Too coolth? Word

ONE of the internet’s many traps is that one can quite inadvertently become “subscribed”.

Once an email address is submitted in an online inquiry, you often find yourself hooked-in if you do not “opt out’ quickly enough.

Before you know it, you’re offered all sorts of deals and “once in a lifetime” offers.

I’ve become adept at finding the “unsubscribe” link, although these links are generally in the most minuscule font ever invented.

And when unsubscribing, you often receive an “Are you sure?” message, suggesting you’ll be the only one in the entire universe missing out.

To be fair, some organisations offer a heartfelt — as much as a computer can be heartfelt — “Sorry to see you go” which at least acknowledges that you do, in fact, want to go.

But there’s one regular emailed newsletter that I value, indeed look forward to: dictionary.com delivers a word a day.

With the discipline of writing a fortnightly column and not being trained in journalism (OK, OK, folks — I know that’s obvious!) words become one’s stock-intrade.

A whole variety in one’s vocabulary kit-bag is needed to tell a story or express a view.

Without that variety, there’s a risk of overusing favourite words. Such words, like a warm familiar jumper, provide comfort when facing a scary blank computer screen with about 700 to submit each fortnight.

So, the daily arrival of a new word from “doctor@dictionary.com” provides fresh fodder to spice up an article that may otherwise be a tad bland (there it is, I’ve used “tad” again — guilty as charged, Your Honour).

Some dictionary.com words are new expressions to meet our rapidly changing society. Others are historic, rarely heard nor readily usable in everyday communication but fascinating nonetheless.

Others make a lot of sense. Earworm, for instance, is defined as “a tune or part of a song that repeats in one’s mind”. What an apt term for those tunes which work their way into your head and get stuck there for a while.

Then there’s such classics as omnishambles which is “a situation, especially in politics, in which poor judgment results in disorder or chaos”. How often could we apply that one when things go pear-shaped in Canberra or Spring St?

Indeed, omnishamble circumstances could well lead us to pasquinade, which is an Italian-derived word which means satire or lampoon.

Dictionary.com also takes us back to old words like coolth, the long-lost sibling of “warmth”.

Just as warmth evokes a pleasantly warm sensation, “coolth” suggests an enjoyable coolness.

Coolth has apparently been around since the 1500s and such iconic authors as Tolkien and Kipling used “coolth” in their writing. So, if you can find an appropriate use for that word, you can be the coolth person in the room.

Then there’s my current personal favourite — gadzookery, which is “the use or overuse of period-specific or archaic expressions, as in a historical novel” such as, possibly, coolth. I will try not to be guilty of gadzookery.

Of course, all these words could be a load of horsefeathers, another old term meaning “rubbish, nonsense, bunk” made famous as the title of a classic Marx Brothers movie.

We can, of course, over-complicate what needs to be said with perverse terms. The greatest orators have the capacity to express themselves in simple yet profound words, to speak that which is on everyone’s hearts. One only needs to hear, “I have a dream...” to know who said that and what incredible message that speech delivered.

At one level, words are simply a series of innate characters arranged in groups on a page. They do not actually do anything on their own.

At worst, words spoken or written can bring down or denigrate.

Yet, words can be used for good, to encourage, to build-up and affirm. I have certainly experienced that this past week. Words can move, inspire, challenge, reassure, build bridges, mend wounds and be a creative force.

One kind word can change someone’s day. Used wisely, the right words can change a life. In the words of Hamza Yusuf, “Don’t ever diminish the power of words. Words move hearts and hearts move limbs.”