Tine - A slender pointed projecting part; prong, the prongs on a fork.
Our kitchen table was always a place of discussion and words; and my father was a master of the language who delighted in nuance and meaning and choosing the right phrase to accomplish the right purpose. Language was at once science and art. As such many was the mealtime when the lexicon du jour escaped my understanding; therefore in close proximity to the kitchen table, resided the oxford dictionary in its entire splendor. For if a word meaning was beyond me perish the thought that it would be explained or contextualized, it would be accurately defined by searching its definition and etymology right then and there, that is why dictionaries exist. So this particular morning found me cooking an omelet and being instructed to keep my tines parallel to the surface of the pan. Me, oblivious and unthinkingly asked what that meant and was sent to the Oxford for clarification. It was there. Scroll forward several hours that same Saturday and as I turn the page to the beginning of the vocabulary section of the ACT exam and what pray tell was the first question: tine. I owned that test, I knew it was mine. Thanks to a father who loves words.
And so from that day forward, with recognition that my father clearly had something going for him I have pursued words. In college a group of friends and I played a version of the ‘stump the star’ by studying the dictionary and coming to the library testing each others word knowledge by seeing who could bring forth in conversation obscure words that the others in the group could not recognize or define. This was followed by late night scrabble games with my mother at the kitchen table, over a bowl of cereal, after a day at law school and studying. Scrabble was followed by Boggle when it joined the gaming world. More current gaming versions still include Scrabble, unfortunately I am on a losing streak with Parker though my words and connections have been splendid. And of course Quiddler, Quiddler the card game, with Scrabble type attributes that is enjoyed with Grand Parents, SJ & Dale, Rindy and me, and the kids.
Gaming has only been a part of the continuation of the love of words. That same large Oxford dictionary now resides next to our kitchen table, a little worse to wear around the binding. But there are also the word regularly appearing articles that are a source of regular pleasure. Of course there is the bathroom distraction of
Word Power from
Readers Digest where you can flip back and forth and verify the accuracy of your definitions. More compelling is
In a Word by Barbara Wallraff in
The Atlantic. I truly enjoy
Word Fugitive as well as the general article the last of which defined the average college graduate being familiar with some 75,000 words.
www.wordcount.org which is an interactive presentation of the 86,800 most frequently used English words. Test yourself one some recent article from the La Times which included:
Quick Vocab Quiz:
Phantasmagoria
Bucolic
Aesthetic
Soupcon
Diminution
Schadenfreude
Contretemps
Vicissitudes
The answers
Phantasmagoria - A fantastic sequence of haphazardly associative imagery, as seen in dreams or fever.
Bucolic - Of or characteristic of the countryside or its people; rustic.
Aesthetic - The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty, as in the fine arts.
Soupcon - A very small amount; a trace:
Diminution - The act or process of diminishing; a lessening or reduction.
Schadenfreude- Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
Contretemps- An unforeseen event that disrupts the normal course of things; an inopportune occurrence.
Vicissitudes- A change or variation
And of course my favorite weekly fix from the
NY Times,
On Language by William Safire; an erudite exposition that normally devolves the etymology of some turn of phrase, for example this week he examines
“let’s do this”. When all is said a done, it is a hearty thank you to my father and mother for introducing me to and welcoming me to the world of words.
Our journey with amphibians has been a long tradition of unknown origin. There is the loving sobriquet of 'Uncle Toad' which somehow worked into Sally's children's vocabulary describing Tim; and the so labeled football jersey which Mackey wears to this day as sleeping attire. Perhaps it was the perpetual nature of frogs in the swimming pool which linked grandma and grandpa to frogs; saving swimming ones and disposing of drowned ones; which in turned led to a collection of frog related paraphernalia. Today a large amphibian demarques parents home by being sentinel in the hallway. The majority of their frogs becoming the Diaspora as they were bequeathed to miscellaneous grandchildren.
and also Evan's companions, Elder Castillo and Elder Thompson both of Florida. What great people, a very tangible confirmation of that as well. The president chose some of his best to serve with Evan for which we are very grateful. 
