton.
When my novella, All’s Fair in Love & Seduction came out, I called my older brother to let him know. Excited for me, he immediately went to Amazon to check it out. Literally, a minute after we hung up, I got a rather concerned call from him. He wanted me to know that there was a spelling error in my blurb. I was naturally alarmed. Good Lord, how could I have misspelled something in something that short and something that had been gone over many times by myself as well as others. I checked the blurb on Amazon immediately and discovered, I had indeed written:
For Miss Elizabeth Smith, sharing her first kiss with the charming Lord Derek Creswell is nothing short of a dream come true…that is, until she is spotted by one of the most influential gossips of the ton.
As you can see, instead of writing town, I wrote ton, leaving out the sadly neglected ‘w’. My panicked heart slowed and I laughed and I laughed, then I laughed some more. My brother got a very brief history lesson in the matters of the London aristocracy.
The following day, my co-worker apprised me that I made exactly the same mistake. Apparently, the men I know do not read historical romances. 🙂
Now, in getting back to the other meaning of ton, I do have a ton of books. Seriously, a lot! So today, I’ve added 5 (five) more books to the mix, which means I’ll pick 6 winners instead of 5 today. Here’s what’s up for grabs today. Is there a particular word(s) you think would trip up the average reader if they’re not familiar with that particular genre? Comment and enter to win 5 (five) books from Wednesday’s stash.
Now onto Wednesday’s Questions — yes they do get harder and plentiful as the week goes on 😉
1. Just where do Margaret Mallory’s Highlanders return to in her “THE RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDERS” series?
2. In Christina Brooke’s excerpt of HEIRESS IN LOVE , what colour is the hero’s horse?
3. In Maggie Robinson’s MISTRESS BY MARRIAGE, what is Caroline Christie’s maiden name?
4. In Beverley Kendall’s ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE & SEDUCTION, at what age did Elizabeth first lay eyes on Derek?
Answer all 4 (four) correctly to be entered to win the ereader. Answer at least 2 (correctly) and you’ll be entered to win the eGift Certificates.
***Answers can be found in excerpts or downloads on author’s website or sample downloads on most etailer sites.
PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWER on the blog. Email your answers to contests at theseasonforromance dot com and in the Subject line, please include Wednesday’s Answers.
love the story 😉 having read so many historicals for so many years I can no longer think of whay may trip up a newcomer, other than who out ranks who & such (which still gets me on occasion). One word that does come to mind is “trewes” thanks in part to the video Tessa Dare did recently for Maya Banks (which is still beyond grand) 🙂
Title. To others, it would mean the name of something, the name of a book or a film. But in historical romances, it’s quite obvious, that title means the person is a member of the aristocracy.
1.The Highlands.
2.White.
3.Parker.
4.Fifteen years old.
Zoe
The Regency genre has a ton (OK, pun intended) of words waiting to trip up an unfamiliar reader. On-dit, ton, making a cake of oneself, gel, chit… I could go on.
Great story….I can see how it would trip people up. I don’t remember if it got me when I first started reading historicals many, many moons and summers ago!
I forgot to mention that the word ‘marquess’ vs ‘marquis’ always gets me. What is the pronounciation anyway? I always go with what sounds like ‘markee’. Is there a correct way and does it really matter?
I haven’t read many historicals. It took me several books to enjoy the period. Anna Campbell has been one of my favorite authors.
In addition to the many titles in historicals, I think “rogue” would trip up someone new to the genre. Loved the ton story.
Love your story. I think some of the words used in historical romances would trip some readers up like demimonde and phaeton.
No words are coming to mind at the moment. It’s more like characters names that trip this reader up.
My fave term is blue stocking.
I love love love historical romances. There are so many words that are different or unusual. I also love the word rogue. I also like tupped-it is a funny word for fooling around. Would love to win any of these books. Have not been able to get any of the new books that have come out. School shopping for kids for the past couple of weeks. No extra book money for the past couple of months.
Okay, here’s one that you see in historicals and within context I’m okay with but my husband seems to think gives him lincense to tease me with in random conversation since I love the genre so much: wench. He tried this one on me the other day: maketh me a sandwich, wench. Lol. Needless to say, he didn’t get a sandwich.
