The letter quoted below conveys an exuberant love and mastery of words, as well as being a world class job application. Savour some of the words that sparkle, appeal, intrigue or otherwise grab me, including those in other languages. And adoring alliteration, new words are added on Wednesdays.  Wednesday, word day.
Dear Sir,
I like words. Â I like fat buttery words, such as ooze, turpitude, glutinous, toady. I like solemn, angular, creaky words, such as strait-laced, cantankerous, pectinous, valedictory. I like spurious, black-is-white words, such as mortician, liquidate, tonsorial, demi-monde. I like suave “V” words, such as Svengali, svelte, bravura, verve. I like crunchy, brittle, crackly words, such as splinter, grapple, jostle, crusty. I like sullen, crabbed, scowling words, such as skulk, glower, scabby, churl. I like Oh-Heavens, my-gracious, land’s-sake words, such as tricksy, tucker, genteel, horrid. I like elegant, flowery words, such as estivate, peregrinate, elysium, halcyon. I like wormy, squirmy, mealy words, such as crawl, blubber, squeal, drip. I like sniggly, chuckling words, such as cowlick, gurgle, bubble and burp.Â
I like the word screenwriter better than copywriter, so I decided to quit my job in a New York advertising agency and try my luck in Hollywood, but before taking the plunge I went to Europe for a year of study, contemplation and horsing around.Â
I have just returned and I still like words. May I have a few with you?Â
Robert Pirosh
Source: Letter No. 009 in ‘Letters of Note’, comp. Shaun Usher (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2013), p. 36
Orographic
I learned some fine landscape words from reading Barry Lopez’s Arctic Dreams.  Orographic means ‘relating to mountains, especially as regards...
Chatteration
'Again there was a sudden chatteration of gulls.' Â A fine description of the confabulations of sea-gulls when they get...
The cuckolds’ collective
An imaginative collective noun for the poor cuckold, perhaps the last person to see, or believe, what is going on....
Miemie, black sheep, have you any wool?
This is an excellent sound for a sheep’s bleat. Add your own little vibrato and you too can sound like...
Of farsang places
A measure of distance which has an echo of 'farflung', though no direct connection. It means one day's walk or...
A drunkenship of cobblers
What did cobblers do to be nailed with such a bad reputation? When did you ever see a drunken cobbler?Â
...An army of caterpillars
'Army' makes sense when you hear of trains of spiny, poisonous caterpillars marching like a locomotive across the southern landscapes...
Hobbledehoy
An old fashioned word that deserves a chance at revival. It means awkward or clumsy, or a youth unfortunate enough...
A goring of butchers
Marvelous. Can't better that one. But let's come up with another cut: a side of butchers? Or seeing the collective...
A bask of crocodiles
Delightful collective noun this, suggesting a harmless creature soaking up the sun on a warm mud bank. Just don't tread...
The surface of the word should be vast.
Nezami – Azeri poet
Love writingredux.com? Â Enjoy our sister sites:
www.foolsareeverywhere.com  I   www.nuannaarpoq.com  I  www.spyderceleste.com  Â
© Beatrice Otto 2022 - design & content unless otherwise stated - all rights reserved
Â
Â
0 Comments