I am one of the few people who actually reads the dictionary for fun.
To celebrate National Dictionary Day, I am sharing with you a childhood memory. Pictured above is the dictionary my grandmother gave me for my eleventh birthday. I’ve made reference in other posts that as a result of spending a lot of time in hospitals as a child, I learned how to read by age three. My grandmother was a driving force behind that.
She and I would spend time playing a game of her own devising, one in which we would try to best each other in being able to think of words, based on their first letter. For instance, the letter A: taking turns, we’d list a word at a time, with the winner being the one who could list more. Agree, agate, acquire, access, aquamarine, assent, assertive… and so on, until one of us would be unable to think of any more.
When I worked at the college newspaper, we’d play a precursor version of Balderdash. While waiting for various reporters to file their stories, the editors would sit around a table in the offices, each trying to stump the other with either a fabricated or genuine word definition. Protip: when bluffing, it’s helpful to add the phrase, “of or pertaining to, having the quality of” __________ (the word you’re defining so as to make it sound real).
My love of words and their nuance is one of the reasons I chose to pursue a career in advertising, media and publishing. Words have power. The naming of something not only literally defines it, but from that definition, a word’s connotations have additional power and influence.
For example, consider the words
• amble
• saunter
• stride
• mince
• stumble
• perambulate
Each of the above can mean “to propel oneself forward bipedally” or to walk, but each has its own distinctive connotation. Pretty neat, huh?
What are some of your favorite words (and why?).
P.S. Every Sunday, I publish a free weekly newsletter called the 3 Minute Reset, which includes life lessons, life hacks and treats. To subscribe, click here.
