Wondrous Words

"Alienor didn't seem to be listening to him, but was wrinkling her nose in disgust. Then I smelled it, and a moment later Noiclas did too. "Bon Dieu, what is that" he cried. " It smells like a barrow full of piss!"
"It's Jacques Le Boeuf," I said. " The woad dyer."
"Is that what woad smells like? I've never been near the stuff. In Paris they have to work outside the city walls in a place no one goes near." 

a European herb (Isatis tinctoria) of the mustard family formerly grown for the blue dyestuff yielded by its leaves; also :  this dyestuff http://merriam-webster.com
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http://bermudaonion.net

Comments

B Reading said…
Never heard of that before. thank you for introducing a new word to my vocabulary :)
July 16, 2014 at 1:03 PM
Margot said…
That's a new one for me too.
July 16, 2014 at 1:34 PM
DNAPL said…
I never really thought too much about the alkaline solution used to ferment woad. But thinking about what was available - yuck! Now I am thinking about Celtic warriors - the famous blue warriors. Just yuck!
July 16, 2014 at 3:35 PM
bermudaonion said…
That's totally new to me but now I'm very curious about the color.
July 16, 2014 at 5:17 PM
Tea said…
Thanks for stopping by.
July 19, 2014 at 10:10 AM
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