in . trep . id/ adjective/ fearless, adventurous, unafraid, undaunted. unflinching, bold, daring, indomitable     Somewhere among the wide range of meanings for this week’s word lies at least one quality with which  most of us could identify and claim as our own. Facing the crush of life’s inevitables, we have at one time or another been forced to stand resolutely against a particular challenge or  unfavorable circumstance and, without even realizing it,  demonstrate a measure of fearlessness. In our own way, we can claim to be intrepid. The strong synonyms for the word intrepid may unsettle us somewhat because we don’t want to seem too self-assured, as if we think we are in total command…

aph . o .rism / noun/  a saying,  a maxim, an adage, a proverb, a pithy observation that contains a truth   A    word fitly spoken   Is like apples of gold   In settings of silver.            Proverbs 25:11             Most of us like an idea that is  packaged well. The aphorism is good  packaging.  Aphorisms are like quality  fruit: appealing on the outside and luscious on the inside. When you take time to unpack its language, you find something satisfying and enjoyable. Whenever I go to hear a speaker, I take notes, not to have evidence to incriminate the person, but to support my memory. What I like when I go to conferences with keynote…

ab  .  so  .  lute  .  ly /adverb/ completely,  totally,  entirely,  unreservedly “A man lives by believing something, not by debating and arguing about many things.” Thomas Carlyle In creative writing classes, students are encouraged to develop  an aversion toward adverbs. Shun them like the plague! Is this good advice?  Absolutely! Instead of adding color to writing, adverbs add dead weight, so to speak; therefore,  getting  rid of them is a good idea. But people who are not interested in writing poetry, short stories,  and novels cling to adverbs. Students in high school and those in Freshman Comp classes in college reach for them when they’re  trying to be descriptive and colorful in their writing.…

cor . rect. ness /noun/ quality of being free from error, accuracy, preciseness, conformity to an accepted standard This week’s word is correctness, unaccompanied by its twin,  political. At the outset I want to mention the immense pleasure our English  language gives to both reader and hearer when it is used  in the beauty of its inherent forms.  Oftentimes individuals–usually academics or biblical scholars– complain that English doesn’t have the right word for a particular construction that they wish to express from another language. Talk like that is sometimes a bit showy, intended to preen the speaker’s scholarly feathers.   I contend that English has all the words we need to say all the things we need to say and…

er . u. dite /adjective/ learned, scholarly, knowledgeable, well-read, well-informed, intellectual     I lost a dear friend three weeks ago. In the midst of my sadness at his passing,  and recalling the imprint that he’d left on the  world, and on me in particular, I could think of only one word to describe him: erudite. The word kept coming back to me in its variety of meanings as I thought  about what was, without a doubt, a gentleman and a scholar. We’d studied together as English majors in college, but sometime during our senior year, he felt the pull of the Speech Department and changed his major to speech communication. What…

e . bul . lience/noun/ enthusiasm,  exuberance, elation, vivacity, zest   It has been quite some time since I read Chenua Achebe’s powerful novel, Things Fall Apart, but the grandeur of what he created in it has lingered with me.  The book has been considered the finest  written about Nigeria at the end of the 19th century. It dramatizes the devastating changes that had occurred in Nigerian culture under British rule.  It’s a story that makes us think of other parts of the  world  where dramatic changes caused cultures to “fall apart,” their centers unable to hold. The title of Achebe’s book is taken from William Butler Yeats’ poem, “The Second Coming,” the first two lines of which are often quoted:…

ex . pe . dite/ verb/ accelerate, hasten, step-up, quicken Time, you old Gypsy Man, will you not stay? Put up your caravan just for a day.                                                                                                              Ralph Hodgson Isn’t it ironic that people want Old Father Time to slow down, but at the same time they want things to move at a fast pace? Individuals today tend to be impatient with slow. This week’s word, expedite,  is quite  popular nowadays. It is most often  used in the commercial world and fits in well with the stepped-up version of life that we are experiencing. “Free Grocery Pickup– Save Time”  read the sign I saw in front of a  nearby grocery store,  part of a nationally known chain. Customers…

e . phem . . er . al /adjective/ lasting only for a short time, transitory, fleeting, short-lived The other day I met a fellow shopper in the supermarket aisle.  She was looking for a particular brand of dishwashing detergent. I had looked for the same brand the week before, but didn’t find it, so I looked again with her, and when we didn’t find it, we  grumbled together about the unnecessary changes that stores make. On the shelf was a different version of the product we wanted–new and improved, I should imagine.  Instead of the powder to pour, there was a smaller box of little square pods with built-in drying agent. All-in-one, the box proclaimed.…

tem . per . ance /noun/ abstinence, abstention, sobriety, self-restraint, moderation, self-control especially in eating and drinking.   Someone suggested to me sometime ago that it would be a good thing to  bring back some of the old words that have gone out of use. I thought that was a great idea. For instance, when was the last time you heard “fandangle” or   “spectacles” or “petticoat” used in normal conversation or in the media?  These words were once in regular use but no longer are. Words go out of fashion just as dress styles do. That is part of the nature of language. A word that used to be popular at one time fades from…