General Discussion

Being a word freak is unusual, apparently. I suppose that's why I became a writer as a profession. I fell in love with words when I was about five years old, my mother told me. I would giggle when I learned a new word, and was reading on my own at age 5. That fascination never ended for me. I tend to forget that most people don't have such an interest.

My wife asks for help with word puzzles some times. She does those, and is also a writer. One morning, when I was reading the newspaper, she asked me, while doing a puzzle in the same paper, "What's a 9-letter word for a flightless bird." I didn't even look up. I just said "Cassowary" She just stared at me. "How did you know that?"

I explained that I had seen that word in a book about unusual animals at the age of about 10. I told her that there are only a few flightless bids on the planet and that's the only one with nine letters in its name. Her jaw dropped, but that's just how I am. Absolutely bonkers nuts about words. Has that been useful? Yes, but I have to keep remembering that most people don't know some of the words I know, and that I shouldn't use them.