Word Porn

I love language. I love reading a good article or book. Growing up as an only child with loads of free time on my hands (wouldn't we love to be able to moan about how bored we are again!) I read loads. In the back of a car, in bed, while on the bus when travelling in to my job at the photo lab while I was at high school.

I loved going to the library, the bookshop, the newsagent. I loved the smell of new books and I still do. I literally smell one when I open it up.

But as I've gotten older, the reading for pleasure became less, and reading became more about school work and studying. And now with zero free time I can count on two fingers the number of books I read in a year that wasn't pulled from the children's section in the library or previously wrapped up in pirate themed wrapping paper.

I also used to love writing, but again with the passage of time, this has fallen by the wayside. My writing now is related to work and so I am more comfortable in writing ministerial briefings, letters to residents complaining about pot holes, procedure manuals or another email to staff members about not leaving their dirty crockery in the kitchen sink (anyone got any good ideas on how to solve this problem?)

So when I came across Word Porn on Facebook, I got a bit excited. When I realised it wasn't about talking dirty, I still thought it was brilliant. I love learning new words, and how concise a word can be when you think about the complexity of its meaning.

I've discovered lots of descriptive words like orenda, induratize, gezellig, silage. Whether I remember them at the right time (or pronounce them properly) is something else entirely.

Today's word was:

And I think a lot of us strive for this when the proverbial hits the fan. We don't always hit the mark, but we try. We try and keep our cool when we're with our kids so their world stays as normal as possible. We keep our focus when driving, getting the groceries or bumping into someone down the street we don't know very well. 

And other times, when the kids have just gone to bed and Facebook suggests that her and I become friends it is hard to remain equanimous. But at least I now have a word for "keeping my shit together".