The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963

1. delinquent (noun):

a person who is guilty of a misdeed or an offense

“Byron had just turned thirteen so he was officially a teenage juvenile delinquent and didn’t think it was ‘cool’ to touch anybody or let anyone touch him, even if it meant he froze to death.” (Chapter 1, Page 2)

2. vital (adjective):

necessary to the existence or well-being of something

“I’ve pointed out time and time again how vital it is that one be able to read well.” (Chapter 2, Page 23)

3. emulate (verb):

to try to imitate

“If, instead of trying to intimidate your young brother, you would emulate him and use that mind of yours, perhaps you’d find things much easier.” (Chapter 2, Page 24)

4. punctual (adjective):

not late; prompt

“This is the only way you little punks is gonna learn to be punctual. I hope that fool has a pleasant walk to school.” (Chapter 2, Page 28)

5. panning (noun - gerund):

criticizing severely

“I know you don’t want to start panning on folks, do you? Not with what I know ‘bout your momma.” (Chapter 2, Page 30)

6. pomade (noun):

a scented ointment for dressing one’s hair

“When that last scarf came off there was always a real nice smell, like Joey was a little oven and inside all these clothes she’d baked up her own special perfume, with the smell of shampoo and soap and the pomade Monna put in her hair.” (Chapter 4, Page 48)

7. pouted (past tense verb):

looked sullen

“Joey pouted and said, ‘Well, if they die in it all the time how come we don’t see any frozen people when we do to school?’” (Chapter 4, Page 49)

8. juvenile (adjective):

characteristic of or intended for young persons

“[...] I will burn our entire hand, then send you to juvenile home!” (Chapter 5, Page 74)

9. welfare (adjective):

relating to or concerned with financial or other assistance given to an individual or family

“I can’t believe it. You really gonna start serving welfare food in this house?” (Chapter 6, Page 76)

10. peon (noun):

any person of low social status

“You really gonna make me go embarrass myself by signing a welfare list for some groceries like a blanged peon?’” (Chapter 6, Page 76)

11. pinnacle (noun):

a lofty peak

“It’s the pinnacle of Western civilization.” (Chapter 8, Page 103)

12. seniority (noun):

the state of having priority or preference, usually obtained from having been in a position longer than others

“[...] I’ve got seniority on you, so I get the bathroom first, deal?” (Chapter 8, Page 106)

13. dispersal (noun):

a spreading or scattering in many directions

“As I’m certain you are aware, the problem in the past with this new technology in automotive sound has been road vibrations interfering with an accurate dispersal of the phonic interpretations.” (Chapter 8, Page 110)

14. patented (participial adjective):

an inventor’s exclusive right to make, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years

“Dad had memorized that word ‘cause right on the arm of the record player it said ‘V.D.L.A.I. Dampening, Patented’!” (Chapter 8, Page 111-12)

15. haphazardly (adverb):

in a random or irregular manner

“And I can tell by that intelligent look on your face, Mrs. Watson, that you have grasped that that speaker is not placed in the rear deck haphazardly, no, ma’am..” (Chapter 8, Page 112)

16. sanitation (noun):

cleanliness measures taken in the interest of protecting health

“Ain’t they got no sanitation laws down there?” (Chapter 10, Page 140)

17. vittles (plural noun):

nonstandard form of victuals, which means food supplies or provisions

“And what ‘bout some vittles, Clem, the sun been up fo’ hours and you ain’t even been out to check them tralines to see if we’s gonna have some coon pie fuh bruk-fuss.” (Chapter 11, Page 152)

18. frequencies (plural noun):

measurements of the number of times per second that a sound pressure wave repeats itself

“Yup, good old Scientific Popular, they had an article about sound frequencies and said that certain sounds caused certain effects in all living things, even Weird Watsons!” (Chapter 11, Page 154)

19. puny (adjective):

weak

“You was so puny when you was born you nearly worried us crazy.” (Chapter 11, Page 159)

20. wilier (comparative adjective):

craftier, more cunning

“Well, there ain’t too many animals wilier or tougher than a old coon.” (Chapter 12, Page 163-64)