Just thought I’d share my story too. Ha! But I always got confused on demimonde. Had to look that one up.
At first all I could think of was “dowry” and “dowager,” but then I thought about how an actress then might not be exactly the same as now. So then I started thinking about how words might be familiar but the meanings are completely different (i.e. bastard, rake).
Historicals have always been appealing for their uniqueness and the language as well which I find fascinating and special. A word that would be unusual is stalwartness.
I cant think of anything right now but im sure there’s been words i read and thought what the heck!!
@Mikiem, cute story. My husband wouldn’t get one either!
I have heard quite a few people new to the genre trip up on the word Viscount. I have been reading historicals for quite some time so I don’t remember if that was a word I needed to look up or not.
I can’t think of any word right now…LOL
Loved your story. Words like “Courtesan” and “Duke” make me curious every time, when I see them in a cover!
What a fortunate mistake! 😀
I think historical names for private parts pretty interesting; we wouldn’t use them now, but given the context, I think we can figure ’em out. 😉 What I find fascinating is that reading so many historicals does tend to give one an intimate feel for the era–I remember one time when I had to explain debutantes and “coming out” to a male friend who’d had nooooo idea what I was referring to.
Great story! I love all the different phraises you here in the historical romances.
Karen,
I read “marquess” or “marquis” as “markwis” as opposed to the French pronunciation “markee”. I could be wrong, though.
One of my favorite historical-related terms is “reticule”. It just has a certain ring to it. 😀
I think drawing room might through some readers off. So it’s a room to draw pictures? Can you finger paint in there, too??? LOL
I agree with you Bev. Ton definitely tripped me up a few times in the early years of my romance book reading. Oh and gel. At first I was like–what the Sam heck? What the Dickens is a gel? On the subject of highlanders… trews? As in– he dropped his trews. Isn’t that supposed to be trou–like in trouser? Can’t you tell I’ve got highlander on the brain? I just finished reading Maya Bank’s IN BED WITH A HIGHLANDER. Along those lines… how about bairn? Is it barn? Did they just misspell it? DH pointed that one out to me while reading over my shoulder one day. lol.
The thing that I have the most problem with usually is names. If there are two similar names or a person is referred to by both their first and last name then I can become confused.
That was a cute story. I believe that a modern reader thinks that “assembly rooms” are for meetings, instead of regency dances and concerts. Also certain readers may not know that “blunt” is money or that “sixes and sevens” is not a card game, but someone who is confused.
The countess is the wife of an Earl and not the wife of a count. That surprised me the first time I read regency too.
The titles drive me crazy. There’s earl of whats-it-place, his male friends may call him by his nick name “place”, others refer to him as “the earl”, and then he also has a first name. Oh! And his dad is the old whats-it-place. Argh!! Doesn’t keep me from reading these books though. =)
I can think of lots of words and sayings that would give them a perplexed look on their face. I think some that were used back then like MISTRESS were used differently than it is used today. However, I think those new to romance book reading would be able to decipher the words used in describing the sex scenes. I always laughed at all of the words used to describe the male’s favorite parts.
I think the names used for various body parts might give one not familiar with historicals pause, if not a chuckle!
Cute story! Oh, how I love historical romances and their unique vocabularies! I love the expression “blue stocking.” I also grin at the fact that “coming out” means something totally different now. 😉
Funny story!
Who says historical romances can’t be informative? 😉
Some words people might get trip (whether in spelling or meaning) up on are…
sire (rather than sir), rake (historical bad boy), drawers (underwear), petticoats, blue-stocking and the marriage mart.
This is a fun post that I wanted to comment on. (I’m a non-US resident).
I too have read so many historicals that it’s hard to think of how others would get confused. Some may think me strange (especially younger people) but I still swear by my Webster dictionary. I hate not understanding a word so I try to always look up a word I’m unfamiliar with lol.
That’s a funny story and I can totally see men not understanding the proper verbage. Words I see as a problem too are anything related to sex like quim, twat, or honey pot for a woman’s private parts and pizzle, tallywag, or root for a man’s private parts. I’m sure seeing these phrases would throw them into confusion.
