I’m not sure if I’m doing this right, because I’ve never participated in SOL. But I’ve seen lovely stories on many blogs and thought I’d give it a try.
I love words! One of my favorite things about words is when I come across a word I’ve never seen before, and then I come across it again soon after that! I’m naming that vocabudipity: vocabulary + serendipity!
Randy was beating me at Scrabble last week (he’s been on a real roll lately, unfortunately), and he played the word “sintered.” An eight-letter word. Using a triple word score space. I was not happy. I did wonder briefly about what the word meant, but I didn’t have my phone/dictionary at hand. Then I promptly forgot about it.
“[Dr. Taylor] put in a small amount and found that within thirty seconds the dust melted, or fused, itself into something solid. This process is called sintering, and it happened because the lunar dust contained microscopic beads of iron.”
No. Way. (Plus, it goes on to describe a possible “lunar lawnmower” that could turn the dusty surface into glass roads. Super cool.)
When we wallow in words–play games with them, read books on topics we’re interested in, and look on them as friends–we get to keep having fun with language, long past the age of learning to read.
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I know what you mean! This happens to me lots of times. I wonder then if I’ve seen the word before and it just didn’t sinter in my mind before! (How’s that? Sintering thoughts? Wouldn’t THAT be a term to use to describe learning! Solidifying our thoughts/learning – sintering!) I think you just sintered this new word into something more than just scattering particles of thoughts for me. Thanks for the new word!
YES!!! Thanks, Donna:>)
I agree! This seems to happen all the time to me. I love your word for this phenomenon – vocabudipity. Thanks for two new words today! Glad you are joining Slice of Life – it’s a wonderfully supportive community.
So wonderful to see you here, Laura! Wallowing in words is precisely why I love playing Scrabble so much – new word discoveries every time.
Thanks, Tara–yes! We just watched an old Scrabble documentary called Word Wars, and I was vaguely depressed by the idea that for these tournament players, it was all about the memorization. Nothing whatsoever about the joy of words:>(
Oh my what a terrific slice of your life. Loved it and I learned something! So excited to have you here.
Thanks–happy to be here and give this a try:>)
Welcome to slicing! It is funny how that happens, and not just with words. It happens with people Ideas, almost anything. Than you for teaching me a new word, too.
Thanks, Adrienne. I remember when I was pregnant, I was convinced 80% of all women were suddenly pregnant, too, because that’s what I was noticing. We find what we’re aware of, what’s on our minds… :>)
Happy to see you slicing, laura, and with a fun one to get us all thinking about words, not a new thing, but I do love that word “vocabudipity” and this other new one, sintering. My daughter & son-in-law recently re-did their back garden, and used quite a bit of cursed granite, which, after watering, and walking on, apparently “sinters” and become more solid. I collect words I like from the daily word-a-day in a special file, much fun!
Heehee–I hope that’s cured granite, not cursed! But maybe it is cursed! (Your story also makes me think of Perler beads and other ways we might see sintering in everyday life.)
Welcome Laura! So happy you are here! What a fun slice….I know exactly what you mean. The best is when my students learn a word and then start to use it all the time. That makes me happy. Thanks for introducing us to a new word.
I bet–great to be the one to introduce them to it. Each new word you give them is a gift!
Love seeing you on SOL Tuesday! I’ve been participating for close to 6 years. Vocabupidity happens to me all the time. I love when it happens to my students. Today we were reading Marilyn Singer’s reverso poems, and she used the word docile. One of my kids realized we had talked about that word last week.
Yes! Real books. Real words. Real learning.
I sliced about this two weeks ago and called it the popcorn effect. When you meet a new word, it’s bound to pop up somewhere else. I love your world Vocabudipity! Welcome to SOL!
I love that term for it! Thanks, Ramona:>)