In the December issue of More Magazine, Jan Sheehan observes that in some ways we get better as we grow older. One consolation she offers is that while we may have more trouble retrieving words, we know more of them. (“8 Ways Your Body Gets Better with Age,” by Jan Sheehan , More, 12/12, pg. 128) Of course collecting words is one of the joys of being a writer and a reader. We cherish them the way a philatelist covets a beautiful stamp.
I’ve been collecting a few more words since my last offering. They were new to me and perhaps they will delight as well as enlighten:
Extirpate — to root out or destroy
Recrudescent – a reoccurring outbreak
Lacuna – missing part of a text or argument
Regnant – prevalent, wide spread
Pons asinorium – a problem that severely tests the ability of an inexperienced person
Synecdoche – A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer or steel for sword
Excrescence – unwanted outgrowth
As remarkable as these words are, I’m going to be challenged to bring them into my coffee conversations.
(Courtesy of mercigd.wordpress.com)
