A word a day...

I used to work for an academic publisher in Oxford. Although the job often felt like little more than a glorified admin assistant, I was very lucky to be surrounded by some of the best people I've ever gotten to know. Which is funny to type now because after my first day I returned home to tell my boyfriend that I could never imagine myself making friends with anybody there. How absolutely and fantastically wrong I was about that. 


Not only was this publisher a haven for like minded souls, but it seemed that my own creativity festered well there. It was a long drive in and back and I'd often find my mind just ticking over so that by the time I'd arrived seeds had been planted. As I carried out the tasks of the day those seeds would take root and grow and by lunchtime I was scribbling pages and pages of a story that was playing in my mind. I wrote the first outline of a novel within 3 months. Sure, I've been working on the same novel for three years now, but the essence was conceived and written in the opening months of that job.

As I was clearing out stuff from my desk drawer today I came across a bundled roll of post-it notes. And as I unfurled them a sudden storm of memories swept over me: of cardboard weaponry on rainy days, of surreal conversations over tops of computers, of a time when I my brain was actively engaged in working and talking and dealing with people in a job that, although was mundane, was also somehow in tune with me.

The curly post-it notes were remnants of a whole forest of bizarre words that I used to surround myself with. They would be stuck on my computer, on the grey thin partition around me, on the book shelf, on the filing cabinet. Words plucked from my 'word a day' generator that emailed me every morning at 11am with a new word to learn.

The ones I really liked I wrote out on a post-it and stuck up.  So as I enjoy a satisfying misty eyed rememberance of an easier time, I thought I'd share some of these wonderful words with you.

I've listed them below, but I'll leave their definitions until Friday. Have a guess if you like, but no cheating by googling them - all will be revealed. Of course you may know some of them already - in which case you are allowed to smile smugly and feel superior - I'd never heard of any of them until they bounced into my email all shiny and new. Say them out loud, they bubble in the mouth!

Sesquipedalians       

      Duffifie               Colus

Quizling           Wobble Shop            

Spelunking

Tchotchke         Tyromancy         

Discombobulate

Bibliobibuli        Limn     

Obstreperous   Bombinate