Language Lover's Delight

Few of you know about my attempt to bring the word dungaree back into the American lexicon; I was saddened by my failure because I hate to fail and because my grandmother, Alice Rodriguez, used that word and I thought it was a nice homage to her. I love words and how they are strung together to tell stories, make impressions and create feelings. When I taught high school English many years ago, all of my sophomore students were in awe upon reading the poems of New Jersey poet (go NJ!) William Carlos Williams; his ability to paint a picture in the readers mind with so few words captured the attention and respect of 90 16 year olds -- no easy task.

When in the company of true British people, I feel the same way my students did so many years ago. It's not that these speakers are poets but in some ways they are word artists. For example, only in a British pub on a Tuesday afternoon can you overhear two men drinking pints say, "I recently went to Spain for holiday. I spent a fortnight there in a quaint villa."

A few things go through the average American mind: 1) Holiday? Oh yeah, that means vacation here. 2) Fortnight? Who is this guy Edgar Allan Poe? Okay, fortnight means 14 days... 3) A 14 day vacation! What in the hell?!

The use of language here is amazing and can best be described as chock full of extensive vocabulary, multiple 3 to 4 syllable words, the sprinkling of multiple adjectives (nice is rarely muttered) and grammar that is often impeccable. Yes, I am generalizing but I must say that even the cheekiest of teens has quite a grasp of how to wield the English language, for better or worse.

Below are a few words I get a huge thrill from; they are not necessarily 3 syllables but they make me smile with the joy of loving the English language every time I hear them:

Ta (means Thanks)

Lovely

Bits

Cheers

Brilliant

Chap

Pram

Knackered

Smashing

Loving the Lexicon and Forever Yours,

The Temporary European