Boy: Tales of Childhood: Part 4

by Roald Dahl
Renowned writer Roald Dahl, the author of such children's classics as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda, recounts unexpected and fascinating stories from his own childhood.

Here are links to our lists for the autobiography: Parts 1–2, Part 3, Part 4

Here is a link to our list for The Landlady by Roald Dahl.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. rigmarole
    a long and complicated and confusing procedure
    I had never been through this rigmarole before.
  2. apprentice
    someone who works for an expert to learn a trade
    Feeling like an undertaker’s apprentice in a funeral parlour, I crept downstairs.
  3. eccentric
    conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
    It is a country where men love to wear uniforms and eccentric clothes.
  4. summon
    call in an official matter, such as to attend court
    They could summon us down in our pyjamas at night-time and thrash us for leaving just one football sock on the floor of the changing-room when it should have been hung up on a peg.
  5. piddling
    (informal) small and of little importance
    A Boazer could thrash us for a hundred and one other piddling little misdemeanours - for burning his toast at tea-time, for failing to dust his study properly, for failing to get his study fire burning in spite of spending half your pocket money on firelighters, for being late at roll-call, for talking in evening Prep, for forgetting to change into house-shoes at six o’clock.
  6. inspect
    look over carefully
    The victim was required to stand in the middle of the room and lower his pyjama trousers so that the damage could be inspected.
  7. bemused
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
    And I would stand there, slightly bemused by this cool clinical approach.
  8. glimmer
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    I was certain I detected a little glimmer of pride around the edges of his mouth before he closed the door behind him.
  9. appalled
    struck with dread, shock, or dismay
    All through my school life I was appalled by the fact that masters and senior boys were allowed literally to wound other boys, and sometimes quite severely.
  10. vivid
    evoking lifelike images within the mind
    He never flogged me, thank goodness, but I was given a vivid description of one of these ceremonies by my best friend at Repton, whose name was Michael.
  11. misdeed
    improper or wicked or immoral behavior
    This slow and fearsome process went on until ten terrible strokes had been delivered, and all the time, over the pipe-lighting and the match-striking, the lecture on evil and wrongdoing and sinning and misdeeds and malpractice went on without a stop.
  12. connoisseur
    an expert able to appreciate a field
    All of us entered into this game with great gusto, sitting in our studies and nibbling each bar with the air of connoisseurs, giving our marks and making our comments.
  13. subtle
    difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
    ‘Too subtle for the common palate,’ was one note that I remember writing down.
  14. ungainly
    lacking grace in movement or posture
    Corkers was a charmer, a vast ungainly man with drooping bloodhound cheeks and filthy clothes.
  15. enthralled
    filled with wonder and delight
    We were enthralled by this piece of intelligence and asked him to prove it on the blackboard, which he did.
  16. interval
    a definite length of time marked off by two instants
    I cannot remember all the other thousands of splendid things that old Corkers cooked up to keep his class happy, but there was one that I shall never forget which was repeated at intervals of about three weeks throughout each term.
  17. countenance
    the human face
    He would be talking to us about this or that when suddenly he would stop in mid-sentence and a look of intense pain would cloud his ancient countenance.
  18. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    The rest would start clambering about on the gigantic windows which occupied one whole wall of the room, flinging the lower ones open, using a long pole with a hook on the end to open the top ones, and leaning out to gulp the fresh air in mock distress.
  19. supercilious
    having or showing arrogant superiority
    During my second term, I was unfortunate enough to be put into the study of the Head of the House, a supercilious and obnoxious seventeen-year-old called Carleton.
  20. tidy
    put in order
    We scrubbed the floor and washed the windows and polished the grate and dusted the ledges and wiped the picture-frames and carefully tidied away all the hockey-sticks and cricket-bats and umbrellas.
  21. exertion
    use of physical or mental energy; hard work
    We stood back, breathless from our exertions
  22. compel
    force somebody to do something
    compelled as always to wait and watch the dreadful Carleton while he performed the ritual of inspection
  23. complicated
    difficult to analyze or understand
    The rules and rituals of fagging at Repton were so complicated that I could fill a whole book with them.
  24. menial
    relating to unskilled work, especially domestic work
    There was always a mad stampede when the call of ‘Fa-a-ag!’ echoed through the House because the last boy to arrive would invariably be chosen for whatever menial or unpleasant task the Boazer had in mind.
  25. ricochet
    spring back; spring away from an impact
    Fives is possibly the fastest ball-game on earth, far faster than squash, and the little ball ricochets around the court at such a speed that sometimes you can hardly see it.
  26. conspicuous
    obvious to the eye or mind
    They entitled the new teamer to all manner of privileges including a different-coloured hat-band on his straw-hat and fancy braid around the edges of his blazer and different-coloured games clothes, and all sorts of other advertisements that made the teamer gloriously conspicuous among his fellows.
  27. wield
    have and exercise
    Some people are born to wield power and to exercise authority.
  28. civility
    the act of showing regard for others
    A boy who is good at games is usually treated with great civility by the masters at an English Public School.
  29. revere
    regard with feelings of respect
    In much the same way, the ancient Greeks revered their athletes and made statues of them in marble.
  30. melancholy
    grave or even gloomy in character
    I was one of the lucky ones, and all those afternoons on the playing-fields and in the fives courts and in the squash courts made the otherwise grey and melancholy days pass a lot more quickly.
  31. abroad
    to or in a foreign country
    So during my last term I applied for a job only to those companies that would be sure to send me abroad.
  32. regret
    sadness associated with some wrong or disappointment
    Without the slightest regret I said goodbye to Repton for ever and rode back to Kent on my motorbike.
  33. desolate
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    For three weeks we trudged all over that desolate land with enormous loads on our backs.
  34. hoist
    move from one place to another by lifting
    My own load, I know, weighed exactly one hundred and fourteen pounds, and someone else always had to help me hoist the rucksack on to my back in the mornings.
  35. uphold
    stand up for; stick up for; of causes, principles, or ideals
    We were seven trainees in that year’s group and each one of us was being carefully prepared to uphold the majesty of the Shell Company in one or another remote tropical country.
  36. swarm
    a moving crowd
    I would board the eight-fifteen train to London together with a swarm of other equally sombre-suited businessmen.
  37. routine
    an unvarying or habitual method or procedure
    I began to realize how simple life could be if one had a regular routine to follow with fixed hours and a fixed salary and very little original thinking to do.
  38. relic
    an antiquity that has survived from the distant past
    It was bare and sandy and full of tombs and relics and Egyptians and I didn’t fancy it at all.
  39. writhing
    moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
    I was off to the land of palm-trees and coconuts and coral reefs and lions and elephants and deadly snakes, and a white hunter who had lived ten years in Mwanza had told me that if a black mamba bit you, you died within the hour writhing in agony and foaming at the mouth.
  40. marauder
    someone who attacks in search of loot
    I learned what it was like to get malaria and to run a temperature of 105°F for three days, and when the rainy seasons came and the water poured down in solid sheets and flooded the little dirt roads, I learned how to spend nights in the back of a stifling station-wagon with all the windows closed against marauders from the jungle.
Created on Wed Oct 22 20:20:33 EDT 2014 (updated Tue Sep 04 16:22:25 EDT 2018)

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