I love language of any kind, but old style words thrill me the most, the feel of them, like slipping into a vintage dress.
Alighted is my latest, coming across it at least ten times in three different books.
A verb meaning…to descend from a train, bus or other form of transport.
She was expected to alight from the 10:07 arriving from Chicago.
He alighted the car with grace, like a thoroughbred, head held high.
It also can be applied to birds…to come down and settle after a flight.
A cardinal, filled with birdsong, alighted on a branch.
As an adjective..burning, on fire, or shining brightly…a lamp on the desk alighted her letter.
Like many words, it has its own melody the way it flows in a sentence gliding with grace…subtle, delicate, like a feather tickling your nose.
In Old English it’s to dismount, to lighten, take off, or take away as in, climbing off a horse, lightening its load.
It also applies to passion…to arouse, evoke, provoke or excite…elicit, stimulate, enliven and electrify.
Her sexual longings were alighted each time they met. 
My heart pounds as I share this, almost sure what the wordsmith had in mind.
🙂
SB
I thought of a comment, but it’s not appropriate for Sunday morning.
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Oh come on…let’s make God chuckle.
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I’m sure God laughs at me a lot, because I am silly.
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We all know God deep down wants to be Henny Youngman. Favorite Henny joke…his wife says…Henny, you never take me anywhere new. Please take me someplace I’ve never been before and Henny says…how bout the kitchen…badaboom
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LOL. That is funny!
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Nothing like a good giggle over breakfast with your John…:)
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Oh! That was a quiet one! I almost missed it. You are sharp today!
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That wasn’t intended actually. Just popped out.
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Those are often the most brilliant ones!
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You’re still the mistress of pith. Hows that for a title…:)
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Excellent title, Susannah. It’s a pity pith is passe.
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Nothing like a good alliteration to clear the lungs…:)
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Alliteration can also trip the tongue.
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That tongue better watch where it’s going then. 🙂
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I must need eyes on my tongue now.
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And a blinker.
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Gracious!! A blinker!! What direction will you go next?
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Brights? And I think I’ll go left. 🙂
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You did go left. You left me in the dust.
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Okay, I’m circling back. I’ll slow down and you can jump in the back…:)
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I think I fell off the wagon.
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Did you hurt yourself??? 🙂
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I did not hurt myself. Like a dog, I got up wagon my tail.
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You always tell such a good tail Anne.
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I think I’ll go shopping now — retail.
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LOL…Ya got me
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I think we’re always evenly matched.
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I went to bed with retail on my mind. You’ve heard of Rubic’s Cube? This is Anne’s Cube…:)
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We had Rubic’s Cubes in the early 80’s. I remember the children playing with them when we moved to England. Anne’s Cube must be a crazy, mixed-up state of mind.
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Yeah but, what a mind, mind you. 🙂
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Do you mind?
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I don’t, mind you.
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My children minded me occasionally.
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Have you ever lost your mind? Left it maybe in your other purse?
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I don’t know that I’ve ever lost my mind, but I’m mindless occasionally. I’m more likely to lose my equilibrium. How about you? Are you well-balanced?
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Just my diet…:)
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That was a PERFECT rejoinder. I can add nothing to it.
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You’re so modest.
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Just wowed by your brain power this time.
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My brain in in Bermuda. It doesn’t call, it doesn’t write. sigh
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Slips of the written tongue. Cyber life is so odd since it always feels as if we’re the midst of conversation.
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I love connecting with people, so unending conversations are fantastic for me. You are almost like NYC, the city that never sleeps. You always seem to have your finger on the pulse of the fast life.
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From the sidelines. I’m a true flaneur Anne. I’m in the corner taking notes…:)
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You an idler?? I had to look up flaneur, having never seen that word before. My mother was a bit like you. She always said she wanted to be the fly on the wall, unseen and unheard but taking in everything.
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Buzz Buzz…a mom in the ointment. This is all your fault, me crackin’ wise crackin’ up.
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So Anne…need…alight?
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I needed something to fire me up!
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That’s so funny. Nothing like a girl with a good blaze behind her.
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I love beautiful or descriptive words, too, Susannah. How much more poetic to use alighted than came down from or got down off of; although descended from isn’t hard on the ears.
In high school I discovered ‘mayhaps’ and used it often. Pookie utters it now and then.
Isn’t it lovely to have a wide variety of words to choose from for every occasion?
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I love that I know a teacher, such as you…:)
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I love when a word comes into our milieu in repetition suddenly. Like, hey! Look at me! Notice me and look me up. See how many ways I can be used. Then use me.
Alight. Good word.
Happy Sunday to you!
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And to you.
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Thank you.
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Yes, there are words that I simply love to come across in reading. “Plethora” is my favorite.
Scott
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Meaning a plentiful amount. A gold mine if you will. A man’s personal treasure.
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Or a woman’s heart and soul’s depths.
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Ooooo. A good word, indeed. I love coming across something “new” in multiple sources about the same time. Serendipity. Your post alighted on my phone screen at a perfect moment.
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See how it lit your sentence right up? I am just rereading M Train, by Patti Smith which is all about her writing life, dedicated to Sam Shephard, and right there in the first few pages she uses…alighted. Serendipitous indeed…:)
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I lost my chance, Susannah. Several sizzling words came to my mind as I read your post on my phone just after the alarm went off. I always tell people I’m a morning person. I am almost instantly awake, and it’s downhill the rest of the day. I showered, put breakfast on the table for the five of us, went to church, ate out, shopped at Aldi’s, took a nap, chatted with son $ and Rose, and now I’m looking at the reader with the computer. The brain is not firing very well 12 hours after reading your post. For the life of me, I can’t remember what I was going to say at 7 this morning. I was amused at the opposite forces you presented. To alight, to come down for a landing, is a downer. To be aroused is an upper.
I miss my brain when it doesn’t function.
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I think my brain has joined yours for a night out. Just now I misplaced something that was right in front of me and is now missing. I tell myself it must be that presence who visits with a sense of humor since any minute it will reappear. Age, that little prankster, Anne has no mercy but a streak of mischief she has…:)
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And now I know the rest of the story as per your comment!
Alighted. Yes! It’s a great word, Borne of muster and gallivant and perhaps even a little bit of wine well spent.
Here’s to the wordsmiths that make us swoon.
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Swoon…now there’s a word.
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PS I figured you’d come a’callin at some point, you’d alight onto the page.
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Someone has a favorite word, she takes with her . . everywhere.
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It was fitting at the time.
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Form fitting, I’m sure.
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Like ski’een’
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Rumba!
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I just saw Johnny Depp in Don Juan De Marco. Even if he clubbed Amber, I’m still a Johnny fan.
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He’s an oddball, which is what makes him such a great actor.
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It started for me with Edward Scissorhands and went right through to Captain Jack. sigh
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The gamut, he ran it.
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Hes’ a talented, troubled soul. I worry about him.
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The creative types are always tap dancing on the high wire.
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That’s true. Hunter Thompson was his mentor, so do the math.
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I did, and it came back all funky.
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The ink running…on empty.
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Never understood why it isn’t “alit”.
I like “methinks” and “cornucopia”.
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I like methinks too, very Dumasesque. Makes me want to read the 3 Musketeers again.
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Methinks, after looking it up, cornucopia…an abundant supply of good things…is now one of my favorites too. HAIL BRITAIN
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Interesting how your encounter with this uncommon word sparked a post that is eloquent and with a tone that perfectly fit the surprise ending. Thumbs up Susannah!!!! Love this!!!!!
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It’s such a pretty word, isn’t it Frank. She alighted from the car. sigh
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