24 Comments

Understanding that reading can be challenging for you makes me even more grateful that you choose to read Pen2Profit. I will make sure I don't waste your reading time. My husband has a similar issue--and like you, he keeps going. Thanks for your scomment!

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Excellent! I think that means we writers are ahead of the curve...

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I’m feeling chuffed. I already knew six of these. I hope they haven’t all fallen by the wayside.

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I even enjoy words I cannot pronounce. I learned I couldn't read like others in my third-grade class when my teacher set this "reading machine" on my desk and plugged it in. Then she said, "read this short story and then answer the question that came up after it." When she came back, she found out I couldn't guess the answers well either. I still can't read quickly, and that is my reason for not reading "books." I did make it through high school and college, but I did a lot of reading and studying late into the night.

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Cool! Thanks for the backstory!

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Hope your coming year is awesome.

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Right? What a lovely thing for a winter day. Thanks for being here.

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Apricate is my new favourite verb.

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Some interesting words Pam but some common words too at least to me. Take care and have a wonderful New Year. Randy.

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Apricate is new to me!

Originally a dongle was the authentication device that software companies once liked to make you use (as an anti-copying measure). It dangled pointlessly off your computer without actually doing anything, occupying a port that could have been put to better use. Then when those fell out of fashion it shifted to meaning the small but at least useful devices it does now.

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I hear you! From time to time, I will drop an obscure word into a piece where the tone of the piece makes it feel natural. I would never pepper weird words into a serious piece or sprinkle them generously in any one story--but as one subscriber pointed out, it can be fun to find a word here or there you need to look up. A while back, you called me out on my use of "squicky" (a favorite of mine) because it caught your interest and attention. I met my goal! [ASIDE: BTW, subscribers, if anyone loves good writing, look up James Bellerjeau on Substack or Medium].

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I'm thinking not many people over, say, 50 (?) have "behoove" in their vocabulary--but I've been wrong before. I expect to see your new favorite word in your writings moving forward.

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I think you may have that backwards - I am over 50 and do have "behoove" in my vocabulary (from a lot of older stuff I read as a kid, I suspect - that or maybe it was common in some older TV shows).

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Yes, you're right--I meant under 50, of course. But that's because my brain is over 50 and needs a lot of time to warm up in the morning!!!

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I'll keep trying--maybe I'll stump you sometime. But aren't there only 2 Ls in "codswallop?"

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You are correct - I typed the reply out on my phone and it looked like I only had two there... Oops.

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Happens to me all the time--damn phone screens!

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That a d a tendency (at least on my part) to hit "post" and THEN remember there is no Edit feature here...

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Perfect thinking there, Sarah. I love words. I also love when I'm reading and I have to look something up--I know a lot of words. Great respect for a writer who can gracefully cause me to learn a new one. Thanks for reading!

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Piffle (nonsense).

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Cool words. I enjoy it when a word sends me to the dictionary. If a reader doesn't know the word, nothing's stopping them from looking it up. How would we learn otherwise? I understand learning a new word might interrupt the flow of reading for a minute but that wouldn't stop me or anyone else from completing the piece - and we've learned something new!

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