First of all, I’m pretty sure the Eskimo reference is a myth.\u00a0 I think it’s a misunderstanding that Eskimos have fifty words for snow.\u00a0 I read recently that their language uses many different word endings to denote tense, mood, number, possibly even use in a sentence (object? subject?).\u00a0 Somebody misunderstood the endings, mistaking one word in different forms for many words and so, the fifty-Eskimo-words-for-snow myth was born.\u00a0 Whether it’s true or not really doesn’t matter to me.\u00a0 I like the idea that people who live in, with, and surrounded by a lot of snow would develop many different words to express the many different forms of the white stuff: fine, powdery, heavy, new, old, wet, and, well, you get the idea.<\/p>\n
In my day job we make intensive use of words.\u00a0 Words, nicely arranged, are our product.\u00a0 We not only use them, we practice a fine and careful precision in how we use them.\u00a0 Sometimes, we need to remind<\/em> people about things for which we’re waiting to hear an answer.\u00a0 Other times, we are broaching<\/em> a completely new issue.\u00a0 At times, we’re actually asking<\/em> for something, like a piece of information.\u00a0 The other day, my boss asked me to call so-and-so to engage<\/em> him on a particular topic.\u00a0 He was simply saying to discuss the issue with that particular interlocutor though to do it, perhaps, in an artful, nicely put way.\u00a0 Me being who I am and loving word play as I do, I started listening for the words we use to describe how we interact with others about a particular topic and decided to start a collection.\u00a0 (Humorously, I checked the list, below, and neither remind<\/em> nor broach<\/em>, two words I used earlier in this paragraph, are on the list.\u00a0 I’m going to add them both.)<\/p>\n Here is the beginning of my collection of words, mostly verbs, that we use to describe various degrees of interacting with people.\u00a0 I tried to arrange them from mild to vigorous, plus I added a few we don’t use but that added a touch of humor.\u00a0 I’d like to urge<\/em> you to send me (as a comment at the end of this post or at aschield@thelifeliterary.com) other words for the collection.\u00a0 I think there are probably many more.\u00a0 If I don’t hear from you, I may have to ping<\/em> you.<\/p>\n Ping First of all, I’m pretty sure the Eskimo reference is a myth.\u00a0 I think it’s a misunderstanding that Eskimos have fifty words for snow.\u00a0 I read recently that their language uses many different word endings to denote tense, mood, number, … Continue reading
\nPulse
\nUrge
\nNudge
\nEngage
\nBroach
\nTouch base
\nRemind
\nCheck in
\nContact
\nKeep apprised
\nReach out
\nBuzz
\nRing
\nTelephone
\nUncover
\nCall
\nProbe
\nPester
\nBadger
\nHector
\nShout
\nYell
\nScream
\nGo ballistic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"