My dad had a fascination for words. He was not big on
writing or even speaking but he investigated words in the dictionary and he
read the word section of Reader’s Digest with enthusiasm. There was also an
employee booklet put out by General Motors that he had picked up about
vocabulary building which he carried with him.
He took great pleasure in finding words that were unusual
and rarely a part of ones daily vocabulary. It would be more accurate to say,
not a part of our family’s daily vocabulary. You could almost see him light up
with excitement as he was preparing to use the word as if it were the most
common word in the English language. After he casually let it slide into an
ordinary sentence about some proletarian event he would sit like a crouching
tiger to see if it awoke any interest in his audience.
If there was a reaction he was unable to contain his
delight. His smile would light the room. His moment of superiority was not
pompous, it was sustaining. And the inevitable question of what it meant would instantly
create his teaching moment. He would look at the questioner with affection and a
bit of superiority and say, “Look it up.”
He knew the power of learning came from personal ownership
of the material. So, as much as he would have enjoyed showing his knowledge
off, he allowed the interested party to own it themselves. And that, could only
come with a bit of effort.
I never got to know my father very well but there are parts
of his influence that show up from time to time. And since I am a great lover
of words and the way they carry meaning, I just thought I’d tell you about one
of the great influences of my life who taught me the power of a dynamic vocabulary
that has a little hot sauce in it. Thanks Dad.
©Herb Ratliff, November 19, 2012, All Rights Reserved
I went to the movie theater yesterday to see "Lincoln". Several times throughout the film, it put me in mind of Grandpa, his laughter and his voice.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I always admired about my Mom was that you could ask her what ANY word meant, and she would produce an accurate definition instantly. However, as a parent I do what Grandpa did and tell my kids to look it up. Sometimes because I can't produce a definition the way my Mom can, sometimes because I just want them to look it up.
When I left the theater yesterday, I told my date how I loved the use of the English language in the film. I said that I wanted to use some of those words, so I started with "conundrum" a couple hours later. He got a laugh out of that and I fear he thinks I'm a little strange...but it turns out I just have a little bit of Herbert in me!
Words are powerful, Herb. I have a special love of language, too.
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