Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Not-Wordless Wednesday: Save The Words!

I love words. I find it fascinating to contemplate our ability not only to speak our thoughts, but also to translate that speech into written symbols--writing. Words that, once written, can be shared with others. Words are one of the reasons that I love to write, which might be a no-brainer to some. Others might disagree. When I was a kid I used to open the dictionary and randomly put my finger on a word so I could increase my vocabulary. It was also fun for me to explore the history of a word, and I thoroughly enjoyed discovering all the permutations of the words I selected.

There is this extremely cool website that I've stumbled across a few times, then lost, then found again. It's called Save the Words, and the site's purpose is to keep words that are in danger of being removed from the dictionary FOREVER. I find this simply atrocious. What if the exact word I am looking for, the one word that sums up the point I am trying to make, is gone when I open the dictionary to look for it?

Visitors to the website can 'adopt' a word, if they pledge to use the word as often as possible. I seriously considered a few words for adoption.

tortiloquy--dishonest or immoral speech I confess that, at first sight, I thought this word had something to do with tortillas. But I'm sure that was just because I was a bit hungry.

gardeviance--a chest for valuables, a traveling trunk Wow, I never would have guessed that definition!

quaeritate--to ask That's a fifty dollar word, my grandfather would say. And you would feel pretty smart saying such a word.

These are all prerry interesting words, looking for good homes. I wish that I could take them all home with me, but the requirement that you have to use them often means that nobody would have the slightest idea what the heck I was talking about. I think that might interfere with communication.

5 comments:

  1. I am a new follower and new to blogging. It has only been a little over a month so I am still learning a little more each day. My blog is not as technical or awesome as yours but I am getting there. I am following you thru GFC and would greatly appreciate a follow back! Thanks!

    Mary @http://mmbearcupoftea.blogspot.com

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  2. I'm a new follower from Catch a Wave Wednesday. Nice to meet you!

    Wife on the Roller Coaster
    http://www.ridingtherollercoaster.com

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  3. Words are beautiful, aren't they? In a way, they are like fabric that we can choose to weave any type of story to give it texture and feeling. Words wield so much power if used effectively at the right audience.

    I agree that rescue of an obscure word may obstruct your communication. Think back to all the old English of the 17th century. Yikes! In law school, it used to give me headache to read cases from the King's Bench.

    I guess all words have a life cycle but perhaps they will also find a recycle bin. Lovely post, as usual.

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  4. New follower! Be sure to check out my blog and follow back :)
    http://slepperymind.blogspot.com

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  5. Following you back! Thank you so much for visiting!
    Brooke
    http://www.theintentionalmomma.blogspot.com/

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I welcome comments, but reserve the right to correct your spelling because I am OCD about it!