Bud, Not Buddy VOCABULARY
a special advantage or benefit not enjoyed by all
You think you got some kind of special privilege just ’cause you’re skinny and raggedy?
to make better
"You rotten kids today don’t listen to no one, but I’ma show you something that’ll improve your hearing.”
work clothing consisting of denim trousers
A very tall, square-shaped man in old blue overalls looked down at me and said, “Clarence, what took you so long?”
feeling or showing thankfulness
I was grateful to these people, but I wished they’d quit popping me in the head, and it seems like with all the names in the world they could’ve come up with a better one for me than Clarence.
showing concern for the rights and feelings of others
One said, PLEASE DO NOT SMOKE, another said, PLEASE EAT AS QUICKLY AND QUIETLY AS POSSIBLE, another one said, PLEASE BECONSIDERATE AND PATIENT—CLEAN UP.
be in a huff and display one's displeasure
They pouted and gave me a couple of dirty looks.
Compare with "frown" in the list for Chapters 1-5. Both express unhappy feelings, but a frown often involves the wrinkling of the forehead, while a pout involves sticking out one's lower lip. Pouting is also often seen as more childish than frowning.
perceive by inhaling through the nose
If you close your eyes and try to pick out what it is that you’re sniffingyou’re only going to get confused, because all the smells have blended together and turned themselves into a different one.
combine into one
If you close your eyes and try to pick out what it is that you’re sniffing you’re only going to get confused, because all the smells haveblended together and turned themselves into a different one.
a short light gust of air
I got a whiff of the leather on all the old books, a smell that got real strong if you picked one of them up and stuck your nose real close to it when you turned the pages.
Compare with "sniff" in this list. "Whiff" is used as a noun here and refers to a smell that is carried in the light gust of air. As verbs, the two rhyming words have the same definitions.
half asleep
Then I could sniff the paper, that soft, powdery, drowsy smell that comes off the pages in little puffs when you’re reading something or looking at some pictures, a kind of hypnotizing smell.
get or find back; recover the use of
"Would you like to retrieve your suitcase?”
grievously affected especially by disease
The librarian said, “There’s no need for you to look so stricken."
send out real or metaphoric rays
The librarian said, “Oh, yes, and I must tell you, she was radiatinghappiness.”
In this example sentence, the rays are metaphoric and makes the happy person seem like a sun.
the rate of moving, especially walking or running
She thumbed through the book until she said, “Aha, it says here that the average male human gait is five miles an hour."
a rapid escape (as by criminals)
"There’s bound to be someone there that knows about where we can hop this train, then we’ll be on the lam together!”
a person related to another or others
She said, “Don’t you have no other kin here in Flint?”
move restlessly
The one who was doing all the talking saw them fidgeting and said, “Hold steady, men.”
a name that has been assumed temporarily
It said a good criminal chooses an alias that’s kind of close to their own name.
accompanied by bloodshed
I didn’t want to tell her that I wasn’t really interested in history, it was just that the best gory pictures in the world came from the Civil War.
sit on one's heels
He squatted down and said, “Are you still there?”
Compare with "crouch" in the list for Chapters 1-5. Here, the lower position is taken so the character speaking can be better heard.
a performer who projects the voice into a wooden dummy
I turned my head and talked sideways out of my mouth like one of those ventriloquists.
go or come after and bring or take back
Most Times This Means They Just Want You to Go Fetch Something for Them.
an abrupt spasmodic movement
Then another jolt of red pop must’ve pumped through my heart because my brain came up with a perfect lie.
compelling immediate action
On the side of the box some big red letters said as clear as anything,URGENT: CONTAINS HUMAN BLOOD!!!
a message transmitted by telegraph
"I’m going back to Grand Rapids tomorrow, I’ll send a telegram to your folks and then take you back.”