Word

LI

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.

--The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
(trans. Edward Fitzgerald, 1st ed.)

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«

Words are like leaves; and where they most abound,
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found.

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«


 – Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
 – An Essay on Criticism [1711], pt. II, l. 109

“Be careful what you say—you may have to eat your words.”

I don’t think so much about eating my words as about wearing them. When someone sees me, the words come back to haunt like a miasma around me. No matter how colourful my dress, bad words turn everything grey and muddy brown.

Words beginning with the »sn« sound in English are often unpleasant: snide, snob, snigger, sneer, snicker, snub, snert, snotty, snippy, snit, snarl, snore, sneak, snag. »Snow« is a word over which there is debate and even an annual change of heart. The first snowfall is almost always welcomed. Christmas snow is considered magical. But too much of a good thing for too long and March blizzards push »snow« into line with the rest of the »sn« words.

on Mar 22nd 2001, 02:07:31, Natasha Jordan wrote the following about

word

Think how much acceptance Mary showed when she said:

»Let it be done to me according to thy word.«

================================================

And how much courage.

Words derive their meaning from the surrounding words, just as human beings derive their meaning from interacting with other humans around them.

Have you ever noticed that the only difference between »word« and »weird« are the vowels?

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«

Words like winter snowflakes.

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«


 – Homer (c. 700 B.C.)
 – The Iliad, bk. III, l. 222

There is a purity in words that cannot be sullied by their use.

The best way to discover new words is by reading a book.

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.

(Mark Twain)

Words are like prodigies. They may want to stay inside where it is safe and warm but they'll never live if they never play outside...and find themselves lost in the cold.

»Therefore« is a word the poet must not know.

(Andre Gide)

Words are the best toys you can give your brain.