Kcecelia
Subscriber since: June 2008
Location:
San Francisco,
CA
About Me
I am a writer living in San Francisco, California. I love words and dictionaries, and I own many wonderful hard copy dictionaries. In the last few years I have expanded my love of dictionaries to the online versions. I encountered the Visual Thesaurus accidentally when Googling a better word for "lengthy." (I chose "protracted.") I am entranced by the way the Visual Thesaurus works. It will be a further aid in my quest to find just the right word to communicate each idea I wish to share.
My Word Lists
Recent Comments
My Favorites
Favorite Word:
vividVivid is an intense, crisp little word as bright and full of life as its synonyms reveal. It is brilliant, bright, intense; graphically packing worlds into its five characters with one pointy repeated V. It possesses a smoothed sharpness in its aurally graphic internal alliteration. It is a pleasure to speak the world aloud, as well as to repeat it: vivid, vivid, vivid. It is from the Latin word vividus,"spirited, animated, lively," and from vivus, "alive," and its utterance fills one with life.
Least Favorite Word:
loadLoad is a small word that is excessively unattractive in its pronunciation as well as in its meanings. Its poor little rounded shoulders are weighted with more sadness of expression than it should be expected to support: onus, encumbrance, warhead. Just being in its neighborhood begins to weigh one down with its burdens. I feel sorry for it as I malign it, but it is a homely word.
Favorite Quote:
"The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
- John Milton
Favorite Topics:
Blogs:
Ben Zimmer on How Technology is Shaping Language
October 8, 2013
- 2 Comments
On Slate, Lexicon Valley Launches a New Language Blog
September 10, 2013
Books:
Macaulay's Plain-Spoken History
May 26, 2016
A Descriptive Prescriber's Useful Usage Guide
April 26, 2016
- 6 Comments
Copywriting:
Fall-ify Your Vocabtoberfest!
October 19, 2015
- 3 Comments
Fiction writing:
Seven Strategies for Banishing Your Perfectionism
November 27, 2015
- 2 Comments
"Novel" Gazing
November 14, 2014
- 1 Comment
Grammar:
How Do Phrasal Verbs "Pencil Out"?
December 1, 2015
- 9 Comments
Language:
Language arts:
The Enduring Impact of English Teachers on Students
April 28, 2015
- 4 Comments
The Art of Subterfuge: Using Pop Culture to Create Interest in the Classics
December 5, 2014
- 4 Comments
Libraries:
Librarians Suggest Good Books for Kids of All Ages
January 15, 2013
Love Your Librarian
September 26, 2011
- 4 Comments
Linguistics:
When the Wrong Word Just Sounds Better
November 9, 2015
- 6 Comments
Minds, Bodies, and Verbs
September 1, 2015
- 11 Comments
Linguists:
Ben Zimmer Wins LSA's Linguistics Journalism Award
October 29, 2014
A Linguist Answers, "Why Do I Do What I Do?"
January 17, 2011
Marketing copy:
Copywriting Case Study: Building Business Success
March 17, 2008
- 1 Comment
Online:
The Art of the Burlesque, 21st-Century Style
August 3, 2015
This Is Not the CRUD You're Looking For: Odd Programming Jargon
May 20, 2015
- 2 Comments
Poetry:
In Praise of Ambiguity
July 23, 2014
- 2 Comments
How the Rediscovery of a Poem Helped Kickstart the Renaissance
July 9, 2014
- 1 Comment
Politics:
For Presidents' Day: Where Did "President" Come From Anyway?
February 15, 2016
- 4 Comments
Puzzle:
The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: March Edition!
March 21, 2008
The Visual Thesaurus Crossword Puzzle: February Edition!
February 13, 2008
Self-publishing:
The March of the E-Books
March 25, 2013
- 15 Comments
Self-Publish Your Writing!
November 28, 2011
- 4 Comments
Storytelling:
Murray's Mission: My Greatest Elementary School Memory
May 7, 2014
- 7 Comments
Type Casting
January 24, 2012
- 2 Comments
Teachers:
The Enduring Impact of English Teachers on Students
April 28, 2015
- 4 Comments
How Can English Teachers Nurture Young Writers?
March 6, 2015
- 2 Comments
Teaching:
The Enduring Impact of English Teachers on Students
April 28, 2015
- 4 Comments
How Can English Teachers Nurture Young Writers?
March 6, 2015
- 2 Comments
Usage:
From Being In a Pickle to Hitting a Can of Corn
June 3, 2016
- 5 Comments
Visual Thesaurus:
Word Cloud: A Film Inspired by the Visual Thesaurus
August 24, 2012
- 5 Comments
Reconsidering the Thesaurus
April 2, 2012
Web tools:
Twitter Me This: New Technology in the Language Arts Classroom
November 15, 2011
- 3 Comments
Tracking Dialects on Twitter: What's Coo and What's Koo?
November 4, 2011
- 4 Comments
Word Origins:
For Presidents' Day: Where Did "President" Come From Anyway?
February 15, 2016
- 4 Comments
WordMasters:
WordMasters: Grade 3 Blue Division Jan-Feb '11
January 31, 2011
WordMasters: Grade 3 Gold Division Jan-Feb '11
January 31, 2011
Words:
Writer's block:
How to Overcome Negative Feelings When Writing
July 13, 2016
July 13, 2016
The Joy of the Crappy First Draft
May 24, 2016
- 2 Comments
Writing:
Young readers:
How to Encourage Summer Reading
July 16, 2014
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