SCRABBLE WORDS OF WISDOM
I am a word person.[1] For years, I resisted getting a smartphone, only buckling because I wanted to be able to play the Scrabble APP. I start every morning accompanying my coffee with the NYT Spelling Bee for my daily self affirmation of "Genius” status. When the world discovered Wordle, I felt seen. I grew up doing crossword puzzles - a nature/nurture inheritance from my mother. As a result I know a whole second language of words that are only useful in crossword puzzles or scrabble games (M calls these my Bulls-t Scrabble words). For example: “etui” which means pin cushion - interestingly spell check doesn't think this is a word because it hasn’t been in use since the 1800s.
A friend recently loaned me “An Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (which I recommend in turn). I have never been one for Encyclopedias. I love learning interesting tidbits of information, but I can’t retain them (and when I do, no-one believes me, see “Ask and You Shall Recieve”). My brain prefers to distill life down, past the paragraph entry, past sentences even, to individual words. I used to have a lot of books. I spent huge amounts of money I didn't have moving them from home to home. The most used, dogeared, cherished was my Crossword/Scrabble Puzzle Dictionary (CSD) - a combo of a dictionary and a thesaurus streamlined for people who cheat at idle pastimes.[2]
Whenever I wrote the girls one of my “Moma Missives” (see: Origin Story), I would accompany it with a Moma Mantra on the chalk board at the back door.[3] The girls are all leaving home this week, and will no longer be passing by the board every day. So, with this post, I send them off with some deep thoughts parenting wisdom. To do this, I will take the approach I generally take: google stuff, steal ideas from the internet and pass it off as my own with a HilarWithUs twist.
CSD Words of Wisdom, from A to Z
A is for “Aa" (def: lava rock) - This is the very first word in the CSD. Another friend once taught us that the trick to Scrabble was all about the 2 letter words. Memorizing all the two letter words, and learning how to use them effectively, meant that noone will play Scrabble with me anymore.[4] Totally fair - scoring 54 points off of “XU” when I don't even know what it means is undeniably obnoxious. (For the record you don't need to know what a word means to use it in Scrabble. Another thing most people find endlessly annoying.) But the end result was that M & I now play in way that prioritizes mutual support and a goal of best combined score. Which is a vastly superior approach. Mantra: "We rise by lifting others.” - Robert Ingersoll
B is for “Be-" words - There are a lot of CSD words where the prefix “be-" is added to turn a noun into a verb (as in “becarpet” (def: to cover with carpet)), or to make a verb more emphatic (ex. “becudgel” (def: to cudgel thoroughly)). What I like about “Be-" words is that it merges “be” (to be/being) with taking action, engaging, doing. Mantra:"The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation.” - Jacob Bronowski
C is for “Co-" words - “Co-“ prefix words are the best. Connect, cooperate, coalesce, coordinate…“Co-“ words encapsulate the idea that we humans are better together. I especially like “Coapt“ (def: to fit together and make fast). Like a puzzle piece. Mantra: "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” - Helen Keller
D is for “Dis” (def: to disrespect). The ‘Dis-‘ prefix comes from Latin, where it has the literal meaning 'apart' and is 'opposite of', 'not', 'remove' and 'reverse’. I think it is fitting that the core Dis word means “to disrespect”, because to me the thing most worthy of disrespect is the negative world view incapsulated by “Dis-" words. Mantra: “Happiness is not by chance, its by choice” - John Rohn
E is for “Embiggen” (def: to enlarge, from The Simpsons). The CSD is always being added to and evolving in response to the organic nature of language and how different generations use it. It is more flexible than an average dictionary…or a grammar correcting Boomer. Mantra: “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” - Gail Sheehy
F is for “Frivoler" (def: one who behaves playfully). The CSD often opts for the more positive of the possible definitions. Standard use turns frivolity into frivolous (def: not having any serious purpose or value). Who wants to live in a word where playfulness has no value?! I say be a “frivoler”. Mantra: "The very essence of playfulness is an openness to anything that may happen, the feeling that whatever happens, it's okay... you're either free to play, or you're not.” - John Cleese
G is for “Gramercy” (def: great thanks, an expression of gratitude from Old French, as in “grand merci). The CSD maintains all these awesome medieval words that we should totally bring back into our daily use. Mantra: “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” - William Arthur Ward
H is for “Hero”/“Heroine”. The CSD only includes one of many possible short definitions for each word. I love that it defines “Heroine" as "a brave woman" and Hero as "a hoagie sandwich”. Mantra: "I think a heroine is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.” - Maya Angelou
I is for “Inswathe" (def. To wrap or enfold). The very first thing we do as parents is learn to wrap our newborns in tight blanket bundles. M took great pride in his "baby burrito” skills. As the girls leave, we send them off “inswathed” in a bubble of care and support - from a distance. Mantra: "When life gets tough, just roll with it... like a burrito.”
J is for “Jollify” (def. Make jolly). Move over Shopify and Spotify and all the start-up-ify companies, CSD has the OG, and BEST, -“ify” word. Mantra: Some people make your laugh a little louder, your smile a little brighter and your life a little better. Try to be one of those people.
