IF YOU HAVE ONLY SEEN the movie version of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, you are missing out on an extraordinary literary work. Granted, it takes a while to get into — a criticism also (and often) leveled against…
Tag: writers
A breed apart from ordinary humans, and responsible for much of their culture. Some would call them the salvation of humanity; others wouldn’t call them a cab.
Words to Bring Back: “Chary”
– Definition: adj. cautiously or suspiciously reluctant to do something. – Used in a sentence: Due to long experience, my cat is no longer chary of taking his arthritis medicine. – Why: I suppose you could always use the synonymic…
Words To Bring Back: “Redolent”
– Definition: adj. 1. strongly reminiscent or suggestive of 2. fragrant or sweet-smelling – Used in a sentence: This halvah is redolent of faded rose-petals. – Why: One can never have too many adjectives for describing the senses.
Unless you are at home in the metaphor, you are not safe anywhere.”
— Robert Frost
Words To Bring Back: “Desultory”
– Definition: adj. marked by lack of definite plan, regularity, or purpose – Used in a sentence: Except for my relatively brief writing career, my life has been a desultory yet full one. – Why: It seems to characterize much…
Death steals everything except our stories.”
— Jim Harrison
Metaphoraging Roundup: 2018
IF A GOOD FRIEND HADN’T died this year and cured me of a years-long writer’s block, I wouldn’t be posting this. But he did, so I am, proffering 2018’s Top 10 Viewed Pages and Posts at this writing: 1. Home…
Words To Bring Back: “Trenchant”
– Definition: adj. 1. vigorous or incisive in expression or style. 2. sharply perceptive – Used in a sentence: What we need is more trenchant male characters, unlike Peter Jackson’s Aragorn or the ubiquitous “Bumbling Dad.”. – Why: These are…
Words To Bring Back: “Proffer”
– Definition: v. t. To offer for acceptance. – Used in a sentence:To you the reader, I hereby and humbly proffer my Cook For Any Price stories. – Why: It implies a social contract somewhat different from its rhyming synonym;…
Words To Bring Back: “Cubit”
– Definition: n. A unit of measurement; the distance between one’s elbow and middle-fingertip (approximately 18 inches) – Used in a sentence: My cat is almost exactly two cubits long, including his tail. – Why: Sure, we could always double…
Words To Bring Back, Special Edition: “Wheeler”
SOMETIMES, WE ATTAIN IMMORTALITY BY becoming part of the language: e.g., “boycott,” “pasteurize,” “guillotine.” And to these noble eponyms I would like to append … “wheeler.” – Definition: v. To unconsciously, persistently and innocently pocket other people’s stuff.
Words to Bring Back: “Ambit”
– Definition: n. A space surrounding a house, castle, town, etc. A precinct. – Used in a sentence: It is my ambition to diligently guard my ambit against encroachment. – Why: Where I live in semi-rural Northern California, such things…