I can’t think of a word right now that would trip some one up.But the others have great suggestions.
Historicals are about 9 out of the 10 books I read. So I’m familiar with all sorts of words. After so many years of reading these amazing books I don’t remember what is considerd “normal language” and “old fashionedly perfect” for that particular genre I adore so much. If there is a word I’m unfamiliar with I look it up on the internet or just pass it, if the story is too good to put down for a few minutes 😀
While I cant think of a word right now. I really think it depends on where you are from and where the author is from to end up with mysterious words. Just going from American to British or the reverse has so many.
I will be honest, the first time I saw the word ton I thought it was a typo too. I just couldn’t understand how the same spelling error would keep popping up in the same book. Eventually I realized my mistake. What’s really funny, is that the other day my BF picks up my book and starts reading it aloud. He came across the word ton and immediately pointed out that there was a mistake. You should have seen me trying to explain the word to him. So funny.
My love of fantasy came through in a game of Scrabble with my mother. I used the word mage and she challanged me. She owns a Scrabble dictionary for just such occasions, but it’s as old as I am (30+) and sadly lacking said word, I lost the challenge. Needless to say I went to the bookstore the next morning and bought her an up to date version that did contain it.
Ton has got to be the most tripped up one. Then there’s chit… I’m sure many newcomers to the genre would be stumped with that one. The thing that trips me up are the titles and how men aren’t often called by their Christian names, or even how one addresses people by their ranks. I wouldn’t know how to keep it all straight. I’d probably get the cut direct 😉
I can’t think of any that haven’t been mentioned, but ton, blue-stocking, and chit all took a bit of puzzling the first time I ran into them. Oh, I know! Reticule! I had no idea and I thought it was the most peculiar word.
I do learn a lot from reading romance. One of those words was roue.
Just because I like words… even though my brain has melted – profligate. Maybe.
I cant think of any right now but yeah the duchess and Lord always trip me….
In the first book I tried to write I used the word “cockstand,” which I believe I had gotten from a Diana Gabaldon book. My husband absolutely howled with laughter when he read it. And to this day, he will not let me live that down. It also tripped up a few of my other test readers, including my cousin who is an editor. Needless to say, I haven’t tried to use it any of my other manuscripts since. I guess Jamie Fraser can get away with saying it, but not many others.
I caught on pretty quickly to most of the words in historical romances and I believe the only word I actually had to look up was demimonde. I think that is one that would trip up a lot people.
I remember being amused by a scene in the movie “Spellbound” in which a kid is unable to spell a word that any historical reader knows… it’s driving me crazy that I can’t remember what word it was! It was something fairly simple, maybe dowry.
I’ve never minded unusual words or references in books… I grew up reading Louisa May Alcott. 🙂
The words that threw me until I asked an author was ‘ape leader’. I couldn’t guess if it was good or bad. It apparently has the same negative connotation as bluestocking.
There is a saying for their toenails. Most of the words I can think of have already been mentioned. Other words I can think of are lolligag, towne, troupe, trope, withdrawing room, and of course the men’s and women’s titles and how they are pronounced.
“Bluestocking” tripped me up the first time I came across it in a historical romance.
“Mangel-wurzel” – fun to say and a word I could only figure to be some kind of crop from the context while I was reading the book. I just looked it up – it’s a field beet. 😀
I’ve been reading historical romance for a long time, so I’m familiar with most terms. I remember though that I always wondered what a reticule was, until I looked it up. “On the shelf” was not a familiar phrase when I first came across it either, but it became very familiar fast, since it’s used a lot.
Titles of characters sometimes mess me up, but no particular words are coming to mind.
I don’t have a preob with words…but it’s hard to keep up with the peerage…
I can’t think of any right of the top of my head – out of the genre, right now I am reading Land of the Painted Caves by Jean, Auel, and I am having so much fun imagining what a megaceros is that I’m not looking it up.
I didn’t know what the word “Season” meant when I first start reading Regency novels. I thought, what season are they talking about … Spring? Summer? What? After I figured out that one, then a read a book about the “little Season” and I had to look that one up as well. : )
Thanks for my chuckle for the day, Bev!
