Word Collecting
I collect words. If possible I would display them in petite glass bell jars all about my house. That would be cruel, though, since words are not meant to be imprisoned–they are meant to be freely used and must flap their serifs (I imagine them in Times Roman font) to be useful.
As I’ve collected words I’ve made use of them as a writer (you never know when defenestration will come in handy, eh, Eagle Eyed Editor?), as a reader (a wide vocabulary comes in handy when reading off the AP suggestion list), and as a teacher (“if I learned it, so can you”). Words also help spice up conversations–yet, I must use them judiciously so as not to appear as a smarty-pants.
Fun stuff I’ve done with words:
Trivia Quiz: Words and Symbols
Poems, Stories, Puzzles, Interviews–Writing, Writing, Writing
Vocabulary Games–Question 3:
And I search off the Internet:
25 Everyday Words You Never Knew Had A Name
Words.
Don’t leave home without them.
Try ’em, you’ll like ’em.
Take your favorite word to lunch.
Have you hugged a word today?
Words have a power all their own (Photo credit: Lynne Hand)
Related articles
- War of wordcraft: invitation to write dictionary puts language nerds on alert (guardian.co.uk)
- Expanding Your Vocabulary in English (oupeltglobalblog.com)
- ‘Frankenword’ Review – An Excellentertaining Word Game (toucharcade.com)
Pam Webb 
Yep, you never know when someone might need defenestrating! 😉 One of my other favorite words is “discombobulate” — it cracks me up every time.
it’s one of my stock words 🙂
I love the start of this post – just imagining those little words in glass bell jars being set free is adorable 🙂
like fireflies flitting to and fro 🙂
🙂 The bell jars remind me of my favourite author…I am sure you know since you used the bell jar image 🙂
I was at an art show and her paper dolls and parts of her journal were part of the exhibit. She knew how to set words free.
I actually tried to read The Bell Jar recently. I couldn’t get past Doreen. A dear relative had that name and Plath’s Doreen was the antithesis for sure… I was actually referring to the bell jars I’ve seen in museums that held clocks or solar type contractions. They seemed so alive in those containers
Yes The Bell Jar is tough reading even without a collision of the real world with the world in the Bell Jar – I enjoy her for her poetry.
Collison is one way of describing The Bell Jar. We will study some of Plath’s poetry. Why are so many of the truly talented writers so tortured?