Yeasayer – Wordplay Wednesday™ 04/24/2019

The Yeas and Nays of Life

We all know the naysayers … never a good word to say about anything or anyone. As the dictionary says, they … oppose, refuse, or deny, esp. habitually.

Ignore them. Turn instead to those who lift your spirits every time you encounter them …

YEASAYER (yāʹsāʹɘr) n. – a person who has an affirmative or positive attitude toward life.  [WW #213]

That isn’t to say negative, frustrating, or devastating events never happen to them, it’s simply how they deal with the experience. 

Perhaps a short “cursing a blue streak” in the beginning, but then with some thought … and a little invisible effort … the yeasayer looks for a positive outcome in every negative event. Be it in their life or yours.

Every day may not be great, but every smile is.

Word Challenge: YEASAYER. Celebrate those in your life who make every day a life-affirming happening. Are you one of them? Terrific! Never underestimate the power of a smile, as you slip yeasayer into your week of uplifting conversation and writing.

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay Wednesday comments below.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

Cheers to learning a new word on Wordplay Wednesday!

           

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

[LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series about pioneering R&R Radio DJs. The true behind-the-mic tales make GREAT Holiday Gifts available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!]

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz  

Mephitis – Wordplay Wednesday™ 04/17/2019

Well That’s a Pile of Stinky Stuff  

When it comes to words, writers can earn the title of wordsmith with their creative, yet appropriate use of a word’s definition. Give it a shot …

MEPHITIS (mɘ fitʹis) n. – 1) a harmful, bad-smelling vapor from the earth, as the exhalation from decomposing organic matter or poisonous gas from a mine; 2) a bad smell, stench. (adj. mephitic)  [WW #212]

I know mephitis pertains to the earth and a natural emission, or biologic classification applied to living organisms (think skunk), but it also aptly describes my week. Frankly, it stinks.

This post is late due to a frustrating and angering episode with my cute little parked PT Cruiser hit by another vehicle in a freak accident. Ruined my day, likely my week-plus, and totaling the car has been suggested, which of course, means I’ll be short-changed in the whole mephitic deal.

So—I won’t go on and make your week a downer, too; just know that in your writing and conversation, you can pull mephitis out of your vocabulary and use it in terms of the second definition to define body odor, bad day, or other stinky situation!

Word Challenge: MEPHITIS. Hopefully, you will only have reason to apply this word to your writing and not your life, as you fit mephitis into your week of odorous prose.

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay Wednesday comments below.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

Cheers to learning a new word on Wordplay Wednesday!

           

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

[LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series about pioneering R&R Radio DJs. The true behind-the-mic tales make GREAT Holiday Gifts available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!]

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz  

Coriaceous – Wordplay Wednesday™ 04/10/2019

Long on Letters Blessedly Short Definition 

Short on time, I opened the dictionary and asked for a quick and simple word for today’s offering. Voilà!

CORIACEOUS (kōʹrē āʹshɘs) adj. – of or like leather. [WW #211]

Friend Vicki's "Roger the Rubber Plant"

Now, the dictionary definition is rather vague and doesn’t narrow its scope in any way. However, per Wiki,coriaceous is a botanical term applied specifically to plants: “coriaceous – Leathery; stiff and tough, but somewhat flexible.” Of course, the rubber plant comes easily to mind.

The beauty of the English language is that we can take a word like coriaceous out of its original context and send it in a completely different direction with intriguing results. “Weathered and wrinkled, Grandpa Jerry raised a coriaceous hand gently to my cheek.”

Word Challenge: CORIACEOUS. What context, other than plants, can you dream up for this interesting word? Put your muse and imagination to work, as you fit coriaceous into your week of fiction or nonfiction fibrous writing.

Learning knows no prejudices or boundaries, and it isn’t fattening! Expanding your mind is a no-cost, simple joy. Do you feel that way too? What’s your inspiration? Share your creative genius and Wordplay Wednesday comments below.

Write first for yourself … only then can you write for others. (L.Rochelle) 

Cheers to learning a new word on Wordplay Wednesday!

           

@PenchantForPen

@Irishwriter

[LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and an author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series about pioneering R&R Radio DJs. The true behind-the-mic tales make GREAT Holiday Gifts available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!]

E-N-Dzzzzzzzz