My Favorite Words

Words. What would we be without them?

Without words, we could hardly be said to be human—fully human. Without words, there would be no poems. No novels. No scientific treatises. No textbooks. No chapter books. No children’s books. Without words, there would be no discussions. No arguments. No guidance. No praise. No reproof—maybe the absence of reproof is a good thing. Without words, there would be no newspapers. No magazines. No mail. No email. Without words, we wouldn’t be able to sing lullabies to our children. Without words, we wouldn’t be able to whisper sweet nothings in the ears of our lovers—the whispers would literally be nothings.

It’s astonishing to consider that 26 letters produce 450,000 English words. From this vast sea of verbal possibilities, My Favorite Words draws a cupful of words. Useful words. Upright words. Interesting words. Wholesome words. Needful words. Necessary words. Workaday words that any writer would be proud to put in a sentence.