Usually, I post the most interesting words from our Dictionary.com Word of the Day feed, but "denouement" is not from today's word; instead it comes from a post I read earlier this morning in a Dallas Cowboys forum. The subject was last night's Pro Bowl, and one poster had this to say:
"....if the Super Bowl is the climax I always thought the Pro Bowl made a good denouement."
I will admit to being ignorant of the word, but in the context of the sentence, I thought I understood the meaning. Still, I went and looked it up:
denouement –noun [dey-noo-mahn]
1. the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.
2. the place in the plot at which this occurs.
3. the outcome or resolution of a doubtful series of occurrences.
In literature, denouement is the final action that completes the unraveling of the plot in a play, especially in a tragedy. Catastrophe is a synonym of denouement. The term is sometimes applied to a similar action in a novel or story.
It wasn't so much the word I found unique to my reading experience; no, it was that someone used "denouement" in a sports forum.
EDIT: I was going to make a reference to Dennis Miller when he was on Monday Night Football, but, as it is with any joke (and all MY jokes), it's not funny if you have to explain it... sort of like not knowing a word is humorous until you know the meaning.
The Top 14 Dennis Miller Monday Night Football Quotes
The Top 14 Dennis Miller Monday Night Football Quotes (Part II)
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