Word

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«


There it was, word for word,
The poem that took the place of a mountain.


»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«


 – Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)
 – The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain [1952], st. I

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«

We shall never understand one another until we reduce the language to seven words.

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«


 – Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
 – Sand and Foam [1926]

We had words. Each and every evening.

Sometimes, when he stopped for beer after work, we had dishes and pots and food, too.

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«

Words like winter snowflakes.

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«


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

Which is more useful to you: a dictionary that tells you how to use a word or a dictionary that tells you how a word is used?

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«

Once a word has been allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled.

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«


 – Horace (65-8 B.C.)
 – Epistles, bk. I, epistle xviii, l. 71

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

What I feel for you,
I can't put in words,
language won't hold
my desire.

I bought one of those Word-A-Day calendars to improve my vocabulary for college.

reify – to regard or treat (an abstraction) as if it had concrete or material existence.

'Right again, quite right,' said Mr Swiveller, 'caution is the word, and caution is the act.'

Spaces define which letters to together to make up a word.

Spaces define which letters go together to make up a word.

»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«

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

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

(Andre Gide)