"Gentle words bring life and health; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4
Words that we don’t use on a daily basis... but we probably should:
Hijinks: noun; boisterous fun. Just looking at this word makes me happy and I feel the need for some Scooby-Doo level mischief.
Mischief: noun; playful misbehaving or troublemaking; especially in children… Essential for childhood. It even sounds like something from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys?
Folderol: noun; trivial or nonsensical fuss. I mean, com'on. Could there be a cooler definition for a word?!? No. I think not…
Fastidious: adjective; very attentive to and concerned about detail. I feel I must read this word and its definition in a hoity-toity British accent. Not only does it sound fastidious, it even looks fastidious, old crumpet.
Kerfuffle: noun; a commotion or fuss, especially caused by conflicting views. Kerfuffle sounds like it fell down the stairs and made its own kerfuffle. AND It's almost an onomatopoeia. (Hey, that’s one, too!)
Onomatopoeia: noun; formation of a word from the sound associated with what is named. Think: comic book violence. Pow! Pop! Bang! Zoom! Clang!
Tomfoolery: noun; foolish or silly behavior. Who is this Tom fellow anyway, and why is he always such a fool?
Cattywampus: adjective; askew, awry, off-centered, kitty-cornered. Well, we can’t all be perfect.
Kitty-corner: adverb; diagonally opposite someone or something. (Also see catty-corner, cat-a-corner, kiddie-corner and several others, depending on your geographical location. Who knew?)
Lollygag: verb; spend time aimlessly; idle. Maybe it’s too soon to talk about idle time and lollygagging, but you’ve got to admit, it is a pretty cool word.
Tiddle: noun; a tiny amount or part of something (not to be confused with “tittle”, which is, believe it or not, the dot on the top of the letter i. Oh, my gosh, words, right? They are so incredible!)
Discombobulate: verb, to confuse someone. I feel discombobulated on a daily basis, why not use this amazing verb on a daily basis, too?
Hubbub: noun; a chaotic din caused by a crowd of people. Who wouldn’t love saying “What’s all the hubbub, bub?” on a semi-regular basis? That, my friends, is fun.
Din: noun; loud unpleasant, prolonged noise. Just a cool word. Three letter words are inherently cool, but a three letter word with such a huge intention. Super-cool.
Gobsmacked: adjective; utterly astonished. Makes me think of Willy Wonka’s Everlasting Gobstoppers, or how a turkey says “Gobble” or the young adult novel by Daniel M. Pinkwater Yobgorble: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario.
Cockamamie: adjective; ridiculous, implausible. The word cockamamie, in and of itself is cockamamie.
Shenanigan: noun; secret or dishonest activity. Now, I trust that there won’t be any cockamamie shenanigans going on around here anytime soon. Am I right?
And one last one. Just for fun… And for the lovers out there...
Osculate: verb; kiss. Mmmm… can’t you just imagine snuggling up to your sweetie and telling them how much you want to osculate with them tonight. Com’on, Baby, pucker-up.
Okay, so now that you have added all these amazing words to your vocabulary (or have been reminded of the amazingness of these already familiar words), go out and use them! Use them with kindness! Use them with love! Use them to tell your people how much you care about them and how much they mean to you. Use your words for good. Use your words for peace and goodwill... But whatever you do, please, use your words.
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