Words, Revisited

It’s that time again, dear readers.

Time to revisit the power and beauty of words. Words can build you up, tear you down, excite you, depress you, interest you, bore you. They make friends, distance enemies, create rifts, heal wounds. They tell stories, convey ideas, tell the truth, tell a lie. You have to be careful with words, for the power they have.

Our current presidential administration, for example, liberally bandies words about without, I think, being aware of, or caring about, their consequences. Words like “You’re fired” or “No, we don’t need that program any more.” These word are, unfortunately, affecting our National Parks, our veterans, our airline space, our nuclear safety, our emergency weather preparedness.

I have a friend who enjoys words as much, if not more, than I do. She can use the word “lexicon” naturally in the course of a conversation. It’ s a great word. Like me, she collects words. We have many conversations about them. It’s one of the many reasons I love her. I have learned some new words I want so share, as well as some not so new ones that I wish to discuss. So, without further ado here is my list.

Liminal. It means being in an intermediate phase, state, or condition. In transition, in between. One could argue that January 20, 2025 was a liminal day. With the concept of liminal, you are anticipating….you don’t know what is coming next. It is like the song in West Side Story, “Could be. Who knows. There’s something due any day, I will know right away, soon as it shows!”

Tmesis. Feel free to use this in Scrabble. This is inserting a word within another word or phrase to give it emphasis. Like un-flipping-believable, abso-freaking-lutely, or a-whole-nother story, or la-de-fricken-da. Isn’t is wonderful that there is a word for that?

Did you know there is a word for the study of crop circles (cereology), execution by drowning (noyade), and to build a nest (nidificate). There’s perspicuous ( clearly and easily understood), kibosh (to put a stop to something), ensorcelled (bewitched, enchanted).

There are other words that are getting quite a bit of airtime recently. Some that I don’t like at all. Libtard is right up at the top of the list of word I cannot stand. Not because I live on the liberal side of things, which I do. But because of the second half of the word. We all know the root of that one, and it isn’t used any more to describe people with intellectual disabilities. It slang and derogatory. It is name calling. If you are at the point in your argument where you are calling the other side names, you’ve lost the argument.

Fascism is another word I’ve seen lately. According to Merriam Webster, is an autocratic regime led by a dictatorial leader that values nation over individuals, controls opposition and criticism, industry and commerce. So while the Nazis were fascists, not all fascists are Nazis. Get it?

Of course, I save the best word for last. It isn’t new to me, new to the blog, or new to the world. It is the word that Stephen King said was the best of things. The word that Pandora left at the bottom of her box, when she had let all the troubles of the world escape. It’s the word we must all hold on to.

Hope.

Peace,

Kathie