Crystal Clear Proofing: Wednesday's Word

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Wednesday's Word

Wednesday's Word will be a weekly feature wherein I'll introduce a not-very-common and/or not-frequently used word.

We've all been reading and at one point or another come across a word and wondered, "what the heck does that mean?" I actually keep a notepad and pen handy while reading to jot down these words to look up at a later time.

I decided to post only one word per week. This will enable you to remember it and its meaning. Think of it during the day, try using it in a conversation. It's a great way to grow your vocabulary, and maybe next time you're reading, you just might come across one of the words I've featured, and won't have to look it up!

Today, to kick of Wednesday's Word, I'm beginning with: LOGOLEPSY.

Logolepsy is a noun, and its description is, "an obsession with words."

Good word to begin this feature with, don't you think? Now go out there and have some fun with this word! Let people know you have logolepsy! That should propagate some rather interesting conversations!

Whether you suffer from or endure this ailment, be sure to check in every Wednesday for a new word!

Note: The source for many of the words I'll be featuring can be found at Luciferous Logolepsy. They are so obscure, I was actually unable to find some of them at a couple of common online dictionary references, such as The Free Dictionary.com.

8 comments:

Marvelous MarvOctober 7, 2009 at 9:20:00 AM CDT
When I first read it, before reading the meaning, I put "logos" (word) and "lepsi" (thought of epilepsy) together and figured it meant having some kind of epileptic fit with words - lol - not far off, it seems.

I do the same thing, when reading - if a word I come across hits me that I've never come across it or know what it means, I HAVE to either look it up right then or write it down to look up later. I also jot down really cool phrases and one-liners that authors come up with. Not to plagiarize, but to get the drift and inspiration for nifty phrases of my own.

The Old Silly
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UnknownOctober 7, 2009 at 9:45:00 AM CDT
Marvin: I do the same thing with the nifty phrases and such! And I just HAVE to look up words. I guess we're both logolepsians --? (Wonder if that's right??) LOL!!
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Elspeth FutcherOctober 7, 2009 at 11:08:00 AM CDT
Thanks for the word and the definition. I admit my first thought as to its meaning was very close to Marv's; although I went in the direction of someone mixing up words in a logo. I love new words; this one will get some use!

Elspeth
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UnknownOctober 7, 2009 at 12:19:00 PM CDT
Elspeth: Isn't it fun? I LOVE words! I'm glad there's others like yourself out there that feel the same way! I was hoping there would be, because I am having a blast going finding obscure words and learning what they mean!
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L. Diane WolfeOctober 7, 2009 at 12:47:00 PM CDT
Oh, I gotta quiz my husband and see if he knows that one! He's always spouting off words that I've never before heard.
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UnknownOctober 7, 2009 at 1:05:00 PM CDT
Diane: Oh you simply MUST let me know if he's ever even heard of this one! My bet is that he hasn't!
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Creative ChroniclerOctober 8, 2009 at 8:05:00 AM CDT
Great word to start out with! Thanks for the Luciferous Logolepsy link. I'm going to go check it out. It sounds like a devilishly fun site.
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UnknownOctober 11, 2009 at 6:02:00 AM CDT
It IS an awesome site! Loving words like I do, it's like a treasure chest just full of them!
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Reader Comments

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Crystal Clear Proofing posts the greatest writing/editing tutorials. As an editor myself, I go there often to learn subtle nuances in the craft of good writing, as she has this marvelous ability to make those fuzzy, sometimes hard to determine, gray areas of correct writing, well…Crystal Clear!

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I.E AND E.G.
Thank you! I've never know what those meant or how to properly use them!

JOINT AND SEPARATE POSSESSION
Thank you so much! I had a hard time finding what joint and seperate possession means! Once again, thank you!

WAIT AND AWAIT
Oh, I love this site! Do you have a past post about lay, lie and all that good stuff?

This is a very clear and succinct explanation of the distinction between the two words."

LAY AND LIE
OMG! This is GREAT!!! I might actually understand it now! Thanks so much, Crystal. This is an awesome site!

You have a great way of explaining words. Your blog is a wonderful source for writers. I'll have to search your post to see if you have "affect" "effect", I know I use those improperly often.

AFFECT AND EFFECT
Thank you for this great post! I have printed it to keep it handy. Hopefully, it will positively affect my future writing.

Thanks for this post Crystal. I was going to actually email you and request that you explain the difference between these two, because these are usually a problem for me. Thanks again!

