Words

Words fascinate me.

I love words, finding out where they are from, their origins, roots etc. As I attempt once more to learn my husband's mother-tongue I find myself amid word terminology and classification - adverb, adjective, noun, pronoun, conjunction, tense, verb, singular, plural, male, female etc., etc. - once more. However I don't remember words in that way.

How a word looks and sounds sticks with me more. Sbavare and sgocciolare are my favourite Italian words at present, mainly due to the double consonant beginnings that don't occur in English: I find them quite tricky to pronounce. Whereas in English I enjoy using discombobulate as it is useful to describe the disorder I often find myself in: it rolls off the tongue in an almost onomatopoeic way. 

Below is a poem about a noun I came across while reminiscing about the Isle of Wight. I have a feeling some people could say I have been one at times. Bla, bla, bla.

Blatherskite

I knew a man from Isle of Wight

who often got into a fight. 

His words made little sense

and people took offence.

He was, indeed, a blatherskite*.

 *a person who talks at great lengths without making much sense. 

Copyright © Paul Callus | Year Posted 2016 

What words do you like?