I've been looking for this word for years and it's not what I wanted it to be

[samvara]

Petrichor (from Greek petros, "stone" + ichor):

is the scent of rain on dry earth; more specifically, it is the name of the yellow organic oil that yields this scent. The term was coined by two Australian researchers in 1964 for an article in the journal Nature. In the article, the smell is shown to derive from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is adsorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, producing the distinctive scent. In a follow up paper, the researchers showed the oil retards seed germination and early plant growth.

Which is to say I love the smell more for what it represents than the actual smell itself and want it to have a name that means "fabulous, pregnant with possibilities and yet smelling a lot like dry concrete becoming wet with a delicate bouquet of ozone."

Comments

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

Terry Pratchett.

[black-samvara.livejournal.com]

You've lost me...

[cricketk.livejournal.com]

Lost Continent, keeping the word for "the smell after rain" alive for thousands of years. There's a lovely passage at the end of the book.

Thinking in very stop-motion today. Apologies for lack of coherence.

[black-samvara.livejournal.com]

I remember now, that was a lovely scene too.

I liked the way the mountain of books fell on DEATH when he asked for books on dangerous animals in Fourecks.

Oh and the dwarf bread that enabled them to cross the shark infested ocean.

[ariaflame.livejournal.com]

I liked what he got when asked for the list of harmless creatures in Fourecks even more :)

[black-samvara.livejournal.com]

"Some of the sheep,"

[tiger-75.livejournal.com]

I know I'm the poet but that last line is poetry in print. I think I may be inspired to write something later. Thank you!