Ted: 'a matter of fat'--Rich, tallow, suet, shortening.
Clever, my friend, clever!

Tsuwm--
(note I am actually posting on topic, please)--I can't think of any particular words that Laurie King has made me go look up, though I have learned about some concepts that were of great interest. She does use vocabulary a cut above most popular writers. Ex: "We are the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things." ('To Play the Fool',
p. 54.) "Offscouring": coined, perhaps? But clear and unusual. I certainly don't feel talked down to when I read her. One of her books included the pronunciation of the
name Siobhan. (sp.?)