“Doing it up a bit brown.” – Meaning flattering a bit over the top.
I’d bet a monkey. – Doesn’t mean an actual monkey, but is a term for a certain sum of money.
Ape leader – A confirmed spinster and extremely well-educated lady.
Tiger – not an animal, but a (Usually) young man who rides on the back of a carriage (especially a sporty one!) to hold the horses when the owner stops.
Hahaha that is great!
And the word quim (asked my hubby if he knew what that word ment and he just gave me a look and said “huh?”).
Disguised (drunk) – might confuse one depending on how used in a sentence,
I love historical romances and like some others the titles of people still trip me up. I’m sure there are words out there, but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
Blue stocking was one that threw me the first time I heard it.
Dowager and virago terms not in use much today. I know the first time I used them playing Scrabble, the other players, all very well educated, weren’t familiar with them.
“Armoire” trips people up on spelling.
meal times 🙂
i often wonder why there were no lunches? i love lunches. it’s my biggest meal of the day.
n why they often have supper invitation and not dinner 🙂
so after asking ms google – the mealtimes are breakie, “dinner” (about 11 am) and supper ….
I’d have to go with Bluestocking. It’s the first word that came to mind when I read your question. I too read a lot of historical romances so it’s hard for me to see the world through the eyes of someone new to it. Maybe “Almacks”. That venue used to be used a lot in historical romances in the past, but recent years it hasn’t played a very big roll, so someone new to the genre may be clueless to it’s significance.
I remember stumbling in my reading the first time I cam across the word “nuncheon”. It also took me awhile to figure out that the term “public school” actually meant the opposite of how it would be used around here.
This post was really funny! 🙂
When I first started reading historicals I even wondered about the word “ton”. I understood what it meant after reading the book! Another word, which was already mentioned here, was reticule. I know there are many others, if only I could think of them now!
I really enjoyed this post!
Thank you for all the generous contests! 🙂
I thought of another, “break the fast” instead of breakfast.
There are so many words/sayings that I did not know before reading historicals. Ton, blue stocking, all the card games that they play, house parties, quim (*snicker*), the peerage, the rules about duels, going to Gretna Green to marry, anvil priests, and much more. I have learned so much from reading historicals, and they have interested me to where I learned more about the countries, histories, etc because the books made me interested in them.
The anvil priest, quim, the little season, and the whole Earl-Marquess-Viscount order deal just about turned me in knots. I have to admit that ton, was pretty easy to pick up. For my step-mother, who I have officially gotten addicted to Historicals, she actually called me to find out what the ‘Ton’ was. I found it amusing to explain.
I can’t think of any words that would mess some one up unless they are made up.
I didnt know what ‘ton’ meant either when I first began reading historical romances lol
But other words that come to mind are descriptions of the clothing from back then. Like I’m still never sure I know exactly what stays are and I often have problems picturing what the gowns described look like. I rely on covers to give me a better sense lol.
I think the phrase “the cut direct” would stomp non-romance readers the first time they come across it.
As a young (am not so young now) reader of romance novels, I also didn’t know what the “ton” referred to —
These days, some pieces of historical clothing still stump me — the first time I stumbled upon the word “braies” — had to look it up!
I’ve been reading historical romance for years, since I was a teenager. I honestly can’t think of specific words that confused me. I’ve learned most of the terms by reading many historical romances, through context in the novels! I agree with some of the other posters that there are a lot of words that could easily confuse people, like bluestocking, drawers (instead of underwear), stays instead of corset, reticule, etc. I don’t have a problem though.
How about when the characters, “Break their fast.” LOL! I love that! I tripped over it the first time I came across it 🙂
The word heir is a good one. When I first read that word I didn’t know if it should be pronounced as air, hair, or higher. Lol!
i cnat think of one
great party
I’ve been reading historicals for as long as I remember – it is my favorite genre. I don’t remember being confused or wondering about certain words. I think that the context usually lets you figure it out pretty quick. I do remember laughing over some of the words used to describe – shall I say “men’s private part”. LOL