Gabion

Hello,

Before I begin, thank you to those of you who voted for my pitch in the Book Doctor’s Pitchapalooza 2012. Now I’m not languishing at the cul-de-sac (literally – bottom of the bag). If you haven’t voted – you can do so here. The poll closes on the 15th of March.

This week’s word is gabion (pronounced gab-ee-on – audio here). This word, from the old Italian word for large cage, is the name for those wire cages filled with stones which are used in various construction projects. There’s a wall of them protecting our local motorway toll booths from prevailing winds. Another set of them defends local coastal houses from encroaching waves. They may be functional objects but I’ve always rather liked them. I’d love to build a wall for my (imaginary) sea-side cottage, but with the cages filled with shells rather than rocks.

So this week’s word isn’t a particularly quirky one, but it will enable you to correctly describe “those cagey thingies, the ones with rocks in” the next time you see some.

Until next time, happy reading, writing, and wordfooling,

Grace