Week 8 - Post 1: Chelonian

When and where: The math teacher across the hall has this fantastic radio voice and I love listening to his lessons when I have planning periods.  Earlier this week, I heard him holler down the hall at some students who were slowly getting to class after the bell rang: "That's quite the chelonian pace!  Pick it up!"

Level of familiarity: I had never heard chelonian before, but I used my context clues and guessed that it meant to move slowly.

What it means: When I asked the math teacher, he said that it means "turtle" and that he had read a list of words that people should start using.  Merriam Webster online dictionary defines chelonian as turtle as well, and can be used as a adjective to describe something that is like a turtle.

Reflective commentary: I love that he was literally comparing these slow students to a turtle!  It took me quite some time to figure out how chelonian is spelled because I had heard it out loud.  I'm not sure I would have recognized this word in print if I hadn't looked it up right when I heard it.