Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the tag “creative expression”

Word Nerds: What’s That You Say?


I appreciate how Mitch Teemley shares quotes of note. Over time I have developed my own quotes which will not be found in print since they exist as passing verbal ideas. They often found their way into my classroom during my years of teaching high school students.

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To get where you are going you have to move.

This one formed out of observation of how some people talk about going places but make no effort in moving in that direction, like those students who wrote their career research papers about becoming doctors (because they wanted to be wealthy), yet didn’t sign up for math or science classes or health occupation courses. This saying also stemmed from being stuck in traffic or trying to get through the hallways during passing period.


A book in hand is a friendship in the making.

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As a Book Booster I enjoy meeting new characters when I open a book, and some characters become lifelong friends whom I visit with, like Scout and Jane Eyre.


Finding a poem that meets your needs is finding a song to sing in your heart when the world seems tuneless.

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A thought that was inspired by April’s month long focus on poetry during National Poetry Month.


If you believe they can fly they will eventually grow wings.

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This came out of a meeting with some special education folk who thought I expected too much of their students.


The worth of a man is measured by the strength of his promise.

A personal belief. A broken promise makes it difficult to trust or believe in a person.

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Finding true friendship is finding a rare flower in life’s garden.

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Life is a garden, yet in any garden there are weeds to contend so when that special flower, that true friend comes along, it’s as special as finding that hidden columbine amidst the crabgrass.

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Knowing the right thing and doing the right thing are two different matters.

I don’t know why, but Abraham Lincoln comes to mind, as well as episodes of Dr. Who.


What we think we know becomes a matter of knowing what we actually think.

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Somewhat of a conundrum. Yet, what we think often becomes our actions, and if we are not sure of what we think than our actions will reflect our thoughts. Still a conundrum, I know.

Do you have sayings that are uniquely yours?

Shakespeare Celeb: William’s Words


Words Shakespeare Invented
(under the guise of April’s Word Nerd Confessions)

Getty Images/Edward Gooch

image: Mental Floss

While Shakespeare was a creative wordsmith–no doubt there, it should be noted that he tended to borrow from other sources and polish them so well that they became associated more with him than the original. I cite the sonnet form, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar as starter examples.

Another aspect of polishing came to words. It’s thought Shakespeare contributed at least 1,500 words to the common language, some sources say it’s closer to 1,700. He achieved this by changing nouns into verbs or verbs into adjectives or splicing together words. Shakespeare Online.com, a marvelous source of all matter Shakespeare, has compiled a short list of some of his contributions. For further elaboration on his wordly inventions please click here.

Note: clicking on the word will take you to the play where it was used.

academe accused addiction advertising amazement
arouse assassination backing bandit bedroom
beached besmirch birthplace blanket bloodstained
barefaced blushing bet bump buzzer
caked cater champion circumstantial cold-blooded
compromise courtship countless critic dauntless
dawn deafening discontent dishearten drugged
dwindle epileptic equivocal elbow excitement
exposure eyeball fashionable fixture flawed
frugal generous gloomy gossip green-eyed
gust hint hobnob hurried impede
impartial invulnerable jaded label lackluster
laughable lonely lower luggage lustrous
madcap majestic marketable metamorphize mimic
monumental moonbeam mountaineer negotiate noiseless
obscene obsequiously ode olympian outbreak
panders pedant premeditated puking radiance
rant remorseless savagery scuffle secure
skim milk submerge summit swagger torture
tranquil undress unreal varied vaulting
worthless zany gnarled grovel

Ready for a challenge? Create a sensible sentence with as many of the above words as possible. Here’s a starter…

So–next time you reach for the skim milk, hoping you won’t be disheartened  to discover it’s worthless and sour, initiating a rant of discontent, consider a generous thanks to the Bard for providing a varied list to select from so as not to impede  your outbreak towards those accused of leaving milk past its prime in the refrigerator, because a  tranquil   kitchen produces radiance. I know, this sentence is laughableif not zany.

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