And yet. With all these syllables tumbling around in my brain, I am stuck in a verbal rut.  Perhaps you know that feeling? Whenever I reach up to pluck a word out of the many thousands available to me, the one that settles into my hand is familiar, well-used. It may be long, it may be short, but chances are it has made its way into my writing many times before. And there is nothing wrong with that, really, except that it’s kinda boring and no doubt makes for boring writing and reading.

So, this is what I am going to do. I have a list of words (copied directly from a Dictionary.com community member’s flashcards, plus a couple I added in) and I am going to use each of those words at least once between now and December 31.  If I am feeling really frisky I might even use two in one article or post! I am not going to say which ones they are because then I will get self-conscious, but the funny thing is – not one is difficult, or unfamiliar or some term used only by those in the mental stratosphere (or who want to seem like they are.) They are just regular and everyday words, but I use none of them. Weird.

Anyway, that’s my 41 word challenge to myself. I might make it a bit more interesting by posting (the next day!) what word I used the day before and where I used it.  I’d love for anyone who wants to grab a list (from here – I like the randomness of this – or anywhere) and join in.

[graphic from Toothpaste for Dinner]

The Color of Words IX Wosene Worke Kosrof, b. 1950, Ethiopia 2002

My ability to play with words, to form memorable phrases and such has not matured yet (if it ever will) but I do love the ability of others I come across. Sometimes it may not even be great writing, but whatever it is they’ve written either catches my attention or ignites my imagination, makes me laugh or, in some way, just resonates.

I’d say this one belongs in the “all of the above” category:

“Several years ago a ghostly, glassy-looking man, with a big stomach as taut as a drum, came to a doctor’s office in the city. He said, ‘Doctor, I have come to have you remove a monkey that was put in my belly.’ ”

I don’t know about you, but that would certainly have me wanting to read on.

That is from Miles Corwin’s piece on writer Gabriel García Márquez’s beginnings (and lifelong dabbling in) journalism. The whole article is a great read. (via Sullivan)

Another, in Christine Kenneally’s introduction to “The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language” (which also has a prelude AND a prologue!?) made me laugh, when she’s explaining the difficulty of figuring out when speech began –

“But there are no verbs preserved in amber, no ossified nouns, no prehistoric shrieks forever spread-eagled in the lava that took them by surprise.”

I’m still smiling at the mental image of that prehistoric shriek.