Re-reading The Scarlet Letter

So I'm currently re-reading The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I'm pretty sure every kid in America had to read this classic at some point during his or her pre-college education, and for good reason. Hawthorne is definitely a genius with words. Even his Introductory chapter, "The Custom House," has some brilliant moments in it. However, reading it again as an adult, without being forced to by a public education syllabus, allows me to be a bit more rationally critical. And I just have to ask: Does anyone else think he kind of blathers on a little too much? I mean, some of these chapters are rather repetitive. I know writers were more verbose at that time, but still. I think this novel could actually be quite a bit shorter. But maybe that's just me.

Word of the Day: imago

Today's Dictionary.com word of the day:

imago \ih-MAH-goh\, noun:

1. An idealized concept of a loved one, formed in childhood and retained unaltered in adult life.
2. Entomology. An adult insect.

Example: "She pictured him retaining, year after year, her imago in his heart, as strongly as his was impressed upon her own at that moment."
-- Ellen Wallace, King's Cope: a novel

I don't know why, but I just really liked this word today. I guess it just has such a romantic quality.

Word of the Day: orthoepy

Dictionary.com's word of the day:

orthoepy \awr-THOH-uh-pee\, noun:

1. The study of correct pronunciation.
2. The study of the relationship between the pronunciation of words and their orthography.

Adopt a Word!

So I just came across the most amazing campaign on the Obsolete blog: Save the Words. It's a campaign from Oxford Dictionaries to save words that are no longer commonly used from being deleted from the English language. You can choose a word to adopt from their long list of words or have them pick one out for you. The goal is to get people to adopt words and use them in life, on the internet, in art, or anywhere else that will get it noticed. You can even buy a t-shirt that has your adopted word written across it!

I just adopted "squiriferous," which means, "having the qualities of a gentleman." Since gentlemanly qualities seem to be on their way to extinction as well, I thought this would be an appropriate word to save!

If you want to save a word, (or twenty!), go to the website, register, and pick a word! By the way, it's totally free. Let me know if you pick one! We can all be adoptive parents together :)

The Apostrophe.

People seem to have the hardest time (inexplicably) understanding how to use the apostrophe. The example I continue to encounter is, "attorney's." This is possessive. However, people continue to write it this way when they intend to make "attorney" plural. Why anyone who has had an American elementary school education, public or private, should still believe that an apostrophe is always needed to make a word plural is quite beyond my understanding.

In case you are one of the perpetrators of this sad misuse of punctuation, here is a wikiHow.com article to enlighten you on the use of the apostrophe: How to Use Apostrophes.

My Recommended Reads

I recently read a novel, (which I will not name here), that had, at some point, been on the New York Times Best Sellers list. I had decently high expectations since this is a pretty big feat for any writer. Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed. Though the concept of the story was very nice, (though not entirely original in my view), the writing was terrible. It attempted to be too many things and evoke too many differing reactions. So, in an effort to help those of you who read to experience writing that is art, rather than just a good story, here are a few books I recommend that fulfill both requirements. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

• Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
• Eureka Street: A Novel of Ireland Like No Other, by Robert McLiam Wilson
• Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier
• The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton

(These are the ones I can think of right now. I'll post more as I think of them.)

Word of the Day: Impedimenta

Dictionary.com's word of the day:

impedimenta
Baggage or other things that retard one's progress.

I really enjoy this word. I think it's because it sounds like a spell from Harry Potter.... :P