One of the things I love about words is how they can sometimes take on a personality that mirrors their definitions. I found this poem in one of my son's poetry books recently that exemplifies this idea:
Jittery seems a nervous word;
snuggle curls up around itself.
Some words fit their meanings so well:
Abrupt. Airy. And my favorite--
sesquipedalian,
which means: having lots of syllables.
--"Word Watch," Linda Sue Park
Here are some words to give life to your writing this week. Which do you think sound like their definitions?
- Solidarity: unified.
- Unfriend: New Oxford American Dictionary's Word of the Year means to remove someone from a social media network.
- Black Sunday: April 14, 1935, on which the worst of the dust storms took place in the Dust Bowl. For more on the Dust Bowl, check out this American Experience episode.
- Green trade war: what will occur if the US adopts carbon caps.
- Frowzy: unkempt.
- Soporific: sleepy.
And here's a bonus word. That poem above is a
sijo poem: a Korean form of poetry not too different from haiku. In English, the sijo generally has three lines with 14 to 16 syllables each; sometimes the poem is broken into six lines. The last line offers a twist, some unexpected ending. If you want to know more, check out these sites:
And the book the poem came from is lovely. Use this link to order it for young poetry lovers in your life (my own is enamored with it):
Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems)
.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment