Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Today


My new word today is “trenchant.” I have seen this word before, but when I am reading I just tend to glean meaning from context and plow ahead without pausing to go to my computer for online enlightenment or my unabridged dictionary for old-timey info.

Yes, I still have one of those heavy dictionaries, and I still use it on occasion. Mostly, though, its spells of loneliness are broken by occasional visits from the older grands, now 10, 8 and 7. They periodically cluster around the old dictionary stand, intent on the color plates of flora, fauna and other things that they evidently find interesting.

Writing is the usual catalyst for my word forays both virtual or out-of-date. I often type a word and wonder once it appears on my screen, “Does this word really work in the context here?”

That question popped into my head as I was entering a comment on a blog this morning. The definition I found for the word in question included “trenchant.” I gleefully expanded my search. “Trenchant,” from Merriam Webster.com:

1: keen, sharp
2: vigorously effective and articulate: also:  caustic

3 a : sharply perceptive : penetrating


Goodness, that search was so satisfying. I do love words. But I am proud to say I managed to squelch the urge to use “trenchant” in the comment I was writing. Yes, I know. I haven’t managed to refrain from posting about my word trip.

Have a great day!

12 comments:

  1. haha! Cute post, Linda. I love words also and frequently google them. The latest word was SABA, a Japanese word for mackerel. Who knew? Lol. BTW, that word appeared in a comment on my blog about fish preparation.

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  2. That's just a delightful entry. Nothing trenchant about it at all.

    Thank you so much for the lovely notes you have been leaving me. I really appreciate them.

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  3. I'm always in awe of your extensive vocabulary! Perhaps I should use my own old, dusty dictionary more...

    Have a great day!

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  4. i do this same thing. i must admit trenchant written on my blog would cause me to go to the online dictionary

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  5. If only all people (bloggers) would make use of dictionaries and encyclopaedias a bit more often. There would be less of that meaningless piffle and more words would be used correctly.

    I like ‘trenchant’, it expresses exactly what it means. (Oops, that makes no sense)

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  6. The sound of the word seems to hint at its meaning. Glad you got to use it. Now it'll stick in my mind too!

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  7. I LOVE learning new words!! I hope I can remember this one. I would love for you to post a new word like this every so often, what a wonderful learning experience it would turn blogs into if others did it just once in awhile. I am also afraid that If I use this word, people will think I have misspelled trenchcoat!

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  8. I love having the dictionary literally at my fingertips on the computer. I also tend to muddle through trying to get meaning from context, but I find that I do that less and less with the computer because it is so easy to look up the meaning for words.

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  9. Hum,interesting word.
    I too tend to search the meaning from context which makes me so happy with Kindle. It has a feature that lets you highlight the obscure word and it gives you the meaning right there. Sometimes, I wasn't even close to the meaning. Thanks to computers and Kindles, my dictionary now days is gathering dust. Kind of sad.

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  10. I love word play, as you have suspected. I have also used words when I did not know their meaning...exactly. Many a foo pah there I fear. Is that trenchent enough?? Dianne

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  11. That is trenchant. I sometimes cannot spell either. Dianne

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