them there's highfalutin words

I lean toward reading (and writing) literary fiction and creative non-fiction so it's no wonder I occasionally come across words that are new or unfamiliar to me. Highfalutin words. Some I recognize even though I can't define them. Some I don't recall ever having heard.

This can be maddening to some people. They resent the interruption inherent in dragging out the dictionary and looking up the meaning of some elusive word that they will probably never use in their own writing. If they can't cull the meaning from the context of the sentence, they just skip it.

But I was trained differently. When I came across an unfamiliar word as a child, I would simply ask my mother (who knew everything!), "Mom, what does this word mean?" And her response was always, inevitably, unfailingly the same: "Go look it up." Go haul that heavy red tome of a dictionary off the shelf, and look it up. And then, some time later on, she would ask me for the definition...just to be certain I had done it.

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That same Webster's New World Dictionary--copyright 1951, frayed around the edges--still sits on my bookshelf today. An updated version sits next to my laptop.

Nowadays, when I come across a need-to-know word, I circle it in the text or jot it down...and then I look it up. This week's list comes compliments of Richard Rhodes (who wrote The Making of the Atomic Bomb), Ann Patchett (author of Bel Canto, Run, Truth and Beauty, and State of Wonder),
Anna Qunidlen (Rise and Shine, One True Thing), Ann Lamott (All New People, Plan B, Bird by Bird), and Kristen Tippett (Einstein's God).

So, students, here is your vocabulary list for the week:



http://lingualift.com

--concatenate: to connect in a series or chain, to arrange (strings of characters) into a chained list

--contrapunctally: in music, using counterpoint--combining two or more melodic lines so that they form a harmonic relationship while retaining their linear individuality;  using a contrasting but parallel theme or element

--inchoate: in an initial or early stage; incipient

--infelicitous: inappropriate or ill-chosen

--invidious: tending to rouse ill will, animosity, or resentment

--jeremiad: a literary work or speech expressing a bitter lament, or a prophecy of doom

--mellifluous: repetition flowing with sweetness or honey; smooth and sweet

--miasma: a noxious or poisonous atmosphere or influence

--peripeteia: a sudden turn of events or reversal of circumstances

--prosody: the study of the metrical structure of verse

--rictus: a gaping grimace

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--rube: an unsophisticated country fellow

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How'd you do? Give yourself extra credit if you have ever used any of these words in a sentence.

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"One ought, every day at least,

to hear a little song,

read a good poem,

see a fine picture,

and, if it were possible,

to speak a few reasonable words."

--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe--

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How do you treat highfalutin words? 

jan







take a bow

Are you in the process of writing a poem or story or novel? Is there an unfinished canvas on your easel? Have you come up with a tune you just can't get of your head? Do you dance or sculpt or doodle just for the pleasure of it? Then you deserve some recognition.

If you were among those who raised their hands while reading last week's post--and even if you weren't--this week is your chance to stand up and take a bow.

So....please:

--Take a bow if you manage to carve out time in your busy day to indulge your inner artist.

--Take a bow if you hold down a job that pays and you still make time to write, or paint, or compose, or practice.

--If you gave up your day job on the advice of your muse, bow to her.

--If you keep house or have a family or do the yard work, and you still insist on making time to write, or draw, or sing, or dance...take an even deeper bow.

--If people you know regard you as selfish, or lazy, or irresponsible because you decided to follow your dream, smile at them...and take your bow.

--If you have been known to set a manuscript, or a sketch, or a song aside because you thought it wasn't "good enough" (even though it was the best you could do) and then, sometime later on, you went back to it and made it better...you deserve to take a bow.

--If you have ever sworn you were quitting...that you were a failure...that there was no hope for you...but found yourself back at your laptop, or canvas, or keyboard the very next day...now is the time for you to take a bow.

--Even if you haven't been published, or been featured by a gallery, or found your way onto the stage, as long as you keep trying...you should take a bow.

--If you encourage others to follow their dream...if you support their efforts...if you attend a book signing, or you're in the audience on opening night, or you join their gallery walk...take a well-earned bow...

...because you deserve a round of applause!

If you love what you're doing and wouldn't have it any other way, you deserve a standing ovation...

...because you are an inspiration to all of us!

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"Always wish that you may find

patience enough in yourself to endure,

and simplicity enough to believe;

that you may acquire more and more confidence

in that which is difficult

in your solitude among others.

--Rainer Maria Rilke--

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Who inspires you? Who encourages you? Who supports your artistic dream?

jan