Evocative

I like the word evocative. I'm not sure why it rolls off the tongue with such sweet pleasure. By those who don't know what it means, it has a brush with danger, something close to erotic, and maybe that is why it is such a fun word to say. Some will give me a strange look if I drop that word in conversation, and to be honest, I am not sure that some people have a clue as to what I'm saying. They smile and nod and I think that I have lost them along the way somehow.

I'm not going to say that I know a lot of words, because I don't. Yes, I someday hope to own my very own copy of the Oxford Writers Dictionary/Thesaurus, and increase my vocabulary substantially. For now, I am content to look up words that I come across and don't know. I love to see where they come from, and how they have evolved over time.

During college, I took several linguistics classes that delved into many facets of the English language. 7:30 am in the Taggart Student Center for anyone wondering. It was hard to stay awake and listen to the little professor (for some reason I can see him in my mind, but can't think of his name to save my life) drone on and on about parsing and VOS, SOV, frontal/labial stops. Something must have sunk in because I remember loving the content of the class, not so much the teacher.

There are days I think that I must be a linguistic genius. Today the question was posed by someone in my office, "Is 'hyphenate' a word?" Let me just say, I work in higher education!! Don't you think that at some point someone would have learned that hyphenate is a word and used frequently? Of course, this comes from the individual that asked if states were just miniature countries and if California had its own money system. I suppose I shouldn't be so hard on her. She doesn't read much. She thinks it is a waste of time.

So back to my word 'evocative'. I like to say it. I enjoy how it feels in my mouth when I do. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll have a new word that is fun to say and drop it in conversation with some unsuspecting individual!