I googled this phrase (see link) and found this phrase. I think this means that Poul Anderson has imagined a rifle named after Jerry Pournelle rather than there being a rifle named after Pournelle. Either way, a nice touch.
"...the glacier had gouged a deep, almost sheer-walled coulee..." (p. 100)
"The bottom was talus..." (ibid.)
"...wave patterns spreading from countless centers to form an ever-changing moire." (p. 109)
Sometimes a word is familiar but not its precise meaning. Sometimes even the word is unfamiliar. How can a writer wanting to imitate Poul Anderson acquire such a large vocabulary?
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
To answer the question you asked at the end of this blog piece of yours: the only ways a writer, any writer, can acquire as rich a vocabulary as Poul Anderson's is by reading (including dictionaries) and using them in his own works.
The first time I came across words like "twaddle" was in OPERATION CHAOS, to name one example!
Sean
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