Words have fascinated me as long as I can remember. My mother said I was walking and talking
before I reached ten months old, but a serious injury a few months later left
me silent until I was nearly two. Between my own curiosity and my older
sister's diligence in sharing all she learned in first grade, I began reading
at four. I don't recall what I read at
that early age except every time my Dad bought gas in the nearby town of Arco I
read Boyd's Coal on the side of the building next door and Nehi Orange on the
pop bottle he handed me and I had to finish drinking before we left the service
station. Several farm magazines, The Children's Friend, and the Saturday Evening Post arrived regularly
in our mailbox. My mother had a collection
of storybooks she shared with me and my siblings. My older brothers and sister
brought books home from school, which I read or they read to me. As you can
see, I began reading whatever I could get my hands on at an early stage.
It's not just reading and talking I like, I like words,
individual words and words strung together in sentences. Some words feel good to say. Some give me a sense of pride because I can
spell them. Some words can brighten an
otherwise dismal day. I find it interesting that some words sound like the
object or feeling they represent, some don't even come close. Many lovely sounding words have not-so-pleasant
meanings. It seems such a shame to waste
words like diarrhea and pneumonia on such unpleasant
meanings. On the other hand scrumptious just sounds--well,
scrumptious. There are some words I avoid speaking aloud because though I know
the meaning and the spelling of the words, I've never heard them spoken and
have no idea how to pronounce them. It
is said that most people have a far larger reading vocabulary than speaking
vocabulary. That's certainly true in my
case.
Some words cut and hurt.
Some are offensive. I try to
avoid these. It seems odd that people
with the most limited vocabularies are the ones most inclined to depend on
offensive words in their communication efforts.
Words go through a sort of evolution, changing with time and
succeeding generations. Thongs, square,
stud, and so many other words no longer mean the same things they did when I
was growing up. In Nephi's day goodly
was an adjective meaning someone with a lot of goods or in other words someone
wealthy. Later goodly became a
measurement signifying a lot of something.
Today goodly is often assumed to be an adverb referring to character or
behavior and is seldom used in modern written or spoken communication.
The meanings of words are sometimes confused because some words
are spelled differently and have different meanings, but sound the same. Unfortunately meanings are sometimes confused
because of similar roots. Recently I
heard someone referred to as onerous when the speaker meant ornery. And who
hasn't heard someone say he or she was nauseous?
Words are powerful.
They give us the means to communicate with others. They give us the means to support, show
kindness, share our thoughts, entertain, soothe, and work together. Unfortunately they also give us the means to
hurt, demean, mislead, misunderstand, bully, and offend others. It's no wonder wise people have cautioned us
to choose our words wisely, not say anything if we can't say something nice,
and to speak no evil.
Words are, of course, the tools of my trade. Without words I couldn't be a writer. With
the passage of years I've learned many words, mostly English (American), but
I've picked up a smattering of words in a few other languages and consider
myself richer for adding them to my vocabulary.
If asked what is my favorite part of writing, I'd have to say words.
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