Happy New Year, and Happy Word Nerd Day! You know you are a word nerd when…
- You receive a word-a-day calendar for Christmas (featured today is Occam’s razor, “a scientific or philosophical rule that favors the simplest explanation”).
- Your Christmas gifts also include several books about words and/or bookstore gift certificates.
- You’re thrilled when The Canadian Press issues a new Caps and Spelling book.
- You are the go-to source when someone wonders what a word means and doesn’t want to look it up.
- You know a lot of words, even if you choose not to use them. (I once knew the word a friend was searching for was “exacerbate,” although it’s one I can’t recall ever using; I’d rather say “made it worse.”)
- You have a lineup of dictionaries, The Synonym Finder and books about writing at your desk.
- Your go-to game on the iPhone or iPad is Words With Friends.
- You still have a Scrabble board game. Bonus points if it’s a deluxe edition with a swivel base.
- You take it as a compliment if someone calls you a word nerd, even though you realize others may not share this view.
- You know that January 9 is Word Nerd Day.
Happy Word Nerd Day! Are you a word nerd? What gives you away?
Or maybe you subscribe to Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day emails and listen to the audio files when you’re not quite sure how to pronounce the day’s word.
(Do I get bonus points for having an “Oxford Comma Forever” sweatshirt, or do I have to wait for Punctuation Nerd Day for that? ????
Yes, I have the deluxe scrabble. I do have a scrabble dictionary and a thesaurus as well. I also have Hodges Harbrace College .handbook. I tend to google the information now. I love the ‘lookup’ feature on my iPad. I do the Star crossword puzzle almost every day. Also, the jumble. I love beautiful sentences. I’ll be thinking of you on Word Nerdery day.
Ooh I left off doing crosswords!
Left off subscribing to Word of the Day too! And yes, you totally get bonus points for your sweatshirt. You could post a photo of yourself in it for the big day…
It takes one to know one…
Exactly. 🙂