While perusing the Sporting Green section of the Sunday SF Chronicle we came upon a word that made us stop, backup, and re-read several times. Did we see it right?
Clash of clans here??
Yes, the word “trebuchet” showed up… a word that conjured in our mind the “Clash of Clans” game.
What we imagined…
So we paused and searched around to get a better grasp of that word in this context.
That word defined…
Sportswriter Bruce Jenkins was merely repeating something a New Yorker writer, Nicholas Dawidoff, had said about the Golden State Warriors “long-range shooting guard, Stephen Curry.
… a human trebuchet who leads the N.B.A. in both scoring and charisma.
Trebuchet’s first appearance.
Makes sense. And thanks to the shout out by Mr. Jenkins, we downloaded and read the fine piece of writing by Mr. Dawidoff.
***
Shortly thereafter, perhaps while we were in a state of heightened awareness, we cruised over to see what Wall Street Journal car reviewer Dan Neil had to say about the reborn Honda Civic in his Rumble Seat column.
Dan’s creative use of words on display.
With Dan, it could be a word that stops you or whole phrases.
[See NVC the 020716 Edition]
Ready for our discoveries? About two-thirds the way through, Dan used the word “callipygian” as in: “…One day we are going to marvel at this callipygian car.” And then, in the very next paragraph he said this when describing the Civic’s looks:
The eye is first drawn to the polished wings spread across the nose of the car—a mirror mustache, if you like—above the narrow, effulgent LED headlamps (Touring). There are also, as I count them, 13 horizontal light lines in the front of the car…
To us, the eyes were drawn to the word “effulgent.”
Another pause & ponder word…
Really?
And there’s more! Upon a re-read of his piece, we found the word “binnacle.”
Under the instrument binnacle you will find a conventional three-pod design, with a speedo and tach in the middle. The indicator lights are nice and big. The décor is spare and modern and the rear cabin huge.
Blew right by it the first time through.
***
Kindle’s Built-in “Pause for Words”
We have an old school, “Keyboard Kindle” that nobody can pry away from us. It is a simple functional eReader that has an extremely useful feature for gaining on the spot definitions of words. Just highlight and there you have it.
Highlight and learn feature.
No jumping around. No loss of reading flow. Get it, got it, good!
AWSI, having writers surprise us with nifty words is a really good thing — something that will trigger “pause and ponder” moments which is way better than just letting everything stream on by.
Who knows? A word could stimulate a discussion or a desire to explore or possibly a “breaking away from the Cave” moment (if you’ve been following us, you’ll get that reference).
So how about challenging yourself to be more aware of “pause and ponder” opportunities? When you find ‘em, share ‘em. Let folks know if you were inspired to explore AND what adventures you took. We are certain that will liven up your day and theirs.
It’s all good! #SCMF!
-The Gang
[…] This piece fits nicely with our post AWSI: The Pause that Triggers […]