JanBeek

Word Origins & Creative Usage

Where do words come from?

When you google that question,
you realize how new the verb, “google” is!

Of course, you know how that word, Google, originated.
It was those 4 or 5 guys in a garage, right?

But what about the word “zany”?
Where did it originate?

Shakespeare!

Shakespeare had an incredible influence on the English language and invented “zany” – as well as hundreds of other words we still use today.

Here are some of the more than 1,700 words first used in Shakespeare’s writing: 

• amazement
• bedroom
• champion
• dawn
• eyeball
• fashionable
• gossip
• moonbeam
• olympian
• puking
• swagger
• unreal
• zany

Wow! Shakespeare!

He was sooooo creative!!
(That’s an understatement)
We’ll never know exactly what Shakespeare looked like,
but many portraits share similar features. This one is a Getty image.

Here’s an image of Zany Me:

How zany can you get?

You have to “SnapChat” it before you get
those ears and eyelashes – and such smooth skin!
Do you know SnapChat?
It’s one of many programs out there that
help us creatively present ourselves.

Internet Writing Programs

Sometimes we present ourselves visually with doctored images (like the one above).

Do we “doctor” our verbal images of ourselves, too? Microsoft Word is one of many programs in this technological world that allows us to spice up what we say and how we say it. I love using their templates. In addition to Microsoft Word and other well-known programs, I recently discovered Google Docs. Do you know about that app?

I have Google Docs on my iPhone.
Do you use that program to
create and edit documents on the go?
You can “get stuff done”
(how’s that for creative word usage?)
with or without an internet connection.

Photo by Hoang Do on Pexels.com

You can write on your own – or invite more people to contibute.
My granddaughter, Faith, used Google Docs to write her
paternal (DeAngeles) Family History.
Her dad is our son, Ty.
Faith sent the Goodle Doc to me to see and edit.
It’s a great program.

Descriptive Words

Particular words jumped out at me as I read Faith’s geneological study that included health histories of her grandparents, parents, siblings, and aunts/uncles:

• heart attack
• valve replacement
• Valley Fever
• arthritis
• cancer
• diabetis
• high cholesterol

These medical issues and troublesome words don’t describe the people, or

• the beauty,
• the personalities,
• the faith,
• stamina,
• and creativity of the family.

Where do we make sure such characteristics make it to the printed page and live on in history?

Signature Vocabulary

As a writer who has created a blog, YOU can be sure the beauty, the uniqueness, and the zaniness of your personality and your loved ones lives on. You can create a legacy for your family; one that tells more than birth, marriage, children, illnesses and death.

What words might people attribute to YOU? Have you a signature vocabulary? What do you want folks to remember about your family?

My Precious Husband

My precious husband, Bob, may not have invented the word, “Foo-Foo,” but his use of it for someone’s name is becoming a signature of his.

“You know, help me out, Foo-Foo was just over there by the Wuch-a-me-call-it. You remember!”

Uh, can you help me out a little more! Who and/or where?

He makes me laugh!!
The older we get, the more “Foo-Foos” there are in our lives!

Yes, words are our trademark. Just as identifiable as our fingerprints.

I don’t think I’ve actually invented any words, though. Have you?

Using Words Creatively

Do you use words in unique ways?
My blogging friend, Dorothy (deyspublishing.wordpress.com),
posted today  about pouting clouds. 

I said they were pouting and spouting.

Giving animate qualities to inanimate objects is a great use of words. I love the way many poets do that. They attribute people qualities and actions to things in nature… animals, clouds, unfriendly chairs.

My iPhone has a dictionary app that allows me to look at synonyms and antonyms as well as definitions. You probably have that app, too. It’s a great tool for finding ways to creatively use words.

Sharing Creative Writing With Others

In addition to sharing my writing on WordPress, I belong to a writers’ group. We meet every 1st & 3rd Friday. Our first 15 minutes is a Free Write on a topic we draw out of a hat.

Draw out of a Hat

I think when next we meet, we should have a list of original Shakespearean words and see if we can select six (or so) of them to weave into a story – with instructions to try and add one more – an “original” – one of our own.

Doesn’t that sound like fun?

Try it! Share your zany new word with me!

Have a whimsical*, zany weekend!

See ya tomorrow

*Whimsical is a Bob Goff “signature word” in my mind. Have you read his book, Love Does? I highly recommend it. Talk about a “wordsmith!”