K is for “Kind” (def. having a giving nature) / “Kindler” (def. one who kindles) / “Kindling” (def. material that is easily ignited). Sometimes the words that occur back to back in the CSD say a lot. Mantra: “Kindness can transform someone's dark moment with a blaze of light. You'll never know how much your caring matters.”—Amy Leigh Mercree
L is for “Laughsome" (def. “addicted to laughter”). How great is that? Might be my favourite CSD word ever. Mantra: A day without laughter is a day wasted” - Charlie Chaplin
M is for “Mom” (def. mother) / "Momi" (def. fool) / “Momus” (def. carping person). Again, the sequence of words in the CSD often tells its own story. I might be reading into this one. Mantra: “Its like my mom always said. What the f-k is wrong with you?” - Dishtowel quote
N is for “Nabobery" (def. the state of being a nabob, one who becomes prominent and rich). My branding-self loves discovering the origin of the name for Nabob coffee. Curious that Nabob rhymes with snob and nob. Just saying. Mantra: “Respect the Bean” - Nabob Coffee Tag Line
O is for “Opaque” (def. impervious to light) / “Open” (def. affording an unobstructed view). Another interesting CSD side by side. This oxymoronic pairing seems to offer a choice. Guess which one I choose. Mantra: “A mind is like a parachute - it doesnt work if it isn’t open.” - Frank Zappa
P is for “Phiz” (def. face, facial expression, a shortening & alteration from physiognomy) . Po-po-po-po-Poker Phiz. I assumed this was a new word like “rizz” (charisma) but it originates from the 1600s. I am officially coining a new term: "Resting Rizz Phiz”. Mantra: "Your whole life shows in your face. You should be proud of that.” - Lauren Baccall
Q is for “Quirkish" (def. quirky). I love that quirkish is a Q word because the letter Q’s position in the alphabet is the epitome of quirky. Clearly it should be with X,Y & Z. Not with the most popular Wheel of Fortune letters (R,S,T). This placement requires that I sing the alphabet song every time I look up a Q word. To then to add the “ish” - the ultimate disclaimer suffix - is CSD word genius. Mantra: "Things that make you different are what make you beautiful” - Lily Jane Collins
S is for "Sistroid" (def. space between the convex sides of two intersecting circles). I make reference to Venn diagram overlaps more than is likely applicable. I am very excited to know that a) there is a word for the shared space, and b) that this word is related to and comes right after the word “Sister”. Mantra: "As human beings we are all far more alike than we are different. At the end of the day we are all just people.” - Sunitha Vikram
T is for “Trifecta” (def. a variation of the perfecta in which a bettor wins by selecting the first three finishers of a race in the correct order of finish). I love that the “tri” version of this type of betting is actually harder to achieve than a perfecta (predicting the first two places). Better than perfect - but only if you TRY. Mantra: "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." — Thomas Jefferson
U is for “Un-“ verbs. “Un-“ words leave room to correct errors (“undo”), get out of sticky situations (“unstuck", "unstressed”) or change one’s mind. They are the plan B, the back door, the fire escape.
Mantra: “Erasers are made for those who are willing to correct their mistakes. Remember, attitude matters. So does a good eraser.” - Swami Vivekananda
V is for “Very” (def. absolute) / “Verier” / “Veriest” . CSD provides the “er" and "est” extensions as options for all adjectives. The idea of words that mean MORE absolute and MOST absolute seem to speak our age of excess. Mantra: "Everything in excess is opposed to nature.” - Hippocrates
W is for “Watchfire” (def. lighthouse, guard fire). My copy of the CSD was mostly tattered because I used it to come up with brand names, Watchfire is still my favourite. Mantra: Travel Light, Live Light, Spread The Light and Be The Light” - Yogi Bhajan
X is for "Xenial” (def. welcoming to strangers). There is only one short page of X words in the CSD - and most of them are sterile scientific words. But I lean into hospitality, so I like this one. Mantra: There are no strangers in here. Just friends you haven’t met yet.” - Roald Dahl
Y is for “Youse” (def. you (usually more than one person, ex. 'Do youse like to party?'). Youse is pretty awesome all on its own, but it really rocks in phonetic rendering: /yo͞oz/. I see “youse” as being specifically for talking to one’s core friend group. Mantra: "Friends are your chosen family.” - Jess C. Scott
Z is for “Zzz" (def. used to suggest the sound of snoring). I like balance, so ending the CSD with the perfect bookend to “Aa" is a thing of beauty. But I also like how Zzz, and the notion of drifting off to sleep, perfectly brings it to a close. Mantra: "It's not a nap, it's a much-needed life pause.” - Agatha Maclean
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[1] Given the hilarwithus.ca homepage, this might not be a big reveal.
[2] The chaulk board hasn’t been changed for over a year and a half, though to be fair, its a pretty good one: “Life isn’t about waiting out the storm, it's about learning to dance in the rain.”
[3] Not my story to tell: a prof once wrote on a friend’s essay: “Excellent use of the thesaurus” which makes me chuckle every time I look up a synonym - about 100 times while writing this post.
[4] In case you were wondering, and want to play Scrabble with me, the accepted 2 letter scrabble words are: AA, AB, AD, AE, AG, AH, AI, AL, AM, AN, AR, AS, AT, AW, AX, AY,BA, BE, BI, BO, BY, DA, DE, DO, ED, EF, EH, EL, EM, EN, ER, ES, ET, EW, EX, FA, FE, GI, GO, HA, HE, HI, HM, HO, ID, IF, IN, IS, IT, JO, KA, KI, LA, LI, LO, MA, ME, MI, MM, MO, MU, MY, NA, NE, NO, NU, OD, OE, OF, OH, OI, OK, OM, ON, OP, OR, OS, OW, OX, OY, PA, PE, PI, PO, QI, RE, SH, SI, SO, TA, TE, TI, TO, UH, UM, UN, UP, US, UT, WE, WO, XI, XU, YA, YE, YO, ZA.