I adore the shape and taste and feel of new words. The 'nice-to-meet-you' birth of a word, just learned, taking its first steps, off the tongue and into the world.
I am particularly fond of profanity. The secret weapon of words. The sweet sticky sounds that can hold an entire conversation hostage. The hard-charged F of recrimination or the soft fluttering f of an invitation.
My favorite, though, is the discovery of a word whose materiality is so organic that a gentle nudge can send it floating like a dandelion on the current of a conversation. A word so sweet as to be missed the instant it is spoken.
Today's word: Murmuration - A flock of starlings is called a murmuration.
