Word Of The Day
Okay, so in an effort to find something to write about I thought I would be intellectual and post Dictionary.com's "Word of the Day".
There was only one problem as the word for today was (Os·tra·cize).
I already know that word.
And there is just something wrong with the whole "word of the day" system if you already know the word. You lose all momentum in the whold effort at bettering yourself. In just one short moment it takes away all of the mystery and sucks the life right out of the experience.
Bummer.
A few years ago I bought my roommate a word a day calendar for her birthday as we had spoken about the desire to increase our vocabulary. In order to gauge whether we really knew the word we decided that each day we had to successfully interject it into a sentence at work. If we got away with it without any strange looks or remarks then we would pass the word for the day roommate test.
Below I've written a transcript of my first "word of the day" trial sentence.
(the word was "cash cow")
Me: (to my boss) "Wow Cath, those extra shifts I pulled were quite the "cash cow" for me, wouldn't you say?" (wink wink, nudge nudge)
Cathy: "Huh?"
And that was the end of that.
My poor roommate Becky lost too as she said she couldn't pull it off without laughing. I can't imagine why using the word "cash cow" was so difficult for her. She's a pre-school teacher; she must use the word cow at least ten times a day.
So, needless to say between my lame attempt and her laughing fit we decided it was an effort in futility.
(prepare for segway)
Since we are talking about words I thought I would introduce you to my two new favorite words: smarmy and snarky. Oh yea, and and "stink" (okay, stink makes three). I use stink a lot if I am frustrated. You know, "STINK, I can't believe I forgot to do my eight-week report!" It's just so useful!
So my question of the post is "do you have a favorite odd word, one that you use a lot or you just feel is special to you"? Do tell!
Ps. In my new attempt at bettering myself I decided that for Christmas I am going to ask for a book from Amazon called "An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned in but Probably Didn't".
Look for a smarter me in 2007!
(No, I'm not running for office.)
