For the Love of Words

Before I could ever read or write, I developed a love of/for words. My momma read to me; to all of us. She is responsible for my love of words, reading, listening, language, maxims, idioms, definitions, any way, shape or form that words are used. But what are words? There are all kinds of definitions in the dictionary, but the most succinct, in my mind, is, "something that is said". 

I read the Merriam-Webster "Word of the Day" every day. (Today's word is luscious - one I love not only for meaning, but the way it sounds when spoken.) Most of the time I have a general idea of the meaning of the word, but sometimes it is a new one for me. I also usually read the etymology of the word. This is the etymology for the word, 'word': "Middle English from Old English; akin to Old High German wort word, Latin verbum, Greek eirein to say, speak, Hittite weriya- to call, name.

Last week my granddaughter Kathryn sent me some new photos and videos of my youngest great-grandchild, Louis, who will be two next month. In the videos he is really talking.

She told me at his age he is supposed to have eight words and he has 32. He is also talking in four to five word sentences in comparison to two word ones for his age. And he loves reading and to be read to.

I wonder what my vocab and sentence structure was at that age?

The idiom "She doesn't mince her words", is one my mother said about her mother. I knew it meant that Grandma Delphia said what was on her mind. She didn't mince her words when it came to giving her opinion about something. The dictionary definition for the word mince is 1) cut up or grind (food, especially meat) into very small pieces (hence, mincemeat) and 2) walk with short quick steps in an affectedly dainty manner. And right now, I have no idea why the word mince came to mind this morning when I was making the bed, but that is how this post began.

There are many quotes about the use of words. Many of them along the line of: "Be careful with your words, once they are said they can be only forgiven, not forgotten."  and "One kind word can change someone's entire day."

This is one of my favorite quotes about words:

And with that, I realize I should have minced  my words, so I'll end this post here. 🙇