When my daughter was young, she brought me a copy of The Root Cellar by Janet Lunn, set in what was then modern day (1970s) Eastern Ontario and in Civil War era New York and Washington, and asked me to read it. We both fell in love with that book and have had special copies over the years, mine autographed by the author when she was one of the speakers at Read by the Sea in 2006. Now my daughter is reading it to her daughter. I decided it was time for another reread so that it would be fresh in my mind and I would be able to intelligently discuss it with my granddaughter.

In my reread yesterday, I came across this passage:

They startled a big blue heron away from his breakfast. He gronked crossly at them as he took off, his huge wings pumping up and down like some great prehistoric bird.

photo: Pennington Seeds

 
Isn’t the word ‘gronk’ just a perfect fit? I can hear him making that noise but, as usual when I run across words I haven’t seen, I turn to the mighty Google for a definition.

Here are the results:

From the Free Dictionary:
1. A repulsive substance, typically the dirt and lint that collects between the toes. Aka toe-jam
2. To go to sleep
3. To crash or stop working, as in a car or a computer

From the Urban Dictionary:
1. A person that is totally lacking in fashion sense, motor skills and/or social skills. Usually an extremely unpleasant person or an unwanted guest, but sometimes just someone who embarrasses himself. (mainly in Australian slang)
2. The super virus /sexually transmitted disease that has resulted from New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski having sex with everyone’s girlfriends, wives and favorite porn stars (yuck!)

I don’t know about you, but I prefer the way Janet Lunn used it, decades before it was ruined by a football player.

How about you? Have you ever used the word ‘gronk’?

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