The Old Lady flies: 24 words to know before you read it
The 24 words Raoul Whitfield uses again and again in The Old Lady flies 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.
grin/ˈɡɹɪn/9× in the book
He grinned, and so did we.
stunt/ˈstənt/8× in the book
He’d joy-hopped her, taken a chance on air advertising, smoke writing, stunting.
sore/ˈsɔɹ/7× in the book
I saw then that Brooks was getting sore.
cheerfully/ˈtʃɪɹfəɫi/6× in the book
It isn’t easy to crash a ship, and get away cheerfully.
wreck/ˈɹɛk/5× in the book
You don’t expect me to let a new plane drop—and hang on to a rambling wreck?
groan/ˈɡɹoʊn/5× in the book
I groaned.
cockpit/ˈkɑkˌpɪt/5× in the book
Charlie Ryan crashed on a landing, and both he and his mechanic, riding in the rear cockpit, were badly smashed up.
outfit/ˈaʊtˌfɪt/5× in the book
“You’re cutting loose the most popular guy in the outfit—and just because he sticks by his old bus.”
throttle/ˈθɹɑtəɫ/4× in the book
We both climbed up on a wing as Russ Healy cut the throttle and eliminated most of the exhaust roar.
glare/ˈɡɫɛɹ/4× in the book
Bob Brooks glared at Russ.
prop/ˈpɹɑp/4× in the book
Just an old lady, that was all she was—an old lady, still turning a prop and taking the air, but pretty far out of date.
loop/ˈɫup/4× in the book
“Well, I’ll just take her up there now—and loop you ragged, and then I’ll come down in the tightest spin——”
rear/ˈɹɪɹ/4× in the book
Bob Brooks was already seated in the rear cockpit.
hangar/ˈhæŋɝ/3× in the book
He could store that ship up at Al Garvin’s hangar.
dummy/ˈdəmi/3× in the book
Probably they were rigging up a couple of dummy guns, or trying to make her look like a D.H.
flyer/ˈfɫaɪɝ/3× in the book
But Russ was that rare sort of creature—a flyer who was sentimental.
rig/ˈɹɪɡ/3× in the book
But her flying wires were right; she was rigged properly for the air.
dove/ˈdəv/3× in the book
A screaming, wire-whistling shape dove past the D.H.
bust/ˈbəst/3× in the book
Russ would be sore, furious—when we flew in and busted things up.
chuckle/ˈtʃəkəɫ/3× in the book
I chuckled.
taxi/ˈtæksi/3× in the book
Then we climbed the five ships, and taxied out.
frown/ˈfɹaʊn/3× in the book
Bob Brooks frowned.
exhaust/ɪɡˈzɔst/3× in the book
An exhaust roar cut me short.
softly/ˈsɔfɫi/3× in the book
I swore softly.
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
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