Whose Body? A Lord Peter Wimsey Novel: 40 words to know before you read it
The 40 words Dorothy L. Sayers uses again and again in Whose Body? A Lord Peter Wimsey Novel 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.
lord/ˈɫɔɹd/75× in the book
“Her Grace has just called up from Denver, my lord.
lordship/ˈɫɔɹdʃɪp/45× in the book
“I believe that’s his lordship just coming in again—if your Grace would kindly hold the line a moment.”
till/ˈtɪɫ/36× in the book
“Inspector Sugg said nothing was to be touched till his men came in to move it.
inquire/ˌɪnˈkwaɪɹ/24× in the book
“I didn’t hear Inspector Sugg inquire,” he said, with some agitation.
workhouse18× in the book
Died workhouse Monday.
taxi/ˈtæksi/18× in the book
The taxi man, irritated at receiving this appeal while negotiating the intricacies of turning into Lower Regent Street across the route of a 19 ’bus …
dissect/daɪˈsɛkt/17× in the book
thought one of the young medical gentlemen at the hospital might have brought the corpse round for a joke, as you might say, they always having bodies in the dissecting-room.
deceased/dɪˈsist/15× in the book
He had never seen the deceased before.
corpse/ˈkɔɹps/13× in the book
—if the Church of Rome went to pot or Switzerland invaded Italy—whereas a strange corpse doesn’t turn up in a suburban bathroom more than once in a lifetime—at least, I should think not—at any rate …
beard/ˈbɪɹd/13× in the book
Oddly enough, though, he would be really extraordinarily like Sir Reuben if he had a beard, and as Lady Levy
inquest/ˈɪnˌkwɛst/12× in the book
“I see they adjourned the inquest,” said Parker presently.
awfully/ˈɑfɫi/12× in the book
Well, thanks awfully for tellin’ me.
oblige/əˈbɫaɪdʒ/12× in the book
Noblesse oblige—for a consideration.
umbrella/ˈəmˌbɹɛɫə/12× in the book
He walked upstairs, leaving his greatcoat on the hall peg and his umbrella in the stand—you remember how it rained last night.
downstairs/ˈdaʊnˈstɛɹz/12× in the book
… and seeing that it was already a quarter to three, ran briskly downstairs, and …
pauper/ˈpɔpɝ/11× in the book
“Then the man was a pauper from the workhouse?”
brandy/ˈbɹændi/11× in the book
… and I get that sinking feeling sometimes in the morning, and what with one thing and another I ’ad—had to send the girl for a stiff brandy, or I don’t know what mightn’t have happened.
respectable/ɹiˈspɛktəbəɫ/11× in the book
He’s such a respectable little man—and having the police in the house and so on, really worried him.”
murmur/ˈmɝmɝ/11× in the book
“That’s all, I think,” he murmured to himself.
afterwards/ˈæftɝwɝdz/11× in the book
“I’ll tell you afterwards.
waiter/ˈweɪtɝ/11× in the book
inquired the waiter of the Honourable Freddy.
rubber/ˈɹəbɝ/11× in the book
I say, Parker, I suppose yours are rubber-soled.
fool/ˈfuɫ/11× in the book
a bally fool all the time.
cheerfully/ˈtʃɪɹfəɫi/10× in the book
“Very wise of you,” said Lord Peter, cheerfully.
devil/ˈdɛvəɫ/10× in the book
But as a matter of fact, the man in the bath is no more Sir Reuben Levy than Adolf Beck, poor devil, was John Smith.
ladder/ˈɫædɝ/10× in the book
There were no ladder marks or footmarks in the yard; the yard was paved with asphalt.
mysterious/mɪˈstɪɹiəs/10× in the book
… cheque-book, and—most mysterious and important of all—his spectacles, without which he can’t see a step …
recognise/ˈɹɛkəɡˌnaɪz/9× in the book
The little book off the night table, my lord, has only the marks of one set of fingers—there’s a little scar on the right thumb which makes them easy recognised.
cistern/ˈsɪstɝn/9× in the book
Me and my wife sleep next to the cistern-room.
eyeglass/ˈaɪˌɡɫæs/9× in the book
… too, except for a pair of eyeglasses, I assure you …
valet/væˈɫeɪ/9× in the book
The valet, cook, parlourmaid, housemaid and kitchenmaid were the only people in the house, and naturally wasted an hour or two squawking and gossiping.
jolly/ˈdʒɑɫi/9× in the book
Gin a body jolly well knows who murdered a body
railway/ˈɹeɪɫˌweɪ/9× in the book
He’s afraid those railway people will get in now, and then it’ll be all U.
groan/ˈɡɹoʊn/9× in the book
“Any amount,” replied Mr. Bunter, with a groan calculated to appeal to Mr. Graves’s heart and unlock his confidence.
advertisement/ˌædvɝˈtaɪzmənt/9× in the book
“I’ve just put an advertisement in the Times about it,” said Lord Peter.
distress/dɪˈstɹɛs/9× in the book
… always living very retired, and it’s most distressing to a man of regular habits, my lord …
sensation/sɛnˈseɪʃən/9× in the book
To go in for cheap sensations
uncommonly/ˌənˈkɑmənɫi/8× in the book
“I’m sure it must have been uncommonly distressin’,” said Lord Peter, sympathetically, “especially comin’ like that before breakfast.
beastly/ˈbistˌɫi/8× in the book
What a beastly foggy night, ain’t it?
linoleum/ɫəˈnoʊɫiəm/8× in the book
Her visitor placed on the table a basket, containing a water-bottle, a silver-backed hair-brush, a pair of boots, a small roll of linoleum, and the “Letters of a Self-made
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
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