dictionary

A Word…

An image for week 7 of the travel through the tumbleweed series on 10000hoursleft.wordpress.com, featuring a post titled 'a word...' using writing 101 creative writing prompt with the word 'never' in a letter format

Here we are at week 7! It is getting harder for me to pick the posts to take us to the end of the 10 week travel series. I might have to do some creative accounting.

This post was fun to write and fun to re-read after all this time. It was based on a WP Writing 101 prompt, referencing the first word that grabbed my attention on page 29 of the nearest book, and featuring the word in a letter, tying in neatly with last week’s letter themed travel through the tumbleweed. What was the word? I could never spoil a surprise like that!

Click on the image to travel through the tumbleweed! Mind the gap, and heed the warning in the letter!

If you want to read other posts in the series, you can find them under menu item ‘travel through the tumbleweed.’

A Word…

speech-bubbles

During the annual review of the Clear English Dictionary, each word had a chance to state their concerns, or bring to light any new usages of their name, to be taken into account for the next edition. One word put up a passionate case for its removal from the dictionary altogether. In a slightly long-winded manner (but how else to name drop as many other words?), this is what the adverb said:

Fellow words, I am tired of my name being bandied about by all manner of people, without concern for the consequences. I have been letting my feelings be known by issuing personalised, handwritten letters to those offending me, however, that is starting to wear thin, particularly as I can categorise offenders in one (or more) of 5 categories. Bear with me, fellow words. The class of people using, and then often misusing my name, simply by the virtue of not following through on what I mean and all I stand for are:

  1. Short Sighted: those who are yet to act on something, and believe a time won’t come when they will, one day, partake in said act
  2. Hind-Sighted: Those who used to do something which then brought them displeasure, resulting in cessation of the behaviour, with at times an almost religious zeal that they will not behave in such a way at any point in the future
  3. Blinded: Those with dreams but a lack of commitment and absence of fear to allow themselves to achieve the dream. This category of offenders I almost have a soft spot for. They are usually blocked creative types and cannot imagine how their dreams could materialise. This category of offensive use of my name often results in a self-fulfilling prophecy- neurolingustic programming anyone?
  4. Blurry Visioned: Those who really confuse matters and indulge in the use of my name in a series of double negatives
  5. Tunnel Visioned: Category 2 people who feel the right to issue warnings to others about the kind of behaviour they should avoid, thus creating more people in Category 1 until of course those same people someday become Category 2 and the cycle continues…

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