Another classic, Crystal Clear explanation...this tutorial contains some subtle nuances well worth being reminded of. Thanks!

THAT AND WHICH
Another excellent grammar lesson!

You are really rockin' this grammar instruction! I am currently working on a short story for class, which must be submitted this week, and this was very helpful. Did I get it right? (Note from CCP: she did get it right!)

WHO AND WHOM
Perfect! Got it...I keep all these tutorials in a bookmarked file now.

Great tutorial!! I'm saving this one.

Another great tutorial.

QUOTATION MARKS
Great post. Good tips about punctuation.

AWHILE AND A WHILE
Another fine tutorial. Got it added to my Clear as a Crystal file.

What a wonderful tip!

Oh!!! Those examples are perfect and it really makes sense now. Thanks!

APOSTROPHE USE WITH POSSESSIVE NOUNS
Excellent and very thorough. Got this one copied and stored along with ALL your tutorials in my Crystal Clear Writing folder. :)

Another excellent post. I always have trouble with these.

Now that my eyes have re-focused after glazing over, I can say that this is why writers need to hire editors--So they don't have to think too much about grammar. I can't keep all the darn rules straight in my head. Thanks for doing what you do. I am cutting and pasting this into a new word file for grammar tips.

Good one! I'm tweeting this.

Clear and concise. Thanks.

That possessive S has at some points been the bane of my existence...so thanks for this.

Great article! Thanks for the examples too.

Confusing topic, excellent post. Many people really do not know at all how to handle these pesky little things, so thanks for 'splaining it so nicely.

Excellent post! I enjoyed this a lot...Great blog. :)

LEVELS OF EDITING
Crystal, great explanation and post today - I copied it as a word doc and stored it in my "Crystal Clear" file.

You've written a wonderful post that throws light on a rather mysterious (to me) subject.

ONE WORD VS. TWO WORDS
Another great post.

Thanks for sharing this list and clarifying these points.

WRITING DATES AND TIMES
Writing dates and times is always confusing for me, so I really appreciate this, Crystal! Thanks.

Great tips. This is very helpful. Thanks.

Awesome tips. I make some of those mistakes.

I will copy and paste into a writing tips folder I've started to gather all these handy dandy things in one place. Thank you.

Great post!

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You have some good reference article(s) here, Crystal. :-)

PREPOSITIONS
Excellent tutorial, got it saved as usual.

Thanks for this! Bookmarking it for easy reference.

SEMICOLONS
Another great and much needed post for people like me. This is why you are the Grammar Goddess!

Oh I agree. You are the Grammar Goddess. I have the worst time with commas and semicolons. Thanks for the helpful post. I'll have to print this out and keep it close.

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You make it look so easy!

Good one!

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COLONS
As always, awesome advice and clarification.

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Great advice, Crystal! I'm tweeting.

Helpful as always. Thanks.

DASHES
You should really turn your blog into a book. Now THAT is a grammar book I would buy!

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I like your distinction between the use of dash and colon. It makes sense to me.

Most helpful. I just had to change a host of en dashes to em dashes in my ms.

HYPHENS
Thank you very much for this post!

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Great post. Thanks.

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These are wonderful guidelines, Crystal, thank you!

Another fine tutorial.

I'm pretty sure I don't use hyphens correctly. It was good to read through this advice and think about how I do use them. Thanks.

Good post, great blog!

OVER THE TOP AWARD
Congratulations, you and your blog are "Over the Top."

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FIFTEEN PUNCTUATION FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Great summary.

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Great tips! I'm tweeting.

Crystal this is excellent. I've got it stored in my Crystal Clear file folder.

Yeah, I've created a Crystal folder as well and cut and paste all your gems.

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Great tips as always :)

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EFFECTIVE WRITING
I think this is one of my favorite rules post yet. So helpful!! May have to post this one on my desk too, I know I'll get one of those flip book easels so I can have all your post handy and in my face to remind me. I need that, you are an editor extraodinaire!!!

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CLAUSES
Thanks! I love these tutorials.

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CHALLENGES
Great idea for a proofreader post!

Your posts are fun, creative, and challenge our brains.

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Yippee for me. Got them this time. So fun, Crystal. Thanks.

As always, you're the Grammar Goddess. Thanks for keeping us on our toes.

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I just love your challenges - they make me realize how much I still have to learn!

Great test! Thanks, I love your posts!

***************************************************************************************** "Editors and proof readers are the unrecognized support structure of books. Without them, books would take authors twice as long to complete." Comment left by Leigh Russell (CRIME FICTION)