Smidge HAS to be one of my favorite words ever. I have a bag of them.
It is kind of like when people have their favorite movies, or foods, or colors. With me, I just seem to like certain words. Like gumption. And persnickety. Effervescence. Dollop.
But all words are not equal. No way, no how. I feel a little bit sorry for the words that suck. No matter how you look at them.
Let me explain. Certain words just sound good to the ear. Or interesting, or even funny. It doesn’t really matter what the meaning may be. The word simply has a nice audible.
Smite. Limerence. Nefarious. Baffled. Gloaming.
Those types of words are sitting in the top row of the bleachers. They are cool. They have it going on.
And then there are those words that I feel sorry for. Orifice. Secrete. Sputum. Moist. Diarrhea. Yeast. Curd. Vomit.
Not everyone may agree. But those are some of my least favorite words. I could go on, but I will reel it in here.
The English Language is actually a little wonky. There are hidden letters and backward sounds. There are K’s paired with N’s, and E’s, I’s, G’s, and H’s all run amuck. No way. No, weigh. No matter. We have that wonderful spell check thing. It writes the word it THINKS we want to say.
And then there are the misfit words. The ones that have no counterbalance. Like distraught, and inert. For the opposites, we certainly do not say traught, or nert. Ambidextrous. Anonymous. Distress. The opposite of those three might describe me here. A Dextrous Nonymous Tress Individual. At this moment. Forthright. Or Forthwrong.
Indeed.
No matter how we use them, words can be mightier than the sword, as we very well know. We should know their meanings, and use them wisely.
But when it comes right down to it. In the end. Most words cannot stand alone. We have to put them with other words before they really do anything.
We should choose those combinations wisely too.
There are a few we could even try today.
Like,
Is there any way I can help you?
I care about you.
I love you.
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“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier, Maud Muller – Pamphlet
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“Sometimes not speaking says more than all the words in the world.”
― Colleen Hoover, Ugly Love
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“Some people have a way with words, and other people…oh, uh, not have way.”
― Steve Martin
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