Words I Have Strong Feelings About

Words I Hate

1. Escarpment. I hate this word so much I can't even talk about it.

2. Doorjamb. Its cousin, the door post, makes sense. Doorjamb sounds like an unhappy kitchen experiment or a terrible accident. And it just looks weird.

3. Infarction. You hear that one on House a lot. They love infarctions. It always throws me for a loop when they say it seriously, because it sounds like the kind of word that would make a fifth-grade boy giggle and make noises with his armpits.

4. Maintenance. I can never spell it right. Ever. Without spell check. In fact, editing this, I realized I didn't spell it right then either.

5. Orientated. Not a word.

6. Disorientated. Also not a word.

7. Nonplussed. I have yet to meet someone who has 1) pronounced this correctly with 2) the correct meaning. A lot of authors get it wrong too. It means "baffled," but most people think it means "unfazed." I nominate to have it removed from the dictionary for the time being.

8. Blog. Yes, I write one, but it sounds like the name of the Ogre in the Dell. Or something.

9. Scurf. Sounds like it should be a combination between a skirt and a scarf, and what I'm visualizing isn't going to sweep fashion week anytime soon.

10. Scudding. It's like a gerund that has something to do with a missile. But doesn't. And it's always clouds scudding; I guess the action of scudding is limited to clouds. Mystery.

11. Cul-de-Sac. Note to city planners of yore: Were there no other terms available for little circular neighborhoods? No? Really??? Did you check???? You couldn't find one without the awkward plural of "Culs-de-Sac?" No????? Try harder.

12. LOL. Or its cousin, lol. True, not a word, but that's news to some people. And it doesn't look like laughter. It looks like...I don't know. Letter vomit. Hard to say. Again, not laughter.

Words I Love

1. Assuage

2. Indicative (I love it. It's like carbonation on the tongue)

3. Amalgam

4. Lieu, as in "in lieu of"

5. Felicity

6. Poignant

7. Foreseeable. Not only is it a great word, but it looks like the vowels are going to stretch out forever.

8. Lilt. No such thing as an unhappy lilt - it's just happy all around.

9. Happy. Happy gets a bad rap, especially in Christian circles. I think we feel guilty over happiness, since we know that joy is more permanent. But you know what? Happiness happens. It's on of those rare words that makes you feel exactly what it means.

10. Indeterminate. See 2.

11. Lithe. Seeing pattern. I like single-syllable "l" words.

12. Blithely. I really do like it best as an adverb.

13. Triumvirate. I'm not sure that I'll ever learn to say it right, but everyone needs a goal.

14. Twirly.

15. Chocolate. It sounds as wonderful as it is. It's even a good Snow Patrol song.

16. Inexplicable. See 2, again.

17. Foliage. I really do like this word.

18. Fetching. As in pretty or attractive, not the action of chasing after something. Although one can lead to the other, doesn't it? It's an old-fashioned word, but it's fun to say.

I'm probably leaving some out, and that's after working on this post for literally just under a year. What about you? What words are you a little obsessive over?

You know you're a (fiction) writer when...

1. Certain office supplies have the power to bring you to tears. Of joy.

2. You about had an apoplectic fit while viewing Stranger Than Fiction.

3. You've found yourself editing the Bible for run-on sentences.

4. You discuss characters in your book to the point that the person you're conversing with thinks they're real.

5. You see unending possibilities in a blank sheet of paper.

6. You see unending failure in a blank Word document.

7. You own more books than anything else.

8. Though you haven't read all of them.

9. However, none of them are going anywhere. You are a haven for the printed page.

10. The librarians at your library have dirt on you.

11. Good dialog makes you swoon.

12. You collect names the way other people collect recipes.

13. No one in your household has clean socks.

14. You re-plot popular fiction in your head so that it actually, you know, works.

15. You re-plot films and TV shows verbally.

16. Your spouse may not always appreciate this input.

17. You've spent serious time trying to figure out if Irish creeks are frozen in February, or if Amish women wear normal bras.

18. There's a list of words you love - and hate.

19. A lot of good reviews make you happy.

20. One bad review makes you, very, very, very, very sad.

21. Forget review. One negative comment in the middle of a good review, and it's depths of despair, all over again.

23. Your work space used to be clean.

24. You say things like, "That was such a good set-up/pay-off" during a movie.

25. You enjoy crosswords.

26. You know a little about a wide variety of subjects from past book research.

27. You keep track of who knows what in your circle of friends - for future book research.

28. Carpal tunnel is referred to in hushed tones.

29. You fulfill over stereotype concerning writers and chocolate.

30. Like Emma Thompson's character in Stranger Than Fiction, you know that while storyboarding and synopses can be your friends, truly good ideas - like anything worth writing - come inexplicably and without method.