Saturday, January 23, 2021

word of the day: midinette

word of the day: midinette

Bernard, in his role as agent of the Mouse Prisoners’ Aid Society, is trapped himself when two scrubwomen enter the room where he has not found the missing heiress. The women are “discuss[ing] their Easter bonnets — Easter bonnets meaning as much to a scrubwoman as any topknot worn by a midinette in Paris on St. Catherine’s day.”


Thus the women, who otherwise could spell doom for a mouse, are distracted enough for Bernard to make his escape. 


definition (Merriam-Webster): a Parisian shopgirl; especially : a Parisian seamstress


source:

Bernard the Brave

by Margery Sharp

illustrated by Leslie Morrill

1977. Little, Brown & Co., Boston

No comments: