Word Freak

Illuminated text, Getty Center, Los Angeles

Can you be a blogger and NOT be a word freak? I don't know what compels / propels most bloggers, but I suspect most of us are in some way slavishly devoted to the written or spoken word, or perhaps just to expression. Even if you don't love etymology (let's just call it a love of language, a passion for the root meaning of words) or linguistics, you most likely have some form of compulsion to express yourself using the written word. Even reluctant bloggers are driven by a desire to express their love of their blog topic, to the point that they will overcome any reluctance to publish their inner workings (and some don't suffer from that reluctance in the smallest amount).So, blog peeps, can you imagine my delight when I was reading an article online in the New York Times, and discovered that if you double click on a word, a question mark appears, and if you click on the question mark the definition of that word will magically appear, along with synonyms? Oh, major word freak happiness. For a thesaurus nut, a dictionary addict, this is just TOO good to believe!

Vintage books, scored in used book store, Zurich

For my eighth birthday my parents gave me a hard-cover 'pocket' Oxford Dictionary (doesn't fit in any pocket I have ever experienced) and a Dymo label-maker. This makes me wonder - was I already a word freak, and that's why they gave me those gifts, or did they create a word freak? I don't know the answer to that question, I suspect I was already a mini word-freak, but I can say for certain that I do still own a passion for the thesaurus and a devotion to dictionaries, love of the written and the spoken word. This extends into a love of foreign languages and signs too.

Language as a tool
Tea Garden - Tiger Snake Sign, Western Australia

I have two teenagers, and I'm in awe of the tools at their disposal when it comes to homework. They don't have to ask their Mum for a ride to the library to research anything, they can use the dictionary and thesaurus in the word processing software (don't get me started on my high school typing lessons, using a typewriter, and no correction fluid - no, thanks, I'm not actually a dinosaur), they can research any topic you care to name with the click of a button - how wonderful that is! Not only does it save me from evening and weekend runs to the library, it means I have those very same tools at my disposal too - just for fun!

Sometimes it's the same in any language -
Keep Off The Grass people!!
Sign at Temple, Huangzhou, China

Are you a word freak? If not, what compels / propels you?

Bart's Books, Ojai, California