Word of the Week: pulchritudinous

It's not as if I don't come across new words all that often; I like to think I read enough variety that I should be coming across new words on a frequent basis, but more often than not, the beautiful words I come across are those of which I already have a knowledge. Or vice …

What would you regret…?

I just wanted to share this video by YouTuber 'LindyBeige', a man whose intelligence and witticisms I much admire. Perhaps, I feel like we should take more stock of what questions are actually saying, rather than what they purport to ask. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohg2ZQcZ_h8&t=0s And what would you regret not having told someone?

Diction: Latinate versus Anglo-Saxon

Reblog Thursday is back! (Ish) This reblog post is from all the way back in 2012, but I only stumbled across it a couple of days ago, as I only started following Lara’s blog last year.

Ever wondered why synonyms are sometimes so very different to each other? Or why some words, especially in writing, are sesquipedalian and polysyllablic ( 😉 ) whilst others are short and simple? In this post, Lara explains how the roots of words can effect how they are read and which genres they better suit.

Kind of explains how my Latin studies effected my propensity for lengthy sentences and florid oratories! 😛

Lara Willard

Diction = word choice

Synonym = a word’s twin in meaning, e.g. “big” and “large” are synonyms.

Ever wonder why English has so many freaking synonyms? Because it’s the lovechild of Germanic and French languages. (French isn’t called a romance language for no reason. ) While having so many choices can be a wonderful thing, it can also be disastrous. With great vocabulary comes great responsibility. I’m talking to you, Christopher Paolini. Step away from the thesaurus.

You’ll notice the language split when two political candidates start campaigning and one plays the “smarter than thou” card and the other plays the “average joe” card. Smarter-than-thou is going to try to dazzle you with a academic, million-dollar vocabulary. Average Joe is going to give you a pat on the back with neighbor-speak. John Kerry vs. W. Bush. I’d watch their debates for examples if I didn’t hate politics so much.

Latinate

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Words Are the Images of the Soul

A thought-provoking quote to end your Monday on. Linguistics is so fascinating that it’s no surprise how much consideration has been given to how it reflects the world. With our souls, we paint metaphysical pictures of our world unfolding; with our mouths, we do our best to vocalise the ineffable.

Plot Line and Sinker (Ellen Gable, Author)

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Swirls of Words

Did you know that there's a place on the web where you can visualise any document or element of text? Wordle. So, being me, I was messing around on it, seeing what I could come up with if I copy-and-pasted the entirety of WTCB into it. Anndd, tilt head...now. No, I won't laugh at you for doing that. …

“Zara’s Face Was Boyish, with Elfin, Slanted Eyes”

Elfin (imagine the swirling script here) is a brilliant, yet underused adjective. But what does it mean? The four most common definitions of elfin include: > Relating to, or of, elves (duh!) > Strange or otherworldly (like an elf creature) > Of mischief and charm (usually good-natured) > Small and delicate of features. "Her black hair suited her …

Slew, Sluice and Sleigh

It's not really back, but, wahey, I have a word of my week that keeps trailing its feet through my mind. SLEW verb - turn or slide violently; change direction sharply <much adjectives very annoyingness> noun - a large group of (archaic); also, the noun of the verb, sliding movement Also, the past perfect of …

WTCB September: Should I Have Music?

I LOVE music. I feel like I live it. When I play my acoustic guitar, the notes flow and dance around me; when I listen to music, it fills me with joy. I always have some sort of song in my mind. So why do I have very few instances of music in When the …

Cadaverish: Murdering My Characters

The internet had been down in my area for the last couple of days, so my entire blogging schedule has gone awry, sorry! Instead of a photo of the week post, I’ve supplemented today’s with Sunday’s and shall post Saturday’s tomorrow. I found out, recently, that ‘cadaverous’ is a word – meaning ‘death-like’, a gem …

Ebullient School Times

(By the time you read this, I will be on my way to Uganda, so I scheduled it to fit.) “First of all, I would like to thank you, the reader. It’s a necessity of all language to be heard; nobody would say anything if they knew they were not going to be heard. In the …