Remembering the Simple Words

Recently a friend of mine wrote about how authors spent their first royalty checks. How Are You Going to Spend It?
It wasn’t my first royalties, but I had a check show up this weekend that I decided to spend part of on a whim. I bought a much begged for puppy for my children. Yes, I know I’m a push-over.
Since the little fur ball’s arrival Saturday I’ve not touched my WIP, nor have I had a fairly intelligent conversation. It seems that most of my speech has been converted down to its simplest forms.
The most frequent phrases:
“Go potty, Penny.”
“No, Penny.” and
“Good girl.”
I did manage to squeeze in one “Stop antagonizing the dog!” but that’s been it.
Now, as mentioned before, I love to spin a few good words around until they form something magical. There is nothing magical about talking to a new puppy. Or is there?
Sometimes I think we’re prone to use far too many words to explain the simplest things. Sometimes the little words can carry the greatest weight.

I’m sorry.
Thank you.
I love you.
Be nice.
Can I help?
Good girl.

What would our world be like if we focused more on these simple messages and left some of the others alone?
I think in my busy world I’ve forgotten how to use some of these precious phrases.
I think I need to remember their power more often.
I think I’ll go practice on that darn puppy some more.
Good girl.

These are a Few of My Favorite Words

I’ve been doing some editing to my WIP. I actually went into it looking for stray “be”, “this” and “that” words that can clutter up the written word. In the process of trying to catch the little buggers, I discovered I have a favorite word. “Yet”. It just keeps popping up in my story. I seem to be very fond of it. Now, as a writer, I’m bound to have a few favorite words, but if I had to consider what they might be “yet” would not be on the list.
I decided that since some of the very best words in the English language aren’t likely to show up in my WIP at all, I’d make a list of them here.

Ambiguous- Open to interpretation.
Borborygmus- Stomach noises. Doesn’t the name just suit it?
Pathological- Behavior that is habitual, maladaptive, and compulsive.
Ebullient- Zestfully enthusiastic.
Lexicon- A dictionary.
Prolific- The dream of every writer: to be able to get all those marvelous ideas out onto paper and be remembered as great and prolific.
Sphygmomanometer- Ah the blood pressure cuff. It took me a week to get the word to spit out of my mouth like I knew what I was talking about. Now I say it just for fun. I love the way it sounds.
Squelch- To produce a splashing, squishing, or sucking sound, as when walking through ooze.
Triskaidekaphobia- The fear of the number 13.
Ubiquitous- Omnipresent. (Ah, another excellent word!)

Now back to my regularly scheduled editing. Feel free to share a few of your favorite words!