Let’s face it, without words where would we be? Gratefully, they do exist, and from time to time, a word or group of words becomes newsworthy.
Here’s the latest “what’s what” about words.
Two years ago, a word game that Josh Wardle developed for his girlfriend became an overnight success. Six months later, The New York Times acquired it for a seven-figure sum and Wordle took off like gangbusters.
Tens of millions play the game of guessing a five-letter word in six attempts. CNN reported that 9 a.m. is the most active time for Wordle players, and three cities with the most solves in two guesses are Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, and New York. Melbourne holds the longest winning streak record of 961 days.
What words have been the most challenging for players? They’re parer, atone, coyly, joker, jazzy, catch, kazoo, nanny, mummy and judge. If you really get hooked on this word game, you can also play Dordle, Quordle or Octordle and solve two, four or eight words in one puzzle.
OK, moving right along, this next word can be said with a check mark or a thumbs up. It can be written with two letters or four.
According to the Smithsonian Magazine, what began nearly 200 years ago as “an editorial joke using an abbreviation for the term “oll correct,” OK has become one of the most recognized words in the world.
As if it isn’t short enough, younger generations have condensed OK to a single “k” when texting.
If you’re interested in expanding your vocabulary, take a look at Wayne State University’s 2024 Word Warriors List. This annual compilation consists of words that are making a comeback after being omitted from dictionaries for as long as three or four centuries.
One of my favorites is thunderplump, which conjures up something visually more exciting than referring to heavy rain as a downpour.
Pawky, meaning cynical, has resurfaced along with blatherskite, also known as blabber.
The Word Warrior List is carefully chosen from recommendations submitted throughout the year on Facebook or the program’s website at wordwarriors.wayne.edu.
Each week, a word is announced and monitored. At the end of 52 weeks, the 10 most used words are chosen for inclusion in the next Word Warrior List.
Wrapping up this word-related commentary, I’ll mention Microsoft’s default font change for its Word documents. Calibri has been replaced with Aptos. In the scheme of things, it’s not earth shattering, but according to Microsoft, it was a big jolt for some users.
Now it looks like I’ve reached my 427 words for this month.
Writer, editor and speaker Cheryl Russell is a Laguna Woods Village resident. Contact here at cheryl@starheart.com.
