must have accessory for the season : a good vocabulary

you can't feel what you can't name

There are a lot of injustices and inequalities in our world. Whether it’s access to healthcare, living in a food desert, growing up in areas with high rates of illiteracy - these are all things we’re aware of.

One I don’t hear spoken about as much (though it relates to education & illiteracy) that I’ve seen play out in real life is the disparity in vocabulary and language and how that shapes the rest of your world.

It’s not our actions we use to control our surroundings, it’s our words.

(This is getting abstract and serious because I’m a little stoned).

A fight might happen because the people fighting don’t have the language to be able to deescalate a situation. A break-up might happen because a person or the people in the relationship may not be able to describe their emotions.

You can diffuse a situation or communicate your feelings when you know the words to do those things. When you don’t even know the words exist, how do you know the feeling?

Anyway — remember the scene in Clueless when Cher talks about the importance of vocabulary then teaches Tai the word “sporadically”? Partially because of that and partially because of my insecurity about being ESL - I did this thing everyday where I would pull 1 SAT vocabulary word a day and incorporate it into my vocabulary. I don’t do that anymore but here are some of my favorite words, phrases, etc.

RIP Brittany Murphy

I use these. And I like them. They may not deescalate a fight or help you through a breakup but maybe they’ll help your world feel a little bigger.

And with that.

Away.We.Go.

• Getting in a row

  • This is the British English version of saying you got into a little spat

  • It feels gentler though so next time you’re describing a little tiff - refer to it as a row (rhymes with cow)

• Gauche

  • I use this all the time to describe everything and everyone

  • It means you have no tact, manners - you lack social graces and you’re tacky

  • I’m so sorry I called you gauche

• Crown shyness

  • This is when trees naturally start touching above you creating this magical beautiful archway

  • When you’re on a date, walking down the street and the street is beautiful with crown shyness - point it out to your date then kiss them on the lips. It’ll be romantic

i have so many bosom buddies but here is one

• Bosom Buddy

  • This is from Anne of Green Gables and they use it to describe Anne’s best friend

  • A friend that’s close to your bosom, your heart

  • If you’re reading this, know you are a bosom buddy

• Prescient

  • This is having foresight and knowing something is going to happen before it happens

  • Would be so cool to be prescient but I’ve never had the foresight to prepare in advance for anything - even something as simple as having a sweater at my desk because the office is cold

• Dearth

  • In reference to lacking something - not really used for saying you have a dearth of money but more used when a resource is scarce

tights are gossamer

• Gossamer

  • I like this one a lot - it’s a little pervy - it’s see thru, lacy, spider-web like

  • All your clothes should be gossamer this summer and actually all year round

sought apricity in the cold but mostly added this ***action shot*** cause i wanted somewhere to put it

• Apricity

  • This is the warmth of the sun in the winter - enjoying apricity when you can find it in the cold months

• Taciturn

  • Very quiet, uncommunicative and having little to say when describing a person

  • A negative trait - you don’t want to be called this, trust me. Or maybe you talk too much and it would be a good change of pace

• Kismet

  • Destiny, fate - I also kind of use this word for serendipity which is both those things but slightly different

  • My friends Charlie and Malea both frequently use this word and it is such a delight - to hear and to say aloud.

• Precocious

  • Looks like precious but it’s not.

  • Mostly in reference to smol children when they are smart - so next time you’re with your friends’ kids or nieces and nephews, refer to them as precocious. It’ll make their parents happy

• Bellicose

  • Aggressive and warlike though I kind of use it for someone that’s loud — but don’t do that because that’s not the right definition I just learned as I googled the word

• Ardent

  • Passionate or enthusiastic

  • Most commonly used as an “ardent supporter”

  • Things I’m an ardent supporter of : NYTimes Games

• Bedlam

  • Craziness or chaos

  • The etymology is that Bedlam was a mental hospital in the UK which is where this word originated from

trash girl (me) takes picture of cute Keith Haring inspired trash truck with fetid smells

• Fetid

  • Smelly - like really, really smelly - I think maybe smelling like something or someone is dying

  • One encounters many fetid smells walking around NYC in the summer

• Boondoggle

  • Something that’s done for show but it’s a farce, waste of time, etc.

  • This is a very fun word to say so find ways to incorporate it into your life - even if you’re not using it properly - I’m imagining someone that’s kind of a con man - and u wag your finger at them and call them a boondoggle

• Chicanery

  • Tricking people for financial or political gain - bribing, corruption, you know.. the things currently plaguing our government

  • This is another word that is fun to say - maybe next time you’re talking about politics bring this into it

one of the nicest places for a respite i’ve ever been

• Respite

  • A little break or rest

  • I like to reward myself with a nice respite when I’ve done anything that’s remotely challenging

And a deep closing quote to close us out“the limits of my language are the limits of my world” - Ludwig Wittgenstein

Okay, we’re done here. Bye.