X MARKS THE SPOT

Did you know that there are a gazillion words that start with ex, and most of them I never heard of? Now I love words. Of course I do...I love talking. I love writing and I love words. I even signed up for ‘a dictionary word in your e-mail every day’. What a waste that was! Did you ever read those words?  Here are some 

from my trash file…

     1.xenogenic---to be completely different from either parent, or from the source of an object’s creation

     2. catawampus---off-center, awry

     3. kerf---a cut or incision made by a saw, or the like, in a piece of wood

     4. panagram---a sentence or verse etc. that uses all the letters of the alphabet

     5. torrefy---to subject to fire or extreme heat ( I thought it meant to convert to Judiasm---ps I like mine better).

Now what pompous ass is going to add these words to his vocabulary? And, who do you know talks like that? You do? And you’re still friends?

I think words should roll off your tongue. Like MARSHMALLOWS. Isn’t that a great word? MARSH…MALL...OWS, lovely! Or how about, CUMULONIMBUS. Or, POPCORN? POPcorn…makes you want to go to the movies.

Here is one of my favourite Bubbie Channah stories. My parents used to come to Jerusalem for about a month or so every winter and every afternoon we would all meet in a restaurant downtown. One day when I got there my mother pointed to a sign over the door and asked, “What does that sign say?”

I replied, “It says emergency exit.” The words exploding from her mouth, my mom said,  “I knew it!”

My mother was furious. It seems she had lit a cigarette (those were the days when it was ok to do that) and a lady at the next table pointed to that sign and asked her, “Can’t you read?”

When my mom said she couldn’t, the lady explained that the sign said ‘no smoking’, so my mom put out her cigarette.

For those of you who knew Bubbie Channah you have to know that she may have been short, but she was feisty!!! And, trust me she was exasperated, and the expletives that were expelling from her mouth were mere examples of her extraordinary vocabulary. No one messed with Bubbie Channah!!!

I think I’ve gotten to the place where I need to exit.

Have a great day…stay safe…and thanks for dropping in.