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Wordage of the Day

Came across 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know from the editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries and the Houghton Mifflin Company. Glancing over the list, I'd say that by the time I graduated high school, I knew all but three of them. It's unlikely I was using the word "tautology" in regular conversation but I was certainly familiar with it. I'd also say with some assurance that if I pulled 20 high school seniors off the streets right now, less than half of them could say the same. This makes me sad. But - never let it be said that I don't throw stones at my own glass house as well as at glass houses of others. What the heck is 'moiety'??? - off to look it up.

Back again. It's one of those days (already? It's only 8:30 a.m.!) when spend too much time pondering words. Thanks to Boris I'm pondering how to work the word 'dithyramb' into a conversation. And now, that mention doesn't count. More on that later. But it led me to troll through my OED (as good a way to lose track of time as I have ever found) and that led me to pondering words again.

What words do you love (as they ask on Never Mind the Full Stops)? What words do you hate?

I'm feeling partial to the word 'scrumptious' today. We all know it means "pleasing, esp. to the senses; delectable" but it's the word itself I like. I imagine food stuffs gamboling and frolicking in a play pen like so many large-pawed puppies.

I can't think of a word I hate today. I don't like the word "orientate" when pronounced with that extra 't' a la the British. The word (yes, even when a verb) is 'orient'. You are not 'orientated'. You are 'oriented'. Add 'dis-' in front of it, same thing applies. I don't care if there are dictionaries out there that say ether way is acceptable. They are wrong. Now if I had time, this might lead me to the discussion of whether dictionaries should reflect the society does speak or how society should speak. But I don't have time. It should, ideally, reflect a balance of both.

And because I have words on the brain today, I went site seeing on the Word Side of Town: Online Etymology Dictionary