So I’m skimming through the latest issue of Romantic Times magazine and I see a little section highlighting SaveTheWords.org, an association whose purpose is saving words from eternal obscurity. Evidently only 90% of written English communication is comprised of the most common 7000 words–not the least of which describe things of a cacatory nature…shit, poo, a dump, etc. [There are so many euphemisms for excrement I could go on and on, but I will persevere to stay on point...]
I did a bit of searching (I’m a bit of a word geek. “No! You, Larissa? A geek?” I can hear you exclaim in surprise.) and it appears there’s approximately 500,000 (plus or minus 100,000) solid words in the English language. If you add in technical and medical jargon, one source says that could double! If we base things on the 7000 and 500,000 numbers, that means we routinely use a measly 1.4% of the words available to us. Gasp!
In order to do my part to save worthy words from cacatory-like extinction, I will on occasion adopt words and attempt to educate and entertain. To that end, let’s begin today’s lesson…
I took this screen capture from the Save the Words site after deciding it would be the first one I adopt. I’ve now pledged to use it as frequently as possible, hehehe. First off, let’s face it…those of us with very…um, elevated?…senses of humor still find enjoyment in simply saying the word shit. (Ever since Tootsie’s “Macho shithead” line, I’ve been a fan.) But now, we have a fancy word to say it with. And we’re no longer talking about plain simple poop, of course not. We’re talking about the smelly, gassy, runny cacatory type of doo doo.
I looked this word up in several different dictionaries and had a difficult time finding it anywhere. One of the reasons I did so is that it’s described as an adjective, but about the only other place I found it shown online, this fellow had used it as a noun. Oh horrors! Good thing I’m not a grammar teacher.
Now how in the world did I choose this word, you might be wondering. I typed “cat” in the find field and this was the first one on the list. Quite appropriate, as Big Buddy Fluff, a.k.a. Klingon, has been having several cacatory bathroom experiences of late & now has an appointment with Mr. Friendly Vet. He better be friendly, because Klingon’s regular doc is out of town. And his mommy — that’s me — is very tired of cleaning up cacatory messes throughout my home.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT – Either use cacatory in a conversation and educate as necessary OR pop over to SaveTheWords.org and pick out a word you want me to adopt next and leave it in comments. But make it a good one!
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