By Susan Dromey Heeter,
Joyful Musings
As a lover and teacher of language, vocabulary is a big part of my life. I teach vocabulary, I’m constantly learning new vocabulary, I embrace vocabulary.
Susan Dromey Heeter
And as I muse joyfully on words, I look at how I’d adore some verbiage to stay and some simply to rush to the exit.
There are words I no longer hear much: record player, eight track, fellow, slacks, dungarees.
My mother used to say, “Ice box” and my grandmother referred to her dog as a “pooch.”
The teenagers in my world offer me a myriad of new vocabulary: snap chat, screen shot, triggered, Instagram story. I learn and muse joyfully that my own lexicon expands, words increase and some vocabulary simply resigns, retires, leaves.
I muse joyfully on the possibility that some words will depart sooner rather than later: mass shootings, the word president followed by trump, toenail fungus, misogyny, asylum.
I delight in the possibility that these words may be replaced by such lovely verbiage as recess, take a break, calm, done early, free swim, cure, cancer-free, weekend, sleep late, new baby, impeach.
Words have power and can be used gloriously. I so appreciate articulation and language presented with distinction, grace.
It’s lovely when someone has a stellar vocabulary, delights in verbiage not simply to be loquacious but to speak succinctly, using words simply to create clarity, direction. Abe Lincoln seemed such a soul; Maya Angelou articulated astonishingly beautifully.
So, this week, I’ll embrace powerful and meaningful vocabulary.
Ideally, I’ll learn some new terms and put them into my word bank and muse joyfully as I take them out.
Enjoy dear readers, your own words and heartfelt gratitude for reading mine.
Susan Dromey Heeter, a writer from Dover who recently let her hair go au natural white, writes “Joyful Musings” for InDepthNH.org. Dromey Heeter is a secondary Spanish Teacher at Dover High School and the mother of two teenage daughters. Writing has been her passion since her English majoring days at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Dromey Heeter has lived in The Netherlands, Alaska and currently basks in all things New England, including the frigid winters. An avid swimmer, Dromey Heeter’s great passion is to bring back body surfing as most children have no idea how to ride waves without ridiculous boogie boards. She also writes about thrift shopping and all things frugal in a column called “Budget Vogue” for the New Hampshire Union Leader.