Words on Wednesday: Little Red Notebook

When I was studying for the GREs, I knew that the vocabulary section was going to slowly and painfully nibble at my soul.  Unfortunately, I didn't account for this when I scheduled the exam and opted to take it less than 24 hours before my Latin final.  Poor planning, I know.  Latin is a very useful language to know (one of my resolutions is to pick it back up this year), but attempting to cram Latin, GRE vocab, and GRE math into my brain during the same time period turned out to be rough.

To help keep my GRE vocabulary separate from the vocabulary of the Ancient Romans, I began writing every word from my study guide into a little red notebook.  I included words that I had no idea what they meant, words I had heard before, but was unsure of the exact definition, and words that I knew, but wanted to solidify in my head.

Terrariums over a month after the replant are going strong!

After I took the GREs, I decided we had gotten too close for me to just dump the LRN.  So, for the last couple of years (I can't put a number on it or I'll cry at how long ago college was), I have continued to write down words I come across that stump or intrigue me.  Hit the jump for this week's WoW!

Words on Wednesday: Noisy birds

And we're back!  This week, I've selected a Word on Wednesday that has been popping around my head for the last few days:

cacophony, noun

        1.harsh or discordant sound: DISSONANCE
        2. harshness in the sound of words or phrases

This week's definition comes from my tenth edition Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

I'm not entirely sure why this word has been in my head lately, but I do have to give it credit for sounding like its meaning.  The hard /k/ sounds that start out this word immediately grind the ears, just like discordant sounds or noises would.  It reminds me a little of a crow - caKAW!  Honestly, who likes crows?

Source: Ebird.org

Continuing on this crow train, it always amazes me how intelligent crows and their cousins, ravens, are.  And then I think they're going to rise up in some crazy Hitchcock-to-real-life bird revolution.  And then I don't go outdoors for a few days.

Check out the differences between crows and ravens at Ebird.org.

Words on Wednesday

I am a huge fan of the English language.  Yes, I am a badge carrying member of the Grammar Police.

But, when I'm not being obnoxious about the little things, I'm soaking up the beauty of words.  I majored in Linguistics in college, which I chose because of this love for language and it wound up only making me love language more.  Let me clear a few things up for you, after the jump: