Thursday, December 9, 2010

The sesquicentennial and more.....

A treat always waiting in my morning inbox is A.Word.A.Day by Anu Garg, courtesy of Wordsmith.org.

I see words I know and words that I do not know. I learn something most every day. Yesterday's word caught my eye as we are busy putting the finishing touches on a book that celebrates the upcoming Kansas Sesquicentennial (150th birthday) by Linda Frost, a fellow Lawrencian and quilt guild member.

The word is sesquipedality. Anu explains: "Literally speaking, sesquipedality is using words that are one and a half feet long. A related word is sesquicentennial (150th anniversary). Nothing wrong with using a sesquipedalian word once in a while, if it fits, but it's best to avoid too many long, polysyllabic words. This dictum doesn't apply to German speakers though, as Mark Twain once observed, "Some German words are so long that they have a perspective." "

I'll show you Linda's book cover soon. You'll note we steered clear of the LONG S word.....we are lobbying to have the felt sunflower included. Maggie Bonanomi acquired it when she was a Kansan. Now that she is a Missouri resident, she passed it on to me........

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