Wednesday's Word

People, I love words. I mean, absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, love them.

And I'm a Strevel, so I use lots of words with lots of regularity. (Ask anybody. Seriously, anybody. They'll back me up on that.)

But there are a few words that send shivers of delight up and down my spine, either because of how they sound, or because they communicate their meaning amazingly well, or simply because of how they look written out on paper. (If you've never given thanks for the gift of words, and particularly beautiful words, shame on you. Just think, we could be like the Germans, whose words are all guttural and harsh.)

There are multitudes of wonderful words out there, swirling around in books, through the air, in our minds, or yet to be born. Doesn't that send a little thrill through you? (If not, you probably won't get this post at all, and I'm oh, so sorry for you, because you're missing out on one of the most delightful parts of life.)

Thus, Wednesday's Word is born. Too much alliteration drives me crazy, but I like a little here and there, and Wednesday's Word seems just enough to make you think, "Oh, alliteration," but not enough to make anyone roll their eyes and say, "oh, please."

Every Wednesday, I'm going to share one of my favorite words, and maybe tell why, or perhaps use it in a sentence, (because use-that-word-in-a-sentence is fun,) or occasionally give the quote or passage that I feel uses the word to the best advantage or that made me first fall in love with that particular word. (Example: "Upon." I love the word "upon" because I think of "once upon a time...," which is the single most brilliant story opening known to man, I do believe.)

My reasoning behind why exactly I like a certain word may not make sense to you, because it's rather difficult to put half-developed thoughts and impressions down in black and white. But a long time ago, my literature teacher told me that it was better to communicate thoughts haltingly than to not share them at all.

Without any further ado,

"Whisk"

"Whisk" makes me think of, well, whisking. And I don't just mean the kitchen utensil of which we have five. I mean quickly - lightly, like the wind - moving something, or moving yourself. The word itself brings to mind swiftness and movement, and I like words that suggest movement.

I suggest you use it just once in place of "fast" or "move" today.

"Whisk that filthy creature off my clean porch, will you?" sounds much better than "Get that animal off my clean porch."

See?