Peter Pan: 40 words to know before you read it
The 40 words J. M. Barrie uses again and again in Peter Pan that are outside the 4,000 most common in English. Learn them first and the opening chapters read much more easily. Each comes with its pronunciation and a sentence from the book.
fairy/ˈfɛɹi/40× in the book
At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said to live with the fairies.
nursery/ˈnɝsɝi/40× in the book
Of course her kennel was in the nursery.
pirate/ˈpaɪɹət/34× in the book
“There’s a pirate asleep in the pampas just beneath us,” Peter told him.
redskin/ˈɹɛdˌskɪn/33× in the book
I say, John, I see the smoke of the redskin camp!”
lagoon/ɫəˈɡun/30× in the book
John’s, for instance, had a lagoon with flamingoes flying over it at which John was shooting, while Michael, who was very small, had a flamingo with lagoons flying over it.
crocodile/ˈkɹɑkəˌdaɪɫ/25× in the book
When they have passed, comes the last figure of all, a gigantic crocodile.
till/ˈtɪɫ/22× in the book
It happened to be Nana’s evening off, and Mrs. Darling had bathed them and sung to them till one by one they had let go her hand and slid away into the land of sleep.
kennel/ˈkɛnəɫ/18× in the book
Then she gave Mr. Darling such a look, not an angry look: she showed him the great red tear that makes us so sorry for noble dogs, and crept into her kennel.
crow/ˈkɹoʊ/18× in the book
he crowed rapturously, “oh, the cleverness of me!”
tick/ˈtɪk/18× in the book
… “that crocodile would have had me before this, but by a lucky chance it swallowed a clock which goes tick tick inside it, and so before it can reach me I hear the tick and bolt.”
mermaid/ˈmɝˌmeɪd/16× in the book
“And, Wendy, there are mermaids.”
nest/ˈnɛst/16× in the book
… particularly of the Never bird that built in a tree overhanging the lagoon, and how the nest fell into the water, and still the bird sat on her eggs …
claw/ˈkɫɔ/14× in the book
“He has an iron hook instead of a right hand, and he claws with it.”
silly/ˈsɪɫi/14× in the book
To this Tink replied in these words, “You silly ass,” and disappeared into the bathroom.
peep/ˈpip/13× in the book
… and the Darlings had become acquainted with her in Kensington Gardens, where she spent most of her spare time peeping into perambulators, and was much hated by careless nursemaids …
exclaim/ɪkˈskɫeɪm/13× in the book
Wendy exclaimed.
arrow/ˈæɹoʊ/13× in the book
“Where all the arrows are pointing.”
awfully/ˈɑfɫi/12× in the book
They were awfully nice little night-lights, and one cannot help wishing that they could have kept awake to see Peter …
brave/ˈbɹeɪv/12× in the book
Wendy said “tea first” quickly, and Michael pressed her hand in gratitude, but the braver John hesitated.
stern/ˈstɝn/11× in the book
He thought Mrs. Darling was not sufficiently impressed, and he went on sternly, “I warn you of this …
plank/ˈpɫæŋk/11× in the book
“We will seize the children and carry them to the boat: the boys we will make walk the plank, and Wendy shall be our mother.”
drawer/ˈdɹɔɹ/11× in the book
It is quite like tidying up drawers.
frightfully/ˈfɹaɪtfəɫi/10× in the book
Mr. Darling was frightfully proud of her, but he was very honourable …
dreadful/ˈdɹɛdfəɫ/10× in the book
They would sit there in the empty nursery, recalling fondly every smallest detail of that dreadful evening.
chimney/ˈtʃɪmni/10× in the book
She rattled the poker up the chimney and tapped the walls.
shudder/ˈʃədɝ/9× in the book
“John,” he said, shuddering, “it’s most beastly stuff.
cheer/ˈtʃɪɹ/9× in the book
“I am back,” he said hotly, “why do you not cheer?”
disturb/dɪˈstɝb/9× in the book
She hung it out at the window, meaning “He is sure to come back for it; let us put it where he can get it easily without disturbing the children.”
beast/ˈbist/9× in the book
… black shadows moved about in them, the roar of the beasts of prey was quite different now, and above all …
colour/ˈkəɫɝ/8× in the book
It was the colour of milk; but the children did not have their father’s sense of humour, and they looked at him reproachfully as he poured the medicine into Nana’s bowl.
heartless/ˈhɑɹtɫəs/8× in the book
Off we skip like the most heartless things in the world, which is what children are …
dagger/ˈdæɡɝ/8× in the book
Let us pretend to lie here among the sugar-cane and watch them as they steal by in single file, each with his hand on his dagger.
hollow/ˈhɑɫoʊ/8× in the book
Look closely, however, and you may note that there are here seven large trees, each with a hole in its hollow trunk as large as a boy.
dart/ˈdɑɹt/8× in the book
… no bigger than your fist, which darted about the room like a living thing and I think it must have been this light that wakened Mrs. Darling.
mainland/ˈmeɪnˌɫænd/8× in the book
They examined the mushroom, which was of a size and solidity unknown on the mainland; they tried to pull it up …
bark/ˈbɑɹk/8× in the book
Mr. Darling would cry, and Nana’s bark was the echo of it, but Mrs. Darling never upbraided Peter …
delight/dɪˈɫaɪt/8× in the book
In a moment he had recovered his shadow, and in his delight he forgot that he had shut Tinker Bell up in the drawer.
unhappy/ənˈhæpi/8× in the book
“That is not Nana’s unhappy bark,” she said, little guessing what was about to happen; “that is her bark when she smells danger.”
puzzle/ˈpəzəɫ/8× in the book
… one within the other, that come from the puzzling East, however many you discover there is always one more …
sword/ˈsɔɹd/8× in the book
… but she herself slept that night in the little house, and Peter kept watch outside with drawn sword, for the pirates could be heard carousing far away and the wolves were on the prowl.
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
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