Tuesday, September 14, 2010

We're Building Stories Here - With Words!

The most excellent Deanna Schrayer believes in the power of the word. And the right of all to be able to use and understand words. Last Wednesday was International Literacy Day. To celebrate Deanna created this gorgeous award.

Being the generous soul she is, Deanna passed the award to several folks, including Yours Truly, as well as the talented and eclectic Jai Joshi. In turn, Jai also passed this wonderful award to me.

THANK YOU DEANNA AND JAI!

So I'm supposed to share five of my favorite words. I like words with good mouth feel, ones that resonate when said aloud. Good poetry words:

Sully -- This words sounds dirty, just what it means.
Effervesce -- Makes me smile -- Asti anyone?
Seraphim -- Angelic.
Detritus -- I love the gutteralness of this word, so hard and final.
Melancholy -- The Chinese character for this word means 'after the harvest', that bittersweet time before winter sets in and the fields go fallow.

Since I received the award twice, I suppose I should offer up five more words. I like verbs with strength, so here's five more unusual ones:

Veneer -- A thin skin used as a noun or verb.
Loiter -- A better word for lazy or hanging.
Bypass -- Use it next time instead of walk around or walk past.
Surge -- Waves, power, energy.
Polarize -- To mute or mutate, or to amplify tension. Not just for RayBans any more!

My favorite words, no explanation needed:

Espresso
Google
Create
Honesty
Smile


My turn to pass the karma forward. The three writers below each exploit language to its fullest. Please visit their blogs and revel in their words:

Lou Freshwater @ Baby's Black Balloon: Master weaver of words that evoke emotion.

Mark Kerstetter @ The Bricoleur: Brick and word-builder extraordinaire.

Marc Nash @ The Sulci Collective: The man's a veritable walking, talking dictionary.

Peace, Linda

11 comments:

  1. Loiter's a great word. I say it often just for the heck of it, because I like how it sounds.

    Jai

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  2. Love your word choices Linda, and I learned something new - the Chinese character meaning for melancholy, (another favorite word of mine). Thus the reason you so deserve this award.

    And the writers you chose to pass the award onto? Absolutely perfect. I couldn't agree more.

    Thanks so much for the gift of your words!

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  3. Good grief! I meant "on to", not "onto". Kind of funny that we're talking about a literacy award and I appeared to be illiterate. :)

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  4. Nice picks, Linda! The written word has changed us beyond what we could even imagine.

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  5. I'm glad you like "surge"; I do too!

    While it's award season, I've nominated you for another little one over the Surge Bin.

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  6. Great nominees, and I love your word choices. :)

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  7. Linda, you are a literacy builder, and thank you. Favorite words (like favorite colors) is tough for me - I love them all.

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  8. Good words, great choices! And cool award, Deanna!

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  9. Wow, what a cool surprise to find here Linda! Thank you so much, and I mean it. There is nothing I would rather have my name mentioned with more than literacy - well except maybe love. ;-)

    Thank you!

    Now I need to get over to my blog and catch things up.

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  10. Thanks all! And happy literacy building yourselves! Peace...

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