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Stretching Out My Wednesday

Yesterday was too busy a day for a post on Wednesday’s word.

I hate missing a deadline. Plus, I considered the fact that you might count on finding out what word rises to the surface on Wednesday of every week. So while it’s after midnight in my neck of the woods, I haven’t gone to sleep yet. That means, I’m still working on Wednesday’s time.

I had hoped that Wordsmith.org would choose a light and festive theme this week, considering the upcoming holiday. But this week’s theme is “fear and desire.” I thought, at first, I had no connection, nothing to write about.Then, I caught myself getting all keyed up as I scurried around town doing my last minute shopping.

What if I forget something?
What if he doesn’t like it?
What if I just buy that one for myself?

In all that running around, today’s word sparked some microfiction.

astraphobia. noun: An abnormal fear of lightning and thunder.

She arrived early and secured a parking spot near the side entrance. At two minutes to nine, she walked briskly from her car to the glass doors and reached for the handle at the same moment the manager unlocked the door. She felt she had the upper hand: a winter storm advisory, most people off today and sleeping in, her list in hand so she could get in-get out.

But, she got caught standing in front of the Nonfiction books, Sarah Palin staring her down. She wondered what made Sarah think she was so rogue. Just as she reached for the book, she heard the manager’s hearty “Hello!” and “We’re so glad you’re here!” She turned and saw a trio of musicians in Santa hats hauling an electric piano and a box of small instruments. They plugged in, underneath a Christmas light display, right in the middle of the store.

She forgot about Sarah. She looked at her list. One more book to buy, she told herself. The musicians warmed up their voices, and she buttoned up her coat. She walked in front of the piano and shot a side-glance  at the player. He was smiling and humming as he slid his hand across the keys. When he flipped the switch to turn on the piano, a Christmas bulb blew. There was a pop and a flash of light and a “Whoa!” followed by laughter. The flash threw her off balance, and she fell sideways into the  “New in Paperback” display. Like dominoes, the books tumbled and fell to the floor.

The flash.
The thunder of books.
She turned and made a mad dash towards the exit, her coat tail fluttering behind her.

Next year, she told herself, order online.

***

Just for fun, check out Thursday’s word of the day: onomatomania. Maybe it’s late, but something about that word made me giggle.

Enjoy a festive holiday!

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Smoothing Over Scrutiny

Yesterday, I found out I didn’t make the cut for a writing gig. I half expected such, but somehow seeing the list of writers who did make it, nudged me into a writer’s pity-party. Then, my husband and I moved furniture between two floors last night and discombobulated the house as well as my psyche.

So, here it is Wednesday, which calls for a word of the day post. Wordsmith.org threw me for a loop with this week’s theme — miscellaneous words. I didn’t know what to expect this morning when I pulled up the site. After I read today’s word, my vision panned out from the laptop screen to me: standing at an open door, staring into a dark and empty room, hearing an echo when I asked my muse for any ideas.

“Hello?”

Her lack of answer told me she’s still recovering from yesterday’s pity-party. I’ll have to go on without her.

Today’s word is avoirdupois, a French word gone English. I took four semesters of French in college, documented only by my transcript and a vague memory of a late night phone message left on my friend Rick’s answering machine. He really did know how to speak French; I, through a filter of too-many-Amstel-Lights, babbled in misplaced accents and overdone R’s. Rick never returned my message, a quiet reprimand to stick to writing English.

Its roots in Old French, avoirdupois rolls off the tongue with class and style. But, in English, the word is a disguise for the truth. A noun, avoirdupois means the heaviness or weight of a person.

“Did you just see…?”
“Yeah.”
“Was that…?”
“Susan.”
“Did she…?”
“She did. But, you have to admit, she carries her avoirdupois with elegance.”

Or, on a more personal note, I’m reminded of my son’s recent side comment to me after my husband held his pants waist out and showed off the inches he’s lost since bumping up his running schedule:
“Mommy, maybe you should start running like daddy.”

He hasn’t learned to finesse in English discourse. But in my own defense, I’m a writer, not a runner.

And, some things you just can’t hide.

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Words for Word Lovers

It’s Wednesday, and while you may eagerly await the word of the day, I must preface my post with a prologue.

On Monday, Anu Garg — the word master extraordinaire and creator of Wordsmith.org — explained his process in finding the word of the day:

I like to say that words come to me. “Pick me!” “Pick me!” They raise their hands, eager to go out, be widely known in the language, and find a place on people’s tongues.

From time to time I scour dictionaries for words, to seek out more obscure ones. When I stumble upon an interesting word, I feel as excited as a paleontologist might feel on finding a fossil, or a geologist on discovering a new form of rock.

I appreciate learning new words, yes. But I liken the “finding a fossil” kind of excitement to that moment I slip my hand into my winter coat pocket for the first time in the season and pull out a five dollar bill from last season. Still, this week’s theme on Wordsmith.org caught my writer’s attention and brought a little skip to my step: words about words.

Ooo, exciting.

Monday, rhopalic: adjective. having each successive word longer by a letter or syllable.
Yesterday, periphrastic: adjective. using a roundabout form of expression: wordy.
Today, epanorthosis: noun. immediate rephrasing of something said in order to correct it or make it stronger.

This week, along with his enticing theme, Anu Garg offers a contest. You can even win prizes, like the boardgame WildWords, the antithesis of Scrabble. Any game that claims itself to be opposite of Scrabble, and to lift losers out of the Scrabble gutter, is a sigh-of-relief miracle for people like me who (under pressure) can only think of four letter words not allowed in a dignified game of wooden-tiled crosswords.

But, back to the words at hand. This week’s gems are not only fun to learn but also challenging to use in a blog entry. Though, with my periphrastic post so far, I’ve at least succeeded in incorporating one epanorthosis.

But rhopalic stumps me. As tiles spread across wooden Scrabble structures obligate undeviating intimidation, the word haunts me. And, I hear again my repeat concession muttered after almost every turn during my last game of Scrabble.

“I got nothin’.”